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State of the Artist, State of the Studio
Apr. 1st, 2013 09:47 am( Because This Got Long - Framing and Packing )
( On the Subject of iPhones )
And we'll see how that goes.
( On the Subject of iPhones )
And we'll see how that goes.
Whoooooaaaaa
Mar. 26th, 2013 04:34 pmI do not, often, post links to items found on, say, YouTube. Not often.
Once, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, I played in the Current Middle Ages of the Society for Creative Anachronism. I played a Far Eastern Oriental fellow, who would be quite familiar with the instrument featured in this piece. And I hear that fellow saying in my head the subject line above....
http://youtu.be/NfOHjeI-Bns
Once, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, I played in the Current Middle Ages of the Society for Creative Anachronism. I played a Far Eastern Oriental fellow, who would be quite familiar with the instrument featured in this piece. And I hear that fellow saying in my head the subject line above....
http://youtu.be/NfOHjeI-Bns
We've been out to do an abbreviated rounds this morning, earlier than maybe usual, because of the weather. Storms rolling in. So the hogs and horses are fed, and birds fed and watered. Goats didn't even come out of their shelters, though they did complain a bit. That could be why were other animals getting noms and not them, or more likely 'Do something about the weather, Human.'
Because, of course, that's our job.
I've also started the laundry, a normal chore for this day. My plan overall is to head over to Studio 318, even if it is raining by then, to keep on working at mounting, matting, framing until I can call it quits. There are at least two more larger pieces I need to frame, and one of those needs a specific size frame. That one is sort of a fun story. The mat around it came out of one of the used frames purchased at a yard sale. Mat works very well with the piece (Herself's Mermaid Dreams). Frame the mat was in not so much, so it's gone to another piece. Thus, need a frame.
The other piece (Zen Garden, one of mine) is a square composition, so needs a square frame. I've got a square frame, no glass for it though and it is a bit bigger than the mount that Zen Garden is already attached to. Might still use it, that's one of the things I'll look at this afternoon.
All of these pieces are out of a batch of photographs we'd mounted onto 40x51cm backing (16x20 inch) for Camera Club #1's monthly show/competitions. Everything framed so far, or waiting for a frame, is a print in the range of 28x36 cm (11x14). Since it's nearly two years since we've been active with Camera Club #1, time to get some other use out of these pieces. Plus, the ones I'm framing up first are 'larger' pieces, or in one thought pattern bigger eye candy to bring people into the Studio 318 booth.
There are a lot of pieces waiting for matting as well, only a few of which are in the 28x36 range. Matting is good, as that rebuilds sale-able inventory. Something that is 20x25 cm (8x10) will mat up to 28x36 cm and a frame that size starts to be big enough to attract interest from a distance. There are a few pieces in inventory now that are framed to 20x25 (a 13x18cm or 5x7 print). Likely I will leave them there, however not hang them until or unless nearly all the larger is sold at an individual show/festival.
However, none of it gets done by itself. This may not be my favourite aspect of photographic art, and yet it needs doing. I am minded by this and other things on the docket of the lesson from my first art teacher, Dad. We discussed Michaelangelo's work, specifically his sculpture since that was Dad's main passion. Dad made the point that he'd spent time learning stone cutting in a quarry, learning technique for removing pieces and bits of stone from a block to achieve the piece he visualised and that likely resided within the block.
Sometimes, art is nothing other than hard drudgery type work.
It being that the rain is currently stopped, Houdini and I are going over to Studio 318 to do some drudgery.
Because, of course, that's our job.
I've also started the laundry, a normal chore for this day. My plan overall is to head over to Studio 318, even if it is raining by then, to keep on working at mounting, matting, framing until I can call it quits. There are at least two more larger pieces I need to frame, and one of those needs a specific size frame. That one is sort of a fun story. The mat around it came out of one of the used frames purchased at a yard sale. Mat works very well with the piece (Herself's Mermaid Dreams). Frame the mat was in not so much, so it's gone to another piece. Thus, need a frame.
The other piece (Zen Garden, one of mine) is a square composition, so needs a square frame. I've got a square frame, no glass for it though and it is a bit bigger than the mount that Zen Garden is already attached to. Might still use it, that's one of the things I'll look at this afternoon.
All of these pieces are out of a batch of photographs we'd mounted onto 40x51cm backing (16x20 inch) for Camera Club #1's monthly show/competitions. Everything framed so far, or waiting for a frame, is a print in the range of 28x36 cm (11x14). Since it's nearly two years since we've been active with Camera Club #1, time to get some other use out of these pieces. Plus, the ones I'm framing up first are 'larger' pieces, or in one thought pattern bigger eye candy to bring people into the Studio 318 booth.
There are a lot of pieces waiting for matting as well, only a few of which are in the 28x36 range. Matting is good, as that rebuilds sale-able inventory. Something that is 20x25 cm (8x10) will mat up to 28x36 cm and a frame that size starts to be big enough to attract interest from a distance. There are a few pieces in inventory now that are framed to 20x25 (a 13x18cm or 5x7 print). Likely I will leave them there, however not hang them until or unless nearly all the larger is sold at an individual show/festival.
However, none of it gets done by itself. This may not be my favourite aspect of photographic art, and yet it needs doing. I am minded by this and other things on the docket of the lesson from my first art teacher, Dad. We discussed Michaelangelo's work, specifically his sculpture since that was Dad's main passion. Dad made the point that he'd spent time learning stone cutting in a quarry, learning technique for removing pieces and bits of stone from a block to achieve the piece he visualised and that likely resided within the block.
Sometimes, art is nothing other than hard drudgery type work.
It being that the rain is currently stopped, Houdini and I are going over to Studio 318 to do some drudgery.
The New Mr. Printy
Mar. 22nd, 2013 07:11 pmI've been thinking, in the back of my mind, based on previous experience with my earlier Epson ink-jet printer that printing our photographs would take some learning time on the new Mr. Printy (name stolen shamelessly from Ursula Vernon, known as ursulav over on LJ. Stolen because hey, I like that name.)
Three copies printed, didn't take long, spent time after starting to print getting the Border Collies dinner ready... probably done printing long before I fed them. The last one I sat here while it printed. This is from the Open Office Presentation program, since I put text onto the page as a flyer. I still want and need to try printing from, say Gimp. To see what the difference may be. However, as I said, that was easy.
So yes. I am going to need to acquire more paper. Only down side, this won't print big prints. However, on the other hand, some of the Epson paper (the paper I'm working with now) might work for the greeting cards, sized and oriented appropriately for the page to allow folding.
In other news, we felt the Big House shake briefly yesterday evening, the sort of thing a large explosion or a sonic boom (such as when the Space Shuttle would land, eh) might do. Or, yanno, big thunder, but we didn't hear much, certainly no thunder. Multiple possible explanations on the local news today:
- A sonic boom produced by a meteorological phenomenon involving the fronts moving thorugh
- A sonic boom possibly generated by military aircraft conducting maneuvers over the Gulf. The local TV channel contacted the military about this, and the answer is yes, no details, classified.
- An astronomer associated with Local University says it may be a meteor breaking up catastrophically, as same astronomer was looking out over the Gulf last night with telescope and did see a flash.
Take your pick. However, today Houdini wants very much to be under my feet as much as possible, and didn't eat all his dinner. Both behaviours are consistent with him feeling an incoming storm. And our weather forecast for the next couple days includes storminess.
Three copies printed, didn't take long, spent time after starting to print getting the Border Collies dinner ready... probably done printing long before I fed them. The last one I sat here while it printed. This is from the Open Office Presentation program, since I put text onto the page as a flyer. I still want and need to try printing from, say Gimp. To see what the difference may be. However, as I said, that was easy.
So yes. I am going to need to acquire more paper. Only down side, this won't print big prints. However, on the other hand, some of the Epson paper (the paper I'm working with now) might work for the greeting cards, sized and oriented appropriately for the page to allow folding.
In other news, we felt the Big House shake briefly yesterday evening, the sort of thing a large explosion or a sonic boom (such as when the Space Shuttle would land, eh) might do. Or, yanno, big thunder, but we didn't hear much, certainly no thunder. Multiple possible explanations on the local news today:
- A sonic boom produced by a meteorological phenomenon involving the fronts moving thorugh
- A sonic boom possibly generated by military aircraft conducting maneuvers over the Gulf. The local TV channel contacted the military about this, and the answer is yes, no details, classified.
- An astronomer associated with Local University says it may be a meteor breaking up catastrophically, as same astronomer was looking out over the Gulf last night with telescope and did see a flash.
Take your pick. However, today Houdini wants very much to be under my feet as much as possible, and didn't eat all his dinner. Both behaviours are consistent with him feeling an incoming storm. And our weather forecast for the next couple days includes storminess.
State of the Artist
Mar. 17th, 2013 07:03 pmBeen a busy week, and not necessarily with art however one must get things done for daily living. Daily living on the Ranch includes things y'all might not need to do overall, and that's fair. However, time managed usually results in projects completed and this week saw the completion of a start, and a start on a completion.
I've needed a new printer for a while. I still do in one manner, because I'd like to get a printer which will allow me the ability to print up to 11x14-ish pieces or slightly bigger. I opted for one a bit smaller though, an Epson Artisan 50, simply because first make prints and put them into inventory, then look at making larger prints. For really big prints, I still plan on taking the images to Flair Lab, my local professional photography processing location.
Got the printer a month and a bit ago, actually, and needed to re-do the shelf platform where the printer would live. Got that done this past weekend after the jaunt to Tampa, and the printer installed and even tested by Thursday. Haven't printed anything else since, which is the next step. If this works like learning to print in a darkroom worked, I expect I'll be burning through some paper and ink before getting acceptable results. I'm OK with that.
Part of this plan will be printing things like card sets for small easy priced items in the booth. Even so, I can print up to 8x10, and am starting to shop for paper. Did get paper to get started, don't get me wrong, and that paper is sized for the card printing project. Need slightly bigger paper too.
So, that's the completion of a start, printer shelf and printer installed. The start of a completion is cleaning up a passel of used frames I've purchased at yard sales, and starting the framing to replace stock sold. I've two weeks before the next weekend art festival show, and these pieces need to be framed by then. Plus, perhaps, a couple new pieces. We'll see.
