Parts of Art

       Until further notice I am away from the jewelry work table and into the woods. And by that I mean full tilt immersed in the series I started last year, entitled “Of the Woods”.  Here’s a little preview of my time in the woods.        My goal all along has been to show in the category of Mixed Media Collage for the 2020 art fair season. Of course it’s only January of 2020, and way too cold to even think about being in shows. However, that being said, NOW is the time to prepare for those shows.      To be in line for  juried art fairs means having four or five professional jury images, a carefully written artist statement, and a booth shot that shows the body of work as it will appear under the customary white tent at a show.      That brings me to my latest accomplishment, the booth image.  Because I am entering a new category, I needed a new booth image that shows my serie...

I am very excited to announce that I have recently become the chairman of this great local favorite art  festival  :      Monument Circle Art Fair 2020 will be the sixth art fair held on the beautiful Soldiers and Sailors Circle Monument in downtown Indianapolis.    Six years ago, an artist who worked in the downtown area of Indianapolis stopped for coffee across from the Monument Circle on her way home. She looked at the monument and began to envision an art festival around its base.  One day she decided to make her vision a reality and got to work. The Monument Circle Art Fair is the result of her vision.         This past year that woman passed the torch on to me. I have been participating in the show each year as a jewelry artist, and have a great desire to see this event continue and flourish. I want the Monument Circle Art Fair to become a momentous event for our community.    ...

I wrote this on the back of an envelope at my last show: I’m sitting in my new white tent, four hours from my peaceful country studio.  It’s raining. Again.  And this time I’m too far away from my studio to spend yet another rainy afternoon there.  Which brings me to the age old question: Why am I here?  And, more importantly, What does it take to keep getting here?  So here’s my four part answer to the question about what it takes, which I believe also answers why am I here.  Show up Maybe once or twice in my 30 plus years of doing art shows I have experienced the perfect show. Perfect weather both days. Perfect location, lots of customers who bought exactly what I made for  them without questioning whether I had it in orange  (I don’t) or if I am from here (I’m not) or if I teach classes (nope). Other than those two perfect shows (which I actually may have fabricated in my memory) all other events have been a ...

Getting into shows is one thing, getting to shows is quite another. So how do you get to shows?       It does take some kind of large cargo space on wheels to accommodate everything needed for an outdoor art show. The artist, after all, is responsible to bring their tent, inventory, props, tables, shelves, displays, lighting and anything else needed to make the booth into a veritable outdoor gallery. In my years of doing shows I have seen people pull up in vans, pick ups, mini vans, step vans, buses, mobile homes, and UHauls of all sizes.        I have also used many of the above mentioned transports to get there. The best transport of all, however, I have used for the past 7 years, ever since my father passed away and left me his sporty  bright yellow Chevy Cobalt.     When I first inherited this little gem of a car, I was still using my husbands old jeep to get there. Obviously, one look at the Chevy would tell you there wa...

  It was 2001 and I was participating in a juried art show in DelRay Beach, Florida. I had stepped away from my booth for a few minutes, and when I came back was surprised to see a woman in my booth. With her face about five inches from the displayed jewelry pieces,  she was closely inspecting them!  Undaunted, I greeted her and then started in on the usual explanation of my work. I peel the dried paint from the palette and transform it into jewelry. After a moment of listening, she said, “I can tell they’re made from paint, because I make paint.”             At first I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly. Up to now, I had never met anyone who makes paint!  But then she introduced herself to me: she was Barbara Golden. Okay, Barbara Golden of Golden Paints?!?! OMG! I had a celebrity in my booth, at least a celebrity in my world! I mean, Golden Paints was only the biggest name in professional artist acrylics!  ...

       I had taken a one year break from doing shows, and was ready to re-enter the arena. Living at the time in northern Florida, the intent was to find juried art shows within a 200 mile radius. This one looked promising, and was within 2 hours of home. I filled out the paperwork, got accepted, and packed my van.    The day before the show I was talking to a friend who, as it turns out, is from that very town. He proceeded to tell me in a very colorful way that nothing good ever happens there, and that it’s the most unlikely place to have an art show. They were not very encouraging words, and they definitely put a damper on my mental state. But hey, I’d already gotten accepted in the show and reserved my hotel. Hell, my van was already packed! I was going.       Upon arrival it was a warm Spring day and the venue was a well manicured park on a lake. It was indeed a beautiful setting, and the feeling was p...

