Plein Air Event Organization & Artist Thoughts

I got an email this week from an artist who works at an art gallery. She and her gallery have been asked by the city to sponsor a plein air event (even though she has never participated in one).  She knows that I have participated in several plein air events and was asking for my thoughts. First and foremost she/her gallery will have much work to do!

Plein Air Organizers Needs:

Organization Item	Artist Note	Questions	My personal thoughts
Application for Artist	Online App preferred,	?Cost/Free? Limit # of Artists? ?Limit size of works	Do not charge a lot for entry & you will get more applicants. Is it open to all artists or will artists be juried in? Regarding limiting artists, you cannot control the quality of artist if it is open to all.
Prizes	IMPT!		Awards are good, prize $ is good. Will get artists interested.
Rules	This is impt, must be painted the day of, from life.	?Location	Rules for where (location) artists can paint/boundaries, rules for no photo ref must be from life, ?size rule (not bigger than), canvas/paper must be stamped, wet paint works must be framed
List/Map of Suggested locations/boundaries	location	What are the boundaries of city where are the parks, businesses etc where artists can paint?	I do expect a list of where I can paint when I participate – esp if I do not know the area. A map of boundaries is good, a suggestion of painting locations is a must. Are there parks, downtown businesses that will let artists paint there?
Printed timeline	VERY IMPT	One day event?	One day event may be a good place to start, but it will be hectic. Artists need an hour by hour schedule and rules print out at check in. ? One day one work? If more than one day, maybe more than 1 work?
Timeline & Organizers, Day of	You need multiple workers for all hours		If it’s a one day event, you will need people for check in and canvas stamp, to hand out printed rules/timeline, wet canvas check in and return<<<this will back up, if you stop at 4pm all artists will arrive around 4 to turn in work. You will need many there to take artist name, title and price of work. And to take the work from the tired hungry artists, framing screws and hammers may be nice to have on a table.
Stamp- for back of canvases and paper	Make it ARTY, not just a ‘date stamp’ – One org did a hummingbird	?Multiple stamps so multiple people can check in at once?	Artists will all show up at once for canvas stamping and waiting in line wastes valuable paint time, the organization must be fast and efficient. Artists will bring MORE than one canvas to stamp, prepare for that, multiple stamping per each artist (as once you get outside you need options). I would say if event is for one day, have check in and stamping from 8-12 (2-3 hours at least). Some will come early some will come late, many will arrive at SAME time magically… One idea – offer canvas stamping the day before the event – with clear rule requirement that painting cannot start until day of event.
Reception	Artists Reception/Show		Is this the same night as the paint out or at a later date? How long is the show?

For me the artist the application process is typically:

Apply for the event online, review rules and location requirements and timeline online, get email notification of acceptance. Yay! Put on calendar, day before pack car and pre-wire frame(s)

The day of the event: the artist process is typically: (my car is my studio)

1.     Pack car: Frames, framing gear, canvases, organization and timeline information, lunch, art supplies

2.     Check in, get 5 canvases stamped (need multiple organizers w stamps as the line will get long and artists need to get out to paint). FYI -- I always take more than one canvas to be stamped as you never know what size you need. Be prepared to stamp multiple canvases per person.

3.     Go to location to paint, hope for nice weather (what will you do if it rains, if weather is severe reschedule or keep event going?) 

4.     If same day event, Take wet painting and frame it from trunk of car (this is a process!!).

5.     Return to location to turn wet painting back in, with title and price (again, you will need multiple people to take in wet paintings and complete paperwork). 

6.     Attend reception, hope for a prize. #exhaustion

Enacting Good Ideas - Joy of Brushwork 2

My Book Cover

In my last post I talked about making a photo book for my old least favorite artworks. I uploaded images and created the book online, then waited for it to arrive! Ok it was more complex than that!

