Today at Gallery 24

Gallery 24 at Creative Corner Westfield is hosting a Small Art Auction, all works are no larger than  6×6 in size.  Friday  is the last day to add works to the auction.

50 % of the Proceeds of this Auction will be benefit Westfield Art on the Green, a 501(c)(3) non profit organization.  50% will go to the Artist.

When:  The Silent Auction will run from November 28th until  December 5th 2009, as part of Dickens Days hosted by Westfield On Weekends and the Westfield Business Improvement District.

More information can be found here.

A Balancing Act

I love journals and writing in them, so naturally they are a favorite thing for me to make as gift.  I love selecting the paper, the cover  and putting the book together.  It makes me smile that binding these journals is a perfect use for the warp ends that would otherwise be waste when you are weaving with linen.

At the art gallery, we have had a number of requests for journals with art work on the cover, so I made a small one.  Like many other handmade things, the materials are not the expensive part, it is the time that goes into them that is valuable.  As a result the cost of this journal is more than I would want to pay for a journal. I did some research and my price was on par with  most of the handmade journals.

The feedback so far is that lots of people pick it up, look at the price and  then set it back down, and then ask if we have any other journals.  I have been playing with the idea of having  a local printer do the labor for me.  They can print out the image and bind it in several different formats, all at a price that I would pay for a journal, but it no longer has the beauty of the hand bound binding and instead of a piece of original art on the cover, it is a print.  It is a balancing act, the balance between commercial and art.  Today’s art creative effort is for the test journal,  to see if I can achieve a balance that I am happy with.   I may have them bound with the background paper as the cover and then either cut the cover into a mat for a print, or attach a matted print.

I will be adding these seamless background textures to my flickr photo stream under a creative commons licence.

The Business Side of Art

There are times when creativity needs to take a more practical side. The press to get all the holiday announcements and fliers out meant that yesterday my creativity was limited to the Business side of Art.    I am very surprised by the number of Artists who sit back and take the view point of I created it, now they will come.  Or in terms of our Gallery, we built it they will come.

I am not an expert in this, but I do recognize that it is important that I promote my own work, myself and my gallery if I want them to suceed.  Connecting with other Artists, and organisations is an important part of that.

I am very happy to be working with Westfield’s Business Improvement District, I am also a part of Vallery Art Share. I am thrilled with the wonderful artists that I have come in contact with through Leah Piken Kolidas’ Art Every Day Month.  The Small Art Show that today’s art  is from supports Westfield Arts on the Green a 501(c) that promotes Arts, Artists and Performers in our local community.  This show is set up as a 50/50 silent auction with 50% going to the non profit and 50% going to the artist.

The art work will be shown in the gallery for the duration of the show, and if the artist provides a digital image, the work will also be shown on our website.  A win for both the Artist and the Non Profit.

I am always interested in where other artists have found inspiration, support and connections.   Who has supported and helped you?