At The Show

I just completed my day at the art show I mentioned in my last blog. The setup and tear down really was not as bad as I expected. Both went quickly, and while I could not find my tent, I had perfect weather - warm, sunny, cool breeze and I was facing the Gorge Waterway in Victoria, and could sketch the Canadian geese, rowers, and kayakers so my tent was not really missed.

I find one of the best and most appreciated ways to pass my time at these shows is by drawing, sketching and painting. The convener of the show stopped by and thanked me for demonstrating (and there I thought I was just doing my thing and having fun). I had a number of people stop and ask me if they could look closer at what I was doing. I know doing art at shows can have drawbacks. I am not greeting and making contact with people as they walk by. People may be afraid to interrupt me while I am working, and it was hard for me to work on the small surface that was left after I set up my display. The show was six hours, and I used the time to sketch, did one watercolour painting/sketch, and did a drawing to prepare for another watercolour painting.

The demonstrating paid off in big dividends this time. I was concentrating on what I was doing, and became aware of a man with a large video camera circling me. I thought he might be one of the show staff recording the show for their website. Instead, I discovered he was from the local TV news, CHEK. We talked for a little while, then he was gone to interview the convener of the show. I waited with baited breath for the evening news, and I was not disappointed. One of my watercolours was chosen from the hundreds of paints at the show to be put on the news at 11 p.m. I was thrilled. It made me feel really good, and recently I have been a little depressed about my art. The image with today's blog is the one that was highlighted in the news last night. I am lucky too, because this is the image I put on my business cards.

Lots of other good things happened at the show as well. I met a lot of my artist friends, who I did not know were in the show, and I always enjoy socializing with them. I was next to a man who I want to study bronze sculpture with, and we had a chance to talk after the show, and that was nice. I really enjoyed looking at his work during the show as well. He set up his bronzes (a cat, a rabbit, and some other works) under a tree in the grass, and the setting was one of the best for sculpture I have seen.

I also had some surprises. I have two images in my car windows with my name and contact information. One image is of a women in a red dress and blue shawl, and the other is of a boy. One lady saw my images, then hunted me down at my booth. She wanted a mini art lesson in the difference in facial features between men and women. Apparently, she paints faces on ceramic cups, and could get the women correctly, but was not successful with the men. So I gave her a rundown of some of the major differences, then to my surprise, she pushed a blank part of the program at me and asked me to draw the differences for her. I quickly sketched up a generic male and female face for her, and she was extremely pleased. I have to say that is the first art lesson I have given at an art exhibit. I really did enjoy helping another artist. I do believe it is important that we help each other as much as possible, and I have a lot of help I need to give to pay back for all the wonderful help I have received and still do receive.

My ego enjoyed the peoples' comments the most at the show. So many people had praise and appreciation for my art. One of my favorite conversations was with a man who amazed me with his knowledge of lighthouses. He could tell by looking at my lighthouse paintings which were American, Canadian, and from which coast they came from. I discovered he had worked in lighthouses all over North America, and could tell by the architecture what region they were from. Obviously, I am very outgoing and love to talk to strangers. There is so much of interest they can tell me, and most people I meet I find I like.

Overall, I have to say the preparation and work were well worth the experience I had. I believe that showing my art is an integral part of my life as an artist, and even though it is work to show my art, if I can inspire people, connect with people, and help people through my art, then its value increases well beyond the pleasure I had in creating it. I like selling my art, but I get the most validation from connecting with people through my art