Thursday, August 19, 2021

I painted something

 A week from today I am going to take a class from a very good watercolorist who has his art in my gallery. So I will be ready for the day, I brought some paints to the gallery to warm up and practice, since it has been so long. After playing, I painted three little things, then cut to 5x5ish to fit in some batch frames that have been taking up space in my garage. I gave away two of them, and the third went in the trash. This one went to my bookkeeper when she visited today. I appreciate her so much, and today I appreciate her even more for taking it off my hands. The other one went to the neighbor who was painting with me. It felt good. 



Friday, July 16, 2021

Summer

A beautiful, pink blooming crepe myrtle against a blue sky. 



Sunday, July 4, 2021

Cave swallows

A month or so ago lots of birds were excitedly flying back and forth in the covered entrance to the apartments by the gallery. I found they were building a nest and starting a new family. All the birds took part! I took some pix, identified them as cave swallows, and enjoyed learning about them. Now the babies are growing and will soon be out on their own. These pix are the best I could get.




Sunday, June 27, 2021

My Studio

Back in Greenville, when much of my free time at home was spent in the back yard studying nature ala Thoreau and looking for tiny interesting things to photograph, I considered that special place to be my studio. Apparently since jumping into the painting wedge of the art circle in Wilmington, I have abandoned the concept of anything other than an actual room to be a studio. During the past week, my gallery and I hosted a plein air event. For strictly plein air painters who paint nature in nature, the outside world where most of their painting is done is their primary studio. 

I have not been posting to this blog because I don't paint much, and I had in mind it would be about painting. However, I consider painting to be a frustrating task put upon me by other people who expect me to paint. And I am not into show and tell. Some folks I know, many of whom are or have been art/painting teachers, immediately want to give feedback or correction upon glancing at an image of some sort, of anyone's, when they are not asked. As I am an emotionally secure person, I endure it kindly when I am the recipient of their knowledge, but it has taught me to appreciate and validate where other people are on their journey. After all, doing arty things should be therapeutic and pleasurable. It isn't life or death. 

So back to square one. Rather than neglecting this blog, I will use it to post something, anything, that I may see in the greater studio of my little world, especially around the Cape Fear River, for as long as I am here in the gallery. Seems like when I go out, there is always something interesting! 

Today along the river, a big cargo ship was either coming or going. I am curious about them, like where they are from, what they carry, if drugs are aboard, who works on the ship and what do they do, how it would be to travel on the high seas and then wind down a comparably narrow river to a port. The stories they could tell!



Thursday, May 20, 2021

How to start an art gallery.

When I had the opportunity to open an art gallery, I had no idea of what to do, and I soon found out there was nobody to teach me. 
But here is what I have learned in the past couple of years.
Your mission statement, your business plan, who you expect your customers to be, long term goals are of course good things to have in mind, but also consider these things. 
No two galleries are the same. Each is distinctive. Don’t try to make yours like anyone else’s. Be yourself. 
Do your business right. Make sure you are financially stable enough to handle it. Be responsible to the public and to the artists. Be trustworthy and on good terms with them. Build relationships in the art community and with your frequent visitors. Don’t procrastinate with anything. 
Don’t be overcome by emotions. Don’t take anything personally. 
Have enough knowledge to be able to answer any question about the art and the artist. 
Think of the gallery as your work of art. It must be balanced and cohesive like any single artwork. 
Be pleased when someone comes in to look. You are educating them. 
Don’t fall for money spending traps. There is a lot of promoting you can do that costs nothing. 
Keep things as simple as possible. There is always extra stuff to figure out. 
Get help/advisors because we do not know everything. But don’t let them take away your vision. 
You be you.