I''m MELTING, MELTING! But painting anyway...

Well, it is time to be selling Halloween and Fall items while painting Christmas items (and I am doing some for Kwanzaa and Hannukah as well).  But it is hot enough to roast a turkey just by leaving it in a closed car.  Maybe even  just wrapped in foil in the driveway!  Difficult to get all holiday cheery when you are melting from the heat.

But starving artists must persevere...

I am super stoked about having one of my paintings in the 54th Annual River Road Show--a national juried exhibition put on by the Art Guild of Louisiana.  The reception is a four hour drive from here.  That means renting a car since my a/c is balky.  I have no wish to arrive at the State Archives Gallery having a heatstroke.  The road trip through the state will be nice, though, giving me a chance to snap a lot of scenic photos to paint from later.

And I just finished doing some lettering in an entry foyer.  The word Lasata is a Native American word meaning "place of peace".  The clients are moving into their new home and making it into  a unique and lovely residence, and I was so happy to be a part of it!

Hope everyone is staying out of the heat and looking forward to cooler times.  Hey, post pictures or comments--tell me what YOU are painting!  Or drop me an email -- betsylevels@gmail.com --if you have something you want painted.  I paint canvases of course, but will paint on anything that doesn't run away!

Holiday frenzy sets in

 Here we go!  Back-to-school sales abound, it is 104 degrees in the shade, and our thoughts turn to...snowmen????

I love holidays.  I love to paint decor for every holiday that comes along.  But in this heat, it is hard to get excited about Christmas.  Plus, this time of year, art and craft shows are ramping up.  I, of course, am up to my eyeballs in painted pumpkins, witches, and ghosts, even though it is only August.  There is not going to be a lot of "spare time" to paint for the next few months. 

And I am kicking myself for not having kept that New Year's resolution to paint a box of Christmas ornaments a week.  I just can't get into the groove for snowy items when we are under heat advisories daily (this is, after all, Louisiana). 

It looks like I will have to just knuckle down, set the thermostat lower, and dig in to that pile of ornaments though, in between rounds of loading and unloading a river of orange, purple, and black every weekend! 

Here is a shot of my space at the Mall St. Vincent market--a new opportunity the mall is starting for artists and artisans and other vendors.  

I had a lot of items, but it was a two-day event so I figured it was worth a little extra setup time.

I am quite pleased with the wood display risers I got for free.  They give me some visual interest and allow me room to arrange items better.  Heavy to transport but they stabilize the two tables as well.  

See y'all at the vendor fairs!

Looking back--that awful first booth

 My first time out at a maker's fair was a complete disaster.  I made just about every mistake it was possible to make.  Some of them were monumental. I had a borrowed  tent.  I had no idea how to put the canopy on it.  After my husband and I wrangled with it an hour we decided I could live without shade.  And of course there was no chance of rain predicted.

It rained buckets for 45 minutes.  We stood there trying to hold the unattached canopy over most of my stuff.  Then the sun came out and we were standing there in soaking wet clothes.  

I had priced my items haphazardly and had to prop them against each other and my makeshift tables because I had no walls or hanging spaces.  The prices were written with magic marker on masking tape.  In the midst of 45 other professional looking booths I looked like I was at the tail end of a garage sale. 

But I sold one small painting. That meant I made a profit of $15 for the day.  My husband closed his eyes and shook his head silently.  He could tell --I was planning to do it again.

That was back in 2016.  I have since done a lot of investigating online and at other shows to get ideas for what to do. I experienced a LOT of what NOT to do (especially at that first time).

So now, I have a straight-leg, easy setup white tent with

sidewalls, tent weights, two folding tables, fitted table covers that cover the mess under the tables, and most useful of all, an assortment of gridwall panels that I can configure to maximize my space in just about any circumstance.  Believe me, not all 10'x10' spaces are alike.  And some organizers don't measure very well.  Some shows will only have space for a table.  You have to just be ready to adapt, no matter what.

And you have to take your neighbors into consideration.  Most of them will be good people.  But every now and then you will run across one who creates a need for a barrier.  They may spill over into your space. Or have a very distracting booth space themself.  Or ambush your customers and move with them into their own space. (this one is especially irritating, and it is NOT acceptable to whack them over the head with a heavy object, no matter how appealing that sounds--sticking a piece of gridwall full of paintings in the way works just as well and has fewer consequences)

Having a booth is always more fun when sales are good.  But that isn't the only thing you are doing there.  You are presenting yourself and your art, and may make contacts with

future customers who see your work and come find you.  I always have a supply of my business cards, which contain my social media handles as well as my name and contact information.  Don't be afraid to hand them out, that's why you have them!  I also keep an email sign up (with the pen tied to the clipboard or else it leaves) so I can send out my little newsletters,  I don't send them if I don't have something to say, so most people don't mind getting them.  

There are a ton of free craft fair checklists available online to start out with, but you can keep track of what works for you and what doesn't and add or subtract items from the list as you gain experience. 

You do well to use one as a starting point to cover the "must take" items and check them off each go-round.  Learn from each new experience, be it good or bad.  And enjoy getting out there!  Your space is YOUR show, and you WILL connect with the right market if you just keep trying new things and evolving.

Share some of YOUR booth photos--good or bad--along with comments on this post!

