Upcoming Opportunities

A few opportunities for West Virginia artists are coming up:

• Allied Artists of West Virginia 2010 Juried Show, our 67th Juried Exhibition, will be held at the Clay Center. The exhibit dates are May 1 – June 27th. The submission deadline is March 10th. See here for the prospectus: http://www.alliedartistswv.org/images/stories/randomimage/aawvonline.pdf
• FestivALL - Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 FestivALL Capitol Street Art Fair. The Fifth Annual Fair will be held on June 26-27, 2010. The deadline is March 1, 2010. See here for application packet: www.festivallcharleston.com
• The Best of West Virginia Juried Exhibition is coming up this spring. The deadline is April 12, 2010. See here for the prospectus: http://www.tamarackwv.com/shared/content/prospectus%20best%20of%20west%20virginia%202010-2.pdf

New Painting

Here is one of my very newest paintings, Marion County - February 10th. I'm pretty happy with it, I think it's my favorite of all the 7 x6"s I've done so far. Everyone probably has heard about the snowstorms that have been hitting the east coast, and the north central part of West Virginia has been no exception. This was painted in the 2nd bout of snowfall that we were hit with yesterday.

Also, just a little reminder, if you are in the Beckley, WV area - I am currently in David L. Dickirson Gallery's new show Emerging Artists. This exhibit features all of the new juried members of the gallery. So have a look!

Goal Keeping

The image above is a sample of my new, really basic way to keep track of my progress in creating enough work. It's very simple, but I'm willing to try it out. It's like having a to-do list (which I love!) for painting. Same principle applies here, each "painting" icon is categorized according to size, and when I complete one, I scratch through the size painting I created that day. It's a small bit of satisfaction that also helps me visualize where I'm at and how far I have to go the rest of the year. I also will total how many paintings I created per month. So month to month, I will refer back to the list in the studio and check in on my production.


I don't want to give the impression that I really don't like painting and see it as only one more thing to check off of a chore list - that's not true. But if I painted only when I felt like it, or on a whim, I would get very little done. I'm hoping this "list" helps keep me tuned in to the big picture. Nothing is more important than staying on the ball and creating lots of work.

Exhibit Announcement

I'm so so excited to announce that in April 2011 my solo show will be exhibited at the Slingluff Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. The reception is April 2nd and I will be in attendance. I haven't been to Philadelphia for several years, so Derek and I will probably have a long weekend in the city. The exhibit is a bit far away, but that's a good thing because it means I'm already booked up for solo shows for 2010! That also means that I am already making progress on one of my big goals for 2011, which feels fantastic! For more info on the Slingluff Gallery see http://www.slingluffgallery.com/

Thanks to Jonathan Slingluff for the photos!

New Painting(s)!

A few recent paintings that will be on display at my upcoming solo show at the Robert C. Byrd Federal Building in Charleston, WV:

January 16th. 18 x14" oil on canvas.

January 18th - Mon River. 16 x13" oil on canvas.

January 23rd. 24 x20" oil on canvas.

New Exhibition on Display at James Brooks Gallery, FSU

Artist Melissa May has a solo exhibition at the Brooks Gallery in Wallman Hall from January 21 to 29, 2010. An opening reception and talk will take place tomorrow evening - January 21, from 7 to 9 pm. For more info have a look at the Fine Arts Tatler blog: http://fineartsfsu.wordpress.com/

Goals 2010

Here goes:

Art-Related
Create:

5 new 7 x 6" paintings
20 new 16 x 13" paintings
20 new 18 x 14" paintings
15 new 24 x 20" paintings

That would bring me to a grand total of 60 paintings for 2010, which averages out to a bit more than 1 painting per week. C'mon I can do that!

Business-Related

Send out a large (researched) mailing of brochure/cover letter packets
Send out 3 larger packets each season
Update mailing list quarterly

Receive representation at one gallery
Schedule 2 solo shows for 2010

Have 30 brochures printed quarterly
Have 100 business cards printed
Update website at least once a week with new paintings and current events
Update blog at least once a week
Enter at least 3 juried shows within the year
Improve upon my record-keeping system for inventory



Okay, so many of the goals for 2009 carry over to 2010. But the most important goals for the year are, as always, getting gallery representation, booking solo shows, and creating 60 paintings. One of the biggies is already taken care of - since I already have a winter/spring exhibit in Charleston and a late summer/fall show at Ligonier Valley. Technically, the later show isn't a "solo" show, but it requires a lot of work, so I am counting it as one!

Right now I am getting ready to go paint, but next Monday I will have a New Painting post. One that hopefully will also include today's work!