Yesterday I received yet another art auction request. This is an often discussed topic for artists and I’ve written about it before. Most artists write about it at some point it seems.

The Society of North American Goldsmiths has a couple of excellent publications on the topic here. Based on their recommendations this is the letter I sent to the person making the request yesterday:

Dear ____________,

Thank you for your interest in my artwork. I’m flattered. Your event sounds wonderful!

I am more than happy to donate art to art auctions and your causes sound very worthy. I’m asked to donate to many auctions each year and am unable to accommodate every request so I’ve come up the following criteria to identify the events I will participate in.

I need to be able to set the minimum bid on my artwork. This protects me and the value of my artwork as selling art at auctions for extremely low costs is not in my best interest in the long run. If the piece isn’t sold for the minimum bid then I’d like it returned to me.

I also would like a % of the proceeds of the sales price – 20-50% is the range I normally encounter. This practice honors the work I do as an artist. The IRS only allows me to write off the costs of supplies on my taxes and not the market value of the donated art. So essentially I’m out all material costs and can’t make it back in a tax break. So you are asking me to donate both time and money by asking me for my art. Giving a % of the proceeds of the sales back to the artist (who are often as needy as the non-profits asking for art) is a practice more and more art auctions are adopting as it becomes more of a win situation for everyone in this way.

You haven’t given the details of the auction in your email so if you could send me that information I’d be happy to discuss this further.

Thank you again for your interest in my artwork.

 
I don’t participate in many auctions given my requirements, which is fine as I donate 10% of my gross income from art via my expansive giving policy and am able to support the causes I care about in that manner.

I’d love to donate more art to auctions and if the organizers were to restructure them to provide more value to the artists I’d be right there in line offering my artwork.

Solo Show Prep

I’ve been in my studio many hours this week creating the artwork for the show. I didn’t blog much this week as I used my writing time to send out my January newsletter. If you aren’t on the mailing list and want an idea of what you are missing you can read the latest newsletter online: January Studio News.

This article is part of a series of posts on the preparation for my upcoming solo exhibit, Dwelling, at Macky Gallery, Feb 17-March 17 with an opening reception Sunday, Feb 21 from 1-4 and artist talk at 2pm.

To see photos of the artwork for the exhibit as I’m creating it, check out my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/LisaCallFineArt.

The Pattern

Last thursday I woke up not feeling so well and after an hour in the studio decided going back to bed was the best option for the day.

I was better on friday although I didn’t work in the studio I did show up for the day job (virtually as working from home is a wonderful option).

I took it easy on the weekend and this week all was better.

Last week, the middle week of a 7 week plan to create all new artwork for my solo show, I had planned to put in 39 hours in the studio (based on my detailed plan). I ended up only getting in 23.

And it turns out the previous 3 weeks I was behind schedule also. So yesterday I sat down and replanned the remaining 3 weeks of time and am fired up to get everything finished. I have to put in a bunch of hours over the next 3 weeks to make my goal but it’s still doable.

This is pretty much my pattern. About half way through a project I tend to need a break so figured it would happen. Taking a break is good and it was fun to hang out and watch a bunch of mindless shows on my laptop (mostly the TV show Bones).

And while it’s a stretch, I’ll still get everything done one time, which means back to the studio for me for the rest of the evening.

This article is part of a series of posts on the preparation for my upcoming solo exhibit, Dwelling, at Macky Gallery, Feb 17-March 17 with an opening reception Sunday, Feb 21 from 1-4 and artist talk at 2pm.

To see photos of the artwork for the exhibit as I’m creating it, check out my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/LisaCallFineArt.

Writing an Exhibit Statement

This past weekend I completed my artist statement for the exhibit. It takes me a few weeks to write my statements as they go through several iterations before I finally settle on the final wording.

Words are much harder for me than images, probably why I’m a visual artist and not a poet or writer, but over the past 5 years I’ve gotten a lot better at writing. I attribute the majority of that improvement on my blogging. The more one writes the better one gets.

Kinda like making art also. Just keep doing it.

The Statement

Dwelling

Recently life has revolved around houses, starting with a move into the city after selling my large suburban home two years ago.

During an extensive remodel of my new abode, turning the small fixer-upper into a dream home and studio, I began creating the stick figure structures that became the Home series, as houses had permeated my thoughts.

