Second Show of Paintings at Paddiwhack Gallery

     I am thrilled to have a second opportunity to show paintings in the featured "nook" at the front of the wonderful Paddiwhack Shop in Gainesville, Florida. It is an honor and privilege to have works hung together in this premier location in the store. It has been about a year and a half since I last exhibited there. This group of pieces (plus one called "Sanderling in the Surf", which is featured elsewhere in the shop) shared the coveted pre-holiday time period with Paddiwhack's unique selection of holiday-themed items. Of course, all the other delightful treasures Paddiwhack is known for are also available in their wonderful, large space. As always, you can click on a photo to enlarge it.


     All the pieces in this exhibit are new to Paddiwhack. Given my slow painting pace and the various life events that occurred and kept me from painting at times in recent months, it was a challenge to produce and mount the 12 works shown at the shop. Since I have at some time posted about the Coastal North Florida explorations that led to the subjects for these works and about the painting process for each piece, I won't discuss that today. 

     One goal for this exhibit was to present a greater variety of sizes and prices than I had in the previous exhibit. The little pair of 5" x 7" marsh paintings seen on the chest near my artist's statement and business cards are the smallest, while the largest are two 18" x 24" paintings above that chest on the left. One shows a winter day at Big Talbot Island Park here in North Florida, where waves are gradually undermining a bluff causing trees, one by one over time, to fall into the water. The other represents a view of the St. Johns River by the National Historic Site at Kingsley Plantation. Whoops, there is one other in that size which the shop had kept from my previous exhibit--a view of the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville Beach, looking over the dunes and a foot bridge--seen on a side wall. 

     Thank you all for your good wishes as I recover from total hip replacement surgery. I am amazed and deeply grateful for the miracle of a new joint, for freedom from long-standing, constant pain, and for the wonder of growing strength and mobility the surgery and excellent physical therapy are making possible. I feel like a new woman!


Question of the day: Are you considering small, locally owned businesses like Paddiwhack and goods made in the USA in your holiday gift shopping?

Set-up for the Open Studio Reception

Our Open Studio Reception this past Sunday afternoon was a wonderful event in every way. It will take me a few posts to tell you all about it. The support of my rock (husband Mark), the incredible catering of our daughter-in-law, Ashley (with her able assistant, husband Pete), the classy piano music of our friend Greg, and the warmth and encouragement of many friends and neighbors made this possible. Given my shy, introverted nature, planning--even considering--this kind of event is extremely daunting. But my life has been enriched over and over by the times that I push myself way out of my comfort zone to achieve a new goal--like staging this event. UPDATE: I have now added an index to all blog posts about planning and holding an art reception. Access it here.

These photos were taken the afternoon before on a heavily clouded day. I had hoped for brighter weather on the day of the reception, but it stayed quite cloudy all day Sunday. Thus, some photos are too dark too show you, and none of them quite do justice to the display of paintings shown all around our home. In these, you see a pair of 5" x 7" marsh paintings atop a chest of drawers in our bedroom, scenes from two very different local beaches hanging in the guest bedroom (one 18" x 24" and the other 12" x 16"), and a 9" x 12" sanderling in the surf on a nightstand.

Altogether, I showcased 17 paintings of coastal North Florida scenes in various sizes and prices. I sold two immediately and have several people considering investing in some of the larger pieces. Last time we held an Open Studio Reception, two major paintings sold about two weeks later, once patrons had time to think it over. I always offer a full refund for any reason because it is important to give buyers a chance to try a piece out in their home or business to make sure it works well for them. All my artist friends tell me that selling even one piece at this kind of event is good, that giving people an opportunity to see the work is the main purpose. The first time we tried a reception like this, I was truly amazed to sell a total of 8 paintings (counting those sold later as a result of the showcase) and of course, did not expect a repeat of that.

Then, to my surprise, I sold a painting that was not for sale! A gentleman was asking about my earlier work and admiring a scene of dunes and sea that I had done on heavy art paper about 8 years ago--early in my painting career. I told him that it had never mounted properly and pointed out some air bubbles under the work. To encourage myself, I had framed it anyway because I liked the way it had turned out. However, I had never offered it for sale because of the mounting flaws. Undeterred, he made a fair offer for the piece--and I made a totally unexpected sale.

Question of the day: Don't you just love it when an unexpected bonus comes your way? I give thanks for even the very minor serendipities in life.

Open Studio Reception Coming Soon

I am excited that we are again opening our home (and my little art studio) for a reception in a couple of weeks. Our local daughter-in-law, Ashley, will cater, which will make this event much, much simpler for me than the previous reception two years ago. She makes amazing party food and is a super hostess, too. Again, we are fortunate that our friend, Greg Spiess, a super party pianist, will provide music for the gathering. UPDATE: I have now added an index to all blog posts about planning and holding an art reception. Access it here.

