Living the Artful Life

Cutting in Chicago

artfulheir — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:39:19 +0000

Just back from a whirlwind trip to the windy city – Chicago. The circumstances were most unusual, as I found myself en route to the airport less than 24 hours after learning about two silhouette cutting gigs. I was filling in for a silhouettist friend in Texas who had a death in the family. When she told me that a New York agency had a client who needed a grand opening party for her posh store and was paying all the expenses plus a very nice fee, I couldn’t resist. I never in my life was photographed so much while cutting profiles, and hope to have a few of those shots sent to me. Most exciting of all was meeting the Weddings Editorial Director Senior Vice President of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, having a long chat with him about my work, and having my photos taken holding one of my silhouettes! One never knows what future path an event might lead one to.

Another reward of the experience was that my agency contact reported today that the client at the opening was “thrilled” with my work. Certainly the guests seemed delighted with their complimentary portraits. This was the kind of grand opening party that was by invitation only.

Another thing I learned by traveling to IL was the importance of having more than one event to make the journey and expense worthwhile. Again, filling in for my friend, I cut all morning and most of the afternoon at a lovely toy store that same day and then drove an hour and a half to downtown Chicago through heavy traffic, arriving just in time. It was an exhausting day, but very worthwhile financially, and will probably lead to future business. One parent at the toy store even said I’d definitely hear from her about a portrait of her daughter!

Wherein the artist gets an ego boost

artfulheir — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:49:48 +0000

What an amazing compliment I received yesterday, one which made my day. I’ve been corresponding with a man who wants an oil portrait of his late mother from an old photo of her, taken when she was probably in her late 20′s. In the course of our emails, I asked this question, and was blown away by the response I got:

Question: How did you hear of me, by the way? Since it seems you live in Maine, I’m wondering whether a previous client referred you or whether you found me in an online search or on a website of one of many organizations I’m in.

Answer:

I looked at several hundred artists portfolios before I accepted you. Checked all over the world.

Wow. I will do my darndest to live up to his confidence in me.

Here’s a photo of the last portrait I completed, which was also from an old photo. It was commissioned by my youngest client to date: a college student. She is the baby who is being hoisted aloft in the pastel portrait. It’s from one of her mother’s favorite photos, and my young client wanted to leave her mom with it while she is away studying in Australia for the year.n ego

New Beginning

artfulheir — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:01:36 +0000

Today is a kind of new beginning for this artist, as a major change in my daily schedule is going to free up a lot more time to be in my art studio PAINTING! I’ve compiled a fat folder of ideas for attacking the canvas so I can have a lot of new work in oil or acrylic to show and sell this summer. Here’s an example.

…

artfulheir — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:25:02 +0000

It’s always a banner day when I sell an oil painting!

artfulheir — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:10:15 +0000

It’s funny how things can happen for an artist. Two years ago I did a group hanging in a local restaurant & watering hole. Saturday night my husband and I were at a small dinner party. One of the guests asked if I still had a certain painting from that show still available. She said her daughter, who’d been visiting from out of state, had “fallen in love with that painting” and was still talking about how she wished she could afford it, two years later! Today the mother arrived at my house to write a check for that 12 x 12 inch oil of a country church in the snow at twilight and carried it away! Hooray!

Day One!

artfulheir — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:34:34 +0000

Today I heard back from a prospective portrait client I met at a December craft show. Although she writes that a portrait commission is not in their budget for this year, she and her husband complimented my talent and experience and even said “you have a very graceful yet self-assured way of presenting yourself and your art both in person and on paper, and we admire and respect that.”
Also this afternoon, a woman whose silhouette I cut at a DAR conference in MA last year sent me a substantial ord4er for silhouettes of her three grandchildren, one set to be placed in a triple frame. So it has been a good afternoon. I figure when you can’t make money, the next best thing is compliments and encouragement, so I very much appreciated hearing from BOTH customers.