What's up this show season?

What do you think about this comment from Documounts blog,
This might be a better question to address to the folks at Art Fair Insider, but I will happily give you our opinion, which is based on what we are hearing from customers.
We are hearing that people have been having good sales with smaller items. For example 8×10’s and 11×14’s are often selling more than larger pieces Making sure that you have art at smaller price points makes it easier for people to splurge on themselves and also creates an easy and inexpensive gift for them to get for someone.
We have also heard from some clients who sell art with bright colors that they are doing well. We can only guess this is because people want something cheery these days and are drawn to that more than ever.
Personally, I am guessing art festivals will be just as busy this year because they are generally free to attend and more people may be looking for activities close to home. However, people may not buy in the amount that they have in the past. Making sure you have something for every price point will help.

New image

Here's a new image that I've included in a PowerPoint slide show of my architectural photos.

I call it "The Way Things Work" It's a conceptual architectural photo. We all work together to make the gears turn and to get things done. Sometimes, as in the bottom gear, we work behind the scenes. Several of the images in the slide show are on my Web site. This slide show puts them all in a neat package for the viewer with my artist's statement and contact information.

If you are a gallery owner, please contact me for the path to the slide show. I am planning to exhibit at art shows this summer, and I have an exhibition scheduled for December. I am looking for 2010 opportunities.

How Flowers Changed the World

How would you show that symbolically in a photo? A friend asked me what I thought. She's going to a workshop in April and has to create some photos that express this idea. She wants to do more than go to the Domes and take flower photos.

Flowers are used to express feelings in relationships; that's very important. Isn't there a famous photo from the sixties of a yellow daisy sticking out of the end of a gun? What do flowers symbolize? love, friendship, romance, peace, comfort; they make an environment smell better and feel homey. They might express hope as in a flower growing after a forest fire or in a war zone. These ideas are a bit cliche though. We can do better.

Now that I think of it. I used a plastic plant last year as a symbol of hope for the coming spring in a photo essay I did for my advanced photo class at UW-M. But that's not really relating to her subject.

How did flowers, so seemingly passive, cause a shift in the world? A flower might be a symbol for Jesus, Christianity or any religion. A flower might be seen as evil, a weed that has spread over the world, choking out native plants and aiding pollution.

Flowers are used in logos to show agriculture, green concerned organizations. Women love flowers. They come in every color. Florists Web sites would be able to tell you what certain flowers mean. Sunflowers are grown as a crop in Wisconsin.

Send in your brainstorming ideas, and I'll pass them along to her.

Facebook is Forever

Since I've become a member of Facebook, I keep seeing articles online and in the MJS about who owns graphics, etc. on Facebook. According to the user agreement we all agreed to, Facebook owns anything you post on its site. Alyson Stanfield cautioned me about this too, and recently I mentioned it to CoPA members who started a group site. The response, oh they've backed down because of members' complaints. I don't know about that. I would look at the user agreement and see if that has changed.

Here's another article about Facebook on MSN's Web site. I've posted a few photos on Facebook, most recently cat photos. I've decided that I'll post links on my Facebook page to my blog or Web site if I want to show my photos. And if someone wants to ignore copyright law and use the photo without paying for it, I'll keep the photos small. But that's another issue.

Here's an interesting photography site if you're looking for some great photos on a snowy day in Wisconsin.

Magic Pop Art Petrait

Intrigued?

Here is the photo of my cat Magic. She is a very smart, strong little cat. In just a little while (we acquired her from Second Hand Purrs on January 3, 2009) she has become quite doted upon member of our household.

As promised, I did a Pop Art Petrait of her using this photo. I like the one on the right the best where I made her eyes 2 colors. She's squinting at me. Not quite sure what the lady with the camera is doing.

She's a cutie! The Petrait is fun and colorful and comes ready to hang on your wall.

I've joined a new gallery

Art & Soul Gallery on 57th and Vliet has accepted a few pieces. I'm pleased to join this long time local gallery. I will be adding more pieces in April for the next gallery night.

Exploring Wisconsin

These last few days have been good to me. I welcome the warmer weather and the chance to break out of my cocoon. I enjoy jumping in the car with my camera equipment and just exploring; taking the back roads and just looking around. My daughter, from a young age, saw a lot of the state this way. Our road trips were partly for me and part education for her.

I was reading the most recent issue of Oprah magazine, something I seldom do, and it listed four types of personalities: the explorer, the negotiator, the dictator and the builder. I fall into the explorer category. Ready to climb the next hill to see what's on the other side, I take my camera along to capture the discovery. I've been exploring Wisconsin and photography for many years. I plan to keep on doing it. I'm not bored yet. This is my way of stopping to smell the roses.

