Craft Fair

I was selling at a craft fair on Saturday, and spent the week stock taking, making booklets, notebooks and greetings cards getting myself ready for the big day.

This is what my table looked like, and all went well. For me, fairs are just as much about selling as pointing people towards my website and collecting their email addresses for marketing.

I'm hoping that I will be attending another fair through the National Trust at Brodie Castle in time for Christmas at the end of November.

I am now planning my build up to Christmas, and have ideas swirling around in my head, including an Open Studio day in December, craft fairs galore, advertising and offers through my website and of course Christmas exhibitions at galleries.

I'll let you know what I do end up doing, but I'll just have to remember that I can rest in January.

Lion Painting

Simba

Here's a painting I have been working on.  I've called him Simba.

I'm now working on a stag, and when I publish that image, I'll let you know what I've been up to.

Painting At My Fingertips

Tiger Sunshine

I may have mentioned in the past that I rather like technology, but to tell the truth, I absolutely love it and believe there is room for it as part of an artist's equipment if you aren't too much of a traditionalist.

I can spend hours fiddling about on a computer working on designs trying to get them right, deleting bits that don't work and undoing things until I find the image I liked before I ruined it. So much to my surprise, and utter delight, I got my grubby paws on an iPad; and it took me all of one day to realise I could use it, amongst many, many things, as a sketch book.

Panda

Here are some paintings I did with my fingers on the little electronic iPad marvel. It felt wonderful working with my fingertips (and not having to wash up afterwards).

I have been exploring the potential for just a week now and have loads of ideas and possibilities buzzing about in my head already.

As I said before, I love technology.

Thank you Steve Jobs. RIP.

Paperwork

My work table, not covered in painting materials as it should be,
but with my laptop, and too much paperwork.

I had this blog all planned for you, and then blew it when I accidently deleted the photos I had taken to go with it (I've not been well, and foolishly thought I could write my blog while sick). I was going to tell you all about my craft fair days, but that will have to wait until next month when I have my table set up again at an event and my camera with me.

I have been busy, though, doing paperwork. It has to be done. Being an artist can be so glamorous (raised eyebrows, subtle cough); this is what I have been doing...

1. Writing up an over long To Do list, and trying to stick to it.
2. Getting my accounts up to date. Nuff said, yawn.
3. Sorting out my merchandise (greetings cards, prints etc), reordering where necessary, setting aside items that need to go to galleries and shops and ensuring that my inventory lists are up to date and correct. Sadly, I really like doing this.
4. Applying for commissions (I wrote about this in my Lead Artist post), and ploughing through all commissioner's paperwork while producing pages of my own for their perusal.
5. Getting my CV sorted for the Lead Artist applications. Scary task. 
6. Reading and sorting through marketing information from the company marketing my website. Still waiting to see good results, but things are beginning to happen.
7. Applying to exhibitions and competitions, and preparing for the associated emotional highs and lows.
8. Wondering if I should take a chance and enter one of my short stories into a writing competition, but that means I have to do a spot of rewriting. Yes I write, and love it. I'm even working on an illustrated  kids book - more about that in another post.
9. Getting cross eyed and desperate to start painting and drawing again.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, though, and am going to be filing all this paperwork away very soon, making way for paints, pastels and anything really messy I can think of. 

Woohoo.

Murals

As you saw from my last post, Lead Artist, I have produced a few murals in my past. I thought I would show you some more...

A Beatrix Potter themed nursery. As it was such an unusually shaped room,
 I made it look like the inside of Peter Rabbit's burrow.

Detail of Beatrix Potter mural

Cleopatra's Nightclub, annoyingly I don't have a better photo.
Cleopatra herself is twice life size and no, I don't know what
the Hieroglyphs mean.

Fantasy theme

I have many more. Let me know if you would like to see them, and I will pop them up here for you to see.

Lead Artist

The gym for Sun Microsystems. The sheep were a request as
they were an in joke. Even the bricks you see are painted. 

Mural for a sports mad boy.