Missed one of the local shows I put on the list by mis-reading the notice from the group and working on the premise that weekend event to be in June as it has for a number of years running. Um, not so much, actually took place yesterday. Oh well. Not sure I'd be ready if I had read things correctly anyway. Still...
Now the Bros are fed as well as the evening Ranch Rounds done. Dinner preparations are under way for this evening. Time to get this posted and go be a couch potato for a wee bit.
Oh, and Happy St. Paddy's Day!
I've needed a new printer for a while. I still do in one manner, because I'd like to get a printer which will allow me the ability to print up to 11x14-ish pieces or slightly bigger. I opted for one a bit smaller though, an Epson Artisan 50, simply because first make prints and put them into inventory, then look at making larger prints. For really big prints, I still plan on taking the images to Flair Lab, my local professional photography processing location.
Got the printer a month and a bit ago, actually, and needed to re-do the shelf platform where the printer would live. Got that done this past weekend after the jaunt to Tampa, and the printer installed and even tested by Thursday. Haven't printed anything else since, which is the next step. If this works like learning to print in a darkroom worked, I expect I'll be burning through some paper and ink before getting acceptable results. I'm OK with that.
Part of this plan will be printing things like card sets for small easy priced items in the booth. Even so, I can print up to 8x10, and am starting to shop for paper. Did get paper to get started, don't get me wrong, and that paper is sized for the card printing project. Need slightly bigger paper too.
So, that's the completion of a start, printer shelf and printer installed. The start of a completion is cleaning up a passel of used frames I've purchased at yard sales, and starting the framing to replace stock sold. I've two weeks before the next weekend art festival show, and these pieces need to be framed by then. Plus, perhaps, a couple new pieces. We'll see.
Missed one of the local shows I put on the list by mis-reading the notice from the group and working on the premise that weekend event to be in June as it has for a number of years running. Um, not so much, actually took place yesterday. Oh well. Not sure I'd be ready if I had read things correctly anyway. Still...
Now the Bros are fed as well as the evening Ranch Rounds done. Dinner preparations are under way for this evening. Time to get this posted and go be a couch potato for a wee bit.
Oh, and Happy St. Paddy's Day!
Nude Nite the Show proved not terribly hard to fine, though not terribly easy either. I used the Maps on the iPhone, pinned the location, then guessed at an exit which didn't exist. No matter, off at the last exit before the I-4 to I-275 interchange and south some blocks, and lo the street to which the address belonged, turned left and progressed and knew I'd found the place when the traffic stopped waiting for parking and the picketer preached the Gospel at those who walked past to gain entry or leaving.
I availed myself of Valet Parking, and am glad I did.
( The Short Version, a Really, Really Awesome, Delightful, Elaborate, Sensual and Artistic night, after which and while I slept a monstrous human idiocy occurred )
Here is when I really appreciated the decision to use the Valet parking; they'd already pulled the vehicles for those who had, and were clearing their work, out and ready for us. Into the car, and onto the road, back to the hotel. Slept fairly well, totally through the Monstrous Human Idiocy that transpired at 02:00 wherein DST: Daylight Stupid Time 'Sprung' ahead.
This is the first Show, as opposed to Weekend Art Festival or Con Art Show in which I've been represented since my freshman and sophomore years in college when I put pieces into the Aquinas College Spring Arts Show. Will I try again next year? Oh hell yes.
I availed myself of Valet Parking, and am glad I did.
( The Short Version, a Really, Really Awesome, Delightful, Elaborate, Sensual and Artistic night, after which and while I slept a monstrous human idiocy occurred )
Here is when I really appreciated the decision to use the Valet parking; they'd already pulled the vehicles for those who had, and were clearing their work, out and ready for us. Into the car, and onto the road, back to the hotel. Slept fairly well, totally through the Monstrous Human Idiocy that transpired at 02:00 wherein DST: Daylight Stupid Time 'Sprung' ahead.
This is the first Show, as opposed to Weekend Art Festival or Con Art Show in which I've been represented since my freshman and sophomore years in college when I put pieces into the Aquinas College Spring Arts Show. Will I try again next year? Oh hell yes.
It is going to be cold tonight here in North Central Baja Jorja, and it proved cold last night as well although not so cold as tonight. This didn't matter much to us this morning, though, since we loaded Forrest Nissan Pickup for Haile Farmers Market before the sun came up and the temperature measured... Refrigerator. Cold.
Our booth space is on the east side of the road which Haile provides for the market, so we stayed in shadow well into the morning. Glad for a good breakfast from the Haile Village Bistro (eggs and cheese and bacon toasted rye for me, substitute ham and wheat for Herself). Glad for some live music down a bit, great beat, we danced to it to stay warm.
Didn't hurt much that market was steady busy, either.
Now, though, we've battened down the Dirty Yard Birds, Goats, and Hogs, plus done all the outside chores needing doing. The Bros are inside with us after their dinner. They usually also stand watch over the Dirty Yard Birds at night. Tonight however, Herself says they get to stay inside. Myself agrees.
Dinner for Ourselves is cooking.
Our booth space is on the east side of the road which Haile provides for the market, so we stayed in shadow well into the morning. Glad for a good breakfast from the Haile Village Bistro (eggs and cheese and bacon toasted rye for me, substitute ham and wheat for Herself). Glad for some live music down a bit, great beat, we danced to it to stay warm.
Didn't hurt much that market was steady busy, either.
Now, though, we've battened down the Dirty Yard Birds, Goats, and Hogs, plus done all the outside chores needing doing. The Bros are inside with us after their dinner. They usually also stand watch over the Dirty Yard Birds at night. Tonight however, Herself says they get to stay inside. Myself agrees.
Dinner for Ourselves is cooking.
Midweek Is For
Feb. 28th, 2013 07:11 pmRoof Repairs! Yea!
Done:
Spent big money today, relatively. Purchased the replacement plywood decking for the roof, most of which will be delivered tomorrow. Purchased replacement planking for the back deck of Studio 318, plus joists. Which, likewise, to be delivered tomorrow. Paid the delivery fee, too. At the same time a somewhat lesser purchase of a shelf for the new printer. Now that project merely waits for a bit of free time.
Doing:
The roof repairs are now in progress. Start on stripping off the old shingles and such, discovering the holes. There are more than we realised. This is why we changed the plan to replace all the roof decking. Lots more to do, yes, still it is started! Yea!
To Do:
Still to do is that shelf, and lots of Studio 318 related bits and pieces. Transfer money between banks to cover these purchases (covered) and be able to pay bills. All in all, though, I can feel accomplished for today.
Doing Right Now: Beer! Yes! Beer is doing right now. And petting Houdini. See icon. Which makes typing interesting.
Done:
Spent big money today, relatively. Purchased the replacement plywood decking for the roof, most of which will be delivered tomorrow. Purchased replacement planking for the back deck of Studio 318, plus joists. Which, likewise, to be delivered tomorrow. Paid the delivery fee, too. At the same time a somewhat lesser purchase of a shelf for the new printer. Now that project merely waits for a bit of free time.
Doing:
The roof repairs are now in progress. Start on stripping off the old shingles and such, discovering the holes. There are more than we realised. This is why we changed the plan to replace all the roof decking. Lots more to do, yes, still it is started! Yea!
To Do:
Still to do is that shelf, and lots of Studio 318 related bits and pieces. Transfer money between banks to cover these purchases (covered) and be able to pay bills. All in all, though, I can feel accomplished for today.
Doing Right Now: Beer! Yes! Beer is doing right now. And petting Houdini. See icon. Which makes typing interesting.
State of the Artist, State of the Studio
Feb. 25th, 2013 07:20 pmIt is becoming real.
Today I took the framed print that is going into the Nude Nite show in Tampa (March 7, 8, 9 this year, and this link opens with an interesting short video) to the UPS store to pack and ship it along to the show. Part of the lesson here is pack the bloody things myself, though it's not a big thing for this particular instance. Still, I do know I can get the boxes there for art shipment, and that's a good thing.
It will arrive in Tampa (all goes well, and such) tomorrow, well before the deadline for shipped art to arrive in preparation for the show. I'm definitely not going for all three nights myself; neither going to spend that much on a hotel nor ask friends to put me up, given that I'd likely be getting to houses for sleep after midnight.
Besides, there are Ranch things needing doing as well.
I am thinking seriously about going for the last night of the show. Herself thinks I should. After setting up for the shipping today, one of my potential excuses for not going (cost of petrol) is out the door. Won't be saving that money by shipping an unsold work back. So it's mostly the cost of an overnight hotel stay to look at here.
Meanwhile, back at the Studio, we're still in Mat, Mount, Frame configuration. Except I've not gotten really started on that quite yet, other than sorting through the pieces we'd mounted for the NCFPC monthly competitions, before they converted to digital projection. Both of us (now) are leaning to larger prints for exhibit in the Studio 318 booth. I've always liked large prints. For the few classes I took, back in the sophomore college days, I considered 11 by 14 a nice size, 16 by 20 better, 8 by 10 small and 5 by 7 tiny.
Initially Herself thought that matted and framed 8 by 10 prints would be good sizes for exhibit. After looking at the other artists in the Winter Fine Arts Festival recently, she is on board that bigger in this case is better. The eye candy draws them in, it's the bait on the hook.
But. Still catching up with some of those necessary Ranch things, following a not terrible winter season (yes, still winter here, I know, and yes, it's milder here than elsewhere, yes) which none the less resulted in some freeze damage in a couple places.
And rooster houses. Well, chicken tillers, really.
Still, as Herself said to me a couple weeks back: four for four in the first four months for shows. Sales at the first two. And now, the print invited to a big deal show in Tampa is on the way.
There's another Con show I've gotten an invite/suggestion to, and Another Con is on the list of potential shows. It's another mail-to show, and more details will follow once I get those things rolling. Thing is, that show is in April as well. This would, then, be five shows in the first four months.
Considering that my goal for the year is eight shows, stipulating this happens, by April we'll be 60% of the way to accomplishing that goal, with eight months left to fulfill it. Eight months, and another five fairly certain weekend show festivals to be in.
Now all I need do is get a better handle on balancing Ranch/Hospital/Studio time, with an increase in image creation time rather than catching up with inventory time.
Could be worse problems to deal with.
