Dry Spell

Today is a rainy day. didn't bother to go into the city to see the Affordable art show. I wanted to go to see what it was all about. Thinking about renting a booth for the next show in the fall on 2013. Meanwhile am just sitting here watching TV, thinking I should be painting. Leroy Campbell goes to thrift shops and collects old frames which he buys liners for and creates a painting which relates to the frame. I didn't think about using liners for my paintings on wood. which I plan to do soon.

Art Inventory

How to keep an inventory of your art. The first thing I do is keep track of the paint I use in each painting. The reason I do this is so I know what colors to use if I ever have to match the paint. I use a cheap watercolor or drawing book as my pallet for this. In the book I put the size, the year and month I start working on the painting. When I finish the painting I put the month, year and name the painting. If I don't name the painting at that time I usually forget what I would have called it later. At some point during the creation of the painting I put an inventory number on the back of the painting and on its page in the pallet book. As I add new paint to the pallet I write the name of the color and the company at the end of my work session. This is how I know exactly what color was used, no need to guess. When the painting is finished I go to my inventory spreadsheet with the inventory number and name, there I add this information along with size, year, media, genre, location and calculate the price (formula discussed in Pricing without emotion, an earlier post). The painting is photograph, no signature, the jpeg is saved on my computer in a file depending on whether it is canvas, paper, board or wood. When the painting is completed and ready for exhibition or sale, I tag the back with the same information including the number. This way I can always identify the painting, I use to remember all of their names but not anymore. By the way the number is a combination of a letter and a 3 digit number followed by another letter (no letter means canvas, B means board, P means paper.) the letter indicates the year the painting was created, I figure that when I get to Z, I'll start with AA. The number indicates the number of paintings completed that year. For instance, H10, this year I am using H which is 2009, 10 is the tenth painting completed this year and no letter on the end means canvas.

Networking is cool

About three years ago I decided to attend a networking function for people in the financial industry(insurance, mortgages, banking...), I figure I would take my art where the money was or so I thought. I wind up meeting a lawyer who was an collector and curator for the New Jersey Law Center. Thinking I could interest him in my paintings I went over to talk to him. I gave him my card and showed him work on my palm pilot. He was interested alright but in a show for Black History Month at the Law Center. Disappointed I jumped at the opportunity, who knows what could happen. I sent him an email the next week, he responded with instruction of when, where and how. He suggested that I get in touch with him 2 months before February 2007, this was 2006. So the end of January 2007 I sent him an email. Meanwhile during the year I kept him apprised of all shows and activities I participated in. I get an email back starting with an apology so I knew the rest was bad news and it was. There seems to have been a miscommunication between him and the NJ Bar president who found another artist for the 2007 show. After a few emails and phone calls between the three of us we settled on the 2008 Black History show. The end of January I helped hang the February 2008 show. They provide everything, I just brought the work. It was quite a lovely space, we hung 11 medium and large paintings. About 50 people attended the reception, the food was delicious but no sales. I introduced new people to my work, who knows where it goes from there.

Dry spell

I haven't picked up a brush in two years. just lost interest. I think about it a lot but just haven't pickup the brush. I first thought that it was sorrow because I started losing my friends in 2010, four of them in a row. Just couldn't pick up a brush after that, tried a few drawings but so far nothing. Folks ask me why when I was a prolific painter and painted regularly. I have no answer, I just can't bring myself to do it. but I am starting to desire it again. Today I went to the MacKay Twins Art Salon and spent time with the artist who were represented there, Charley Parker and Leroy Campbell, they inspired me to get started again. we'll see, Tuesday is a free day for me next week, maybe I'LL PAINT AGAIN. What I'm afraid of is that I'll never paint again. Its something I use to love but right now, no interest. Sometimes I think about what to paint. Do I want to do something different, maybe a different style, maybe more figurative instead of abstract, or maybe landscapes? I am good with still lifes but they don't excite me at all, if its not abstract, I think is very boring. Last night I went to the Art Center of Northern NJ located in New Milford and saw Matisse crating the Rosary Chapel in Vence France. Talking to the guys and seeing this film got my juices flowing again. Maybe I should do more art activities. Act like I'm doing it and eventually I will.