Time Out for Art Business

 

Where is the rest of the tour? I had an art show almost immediately after returning from Indochina and then I had to prepare for Silicon Valley Open Studios, three weekends of 400 art studios open to the public. So I've been framing, matting, ordering supplies, and piecing together a booth.  That and a busy life got in the way. Here is an approximation of my invitation to SVOS (format has to be different for the blog). I am almost ready, so I will resume my tour posts.

 

Silicon Valley Open Studios

May 10 and 11, 2014

821 Riverside Drive, Los Altos, CA 94024

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM.  

The 28^th Annual Silicon Valley Open Studios is coming right up. Save the date. This year I will feature my watercolors and collages on canvas, a recently added medium. In addition, you can select from matted, unframed watercolor, acrylic, charcoal, and conte works. New works also will be available in greeting card format.



 

 

“November Morning at Byington Winery”

Santa Crus Mountains

24” x 20” framed watercolor

 

  “City by the Bay”

20” x 18” torn magazine collage on canvas

My art business can now accept credit cards, as well as cash and check, though there is never an obligation to purchase. I value your interest and support. 

This year I was invited to join a group of very talented artists at a popular Los Altos site: Wendy Marshall,  watercolorist; Jeanne De Campos-Rousseau, mixed media artist; Janet Trabucco,  craft artist; and Debbie Bobby, jeweler,   There are many Open Studios in the area that week, so you can plan an enjoyable day viewing art.  

See http://svos.org/ for more information about the three-weekend art extravaganza and to map out your art trail.



Second Day of Open Studios

Diane Martarano with her lovely artwork

Another view of Diane's space

Alison Turner with her art in the garden display

A partial view of my display area

Here you have some views of our studio, part of Silicon Valley Open Studios. There will be two additional weeks of SVOS, but we are not showing in the areas north of us. Diane Martarano does beautiful impressionistic work, many of them florals. Her small framed originals for Mother's Day and hostess gifts were popular again this year. Alison Turner enjoyed her post in the back gardens where her guests could take advantage of the back patio seating. Alison's work features animals in their natural habitat and wonderful scenes from the desert and mountain areas. She is an ambitious adventure traveler, which inspires her work. Alison and Diane are members of our elite South Side Art Club, along with Don, Arleta, and Penny. The Club grew from a class we took together and we we meet paint every Thursday evening. Penny and Arleta acted as greeters for the show, and Don came on Sunday to provide moral support and comraderie.

Sunday proved to be a slightly slower day than Saturday, the reverse of two Open Studios in the past. There was much going on, including a Sharks game, and the streets were quiet. I sold the ever popular cards and two additional paintings :

• "San Juan Bautiste Mission" - 11 x 14 watercolor
• "Holly's Iris" - 4 x 4 watercolor framed with a triple shadowbox mat

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the small iris painting. I found a lovely small frame that can sit on a shelf or table. It is square, black, and had a shadowbox triple mat. I specifically painted this small piece from the irises that bloom in my garden every year at this time. You can see them blooming now and our show patrons enjoyed them very much. The new owner has a special display in mind for a guest area in her home.

"Holly's Irises" on my side patio

These Irises are very special to me, started from bulbs gifted by a friend.

Silicon Valley Open Studios and the Quiller Workshop

"Sunset over Tuscany"
11" x 14"
Acrylic on paper

On Day 4 Stephen switched to acrylics. We could stay with watercolor and gouache or use acrylics and I wanted to learn the medium from the master. In the morning we used the paint transparently with watercolor without adding any white to it. I will show that painting when I finish it. In the afternoon he showed using a full range of transparent, translucent (with white added), and opaque paints. He began with a transparent under painting. In my case the transparent under painting is yellow orange and a touch of red at the top. I used white mixed with cerulean blue for the sky, white mixed with Ultramarine for the mountains; thus, they are translucent. The remainder of the painting is done opaquely. I see lots that needs improving, and that's all part of the learning experience.