Today I took the framed print that is going into the Nude Nite show in Tampa (March 7, 8, 9 this year, and this link opens with an interesting short video) to the UPS store to pack and ship it along to the show. Part of the lesson here is pack the bloody things myself, though it's not a big thing for this particular instance. Still, I do know I can get the boxes there for art shipment, and that's a good thing.
It will arrive in Tampa (all goes well, and such) tomorrow, well before the deadline for shipped art to arrive in preparation for the show. I'm definitely not going for all three nights myself; neither going to spend that much on a hotel nor ask friends to put me up, given that I'd likely be getting to houses for sleep after midnight.
Besides, there are Ranch things needing doing as well.
I am thinking seriously about going for the last night of the show. Herself thinks I should. After setting up for the shipping today, one of my potential excuses for not going (cost of petrol) is out the door. Won't be saving that money by shipping an unsold work back. So it's mostly the cost of an overnight hotel stay to look at here.
Meanwhile, back at the Studio, we're still in Mat, Mount, Frame configuration. Except I've not gotten really started on that quite yet, other than sorting through the pieces we'd mounted for the NCFPC monthly competitions, before they converted to digital projection. Both of us (now) are leaning to larger prints for exhibit in the Studio 318 booth. I've always liked large prints. For the few classes I took, back in the sophomore college days, I considered 11 by 14 a nice size, 16 by 20 better, 8 by 10 small and 5 by 7 tiny.
Initially Herself thought that matted and framed 8 by 10 prints would be good sizes for exhibit. After looking at the other artists in the Winter Fine Arts Festival recently, she is on board that bigger in this case is better. The eye candy draws them in, it's the bait on the hook.
But. Still catching up with some of those necessary Ranch things, following a not terrible winter season (yes, still winter here, I know, and yes, it's milder here than elsewhere, yes) which none the less resulted in some freeze damage in a couple places.
And rooster houses. Well, chicken tillers, really.
Still, as Herself said to me a couple weeks back: four for four in the first four months for shows. Sales at the first two. And now, the print invited to a big deal show in Tampa is on the way.
There's another Con show I've gotten an invite/suggestion to, and Another Con is on the list of potential shows. It's another mail-to show, and more details will follow once I get those things rolling. Thing is, that show is in April as well. This would, then, be five shows in the first four months.
Considering that my goal for the year is eight shows, stipulating this happens, by April we'll be 60% of the way to accomplishing that goal, with eight months left to fulfill it. Eight months, and another five fairly certain weekend show festivals to be in.
Now all I need do is get a better handle on balancing Ranch/Hospital/Studio time, with an increase in image creation time rather than catching up with inventory time.
Could be worse problems to deal with.
GFAA Winter Fine Arts Fair at Tioga
Feb. 18th, 2013 09:34 amShort version: officially a fabulous show.
( Winter Fine Arts Fair Report Follows... long-ish eh )
Took a hot tub soak. Went to bed.
Will unpack the Subaru today, do inventory, wrap up that sold framed print for delivery tomorrow, and do that after feeding the Ranch this morning, along with attending to that one hog water point.
( Winter Fine Arts Fair Report Follows... long-ish eh )
Took a hot tub soak. Went to bed.
Will unpack the Subaru today, do inventory, wrap up that sold framed print for delivery tomorrow, and do that after feeding the Ranch this morning, along with attending to that one hog water point.
State of the Studio, State of the Artist
Feb. 11th, 2013 05:37 pmMore Flickr
Thursday past I started that bit about re-organising the Collections and Sets. The collections part makes things a bit easier, cleaner looking on the Photostream view. I've got five parent Collections: Idunkno, People, Places, Sketchbook, Things. Other sets and some Collections are moved into those. Collections may hold Collections, or Sets, so some of the parents hold collections to further move things along. Places, for instance, holds collections with state names which hold sets of photos in those states.
On Friday during some slow points at Hospital, I further moved things along, moving sets at that point. Looks fairly good this morning. Yesterday (Saturday) not any time at all on line other than via Smartphone so no work done at all. This morning, I worked on the Mosaics (thumbnail preview) for some of the Collections.
MarsCon
The first show of the year to which I submitted works took place last month in Williamsburg, VA (link to site? As I write this I can't connect, not sure or the problem MarsCon). Been following the FB group on this, even though as I said my attendance proved more in spirit than flesh. Friday my package of art arrived home (pre-paid self-addressed). Glad to see it, since this grouping may simply get re-packaged and sent off to another Con art show.
Thought to myself when I pulled the box out of the mailbox that this is the second year I've sent work off to MarsCon so if the trend (based on a statistical sample of one Con) holds true it will be next year if I do sell something. I'd read in the FB group that the Art Auction did well this year, with a lot of pieces going from Silent to Open Auction. Cool, great, and I still figured trend, three years, no sales.
This proves not to be the case.
The package came home one print less and with a check.
::Does the Happy Dance::
Mind you, still not covering expenses here. Not counting the expense of printing each piece, as that comes out with the sale of any individual piece. Counting Art Show space fee, and postage/shipping there and back. Still running in a hole on that measure.
But (and grammatically, But nearly always negates whatever someone stated immediately prior)...
I made a sale!
::Does the Happy Dance::
For those interested the image which sold behind the cut; I was asked recently why someone wouldn't be interested. Well... dunno. Obviously I am. However, some folks I know who read here, their children were quite young when they started and they appreciated the cut and notice about nude art. Some folks read at work, and work may not be totally friendly to such. So, that's part of why.
( Dryad Blessing, Not Safe For Work Depending on Various Definitions of Safe and/or Work )
This week is a preparation week for the coming weekend. The GFAA Winter Arts Festival at Tioga takes place Friday evening and Saturday/Sunday day. Preparation involves setting up the pavilion and checking on pieces and parts, and I need to add grommets to all the fabric display walls since that will help support the framed artwork hanging to entice people in. Some of the longer term projects won't be anywhere near ready, and that's OK. I also hope (not counting on) getting some more pieces matted and mounted and sleeved for the general inventory.
GFAA Winter Arts Festival at Tioga Link provided tiogawinterartfair.org in case you're local and coming, or not local yet interested...
This weekend coming up, I've taken time off from Hospital to do this, and we'll see how it goes. A few people I've talked to who've taken part in this show in previous years said they did well in it. I feel I'm falling a bit short on inventory, as Ranch related work seemed to pre-empt time to mat and mount over the past couple months. We'll see.
One framed piece probably won't go for display, as that's somewhat promised for the March show I talked about in a previous post. Otherwise, I'll likely pack up as much as we've got ready and take it along.
On the Ranch Front
We've now caught up with light shelters for several sub-divided goat paddocks. Wind in some recent bad weather had torqued the frames so much they wouldn't work. These shelters are 'temporary' in one sense, and work for us because we move them around. They are made from chain-link fencing top rail tubes, and corner joints made. Herself calls the usual structure one sees with this system a red-neck garage, and there is some truth to it. We do need to provide some rather more sturdy shelter in one or two spots, that's a project for this year.
So. Summarising, I'm four for four getting into shows for the first four months of 2013. Already this is off to a good start, since two of those shows are juried entry, and one is invitational for members of GFAA. Adding to that good start, the first show provided a sale. Lets hope the trend continues.
Thursday past I started that bit about re-organising the Collections and Sets. The collections part makes things a bit easier, cleaner looking on the Photostream view. I've got five parent Collections: Idunkno, People, Places, Sketchbook, Things. Other sets and some Collections are moved into those. Collections may hold Collections, or Sets, so some of the parents hold collections to further move things along. Places, for instance, holds collections with state names which hold sets of photos in those states.
On Friday during some slow points at Hospital, I further moved things along, moving sets at that point. Looks fairly good this morning. Yesterday (Saturday) not any time at all on line other than via Smartphone so no work done at all. This morning, I worked on the Mosaics (thumbnail preview) for some of the Collections.
MarsCon
The first show of the year to which I submitted works took place last month in Williamsburg, VA (link to site? As I write this I can't connect, not sure or the problem MarsCon). Been following the FB group on this, even though as I said my attendance proved more in spirit than flesh. Friday my package of art arrived home (pre-paid self-addressed). Glad to see it, since this grouping may simply get re-packaged and sent off to another Con art show.
Thought to myself when I pulled the box out of the mailbox that this is the second year I've sent work off to MarsCon so if the trend (based on a statistical sample of one Con) holds true it will be next year if I do sell something. I'd read in the FB group that the Art Auction did well this year, with a lot of pieces going from Silent to Open Auction. Cool, great, and I still figured trend, three years, no sales.
This proves not to be the case.
The package came home one print less and with a check.
::Does the Happy Dance::
Mind you, still not covering expenses here. Not counting the expense of printing each piece, as that comes out with the sale of any individual piece. Counting Art Show space fee, and postage/shipping there and back. Still running in a hole on that measure.
But (and grammatically, But nearly always negates whatever someone stated immediately prior)...
I made a sale!
::Does the Happy Dance::
For those interested the image which sold behind the cut; I was asked recently why someone wouldn't be interested. Well... dunno. Obviously I am. However, some folks I know who read here, their children were quite young when they started and they appreciated the cut and notice about nude art. Some folks read at work, and work may not be totally friendly to such. So, that's part of why.
( Dryad Blessing, Not Safe For Work Depending on Various Definitions of Safe and/or Work )
This week is a preparation week for the coming weekend. The GFAA Winter Arts Festival at Tioga takes place Friday evening and Saturday/Sunday day. Preparation involves setting up the pavilion and checking on pieces and parts, and I need to add grommets to all the fabric display walls since that will help support the framed artwork hanging to entice people in. Some of the longer term projects won't be anywhere near ready, and that's OK. I also hope (not counting on) getting some more pieces matted and mounted and sleeved for the general inventory.
GFAA Winter Arts Festival at Tioga Link provided tiogawinterartfair.org in case you're local and coming, or not local yet interested...
This weekend coming up, I've taken time off from Hospital to do this, and we'll see how it goes. A few people I've talked to who've taken part in this show in previous years said they did well in it. I feel I'm falling a bit short on inventory, as Ranch related work seemed to pre-empt time to mat and mount over the past couple months. We'll see.
One framed piece probably won't go for display, as that's somewhat promised for the March show I talked about in a previous post. Otherwise, I'll likely pack up as much as we've got ready and take it along.
