Ten Lessons I Learned About Exhibiting in a Foreign Art Fair
Sun, Aug 2 2015 10:04
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Opening Night at the Parallax Art Fair July 2015 - photo by Duane Gordon |
- Parallax Art Fair 25-26 July 2015 was my first time showing
in an international artist-based fair (where the artist hangs the art and works the booth instead
of a gallery). It was a great time, and I learned a few things in the process that I thought I'd share-
1. Pack an extra outfit for opening night. You can
have a catastrophic tear issue or coffee spill that leaves you rummaging in the
suitcase. I know this from experience.
photo by Duane Gordon |
3. Practice the coinage ahead of time. It makes
purchases so much easier if you can count it out correctly (and you don’t annoy
the people waiting in line behind you).
4. Set up social media ahead of time on a scheduler like a Hootsuite app. If you are in a different time zone than most of your followers, you can at least schedule it for when many aren’t asleep.
5. Might be worth paying for some cellular data roaming ahead of time. Delete or disable apps that use data roaming (ones you won’t need while on travel).
6. Bring a signup sheet – and I suggest adding a
section for Comments. Some people won’t
want to give you their email address, but might interact with a comment if they
like your work. Sometimes, when someone’s
stopped and looked and said, “Lovely!” or, better yet, an insightful comment on
the work, I’ll go and write that down myself.
Some people then end up signing my sheet – and if not, I have that
lovely comment down on paper!
7. Aside from a signup sheet, have a reason for them to sign up. For me, my DIY Pouring Paint (No it’s Not Resin!) blog coming out in late August was an incentive. There was a ton of interest in the medium.
8. Ask questions ahead of time. John Travis, the Parallax Manager, was wonderful with me, answering whatever questions I had. As to questions, make sure you understand sales procedures. If they don’t explain ahead of time, ask early, and long before you start making sales.
9. Especially if you are flying a long distance, go a few days early to get over jetlag before hanging and opening night. It is hard to be enthusiastic about your art when you can’t stop yawning.
Sunday started out slow, but picked up mid-afternoon |
___
Just plain art show advice:
I remind myself of this at any art
exhibition I participate in - It’s Not All About the Sales! It’s about contacts,
handing out a ton of cards, filling up your signup sheet, and mostly, about engaging with people interested in your art. You
started the art conversation by creating the work – engage in that conversation
with the people that get your work. And, often, the best things happen after the show.
Oh yeah, make sure to pack an umbrella!
I'll be following up with a more in-depth Behind-the-Scenes blog here, and photos from the Parallax Art Fair on my Facebook site. For information on the fair, see www.parallaxaf.co.
Comments (2)
California to London (Updated Media Release)
Fri, Jul 10 2015 07:30
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Media Release
Photo Opp
Follow the Flow from California to London
In 2014, California artist Linda Ryan was
faced with preparing for an upcoming exhibition with her painting hand in a
cast. Rather than cancel, she chose to
move away from the abstract figurative work she is known for and challenged
herself with creating art using gravity, flow and Liquitex Pouring Medium, to
capture luminous “stopped” movement.
Ryan found the process and results so
exciting that she reduced her employed hours in order to focus on her art, and
is taking 20+ new pour paintings to exhibit at the Parallax Art Fair in London
the last weekend of July.
“It’s a bit challenging,” says Ryan, “The
medium is opaque while it’s workable. You have to have a good visual memory to
recall what is on the under-layers, understand how your pigments react in the
medium and with each other, and stop the movement at just the right time to
create a strong composition.” But, she
adds, when it works, they come alive with motion and depth. And when it doesn’t work? Ryan adds another layer, or two, or three, or
sands them down and starts again.
Ryan will be traveling to London to exhibit
Flow 2.0, her newest pour art, at the Parallax Art Fair at the Old Chelsea Town
Hall, King’s Road, the last weekend in July and exhibits at ArtSanDiego in
early November.
