On Vacation!

Well..I have really, really neglected my blog, my website, and my business in general the past month. Sometimes you think you have everything under control and..wham...life just hits you upside the head! It always totally re-affirms my belief in God and the fact that He has a sense of humor!

Most of the chaos from the last month can be attributed to some unplanned and last minute occurrences (ie..2 (vaccinated!) kids with chicken pox, not at the same time, of course; repainting a living room, excess heat, etc.). Anyway..life goes on and eventually I'll catch up with it!

I'm heading off to vacation over the next couple of weeks. I'll be relaxing either by the ocean or on the farm in North Carolina,both the source of inspiration for most of my paintings. Of course, it won't be all play and no work, I'll be taking photo after photo of references material while I'm there. Last year I believe I had about 600-800 shots, I'm hoping to surpass that this year. Although I have to admit, taking pictures at the beach or of farm-animals and calling it "work" really makes me LOVE my job!

Anyway, my internet access will be very spotty over the next few weeks so there won't be any blogs updates or web updates for a little while. If you absolutely, positively, can't live without a painting or just need to talk to me..call me at 214-450-9800. I should have cell service everywhere..just expect to get voicemail first! If you are desperate for a piece of art before I get back, I'll have my people take care of you (yes..I have people!! what a neat feeling!)

Here's my latest masterpiece for your viewing pleasure. It is Making Friends, my largest acrylic painting to date at 60" x 36". This is a portrait of my son at when he was 5 feeding my parents' horse, Sugarfoot. This is also my first full-body figure painting in acrylic. Although it took right at a year to complete, I am very happy with the results.

I did something interesting today.

I like to think of myself as a fairly techno-savvy kind of gal. I've been on a computer since my uncle introduced me to his Commodore Vic 20. Although my husband and I shy away from television and all its inherent (and expensive!) evils (ie. cable, satellite, tivo, etc.) we still have a few sci-fi shows we Netflix and love watching a good movie.

Well, today I had a taste of the future. Not so much a new techo-toy, but a new way of interacting. I called into a tele-seminar. The tele-seminar was authored by Peggy Klaus and hosted by Alyson B. Stanfield, a well-known art business coach and guru.

I basically dialed into a party line and listened to a fascinating hour long part-interview - part-lecture with a brief question/answer period at the end. I was comfy at my kitchen table and, truth-be-known, multi-tasking a bit by signing my new prints. But..the point was..I didn't shell out $4 bucks a gallon for gas, waste travel time, hire a babysitter, or even change out of my favorite t-shirt! With the skyrocketing cost of transportation, is this the classroom of the future?

What about art sales? Word on the street (via art festival participants all over the US) is that attendance is down and sales are even worse at art festivals this year. Many factors can be cited but transportation costs are one of the top. I recently participated in a festival that was moved this year in order to be near public transportation in the future (electric rail-line) but this begs the question..Who wants to transport a painting home via rail or bus?

What does this mean for artists, craftsman, and photographers who make a living at these festivals? Will consumers get used to the high gas cost and proceed as usual about their lives? Will they have any money left after filling the gas tank? Will art festival artists be able to afford to drive to festivals?!?

Will consumers turn to technology like I did for my seminar? Art sales are starting to rise on site like the infamous E-bay and Etsy. Will this be the future of selling art? How much do you buy on the internet and how do you feel about buying fine art over the internet. If you are an artist, how are you utilizing the internet?

For myself, I have this blog, my website, Twitter, Facebook, My Space, & LinkedIn. I am also researching how to sell my prints on E-bay and Etsy and/or putting a shopping cart type store on my site to sell my prints. Can I do more? You tell me....

Art News
My last show of the summer is this weekend at the Dallas CityArts Festival in Downtown Dallas. Click here for maps and more information. It is going to be hot but I have a great fan in my booth some come on by and see me!

My latest print in back from the print shop. Last Two Beachfronts is now available as 7.25" x 16" archival print on Somerset Velvet watercolor paper and priced at $65.

Class News
The deadline for Summer Camp registration has been extended until June 15. I can't accept registration after that date so let me know if you are interested! See the schedule here.

Artfest & Last Day of Classes

Wow...I am so glad to see the end of May. What a month!

Last weekend was Artfest, which can be summed up in one word...HOT. Blazing hot, melting hot, sticky hot. However you can imagine hot..that was last weekend. I think more people came out in the rain last year than they did in the heat this year. Oh well..that's Texas! My booth looked good and although sales were scarce I did ok before and after the show with sales from my studio.

This week was also the last week of my Spring Session art classes. It should have been last week but my youngest child came down with the chicken pox (yes, she's had the vaccine!) and that threw me all out of whack!

We had a great week though, finishing up projects and having a little fun the last 15 minutes of class. We rounded out our study of animals and people portraits by turning ourselves into animals. I'm a giraffe in the first picture and a tiger in the second. As I painted myself differently for each class..I also became a flamingo, parrot and an owl. The kids were excited with the change of pace in our usual "serious" class and did a great job painting their OWN faces! I was only able to get group shots of 2 of my classes. Enjoy!