On the Ranch Front
We've now caught up with light shelters for several sub-divided goat paddocks. Wind in some recent bad weather had torqued the frames so much they wouldn't work. These shelters are 'temporary' in one sense, and work for us because we move them around. They are made from chain-link fencing top rail tubes, and corner joints made. Herself calls the usual structure one sees with this system a red-neck garage, and there is some truth to it. We do need to provide some rather more sturdy shelter in one or two spots, that's a project for this year.
So. Summarising, I'm four for four getting into shows for the first four months of 2013. Already this is off to a good start, since two of those shows are juried entry, and one is invitational for members of GFAA. Adding to that good start, the first show provided a sale. Lets hope the trend continues.
State of the Artist
Jan. 21st, 2013 04:34 pmWe've been discussing and investigating things we need and need to do to start generating a variation on a theme. So far, any of the shows or festivals we've done we are placing our artwork 'direct' as it were, the 2D and 3D pieces themselves. Given the current state of economy, and the fact that not many have a good deal of 'fun money' to use for such things as art, well, sales exist and are not brisk by any stretch.
Looking into, for that reason, ways and means to market our art, at least the 2D pieces, in a manner perhaps more affordable. To whit, greeting cards. Not a lot of visible progress to show on this, as in no greeting cards to offer just now. However, individual cards (on the size of 12x20 cm (5x8 inches, or close) are likely going to be priced between $2-3 US. Probably be price breaks at certain points as well, something that rounds down to a near number for the group.
I'm also thinking about calendars, three different themes (scenics, critters, and nudes) and potential variations on style as well.
So most of the looking at artwork this month I've done with these thoughts in mind. When I've been looking at our own work, that is, instead of procrastinating by looking at other peoples art on the Web. Or such. Still, I'm looking to try providing the first round of cards in a couple months.
This is mildly complicated by another marketing goal to mat and mount all work currently in the queue, as in printed and on hand but not mounted. I've run through that count as well, and... it's mildly impressive to myself. Hadn't realised I'd gotten quite so many prints made over the past year or two. Couple hundred if my count is correct.
Doing the mounting and matting requires a bit of cleanup in Studio to organise. Over the Holiday months things spread out a bit, between Farmers Markets and the December Winter Gift Fair we took part in, both booths. Got a good part of that done today, after the Ranch rounds.
It's an odd feeling, then, like I'm making progress, and even creative progress, despite not making any new images just now.
There are a couple potentials on that count, yes, but I've told both people involved that it will be a month or two. I really need to get that mounting and matting done, before February, and hopefully (a good problem) more in March getting ready for April. Because in February we will be showing in the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Winter Art Festival @ Tioga (a show open to members of GFAA). March is still a maybe; haven't heard from that application yet. In April there's a big one.
It's been a long-term goal of mine, this coming April. Annually Santa Fe College (formerly Community College) puts on the Spring Arts Festival in April, and it's a big deal. A lot of the artists who show are relatively local (around Baja Jorja) and quite a few come here from other parts of the country. It's a juried show, meaning ones art must be reviewed and judged acceptable before getting in.
This year I applied, and last week heard that I'm in as a Community Artist.
Wow.
::looks at inventory::
Just, Wow. Well, got some work to do, eh.
Looking into, for that reason, ways and means to market our art, at least the 2D pieces, in a manner perhaps more affordable. To whit, greeting cards. Not a lot of visible progress to show on this, as in no greeting cards to offer just now. However, individual cards (on the size of 12x20 cm (5x8 inches, or close) are likely going to be priced between $2-3 US. Probably be price breaks at certain points as well, something that rounds down to a near number for the group.
I'm also thinking about calendars, three different themes (scenics, critters, and nudes) and potential variations on style as well.
So most of the looking at artwork this month I've done with these thoughts in mind. When I've been looking at our own work, that is, instead of procrastinating by looking at other peoples art on the Web. Or such. Still, I'm looking to try providing the first round of cards in a couple months.
This is mildly complicated by another marketing goal to mat and mount all work currently in the queue, as in printed and on hand but not mounted. I've run through that count as well, and... it's mildly impressive to myself. Hadn't realised I'd gotten quite so many prints made over the past year or two. Couple hundred if my count is correct.
Doing the mounting and matting requires a bit of cleanup in Studio to organise. Over the Holiday months things spread out a bit, between Farmers Markets and the December Winter Gift Fair we took part in, both booths. Got a good part of that done today, after the Ranch rounds.
It's an odd feeling, then, like I'm making progress, and even creative progress, despite not making any new images just now.
There are a couple potentials on that count, yes, but I've told both people involved that it will be a month or two. I really need to get that mounting and matting done, before February, and hopefully (a good problem) more in March getting ready for April. Because in February we will be showing in the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Winter Art Festival @ Tioga (a show open to members of GFAA). March is still a maybe; haven't heard from that application yet. In April there's a big one.
It's been a long-term goal of mine, this coming April. Annually Santa Fe College (formerly Community College) puts on the Spring Arts Festival in April, and it's a big deal. A lot of the artists who show are relatively local (around Baja Jorja) and quite a few come here from other parts of the country. It's a juried show, meaning ones art must be reviewed and judged acceptable before getting in.
This year I applied, and last week heard that I'm in as a Community Artist.
Wow.
::looks at inventory::
Just, Wow. Well, got some work to do, eh.
State of the Studio
Jan. 14th, 2013 03:47 pmThe Studio is in a bit of a mess, actually, needing some organisation and cleanup. However, the mess is in part due to a lot of matting towards the end of last year. There's more to go, but that cleaning needs to happen because portions of the space are taken over by...
Frames. A lot of frames in one way, purchased at a yard sale in December. Worse problems to be had by an artist, sure.
Farmers Market Booth Stuph. This is another thing that escalated in the few weeks before the Holidays, and it's kept up (though a bit slower) in the couple of weeks since. Saturday morning Haile Farmers Market has been busy enough that I've stayed for Market instead of heading back to the Ranch to feed the critters, then back to Market to help pack and pick Herself up. It's good, because we've been selling moderate well even without fresh produce to sell. Goats milk, goat milk cheeses and fudge, soaps made with goats milk, our goat and pork meat, and fresh eggs are all moving along. Pack up is usually much easier, because several coolers are full of air rather than product.
On the way home we stopped to look at ice chests at Dollar General in Archer. Ours are still serviceable, simply showing signs of their age and weathering. And we are also looking at standardizing sizes to aid in packing Forrest Nissan pickup truck.
Sunday I went over to the Campus to attend one day of SwampCon (feel free to follow the link to new window/tab). I didn't get to go last year, the first year, because Hospital had me scheduled to work. I wanted to check out the Artist Alley in particular, and also see who else might be there I know. On that note I did see two artists and two writers I know through other cons.
They all told me Saturday showed a pretty big turn-out, something around 2,500 attendees. Sunday probably wasn't that full, and yet still a pretty good turn-out walking around. I hope the three UF clubs that organised it pull it off again next year. We'll see; they'll need a different site though because the on-campus hotel, J. Wayne Reitz Union (it's a real hotel, provides a practice ground for the college that prepares people for the hospitality business) will be undergoing needed renovations.
There is (was) a strong Anime presence in this con, with some Steampunk and Fantasy as well, at least as far as hall costumes are concerned. Likewise, though, for the art in Artist Alley. Some general sci-fi/fantasy work, but primarily a lot of Anime. Not sure much of my work will sell if I can do it next year; worth thinking about.
Meanwhile, tune-up continues on both the Ranch Booth for Farmers Market and Studio 318 Booth for art fair/festivals.
Which means, not much new art created recently. Plans, yes. Contemplations definitely. No creation though.
Frames. A lot of frames in one way, purchased at a yard sale in December. Worse problems to be had by an artist, sure.
Farmers Market Booth Stuph. This is another thing that escalated in the few weeks before the Holidays, and it's kept up (though a bit slower) in the couple of weeks since. Saturday morning Haile Farmers Market has been busy enough that I've stayed for Market instead of heading back to the Ranch to feed the critters, then back to Market to help pack and pick Herself up. It's good, because we've been selling moderate well even without fresh produce to sell. Goats milk, goat milk cheeses and fudge, soaps made with goats milk, our goat and pork meat, and fresh eggs are all moving along. Pack up is usually much easier, because several coolers are full of air rather than product.
On the way home we stopped to look at ice chests at Dollar General in Archer. Ours are still serviceable, simply showing signs of their age and weathering. And we are also looking at standardizing sizes to aid in packing Forrest Nissan pickup truck.
Sunday I went over to the Campus to attend one day of SwampCon (feel free to follow the link to new window/tab). I didn't get to go last year, the first year, because Hospital had me scheduled to work. I wanted to check out the Artist Alley in particular, and also see who else might be there I know. On that note I did see two artists and two writers I know through other cons.
They all told me Saturday showed a pretty big turn-out, something around 2,500 attendees. Sunday probably wasn't that full, and yet still a pretty good turn-out walking around. I hope the three UF clubs that organised it pull it off again next year. We'll see; they'll need a different site though because the on-campus hotel, J. Wayne Reitz Union (it's a real hotel, provides a practice ground for the college that prepares people for the hospitality business) will be undergoing needed renovations.
There is (was) a strong Anime presence in this con, with some Steampunk and Fantasy as well, at least as far as hall costumes are concerned. Likewise, though, for the art in Artist Alley. Some general sci-fi/fantasy work, but primarily a lot of Anime. Not sure much of my work will sell if I can do it next year; worth thinking about.
Meanwhile, tune-up continues on both the Ranch Booth for Farmers Market and Studio 318 Booth for art fair/festivals.
Which means, not much new art created recently. Plans, yes. Contemplations definitely. No creation though.
Flickr, or Not To Flickr
Dec. 30th, 2012 11:21 amEach year for the past four or five, I've examined my purposes and other aspects of Self when it comes time to renew my “Pro” account on Flickr. Pro is their term; all it really means is unlimited uploads and storage, plus some other detail sorts of things, but for my purposes unlimited storage is the primary.