Shortly after construction ended, I spent a month traveling in South Africa where I was captured by beauty and simplicity of the dwellings, which inspired the box like buildings in the Dream series.

The desire for a place to call home feels nearly universal. Most often it is linked to words such as security, comfort, happiness and belonging. A home is a container for our possessions, our love, our hopes and our dreams. It’s also where we feel safe to share our vulnerabilities, fear and disappointments.

The past few years I found myself contemplating these concepts of house and home often. What exactly defines a home? When does a house become a home? If four sheets of tin can become a home why do I desire a larger space to inhabit?

What makes your house your home?

Upcoming Solo Exhibit

Part of a series of posts on the preparation for my upcoming solo exhibit, Dwelling, at Macky Gallery, Feb 17-March 17 with an opening reception Sunday, Feb 21 from 1-4 and artist talk at 2pm.

To see photos of the artwork as I’m creating it, check out my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/LisaCallFineArt. Images of Home #10, in progress, were posted over the last few days.

If you become a fan (click the ‘become a fan button’) you’ll see these updates in your newsfeed. If you aren’t on facebook you can still check out the page every once in a while as it is public and you don’t have to be on facebook to see the images. So I can focus on creating the artwork I’m posting the images on facebook as it is quicker than posting them on my blog.

You’ve Got Mail

This morning I designed and ordered postcard invitations for my upcoming exhibit (front show above, back shown below). I have a mailing list of collectors, supporters, fans, family, acquaintances, etc that will receive the card.

My longer term goal with this mailing list is to send out a hard copy announcement 2-4 times a year. I’m getting fewer and fewer of these cards from artists and galleries as it is quite expensive in comparison to email so I think I will continue to send them, as they are a rare treat and will stand out more as fewer people are sending them.

[If you'd like to be added to my mailing list please email me.]

Creating the Invitation

I haven’t yet shared all the details of the office work entailed with the preparation for the exhibit and will soon. Today I’ll just touch on the creation of the postcard as it takes a fairly good chunk of time.

Yesterday I photographed the artwork and prepared the image for the front of the card. Earlier this week I worked with the gallery director to get approval of the text I was using on the back of the card.

With the content determined this morning I started work on the layout. I have no training in graphic design but I still find it great fun to play around with layouts. I used photoshop to do the work.

I decided on using a detail image for the front of the card as the textile painting was long and skinny and left too much white space at the bottom if used in it’s entirety. I find layout of the text most difficult as I know very little about what is supposed to work so I wing it and go with what looks okay to me.

I order my cards from Vistaprint so I use their template when designing the card. I’ve found that to get the file size small enough I have to save it as .pdf and so far the printing has turned out great. I always order the oversized card as I like the impact of the larger image.

Part of a series of posts on the preparation for my upcoming solo exhibit, Dwelling, at Macky Gallery, Feb 17-March 17 with an opening reception Sunday, Feb 21 from 1-4 and artist talk at 2pm.

To see photos of the artwork as I’m creating it, check out my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/LisaCallFineArt. Images of Home #10, in progress, were posted over the last few days.

If you become a fan (click the ‘become a fan button’) you’ll see these updates in your newsfeed. If you aren’t on facebook you can still check out the page every once in a while as it is public and you don’t have to be on facebook to see the images. So I can focus on creating the artwork I’m posting the images on facebook as it is quicker than posting them on my blog.

Project Planning

In my last post I said I’d check in next with my progress. Decided I first wanted share my detailed project plan for the 7 weeks.

A quick recap – I estimate I have 273 hours of studio time to prepare for my solo show.

I have 7 weeks to do the work so I estimated how many hours I could work each of the weeks based on vacations/holidays/etc.

Tracking how many hours I worked each week wasn’t going to be enough to make sure I was on track for my show. If the art took longer than estimated to create, I could work the number of hours allocated for each week and still not finish on time.

I do project planning type stuff at the software engineering day job so so decided to do some detailed planning for my solo show to ensure I really do stay on track.

Based on the number of hours for each week I divided up all the work that needed to be done. With my estimates for how long each of the tasks will take this was pretty straight forward.

Below is my detailed project plan. And next post I’ll talk about my progress and what it’s like to work with such a detailed plan in place.

Part of a series of posts on the preparation for my upcoming solo exhibit, Dwelling, at Macky Gallery, Feb 17-March 17 with an opening reception Sunday, Feb 21 from 1-4 and artist talk at 2pm.