WHO'S THE BEST BONDING PRIMER OF THEM ALL?

I have gotten in the habit of bringing home all different kinds of items to paint.  I don't just shop all the sales at stores.  I make lots of trips to thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets. And I bring the car to a screeching halt to check out promising piles of discards on the curb. I have snagged canvases, frames, lumber, and furniture.  LOTS of furniture.  Upcycling is fun to do, and can turn someone's trash into someone else's treasure while making me a little money. (art for art's sake is nice, but the electric company still expects cash)

Painting on any surface that already has a finish in it can be very tricky though.  While your painting may look nice, if it won't stick to the surface you wind up with a finished piece that cannot handle any kind of use.  Who wants a chair or a table that loses its paint with every casual touch?

I paint mostly in acrylic, so I need a reliable way to cover a previous finish. I have sanded a couple. But sanding a large piece before painting is horribly time consuming.  I want to find a quick and easy alternative.  Sure hope there is one!

I tried using housepaint once.  BIG mistake!  It did not bond to the wood, so the primer plus all my painting peeled off in large, floppy strips.

I ran across a good product from Dixie Belle paint that is called "slick stick". 

This primer coat was developed specifically to allow decorative artists to paint over glossy finished surfaces and adhere the paint.  I was impressed with the results.  Unfortunately it is a little in the pricey side, so I have had to save it for really special projects.

One tip for using Slick Stick by Dixie Belle paint: always cover the mouth of the jar with plastic wrap before you screw the lid back on.  When they say it adheres well, they are not kidding.  It will adhere to both the lid AND the jar, making getting the jar open next time a real workout.

I tried using DecoArt's paint adhesion medium, with some good results.

 It is easy to mix with your basecoat paint.  But it comes in little bottles.  To tackle a large piece of furniture you would have to have a LOT of those little bottles.

One good thing about using Dixie Belle and DecoArt products:  you are dealing with good, reputable companies that specialize in decorative painting products.  One thing you DON'T want is an unpleasant surprise. (No, I don't get any kickbacks from these companies--I just like their products for this.)

I asked the manager of a local paint company if he had a primer that would work.  He advised me to read the label carefully, and always look for the words "bonding primer" in the title and description of the product.  I have tried several out--with mixed results.  Some have left a lot of brush marks or sponge marks no matter what tool I used, others have not had good adhesion to the surface. I was often not sure what type of finish I was covering up, (oil based? water based?) so I don't know if that impacted results or not.  

I also tried spraying pieces with a matte varnish, but sometimes this just caused bubbling or crackling of the original finish.  Wound up making more work for myself.

So I am opening the floor for discussion here.  Have any readers found a good solution?  Please share it in the comments.  I would love to find a dependable, affordable, step one for upcycles!!

Here are 3 of my successful upcycles of curbside browsing.  I am currently taking on a huge one--a dining table with matching chairs.

👀Into the future--NFTs?

I love to learn new things. Self-education, to me, is thrilling, especially with the web now offering us infinity at our fingertips. Unfortunately,  much  of what is out there is less than informative. A lot of people dispense pure garbage, frequently with a sales pitch involved. Trying to get unbiased and  clear information about jumping into the world of NFTs as an artist is often frustrating. 

 Article after article I find affiliate links, which tend to be biased, to say the least. Plus, many of them are "get rich quick" plans. We all know how those usually turn out.

 But as an artist, I want to get my work out there and selling. I have found some ways to digitally enhance my paintings and I think the end results are good. I want to get them out there in the electronic art world in front of buyers.

 Deciding whether to create art in acrylics or oils is a choice.   Deciding how to mint and sell art as NFTs is a nightmare..   Opensea, Nifty Gateway, Rarible, literally hundreds more options, all tied to the world of cryptocurrency which to me  is a sci-fi encounter in itself! I don't want to sink my meager income into something that will not work. Plus, before I finish reading a tutorial, the information it is becomes obsolete.  

So I want to hear from y'all--have you launched NFT art, and how? Is it selling? What minting options and platforms actually perform?   Please share your stories here in the comments!.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!!!

Whether you are hitting a creative wall, or charged up with ambition, or just wanting to try something out, take a risk!  Get out of your comfort zone completely and dive into something new!  You may find that it totally re-energizes all your artistic outlets.

There are worlds of instructions online on how to get started in just about anything, and plenty of them are FREE FREE FREE! (Which is great because it leaves you more money for art supplies😜)

I got interested in creating abstracts with pouring techniques mainly to end a creativity dry spell.  I didn't really think it was going to be my cup of tea. 

I got a cheap set of little bitty bottles of paint (from the clearance aisle, of course).  I snagged a few used canvases dirt cheap and gessoed over them and got started.

Before long I was experimenting with mixing my own paint, using different additives,

heat and air...and the experiments quickly began to produce results I liked. 

Apparently other people have liked them too, as several have already sold.

Have you had a positive experience trying something outside your artistic comfort zone?  Please share it in the comments!

painting tip

I won't bore you with a wordy post today.  Quick painter's tip:  those glass plates from the bottom of the microwave make GREAT re-usable pallets!  Easy to clean and can be found free or cheap all the time!

Do YOU have a painter's tip?  Share it here!