Over time, I've watched the “Stats” functions and my viewership (for lack of another word) grew over that time. Still not stupendous perhaps, and that could well be related to how much activity I put up there. Things are somewhat slow over the past year with only 13 uploads. Of those, a good handful qualify as “sketchbook” (images with minimal post-processing) or as “joke” (images contributing to some other type of humour, elsewhere), and very few as my more or less final pieces. Also, the 'custom URL' to link to Flickr is … less than straight-forward from the Artist point of view, since Flickr chooses to promote themselves over the name of the Artist. We Artists do like our names to show first, eh!
In short, my whole use of Flickr changed over time. And while it may be good to provide a scrapbook for viewing, I'm not sure said scrapbook is truly worth a cost of $24.95 US. And some is related to another Flickr related issue which is annoying me a wee bit.
Some years back, I do not remember when, I attempted to set up a second 'free' Flickr account. Attempted is not totally correct, as apparently I succeeded. However, I don't recall the exact user name (couldn't use what I wanted because that name linked to my current Flickr as the screen name, even though the login name is different). I did set it up using the (relatively) newest e-mail address I use. The original Flickr is tied to an older e-mail address which I rarely use and in fact am considering eliminating totally, as another economical thing. However, I can't get at this other, second account because I don't remember the login name exactly, nor the password, nor the answer to security questions, nor a lot of other things.
The account management help process is where some of this frustration comes in. They want me to prove I truly 'own' this account. That's related to knowing login names, proving e-mail account ownership, and answering security questions per above. Mixed blessing; it is proving difficult to do this which means it is quite difficult for someone who doesn't own an account to cause the actual owner grief by deleting it. It's also proving annoying since I really should like to change up on some e-mail addresses, and the easiest means to do this will be to eliminate that second free account, except I can't.
All in all, then, I'm asking myself one more time:
How much am I using Flickr these days, and for what purposes?
How annoying is it to not be able to eliminate an old e-mail address from that account, so I can eliminate the e-mail address itself?
Does all of this combine sufficiently to cause me to trim down what I keep on Flickr and allow that account to 'relapse' to Free, and leave it at that?
Here are some indicators:
Flickr:
1,625 items (Free, only 200 most recent show; will need to trim way way back, eh!)
Sets (Number of Photos In):
154 in OR Holiday Party
134 in Various Digital Point & Shoot
350 in Pic-O-Day
133 in Elizabeth & Gary 10-18-08 (nearly all these could go away...)
302 in Vegas D70s, 133 in Bellagio Fountain Show alone
105 in South Island New Zealand
152 in Collected Otterz Mob
These are only the ones with >= 100 plus photographs. There are a lot more sets.
Removing these or any others from Flickr that are linked to blog posts means the link will die. There are a lot of links; I'm not at all sure I plan on going back through things to edit those links. For one thing, storage elsewhere would first need to be arranged, and my on-line presence for my artwork is perhaps becoming a bit stricter these days. As in, this is my art work. It is serious. Even when it is a visual joke, it's serious.
I suppose I could do some sort of fund-raiser thing, Help Keep Mad Shutterbugs Flickr Alive.
So, now the Forum is open. Discussion follows.
This entry was originally posted at http://madshutterbug.dreamwidth.org/166186.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Over time, I've watched the “Stats” functions and my viewership (for lack of another word) grew over that time. Still not stupendous perhaps, and that could well be related to how much activity I put up there. Things are somewhat slow over the past year with only 13 uploads. Of those, a good handful qualify as “sketchbook” (images with minimal post-processing) or as “joke” (images contributing to some other type of humour, elsewhere), and very few as my more or less final pieces. Also, the 'custom URL' to link to Flickr is … less than straight-forward from the Artist point of view, since Flickr chooses to promote themselves over the name of the Artist. We Artists do like our names to show first, eh!
In short, my whole use of Flickr changed over time. And while it may be good to provide a scrapbook for viewing, I'm not sure said scrapbook is truly worth a cost of $24.95 US. And some is related to another Flickr related issue which is annoying me a wee bit.
Some years back, I do not remember when, I attempted to set up a second 'free' Flickr account. Attempted is not totally correct, as apparently I succeeded. However, I don't recall the exact user name (couldn't use what I wanted because that name linked to my current Flickr as the screen name, even though the login name is different). I did set it up using the (relatively) newest e-mail address I use. The original Flickr is tied to an older e-mail address which I rarely use and in fact am considering eliminating totally, as another economical thing. However, I can't get at this other, second account because I don't remember the login name exactly, nor the password, nor the answer to security questions, nor a lot of other things.
The account management help process is where some of this frustration comes in. They want me to prove I truly 'own' this account. That's related to knowing login names, proving e-mail account ownership, and answering security questions per above. Mixed blessing; it is proving difficult to do this which means it is quite difficult for someone who doesn't own an account to cause the actual owner grief by deleting it. It's also proving annoying since I really should like to change up on some e-mail addresses, and the easiest means to do this will be to eliminate that second free account, except I can't.
All in all, then, I'm asking myself one more time:
How much am I using Flickr these days, and for what purposes?
How annoying is it to not be able to eliminate an old e-mail address from that account, so I can eliminate the e-mail address itself?
Does all of this combine sufficiently to cause me to trim down what I keep on Flickr and allow that account to 'relapse' to Free, and leave it at that?
Here are some indicators:
Flickr:
1,625 items (Free, only 200 most recent show; will need to trim way way back, eh!)
Sets (Number of Photos In):
154 in OR Holiday Party
134 in Various Digital Point & Shoot
350 in Pic-O-Day
133 in Elizabeth & Gary 10-18-08 (nearly all these could go away...)
302 in Vegas D70s, 133 in Bellagio Fountain Show alone
105 in South Island New Zealand
152 in Collected Otterz Mob
These are only the ones with >= 100 plus photographs. There are a lot more sets.
Removing these or any others from Flickr that are linked to blog posts means the link will die. There are a lot of links; I'm not at all sure I plan on going back through things to edit those links. For one thing, storage elsewhere would first need to be arranged, and my on-line presence for my artwork is perhaps becoming a bit stricter these days. As in, this is my art work. It is serious. Even when it is a visual joke, it's serious.
I suppose I could do some sort of fund-raiser thing, Help Keep Mad Shutterbugs Flickr Alive.
So, now the Forum is open. Discussion follows.
This entry was originally posted at http://madshutterbug.dreamwidth.org/166186.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Flickr, or Not To Flickr
Dec. 30th, 2012 11:21 amEach year for the past four or five, I've examined my purposes and other aspects of Self when it comes time to renew my “Pro” account on Flickr. Pro is their term; all it really means is unlimited uploads and storage, plus some other detail sorts of things, but for my purposes unlimited storage is the primary.
Over time, I've watched the “Stats” functions and my viewership (for lack of another word) grew over that time. Still not stupendous perhaps, and that could well be related to how much activity I put up there. Things are somewhat slow over the past year with only 13 uploads. Of those, a good handful qualify as “sketchbook” (images with minimal post-processing) or as “joke” (images contributing to some other type of humour, elsewhere), and very few as my more or less final pieces. Also, the 'custom URL' to link to Flickr is … less than straight-forward from the Artist point of view, since Flickr chooses to promote themselves over the name of the Artist. We Artists do like our names to show first, eh!
In short, my whole use of Flickr changed over time. And while it may be good to provide a scrapbook for viewing, I'm not sure said scrapbook is truly worth a cost of $24.95 US. And some is related to another Flickr related issue which is annoying me a wee bit.
Some years back, I do not remember when, I attempted to set up a second 'free' Flickr account. Attempted is not totally correct, as apparently I succeeded. However, I don't recall the exact user name (couldn't use what I wanted because that name linked to my current Flickr as the screen name, even though the login name is different). I did set it up using the (relatively) newest e-mail address I use. The original Flickr is tied to an older e-mail address which I rarely use and in fact am considering eliminating totally, as another economical thing. However, I can't get at this other, second account because I don't remember the login name exactly, nor the password, nor the answer to security questions, nor a lot of other things.
The account management help process is where some of this frustration comes in. They want me to prove I truly 'own' this account. That's related to knowing login names, proving e-mail account ownership, and answering security questions per above. Mixed blessing; it is proving difficult to do this which means it is quite difficult for someone who doesn't own an account to cause the actual owner grief by deleting it. It's also proving annoying since I really should like to change up on some e-mail addresses, and the easiest means to do this will be to eliminate that second free account, except I can't.
All in all, then, I'm asking myself one more time:
How much am I using Flickr these days, and for what purposes?
How annoying is it to not be able to eliminate an old e-mail address from that account, so I can eliminate the e-mail address itself?
Does all of this combine sufficiently to cause me to trim down what I keep on Flickr and allow that account to 'relapse' to Free, and leave it at that?
Here are some indicators:
Flickr:
1,625 items (Free, only 200 most recent show; will need to trim way way back, eh!)
Sets (Number of Photos In):
154 in OR Holiday Party
134 in Various Digital Point & Shoot
350 in Pic-O-Day
133 in Elizabeth & Gary 10-18-08 (nearly all these could go away...)
302 in Vegas D70s, 133 in Bellagio Fountain Show alone
105 in South Island New Zealand
152 in Collected Otterz Mob
These are only the ones with >= 100 plus photographs. There are a lot more sets.
Removing these or any others from Flickr that are linked to blog posts means the link will die. There are a lot of links; I'm not at all sure I plan on going back through things to edit those links. For one thing, storage elsewhere would first need to be arranged, and my on-line presence for my artwork is perhaps becoming a bit stricter these days. As in, this is my art work. It is serious. Even when it is a visual joke, it's serious.
I suppose I could do some sort of fund-raiser thing, Help Keep Mad Shutterbugs Flickr Alive.
So, now the Forum is open. Discussion follows.
Over time, I've watched the “Stats” functions and my viewership (for lack of another word) grew over that time. Still not stupendous perhaps, and that could well be related to how much activity I put up there. Things are somewhat slow over the past year with only 13 uploads. Of those, a good handful qualify as “sketchbook” (images with minimal post-processing) or as “joke” (images contributing to some other type of humour, elsewhere), and very few as my more or less final pieces. Also, the 'custom URL' to link to Flickr is … less than straight-forward from the Artist point of view, since Flickr chooses to promote themselves over the name of the Artist. We Artists do like our names to show first, eh!
In short, my whole use of Flickr changed over time. And while it may be good to provide a scrapbook for viewing, I'm not sure said scrapbook is truly worth a cost of $24.95 US. And some is related to another Flickr related issue which is annoying me a wee bit.