Ryan is an award–winning artist whose work is
in collections across the States and in Europe. In 2014, Ryan received an Arts
Leadership Award through her County’s Arts Commission. She has created and
managed many arts events and exhibitions in the East San Francisco Bay Area,
and has managed the Bothwell Arts Center, a project of the Livermore Valley
Performing Arts Center, for 9 years.
#
Contact:
Linda Ryan, #1.925.337.0567
following the flow 1.0
Mon, Jul 6 2015 05:34
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I had a bit of a fall in the Fall of 2014 and couldn't hold a brush.
This is how it ended up.
High-fiving the Alien in the living room in a purple cast.
Me in the cast, not him. I'm the one on the left.
And yes, I am human. I did get a bit cranky.
I had a show coming up and had scheduled a bunch of painting time
and had that intensely edgy feeling that signals the need to paint.
Stupid thumb.
It didn't dawn on me that maybe this was
one of those things that would change my art.
Maybe even my life.
I just had to get some paintings done,
and they had to be good.
I'd been exploring, testing, playing and teaching using
to make small, luminous, motion-filled paintings.
Time to order a bunch of cradled board from my friend at
Hired a young friend to gesso the boards.
Ordered a couple of gallons of pouring medium.
Got tarps (lots) and the largest latex gloves I could find.
It got kind of exciting.
Had to go back for the largest janitorial rubber glove I could find,
split it down the side and duct-taped it together
(with purple duct tape).
You'll just have to imagine it.
I was too busy painting and way too into it to take pictures.
Then I started on big squares.
Man, those knocked my socks off - and were super challenging,
to try and create a solid composition within a square,
interrupt circular references and create places
for the eye to travel along,
all within the constraints of a fun but tricky medium -
milky fluid that hides what is below and sort of shows what floats
(the benefit of a couple years of experimenting!!).
Cool, huh?
Intense yumminess.
That sense of aliveness, being one with the paint,
inside art with the art,
me and the art and then it's just the art (thanks Aubrey Flack).
Only got a little paint on the cast.
Got a bunch on my tarps to strip off and
give to my friend, Virginia, who uses them to make collages.
More about Virginia later, you'll love her.
And later, I'll post more about the method,
give you a little DIY tutorial
after the Parallax Art Fair in London,
and more about following the flow ...
catch up a little on my belated blogging.
The takeaway here is - sometimes things that are
painful on the surface help define us, show us a new path.
Open a new door.
At least, that's my takeaway.
...walking through the open doors....
-linda
Media Release
Sun, Jun 21 2015 06:16
| Permalink
When Life Interrupts
your Art, Go with the Flow
In 2014, California artist Linda Ryan was faced with
preparing for an upcoming solo exhibition with her painting hand in a
cast. Rather than cancel, she
chose to move away from the abstract figurative work she is known for in her
region and challenged herself with creating art using gravity, flow and Liquitex
Pouring Medium, to capture luminous “stopped” movement.
Ryan bought the biggest rubber gloves she could find, cut
the sides and duct-taped them over her cast. She ordered gallons of Liquitex Pouring Medium, mixed it
with the paint, then poured, tilted, turned, and poured some more. Having tested pouring medium on
plexiglass, polyethelene sheets and wood for over two years paid off.
“It’s not an easy medium,” says Ryan, “it is milky while
it’s workable. You have to have a good
visual memory to recall what is on the underlayers, understand how your
pigments react in the medium, and stop it at just the right time to create a
strong composition.” But, she
adds, when it works, they come alive with motion and depth. And when it doesn’t work? Ryan adds another layer, or two, or
three, or sands them down and starts again.
Ryan will be traveling to London to exhibit her newest art
in an exhibition she entitled flow2.0 as the next installment in the
series. You can find her work at the
Parallax Art Fair at the Old Chelsea Town Hall, King’s Road, the last weekend
in July (parallaxaf.co).
For those interested in learning the process, Ryan will
offer a video demonstration on her website at www.lindaryanfineart.com this Fall. Sign up there, or follow Ryan on
Facebook at /lindaryanfineart, and Twitter @lindaryanart.