It’s been a long time coming but I’ve finally turned some of my drawings and paintings into note cards. They are all 6” x 4” because that’s a nice size for framing.
The really hard part has been limiting myself to a dozen designs for my first printing. The following are now available from my Etsy shop:
The faint impression
of a black rose at midnight:
real or imagined?
Underneath several layers of black paint (and quite a few layers of varnish) is a painting of a gold rose I didn’t like. Now that it’s almost completely black, I’ve decided I quite like the texture and the way the light catches the flecks of gold… I’m just not sure if it’s still a rose.
Here is the final painting (click here to see the original post). Yes, the colours are a little unusual ― it makes me think of old photographs and also the way memories can play tricks on us.
Here’s a video of opening night which was put together by the nice folk from the Christchurch Art Show. If you pay close attention, you can see my little corner of the exhibition at the two-minute mark : ) but you’ll have to be quick — blink and you’ll miss it.
The Christchurch Art Show has come and gone… and what a fantastic event it was!
It was a privilege to be part of such a wonderful event. I met a lot of very talented artists and spent the weekend surrounded by beautiful art, quirky and unusual art, colourful and inspirational art…
We set everything up on Thursday afternoon. The installation went mostly according to plan with only a few minor adjustments (I was given a corner spot and had to swap the panels over so that my table, portfolio and business cards were on the right, see below). The plan continued to evolve over the weekend.
Opening night was a lot of fun — wine, cheese, good conversation — and the three (long) show days ended up going by very quickly. I was thrilled to discover that The New Zealand Artist magazine posted a photo of me and my work on their Facebook page. I’ve made dozens of new artist friends, I must’ve spoken to hundreds of people, and I even sold a couple of paintings while I was there. Yes, I’m very happy with my first art show.
The exhibition plan wasn’t the only thing that evolved over the weekend… I went from feeling like the new kid on the first day of school (will they like me? will I fit in?) to having a real sense of belonging. Going into the weekend was like coming to the high point of a very steep learning curve. I’m now buzzing with ideas and entertaining all sorts of possibilities : )
My thanks to you all for your kind words and encouragement and for supporting me on my big adventure. And yes, I’ve already started planning for next year’s show. First thing’s first though, I really need to catch up on some sleep.
The Christchurch Art Show opens on Thursday night. This is a mock-up of how I imagine my paintings could look at the venue, complete with table, portfolio and business cards.
Having never exhibited my work before (apart from student exhibitions and last year’s mini market), this show is altogether unfamiliar territory. It’s a ‘cash and carry’ event which means that artists have to replace artworks as they are sold. As it is, I’ve already accidentally sold something I painted for the show, Landscape in the late afternoon (with cows), which was a totally unexpected and wonderful surprise (one of my best friends called in for a coffee and practically bought it on the spot). The sale has been a major confidence boost that couldn’t have come at a better time : ) and I do still have a few paintings waiting in the wings, just in case I need them.
Now if I can just master our new cordless screwdriver…
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 