To see photos of the artwork as I’m creating it, check out my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/LisaCallFineArt. Images of Home #10, in progress, were posted over the last few days.

If you become a fan (click the ‘become a fan button’) you’ll see these updates in your newsfeed. If you aren’t on facebook you can still check out the page every once in a while as it is public and you don’t have to be on facebook to see the images. So I can focus on creating the artwork I’m posting the images on facebook as it is quicker than posting them on my blog.

Is There Time?

In the last post I estimated it would take 273 hours to complete the artwork for this show.

With 7 weeks to do this work I came up with the following schedule at the beginning of the project. The time estimates for each week are based on work holidays.

In general I estimated I can work in my studio an average on 3 hours on work days (my day job takes up most of the time) and 8-12 hours per day on weekends and holidays depending on other activities I have planned for the weekend. To make it to 273 hours, I tossed in a few vacation days from work.

With the chart below I was able to convince myself there was time to get everything done and jumped in on Dec 27 to make it happen.

 
Tomorrow I’ll post how I’m doing as I’m 2 1/2 weeks into the project.

This is one of several posts about my preparation for my upcoming solo exhibit at Macky Gallery, Feb 17-March 17 with an opening reception Sunday, Feb 21 from 1-4 and artist talk at 2pm.

To see photos of the artwork as I’m creating it you can see my page on facebook: www.facebook.com/LisaCallFineArt. You don’t have to be on facebook to see this page, but if you are you can become a fan and see updates in your newsfeed.

Tasks

Last post was how much artwork I need. I will revisit this topic again and and write about how much art is needed to fill a gallery and how one figures this out – for now I’m going with this list:

1 quilt 3′ x 8′
2 quilts 4′ x 4′
4 quilts 3′ x 4′
2 quilts 3′ x 3′
18 quilts 12″ x 12″ (mounted on stretched canvas)

From this I needed to figure out how long it would take to make this artwork.

To make this simple I broke the work down into the the different tasks I do when making my textile paintings. These are:

• Compose - design of the quilt top and sewing it together.
• Baste - creating the traditional quilt layer (described in more detail here). I also cut the binding and sleeve and label at this time as I have the fabric out that matches the composition.
• Quilt - the stitching that holds the 3 layers together and gives the artwork texture. This phase generally takes the longest for me.
• Binding/Canvas – how I finish off the artwork. Larger work I put on a facing that is pulled to the back, much like a traditional quilt binding. For the smaller pieces I stitch them to stretched canvas.
• Hanging Device – the mechanism used the hang the art on the wall. For the larger pieces I put a long fabric tube on the back into which a board is place and the board is then hung on the wall. For the canvases I’ll add wires.

Time

From the tasks and artwork list I calculated the time it would take to do that task for each size. Fortunately I track my time in my studio so this was a pretty simple task.

My estimates:

 
Multiplying by the number for each size to reach a total time to create all of the artwork:

Finally adding in 5 hours for misc tasks such as painting the canvases and cutting the boards for hanging the total comes to 273 hours.

Next post I’ll talk about how I figured if I’d have time to put in this much time in my studio over 7 weeks (an average of 39 hours per week) while also working full time. Not to spoil the punch line, but good thing I have a bit of vacation time.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to share my process for preparing for my upcoming solo exhibit at Macky Gallery, Feb 17-March 17.

Mark your calendars now for Sunday, Feb 21 from 1-4 as that will be the opening reception with an artist talk at 2pm.

The gallery is only open to the public on wednesday from 9-4 this opening is the best time to see the show if you work during the day.

As I’m 2 weeks into a busy 7 week schedule I’ll be writing short blog posts each day and when the show is up I’ll summarize and fill in any missing pieces.

The Artwork

For this show I wanted to create all new artwork as that is my vision – larger artwork in the Home series as I discussed here.

With only 7 weeks before the work had to be delivered the first step was to figure out if that was realistic. For that I needed to figure out 3 things:

1. How much art work I needed
2. How long it would take me to make the artwork
3. How much time I had in the next 7 weeks to create the artwork

How Much Artwork

I’ve had 2 previous solo shows in this gallery so determining how much artwork I needed involved finding the schematic for the gallery and then counting up walls space.
This is the list of artwork that fit my vision and the gallery walls:

1 quilt 3′ x 8′
2 quilts 4′ x 4′
4 quilts 3′ x 4′
2 quilts 3′ x 3′
18 quilts 12″ x 12″ (mounted on stretched canvas)

So a total of 9 larger textile paintings and 18 smaller.

