KATAKANA CRAZY!

Recently, I've had so much going on getting ready for the art show. I'm so excited, and I have gotten so much stuff made. Its been super exciting getting to spend time just making tons of art. I really get a thrill out of it. I'm still working towards getting my degree though, so I can get over to Japan as soon as possible to live that "live there for at least one year" dream.

In the meantime, I sit in class. I sit in class and doodle. I just sit there and think about design concepts and stuff I can make later. I sketch thoughts, but everything comes out into an illustrated image.

So today during one of my really long classes, I just started thinking about how cool Katakana characters look. For those of you that don't know, Katakana is one of the 3 writing styles in Japanese writing. It is used for foreign or non native Japanese words. I've noticed a lot of the street style sites and conceptual clothing shops have started integrating a little more of Japanese culture and pop culture into things that they are wearing, specifically katakana on bags and on buttons.It could have easily been mistaken for awhile that most of the trends in Tokyo are taken from completely new brands, but more specifically vintage or used American clothing. It is interesting to see how things hit their peak, and then there seems to be a need to shift back to the culture they are part of...Which makes sense to be suddenly seeing anime and Japanese symbols into what many could say is remixed American fashion.

Wow. I didn't mean to go into all of that. I'm writing a research paper on something kind of similar to that, so that's probably why. The point is, with all of this art show/design/nothing in mind, I sketched tons of katakana. And here it is in my art. I hope you like it.


Oh, and I finally got my copy of the new FRUiTS magazine with my bag in it. I was super excited to see the picture of Tavuchi-san holding it...But it was kind of funny because it said in Japanese "Bag: Brandon's." Hahahaha. Too bad it didn't get "Lactose Intoler-Art." I can always hope for next time, right?

HOW I SPENT MY WEEK - VIEWPOINT SHOW

This week my “work week” began on Saturday – at the Cincinnati Art Club with some prearranged helpers and a few who recruited themselves! – opening the shipped work for ViewPoint.
Sunday required a few phone calls and emails to keep the ViewPoint show on track.
Monday - up to the art club to receive the dropped off paintings. I took a book to read to occupy myself – sounds boring, doesn’t it? Well, seems I know many of the artists and it was fun to take a few minutes to chat with each (some a bit more than a few minutes!) – so I never even had time to begin my book!
Tuesday – easy day - went to have copies of the show program made
Wednesday – to the Art Club for the awards judging. Nita Leland scared the pants off of me at one point, but other than that, the day went well. Nita was very informative about the jurying process and I enjoyed seeing her again. After she left I tagged all of the artwork; then it was home to begin working on the awards list and making phone calls.
Thursday – I took care of putting together all of the awards, making and receiving phone calls and getting everything organized for Friday night.
Friday – the big day! As I say, the show is kind of like a Thanksgiving dinner – there are so many parts to it but they all have to come together at one moment in time. We loaded the door prize, plus the awards, into the car and got to the art club early, even with a "Friday night traffic jam"!  Just in time to figure out how to put together the easel which was the door prize – and then people began walking in the door.
I’m told that at one point people were waiting in line to get in! I knew it was crowded - I’ll take that as a great tribute on a well received show!

Winners will be listed, with photos, on the CAC website – click on ViewPoint - but give us a few days since our webmaster is out of town – by mid to late week those photos should be up  – and I’ll put up a link on the sidebar.
If you live in the Greater Cincinnati area, please stop in – weekends 2-5.

Got another busy week this week, and then I may take a little rest!

I'm Excited!

New Illustration!
So..I'm gonna have a show at my favorite vintage shop soon! I can't wait..More details later. I'm hoping to get her made onto a giant cut out! Online store hopefully opening within the next few months. Keep checking back!

VIEWPOINT 2010

Opening:  November 5 - 6 to 9 p.m.
Location:  Cincinnati Art Club, 1021 Parkside Place, Mt. Adams (Cincinnati) Ohio

Around these parts, ViewPoint is considered a “big deal”, because, while it is a national show, it is local for us. We had a good number of entries from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky – guess they figured that if they are accepted they can drive their painting here and don’t have to ship it.

