Selling paintings is so much more than about the money

This week an old friend from PA contacted me about purchasing a fairly recent painting I had for sale and had been publicizing  a lot.  She said it made her happy every time she saw any photo that I posted.  She said she really wanted it but was having some marital problems and dealing with a lot, not all good.  She said she really wanted to hang it in her own place one day but if it sold she would contact me to paint another painting just for her.   So I put it up for sale at a show I had on Sunday and it was getting a lot of attention.  I thought for sure it would sell that day but around lunch my friend got back in touch with me and told me to mark it SOLD!  She wanted it even if she had to make payments on it.  She said that my painting had become her inspiration to move forward and to find peace and happiness.  I am so touched.  And moved.  And most importantly, I do hope that it will give her the happiness and the strength she needs to move on with her life.

Beauty

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!

Flower Power

I am having a fantastic time creating this very large 36" x 36" painting.  I knew I wanted to use colors that I don't normally pick and create a large flower painting.  I am so glad I picked the bright green background.  It makes all of the other colors really pop.  I'm not even close to being finished but I hope you love seeing my process as much as I love sharing it.

1st layer- bright green mixed with yellow

Some large flower shapes

adding details

The Pieces are Finished!

Here are the final pieces that I shared in my earlier post where I showed you my backgrounds and the first layer of spray paint.

I thought you would be interested to see how it all comes together and what they look like when they are finished.  I mounted them to hardboards last night and painted the edges this am.  They will be ready to sell this Sunday at Eastern Market DC.

I love SPRAY PAINT!

I love spray paint!  I love making collages.  I love the layering process.   It starts with 140lb mixed- media paper.  A few layers of paint.  Some spray paint.  More spray paint.  Some deli wrap and painted stamps.  Details  are next.

first layer - multiple coats of acrylic paint

Second layer- spray paint through stencils

Third layer- deli wrap and painted stamps

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!

My Kefa Cafe show

Here is a link to my Kefa Cafe show information that was just posted on their blog
http://space710atkefa.blogspot.com