An Artist starting out, how will they get on??

Hi all, today was another turn in the life of an artist. I have a branch in this area already in the way of South West Artworks. They promote my work by putting it up in different business arenas. At the moment I have a large print of my ‘Oystercatchers’ up in B+B Weymouth. My new sub branch came along at my stall in Wimborne Market. I have a stall there every Sunday and have done for just over a year now. This Sunday just gone, a lady came to the stall with her family. She brought a card and loved looking at the photography that was on show. She then approached me, explaining that she had a log cabin and ran it as a B&B with all local produce. She proposed to have some of my cards and photographic pictures up on the walls. We arranged a meeting for today. All went well and a contract agreed with 17 cards going up for sale and 5 pictures to be framed and placed on her walls with a change over every six months.

This is a good way to hopefully generate awareness for both parties. We both agreed to promote each other on our individual websites.

I belong to the Botties Entrepreneur Circle which is a great group to help with your business it does cost but if you can do it it is worth it. One of the things that they say to do is tojoin forces with different companies. The example he gave was himself going to a professional chef for a cooking lesson. That chief used mainly Le Creuset cookware. At the end of the session he gave out a voucher for 15% off Le Creuset cookware.

So me working with the lady that owns The Log Cabin B&B which is by the way in a lovely spot and the cabin is gorgeous is another way of promotion and it is for the good of both parties !-)

On another branch it is exhibition time!! I put up my ‘Bouy’ picture tomorrow for the start of a two week show at Upton Country Park in Poole at their Peacock Gallery. Any one passing can see the picture in the flesh and let me know what they thought. I am going to be there in the mornings of both Thursdays.

Take care all

Gilly

Great news, finished the”Buoy” picture today and had it approved for a forth coming exhibition at The Peacock Gallery, Upton Country Park, Poole from the 7th -18th Feb. Anyone passing can have a noisy at how the picture looks in the flesh along with other members of the Broadstone Arts Society.

Apart from the above I also attended a workshop at the Arts Society on collage. Making pictures that you feel have not worked and instead of binning them liven them up with collage. Well it was very different and a very interesting insight on a completely different technique. It is a way for your artwork to progress and not get stagnant. By attending workshops that take you out of your comfort zone like todays one for me. It broadens your abilities and techniques. Also it allows you to have a bit of fun and think in a completely different way.

I was very nervous today and I sat away from the others, partly as I knew I would have to leave early to collect the children but also I didn’t want to show myself up. After watching the demonstrator we had to go away and have ago ourselves. It was interesting to see others feeling the same way I was but also with the same intensity to learn something new. It was a great workshop and I am going to go away and finish my picture that I started, if it comes out fairly well I will post it here for you to see.

Right, where am I going to go from here. I have the Broadstone Arts Society Spring Exhibition in two months time and I would like to get something into the Patchings art competition this year.

They are both two months away so to start with it may be best to finish off some of the work that I have on the go now, “The Giants” which is a large painting of the Tug boats that were needed for building the Twin Sail Bridge, Also a pen and wash of the Blue Bell wood up the road from us and lastly a watercolour of a ford and bridge which is just up the road from us. By doing these few painting it will ensure that I have something for the exhibition.

Now Patchings, has to be very high quality and the image has to be interesting, I have a moody water and sky scene that I took a photo of in Slovenia, now this could be done in oils or watercolour decisions decisions!! Or it is a tight picture of a ram that I took in Canada, now it looks like I am boosting of all the wonderful places I have been, hee hee. I wasn’t as these were the pictures I have picked out so far. My gut feeling is the moody water one as if I pull it off, could be extremely dramatic. Thats it then as decision has been made !-) the moody scene, first attempt will be in watercolour and then a second in oil. Cool can’t wait to sink my teeth in.

Well I am going to leave you here for most probably a week as I have a lot of unworkly things to do :-(. Have a look at my finished picture, see what changes I have made since the last one and let me know what you think. All criticism is greatly appreciated.

Look after yourselves and have fun.

Gilly

Hi all. Life is a weaving wonderland of ups and downs and toing and froing. I managed to do not a single minute of painting today but instead went to a meeting regarding teaching child on fun weeks. I have agreed to teach children arts and crafts. This is a big thing for me as the last time I taught was when I was a level 2 Kayaking coach closed cockpit and that was when my first son came along nearly eight years ago!! The reason I have taken up the post is to make me think out of the box more and try new ideas out, I know the children will be doing the work but all ideas help with artistic progression. The childrens ages range from 4-16 so a very wide range of skill levels to think about and 1 1/2 hours to keep them occupied, but I am not daunted as yet, it will be very different on the day I am sure, I will be a complete nervous wreck until that first afternoon is over. It will be a great opportunity for me as it will show me whether I can teach children properly in a fun way. I have been approached to teach adults before and if this goes well I will look into teaching adults and children and take the PTLLS course and then the DTLLS to get a qualification for teaching in further education.

