In my first 2018 show in January at Images: A Festival of the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, I was very humbled to be awarded the George and June Musson Award (equivalent to second place). A couple of weeks later at the City of Stuart's ArtsFest 2018 I was awarded best of show; and a week later at Lake Wales Arts Festival 2018 I received an award of distinction; and then an award of distinction at Santa Fe College Spring Arts Festival 2018; and in November, an award of excellence at Art Harvest 2018 in Dunedin. So, awards-wise, I could not complain!
Sales-wise, however, were it not for the generous monetary awards, I was barely covering expenses.
In my last showing of the season at Mainsail Art Festival 2018 in St. Petersburg, I had the breakthrough I had been seeking for some time: I sold two of my larger works, The Moth Eater and The Bandmaster (below).
So, now I have a HUGE GAPING HOLE in my portfolio!
The nicest part about the sales is, they were made to established area collectors. While previously I had sold only about eight paintings over two years (some, however, as small as 8x8 inches). I even had forsaken my cut-rate price reductions I was implementing at earlier shows, presuming I was out of touch with prospective buyer's pocketbooks. However, I earnestly believe the works to be worth every penny — not to mention the many hours that administratively are associated with print reproduction, web posts, sales and marketing, setup/breakdown at events, travel, etc.
So what am I working on now? Well, A few paintings directly relating to my last visit to Gainesville for the Santa Fe College Spring Arts Festival. I paint mostly from photo references, recomposing on canvas as I develop a scene from various references — never simply “reproducing” a photo. A couple images shot at the show turned into paintings... Later I'll recap the year!