I have been busy working over the last 3 weeks, but not on paintings.

A local project is looking for a part time Lead Artist (just for 18 months) and I thought I would apply for it. I have been preparing my CV, researching the area the project is based in and writing a proposal while trying to get my budgeting abilities across on paper - I may be an artist, but amazingly I can balance books too. They want someone who can produce artwork for a wall and gates and who can involve the local community in the process. I am really excited by it, as I feel I can become very involved.

To the right are the kind of thing I have done in the past, always done with the client's requests and ideas in mind. I'll be sending these images and a few more along with my CV and proposal today.

Wish me luck.

Animation

Still of Next by Barry Purves

I know my last post, Inspiration at the Cinema, was also about animation, but I wanted to added a small bit to what I said before.

To me, animation is simply another art form and one I am in awe of because of the patience, thought and skill that has gone into something that (with the exception of the feature films we see at the cinema) generally runs for only a few minutes.

By far and away my favourite is Next by Barry Purves. It is about Shakespeare performing a moment from all of his plays as if he were doing an audition. He packs so much information into such a short period of time, and all done visually. Not a word is spoken. It's brilliant, and so is the music.

Well worth a viewing.

There.

I'm now de-animated.

Snow Leopard

Here is another one of my animal paintings - the latest one. It's rather large and has been painted in chalk pastel and chalk pencil. The colours are unusual for me, pale greens, greys and blues, but working on him was a very calming and peaceful time. Maybe it had something to do with the magnificent animal that is the snow leopard (they really are magical) or the colour scheme or both, but I was very sorry to finish this one, and although he is framed and ready for exhibition, he is hanging in my home - for now.

If you are interested in more animals, have a look at my website for original paintings, prints, greetings cards, fridge magnets and key rings.

Inspiration at the Cinema

Kung Fu Panda 2

I love animation, taking every opportunity to go and see the latest offering at the cinema. There I've admitted it. For me it's not about going to see a cartoon (it does have to have a good story, though - I still like to think of myself as somewhat discerning), it's about the visual feast that film makers are offering now-a-days.

Avatar

I recently saw Kung Fu Panda 2 and although it was entertaining, I am in awe of the work that must have gone into the cityscapes in the background of the storytelling. They were so intricate, unbelievably well research and quite simply stunning to look at. I walked away inspired. The use of colours alone had me wanting to clear everything off my palette and start again with new shades.

The Fountain, this still is a stunning painting all by itself

Although not classed as cartoons, so many films now use animation but they tend to call it computer graphics or special effects. Going back a number of years, Avatar had the same effect on me. The story was OK, but visually, by the end I was completely full up. It's an amazing feeling to have my need for seeing detailed art, beautiful, thoughful design and an artist's imagination put to such strong use.

It is a need. I frequently feel artistically rejuvenated (although mentally squashed if the story isn't that great) after watching films such as The Fountain, Pan's Labyrinth and Inception. My list could go on and on. And on.

For me, inspiration is not just through galleries, the landscape around me or through books of the great artists' works, it's at the cinema too.

World War Z, Drawing and Brad Pitt

It has been a while since I last posted, summer holidays having taken their toll with my time. I have been painting (a little and I'll show you the results in another post - when I am happy with the work), spending time with family and going on holiday.

But I did do something I've never done before. I have been an extra in the new Brad Pitt Zombie film, World War Z, as they were working on it here in Glasgow; and as an artist, I had a bit of an advantage.

We were not allowed mobile phones or cameras with us (fair enough), but security were happy with me taking my sketchbook, so I did some drawings while I was waiting around. How often do you get to record things from the filming point of view? It was very odd seeing Glasgow all Americanised (or should it be Americanized?), with US street lights, signposts and flags, never mind the yellow taxis (used in my case to shelter from the rain) and large police cars.

Here is one of my quick sketches (and I mean quick).

View towards George Square, with camera.

Oh, and if you want to ask about Brad Pitt, I'll just smile and go all cagey.