1 week until Ogden

Only one week until Ogden. I’m hoping to get sell some paintings even though I’m going for photography. I have new pictures to add to my website soon too. It’s all coming together. But, if you have your eye on one of my paintings, you better make me an offer quick. It might be gone next week! Consider this far warning. You certainly don’t want a piece that you want to own hanging on someone else’s wall, do you.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I do consider offers on my art and will also make payment arrangements if needed. Simply send me an e-mail. It’s easy to do business with me. Like you, I don’t like businesses that give me a hassle, so I’m certainly not going to operate like that. Life’s meant to be fun, not stressful. Surround yourself with things you enjoy and you’ll be happier for it. It’s that simple.

Bigger prints for Ogden

I have a surprise for all you going to see me in Ogden. I’ve found a local printer who can do larger sizes than I provide. Yippee! They can also do odd sizes like the sunset picture I have on this very blog. There’s also another sunset picture I have with the moon and venus that I’m going to have them print up for me. Here, I’ll post a look for you:

There’s also a version that has a bit more purple in it.

So, what do you do if you want a picture but don’t live near Ogden, Utah? Simple! Send me an e-mail and let me know you’d to order a print. I’ll be glad to answer any questions you have.

Getting ready for upcoming events

I’ve spent a large part of the weekend getting ready for the Ogden Arts Festival on 25th Street in Ogden, Utah, coming up on June 13th. I’ve been making some booth modifications and wanted to try them out. At this moment, I think it’ll go well. Or so I’m hoping. As we were folding the canopy back up, we discovered one of the trusses was broken. I’m a little nervous about the fix.

I’m sure that the truss was broken last year when we did the North Ogden Arts Festival. During the last 20 minutes, I went for a walk around the park to see what the other artists had. 5 minutes later a wind started kicking up. Of course, once I was clear across the park, the wind really started gusting. I decided to go back and was nearly hit by a canopy that went sailing through the air. After helping to catch the runaway, I looked up to see my booth toppled. A strangling fear took me as I wondered if my son was under that. As I ran towards my booth, I saw one of the volunteers trying to get it up. The whole park was in chaos. As I arrived at my booth, I saw my son safe and carrying back an armload of art he’d caught. We packed up as quickly as we could. Everyone was helping everyone else. The volunteers putting on the event kept coming by asking if we needed help – they were doing a great job of being where they were needed. I found out later that my son hadn’t been under the canopy when it flipped because he’d gone off chasing a piece he thought was mine but actually belonged to a photographer next to me. The canopy went in easily enough and didn’t look too mangled, so I thought all was fine. Two of my canvases were ruined and a couple more pieces on paper, but really a small price to pay knowing my son was okay. Best of all, we went back to our tent trailer and had carrot cake at 2 a.m. when the wind woke us both up. I think carrot cake is going to be an Ogden tradition now. Don’t be surprised if you stop by my booth and find slices of carrot cake nearby!

Tree Stories?

Tree Stories? What’s up with that?

I know I’ve had several people wondering what exactly the Tree Stories in my newsletter would be about. Let me start with a little background.

When I was doing my daily eBay auctions, I had a little story at the end of the auction. I know I had quite a few people following each day to see what the story would be about. Several of my collectors wrote to me and told me they enjoyed my mountain stories in particular.

These days it’s been hard to find time to do the eBay auctions like I use to. It’s something I’d like to get back to. However, in the meanwhile I’ve decided to return to telling these short stories for my collectors and newsletter readers. I did decide to be a little more specific though. Since my paintings are inspired by trees and what they bring to our lives (or that’s what my art had started out as, I’ve gotten away from, and I plan to return to), I decided to tell Tree Stories which highlight important trees I’ve had in my life. Important trees? I know it sounds strange, but it’s oh so true. I have great memories surrounding trees. That’s why I’d decided to paint them and learn more about them. Yes, I’ve gotten away from it and I hope that by telling Tree Stories in my monthly newsletter that I will refind my original focus. Some stories will be from my childhood, growing up in a small town. Others will be about how I found the trees that show up in my paintings and photographs.

