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Hey.

It’s taken awhile, and this is a test. I moved my old blog (gallerygerl.blogspot.com) to my new online home here.  I’m testing the RSS feed, to ensure it updates, so please let me know if you get this.  Thanks!

I was tossing around thoughts about art collection. I’ve been working with a local customer to bring his collection more to his taste, which included hanging work that had been sitting in a closet, recommending new acquisitions to fit the new “theme”, moving work around the various rooms and doing repairs and re-framing on work that had been damaged one way or another.  It made me aware that some who buy the art they love (the right thing to do, by the way) may have no idea how to take care of it, how to light it and how to find the perfect spot in which to hang it.  So, that brings me to this post.  Let’s tackle them one at a time.

Imagine you’re browsing a gallery, or an art show, or even better, an artist’s studio, and you see something that just grabs you.  You force yourself to look around, keenly aware that the artist or gallery director has caught your gazing and is eager to help you make a purchase.   Maybe you even leave, but once you’re home you find yourself scouring your walls, looking for an available space and calculating if the piece you can’t get out of your head, would fit.  Are the colors right?  Does the style work?  Do I need to call an interior decorator?

As an artist myself, gallery owner past and online gallery owner present, I would say first..if you love it, don’t let it go.  Art is subjective and when you find something you can’t take your eyes off of, I would suggest you find a way to buy it.  Most any artist or gallery owner will work with you take that baby home.  There is little more motivating to an artist than seeing his or her work go out the door with a happy customer.

So, now you have it ….what next?  Look around and don’t match it to the furniture.  Match it to what you want to look at.  Personally, my favorite piece is hanging on the wall above my television.  Right where I can gaze at it when I want to, and I do, often.  It is soothing to me. I don’t care if the wall behind is red and the dominant colors in it are yellow.  In fact, it works very well.  Its funny how that happens.  Put the art where you can smile at it, and I’m convinced, it will smile back at you.  It’s an energy thing.  So now it’s on the wall, you look around and say, ” It was so much brighter in the gallery”. Likely so, It’s all in the lighting.  Some stores sell “Painting lights” that hang above the piece.  They can be okay, but it’s not ideal.  First, lighting it from above lights the top 1/3 or less, plus the design of the frame may cast a shadow.  Not to mention how to deal the cord that now hangs behind the painting and dangles below it and how do you deal with that?  The better way is via the use of a short track or single can unit that will allow you direct light from in front of the work, from the ceiling, angled down and toward the center of the work.  It doesn’t have to be complicated, but the better it’s lit, the more it will stand out, unless the room it is in is already bright and light.

Finaly, there are the care issues.  Today, many works on canvas are not framed, and that’s ok if they are “gallery wrap”, which means the canvas wraps around a stretcher that is at least 1 1/2 inches deep, and those edges are painted. Ideally, the painting goes around all edges of the canvas.  Thinner canvases should be framed, and all works on paper, such as watercolor or pastel should be framed and behind glass or acrylic.  The new acrylic is in some ways preferable, as it is so much lighter, and large works puts way less stress on the wire and the hook it’s hanging on.  However, know the difference.  Never use glass cleaner, like Windex on acrylic…it will scratch it.  Instead opt for an acrylic or plastic cleaner which can be purchased at most any retailer, even Walmart.  Next, don’t hang a painting on or near the chimney of a fireplace.  Heat and soot rise…and you’ll soon find clouding on the glass, or worse, ash on the canvas.  Also be careful with excess moisture.  Excess moisture, such as in a bathroom, can get behind glass which is dangerous for pastel or watercolor, though both are permanent pigments.  Most watercolor today is as durable as acrylic, but there can be damage depending on the paper used and the amount of moisture it is exposed to.  Traditional papers, such as Arches Watercolor Paper are very durable and light fast, but too much water can still make a mess.  Best practice says don’t hang watercolor in the bathroom.  Further, contemporary papers that are fun to paint on, such as Yupo paper must not be exposed to moisture.  The painting can literally wash away!  If you buy a watercolor or pastel unframed, take it to a frame shop for proper preservation and don’t simply pick up a ready made frame/glass kit at Hobby Lobby.  Suitable for a poster, yes, but not an original work on paper.

Once your new treasure is safely on the wall, you will want to occasionally clean the glass or acrylic.  If it is an unframed oil or acrylic look at it closely to ensure dust is not collecting on any “textured” areas.  They can be gently wiped with a soft brush.  If ash is present, take it to your frame shop for cleaning.

The best idea is to ask when you’re buying…How do I take care of this?  Anyone who knows the business of art, should be easily able to tell you.  I used to sell some wood sculpture that came with a 10 page manual for care and cleaning.  The work artists create comes straight from the core of their being.  We love to send it to happy homes, and we love even more, that those customers love it for the rest of their life.  I hope this is helpful. Feel free to ask questions.

Clearly, intentions are not enough.  Look at the last post, written in January.  Now we are at the end of July, and this is the first time since then that I even opened a Blogger window.  Despite my intention to post every Sunday, I didn’t even manage once a month!  Egad! 

Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure out how to make this connect to my regular wordpress site,  where I do seem more regular at posting, than I have here.  That technology seems to elude and confuse me, but I’ll keep looking, so that writing in one place would be enough! 

As I’m sure you know, life just keeps going, whether or not we are keeping up!  Keeping up with the rest of my life usually (apparently) takes most of my attention.  But this afternoon, I’m sitting in an apartment in New York City, the hum of the City, quieted by the headphones and music in my ears.  It’s our last day here.  We’ve been here a week.  Husband was teaching a class and I mostly played.  I did do 3 small scratchbord works, but only when it was hot or raining outside.  Otherwise I was walking and walking.  I discovered that many of my favorite stores are still closed for remodeling, or closed or moved, as a result of that terrible hurricane called Sandy. Sad.  On the other hand many got together and made new spaces in unconventional ways, like using box cars!  You know, the ones that go from rail road to semi truck for shipping?  Instead shipping they are now providing shopping!  Gotta respect the tenacity and commitment that demonstrates.

Anyhoo, I was sitting here thinking, “what should I do?  too hot to go out.  need to finish packing but husband is napping.  I could read, and I probably will.  I already packed my scratchbord stuff, so unless I dare to disturb the sleeping one, I guess I’ll wait on that.  Then I clicked through from Facebook to a friend’s blogpost and after reading that, thought…hmmm. blog.  I came through to mine and saw that January date and groaned.  ugh,  Really?  I haven’t written there since January?  Not that this post in meaningful by any means.  Stream of consciousness really.  Well, consciousness is the point, right? 

Yes, writing.  But obviously, I wasn’t writing here!  OOPS!  I was busy writing and publishing my first book. Ok, so I already had a DVD by the same name, but I updated it and improved it.  First, it came out in e-course/e-book format.  And now, (as of this week) it is available in paperback.  All of the above are on Amazon.com and you can follow the links above, or just head to Amazon (when you’re done here, of course) and search for “How to Paint a Poppy that POPS!”.  That’s will show you all three. At any rate, that kept me busy for two months of writing/editing, cleaning up text and links etc.  Then it was time for the icky stuff (taxes) that had to be done. At any rate, I’m back to working here again, and will hope to post more new work within two weeks or so, so check back when you can.  In the mean time, Start hunting for places to hang new work on your walls, or surprise you’re sweetheart with some beautiful and unique jewelry…that’s coming next.  Jewelry.  Till then, follow us on Facebook to get short notice specials that are not  advertised elsewhere.  And, we’ll see you soon back here.  Be sure to call me if you’re headed to Angel Fire,,,set an appointment to view available works or to take a class…yup, still doing that too! 🙂  Happy Spring!   If you’re still buried in snow, take heart, Spring is just around the corner. At least, I HOPE it is! 🙂

Wow. Can’t believe it’s Sunday already…and already October 5th. I’m shaking my head, can you see it? I lean back, head against the chair. Partly exhausted, partly refreshed. I just laid my brush down. Drying time required. My eyelids are heavy..from lack of sleep and intense activity.

The conference was good…part of me regretting that I was there. First the Grace debacle (described below) then the endless “I should be……” stuff. At any rate I did finally relax into the rhythm of the conference. Met some great people, had good conversations and found myself pulled outside the normal context of Angel Fire. That was good. Back now and contemplating how to be a catalyst for creative tourism. We’re so much on the cusp of so much! There is so much inertia to overcome! At this juncture I don’t even know if I have the energy to pull it off anymore….but it’s likely I’ll find it. I can’t imagine not.

Forecast for today was snow…and while it’s 53 degress as I type, Wheeler peak is dusted white. Here it comes…slow or fast is anyone’s guess. And so much yet to do. ack. skip that thought. It’ll just depress me.

So, back now to encaustic (mentioned in the last post). If you haven’t googled it yet, it’s basically painting with pigment infused into melted wax. Way fun. Toxic though, so make sure you have good ventilation and a mask if you’re going to try it. I’m still digesting the process (not literally, of course) and will likely revisit the topic, but for now it’s back to watercolor and my soothing stress relief with a brush. The camera is in the truck, and I’m frankly too lazy to go get it and set it up, so no video right now.

So quiet here. it’s type, nap or paint. hmmm. think I’ll paint.

Be sure to read my post “Rich Schefren (My Mentor) Does It Again!” just below. I’ve gone through the new report three times now and every time it blows me away again. Let’s see, is it Constraint #3? or #4? or#7? Which is stumbling me the most? Or is it all of the above? Good Grief! Get it here and see for yourself. This is HUGE!

OOps, forgot to tell you who the printer was….please visit them! www.vistaprint.com

It was here, but for a moment. People came in just to see the violins. People in the gallery took pause in front of them, asking questions, when will they be auctioned? How will that work?
Then yesterday they came and took them. For where, I don’t know. I hope they’ll be on display somewhere. The live auction is not until the 31st…people want to see them. Oh well, they didn’t ask me. At any rate, here is mine: