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I'm on a road trip, traveling through California's Great Valley.

This valley is over 400 miles long and comprises 13% of the area of the whole state. It is rich, in many aspects.

As I go I am writing, making art and taking photographs. A lot of discovery.

You can join in on the Great Valley Excursion by following the blog, linked on this FAA blog.

I'm on a road trip, traveling through California's Great Valley.

This valley is over 400 miles long and comprises 13% of the area of the whole state. It is rich, in many aspects.

As I go I am writing, making art and taking photographs. A lot of discovery.

You can join in on the Great Valley Excursion by following the blog, linked on this FAA blog.

The topic discussed by participants of the #TalkArt tweetchat on January 5, 2012 was art festivals. We considered as many aspects as we could think of. While we did not always agree entirely, our thoughts are summarized below.

► Are art festivals worthwhile?
☺ Working art festivals can be worthwhile if you are in it for the long haul; short term or one-time involvement will probably be disappointing.
☺ They build over years.
☺ Nothing can replace experiencing art first-hand!
☺ Art festivals, trade shows, exhibitions all give exposure. Pick the right venues and ask lots of questions. Listening is critical.
☺ Of course, picking the "right" venue is dreadfully difficult. I had to kiss a lot of frogs to find my good shows.

► The value of art fairs is by no means limited to selling your work. Other benefits include:
☺ Allowing your audience to put a face with the work and also to develop name recognition.
☺ Developing a mailing list [The MOST important thing of all. Builds slowly, but these are people who want to hear from you. Priceless!]
☺ Showing your art and making contacts.
☺ Getting amazing feedback on your work. Finding out what's working and what isn't.

► Means of finding out about festivals:
☺ Zapplication.org [a list of shows that allow online applications; no reviews, but free]
☺ Art Fair SourceBook [about $100 for in-depth reviews of shows from artists Very Good!]
☺ Sunshine Artist [a magazine]
☺ Word of mouth from other artists [best to talk to those whose work is like yours]
☺ Set up Google Alerts to do show/festival research.
☺ Forums, social media.
☺ Fine Art America lists upcoming events in your vicinity.
☺ Ask your customers which shows they frequent.

► What's in the contracts/agreements? fees, commissions, requirements?
☺ Typically you pay an application fee ($20-50), and if you get in, a booth fee ($100-1000), and sometimes you have to pay a percentage of sales.
☺ Agree to be there in person (no agents), all work is your own, etc.
☺ Main "gotcha" is have to send booth fee with application, check is cashed if you're accepted and no refund if you have to cancel.

► Set-up and equipment
☺ Do a professional display (doesn't have to cost big bucks, but nix on pegboard)
☺ Good lighting is critical. Maybe. You can get away without lighting if outdoors.
☺ High chair or stool if you have to sit down. Easy to make eye contact with customers.
☺ Cheapo tents are $200, pro model about $1000 (wind is major consideration).
☺ Tent vendor recommendations: E-Z Up tent for cheap. Showoff, Trimline, LightDome for higher end (less easily flipped).
☺ Display walls - high end can run $2000 but you can get away with cheaper to start.
☺ Display wall vendors: MeshPanels (www.flourish.com); ProPanels (www.propanels.com) for high-end display of 2D art. [Not cheap, but very good. Hard to find used, but worth it if you can do it.]
☺ Homemade display walls (maybe $50) made from shade cloth are good enough to start.
☺ A local welding shop can make some bases; do pipe & (fireproof) drape.
☺ Or you could do mesh screen - won't catch as much wind if that's an issue, while still looking like a proper wall.
☺ Scope out festivals as well as check Google images for pictures of festival setups.

► How to attract visitors to the event
☺ The good shows get the people in for you; a show that can't bring me an audience I couldn't get on my own isn't worth showing at.
☺ you need to bring *your* people to you. Don't rely on others to do that.
☺ Use your mailing list to recruit your people to the art festival.
☺ Lacking a mailing list, you must rely on the marketing efforts of the festival organizers.
☺ Talk it up on your website & social media outlets & see if you can get a little local press.
☺ Word of mouth and email/postcards work the best for me.

► How to attract visitors at event
☺ Engage, engage, engage! Don¡¦t read a book, or sit back in a chair. Talk to people!
☺ put out candy for parents' kids. Or NOT¡Xno sticky fingers!
☺ create some work on the spot. Or NOT¡Xavoid making rotten art! Quick sketches are great.
☺ attractive set-up, signage

►Follow-Up
☺ Follow up with a newsletter shortly after the show -- about how it went, & thank people for coming. Alert them to new work & events.
☺ Keep a notebook of all significant conversations you have, and follow up each with personal email, call, and letters. It leads to sales, new contracts, new relationships.

►Being able to accept credit cards
☺ iPhone/Pad + Square! Nice thing about Square is there are no signup/monthly fees, just a transaction fee. So it is easy to test out.

FLIP A TENT! (That¡¦s the ¡§good luck¡¨ phrase used at art festivals, rather than 'break a leg¡¦.)



