Radical.

Dude. totally radical. I think radical needs to make a comeback. Ok. Maybe not.

Anyway, I got a really exciting note in my "real" mail yesterday, along with a nice check, from Kari at PaperCuts and Gluesticks Gallery. She asked if I would like to have a solo show in her gallery!!!
I was going to post it in my blog yesterday, but I thought I would e-mail her first, just to see if it was really true. She e-mailed me this morning to say yes! She also let me know that The Plain Dealer Newspaper in Cleveland interviewed her yesterday about her gallery, and that is looks as though they might include some of my work!! yay for us!! So I am really excited about that, and I think I freaked Chloe out a bit with my 20 minute happy dance.
This is going to be my first solo show in a "real" gallery!
Don't get me wrong. I love showing in coffee places and with other artists in group shows, but this is different. I am already starting to plan my outfit for the opening...

Also, I made my 100th sale on Etsy yesterday. I am officially a rock star.

My block print is almost done. I am hoping to print it today, by hand. No press, but I am still hoping to sneak into the Cranbrook print department and use theirs. I hear that no one on the department even uses the presses anymore, and a few years ago the former print instructor demanded that all but two presses be taken out side and left to rust because he claimed print was dead. How sad.

Speaking of print...I am going to be working one night at Utrecht to help with their inventory. Meaning that I will now get the Utrecht discount, meaning that I can afford to buy my screen printing supplies. Yay! I have a lot of ideas, now I just need the materials.

Panels are made and ready to get some gesso, paper, and paint on them. These ones are extra special. You will see, when I am done with them, just what I am talking about. It's cool. Trust me.

So that's that. Hope everyone is having a lovely Friday afternoon.

p.s. I am officially going to NYC in May. :)
Details to follow soon. eeee!

To Reproduce or Not Reproduce. Prints not Kids.

Wow!
Thanks for all the great feedback people.
I really appreciate it.

I am still conflicted about the whole thing. I mean, I realize that my paintings are affordable right now, and I also know that I am really under pricing them. But, and that's a big but, I am not so sure that people on Etsy would really buy them if they were priced any higher. That is the biggest draw back to selling on Etsy. People want to buy things that are well made and pretty, but also within their budget. I can't really blame them.I try to price things with the idea that if they sold in a gallery that gallery would take anywhere from 30-50%. So if I sold a painting in a gallery for a hundred dollars, I'd sell that same painting on Etsy for 50.00 or 60.00.

I guess you could look at it as everyone should be able to afford art...

OK, the other thing that is drawing me more towards prints is that frankly I really could use some money. I know I know, what an awful thing to say when I comes to art and being an artist. I should be scrounging around for change in the sofa to just so I can buy some bread a some cheap wine because that's how "real" artists do it. Rauschenburgh was so broke living in New York that he couldn't afford to buy canvas anymore, but was so desperate to make art that he used his own bedspread. Yeah. Sorry peeps that's not me. I am pretty partial to my bedspread, as well as my couch cushions and rugs. I like to have clean clothes, and although nothing seems very appetizing to me these days, (no I am not pregnant, it's a cumulation of nerves and worry)I still like a good meal in my stomach. Besides I am much more of a micro-beer girl! But I just might be reliving my Pabst days in the not to far future...

Also, I estimate that I have created a little over a hundred paintings since November and I am feeling quite burnt out. I need a break, but taking a break means no money and financially that doesn't work for me. So yeah.

I did try to get a job here too. It is so hard though. I turned in over 30 resumes. I even interviewed twice for the same job I had in Portland but they told me that I didn't have enough experience. I am not kidding. I wish I was. That was my last hope. I mean, if I can't get a job doing easy retail management what am I going to do here? And to be perfectly honest, I think I would rather eat Ramen and Mac n' Cheese every night before I work retail again. I think I am totally going to regret saying that later on in my life...

I might be getting a job on campus in the photo lab, but the woman running it didn't seem to like the idea that I have class Monday and Tuesday nights, so we'll see.

Anyway, I think that what I might do is order a couple of prints, see how they do and go from there. At least until I can get a nice body of originals done so that I can have a full shop again. I have this show coming up in Portland so I need to start working on that too, so it might be awhile until I can get things up and running again.

Thanks again for all the great feedback. I really appreciate it. Any more comments are much appreciated.

I Should be Working

I just want to veg out today.
Chloe is taking a nap under my chair and I want to join her, but I can't.
I need to get homework and painting done.

I have been seriously contemplating making prints of my work and selling them on Etsy. I've done it for my more expensive paintings, and they do seem to sell well. It's just a matter of how I really feel about it. I think one of the great things about my work is that it's original, and if I start making prints, they won't be as unique. On the other hand, I think they would sell really well, and with no job prospects in view, it might not be a bad idea.

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions about this?
It's something that I have really been putting serious thought into.

We got 5 inches of snow last night. I think I might just becoming a pro at driving in it.
Seriously no roads were plowed last night or this morning. I absolutely hate driving in snow. Ahhh only a few more months. I can't wait until I visit San Diego in March.

Finally!

So we finally found out why Chloe has been having tummy issues.
It turns out that she Girardia!
It's a parasite, nothing to horrible, and it's totally treatable. So, that was good to hear.

Um...I have been working hard on the group show that I will be a part of in December at the DDP gallery in Arkasas, and I have also been working on some pieces for the Nectar Boutique. I am more than half way done on the 20 or so pieces that need to be competed by the end of the week. I love working small. It's so quick and easy.

I am also working on some new pieces for my Etsy shop. I didn't think that I would really be selling all that many paintings and now I am beginning to wonder if I should have done more to prepare myself for the "holiday shopping." I just didn't really think people would be interested in purchasing art for gifts...
I am contemplating turning some of my original paintings into giclee prints. The prints that I had of the Steel Bridge, and the Grain Tower didn't sell to quickly, but I am wondering if some of my more recent work, like the paintings that I had at Stumptown would sell. I still don;t really know how I feel about selling reproductions of my work either. I just feel that my work should be more about the work itself, and not about making money. However, making some money would be pretty awesome right about now.

Ok, it's movie time.