Back at the Easel and Silent Auction in December

This has been an awesome month! I'm finally getting back into a routine of painting every day. It feels really great to be back at the easel. It's been over 7 months since I lost my dad now and while some of you may be tired of hearing about it, I can't let it go that easily. Obviously. I have now finished exactly 2 paintings since April 9, 2008. Which is nothing compared to what I usually produce. I am more than ready to get back to my regular prolific self. The studios/gallery are getting easier to run, my husband has been helping out more and we are about to have a virtual assistant to help with some of the load. So, now I will have more hours in the day for painting. Plus, and this is pretty important, I have ideas coming back into my head that fit with my usual happy thoughts and paintings. I guess I should retract my previous statement, I have actually finished more than 2 paintings since dad died. Those other paintings I don't count though, because they were grief paintings and will never be sold.

The 2nd painting I finished (see the last post), now has a title. Since I was praying for a good election result while I painted it, I have titled it "Hopeful 2008".

I have been busy scheduling shows for the gallery for 2009 and have decided to do a featured show of my work in April. Yesterday I spoke with the woman who is licensing my needlepoint designs and got her ok to do a needlepoint/art show. I'm thinking about hanging the paintings alongside their corresponding needlepoint canvas and perhaps have a couple of them stitched to show what they look like once they are done.

In the meantime, next month we are doing a silent auction show to benefit the local Roadrunner food bank. 50% of the auction proceeds will go to the food bank with the other 50% going to the artist that created the work. I will post some of the pieces on my Chroma Studios blog so everyone will have a chance to bid on them, even if you can't make it to the gallery! If you are a local Albuquerque artist and would like to participate please contact me as I would like to fill the entire gallery with the silent auction pieces. At the end of the silent auction, closing reception, we will have a fun event, an artist exchange where artists will be able to trade their work with other artists in the show. Any pieces that don't sell in the auction, or extra pieces that artists bring in will be available for the exchange. Unless, of course, you aren't interested in participating in the exchange. Just a fun event for the Holidays!

Reminder: Alyson Stanfield book signing event at Chroma Gallery

Just a reminder that Art-marketing consultant and Art biz blogger Alyson B. Stanfield will be at Chroma Studios & Gallery on November 13th from 6-8 p.m. to talk about and sign her book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion, and to answer your questions.

I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion is for artists of all kinds. Painters, sculptors, ceramist, jewelers, photographers, and others will benefit from the easy-to-follow self-promotion practices in this book.

Author and art-marketing consultant Alyson B. Stanfield, of ArtBizCoach.com, focuses on sharing the artwork directly with potential buyers through electronic and traditional communication outlets—in a manner that is comfortable, not artificial. Artists match Internet marketing strategies with sincere personal skills to take charge of their art careers.

The book includes online worksheets and downloads.

Chroma Gallery and Studios is located at 1606 Central Ave SE Suite 102 & 201, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Call Paula at 505-259-6320 for more info.

Insert Clever Title Here:

Grateful, 48 x 48" oil on canvas, available on Absolute Arts

The Calm Before...., oils on canvas, available on Absolute Arts

It's usually difficult to come up with new titles for my blog posts, but when it's just a rambling post with no real direction, it's even more difficult! I have been slogging thru life these days. Had some emotionally draining personal experiences, moved my studio, had a last minute art show to put together, now putting together another art show, trying to fit painting back into my schedule, run a gallery and a household, nurse my sick husband, etc, etc and the list goes on. I know, cry me a river. I hate to whine, really I do! :0

I'm looking forward to this election being over and done with. HOPEfully with the right outcome this time! My 18 year old son is actually old enough to vote AND he's registered! Kinda scary considering he can't seem to find and job and take care of himself! Either way, I'm happy to say that this family has at least 4 votes going to the right candidate this year.

I'm loving my new studio, though I miss my big windows looking down on Route 66/Central Ave. Plus, I'm the only one down here with the gallery, so I'm feeling a little cut off from all the other artists. I don't miss going up and down the stairs everyday!

I finished the large painting I was working on for 4 months or so, it's actually hanging in the gallery now. I just started a new medium sized(20"square) painting that I'm really happy with. I have another 48" square canvas waiting to be painted, but I am fumbling for an idea to start with. Which is why I skipped to the medium sized canvas for now. The photos I'm posting today are of a couple of my newest large paintings. One is "Grateful", I think I posted a progress photo of it at some point, and it is 48" square. Huge for me! The other one is called "The Calm Before..." and it is the large painting I was finishing up when I got the call about my dad's death. I don't think it will ever be totally finished, so I've hung it and called it done. It's been hard for me to even look at, too many sad memories.

Both were posted in my photos of the gallery, but these are better shots. I will list them in my Absolute Arts portfolio shortly. 

Last but not least, here is a video tour of the new gallery that I put together last week. The background music is the title track from my husband's new cd "Space Travel". Incidently, the cd release party is this Friday at Chroma Gallery from 6-8pm!

I hope everyone is having a beautiful, wonderful, happy day, week, month and year!

My aching back!

Interior windows looking from front gallery into my studio with my smaller paintings

Featured art in the front gallery, my latest large painting, "Grateful", 48 x 48", oil on canvas

Another of my newer large paintings, "The Calm Before..", 40 x 40", oil on canvas

left side wall in front gallery, my painting "The Vortex", 40 x 40", oil on canvas

The inner gallery/classroom space and art by other studio artists

Back wall in the gallery, another large painting of mine, "Chroma Sunset", 48 x 48", oil on canvas

Aaron in the main gallery

Me talking with a high school friend I haven't seen in 10 years!

The show opening on Friday went very well. We added several new names to our mailing list and had a few sales. It was a long weekend as we had to sit the gallery for our posted business hours for the first time. The weather was cloudy and rainy, so not many visitors on Saturday and Sunday. The bottom two photos above were taken by one of the photographers in the show, Susan See. The others are pics I shot before the show opened.

Monday morning I woke up with a major pain in my back. Actually, it feels more like my hip. I can't tell if it's out of place or if I just pulled a muscle. Either way, the pain is making it difficult to get anything done today. I had planned on painting, but it hurts to stand at my easel. So, here I sit, blogging and basically avoiding pain as much as is possible! 

UPDATE: It seems after talking with my brother and mom, that a may actually have a kidney stone! Yikes! My brother suggested I try drinking some cranberry juice, which I did, and the pain subsided almost instantly! This stinks! Any other suggestions out there? I don't have health insurance, so I can't go to the doctor.