Art Show

I know it's been a while, but it's been busy around here. Last Friday, I had an Open House at Gallerie M in St. Louis. There were 24 of my pastels on display, and I sent out about 60 invitations. Susan had wine, beer, cheese and crackers, as well as other hors d'oeuvres. I was quite pleased with the turnout. considering the gallery is in an out-of-the-way place. During the show, I met some really great people. One woman I talked with new about Grinnell College, my alma mater, and about Flathead Lake, where I grew up. Another gave me pointers about how to get into the lodges of Glacier National Park when I take my family up there next summer. The cool part was to hear about how people viewed my paintings. They saw things in them that I never intended. It was interesting to hear how an image reminded them of someplace they had been. Others wanted to know about my technique. One woman wanted to know why some of my works were more impressionistic ('softer') than some of the others - I hadn't realized that they were!

Of course my family in the area showed up, a couple of them decked out in my jewelry... Several people showed up whom I did not expect to. Several coworkers from the district came over (it was about a 45-minute drive from Illinois), which was very affirming for me. I have to make a mental note to send them a thank you.

The best part, however, was the fact that my mother flew in from Montana to come to the event. She cashed in her lovingly saved frequent flyer miles in order to be there for my inaugural show. Needless to say, I was touched (and the kids were ecstatic to have Grandma here for a few days!)

Now that the show is over, however, I am switching gears. Christmas season is approaching, and more and more people are asking me for jewelry. Studio 206 is back in the groove! I've received several repairs (not my stuff!), a couple mothers-of-the-bride orders, and a reservation to have my jewelry on display for a coulple of days so that employees can do their holiday shopping. In the spirit of making money, I cleared my big 4' x 8' table in my 'studio' (i.e. garage!) off of all my pastels and framing materials so that I can now lay out all my beading tools and materials.

But I haven't given up painting! On the way back from taking my mother back to the airport, I stopped off at Tower Grove Park and photographed their waterlilies as resource material for winter paintings. I wanted to go back there before the water temperature dropped enough to have the tropical lilies quit blooming.

But enough ramblings for now. Keep doing what you love!

Pastel Guy

In the Newspaper!

This weekend is the debut of my pastels at the Midwest Salute to the Arts, a juried show located here in Southern Illinois. Today, the local paper ran a feature article on me and my work. It was all very last minute! The reporter called me on Monday, we met Tuesday after my school ended, and she wrote it Wednesday so that it could be in Thursday's Lifestyle Section. Whew! After a two-hour interview complete with a photographer, I was pleased with the article (despite two typos!). See the link above to read it. How did I end up being the one artist chosen to be highlighted? Pure luck? No way! I made sure the right people knew about my work in a way that made my story very intriguing.

But getting the article in the paper got me to thinking about how artists really need to promote themselves. In my last blog, I gave some advice on how to express yourself with galleries, and some of that holds true for getting free advertising, too. As the reporter was leaving, I asked her how she picked me out of all the local artists who will be featured. She said it was because of the press release I had emailed to the paper the week before. Aha!

The trick to writing an effective press release is the spin. For mine, there were several angles I could have taken with this story:

1. I'm a local artist who will be showing work in the Salute to the Arts (SA). [boring!]
2. I'm a local artist who will be displaying his work for the first time at SA [better, but not much]
3. I'm a local teacher displaying my work for the first time [better yet - more interesting]
4. I'm a local science teacher displaying my landscapes for the first time [science and art together?! WOW!]

As it turns out, this is the angle used. I then wrote 4 short (2 - 3 sentences) paragraphs on topics that could be covered in the article, just to give them ideas, so they could see the potential. It was written in the third person, as if I were writing about someone else (I thought this would assuage my conscience, who was afraid I was bragging too much!). Then I gave them my contact information and my website so they could see more of my work. I had just about given up hope when she called.

So promote yourself! It's not bragging, it's spreading news.

Keep painting!

PastelGuy

www.matthewweld.com

The Gallery Experience

In preparing for this week's Salute to the Arts, I have been in contact with Susan of Gallerie M, the gallery in St. Louis which displays my work. She has been so easy to work with that it made me start thinking about how important it is for artists to have a positive working relationship with their business partners, the galleries who showcase their work.

On September 15th, I will be a featured artist at an open house at Gallerie M. Susan agreed to prepare the advertising materials a little early so that I could hand them out during this weekend's show. Although I haven't seen them yet, I did send some images over so that she could select one for the front of the postcard she will mail to her mailing list. As a last minute addition to all I have going on Friday with setting up for the show opening on Friday, I agreed to drive over and pick up a few hundred postcards. Twenty minutes later, I phoned her back, asking if I could borrow a couple of my paintings on display for the show. She said no problem, she would have them ready with the postcards when I drop by to pick them up early Friday morning. I guess when we're both willing to "scratch the other's back," it is a win-win situation for everyone.

