What you didn't know...

 My day ( The life of an Artist )

I thought it would be fun to share my life as a working artist with you.  

My alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.

The early part of my morning is dedicated to Marketing via Social Media mostly Instagram and Pinterest, 

I move on to calling local and national Interior Designers to see if they need any custom abstract paintings for their projects.

Mid-Morning is when I like to start painting and go until late afternoon while checking email and social media intermittently throughout the day.  

 There are a few days when certain "to do's" will change my schedule a bit but it's what makes it all interesting, like:

Definitely sealing and varnishing a painting.

The long lines at the post office for shipping.

Packaging is always a priority,  it's important that every order I send out is packaged very well and protected in transit.   The person who made the purchase in one of my paintings or prints made an investment in my work so I'm going to package it the best way I can to make sure it arrives to them in perfect condition.

When I create a special paint color ( I create my own paint colors ) that can have an impact ob my day because it's not always right the first time around then it has to be tested which involves natural drying time.  

Meeting an Interior Designer to show them some sample colors and paintings.

The majority of my workdays quite down somewhere around 7:00 p.m then it's time to get a few "house things" done.  At some point in the afternoon I will have checked in on my Mother who's in a Nursing Home but after dinner I like to respond and catch up with the Instagram friends I communicated with earlier in the day.  

So that's my typical day in the life of a working artist.

If you enjoyed reading this please share.

Thanks for visiting.

Marti

How Art Galleries work

So today I thought I would share a few things about Art galleries that you may or may have not known.

I've been asked by several individuals if I'm working with any galleries around town to show my artwork.   The answer is No, not at all.

It used to be that if your work was showing in an Art Gallery you were a "true Artist", but that's not the case anymore.   Thank goodness for the Internet several working artists that I know now-a-days promote and sell their artwork online like I do.  They have their own website and do their own marketing etc. 

So many Artist's I know don't work with Galleries because they feel as though they're relying on the marketing strategy of the Gallery to promote your work and I who wants to depend on the marketing skills of your product to someone else.
 

Art Galleries do market themselves including the paintings they have for sale but what if you could do better at marketing your own paintings along with the Gallery where your paintings are however I've heard in some cases certain Galleries don't want you to do that.  Why not?  Not sure.

It makes no sense to me when it benefits both the artist and he gallery. 

You would think that Art galleries only sell Original paintings however they don't, reproductions are a wonderful way to start collecting Art but not by purchasing through a Gallery.   That reproduction you would purchase at an Art Gallery would be extremely expensive however if you purchased a print/reproduction directly from the Artist you would be paying a fraction of the cost.

When you buy a painting from an Art Gallery and not the Artist themselves you're missing out on the connection of who the Artist is as a person.  

I want people to know why I created that particular painting?  

What if anything was I thinking when I created the painting?

What emotions I was experiencing when I decided to create the painting?  

It could have been in a happy or scary time in my life?

There are so many things you don't know about that painting and this just takes away from the reality of the painting in which case makes it so impersonal.

Lastly the number one reason why I personally don't work with Art Galleries... is I don't want to split the sale of my painting with the gallery, I work too hard to create my paintings to just hand over half of the dollar amount of what my painting sold for to the Gallery.  

Did you like this post?  It would put a smile on my face if you shared this post with someone you feel would enjoy reading my post.

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Birthday Iris

Happy Birthday Iris!!!

The self-professed "geriatric starlet" is my idol.

Born August 29th 1921

Astoria, Queens, New York

Known for Textiles, Interior and Fashion Design.

Pic courtesy of Fashion Telegraph co UK

 This is a woman who believes in getting up at 4 am to scour flea markets, I wish I had this kind of  energy.  She also obtains her beautiful antiques and other items from local Armory and estate sales, including the liquidation of movie moguls.

You can read more here 

Her huge book collection makes me drool and look at the way she has stacked them...

I think this is fabulous.

Talk about someone who isn't afraid to make a statement much less think of herself as too young or old to wear what she likes.

 "Style I think is in your DNA you can learn how to be more fashionable, you can learn how to be better dressed but I don't think you can learn style.  I think that's something inherent".

courtesy Getty Images

 As a child she traveled to Europe with her parents where they started in the South of Italy, went to Spain, and ended in Paris.

Picture courtesy of The Gaurdian

After that, she went “twice a year for about 50 years,” with her beloved husband of 67 years, Carl Apfel, who died last August, three days shy of his 101st birthday.   Their trips were usually for business: They founded Old World Weavers, a greatly respected textile and decorating firm that participated in White House renovations for nine presidents, from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton.

Courtesy of Getty Images

Iris continues to work hard, finding her unusual and beautiful objects in flea markets to local armory and estate sales.