This year's signature painting

"Me and Matisse" is featured in the catalogue and on the website. I was delighted when one enthusiast said he came specifically to see this painting. He has collected a number of works from Open Studios and favors figures. He was very impressed, but he did not buy the work, though he came back to it several times, perhaps put off by the price. I chose to raise my prices slightly this year. The good news is I sold three paintings:

• "California Poppies on the Fault Line"
• "Sunflower Fields at Petit Rousset"
• "Springtime in California"

One collector had missed out on a bid at a charitable auction for a piece I donated , so she bought two paintings. The other person won the bid at the auction for the piece that showed a scene in Italy with the wash hanging from the second story window of an ancient building in Florence. Her husband told her to buy another piece depicting Europe. I also sold a lot of greeting cards, which are always a fun item for folks to take home. The other two artists made sales as well. We were blessed with a perfect California day and had the doors open for people to circulate. Because we don't have flying bugs here, no need to close a screen door. Another sunny day has dawned as we look forward to the second and final day of the Open Studios.

Alison Turner is set up in the back garden and she also has a children's art area out there. One set of nine-year-old twin boys had a blast doing art and we admired their work. I am always amazed at what wonderful color choices they make. They are great at analogous and complementary colors.

Art Events - Lots Going On!

Framed plein air art for SVOS

More SVOS pieces ready and hanging

Mike Bailey addresses WBTO attendees

Mostly I've been working on Silicon Valley Open Studios preparatation. Framing, hanging, considering how to display the work, meeting with my Southside Art Club for final preparations, sending out e-mail invitations and physical post cards, and making lists. I was very excited to find that one of the official flyers features work by my friend Alison Turner, who will be showing her work at my home with me! Take the link on her name and view her "Different Strokes" in the upper left of the flyer. Alison does some very creative and unique work based mainly on her love of the outdoors and her travels.

Monday several of the Southside Art Club attended the final class of Mike Bailey's Watercolor Beyond the Obvious because Diane Martarano, the other artist showing her work at my home, just completed the class. On that day each artist has their 5 minutes of fame when they lay out all 20 of their full-sheet paintings. Attendees view the paintings, the artist speaks about the art, and Mike says a few words about each artist. In the photo we are having the potluck lunch, an attractive and delicious affair hosted by Karen Druker, my fellow SCVWS workshop chairwoman. WBTO is a class sponsored by Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. Check out our offerings here and sign up for a future workshop.

Back to Open Studio prep. Apologies for my limited presence in the blog world.

Reached the Max Limits

The neighbors

Bob

Trial images on Tyvek

Kathy Cartwright had an interesting post yesterday that reminded me that I have limits to stay mentally and physically strong. Mine are very broad, so it takes a while to reach them, always has. Last night I had to conclude that entering the first ever Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society juried show in July just isn't going to work. Undaunted by a workshop in late April, Silicon Valley Open Studios the first weekend of May, major trips conflicting with submission and take-in days, and weekly classes, I forged on to create a piece based on the theme Red, White, and Blue. However, yesterday we were asked to teach a national cycling seminar that must take precedence. I halted my work on my trial piece.

I show you here parts of my concept. I live in a multicultural area of the US and in a city where people of European descent are a minority, and I love that I can sit in the bagel shop and hear people from many countries buying bagels from the Cambodian family that runs the shop. You might recall that I painted Emy from Bernal Bagels. I decided to paint a piece with my neighbors who come from different parts of the world and had many thoughts on titles (important to me -- I guess I like limits!). "We the People," The Color of Freedom," "United We Stand," "This Land is Your Land," and I could go on.

I wanted to use Tyvek because of the interesting texture possibilities, learned from Myrna Wacknov. I painted with Dr. Martin's Hydrus Watercolors (liquid). I knew the first piece would be an experiment so I was working through issues of color, paint application, positioning of people, background, and how to make the piece speak for itself. Last night, though, the limit light came on and I halted my work. I had to conclude that I have too much on my plate and need to scale back. I am feeling very peaceful with my decision.

Thus, I leave you with some of the experimental folks. Back to Open Studio prep.

Small Pieces - Channeling Wayne Thiebaud?

"Summertime"
5" x 7""
Acrylic on Matboard

"It's the 40's"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on Matboard

Entryway display

I've always loved the shape element. Perhaps that is why I so enjoy the work of Matisse. For my art sales, such as Silicon Valley Open Studios, I like to offer some small, very modestly priced original work, especially in these challenging economic times. If you read my first post about the Wayne Thiebaud talk, you saw my experiment with acrylic on mat board. Bob always ends up with some mat board scraps, in spite of his great knack for cutting sheets economically. Yesterday afternoon, I got out my life drawings of Jane Ferguson that I did at a session to benefit Doctors without Borders last month. Here are two that I've completed so far. I have a stash of small mahogany frames, and these little pieces are very charming on my decorative shelves in the entry where I display multiple pieces of art.