It’s one thing to hear a good idea, another to act on it. It took me several hours to review my thumbnail sketches, to identify early bad works. Then, it took me 4 hours in the basement to sort through the works and photograph them. Then it took time to move the images to my computer and sort them (hours). Then, it took me about a day to place the images and text into a book online. Then I had to wait 10 days for the print book that I ordered. This process took a lot of time, but I was inspired and willing to do it for the benefits and outcome.

So thin!

I just got my book in the mail and I love it. It is a 1/4 inch thick book and it turned out good if I do say so myself. I placed all images in the book, one full photo of my worst painting and then one to four photos (close up) of what I like about the painting. And, then I added ‘what I like’ comments to each page. It turned out well. However, everyone wants to see the book, but this a book of my least favorite works…I may only let a select few see the book.

The biggest plus is space, I will toss forty-something paintings (3 feet tall stack) and replace them with a .25 inch book. Storage savings! And this whole process enables me to let go of my old works that were not good. The first book covers 2 years, so I will have to create 2 more books just for all my portraits painted (least favorites).

And, now I may I want a book or books of my good works too! Something to think about…

Just a glimpse of good...

Pluses of enacting this good idea:

• Being organized makes me feel good
• Creating a book and then tossing old paintings leads to more storage space
• It was good to go through all my old works to remember where I have started and see how I have improved
• I was inspired, to get my artworks and artspace in order.
• I can see how I can do this process moving forward
• I may want to do books of my best works and have those books in my studio

Joy of Brushwork

A nice profile, like the light on the mouth.

And the Need to Stay Positive

I recently reviewed many of my artworks with my portrait and figure drawing instructor. It was great to get a review and analysis with another artist whom I greatly respect. While I cannot remember our exact conversation I did realize as we went through my art, that I was overly negative. My Instructor was positive and asked "What did you learn from this, what do you like?"

I confessed to my art instructor that I had about 450 paintings in my basement, that I held on to almost all portrait paintings that I created these last 5 years. Not all of the paintings are masterpieces, not all are complete. I just had no idea what to do with the art in the basement and no idea where to start and how to let go. Once again, (you are the best) my instructor had an idea for me. "What about taking photos and creating a book, keep the book and toss the paintings?" Such a great idea, I like it! And that will make for easier storage.

And so it begins:

Fabric folds, painted prettily.

Last week, I reviewed my documentation (thumbnail drawings of each painting, by date). Thank goodness I had documentation. I reviewed the early years of my portrait painting: 2014-2015, 150 works. I noted my thumbnails of works that I thought we less successful, and then had to cull through all my works to find those paintings. This took a bit of time, as I had identified about 50 paintings. I was unable to find a few, but most were lying there gathering dust. I decided to keep a few paintings-- those that had color touches or wonderful color blocking (just a few) got moved into small "keep" stack. The toss stack ended up being about 3 feet tall, and this is with mostly canvas boards! Eek!

Next, I used my phone to photograph each painting and then get a close up of any aspect of the painting that was good. This was a long but wonderful experience. It took many hours, but I was able to find something good in each work. I noticed that I had some great brushstrokes in each work, some great eyes (a few) and some lovely fabric folds.

Last, I got all the photos onto my computer and organized them. I ended up with 45 paintings that I should let go. Then I went to Shutterfly to create a photobook of those images. I decided on an 8x11 size photobook, with about 35 pages. I put multiple images on each page, especially if they were images of the same model. After I had tentatively placed the images, I went back in and added the positive text/comments about the paintings.

Yesterday, I placed the book order. I am excited about this small 1 inch book replacing 3 feet of paintings. Once I get the book, I plan to get rid of the works. Wow, if I keep this up I will have a better organized storage space in my basement -- it needs it! And, if this is successful, I still have 3 more years worth of work to go through and another book or two to create!

Steps to Let Go:

1. Review paintings
2. Stack the keepers and the not keepers
3. Photograph the not keepers (full images and close ups)
4. Organize photos on your computer
5. Create a photobook (I used Shutterfly)
6. Toss or paint over the not keeper paintings