I hope this has whet your appetite to read the Tree Stories. You will only find them in my newsletter. Head on over to my website www.morningskystudios.com to get your free subscription.

Art Newsletter

I’m getting ready to send out my free e-mail newsletter. It took me awhile to figure out what to put in it, but once it was decided on then the newsletter was a lot of fun to put together.

This month I decided to write about the new direction my art’s taken in the last year. Get the inside story on my new paintings. Also see my upcoming schedule, who I’ve picked for my showcase artist of the month, read the “Tree Story,” and get special pricing on newer artwork. There’s so much here you’ll want to start at the beginning and never miss an edition.

Sign up for your copy on my website www.morningskystudios.com.

Shouting in the wind

My son has a Wolverine walkie-talkie. Somewhere, he also has a Spiderman counterpart. Several times a week, he picks up Wolverine, turns it on and calls against the static, “Spiderman, come in Spiderman” as though someday the lost Spiderman will answer back and reveal his location. Tonight, I added even more by saying, “Web-boy, Web-boy, Nails here. Come in Web-boy. Nails wants to talk to you.” At first, I got a glare, until I started to laugh, then my son laughed with me. It’s good like that.

I’ve just gotten a copy of I’d Rather Be In the Studio by Alyson Stanfield and started reading it. So far, I have to say that it’s really good.

Now you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this and how these two things relate together. Well, here I am reading a book about self-promotion and teasing my son about calling out to dead air. It seems like everyone now days has something they are trying to sell or promote. Ads abound everwhere saying that advertising during a recession pays off. On and on it goes. With everyone, especially on the Internet, shouting “LOOK AT ME!” is anyone getting anywhere or are we just shouting into the wind? Don’t get me wrong. I’ve made a lot of great friends on the Internet. I’ve reconnected with some I’ve lost.  I enjoy my Twitter and Facebook family – people I don’t even know telling me about their lives each day. For someone like me who enjoys sitting back and watching how people do things, it’s great.

But in the end, after we’ve spent all day talking about what we’ve been doing and reading what everyone else has done, have we really added value to the world? Or have we just wasted our time? Is directing traffic to this website or that really functional? I have to wonder if we are just learning to settle down into our new little villages. If you stop and think about it, a little over 100 years ago the whole town knew that Bob ran the grocery store where farmer Sam sold his eggs. Everyone in town was friends with Bob and Sam. Bob didn’t stand outside and shout, “I’m Bob. Come check out my store.” and Sam didn’t ring the cowbell as he delievered his eggs to Bob’s store and yell, “Fresh eggs, going right now to be sold. Come one, come all to Bob’s store.” Not to say that they didn’t do their own advertising, but just that it was different.

What do you think? Is social networking a good thing, or are we just giving the Internet a hoarse throat?

Newsletter coming

On my website, there’s a new box set up for collectors, art lovers, and anyone else’s interested to sign up for my free newsletter. What’s going to be in it?

In the interest of keeping it short and sweet, I plan on having one main article, a showcase of new art before it hits my website, a couple good quotes I’ve discovered during the month, and other artists the readers might be interested in. Every month I come across so many artists that I find fascinating and I really want to share them.

Well, that’s the plan right now. More might be added. I think it’s time I really sit down and clarify my intentions. Some times I feel so focused and other times I feel scattered in a hundred directions. While my blog is pretty much a jam session of whatever’s on my mind at the moment, the main article in the newsletter will have more relevant content.  Oh, there will also be special reader only specials, so you need to sign up to be in on them.

Go now. What are you waiting for?

Tah-tah for now.