The white line drawing was my first piece as that was my original design concept. I also love the line element. Then I found myself wondering about using color on the brown mat board. I drew each of these from my original sketches using vine charcoal. As I did the second piece, I liked the look of the charcoal line and recalled Jean Pederson's wonderful use of line with her very beautiful paintings of people. (Take the link and especially look at "Harlequin" that appeared on the cover of Artist Magazine. See below for information on a Jean Pederson workshop.) I used liquid black gesso to do the line work on "Summertime." All the while, I was recalling Wayne Thiebaud's statement that "Everything we paint has components of what was."

Jane Ferguson, my model, is one of my favorite artists. Yup, I am being repetitious. Jane scours second hand shops for interesting clothing for her modeling sessions, and she did about a half dozen costume changes. Jane happens to be one of the most accomplished artists in the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society of over 400 artists.

In 2012, I will be coordinating a Jean Pederson workshop for the society. We have many "big name" artists scheduled over the next few years, so be sure to check our schedules. If you are coming here from out of the area, we can recommend reasonable places to stay.

Whole Lot of Framing Going On

"Sunflowers in the Petit Rousset" and "Big Night Out" framed

Matted Plein Air artwork
"Millbrook Farm Irises (Vermont) ," "Aging at the Winery (Cooper Garrod Winery, Saratoga hills) ," and "Winter in San Jose"

Silicon Valley Open Studios begins in three weeks. I have two other artists showing work at my home on the weekend of May 1 and May 2 from 11 to 5. If you live in the Bay Area, I do hope you will stop in.

Bob has been cutting mats and I've been matting, framing, and bagging art. Yesterday I coordinated the distribution of SVOS signs and mapguides to several other studios in the area. We exchanged promotional materials to cross-promote our studios. I have a bit more staging to do. I made some promotional materials including postcards. I sent out a Save the Date e-mail a month ago. This week I will send out the invitation by e-mail, plus I will send postcards to patrons who own my art.

Check out our artists pages by doing a search by name here.
Diane Martarano
Alison Turner
Mary Paquet

The final week before SVOS, I am attending a Stephen Quiller workshop (really exciting), so that means I need to be done with preparation by the end of next week.

Artist Talk with Wayne Thiebaud

"Springtime in California"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on mat board

Tonight we will be attend an artist talk with Wayne Thiebaud at the San Jose Museum of Art where we are members. I am so looking forward to the event. We had attended the reception when his show, "Wayne Thiebaud: Seventy Years of Painting," opened at the museum, but tonight will be an opportunity to hear about his artistic vision. Wayne will soon be 90 and is still very productive. Some of the works that most appealed to me are his most recent.

I am also intrigued that my mom's maiden name was pronounced the same (teebow) and spelled differently, "Thibault." Can you tell that half of my lineage came from the Quebec area of Canada? My Quebec French last name is compliments of my deceased husband, Gary. Mix that up with lots of English and some Cuban and we 7 Pitman siblings are true mongrels.

Last night, just two of our Thursday night art group painted together at my house. In a month, three of us will do a Silicon Valley Open Studios, so we are motivated to paint and prepare. Bob is busy cutting mats, I'm framing and thinking about how to display the art, and I am painting a few more pieces. I like to have a range of prices, so I purchased several small wood frames at a very reasonable price in a discount store. Last night I experimented with acrylic on matboard. I believe the trick is to paint on the wrong side of the board, but I did not and in a few places the surface bubbled from the water. I set the painting aside thinking that was a bust; however, when it dried, the surface was nice and flat and I was pleased with the results. A small original of one of my favorite subjects is ready to go.

Another Matisse - Or Perhaps a Gauguin

"Yellow Shoes"
22" x 30"
Acrylic on Paper

Last October I was one of the coordinators for a Betsy Dillard Stroud workshop. We had live models and this lovely young Asian woman came prepared with costumes. We loved her retro shoes. We had 20 minutes to capture her using a brush to draw her on the paper. The next day we were given the exercise to do a Matisse painting. At the time I did one of Jane Ferguson, a wonderful artist in our society. I really liked the results that you can see here.