Some years back, I do not remember when, I attempted to set up a second 'free' Flickr account. Attempted is not totally correct, as apparently I succeeded. However, I don't recall the exact user name (couldn't use what I wanted because that name linked to my current Flickr as the screen name, even though the login name is different). I did set it up using the (relatively) newest e-mail address I use. The original Flickr is tied to an older e-mail address which I rarely use and in fact am considering eliminating totally, as another economical thing. However, I can't get at this other, second account because I don't remember the login name exactly, nor the password, nor the answer to security questions, nor a lot of other things.
The account management help process is where some of this frustration comes in. They want me to prove I truly 'own' this account. That's related to knowing login names, proving e-mail account ownership, and answering security questions per above. Mixed blessing; it is proving difficult to do this which means it is quite difficult for someone who doesn't own an account to cause the actual owner grief by deleting it. It's also proving annoying since I really should like to change up on some e-mail addresses, and the easiest means to do this will be to eliminate that second free account, except I can't.
All in all, then, I'm asking myself one more time:
How much am I using Flickr these days, and for what purposes?
How annoying is it to not be able to eliminate an old e-mail address from that account, so I can eliminate the e-mail address itself?
Does all of this combine sufficiently to cause me to trim down what I keep on Flickr and allow that account to 'relapse' to Free, and leave it at that?
Here are some indicators:
Flickr:
1,625 items (Free, only 200 most recent show; will need to trim way way back, eh!)
Sets (Number of Photos In):
154 in OR Holiday Party
134 in Various Digital Point & Shoot
350 in Pic-O-Day
133 in Elizabeth & Gary 10-18-08 (nearly all these could go away...)
302 in Vegas D70s, 133 in Bellagio Fountain Show alone
105 in South Island New Zealand
152 in Collected Otterz Mob
These are only the ones with >= 100 plus photographs. There are a lot more sets.
Removing these or any others from Flickr that are linked to blog posts means the link will die. There are a lot of links; I'm not at all sure I plan on going back through things to edit those links. For one thing, storage elsewhere would first need to be arranged, and my on-line presence for my artwork is perhaps becoming a bit stricter these days. As in, this is my art work. It is serious. Even when it is a visual joke, it's serious.
I suppose I could do some sort of fund-raiser thing, Help Keep Mad Shutterbugs Flickr Alive.
So, now the Forum is open. Discussion follows.
Happy Holidays
Dec. 25th, 2012 11:57 amJust as Herself said over on FB, the roosters here on the Ranch started heralding the day around 04:30-ish. And they are still at it.
Thing is, thing is, listening to the cadence and all, some are hollering "Merry Christmas!" and others are responding "And to you."
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
State of the Artist
Dec. 24th, 2012 10:22 amSince I've not made an entry about this for a few weeks, it is about time.
State of the Artist is Better. As in I felt much worse last week. Sunday evening a week back, started feeling a sore throat. Monday, some coughing and feeling a bit dragged out. Started on Sunday evening right off adding echinacea and additional Vitamin C to my daily supplements (morning & evening for the additionals). During the night I woke up and checked my temperature, and upon getting back to bed and phone called Hospital and told them I would not be coming in to work. Spent Tuesday and Wednesday enjoying the surreal universe that involves a core body temperature of 39.0 to 39.5 C.
Fever broke late Wednesday, and my feet felt cold all day Thursday. My feet rarely feel cold unless I am doing something like walking through frigid water (with or without boots). I did get back to work at Hospital on Friday and did my weekend shift on Saturday, good thing because that being my last scheduled shift before tomorrows Holiday I would not otherwise of been paid for not working tomorrow.
So I am better, which is not to say quite up to snuff yet yes, much better, thank you.
When we last discussed the State of the Artist subject I recounted completing the Six Show Goal for 2012. I will not say (at least not without tongue in cheek) that I'm glad I planned on completing that goal before the Mayan Calendar Brough-ha-ha. Wait, I just did say that. Tough. One of the other things I learned from the Goal List is that the list requires Advance Planning. That means despite the remote possibility, since proven to be miss-interpreted by the Doomsayers, of the World Ending plans must be in place and working for the 2013 Show Goal List before the first of the events.
Long before, in some instances. Here is the list, and this year it does say Eight Shows:
Title: Show Goal 2013
Details: 8 Shows
Due: Tue Dec 31, 2013
Notes: Each Individual Show to get own To Do list
- 01/18-20/13 Mars Con (01/12/12) App Deadline Nov 2012
- Another Con (Oasis?) (More Cons?)
- 02/15-17/13 GFAA Tioga Art Fair
- 03/7-9/13 Tampa Nude Night (02/14-16/13 Orlando) App Deadline Nov 2012
- 03/23-24/13 Kanapaha Spring Garden (03/15/12 & vs Spring Arts? Booth fee $150)
- 04/6-7/13 Santa Fe Spring Arts (deadlines: 12/31/12 $20 app fee $250 reg if accepted!)
- 5/??/13 Windsor Zucchini Festival (5/12/12) App Deadline Jan 2013
- 06/??/13 Chiefland Watermelon Festival (bkmk $75 by May 5+/-)
- 06/??/13 June Yulee Railroad Days (Happening?)
- 07/04/13 Bronson 4th of July Festival (07/04/12 short notice)
- 10/??/13 Williston Peanut Festival (10/01/12 Booth fee $100! App Deadline in Sept)
- 10/18-20/13 Necromicon (10/21/12) App Deadline 06/2012
- 10/26-27/13 Micanopy Fall Festival Oct 26-27, 2013 App Deadline ? (Does not conflict with Con!)
- 11?/??/13 Autumn Downtown Art Festival submit 5/1 (2012 In October! Pricy for booth space)
- 12/??/13 Blue Oven Kitchen Winter Show Downtown App Deadline ?
Astute observers will note immediately that there are 15 shows listed (16 if one counts both venues for Nude Nite). One of the things learned last year is some of these shows will not happen for me, either the show itself not happening or something else will interfere with the show. Two of them, to be discussed in a bit, are Juried Shows, which means apply first, the Jury reviews work submitted, and then notifies me if my work is Selected or Not Selected or Alternate If Someone Else Cancels.
On to the Shows.
Mars Con (MarsCon 2013 - Rebirth! - January 18-20 2013 I hope this link works, copy & pasted from my bookmarks will happen on the dates listed there in Williamsburg, VA. I won't be attending, however some of my artwork will be. On the individual To-Do list, the artwork is already boxed with return postage, shipped, received, and the display place fee is in the mail as well (it was a wee bit delayed due to that two day Core Body Temp incident). The show itself isn't 'checked off' yet because it won't be until next (year) Month!
If you are in the area, and the link works to get you to the additional information, please do go!
The second Goal is Another Con (OASFiS?) (More Cons?) Yes, I should like to be doing more Con art shows, on the one hand, and on the Other Hand OASFisS Orlando Area Science Fiction Society's major event in May would be a good one to try, close enough to be attending. On the Gripping Hand it remains to be seen what the budget is like, and so we shall see.
02/15-17/13 GFAA Tioga Art Fair is the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Spring showing (Winter, still, really based on the dates). It is a sort of juried event; members of GFAA submit that we are interested in taking part, with some samples of our work, and then we get space or not. This is not a 'general' show in that sense, one must be a member of GFAA. As of now, we will be attending and showing.
03/7-9/13 Tampa Nude Nite is one of two Nude Nite events I've known about for a couple years now. Last year I'd contemplated submitting, didn't due to budgetary considerations, and did this year. I'd thought about doing both (each show venue is a different application) and opted for only one due to both budget and the Orlando show is in February and I'm not quite sure I'm up for more than one show a month just yet. This is a Juried Show. The subject is pretty well stated, and the show takes a moderately hefty commission from any sales (60/40).
04/6-7/13 Santa Fe Spring Arts (deadlines: 12/31/12 $20 app fee $250 reg if accepted!) is a show I've known for decades (literally, because it's been going on longer than I've lived here in North Central Baja Jorja and I've lived here for decades), and which long ago I decided I'd like to be one of the attending/displaying artists, and is a Juried Show. Since I put it on my list that long ago, I've been watching it off and on anyway and looking at number of artists displaying, crowd attending and such. My first thoughts when I ramped up on Start Showing led me to think by oh, say, 2015 or so I'd be applying.
There were probably a dozen empty spots this year when we walked through. I've discussed this here before. So I escalated the priority on when.
Both of these shows use an on-line application process. Both require samples of the artist work, and the Spring Arts also wants a photograph of the Artist Booth to be sure they are looking a a professional display. Nude Nite the two images on the application are the two which will be in the show, if accepted. Both applications require a non-refundable application fee; the show fee if applicable (while heftier) is not due until the Artist is notified they are accepted. Nude Nite does not appear to charge a fee, they do charge the commission. Santa Fe does charge a booth fee.
Both applications are submitted, and I am now waiting to hear back. That gets us through the first four months of Next Year, with two definite shows, two potential shows, and We Will See.
May we are looking at the Windsor Zucchini Festival again; we all enjoyed doing that one-day festival and we all made at least booth fee for it so for now it's simply keep an eye on their site for the application! We didn't do the Chiefland Watermelon Festival, found it after the fact so put it on the calendar for this year, and watching that site for the application as well. If Yulee Railroad Days happens this year (this one the organisers took 2012 off) there could be two events in June, both of which are one-day events so long as they aren't the same weekend, fairly easily do-able.
What remains for this year, then, is inventory to match against Start-of-Year for the Tax Man, and any routine maintenance and restocking needed.
State of the Artist is Better. As in I felt much worse last week. Sunday evening a week back, started feeling a sore throat. Monday, some coughing and feeling a bit dragged out. Started on Sunday evening right off adding echinacea and additional Vitamin C to my daily supplements (morning & evening for the additionals). During the night I woke up and checked my temperature, and upon getting back to bed and phone called Hospital and told them I would not be coming in to work. Spent Tuesday and Wednesday enjoying the surreal universe that involves a core body temperature of 39.0 to 39.5 C.
Fever broke late Wednesday, and my feet felt cold all day Thursday. My feet rarely feel cold unless I am doing something like walking through frigid water (with or without boots). I did get back to work at Hospital on Friday and did my weekend shift on Saturday, good thing because that being my last scheduled shift before tomorrows Holiday I would not otherwise of been paid for not working tomorrow.