Night Shadows is a good example of this trait. I was walking at night with my daughter on the UW-Madison campus when I saw this shot. No tripod, I put my camera on a low wall near this scene. The tilt to the camera adds to the composition. I usually don't include people in my images either. It's one of my favorite new shots.

Take the test. What type are you? Let me know in this blog.

Art Crawl Tomorrow

Menomonee Falls is having it's first art crawl and chilly fest tomorrow. The Purloin Studio, where I have several pieces, will be participating in this event. I am also a featured artist of the month. You can see the card that I designed on the home page of my Web site. It has all the details such as time, some of the art, and other activities.

Are you going to attend? Let me know.

Valentine's Day Gift Certificate

It's not too late to get a gift certificate for a Pop Art Petrait, photo class or fine art photo. Two days to process and deliver/mail is possible. Call or e-mail and I will take your credit card information, fill out the certificate and send it off.

Underwood Foundation Photo Exhibit Puts You in Your Place

Why is there so much suffering in the world? You might have been late for work today or your kid is sick with the flu and you’re thinking why me? Maybe you don’t even have a job anymore. Whatever might not be right with your world, you got it great compared to the exhibit I viewed this weekend.at Alverno College.

The Underwood Foundation Photography Exhibit, which runs until Feb. 22, will put you in your place. Thom Feroah, Larry D’Attilio and Robb Quinn photographed the inhabitants of three different third world countries to create a stark, yet beautiful, example of how to use photographs to tell a story. Robb photographed people in all stages of AIDS in Uganda. The first photo’s impact of unfinished wooden coffins in slum conditions is powerful.

Larry photographed women in northern Vietnam who were part of a micro loan program. In his artist’s statement he asks, Conflict is the result of people feeling trapped by their circumstances. But what if we empower them to change their circumstances and become committed to social stability?

Thom did portraits of prostitutes in Namibia. How many people reading this even know where that is? Africa somewhere, would be the reply. It’s actually on the south end of the continent, next to Botswana. His portraits told about the women who sell themselves to put food on the table. He doesn’t romanticize their work, but they have no other skills or way to make a living.

The mission of their Underwood Foundation is to create photo essays that document health care and other humanitarian efforts around the world. They also support the development of humanitarian principles of artists and their work. And plan to develop a collection of fine art photography for loan that reflects the guiding principles of the foundation.

I know the exhibitors through CoPA, the Coalition of Photographic Arts. They are all excellent photographers and have been exhibiting their work for many years. The Underwood Foundation involves several CoPA members and sprung from that association.

The one criticism I had with the exhibit was the space at Alverno. It was too small. Photos were stacked on top of each other without frames on black boards. Paragraphs describing the work were difficult to read. I would recommend a larger space or a paring down the images displayed. Also maps of the areas mentioned would help describe where these photos originated. Maybe even arts and crafts of the workers.

The Underwood Foundation Web site is http://www.theunderwoodfoundation.org. The Alverno Art & Cultures Gallery’s hours are Wed. – Sun 12-5 p.m. and Thurs. 12-7 p.m. Non-college weekends the hours are Sat 12-4 p.m. and closed on Sunday.

Racine Starving Artist Art Show

In a major change this year, the Racine Starving Artist Art Show has decided to begin jurying everyone. In the past, once you were juried in, you didn't need to rejury. I applaud this move. It will only make this show that I have attended for many years stronger.

I try to avoid negative comments in this blog, but I have one. While at the show last year, an older woman with friends walked into my booth. She must have been on the art show committee because she said to her friends, we are trying to discourage digital work in this show.

My daughter heard this comment and turned to me with a stunned look on her face. How rude could you be! Maybe it's not your style of art, but my sales indicated that buyers found value in it. Most photographers are digital these days. This woman's lack of understanding represents an unwillingness to accept something new and creative that is the core of what ART is.

Oops, sorry

I have been talking about a gallery called Light Impressions. It's actually called Light Ideas. It's open off and on so if you decide to go, call ahead.

Madison abstract photo

I visited Madison this weekend. It was beautiful! One of the best weekends so far this new year.

My mother and I went to the orchid show at the Alliant Center, which I haven't been to in many years. While she was inside looking one last time, I found some interesting abstracts (right).

This photo fits right in with the new direction of my photography. This is the year of Wisconsin architectural photography. I can see this image on a large canvas hanging in someone's office or condo.

It has very strong elements in it. Composition and lighting create a photo that is pleasing to the eye. I am especially interested in geometric shapes and plan to pursue this in future shoots.