A Moment to Laugh

Over the weekend, I gained a new fan on Facebook. She left me a great comment saying that she was looking for a cousin, but got inspiration from a wanna-be artist. Now mind you, I don’t take it as a slight at all and I hope she reconnects with her cousing. Yet it very quickly reminded me that I have to be more confident in who I am. Yes, I did look like a wanna-be artist. I probably put that face on more than I want to because I don’t like boasting and bragging. However, am I wrong in keeping the story straight?

When I first started showing off my paintings and drawings, I felt so strange because I hadn’t grown up with art. I’d been a writer. As I’ve stated on this blog before, it felt strange, like a betrayal because I’d moved from writing to visual arts. I stretched out to other visual artists asking if I was an artist. What I realized was that I had always been and still was an artist even if I had changed my medium.

More recently, I’ve questioned my level. I’m never as good as I want to be. Yet, I look at art that is “gallery quality” and I regain a certain perspective. I am trying to build a quality art career. Every artist has to follow what they believe in. I hope that I never see myself as a good artist. I want to keep growing and challenging myself for if I stopped it would become mundane. Who wants a mundane career? I want collectors to see me as a great artist with quality artwork, but I never want to stop learning. Because I’m not there, does that make me a wanna-be artist?

Here’s my theory. It’s not new; more recently I’ve read the same thoughts from Julia Cameron. A writer writes. A painter paints. A wanna-be writer or painter sits and watches tv rather than writing or painting. A wanna-be musician only listens to the music in his head other than getting it down on paper. The wanna-be is not developing a career. I’m reminded of a quote by Cay Lang which goes something to the effect of: “You are either painting or you are obsessing about the fact you aren’t painting. You choose. ” To me, that’s the difference between the doer and the wanna-be: doing or obsessing.

For the record, I have collectors of my artwork throughout the US, especially back east, then along the western coastline. Last year, I sold my first work internationally. I may not be able to work on my career everyday, but I do hope to get there someday (so I guess technically that makes me a wanna-be full-time artist). Still, I’ll spend every moment I have working on quality product and getting better. I hope you’ll see something you like to purchase and support me on my quest.

And to my new Facebook fan, thanks for joining and thanks for giving me something to write about as well as setting me back on track.

Montana Memories painting

Yesterday in my Work in Process album on Facebook, I started showing photos from my new Montana Memories painting. Below is the reference photo I took while in Montana.

 

I like the fence in the picture, well the thought of a fence in the picture, but I’m going to have to change it since this one doesn’t stand out. I also want some of the smaller forefront trees to be red to catch the eye. Other than that, I hope this painting works out. The last time I tried to paint from one of my reference pictures it didn’t turn out. However, I’ve learned a lot since then and come a long way as an artist so I’m going to try this again.

Until next time….

New painting for sale

 

Overgrown Path

About This Painting: Dense bushes, trees and wild flowers push their way out onto the winding path. A flowering vine makes its way up the skeletal branches of a dead tree. Life is reaching higher. It wants to be more, to overcome.

Media: acrylic

Size: 11×14 picture size, though it comes with a 16×20 matte

Price: $110.00  for the painting and matte, $145.00  if you’d like it framed and ready to hang. Shipping costs included in total.

How to Purchase: Please visit my website. Click the Paintings link on the right. Select the painting you’d like to purchase. You have the option to view more information on the painting by clicking the Details button at the top, or you can add directly to your cart by clicking the Buy Now button beneath the picture. All payments are processed through PayPal. Thank you for your interest!

 

If you’d like more information on this painting, please click the Facebook – WIP album button to the right of this post.

I’m going to try to get more artwork posted here like this. Fortunately tax season is nearly at an end, so I’ll soon have my Friday afternoons free again. It’ll give me more time to paint and post. Yipee!

Anyway, I hope you like the painting. I can’t say it’s truly done yet. I’m thinking about a small modification. At this point, it’ll probably get an off-white matte because that always makes the darker colors pop out. If that’s the case, it’ll get a dark wood frame. I like the play of light and dark and so I’m always trying to achieve the best look for the colors. For me, it’s all about those colors and how I can play with them.