So I am better, which is not to say quite up to snuff yet yes, much better, thank you.
When we last discussed the State of the Artist subject I recounted completing the Six Show Goal for 2012. I will not say (at least not without tongue in cheek) that I'm glad I planned on completing that goal before the Mayan Calendar Brough-ha-ha. Wait, I just did say that. Tough. One of the other things I learned from the Goal List is that the list requires Advance Planning. That means despite the remote possibility, since proven to be miss-interpreted by the Doomsayers, of the World Ending plans must be in place and working for the 2013 Show Goal List before the first of the events.
Long before, in some instances. Here is the list, and this year it does say Eight Shows:
Title: Show Goal 2013
Details: 8 Shows
Due: Tue Dec 31, 2013
Notes: Each Individual Show to get own To Do list
- 01/18-20/13 Mars Con (01/12/12) App Deadline Nov 2012
- Another Con (Oasis?) (More Cons?)
- 02/15-17/13 GFAA Tioga Art Fair
- 03/7-9/13 Tampa Nude Night (02/14-16/13 Orlando) App Deadline Nov 2012
- 03/23-24/13 Kanapaha Spring Garden (03/15/12 & vs Spring Arts? Booth fee $150)
- 04/6-7/13 Santa Fe Spring Arts (deadlines: 12/31/12 $20 app fee $250 reg if accepted!)
- 5/??/13 Windsor Zucchini Festival (5/12/12) App Deadline Jan 2013
- 06/??/13 Chiefland Watermelon Festival (bkmk $75 by May 5+/-)
- 06/??/13 June Yulee Railroad Days (Happening?)
- 07/04/13 Bronson 4th of July Festival (07/04/12 short notice)
- 10/??/13 Williston Peanut Festival (10/01/12 Booth fee $100! App Deadline in Sept)
- 10/18-20/13 Necromicon (10/21/12) App Deadline 06/2012
- 10/26-27/13 Micanopy Fall Festival Oct 26-27, 2013 App Deadline ? (Does not conflict with Con!)
- 11?/??/13 Autumn Downtown Art Festival submit 5/1 (2012 In October! Pricy for booth space)
- 12/??/13 Blue Oven Kitchen Winter Show Downtown App Deadline ?
Astute observers will note immediately that there are 15 shows listed (16 if one counts both venues for Nude Nite). One of the things learned last year is some of these shows will not happen for me, either the show itself not happening or something else will interfere with the show. Two of them, to be discussed in a bit, are Juried Shows, which means apply first, the Jury reviews work submitted, and then notifies me if my work is Selected or Not Selected or Alternate If Someone Else Cancels.
On to the Shows.
Mars Con (MarsCon 2013 - Rebirth! - January 18-20 2013 I hope this link works, copy & pasted from my bookmarks will happen on the dates listed there in Williamsburg, VA. I won't be attending, however some of my artwork will be. On the individual To-Do list, the artwork is already boxed with return postage, shipped, received, and the display place fee is in the mail as well (it was a wee bit delayed due to that two day Core Body Temp incident). The show itself isn't 'checked off' yet because it won't be until next (year) Month!
If you are in the area, and the link works to get you to the additional information, please do go!
The second Goal is Another Con (OASFiS?) (More Cons?) Yes, I should like to be doing more Con art shows, on the one hand, and on the Other Hand OASFisS Orlando Area Science Fiction Society's major event in May would be a good one to try, close enough to be attending. On the Gripping Hand it remains to be seen what the budget is like, and so we shall see.
02/15-17/13 GFAA Tioga Art Fair is the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Spring showing (Winter, still, really based on the dates). It is a sort of juried event; members of GFAA submit that we are interested in taking part, with some samples of our work, and then we get space or not. This is not a 'general' show in that sense, one must be a member of GFAA. As of now, we will be attending and showing.
03/7-9/13 Tampa Nude Nite is one of two Nude Nite events I've known about for a couple years now. Last year I'd contemplated submitting, didn't due to budgetary considerations, and did this year. I'd thought about doing both (each show venue is a different application) and opted for only one due to both budget and the Orlando show is in February and I'm not quite sure I'm up for more than one show a month just yet. This is a Juried Show. The subject is pretty well stated, and the show takes a moderately hefty commission from any sales (60/40).
04/6-7/13 Santa Fe Spring Arts (deadlines: 12/31/12 $20 app fee $250 reg if accepted!) is a show I've known for decades (literally, because it's been going on longer than I've lived here in North Central Baja Jorja and I've lived here for decades), and which long ago I decided I'd like to be one of the attending/displaying artists, and is a Juried Show. Since I put it on my list that long ago, I've been watching it off and on anyway and looking at number of artists displaying, crowd attending and such. My first thoughts when I ramped up on Start Showing led me to think by oh, say, 2015 or so I'd be applying.
There were probably a dozen empty spots this year when we walked through. I've discussed this here before. So I escalated the priority on when.
Both of these shows use an on-line application process. Both require samples of the artist work, and the Spring Arts also wants a photograph of the Artist Booth to be sure they are looking a a professional display. Nude Nite the two images on the application are the two which will be in the show, if accepted. Both applications require a non-refundable application fee; the show fee if applicable (while heftier) is not due until the Artist is notified they are accepted. Nude Nite does not appear to charge a fee, they do charge the commission. Santa Fe does charge a booth fee.
Both applications are submitted, and I am now waiting to hear back. That gets us through the first four months of Next Year, with two definite shows, two potential shows, and We Will See.
May we are looking at the Windsor Zucchini Festival again; we all enjoyed doing that one-day festival and we all made at least booth fee for it so for now it's simply keep an eye on their site for the application! We didn't do the Chiefland Watermelon Festival, found it after the fact so put it on the calendar for this year, and watching that site for the application as well. If Yulee Railroad Days happens this year (this one the organisers took 2012 off) there could be two events in June, both of which are one-day events so long as they aren't the same weekend, fairly easily do-able.
What remains for this year, then, is inventory to match against Start-of-Year for the Tax Man, and any routine maintenance and restocking needed.
Goal Completed
Dec. 9th, 2012 09:55 amWell except for details.
We did the Blue Oven Kitchens Winter Gift Fair yesterday afternoon, and it proved profitable. Like last year, we did this with our friend and partner B Not on Blogoshpere of Caprihaven Dairy Goats. Unlike last year, we did this year as two booths by paying for a double-size space. Despite booth fee thus being twice as much, we made booth fee. On both booths. And then some.
The KP Ranch/Caprihaven booth did a gangbusters business. Goat milk fudge is a hot item, and B creating some interesting ways to promote same. We did of course offer samples, small itty bitty portions in a cupcake cup for free. However, she also created two new variations to sell same besides the nice sized block of fudge; cubes on a stick and spoons dipped. The dipped plastic spoons sell for 50 cents and provide a nice way to taste; a lot of people bought one or another of those, wandered off to other booths, and came back to purchase a larger portion. The cubes are about 3 cm cubic, on the ends of plastic spoons and sell for a bit more than the dipped spoons. Those proved rather popular as the 'came back to buy' items.
Herselfs two mustards that she made using two of my beers as the seed soaking solution sold very well also. We opened up two small jars one each as Sample, with wooden dipping sticks (and a bin to put the used sticks into). One of the most fun things to watch is peoples faces as they tasted those mustards, particularly the 'End of the World Dark Mustard' which … the beer she used is also called End of the World, and part of the ingredients in the beer are “Midnight wheat, chocolate malt and chili pepper”. The beer itself is zingy, and so is the mustard.
Studio 318 sold a print, and as with other shows there are some potential inquiries and such.
Several sales, including the print, made using the card reader which worked flawlessly (not always the case). Just when I started to think it might be time to close that or get another type.
Things that worked, then, on the overall setup: loaded everything into the Subaru Outback,
2 totes matted work, 1 tote framed work, 2 large framed pieces each in separate corrugated board transport, 1 tote Herself jewelry, 1 folding jewelry display, 1 tote Pavilion gear, 1 ez-up pavilion, 1 bag pvc pavilion art wall supports, 1 folding table, 2 'weight bags' (keep pavilion from blowing away), 1 folding hand truck, 2 folding print bins, 1 folding chair, 1 Office Box, 1 very small cooler for noms & drinks...
I've been thinking to keep the load small enough to transport in the Subaru; this load filled the back, with the jewelry tote being a second level, and required me to bring the bin of road supplies (spare oil, air compressor, jumper cables, etc) into the front passenger seat. There were a few other things which came along that actually went for the Ranch related booth and wouldn't necessarily be coming along for Studio work, but that wouldn't make much of a difference in the pack-up.
Subaru does include a roof rack, some lighter items may be strapped to the top. Thing is, then they should also be (somehow) protected from weather/road debris. Also, doing a two-layer load of totes is possible given the size we are using, but then I get concerned about load shifts forward in the event of sudden deceleration.
Thing is, I really like our Subaru Outback. Could get a new(er) Subaru, and could be either a Forrester or another Outback (newer year models than ours appear to be a tad larger). Then we'd also be acquiring a car payment, something we do not currently sport thank you very much.
So we made the nut (booth fee and petrol) plus some, between the two booths.
This wraps up the year for me in terms of shows. Here is the 'to do list' I used.
Title: Goal 2012
Details: 6 Shows (2 lagniappe)
Priority: Medium
Due: Mon Dec 31, 2012
Folder: PhotoRelated
Notes:
01/12/12 Mars Con ✔
5/12/12 Windsor Zucchini Festival ✔
03/15/12 Kanapaha Spring Garden ✔
07/04/12 Bronson 4th of July Festival (short notice) ✔
10/21/12 Necromicon ✔
12/08/12 Blue Kitchen Winter Show ✔
Another Con
Yulee Railroad Days June (Not Happening)
10/01/12 Williston Peanut Festival (Booth fee $100! Not happening this year. Deadline in Sept)
Autumn Downtown Art Festival submit 5/1 (In October! Not happening)
Chiefland Watermelon Festival (2013 bkmk $75 by May 25+/-)
If they've a check mark, they're done. The others were on the list as probable/possible shows, though they didn't get done for various reasons. Chiefland we learned about this year, after the fact. Pretty much all of them are on the list for 2013 again, with the same game plan. I'm not committing to adding shows, exactly, and at least one is not on the list for next year (Kanapaha. We'll go as attendees. Much better for us that way.)