A number of items on my planning list are checked off, leaving a task list that seems manageable. It was a wonderful feeling to put a big batch of postcard invitations in the mail this morning; a few more await completion once I locate addresses.

If you are reading this, you are definitely invited! What a treat it would be if blogging friends from far and near could be magically transported to our home in Jacksonville, Florida to join us. But perhaps some of you are nearby and as yet not personally known to me; if you are interested, come on down!

The postcard invitation, pictured here front and back, really looks great. On the advice of some artist friends, I order business cards, postcards, etc. from Vistaprint online and have been pleased with the results and the reasonable price. I even was able to order a nice tote bag imprinted with the same image, which will be one of the door prizes for the day. Now, to finish the last couple of smaller paintings which will be displayed (and for sale) all around the house.

New Marketing Flyer for Gainesville, Florida Exhibit of Paintings

I am very pleased with the look of my new marketing flyer, prepared for the exhibit of my paintings at Paddiwhack in Gainesville, Florida. I think you can enlarge it by double-clicking on the image. A few posts ago, I showed you the grouping of paintings there and the Artist's Statement written for that show (it is framed and standing near the paintings). Both these publicity pieces will be useful in other contexts as well; I did not want to go to the time and expense of preparing and printing them just for this six week event.

I am grateful to painting mentor Linda Blondheim for excellent advice, generously shared, as I wrote and prepared these materials and to Lori Taylor of Trends Home Decor for layout assistance and low-cost printing for both pieces.

Whenever I visit other artists' shows, I pick up any well-done publicity pieces that are available. For one thing, I enjoy visiting their blogs and web sites and sometimes strike up an email correspondence with some artists, so like to have their contact information. The other reason I keep these materials on file is that they are helpful when I need to prepare my own publicity materials. Of course, I do not copy what another artist has to say. But, as you know, if you have tried to write any publicity piece from scratch, it can be very difficult. For me, it is doubly difficult to write about myself and my work--even though I enjoy sharing the works and their stories. I just feel blocked and shy about it. Viewing and reading the materials of others helps me get started.

So, I hope that others among you might find the ideas, layout, or other features in this flyer useful. Do not plagarize please :>), but feel free to use this or the artist's statement from the earlier post as a springboard for your own publicity materials. As I am inspired by all of you and your creativity (and I don't mean only the practicing "artists" among you, but all the bloggers who share thoughts and visuals), I hope that you find something stimulating or fun in this post.

Question of the day: Do you also find preparing publicity materials--or any necessary writing you are called to do--difficult, especially getting the process started?

New Painting Exhibit at Paddiwhack in Gainesville, Florida

I know I said that I would post my new flyer next, but couldn't resist showing you this lovely display of eight of my coastal North Florida landscape paintings. I am thrilled with the grouping the owner mounted Wednesday afternoon in the prime exhibit area of Paddiwhack in Gainesville, Florida. The photos (double click to enlarge) also give you a small glimpse of the wonderful, eclectic collection of goodies sold in this fine shop.

Mark and I dropped the paintings off early Wednesday afternoon, then had a glorious, fresh, well-seasoned lunch (we LOVE breakfast-all-day places) at The Flying Biscuit Cafe a few doors down in the same strip mall. We spent a couple of fun hours at the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens--which I must show-and-tell about in another post soon.

As we had done in our visit a few months ago (see 1/31/11 post), we brought a chilled bottle of good wine in a cooler and purchased lovely cheese at The Fresh Market next door to Paddiwhack, a rosemary baguette and a couple of other goodies at the Upper Crust Bakery down the row. I'm telling you, this particular strip mall has terrific stores (feel so privileged to have my paintings in this popular Gainesville, Florida spot!). We joined my beloved painting mentor, Linda Blondheim, in her studio/showroom loft up in the back of Paddiwhack for wine, gourmet snacks, and good conversation.

By the time we returned to meet Linda, the owner had hung my paintings. They will show here for six weeks, through the end of June. The top photo shows six of the pieces on a side wall just to the right as customers enter the store. In the second photo, you can see a two more, one on a blue partial wall just before the large main section of the store, and the other on the back of a piece of furniture which faces into the shop. The small honey-colored frame standing on a chest in the corner displays the artist's statement I showed you last time with my business cards on a pottery stand next to it. The flyers I made for the occasion are on the highboy beneath the six pieces. This show is an amazing opportunity, for which I am very grateful.

Question of the day: Isn't life astonishing sometimes? How did I get here from taking a painting course just for fun not too many years ago?!?