We've been battered all week with wild wind and rain, so I hunkered down yesterday and pulled out the drawing, wanting to do another Matisse style painting. The greenery, the patterns, and the organic shapes mimic Matisse. I put a few finishing touches on the piece this morning. As I was nearing the finish, I began to think the piece looked more like Gauguin because the model has an exotic look. Somehow, life drawings are difficult to make into anything but what they are. The poses look very static. I'm lukewarm on this piece.

I am planning to do Silicon Valley Open Studios and registration closed mid-January. There will be three of us this year at my home. I was notified yesterday that my new pieces are now on my personal SVOS page. Each artist can display three. You can see them here. They've all been posted in 2009 on the blog.

Sunflowers

"Jeff's Sunflower"
North Danville, VT

At my recent Open Studio I sold one of a series of sunflowers, but failed to take a photo of the picture so I can't show you the piece that a friend purchased. Jeff is my oldest son and he moved back to Vermont in 1999. He reconnected with his agrarian roots, and though he sells businesses for a living, most recently a supermarket to people who have a small chain of them, his personal time is spent farming. At his own home, he and Beth grow a large garden, keep chickens, have horses for the girls, a couple birds, and some cats. Jeff also helps at the Paquet family farm, and especially enjoys working the fields, just like his dad did. One year Jeff planted the most wonderful sunflowers in his garden, something I associate more with Kansas than Vermont. I was inspired to paint several pictures of them. This one I gifted to Jeff.

Today we prepare to head to the Great Western Bike Rally. Some years we've ridden the coastal route on our touring bicycles, but that takes three days, which we don't have at the moment. So we will be taking the Amtrak Coast Starlight down and back. We camp with our bike club at the rally and do lots of rides in very beautiful wine country in Paso Robles. More inspiration for the art! I will be taking an art travel kit.

Open Studios Wrapup

I pose with "Mother's Tea" which sold the first day

Part of my display, including "Two for Tango" and "Mujer del Gaucho," sold on Day 2

My flower bike welcomes patrons to the studio

A lovely Mother's Day gift from my dear friend, Pam

We had a lovely second day of Open Studios. I sold nine paintings and numerous cards. My fellow artists had good sales as well. The crowds were steady. Bob did the greeter duties on Sunday. Both Bob and Arleta were terrific at their job. I had to show you my flower bike, which was a lovely gift from my co-workers when I retired. It's a true "fixie" for any of you who might know cycling lingo.

Since then, I've been super busy going to drawing class, meeting some social commitments, and doing a brown bag lunch session on commuting to work by bike requested by IBM at their Silicon Valley Lab. Tomorrow we teach a second session at IBM Almaden Research, and Thursday we work an energizer station at the Caltrain depot in Morgan Hill for Bike to Work Day, followed by breakfast at the Specialized Bicycle Company headquarters.

I am continuing to work on the closeout of the show. I am just getting my house back in order and trying to find a place for unsold art. I am doing thank you notes to the collectors who bought art, and recording sales for my business records. It's interesting to analyze what sold. I sold a still life, a very modern experimental piece, two dancer-themed paintings of people, several florals, and a landscape. All but two were framed and two were unmatted and unframed. Cards also sold very well. A special of four for the price of three was very popular.

Hopefully I am back to creating art, not doing the work of art, soon.

Open Studios Site #379 -- Successful First Day

Members of the South Side Art Club Particpate in Silicon Valley Open Studios

Our Greeter: Emerging Artist Arleta Moore

Laura Schiller's computer-enhance artwork

Part of my display

Artist Alison Turner demos her work

Artists Diane Martarano, Don Paquin, Alison Turner, and Penny Morales

We had a very successful first day at Open Studios. The artists worked both Friday evening and Saturday morning setting up displays. Promptly at 11:00 a.m. opening time we had our first visitor, a person who chose to visit our site from the Open Studios catalogue! We were delighted to hear that a number of our visitors came as a result of the colorful SVOS signs we put out in the final mile to my home. Many visitors were collectors or friends that we had invited. You see the artists above, all except Laura Schiller -- somehow I missed her in my photos. I will get a picture today.

Several of the artists sold work. I personally sold three pieces of framed art, including "Mother's Tea" that is displayed on this blog's banner, some unframed art, and lots of cards, which proved very popular.

Today being Mother's Day, we are hoping that people will treat Mom to a viewing of art. The day has dawned with perfect sunshine. Perhaps the wind will not come up quite as strong as yesterday. We have some lovely displays in the gardens. If you live in the area, consult the information on the Silicon Valley Open Studios website (link to the right) for the Mary Paquet Studio. We hope you will join us for some fine art, fine food, and fine fun.