ViewPoint is also an interesting show because it is so varied – we are not all watercolor, or pastel or oil – we accept most media, including sculpture.

The ViewPoint 2010 show has been selected by our juror, Nita Leland and she did a wonderful job! All of the acceptance and (sadly) rejection letters are in the mail, about to make some folks happy and some sad. But, that’s life and art shows!!

I’ll be looking forward to seeing all of the paintings come in by the end of the month, and then will look forward to finding out who will receive awards (that’s exciting!). And then I’ll look forward to the opening night. And then, I’ll look forward to a little relaxing!

Good luck to all of you who entered and were accepted!

Art Show Season by Kelli...

Hi, I'm Kelli Pope. First of all, I'm thrilled to be part of http://lovemyartjewelry.com/.   It's allowed me to showcase the pieces I've created using my own handmade components, wirework, and other artists handmade beads and components. Mary Ann Carroll's beads first drew my attention on ETSY when I was looking for handmade beads for my creations. I wanted to make truly one-of-a-kind pieces.

While most of my fellow artists on this site have blogs, websites, published pieces in magazines (WOW!!), and their own successful ETSY shops, I'm still out there hitting the art show circuit. I live in Southern Indiana, but was born in Kentucky, and consider myself a Kentucky girl (sorry Hubby, I'm just NOT a Hoosier :) I live just a few short miles across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. All of my shows to date have been Kentucky shows. It's a lot of work getting ready, setting up, selling and tearing down, but I love every minute of it.

My wonderful sister Susan takes care of sales, and keeps me busy making custom orders and alterations. I love seeing my repeat customers. The best part of the shows though, is probably seeing someone's face light up, when they put on that piece that looks like it was made for them. While an ETSY sight may be in my future, right now, I'm loving my time with the public and my "followers". Kelli

SPLASH 11

One of my painting retreat friends - Monique Wolfe - is in the new Splash 11 book!
Here’s a copy of her page.

For some reason, the colors are not true in the book, unfortunately (the painting is much more colorful in person) but at least you can see her work! She is also in both the Missouri Watercolor Society and Louisiana Watercolor Society shows!
Way to go Monique!

SOLD!

Just received notification that my painting "Blue Pitcher and Pears on Lace" (see post on April 24, 2010) was sold at the Georgia Watercolor Society National Exhibit!  It had also won an award (maybe why someone wanted to purchase it??)
Anyway - I'm very excited (can you tell!!) - but also a little sad.  You know how you have a few special paintings that surpass your expectations - that was one of mine - so I'm glad it sold but still a little sad not to see it again.

MY HOUSE SHOW

Here is an article written about the show I'm in at Art Beyond Boundaries:

http://www.adumbrationes.com/

After reading it I was impressed with myself!!!  (LOL)

. . . AND WIN SOME MORE!!! GEORGIA WATERCOLOR SOCIETY NATIONAL EXHIBITION

I received a really nice call the other night – my painting “Blue Pitcher and Pears on Lace” won the Sam Flax Award at the Georgia Watercolor Society National Exhibition!
I consider any award in a national show an honor!

. . . and WIN SOME!!!

Our local art group, Southeastern Indiana Art Guild, had its annual spring show on Saturday evening, a very well attended show. I thought that this year the art was much better over all. I think that speaks to the group as a whole – the artists are taking their work more seriously and many are showing improvement.

My painting “Engine 5901” took first place in the watercolor division and 2nd place overall – not too shabby!
I was very pleased to see that a former student took several awards and honorable mentions – and she has been painting less than a year! Girl’s got talent!!!
PHOTOS BY MIKE: Once again my personal photographer, chauffer and taste tester did a fine job with the photos – and with sampling every available foodstuff on the buffet tables!

ART SHOW OPENING

Friday night was the opening at Art Beyond Boundaries. It was an all women show and it turned out that I knew most of the artists, having met them at various art events. (I’m very good with faces but terrible with names, so it was a good thing we all wore name badges!)