#TalkArt participants: @artbynemo @artistinthewild @barbarajcarter @ChloeHerbert_ @CKPFineArt @cookitaly @danielsroka @Eckstatic @inkblotsart @machC @thestudiosource @WGBHArtAuction @zim2918 㼠follow these folk!

"What Is Art For? What is its purpose?" I recently tweeted. It got several responses and triggered a few discussions, to my delight.

Sabra M (@MustaphaSabra): "The purpose of art is to inspire our very existence."

mark thompson (@Blueonion3): "The purpose of art is to irritate."
--My reply to mark thompson: "Like grain of sand to an oyster, hopefully. But yes, to prod us to perceive afresh."

Lee Zimmerman (@zim2918): "Art is the essence of being human."
--My reply to Lee Zimmerman: "What a thrilling way to express it!"

belgin coskun (@infinitebel): "Art is therefor, to open eyes, to speak what is not spoken; it awakens and helps us to move on."
--My reply to belgin coskun: "Yes! Those who see art as merely decorative don't see very far."

________________________________

What do you think? What is art for? Tweet me @BobRowellArt, and/or tweet any of the others who so kindly added their thoughts.

The December 1, 2011 #TalkArt tweetchat discussed the question of content, on social media and elsewhere. There was seldom absolute unanimity, but below is a synopsis of our views. (A list of participants and our SPECIAL GUEST follows.)

Content is all the stuff you present to your audience via whatever media. It includes the photo on a postcard, the text of a newsletter and every tweet and Facebook post. We all put this stuff out for a reason, and it is worthwhile to think about what is most effective to achieve our goals. We liked the term "useful."

To judge utility of content, you have to know:
• who your audience(s) is/are,
• what they want to hear from you, and
• what actions you want them to take.

Target audiences include:
• artists and arty folk,
• appreciators of art (potential buyers) and
• general community (sometimes hard to define).

There are different groups out there too: buyers, people who can connect you to those people & people you can learn from.

What to say? Well, ASK them! Engage! Include humor, insight, awareness, passion.
• You want people to get to know, like and trust you (people like to buy from people they like!)
• People like to peek into the magic of art—the inspiration, the process (especially if it includes pictures!)
• Be clear that you are in business; don’t be shy about letting people know your art is for sale (but don’t overdo it)

What about content no-nos? Avoid:
• Trying to cover many things at once
• Being inauthentic
• Oversharing the personal
• Constant selling
• Choosing a posting schedule you can't keep

What do you want people to do, having seen your content? Ideally, they take some type of action. You want them to:
• Keep you in "Top-of-Mind," (but for the right reasons)
• "Like it, share it, buy it, chat about it... lather, rinse, repeat...."
• Perhaps, to come to see your work in person -- they're much more likely to fall in love looking at the real thing


_____________________

Special guest: Dave Charest (@DaveCharest, http://davecharest.com/ )

Participants: @CKPFineArt @barbarajcarter @artistinthewild @karibaskets @gwennpaints @AudienceDevSpec @SpyOnDesign @oriridraco @mobileartlounge @lisacall @thestudiosource @flairCreativ @machC

I recently learned that all the images I had carefully and lovingly prepared and uploaded to my online gallery were not good enough. I've been working hard to get back on track.

Online art galleries and anybody making reproductions of artwork require clear, high-resolution images. Taking pictures of adequate quality requires a good camera and proper technique. Preparing the images for upload requires a second step: adjustment of image using a software program.

• Use a tripod for holding the camera motionless.

• Set-up of artwork: hang on vertical surface or place on easel. Use proper lighting*.

• Set-up: start by placing camera, on tripod, really close to painting and arrange to be sure that it is centered and parallel to painting.

• Move camera/tripod straight back about 6-8 or 10 feet; adjust camera height so that artwork is centered in camera viewfinder. (see photo)

• Use optimal camera settings**

• Use 2-second delay on shutter release***

• Import to computer.

• Using software****, crop photo to edges of canvas and adjust color balance.

_______________

* lighting. Full-spectrum (natural light); outside is perhaps best option; otherwise, use special full-spectrum bulbs, with two light sources, one on either side of painting, directed at painting from 45 degree angle.

** lenses have optimal clarity settings (sweet spots). Generally, this is two F-stops above “wide open”. For a zoom lens, this “wide open” will vary with zoom setting. For my lens, wide open at 55mm setting is 5.6; wide open at 18mm is 3.5. Clarity drops off when using
apertures smaller or larger than the optimal. (This drop-off is less pronounced in more expensive lenses.The lens that came with my new $650 camera has disturbingly quick drop-off!) So, at 55mm, optimal clarity is obtained using an f stop 2 above "wide open," or fll. At 18mm, optimal f stop would be f8.

*** Using a delayed shutter release eliminates any vibration from pushing the button.

**** IrfanView is a free download image adjustment program. Photoshop is another very powerful image manipulation software program.