An Oldie

"Block Island Light"
Rhode Island
20" x 15"

In 2001, a newly found art friend, Joan, and I decided to share a room and take another Mel Stabin workshop on Block Island, which is a two-hour ferry ride from the mainland. We stayed in the annex of the Surf Inn, a wonderful old Victorian hotel where multi-generational, New York City families still come to relax on the beach, the "veranda," and in the livingroom with it's myriad of genuine antiques from it's early days. On the final day, Joan and I opted to go to the lighthouse and paint. This was the piece I completed "plein air." I decided that it's a Mary classic to include among the matted art I am offering at Open Studios. Most of the pieces I will show (some 60+) are new within the last year or two. It's fun to see my work evolving.

Joan and I have continued our bi-coastal friendship and meet once a year for an art-centered vaction. Last year we rented a casita in Taos; the year before we did a workshop in Tuscany; you get the picture. Joan had hoped to entice me to China in February, but my South American trip was all planned by that time. We are hoping to grab some time in July when I go to Vermont for the Paquet Farm Centennial. As you can see, one of my joys in life is travel, and I readily give up spending my money in other ways to pursue the pleasure.

For those of you in the San Jose, CA, area, here is the open studios information:
May 9 and 10
11 to 5
Take the link on the right to the Silicon Valley Open Studios website and you will locate a map for Mary Paquet Studios.

More pictures from Open Studios

"Dordogne Sunflower"

Publish Post

In the summer of 2007, I went to the Dordogne region of France with Mike Bailey and a small group of artists. One day, surrounded by greenery, we were challenged to paint all day without using green. Certainly I enjoyed the test of my imagination when I painted a sunflower in the field behind Pettit Rousset. This matted piece will be available at my Open Studios on May 9 and 10. The piece is more lively. I can't seem to adjust the hue and saturation correctly.

Today my artist friend Alison and I went to three Open Studios in Los Altos. We had a nice time seeing the latest art at the Nancie Crowley and Karen Druker sites. I've followed Nancie's art for about 15 years and I know Karen personally from the France workshop with Mike. Seeing how other artists set up their Open Studio is helpful. The third place is a gallery, and frankly, I thought visiting the homes and/or studio space of the artists much more satisfying. We saw lots of excellent art, and I came home with some very nice greeting cards.

House under Framing Seige

Framing Table "aka" Dining Table

"Nepenthe Christmas"
11" x 14"

Here you can see part of the mess created by our matting and framing activity as I get ready for Silicon Valley Open Studios on May 9 and 10. The adjoining livingroom is equally disheveled. We are making good progress and might even finish today. Fortunately, Bob is really good at cutting mats, so he cuts and I frame. We have good tools; I use a power stapler and portable drill in the framing process. Bob uses a Logan Mat Cutter.

I've been going through my stash of painting sselecting the works I want to feature at Open Studios. Every Christmas Bob and I spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Big Sur Lodge. On Christmas Day we treat ourselves to a lovely meal at Nepenthe, an iconic restaurant developed by the Lolly family in the 60's during the hippy era. The family still owns the restaurant and were featured recently in the San Jose Mercury News. The restaurant sits high over the Pacific with a southern orientation over the coast. Mountain ridges meet the sea and recede into the distant view. The restaurant is surrounded by lovely old gnarled trees. This year, Bob set his new camera, a Christmas gift from me, on our table and took a photograph. I loved the reflections, so I developed this painting from it. You see the distant view through the window and the reflections of the greenery on the table. The bench cushions look colorful and add some abstraction to the painting. I love the shapes in this painting, and as I discovered in Mike Bailey's class, I tend toward being a shape painter when designing works for which I have no reference.

Cards are very popular items at the Open Studios. I have some prints being made now that I will adhere to the Photomount cards I ordered from ASW. I also want to make up "story cards" for the framed works, in which I will explain why I painted this particular work. This is a suggestion from Jeff Bramschreiber of University Arts on Meridian Avenue who taught marketing your work at "SVOS University." I am quite impressed with the organization that runs Open Studios. If you are in the Santa Clara Valley/Santa Cruz area, check your library or other public places for the Mapguides that give samples of artists's work and maps to guide you to the studios.