Street art at the Pawleys Island Art Festival 9 '10

Once a year, the Georgetown Cultural Council sponsors a series of events which include drama,  music, dance, literature,  and of course visual arts. This year's series included a mini workshop on how to do chalk painting.

The event was held on the grounds of the historic Litchfield Plantation.

Some of the results were spectacular.

(Above) A Picasso like abstract 

(Below)  A photo realistic portrait

And of course some beach scenes

Attalaya Festival 2010

Huntington Beach State Park SC sponsors a an Arts and Crafts Fair once a year in the historic "Attalaya Castle" .

 

This year saw fewer visual artists, and more fine art crafts people .









Even so, the e quality of the art work was , as always, really high. And I did meet a fantastic pastel artist, named Greg Barnes who I hope to take a workshop from in the near future.

How do the pros do it and still find time to paint? 9 '10

I am constantly amazed by how much admin time is required by the business end of art.  I spent the whole day making labels for all of the paintings that will be going out in the next couple of weeks , Plus inventory lists to be signed by myself and the gallery, /show directors, plus there was a lot of running around to get prospectus and entry fees in on time.  etc etc etc,  Not too bad if its only one show, but I have four going in the next few weeks and 20 paintings.  I don't know how the pros do it. When do they find time to paint?  I need a wife!

Guild, Guild and More Guild meetings 9 '10

All of the low country  Art Guilds seem to go into hibernation throughout the heat of the summer.  Come September, every last one of them are in a race to make up for lost time.  This past week has been a series of seemingly non-stop meetings  about upcoming exhibitions, shows, training, workshops, and fund-raising events.  It's a bit exhausting, but a lot of fun as well.

The month started off with an exhibition at the Prevost Gallery/Rice museum which was  sponsored by the Georgetown Watercolor Society. This event was followed  by the group's monthly meeting ... a video training workshop watched in the luxury of leather arm chairs.

That same weekend the Charleston Art Guild held its jury-in process, then two days later its monthly members meeting.  About half of CAG's 400+ members showed up to vote on changes to the Guild by-laws,

 

and watch a demonstration of palette knife painting by artist, Jim Pratt.

The CAG  meeting wasn't all serious business..   We got a hilarious Chippendale- like demonstration of how the Guild's fund-raising calendar "Southern Exposures" was made.

 

Not to be outdone by the Charleston Guild's strip tease, the Waccamah Arist Craftsmen Guild's monthly meeting featured a wet t-shirt contest... AKA -  Acrylic Sand Resist  workshop.  What fun!

The Sea Coast Artist Guild also held a heavily attended  monthly meeting the same week .

Our speaker was  the art director of the Chapin Museum, who gave an enlightening presentation on how she creates exhibits . 

 who gave an enlightening presentation on  the history of the museum how she creates exhibits .

This group is very civic-minded , so almost half the meeting was taken up with upcoming fundraisers..  book sales, logo shirts, mini canvases to be sold at Christmas,and of course  a luncheon held the next day at a local pastaria.  Pass the vino , please!

The door prize was a painting completed on the spot by Barney Slice..

New canvas for Graffiti Artists 9 '10

Graffiti artists take note.. there's a new canvas available yo you...  My sister spotted this ad posted in Austin Tx:. ..

"Your face is your personal billboard; if it falls into disrepair, teenagers will be tempted to spray-paint it with mustaches. Stave off surly graffiterati with today's Groupon for eOs Dermatology and  Med Spa by Austin Regional Clinic. Choose between the following face-fortifying options..."  LOL

I'm now officially an Exhibiting Member of the Charlston Artist Guild

Hurrah!  I am soooo happy.  I have been officially upgraded to an Exhibiting member of the Charleston Artist Guild

It's been a long week /month.  I  belong to four different art guilds.  Beicoming a member of the guilds is easy... Just pay your dues,  But becoming accepted as an exhibiting artist in each of them, and putting things into each of their shows, requires an effort over and beyond what the wallet will buy.  The most difficult for me has been the Charleston Artists Guild.   Not only do  members have to pay their dues, be active in the organization, and attend the meetings, but they have to be accepted in  through a rigorous jurying process which only occurs twice a year. 


So???? you say... 

The catch is that all of the above takes place in Charleston which is a 75 mile drive ( one way.)  So this past week I put 150 miles on my car hauling three paintings down to the guilds gallery on a Sunday morning. I  had to drop three, original, framed paintings off between 9 and 9:30 am.  Then while the paintings were being judged on composition, brushwork, consitency of style, theme etc, I had to wait around for four hours in the heat to pick the paintings up again. 

Two days later I  make another 150 mile trip to  Charleston to attend the Guild's, first membership meeting of the year.

Then , after two days of nail biting wondering whether I would be accepted.....Hurray!  The acceptance letter just arrived.   I am so happy.

"So why all the bother?", you ask.

