The Big Show and Other Stories.

Just a quick report: the show with Mojave was a smashing success. Sold all but one of the pieces I had for sale, and sold them in the first half hour or so. Had a nice talk with the owner, and it looks like I'll be putting more art up for display/sale there in the near future. And I still want to put on a full-fledged gallery-type show before the end of the summer, and it should be possible to book the room we used last weekend for that very purpose.

Based on the responses I've been getting to my art lately, I want to explore three very specific directions for my painting. To that end I started six new paintings today, though there's not really anything to show at the moment.

I also ponied up the hundred bucks to buy a platinum membership at Imagekind. That gives me added galleries, a custom storefront (which I'm still tweaking), and most importantly a lot more info on sales - detailed figures, and info on where the buyers are and what they bought. Turns out I've made a pretty decent chunk of cash over the last year and a half with Imagekind.

I'm pretty pleased with Redbubble, too. I've recently added t-shirts to my online merchandise, and those are slowly starting to move. Thinking about postcards next.

There's probably more stuff I'm forgetting, but it's late. So I'll just leave you with this recently-completed commission:

Bret
Vancouver, BC
May, 2011

P.S. Special thanks to Lisa & Paul, Dan Udey, Susan Burzynski and Mario Loubert.

A Show/Display Question.

Fellow artists, as you may know I've got a show tomorrow night. I'm still in the process of doing all the prep work, of course. Isn't that always how it is?

For the moment at least, my focus is the display cards that go on the wall under the paintings. I figure they should include the name of the piece, the media used, the price, and my contact info.

Am I missing anything?

Four More Days...

... till the big show with Mojave. Pretty psyched for this, I've gotta say. There'll be a whole slew of new art from me, nearly all of which will be for sale (two pieces are sold already).

Plus I haven't seen Lisa and Rev. Paul in ages. And all sorts of friends, new and old, will be in attendance. Also, the Tipper is a great venue all around.

If you're in Vancouver on the 29th and looking for something to do, come by the Tipper for some music and art:

2066 Kingsway at Sidney.

8:00PM-11:00PM.

Oh, and admission is 10 bucks a head.

Hope to see you there.

Welcome to Another Year.

Hey folks, another rambling catchall post here, to kick the year off. Sorry 'bout the delay; I got hammered with a nasty headcold on New Year's Eve and it just wouldn't take the hint. Knocked me for a loop both physically and mentally.

On the plus side of the equation, once again I'm drawing and painting every day - as much to take my mind off stressful bullshit as anything else. Pushing paint around on a canvas is supremely helpful as a form of meditation. And sketching is a whole 'nother experience. Yesterday was a rare sunny day for January 2011, so I ambled on down to the beach with my camera and a sketchpad. Spent a long time learning that I don't enjoy doing landscapes (surprise, surprise), shot a few photos, froze my ass off, and finally started to head for home.

Then I saw the seagull.

This little fella was perched, as you can see, atop one of the posts they use to hang volleyball nets in warmer weather. Only had time for a quick sketch before he flew away, but that was enough to get all the basic info down on paper. After that it was just a matter of beefing up the lines with some General's extra-soft charcoal and adding a bit of watercolour.

Finished piece is available here, if you're interested.

In other news, I now have 4 commissions to work on, plus a whole slew of small paintings for a potential show sometime in the spring. Oh, and my good friends Lisa and Rev. Paul of Mojave will be performing at the Tipper in Vancouver at the end of April, and I'll have some paintings on display there, as well.

More info here.

And that's where I am. How are you folks doing?

A Brief Teaser.

I've probably mentioned this before, but my good friends in Mojave (check out their music; it's pretty great) are putting on an art-and-music show at the Tipper in a couple weeks, and yours truly will have three pieces in it.

Here's a quick teaser:



Just a small detail from one of the paintings; they're all tied together thematically. So far the best part of this has been giving Tri-Art's new Liquid Mirror paint a test-drive. The stuff's amazing.

I'll keep you posted on how well the show goes.