Odds and Ends

Just a few "catch-ups" on things that I couldn't post when my computer was having its meltdown...


The Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen sponsored a one-day seminar with Arizona gallery owner Jason Horejs, which I attended a couple of months ago.  Jason is the owner and director of Xanadu Gallery in  Scottsdale, AZ, and the author of Starving to Successful: The Fine Artist's Guide to Getting into Galleries and Selling More Art.  This was the subject of the seminar, and each participant received a copy of the book as well as a CD containing the art business-organizing software Art Tracker.

 The seminar was well organized and packed with valuable information, and Jason is an entertaining speaker.  It was enlightening to hear about this subject from a gallery owner's viewpoint.  I don't know about you, but it doesn't seem to me that a lot of gallery owners are very forthcoming with practical advice concerning how an artist should approach them for representation.  Of course, the seminars, books, software, etc., are profitable ventures for him, beyond just sales from the gallery.  And if he is an able entrepreneur, then who better to go to for business advise? And no, I'm not being paid to advertise for Xanadu Gallery, I'm just passing this along in case you ever have the opportunity to attend one of these seminars.

Other than his information about how to get your work into a gallery, there were a couple of things Jason said that stood out in my mind.  They both have to do with treating your art career as a real job, not just a hobby.  He commented on the fact that many artists' families don't see it this way; they feel free to stroll into your studio at any time, interrupting you, asking for your help with something they're doing, or whatever.  Boy, did this ever resonate with everyone!  Apparently it's a common and widespread phenomenon- and I thought it was just me.  I could feel a long group therapy session in the making here.

The second piece of advice concerned the utter necessity of getting distractions out of your studio.  I'm paraphrasing here, but I believe his words were something like, "... and by distractions, I can sum them all up in one word- the computer."   He stressed the importance of not letting the flow of your work be derailed by emails, or by all the tantalizing eye candy on the internet. I know how easy it is for me to start out saying I'm only going to look up this one thing, only to have it turn into an hour-long click-fest. He told us that he designated one hour at the end of the day for answering emails- and I'm pretty sure he gets a lot more email than I do. (However, it's Saturday morning as I sit here typing this... which doesn't negate the fact that I totally agree with him on this point.)



As promised, here are some photos from the recent opening of the "Figuratively Speaking" exhibit, a three-person show of figurative work by Jan Boone, Suzanne Fisher, and me.  The gallery is in the offices of the Global Novations consulting firm in Cincinnati (Sharonville), OH.  Curator Steven Clark did a great job of pulling the pieces together and arranging them to best advantage.  The work of the artists played off of one another well, creating an interesting juxtaposition of styles and media within a common theme.  I didn't take many photos, probably because it was the night before the last day of school, and my brain was fried mush.  I didn't even get a photo of Jan, for which I have to apologize.

  Steven Clark and Suzanne Fisher

pieces by S. Davidson, Jan Boone, S. Davidson

Suzanne Fisher

 S. Davidson, Suzanne Fisher(2)

Jan Boone, Sharmon Davidson

Steven chatting with guests

And last but not least, my most important news is that I finally got a new computer.  As a Mother's Day/ birthday gift, my kids chipped in to help me buy it, we ordered the parts, and this past weekend my son came in from Virginia to build it for me...

... and voila! I'm using it right now.