Answer:
(1)  Exposure:  The Guild's Gallery is right on the main tourist drag in the heart of the arts and historical district.  In addition they sponsor and participate in manyhighly visible art shows all around the city.
(2) Prestige:  Because they are picky about who can be an exhibitor, they have a reputation for high quality work, so just saying you are an exhibiting memebr improves my resume.
(3) Personal Growth:  They sponsor all sorts of lectures and workshops with well known instructors, and just there is much to be learned just hanging out with other high califber artists.
And (4) $$$ is always a consideration.  Just look at the prizes for an upcoming exhibition being help next month...

Awards:
People’s Choice (determined by public voting) - $500
Purchase Award - $1,800
Best in Show - $900
First Place - $400
Second Place    - $300
Third Place - $200
Honorable Mention (4 awards) - $50

Winning one of those ought to pay for the gas to Charleston and back.

Behind the scenes: Brushstrokes Exhibit at Prevost Gallery 9 '10

The Brushstrokes Water-media Exhibit at the Prevost Gallery was a huge success, but 'success', did not 'just happen'.  Both the museum gallery and the members of the Georgetown Water Color Society put a lot of work into this exhibition and it paid off.

First both  the Guild and the gallery sent out invitations to everyone we knew.   As a result, we had a huge turn-out and the gallery was packed. (Below)










Unlike a art competition where the shown work is an judged and prizes are awarded to the winning artists, this was an exhibition.Tickets for door prizes were handed out to the attending artists and guests. The Georgetown Water- media Society Janice Cowan drew the winning tickets for the door prizes of gift certificates for dinner for two at local restaurants (below). Needless to say one of our members had to solicit those door prizes.

Saying it was not a judged show,  doesn't mean there were not any requirements to get ones work into the show:

• Each member was allowed to only one entry
• The quality had to be sufficent to gain approval of the Prevost gallery director.
• The work had to be less than 30" in any dimension including the frame ( There's not a lot of wall space in the gallery).
• The work had to have been painted in the last year.
• The work could not have been shown before within Georgetown County.
• The work had to be for sale, and
• The  price had to be commensurate with the quality of the piece.
• The work had to be watermedia....  (This was the hardest requirement  for me to as I am primarily a oil painter.)

Someone then had to sort , arrange the entries, and hang.  Others had to help with the food service at the reception.  In short it tokk an all hands on deck approach to make the event successful.  What better way for a new artist to learn about the behind the scene activities  necessary for selling art, than to get involved in one of these local art events.

Brushstrokes Exhibit at Prevost Gallery a Big Success

The Brushstrokes Water-media Exhibit at the Prevost Gallery was a huge success.
Both the museum gallery and the members of the Georgetown Water Color Society had sent out invitations . We had a huge turn-out and the gallery was packed. ( Below)









Unlike a art competition where the shown work is an judged and prizes are awarded to the winning artists, this was an exhibition.Tickets for door prizes were handed out to the attending artists and guests. The Georgetown Water- media Society Janice Cowan drew the winning tickets for the door prizes of gift certificates for dinner for two at local restaurants (below).

That doesn't mean there were not any requirements to get into the show:

• Each member was allowed to only one entry
• The quality had to be sufficent to gain approval of the Prevost gallery director.
• The work had to be less than 30" in any dimension including the frame ( There's not a lot of wall space in the gallery).
• The work had to have been painted in the last year.
• The work could not have been shown before within Georgetown County.
• The work had to be for sale, and
• The  price had to be commensurate with the quality of the piece.
• The work had to be watermedia....  This was the hardest requirement  for me to as I am primarily a oil painter.
  

I entered a really vibrant acrylic painting of a egret on the marsh for which I received a lot of positive feedback

Georgetown Rice Museum 's: Brushstrokes Exhibit 9 '10

The Rice Museum, known locally as The Town Clock, is located in the Old Market Building and is a prominent symbol of Georgetown County. Through dioramas, maps, artifacts and other exhibits, visitors to the Museum are enlightened to the history of a society dependent on the rice crop. In 1750, George Town became the center of rice production in the South Carolina colony. By 1840, the Georgetown District (later County) produced nearly one-half of the total rice crop of the United States. The 1850s proved to be the most profitable decade for the rice planters. The Rice Museum chronicles this most important American time line and its impact on not only South Carolina, but internationally as well.

The Prevost Museum Gallery is located next door to the Town Clock in the Kaminski Hardware Building. The upstairs museum contains maritime and colonial artifacts from the rice production era.  The downstairs gallery and  gift shop is filled with high end antiques and  locally made decorator items.  In addition the downstairs gallery walls regularly sponsor low-country art exhibits and judged art shows . It is a major center for art and culture in the community.

This month I entered an acrylic on watercolor paper scene of an egret into the Prevost Gallery's Brushstrokes Exhibit..  While it  and exhibit, not a judged show, there were some serious per-requisites for entry.   I was pleased  just to be accepted into the exhibit.

Many of our friends and neighbors showed up for the reception

( above: Jim Sullivan and Noreen Sneed. Below: Noreen Sneed and the Blades)

My artwork drew a lot of positive comments during the receptions and I felt honored to be in such good company.

New Paintings at Island Art

I have several  new paintings on display at Island Art .