Dreaming...

While catching up on some of my favorite artist blogs before a day of painting, I have taken a side trip to Budapest, courtesy of the fabulous Julia and Yuriy of Mr and Mrs. Globe Trot. The couple are both wonderful photographers who are taking time to travel the world and blog about it along the way, which you can find here:

http://mrmrsglobetrot.blogspot.com/2011/02/budapest-hungary-ii.html.

Lately they have posted many entries of Budapest, Hungary and now I really must go there one day. Add that to my ever growing list of places to visit! I love to travel, but money is tight and international travel is expensive. Oh well - one day I may make it to Budapest...

Exhibition Announcement

Last week was a strange but wonderful week. On my first official "painting" day, the first day where I was off from my day job (last Thursday), I received a phone call about an invitation for a solo exhibition at Redbrick Gallery in Martinsburg, WV! I was completely thrilled that:

1. I was able to take that call from the owner (and not have to play phone tag due to the day job hours!) and
2. I was able to accept the invitation for the solo exhibit, because I now have much more time to produce the work.

So I am very happy to announce that after the solo exhibition in April at the Slingluff Gallery, a revised version of that show will be on display May 21st - June 25th at Redbrick Gallery, with an opening reception Saturday, May 21st! I'm already feeling better about this decision...

New Painting!

December 4th. oil and acrylic on canvas.

December 4th was completed after our 2nd snow of the year, I've been late to post it. It's been so unbelievably cold lately. I honestly don't know how people live in colder climates than mine! All I've wanted is to stay home and drink coffee all day long. So I've just been settling for espresso (and chocolate) in the evening. My husband makes the best:

I'm still developing small 8 1/2 x 10" paintings as I look ahead to the April exhibit at Slingluff Gallery. Seems to be slow but steady production, as I am still working full-time, and Christmas being around the corner and all. Which I am still not ready for - although yesterday was spent baking way too many Christmas cookies! I'm really looking forward to the new year, because January 1st will be my official start date for the new, 1/2 time day job! I daydream about it constantly, all the possibilities that two whole additional days will provide for painting - only a few weeks away...

Changes

Everything seems to be changing right now. I have a rundown of things to mention and I will do so with a bulleted list:

• First, exhibition update. I spoke too soon....the dates have changed for the Sleeth Gallery group show. It will now be taking place August 30th to September 22nd, 2011.


• Next, pricing changes. There will be an increase in my pricing at the beginning of 2011, so if you are interested in purchasing a painting (Christmas is around the corner! http://www.etsy.com/shop/laurenadamsart. Just saying...), you would be able to save some if you do so before January 1st. This change is in part due to the next bulleted point which is....


• My day job is changing. At the beginning of the year I will be taking on a new position that will allow me to reduce my hours, which will free up 2 days during the week to concentrate on painting, marketing, etc.! I'm absolutely thrilled about this change and just can't wait to see my productivity increase with all the newfound time. Yet, at the same time, I will need to make sure that my pricing reflects a decent wage, since I will be more dependent upon the income it brings in. I've been struggling to keep up with demands for exhibitions once sales are taken into account, so this will be a huge boost. I've gone back and forth over this issue and agonized over it more than I probably should. After reviewing my pricing, I realized that it is not comparable to other artists who are in a similar position to mine. I also realized that when I sell my work, I need to really make sure that I will be paying myself a reasonable wage. Of course, pricing is always a difficult decision for artists, and I am certainly not immune to these worries. I really want my work to be attainable by as many people who would like to enjoy it. Wow, this is a pretty lengthy bulleted point, yikes!
• Last, I may change the title of this blog. I don't care for it anymore and I think just sticking with Lauren Adams Art will do, for simplicity's sake. I will still keep updates on upcoming opportunities or anything else that may be valuable to other artists but the bulk of it will continue to be about the progression of my work.*

So that about wraps it up. I cannot believe I made it through this entire "Change" themed post without making a corny, Bowie Ch-ch-ch-changes joke. Unbelievable.




*update. So I changed the title and provided a fresh new banner - done!