As you can see from the photos we had a pretty good turn out and a few pieces sold (sadly, none of mine – yet???). The show will run through the end of May – so if you live in the area I suggest you go downtown to 1410 Main Street to view this eclectic and beautiful show – sculpture, acrylic, oil, casein, watercolor, fiber and drums!!

I saw some old friends and met some new friends – and had a great time!
Photos by Mike - who did a great job climbing above the fray to get the photos (even though he did not use the flash and only once remembered to “zoom” – but hey, it beats a blank!) His additional duties were chauffer, bodyguard, and premier buffet taste tester and food critic.

FRAMED!

What can I say – it grew on me! – finished and framed!
Peony Fantasy , 20x30, Fluid Acrylics on illustration board

Along with Blue Pitcher and Pears on Lace , 16x20, Fluid Acrylics on watercolor board – shipped and on it’s way to Georgia!

WIN SOME - LOSE MOST!

Recently I had entered a few national shows - got into Georgia, not the others. 
Disappointed? - a little.
Surprised? - not at all!
When I know I have a strong piece, I'll keep trying.
Having seen the art jurying process first hand, I know that it's possible my work was considered, that it came really close to getting in - but on that particular day - at that particular moment in time - with that particular judge - my painting was found lacking.
Some artists get really uptight if they don't get into the shows they enter, but - "Art" is so subjective - let's just say that I won't be papering my walls with any rejection notices!
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!

SHOWS AND AWARDS!

My thanks to Christiane Kingsley who presented this blog award to me a few days ago.  And, I'll go along with Ann Buckner's idea - to see who else I would pass this along to - it would be those artists I keep on my blog roll! 

Thanks again, Christiane!

And - thanks to Rhonda who also gave me this award a couple of days later!

                             

Last but not least:

My painting "Blue Pitcher and Pears on Lace" was chosen from 317 entries by juror, Judy Morris, to hang in the Georgia Watercolor Society 2010 Exhibition in Dawsonville, GA.

VIEWPOINT 2009 - GCWS PARTICIPANTS!

Here are some of the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Artists whose paintings were in the ViewPoint 2009 show. (Carolyn Hibbard, from my prior posting, is also a GCWS member).

First we have Rhonda Carpenter - who we all know and love! Rhonda is just below her beautiful watercolor painting of a macro hydrangea blossom "Am I Blue".

Next is Joan Miley by her watercolor painting "Veggie Copia".

Then we have Wynne Bittlinger by her watercolor painting "Guilty" - the lower painting of the dog.

And last, but certainly not least! - is Susan Grogan with her watercolor batik "Schwan" - the lower painting.

Not shown here are Bob Nowicki who won an award with his painting "Crossroads", an acrylic collage.

Kay Worz entered a watercolor "Guarded Moment", painted in her signature style.

And as mentioned - Carolyn Hibbard entered her watercolor "Bloomin' Beauties".

VIEWPOINT 2009

Well, the ViewPoint 2009 show has finally opened and will be open to the public the next two weekends - November 14-15 and November 21-22 from 2-5 p.m. at the Cincinnati Art Club.

The photo above shows a friend of mine, Carolyn Hibbard, receiving her award! A list of all of the awards can be found on the Cincinnati Art Club website - (just click here or on the link to the right side of my blog - then click on ViewPoint on the left side when you get to the website). That's me on the right with the paisley top - not too bad of a photo for a change! The person handing out the awards is Donnita Geary who was an unbelievable help throughout this process.

In case you are interested, I've also got a few photos of some of the process "behind the scenes" at a national art show!

Here we have my husband helping bring in the shipped works. Finally, a photo of him from behind - payback for all these years of him taking my photo from the back!

Then we have the crated works which were shipped - the farthest from Petersburg, Alaska, although one may have travelled more miles. That painting was mistakenly shipped to IDAHO before it made it's way to Cincinnati!

And I picked up a painting from UPS that turned out to be the 2nd place award winner!

The following photos show all of the works after they had been uncrated and all of the hand delivered paintings dropped off. Thank goodness I didn't have to hang them! That was the work of Sharon Saluga, Dave Klocke and Judy Clubb! And they did a marvelous job!

The opening on Friday night was well attended, and several of my friends won awards!