This could be a definate way forward even if it is just to bring in some money to fund my own art work of which I do not want to give up as this is my dream. The dream is to have my artwork fund my lifestyle.

On that thought I will leave you there, take care all.

Gilly

Okay things didn’t go to plan again, never mind. I have added my picture as it was last night, so near but so far.

I am a typical artist always changing my mind and as typical I am now going over alot of the work smoothing out the waves so that it looks calmer and will have a more defined surface.

NY Arts magazine, The Broadway Gallery NYC and Beijing Gallery Scam

Putting my picture aside for a minute, I was sent an email from a Gustavo Cruz from New York Arts Magazine. This is the email that was sent to me:

Hello Gilly,
My name is Gustavo, I am the publicist/curator for New York Arts Magazine in New York City. I came across your work and found it quite striking. I would be very interested in representing some of your pieces in our magazine and our SoHo gallery.
I would like to include a selection of your work in the upcoming issue of NY ARTS magazine, both in print and online, as well as physically displayed in our Broadway Gallery. This would be a unique opportunity to display your work. There is a production fee that would cover the costs for the print, online, and gallery campaign for a full year.

You can take a look at our gallery website at http://www.broadwaygallerynyc.com/

Please view the attached document to view the full publicity proposal and exhibition invitation.

Looking forward to working with you,Best,

—
Gustavo Cruz
Publicist
NY Arts Magazine
473 Broadway 7th Fl
NY, NY 10013
www.nyartsmagazine.com
I have spoken to friend who sent me a couple of links to other peoples blogs that say that this is fake.
http://caseyshannonstudio.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/world-art-media-and-ny-arts-magazine.htmlhttp://makingyourartwork.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/ny-arts-magazine-broadway-gallery-nyc.html

If it isn’t hard enough for us artists to speak and find the right people we have to have people that try and take the little money we have off us and leave us in a worst state !-(Just wanted to share this with you all, beware and take care, as for this email I am still unsure as to its authenticty and intent.

Gilly

It is amazing how easily life can just take over and time just disappears!! Today was the first day in a week that I have picked up my brush and managed to paint and that was for only two hours, updated image next to blog. The relief just to get two hours in was fab. I do not know about you but I get such a craving to paint or draw its amazing and very frustrating to say the least as you can become a right pain to live with when the craving starts. Everyone seems to be getting in the way, when really its the craving thats niggling you. So a whole week without painting I have been nearly tearing my hair out. When I have a piece on the go no matter how much I am enjoying it I need to get it finished and in my eyes to its best.

At this stage of the painting I am starting to get really excited as I can begin to see the end. The canvas is nearly covered and the colours in their rightful places. Once the canvas is covered the detail will be put in and the smoothing of the water will take place. This will complete the picture and will be finished by the early part of next week, Tuesday. Now you may be wondering what takes this women so long to finish a piece like this I would be done in a day or two days max from start to finish!!! You would be right and that is how long it will take me when you add up my hours put in. At present I am at 6hrs max.

This is where my planning and conquering is going to come in.

Background – I have two young boys, one still not in school. As the home worker, I am including the males of this world who are the stay at home parent, there is one hundred and one jobs to do in and around school and home life. Therefore I am going to do less painting to try and get more of a work life balance.

Monday morning will be 90 minutes on my business, cleaning the house and gardening.

Tuesday morning – painting, afternoon painting with my local Arts Society.

Wednesday morning – painting

Thursday day out photographing and painting

Friday – Upstairs cleaning, keeping the accounts and gardening

Saturday with the family

Sunday – At Wimborne Market selling my paintings, cards and photographs.

Interpersed through out the days, generally lunch time and evenings, I will be reading, tweeting, facebooking and blogging here letting you know how I am getting on.

Thats the plan it may be a good one or a bad one but its worth a try as I need to organise myself better.

Let me know what sort of plans you have and what you think of mine.

The next time I will blog will be when I have finished my picture hoping for Tuesday evening. I will also be looking into the directions that I wish to take this year.

Take care all

Gilly