No Fear

It reminds me of the first day of school. I just know I'm going to do better than last year. I'll try really hard and I promise I won't talk too much in class. You just have to dive in there and go for it - no fear. That's what I'd always said to myself anyhow. But here I am about to start my 6th year of doing the circuit of summer art shows and I still feel like I'm going off to Kindergarten - well, maybe not kindergarten. Tomorrow, Rick and I will head to the Montauk Fine Art Show, Montauk, Long Island, N.Y. It's a juried show with artists from all around the country. I feel fortunate to be one of the artists chosen to participate, and also like that little girl on the first day of school, only it's good to talk to your customers, so I should do just fine.

I'm not sure though, that I can really count the first year as being part of a circuit of shows, since I only did one - Keene, N.H., Art in the Park. It was both exciting, terrifying and humorous in looking back. I didn't have any display panels, so Rick built me some. We had gone to a few shows to "scope things out" and see how it's done. I was checking out prices and Rick was taking notes on displays. "I've got a few ideas" he said, about how he could make me a setup. It so happened that it was the same year we were turning the barn into my studio. I guess that's how he came up with the idea. For a grill to hang my paintings on, Rick used the old fencing we still had from my pygmy goats and I draped sheer curtains over them to dress them up, and to hide the goat fur I couldn't get off. Much to my delight and surprise I sold several paintings. Watching people smile as they looked at my work was an amazing feeling.

The next year I did a couple more shows, and the year after that a few more. I won awards at the Beacon Hill Art Walk one year and at the Manchester Art in the Park another year. One year I looked for every show I could find within driving distance. That was good experience but more shows didn't necessarily mean more sales. There are shows where people come to look, ones where people come to buy, and ones that are not very well attended. Once I learned that lesson I started to look more carefully at which shows I wanted to participate in.

Each year I've tried to improve not only my painting but my setup. It's taken a while but now I'm very happy with my display - the goat hair is long gone but you've got to start somewhere. I want it to be attractive and welcoming.  The finishing touch is always the table in front because on it is a table cloth my mother embroidered for me many years ago. 

This will be my first year at the Montauk show. Being juried into a show in the New York area is like the first show, both exciting and terrifying. But firsts are suppose to be that way and so I'm anxiously looking forward to it - maybe someone could just give me another little push....

The rest of my schedule for the season can be found on my web site.

Leftovers, Not Finished Yet

One of these days I'm going to have to change the title of my web page New Paintings of Italy back to plain old New Paintings. I'm just not quite there yet. I'm still working on paintings of Venice. Our visit there was far too brief. It started with our arrival at the train station in the late afternoon. It was rainy and windy and lugging our suitcases, however efficiently we thought we'd packed, up and over the Grand Canal on the Scalzi Bridge, made for a somewhat rough start. Things smoothed out rapidly though. Our hotel was right on the other side of the Grand Canal across from the train station. Once we entered Hotel Antiche Figure it was clear we were in good hands.

Because we had limited time we jumped right in when the concierge asked if we wanted a map and some suggestions of getting around and where to go. I didn't know much about Venice, I'd done more reading up on where and what to do in Rome and Florence. All I knew was Sam Marco was first on the list. The phone rang as the concierge was showing us the map, he answered the caller in French and then returned to us in English. The particularly interesting tidbit he told us about was a special the island of Murano (as in Murano glass) was running. Murano Chamber of Commerce would provide you with a free water taxi ride to their island and a free tour of the Murano Glass Factory. That sounded great, but San Marco would have to come first so we said sure, Friday we'd love that, and he arranged for the water taxi to come Friday morning.

Thursday morning we got 2 day passes for the water bus and hopped on for the ride down the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco. It was quickly apparent what a magical place this was. Every kind of water vehicle passed us, mail, UPS, construction, delivery. It was amazing. As luck would have it, Mardi Gras was just starting so when we arrived at our destination there were people in costume wandering through the crowds. We were also approached by members of the Murano Chamber of Commerce telling us about the free taxi ride to Murano. I told them we'd be going tomorrow - "Oh no, the factory is closed Fridays" he said. Well given the choice between San Marco and the surrounding museums and a glass factory, it wasn't a hard decision.

We continue on to explore the area's sites. Between the mosaic art and elaborate architectural details of Saint Mark's, and the surrounding building and the costumes, it was truly a feast for the eyes. Of course once you throw in the history of this magnificent place and you quickly can become overwhelmed.  We made it through the group of museums in the area and then went to enjoy the festivities. Before the parade there were several smaller theatrical performances. Then the parade of costumes. They were very elaborate and the participants enjoyed playing to the crowd as well. While our first day in Venice was overcast, the city had more than enough color to be completely delightful.

Walking back to our hotel was rather easy to find, that is because of the signs posted everywhere pointing to the train station, among other places. Absent those signs, for the life of me I can't imagine how you would be able to navigate the maze of twists and turns, over little bridges, through squares and down alleys.  Once we got back to the hotel we then went to dinner to a restaurant that I had read about on TripAdvisor.com, Ostaria al Vecio Pozzo. The food was so fabulous I wished I hadn't eaten all day so I could finish every bite. We had chateaubriand along with pasta stuffed with seafood. If we ever get back to Venice, that's where we're going to eat, with no appetizers ahead of time.

Friday morning we were a little unsure about our water taxi ride to Murano after the men at Piazza San Marco had said the factory was closed on Fridays. To be sure we went to the front desk to ask about what we were told.  With great charm and good humor the concierge laughed out loud and told us he lied, they're open, they just want you to visit when they want. We can go whenever we want and he'll arrange the water taxi. The woman concierge told they'll want us to buy things but we don't have to. Then she told us of Burano, where they make Venetian lace - by hand - "It's the prettiest of our islands" she said. She went on to say we should haggle over the price of lace if we wanted to buy something... that got the shopper in me ready to roll!