I wish that I could just paint, and that my work would magically become available to prospective audiences.

I haven't found that magic. Or at least, it's going to take some effort to make it happen. It's called promotion.

Yep, if my people are going to interact with and buy my work, I have to get out there and give my people some content. It might be via a post card, or on Twitter or Facebook, or in a blog. It might be a newsletter, printed or electronic. The communication might include pictures, or be mostly text. And that brings up the question of what to say--what's the content of my communications?

All artists are confronted with the need to produce content. One of the fundamental questions is: "For Whom Is the Content Meant?" If you are writing a newsletter, or an ad in a magazine, or a 120 character tweet, who are you talking to?

A second fundamental question is "What Do You Want That Audience to Do?" When your people receive your message, are they supposed to open a link, or provide a comment, or buy some art, or maybe just grin and feel good?

With some help and study, I have realized that one of my primary target audiences is prospective buyers of my work. And what I want them to do, ultimately, is to purchase something.

But that's not my only target audience; I am also interested in connecting with fellow artists. Out of my content, I want community to grow.

Whomever you, or I, communicate with, we need to know what those people want, how we can please them, and how we can be clear about what actions we want them to take. Without answers to these questions, we are sure to waste a lot of time and energy developing and putting out content that fails to yield the results we want.

On Thursday, December 1, 2011, all artists (and others) are invited to share insights on these questions, during a twitter chat, #TalkArt. 9:30 am PT, 10:30 am MT, 11:30 am CT, 12:30 ET, early evening in Europe. We might even have a special guest!

I have long struggled with the ambiguity of good and bad when it comes to God's actions.

When Moses was pleading with Pharoah to let the Israelites leave Egypt and migrate back to the Promised Land, on one of the occasions Pharoah denied them, it was God who hardened his heart. How can that be a good thing? And if it isn't, how can it come from God? This is but one of many examples from the Bible of God doing something which seems, well, bad. But my theology will not permit that. Can 'bad' things be 'good' things? Can 'good' things be 'bad' things?

Then I grappled with how to portray this dilemma visually. In the painting title, "Benes From Heaven," the word 'bene' stands for 'benefits.' Gold coins, representing benefits, fall from heaven. When the coins hit the water, we mystically see the other side of the coin. Searching for opposites, I decided on birth and death; so the two sides of the coins are a skull and a fetus. Or maybe they are the same side.

The water spout represents the turbulence this theological ambiguity has caused me; also, in the Bible, God is sometimes represented as a storm or whirlwind.

In preparation for this painting, I actually made models of the coins, building up the bas relief images with heavy acrylic gel medium, then covering the coins with metallic gold paint.

Sian Lindemann recommended to me that I use Fine Art America to set up a web site with my artwork. That was such an excellent suggestion!

My primary interest, regarding my art, is that people interact with it. Art is a dialogue, and when my paintings sit unseen, with nobody reacting to them, they are removed from the dialogue. They are useless. My web site allows people from all over the world to view my work. And they are!

Below is a partial list of where people who have come to look at my paintings live. I just wrote down the city of the most recent viewer of my most commonly viewed pieces. Dublin, Ireland; Lochem, Netherlands; Narcao, Italy; Gatineau, Canada; Petange, Luxembourg; Gizeh, Egypt; Lake Orion, MI; Sidney, Australia. This astounds me!

Here's another remarkable surprise: A couple of days ago, I received an invitation to speak to a local organization. The organization's president had found me through my Fine Art America web site and decided that her members would like to hear me talk. So I'm doing a speaking gig at their next meeting!

Not only does Fine Art America enable me and my work to be introduced to people far and wide, they also fill orders. If a site visitor likes one of my pieces, they can order a print or even a greeting card, and Fine Art America handles the production, the shipping, and the transaction and sends me a check.

To all visual artists, I join Sian in urging you to consider Fine Art America. There is no fee or cost. (And they didn't ask me to write this, and I'm not getting anything for it.)

Like a lot of my artwork, this series has been in gestation for a long time. For years, I have puzzled at how Jesus could say "the Kingdom of God is at hand" when we've been waiting for two millenia for -- something. I am coming to think that he meant it is at hand, all around us, in every situation in which people love and serve one another, in every instance that leads to spiritual growth.

So, how can I make my work tell this story? We'll see how it turns out, but my answer is through juxtaposition of two images, a "heavenly" scene and a mundane one. To make it more clear, and pretty, I'm making one look like a stained glass window, by creating a mosaic out of transparent paint skins applied to the canvas.

The photograph shows thin layers of transparent acrylic paint applied to a pane of glass. When dry, I remove sheets of paint skin and cut them into the shapes I need to form the faux stained glass mosaic.

Step two will be to selectively mask portions of the completed mosaic. Then I'll cover the whole thing with a painting of the second image. Finally, I'll remove the mask, re-revealing parts of the colorful mosaic.

Every bit of the process is a puzzle I must solve, and I even have to discover the rules! I sure am learning. And I can barely wait to get back to my studio!