However, I know this isn't true for all artists. Many don't communicate with their galleries, figuring that they are the 'artiste' and simple phone calls are beneath them. I couldn't disagree more. You are there for each other. While the gallery certainly needs the artists' works to display and sell, there are millions of artists out there, so the artist needs to cultivate a friendly yet professional working relationship with their galleries. Off the top of my head, here is a quick list of 5 pieces of advice for artists seeking gallery representation:

1. In communications, make sure your emails are free of errors - grammatical, spelling, mechanics, etc.
2. When meeting gallery owners in person, dress professionally. A casual business would be appropriate, I think. If there are patrons in the gallery while you are there, you don't want to give the image that the gallery works with ruffians.
3. Make sure you can communicate with your audience. Be able to explain your art - what it means, how you do it. And for heaven's sake, don't be offended when you're asked!
4. Walk that fine line between self deprecation and self aggrandizement. You don't want to seem like a pompous you-know-what, yet you have to be honest about your abilities and your accomplishments. You must have talent, or the gallery wouldn't have contacted you. Be gracious in accepting compliments, be honest about your abilities. No one can fault you for that.
5. Follow up your visits with a short note - just like your mom used to make you write to grandma after Christmas (or whatever holiday).
6. Keep your prices in line with what they are at the gallery. You certainly don't want to undercut them, and by the same token you don't want to ruin their reputation by making them seem like a bargain basement. I have a published price list that goes by size, so a 16 x 20 at the show this weekend is the same as it would be at Gallerie M, as it would be if I sold it to my neighbor.

My gallery experience has been very positive, and I look forward to a long relationship with Gallerie M. I hope that your experiences are/will be the same. I would be interested in hearing some of your stories.

Peace,

PastelGuy

www.matthewweld.com

Goals for an Art Blog

Welcome to my blog! As a newbie blogger, I have several reasons for starting a blog:

1. To increase awareness of my art.
2. To allow people (artists, collectors, anyone) to learn more about me and therefore about my art.
3. To provide a place for me to journal. More on this below.

In the interest of actually making a profit at art, I have heard/read that creating a blog is an excellent way to connect with people, not only potential collectors, but also fellow artists that may be able to provide constructive criticism to my work and to my writing and ideas.

I originally hail from Montana. College years were spent at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa securing a BA in Biology, and finding the love of my life (I've now been with her longer than I was without her!). For a career, I've pursued interior design (glorified furniture sales person!), nursery worker, graduate student, dental technician, and currently, 7th grade science and language arts teacher.

Art started in high school with watercolors, with which I obtained some college scholarships (didn't use them, however). Oil painting courses, a one-man show, and my first art award happened in college. Then, about twelve years later, I took a class in stained glass. That led to the craft fair circuit, which I found rewarding for a few years. However, when people tried and barter down an original picture frame priced at $35 that took hours to make because they could go to a box store and buy equivalents for less, I knew that stained glass was not going to be very lucrative.

What I discovered was that the jewelry I made during the stained glass phase was extremely popular, could be massed produced, and sold at a good profit. However, I needed to be able to broaden my offerings, so that led to the new tangent of beaded jewelry, under the company name of Studio 206. This venture was much more lucrative (still is!), and I have slowly moved into the realm of silversmithed and custom jewelry.

On track to define a couple lines that could be mass marketed online, I opted to take a course in pastel paintings at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, TN from noted pastelist Susan Ogilvie. That brought the jewelry thing to a screeching halt as I realized that I really loved working in two dimensions, and the challenges that it brought. Pastels especially provide a more sensory experience in the art; you actually can rub your fingers raw blending colors. They seem so under admired in the art world, yet they seem like the pure essence of 2D work with their pure pigmented colors and techniques that draw heavily from drawing (no pun intended!). More on this in a future blog!

As a result of the workshop, my New Year's Resolutions shifted to include submission of my work to two venues: a juried art show, and a juried art exhibition. I juried my work to two of each, and was accepted to one of each. The gallery presentation is in Tacoma Washington at the American Art Company, hosted by the Northwest Pastel Society. It runs through August 16th, 2008. The art show is here in southern Illinois August 22 - 24th, called The Midwest Salute to the Arts.

My family and I were actually able to see my painting in situ at the Tacoma Gallery, and were pleased to walk in and find that my painting had won an award! Another first, and definitely a proud moment in my life.

Next weekend is the big show here in Fairview, and I think I'm about ready. I have 19 paintings framed and ready to go, not counting the two that are required for the donation to the children's art section. I have set my new display system up in my garage, so that I can fuss with the placement of the pictures and with the lighting. I have also obtained a machine to start taking credit cards - until now, I have only accepted checks and cash. It's all quite overwhelming - fortunately, I have started displays from scratch for my jewelry and for my stained glass, so I'm not a total novice!

The third reason I started this blog was to give myself a place to journal. In my language arts classes, I keep nagging the kids to keep a journal, because it's a great way to put down your feelings, and in so doing, really exploring those feelings and ideas. This summer, all four of us in my family kept a journal of our vacations. I really enjoyed it, actually, and need to find the time to sit down and put the finishing touches on it. Natually, mine had sketches in it, as well as little momentos that I collected along the way. My wife's (she the type A organizational guru) journal was a list of places we went and the money we spent. She calculated gas mileage while I analyzed the colors and shadows of a thunderstorm.

There's a little about my and my motivations for blogging. I hope to philosophize more on art, pastels, pastel techniques, etc. in later blogs. For now, peace, and enjoy the last half of August!