Picture courtesy of One Kings Lane

This pic reminds me of the late 60's and/or early 70's and I'm not sure how I found this pic but Iris looks so happy here with her husband and friends.

Picture courtesy of the New York Times

Iris Outside the Le Bon Marche' in Paris, where she is the subject of and exhibition and pop-up shop, read more here

Photo courtesy of Harpers Bazaar

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Iris continues to work to this day and is very hands-on with her business ventures.

Picture courtesy of Vogue co UK

The classy red lipstick...

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

That's a good way of thinking of wrinkles Iris, Thanks and Happy Birthday.

Marti

Unfinished

So if you're lucky enough to live in NYC, The Met has rented out the Whitney Museum to create The Met Breuer dedicated to contemporary and modern art.  

The first exhibit is "Unfinished" yes that's the name of the exhibit.  Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible, the exhibit examines unfinished works of art from the Renaissance to present day and I'm envious of anyone living or visiting NYC because I would love to check it out.

Here are some pics:

Portrait of Mariana de Silva Sarmiento 1775

Image courtesy of  Heather Clawson 

Bouquet of Peonies in a Green Jar by Paul Cézanne, 1898

Image Courtesy of Heather Clawson

Self-Portrait with Wig by Pablo Picasso, 1898-1890

Image courtesy of Heather Clawson

Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Britain started 1783

Image Courtesy of Ben Davis 

Winslow Homer Saguenay River 1905 - 10

Image Courtesy of Ben Davis

Street in Auvers-sur-Oise by Vincent van Gogh, 1890

Image Courtesy of Heather Clawson 

Blue Skies and Butterflies

This 20 x 24 inch Original Painting is on her way to her new home today.

She was created with various layers of blue for the background prior to painting the surface of the canvas I added texture to give the painting some depth.

She was then finished with a varnish to seal the painting and protect from dust and to protect from fading.

All of my paintings are created using Golden Paints and Products. 

I am not sponsored by this product but I feel art is an investment 

therefore I feel it's important you know I only use quality products to create my paintings.

Thanks for visiting.

Marti

Friday Fave - Renoir

Friday Fave

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

(1841–1919)

Born in France.

He started as an apprentice to a porcelain painter and studied drawing in his spare time. 

 One of my first "pieces of art" was a poster of this famous painting:

The Dance in Bougival

A few of you who have known me forever may remember seeing it in my dining area of my apartment in Bellevue, WA.

This painting is similar... I think Renoir enjoyed dancing and gatherings because several of his paintings reflect that.

"Dancing In The Country"

The lady in the middle is my favorite of this painting, her face is detailed and pretty.

"The End of Breakfast"

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be himself in this painting but doesn't look like his picture above?

"The Theater Box"

He was a part of a movement that introduced impressionism as genre of art in the 1870's.

Next week I'll share with you a woman who I have great adoration for, she's not an Artist but is a creative, and if I have to grow old and live into my 80's or 90's then I want to follow in her footsteps and have some of her sense of style, energy and work ethic.

Have a great weekend.
Marti
xoxoxo

To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty, Yes pretty!  There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.  -Renoir
courtesy of Wiki Quotes.

Friday Fave - Dali

Salvador Dali

One of my Favorite Artists

Similarities...

Dali was extravagant and eclectic and I think he might have been a bit of a Drama Queen.

As part of the 1939 World's Fair exhibition was a type of "fun-house" titled "Dali's dream of Venus" which appears to be more risque for that year and time that I can ever imagine.

He wasn't afraid to break the "standards" of the day.

With his wife Gala

who was also his business manager.

I love this... he's painting on her forehead.

Gala passed away in 1982.

According to Wikipedia for his first Art Exhibit in the U.S. he arrived with a glass case on his chest containing a brassier.  

When attending a masquerade party in NYC Dali dressed as the Lindbergh baby his wife dressed as the baby's kidnapper.  Needless to say the costumes were not received very well by the press.

A few of his many paintings:

The Sardana of the Witches 

Dali created this illustration for McCall's Magazine.

Saint James the Great

The Arrival

The Woman with the Pitcher

The Persistence of Memory

The Swallow's Tail

The Butterfly Ship

All of the above photos are Courtesy of Salvador-Dali.org 

The Lobster Phone aka The Aphrodisiac Telephone

A collaboration by Dali and Edward James in 1936 only four copies exist.

Photo Courtesy of The Guardian.com

One of my Favorites

Ruby Lips created with real rubies and pearls, 1949.

Photo courtesy of The Curated Object

1904 - 1989

One of the reason's I think such a big fan of his is not only his art but that he was a rebel back in the day.