The small pieces are finished!

As a follow up to my last post, I wanted to share with you the finished pieces.  I really love they came out.  Enjoy!

#25 matted and ready to go!

#6 matted and ready to go

My My

Pretty in Peach

#25

Starting large, Ending small

paint and handmade papers

I have been having the best time lately working on large sheets of watercolor paper that that I will use to create small 5" x 5" pieces.  I start by painting the base coat  randomly.  Then I add more paint, some handmade paper, some photographs, some magazine papers, and tape to create the next layer.  More paint detailing is next.

4-5 layers in

I  use a cut up piece of cardboard to create a 5" x 5" opening so I can pick the areas I want to work with to create my final small pieces. I love working large and then not really knowing how the small pieces will look.  I love the randomness of it all.

I draw the squares in pencil, cut them out and end up with quite a few small pieces that I will matte and possibly frame.  I will add a few more layers to these small pieces and then they will be ready for my show in Manayunk http://manayunk.com/signature-events/manayunk-arts-festival/ at the end of June.

PainterPaige hard at work

I thought you all would be interested in seeing all of the hard work that goes into my booth set-up each and every time I sell at a local show.  First we have to pack up the car with everything, drive to our location, figure out where exactly our spot is, then unload everything.  Then we have pop up the tent, put together all of the display panels, hang all of the artwork in the best spots possible and set up the table that holds my smaller pieces along with marketing materials and the ever important sign-up sheet.  But I love the way my booth looks when its all done.

My assistant hard at work

Early in the set-up stage

Have to get it just right

Ready for business!

Art Business 2015

I have been working hard the last couple of months concentrating on how to build up my client/follower base in order to sell more paintings on-line.  I am happy with my in-person sales but I have been researching other sites that would be a good fit for PainterPaige paintings.  ImageKind was recommended to me so I have been working furiously for the last week to upload my pieces to this site.  It is a place to go where you can purchase prints or canvas prints of your favorite art for a very reasonable price. I feel very positive that this will a new revenue stream for my business.  I'll keep you posted on how its going.  My address is painterpaige.imagekind.com.

painterpaige/imagekind.com

A new year. Welcome 2015

A new year.  A time to make new commitments.  To set new goals.  One of my goals every year is to blog more.  And every year so far, I have not kept that commitment.  Here it is January 27, 2015 and I haven't blogged since August.  AUGUST!  Oy.

I am still struggling with the "who cares what I have to say" fear.  But I am going to start anyway.

I am just going to write about my life as an artist.  My wins and failures.  My struggles and achievements.

Ok, I will start with some achievements from 2014.

1.  I  more than tripled my income from 2013!  Not bad, not bad at all.

2.  I was accepted at bigger and better shows.  Another good step.

3.  I have grown tremendously as an artist.  YAH.

4.  I have continuously put myself out there.  I let myself be vulnerable.

5.  I created my website and its up and running.  I printed cool business cards.

6.  I started selling prints of my work so that I don't have to keep reinventing the wheel over and over again.  I sold tote bags printed with my designs.  Keyword, is "sold"

7. My twitter followers has grown proportionately to how much effort I put into tweeting.  Funny how that works.

8.  I took my first in-person art business course.  I learned a lot and met some really great people.  A win-win.

9.  I still work full-time and do shows on the weekends, sometimes working 6-7 days a week and haven't given up.

10.  I survived!

New Pieces

As many of you know, I have been selling my art at Eastern Market in DC on most Sundays since January.  Since Sundays are slow in the am and pick up in the afternoon, I always try to take some work with me to pass the time.  The last few weeks I have been working on new small pieces on paper.  They have been a lot of fun to create and I really like the way they have been coming out.
Some are now for sale at Gala Jewelry and Artisan's in Kensington. Check them out.
http://galaartisans.comcom.  I hope they sell.