      Years ago when I was new to the art show circuit,  there was a local arts and crafts show in which I participated.  All set up and waiting for the inevitable crowds of customers to come,  I started conversing with my neighboring artist.     “You really should do this one show I just did last month,” she said,  “Your work is great and you would probably sell out!”        Now that I’m a seasoned vet of art shows, there are certain phrases that make me run as fast as I can in the opposite direction.  “You will probably sell out” is one of them. I mean, how do they know that I would probably sell out, and why would I even want to sell out?  That day, however,  the words of that well-meaning woman caught my interest.        "You have to set up the night before, because people will come out early to shop." she said. "There is not much for people to do in this area, so people...

To my loyal followers and future fans, here is where you can find me in the coming weeks.  After surviving strong wind gusts and damp chilly air in Palmer Park last weekend, I am happy to report that my booth as well as my inventory is intact and ready to do it again! I hope to see you soon at one of these venues:  May 20th          Brick Street Market, Zionsville IN June 3 & 4        Butchertown Art Fair, Louisville KY June 17 &18     Talbot Street Art Fair, Indianapolis (waitlist) July 7 -9           Art in the Park, Ft Wayne In  July 29 & 30      Glenview Art Fair, Glenview IL August 11-13     Salt Fork Art Festival (waitlist) Sept. 16 &17     Park Forest Art Fair, Park Forest, IL  Sept. 22- 24       Funky Ferndale, Ferndale, MI Oct. 7               Monument Circ...

    This year I decided to come up with some new show pieces so I could have exciting, attention grabbing jury images. With this goal in mind I sketched, designed, tweeked and re-drew on paper till I was sure I had a strong look.  Then I assembled the pieces using my chosen materials:  dried paint films, leather, jasper, epoxy clay, handmade papers and canvas. One of the pieces I came up with was this one.       At work in my studio, I squirrel away for hours on end and come up with a plethora of crazy jewelry pieces. Sometimes at the end of the day I look at what I have made and think to myself " OMG who would wear that?! What was I thinking? Am I crazy?"  (I am, after all, an artist with an on-going internal dialogue and at times I need to tell it to shut up!) The funny thing is, when I go to a show, and put those pieces out, someone comes along that is the perfect fit for the piece. It's like I made it just for her before we ...

     I went to the Broad Ripple Art Fair Open Jury in Indianapolis in February. I got to be a "fly on the wall," watching five judges as they decided the fate of 539 artists that had applied for the show.    Because I am a jewelry artist who participates in juried art shows, and because the jury process has always been dark and mysterious to me, I decided to attend. It was a show to which I had applied, located an hour from my home, and an invitation had been emailed to all applicants.      When I got there they were finishing up in the photography category. It was in a conference room with a large screen in the front, where the digital images were projected. The five judges sat at two long tables in the front row. Each judge had a laptop in front of them, seeing the same images that were being projected on the large screen. As they viewed the images - all three plus a booth image, the narrator read out loud the artist statement. There is v...

   Several years ago I was participating in an art show in Delray Beach Florida. What I sell is jewelry which I make from the dried acrylic paint from the artist palette.  During the show, a woman walked into my booth and was studying my jewelry pieces. I mean, really inspecting them more closely than the typical customer. I started to share with her my story, how I start with the palette and go from there.  She listened, then said “Yes, I can tell they’re made from paint. I make paint.” Well at first I wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly, not having ever met anyone who makes paint. Then she introduced herself. “I’m Barbara Golden.” To me this was akin to meeting a Hollywood star! I had a celebrity in my art booth! She went on to tell me about some of the more interesting and unusual applications artists have found for Golden Paints.  She later came back to my booth and we had a delightful conversation about ...

      So what do you do when you are an artist and you find yourself away from your work, your home, your husband, your cats and your art studio for several weeks because you are called upon to care for a loved one who is recovering from surgery? When you are not making money or going to work, but being a caregiver for someone you dearly love, someone who is not in a dire life and death state, but who needs you all the same. 5 things to do while care - giving 1. Be the best caregiver you can be. Everything else can and will wait. Being the best means getting enough calories, sleep, and exercise so you can give of yourself. And lots of coffee.  2. Re-discover blogging. Need ideas?  Here's enough to keep you blogging til the cows come home: http://thecolorist.blogspot.com/2011/09/101-artists-blog-topics.html 3. Spend time drawing every day. Drawing could be doodling while on the phone, doing quick sketches for that collage you've always wanted t...