We did the Blue Oven Kitchens Winter Gift Fair yesterday afternoon, and it proved profitable. Like last year, we did this with our friend and partner B Not on Blogoshpere of Caprihaven Dairy Goats. Unlike last year, we did this year as two booths by paying for a double-size space. Despite booth fee thus being twice as much, we made booth fee. On both booths. And then some.
The KP Ranch/Caprihaven booth did a gangbusters business. Goat milk fudge is a hot item, and B creating some interesting ways to promote same. We did of course offer samples, small itty bitty portions in a cupcake cup for free. However, she also created two new variations to sell same besides the nice sized block of fudge; cubes on a stick and spoons dipped. The dipped plastic spoons sell for 50 cents and provide a nice way to taste; a lot of people bought one or another of those, wandered off to other booths, and came back to purchase a larger portion. The cubes are about 3 cm cubic, on the ends of plastic spoons and sell for a bit more than the dipped spoons. Those proved rather popular as the 'came back to buy' items.
Herselfs two mustards that she made using two of my beers as the seed soaking solution sold very well also. We opened up two small jars one each as Sample, with wooden dipping sticks (and a bin to put the used sticks into). One of the most fun things to watch is peoples faces as they tasted those mustards, particularly the 'End of the World Dark Mustard' which … the beer she used is also called End of the World, and part of the ingredients in the beer are “Midnight wheat, chocolate malt and chili pepper”. The beer itself is zingy, and so is the mustard.
Studio 318 sold a print, and as with other shows there are some potential inquiries and such.
Several sales, including the print, made using the card reader which worked flawlessly (not always the case). Just when I started to think it might be time to close that or get another type.
Things that worked, then, on the overall setup: loaded everything into the Subaru Outback,
2 totes matted work, 1 tote framed work, 2 large framed pieces each in separate corrugated board transport, 1 tote Herself jewelry, 1 folding jewelry display, 1 tote Pavilion gear, 1 ez-up pavilion, 1 bag pvc pavilion art wall supports, 1 folding table, 2 'weight bags' (keep pavilion from blowing away), 1 folding hand truck, 2 folding print bins, 1 folding chair, 1 Office Box, 1 very small cooler for noms & drinks...
I've been thinking to keep the load small enough to transport in the Subaru; this load filled the back, with the jewelry tote being a second level, and required me to bring the bin of road supplies (spare oil, air compressor, jumper cables, etc) into the front passenger seat. There were a few other things which came along that actually went for the Ranch related booth and wouldn't necessarily be coming along for Studio work, but that wouldn't make much of a difference in the pack-up.
Subaru does include a roof rack, some lighter items may be strapped to the top. Thing is, then they should also be (somehow) protected from weather/road debris. Also, doing a two-layer load of totes is possible given the size we are using, but then I get concerned about load shifts forward in the event of sudden deceleration.
Thing is, I really like our Subaru Outback. Could get a new(er) Subaru, and could be either a Forrester or another Outback (newer year models than ours appear to be a tad larger). Then we'd also be acquiring a car payment, something we do not currently sport thank you very much.
So we made the nut (booth fee and petrol) plus some, between the two booths.
This wraps up the year for me in terms of shows. Here is the 'to do list' I used.
Title: Goal 2012
Details: 6 Shows (2 lagniappe)
Priority: Medium
Due: Mon Dec 31, 2012
Folder: PhotoRelated
Notes:
01/12/12 Mars Con ✔
5/12/12 Windsor Zucchini Festival ✔
03/15/12 Kanapaha Spring Garden ✔
07/04/12 Bronson 4th of July Festival (short notice) ✔
10/21/12 Necromicon ✔
12/08/12 Blue Kitchen Winter Show ✔
Another Con
Yulee Railroad Days June (Not Happening)
10/01/12 Williston Peanut Festival (Booth fee $100! Not happening this year. Deadline in Sept)
Autumn Downtown Art Festival submit 5/1 (In October! Not happening)
Chiefland Watermelon Festival (2013 bkmk $75 by May 25+/-)
If they've a check mark, they're done. The others were on the list as probable/possible shows, though they didn't get done for various reasons. Chiefland we learned about this year, after the fact. Pretty much all of them are on the list for 2013 again, with the same game plan. I'm not committing to adding shows, exactly, and at least one is not on the list for next year (Kanapaha. We'll go as attendees. Much better for us that way.)
Reconnaissance
Nov. 26th, 2012 10:00 amHerself and I went to the O'Connell Centre Craft Fair yesterday with Herself. This is an annual event held in the big coliseum style building where University hosts a wide variety of athletic events, as well as other venues (music, some stage show). She's been before, though a number of years ago. I consider the trip a reconnaissance, as in how I've looked at other art/craft shows and fairs to decide if I should like to try for space there.
The fair is a two day event, Saturday and Sunday. We went on Sunday because my Hospital schedule and our Farmers Market schedule required my or our presence on Saturday. Even at that, we went later in the day, needing to get the Ranch squared away. Glad we did on both counts, go, and go later. While feeding the Goats we discovered three new kids, sometime during the night or early morning. The two does that kidded are one of our oldest and one of the youngest, and as such on our list to watch over for potential problems. We are happy to report that so far, no problems. Both mothers doing fine with their kids.
At any rate, we journeyed into Hoggetowne in the afternoon, arriving at the Fair about 13:30-ish giving us a potential three hours to wander through. This year by my count on the site guide sheet 223 vendors showed their various wares and 38 or so of them did 'double spaces'. Call a single booth space as either 9x9 metres/10'x10' or 12'x12' (I'd need to re-examine the information on line for vendor applicants) and a double space then 9x18metres/10x20.
We lingered at a good number of booths, stopped at a double handful. Three booths we stopped at because we knew the people there in some manner. In some manner is the (to me) humourous part. One individual we know because she is most often set up next to our booth at the Haile Plantation Farmers Market. Haile does provide space for craftspeople; we usually set up right at the 'transition' border since Haile now 'segregates' crafts to one end, foods to the other.
Another person I stopped to look at the booth because this one was one of the few I saw featuring photography, and the specifics are a melding of photography and poetry. The person, of two, there that day at that time I recognised from Hospital, not really that small a world here in Hoggetowne. Nor even in Health Care, as a lot of people I know in the field overall are also involved in creative endeavors of one sort or another.
The third we know through mutual friends, that being the common nexus where we met Chico. He gave us some good background info on the fair itself, overall, as he's been showing there for most of the years the Fair existed.
That's the more or less 'personal' side. On the 'professional' side, as mentioned I spotted very few photographers, and overall what I'd call represenational art (drawing, painting, sculpture) constituted maybe a quarter of the show, sculpture type items being the majority of that. If we include textile arts as 'soft sculpture' there could be a lot more. However, most of the textile work we saw would more properly be crafts, as in bags, scarfs, shirts, socks, hats, and such.
Food vendors needed to be selling their wares in such a manner the food within would not be consumed on site. So, nearly all of those vendors produced items in jars or other sealed containers, and based on labeling we read in commercial kitchens rather than under the relatively new Florida “Cottage Kitchen” law that allows individuals or organisations to sell home-made goods with limitations.
The question before us is, then, would this be a venue we should pursue?
The fair is a two day event, Saturday and Sunday. We went on Sunday because my Hospital schedule and our Farmers Market schedule required my or our presence on Saturday. Even at that, we went later in the day, needing to get the Ranch squared away. Glad we did on both counts, go, and go later. While feeding the Goats we discovered three new kids, sometime during the night or early morning. The two does that kidded are one of our oldest and one of the youngest, and as such on our list to watch over for potential problems. We are happy to report that so far, no problems. Both mothers doing fine with their kids.
At any rate, we journeyed into Hoggetowne in the afternoon, arriving at the Fair about 13:30-ish giving us a potential three hours to wander through. This year by my count on the site guide sheet 223 vendors showed their various wares and 38 or so of them did 'double spaces'. Call a single booth space as either 9x9 metres/10'x10' or 12'x12' (I'd need to re-examine the information on line for vendor applicants) and a double space then 9x18metres/10x20.
We lingered at a good number of booths, stopped at a double handful. Three booths we stopped at because we knew the people there in some manner. In some manner is the (to me) humourous part. One individual we know because she is most often set up next to our booth at the Haile Plantation Farmers Market. Haile does provide space for craftspeople; we usually set up right at the 'transition' border since Haile now 'segregates' crafts to one end, foods to the other.
Another person I stopped to look at the booth because this one was one of the few I saw featuring photography, and the specifics are a melding of photography and poetry. The person, of two, there that day at that time I recognised from Hospital, not really that small a world here in Hoggetowne. Nor even in Health Care, as a lot of people I know in the field overall are also involved in creative endeavors of one sort or another.
The third we know through mutual friends, that being the common nexus where we met Chico. He gave us some good background info on the fair itself, overall, as he's been showing there for most of the years the Fair existed.
That's the more or less 'personal' side. On the 'professional' side, as mentioned I spotted very few photographers, and overall what I'd call represenational art (drawing, painting, sculpture) constituted maybe a quarter of the show, sculpture type items being the majority of that. If we include textile arts as 'soft sculpture' there could be a lot more. However, most of the textile work we saw would more properly be crafts, as in bags, scarfs, shirts, socks, hats, and such.
Food vendors needed to be selling their wares in such a manner the food within would not be consumed on site. So, nearly all of those vendors produced items in jars or other sealed containers, and based on labeling we read in commercial kitchens rather than under the relatively new Florida “Cottage Kitchen” law that allows individuals or organisations to sell home-made goods with limitations.
The question before us is, then, would this be a venue we should pursue?
Herself is conducting her newest culinary experiment, both for ourselves and for sale via our KP Ranch Farmers Market booth: "gourmet mustards". This required a significant sacrifice on my part. She snagged two beers from my stash, one a Belgian Wheat Ale and the other (same brewer) a "Midnight Wheat End of the World Ale".
What makes it an End of the World ale? Well... Along with that midnight wheat (whatever that is, still researching) the brewer, Shocktop, used chocolate malt and chilis.
And it is Yummie beer! Oh my yes.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