 
Next up with be my calculations for how long it should take to create this much art.

Making Progress

I’m a week and a half into my 7 weeks of intense studio time as I prepare for my upcoming solo show.

I have 4 large textile paintings basted and ready for quilting and a 5th in design. I’ve started quilting the first piece, the one I’ve selected for the show postcard, and things are going well. I’m mostly on track and think I will meet my schedule.

Things can become quite a mess when working this much, as is evidence by my work table above. I know, not really all that messy, but for me it is, as normally I keep table tops clear. When things are organized I’m more efficient and I think more creative. I don’t waste energy finding things so I can use it all for creating art.

Save The Date

My solo show will run Feb 17 – March 17 at Macky Gallery in Boulder. The gallery is only open 9-4 on Wednesdays and to ticketed patrons of the Macky Auditorium.

Best chance to see the show will be at my opening – February 21 from 1-4pm. I’ll be giving a gallery talk at 2pm during the opening.

Mark your calendars now and more information will be coming with directions and parking info.

Number 101

I intended to include on my list of 100 accomplishments of 2009 my winning of the award for The Most Gorgeous Mouthwatering (MGM) Studio of the Year from Making a Mark but somehow forgot.

Thank you Katherine for the award. I love my new studio and so glad you loved all the photos of the construction.

Making a Mark is the most amazing and mouth watering blog by Katherine Tyrrell – if you are an artist and aren’t reading this blog you are missing out. It is a huge honor to be included in this years award winners.

A few years ago I read about Christine Kane’s idea of picking a word for the year instead of making resolutions. As I was never a big resolution fan this worked for me.

I was more into predictions. In 1999 I asked my kids their predictions for the year. Their answers: 7 year old son: “I’ll be in boy scouts”, 3 year old daughter: “French fries and hamburger. Go to McDonalds and eat in the car. No, I want chicken nugget fingers”.

I predicted I’d get the house organized (hm – that kinda sounds like a resolution). Either way it didn’t happen. Although my daughter might have gotten a burger but my son lasted only a few months in scouts before quitting.

So this word thing sounds good to me. I’m a big fan of boiling things down to a simple concept as the resolution wasn’t working very well.

In 2008 I selected courage and made some huge changes in my life, in 2009 I went with expansion and integrity and it brought more amazing things into my life.

A New Decade

Every year I want to pick the same word, Joy, because when I boil down my intentions to my most basic desire, all I really want is to be happy. Blissfully, joyously happy.

Yet I never pick this word as I am a 3 on the enneagram (a personality indicator kinda like a myers briggs but maybe more spiritual – I find them both interesting – btw – I’m an INTJ).

As to the enneagram – the 3s – we are the achievers. We get stuff done. We get a lot of stuff done. And sitting around laughing is great but it doesn’t cross anything off the todo list.

I pass by Joy every year with a bit of longing. No more. I’m declaring the 10s as my decade for Joy. So in everything I do, I am intending joy. And much blissfulness and smiling.

I might pick it as my word of the decade for the 2020s too, if things go well the next 10 years.

Moving Forward in 2010

As I think about 2010 and my plans I can see big ideas. Huge exciting things in my head that I want to do.

I also see some things in both my professional and personal life that need a bit of work on the ground level so I can grow in a sustainable way.

My intention is to put a lot of focus on the foundations of my art business, such as my website, inventory, image storage, etc. All the systems that keep it running smoothly.

Ditto for my personal life. I want to look at my habits and beliefs and focus on making sure the foundation is solid. I’m at the beginning of a new relationship and establishing a healthy base is key.

Yet I don’t want to just muck around on the systems and get stuck in the basement. I have big ideas for how to grow all parts of my life in new and exciting ways. I intend to find joy by doing new fun stuff, not just working on the basics.

With that in mind, my word for 2010 is Construct.

Yes – definitely a ‘getting things done’ 3 kinda word.

It reminds me of my home construction project – the importance of the solid foundation but also the fun of framing the big new studio.

2010 is going to be yet another fabulous year.

 
What’s your word of the year? If you wrote a blog post about it please link to it in the comments – I’d love to read about what everyone is intending.