Hi everyone,
I’ve been busy working in my studio this afternoon finished paintings and going through them to figure out which ones I will submit to shows. Since the first of the year, I have already submitted to four shows. The applications for a lot of the shows are about 6 months in advance. I pencil the shows in on the calendar so that I don’t double book, but it is always a quandary. You try to make a schedule, but you don’t know anything for sure until you get the notification back whether your paintings are accepted to a show or not. Or, if you got into a plein air event that you had been hoping for.
This is just the start. There are several more shows coming up to submit to, OPA, Scottsdale Salon, and some plein air events. I just sent my app in for Salon International, Outdoor Painters Society and a couple of plein air shows. I did get in the mail an invitation to participate in the Southeast Plein Air Festival in Alabama again this year. The date of the show is earlier this year and will interfere with another show that I am hoping to get into. So, I will have to decline going to AL.
I posted on facebook some of the paintings that I finished today and photographed. I thought I would save one of them to submit to OPA. It is interesting to see what the reaction to the paintings is. The one that I thought I would submit actually got the most reaction, so I will set it aside and probably send it in. The featured painting in this post is the one that I posted on facebook. I haven’t titled it yet. It is 16″x20″.
Aside from the scheduling of the shows, the cost really adds up. It varies from about $40 to $90 for each show. Then there is the shipping of the paintings. I sold several of my paintings at the shows last year, which is really good. I figure I came out a little bit ahead, but not much. The real advantage in entering the shows is advertising. It is one more avenue to get my name out there. And, another aside is that I have picked up galleries by doing the national shows. When I’ve gone to the shows, it’s all about networking. All of it is a part of gaining exposure , opportunities, and building a reputation.
My blogpost on Art Workshops Online is about painting blue skies, the variety of colors to use when painting seemingly one color. More on the post.
Becky Joy
beckyjoy@beckyjoy.com