I'll have a short rest period now, and then have the whole procedure for next year!

This process proved to be alternately nerve wracking, exciting, frustrating and fun - and I got to meet many helpful, kind, interesting and talented people. Hopefully all will go well next year!

SIAG Art Show

Another show - last weekend! (This is my first chance to blog all week! - better late than never!) Those are my pears to the right of Steve in the photo above.

This is the Southeastern Indiana Art Guild show at the Lawrenceburg, IN library. The work is very good, overall, with a lot of mediums represented. This group has several shows a year and the local library always purchases at least one painting at each show. Unfortunately not mine!

If you live in the area get down to see this show - it is spread out on both levels of the library and will run through next Friday. And as a bonus - you can get a cup of "joe" at Hava Java coffee shop on the first level. Enjoy!

*Note - my work will only be there until sometime Wednesday - I have to take it down earlyTaking a rest - Sharon, Carolyn and friend (?) - 2 paintings behind chairs - Sharon's watercolor on left and Cindy's oil seascape on right.Paintings on main floor and 2nd floor - you can barely make out my trains upstairs!

Queen City Art Club Show Opening

Friday evening was the Queen City Art Club opening in Evendale. These photos don't represent the amount of people who came through - there were more! I just snapped when I had a chance so you could see some of the paintings. Obviously, more paintings were hung on the other sides of the room, as well as down the hallway.

In the top photo you can see the bookshelves where the smaller paintings were displayed, as well as some of the wood carvings. Other carvings were displayed around the room on platforms. We have 2 men who do wonderful carvings.

In the bottom photo you can see my large pink peony (how could you miss that!) and my agave just above the group of people.

Got to see some old friends and some new, and it made for a pleasant evening.

The show will hang at the Evendale Cultural Center until November 2 - hope you get a chance to stop by.

BETHESDA OPENING

This spring one of the local hospitals was in the process of renovating a building and they wanted to feature art from local artists in the facility, but didn’t know how to go about that. They contacted a well known local artist and she suggested a competition. I entered the competition - we were allowed to enter up to 3 paintings – and all of mine were chosen! The artwork will hang for one year unless it sells (hope springs eternal!)
The opening was Wednesday night. The facility is quite lovely and each of the dressing rooms has one piece of artwork. The rest is spread through the halls, reception and waiting areas and the common area and foyer.
Two of mine are hanging in one of the upstairs waiting rooms – it was cool to walk into the reception area, glance over and see them hanging! The other is in the hallway of the first floor ladies dressing room area.
There were several other works by more GCWS artists. Kept running into (literally – the place was crowded!) people I know and so had a very enjoyable evening.
It was so much fun walking through – original artwork behind each door! All sorts of media, all kinds of styles, all different sizes! Some of the works are already purchased, too!
Last week, one of my students called me to give me a heads up before the opening – she had just been there for her mammogram and was surprised to see my artwork on the wall! She then walked around the rest of the facility and said it was like being in a gallery!
That was their plan – to make what can be an unpleasant experience into a pleasant one via beautiful surroundings. I think they succeeded!

Here are a couple photos taken quickly during the evening - Mary Jo Cropper Family Breast Center, on the campus of Bethesda North Hospital - Grand Opening.

MY SHOW!

Must give a big thanks to my husband! He helped me hang my show at the FCN Bank in Harrison, OH as well as carry in my bin and card rack the evening of the reception. And he will also help me take it all down!

The reception was Thursday evening and I must admit I was a bit nervous - that no one would come! But, like my first solo show (if you offer food they will come!) some did come!

Had more of a turnout than I anticipated (in the 40+ range) – so at least it wasn’t just Mike and me sitting around! Mike asked the bank manager how the turnout compared to other openings and it was about “average”. The manager also said it depends on how many friends and family the artist has! Since I have a non-caring family and only a few friends, you can imagine my excitement at seeing real, live people walk in the door! Several came from the various art clubs, some from my classes and a few who saw it advertised or were just coming to the bank and saw it.

The bank provided a small buffet and a good friend came bearing a lovely bouquet!

I did make a few small sales, so basically I will consider it a success!