Next Wave Of Commissions

First up is another great looking kitty “Luna” (which is pretty cool since we all just enjoyed a lunar eclipse). We actually got to meet this super cute kitty while having dinner over at the owners house (which were Twitter and Facebook friends we had a chance to meet face to face at a show in Scottsdale). We had tacos, beers and chatted the night away.

Next up came about in a weird way. I noticed one day while on Twitter that someone I followed said “is there anything I can help anyone with” or something like that. Jokingly I said “buying some art would help me” so he tells me about how much he likes my work and if I've ever done a penguin. Well now I can say I have. This is a great piece and I probably love it more then him and his wife do.

Last one I have for you today is a piece celebrating the life of a man who did more in his short life then most of us will ever do. Here’s what was said about him by his aunt who commission the piece for his mother….. RIP Bryan.

"Hi Nemo. Thank you so much for the wonderful work on my nephew Bryan's portrait. My sister just opened it and just loves it. She can see his spirit in the eyes and the little smirk that was always on his face.

Now A little about the man in the pic.. my nephew Bryan, a wonderful young man who worked with inner city kids getting them into sports, off drugs and out of gangs. Unfortunately, he was born with a challenged heart and was not able to do things most children do. His passion was sports. After several heart surgeries, he got the go ahead to play sports, this was in his young adult life. He took this on full force. He loved to work with kids and wanted to give each one a chance to play, something he did not do as a child. In July, 2009, Bryan was in a game of baseball, this was his last game. As he got up to bat, he had a massive heart attack that ended his life here with us. Bryan left us doing the one thing he lived for, sports. Many games were going on in the fields around his game that day and he died with many of the young people that meant so much to him all around. Bryan is greatly loved and forever missed by many. May he rest in peace."

Do You Talk Or Do You Listen?

If you get me going I can talk a mile a minute about me, my art, who I am, what I have done and what I'm going to do. But you have to ask the right questions and I gotta feel like you really want to hear it. (Although here on my blog it’s a different story cuz its all about me and I never know whos reading it!) I really try not to go on and on about what I do unless asked. I kinda just sit back and let other people do all the talking. Sure I’ll cut a joke every now and then, but it mostly just bounces off people who are talking just a bit louder. I even feel a bit weird sometimes when everyone shuts up and pays attention to me, I just hope I say something worth the listen.

I came across 2 different types of talkers the other day at a show. One was the “know-it-all-and-let-me-tell-you-about-it” guy and the other was the “I’m-not-telling-you-anything” guy. 2 very different approaches to talking with 2 very different actions they bring onto a person.

The 1st one, there he sat painting in his booth as I walked up. Me “nice painting” him, (and I’m paraphrasing) “I have been painting for 30 years, I use to own 3 galleries, I remember when we all use to have $20k shows, you need to show art up in Colorado and Utah that’s were the moneys at, you need to get out there and show your art to people, get your name out there, I’m in this gallery and I’m in that gallery...” something like that was what he said. Thing is, he rattled off a list of things I should be doing even tho I was already doing them. He even said he would love to have a big van like that blue Mercedes right there (yeah I told him it was mine) but I don’t think he noticed the Colorado plates as he told me I should go to Colorado. Oh yes, he had no idea he was talking to one of the most famous artists in the world and he never once cared to ask and find out.

Now the next one, I met an even bigger, better artist than me (yes there are one or two out there) and he asked a ton of questions about me and my art and shared very little about his and what he did. He keep me talking a lot but asking me really good questions about what we were doing. Every time I asked him something he would answer really fast and then ask me something. I feel like he really got into my head and when he started to give me pointers, he knew exactly what I needed to hear. Most of his “you should do's” were “someone once told me's”. It was more like talking to an old friend which is way better than having a boss you don’t like tell you what to do.

My very 1st run in with an artist was when I was walking past some pieces of art on my way to get the free wine when I was jumped and given a 10 minute lecture about how that piece was made and what it meant to him even tho I couldn’t care less. When I did my 1st show I remembered that and tried not to be too aggressive about telling people about my art. I do however tell people I draw all the circles freehand, then I just hang back or chat with who ever wants to chat and about anything. I do hope when someone meets me in person I'm more like the 2nd guy. I do have a lot of information about how and why to do stuff but I don’t feel I should be telling everyone everything all the time. I do answer all questions I am asked and I tell them what has happened to me and that 2 people can do exactly the same things and one can get rich and famous and the other can die alone in the streets.

Which person are you? And why are you that person?

San Pedro Springs Gallery

Nemo’s back, back again…… Nemo’s back, tell a friend.

Had a show at San Pedro Springs Gallery, my old stomping ground from before I left to Denver a few years back. It had been so long since I'd seen all the crazy locals there. It was great to have so many people tell me how long I have come with what we are doing. This was the 1st gallery I showed my pencil pieces in some 4 years ago. Everyone was proud of us and most were jealous and wanted to join along in the fun.

We had our van all open so everyone could walk around in it and we set up our tent so they can see how we do it out on the road. Seemed like everyone was impressed. We shared stories about being on the road, places we had been, people we have met and where we are going next (its California if you are not keeping tabs). Tho not everyone showed up that I would have wanted to see, we had a small crowd of about 15 to 20 die-hard nemo fans.

We stood around the fire drinking way too much wine, cookies and ate kabobs that were grilled to perfection. We talked about the good ole days and got fall down drunk. All in all it was a great show, we even got a few sales in and racked up a commission or two. Not to bad for a drunken fest. We did manage to come back to the ranch since we needed to work.

So we take a little break to work on commissions, do holiday stuff with family and plan our summer up north, I hear Illinois, Utah and Minnesota might be added to our Colorado roster but you never know where we will end up these days.

4th Avenue Winter Street Fair

4th Avenue Street Fair in Tucson, Arizona was the last show on our list of Arizona shows. We needed to have one last burst of action for coming to Arizona again next year to make sense to us. This show had about 400 vendors and with every space in front of shops and restaurants rented out it may have added another 300 or so more vendors. There was quite a bit of really good fine art in there but most of it was just cheap junk and I say cheap junk with the utmost respect towards them for having the guts to get out there and try to make a buck. The show boasts of having something for everyone and with more than 700 people selling stuff, oh it was there.





mmmmm pie



They did keep us in waters and snacks so that was a major plus in my book. Again we had great people on either side of us and saw about 10 to 15 artists that we have had shows with in other venues here in Arizona and even in other states. Cant wait to hit the east coast to see who travels out that far.

The first day started off a bit on the slow side with a few necklace sales here and there but right at the end, bam, 2 originals. Right back to the days when people knew they were going to buy a piece they just didn’t know which piece. These ladies took a good 10 minuets to pick their pieces, ahhhhh the good old days.





most of the people didnt even look in



Second day started off about the same but once about 3 pm hit we started wheeling n dealing. We even had 2 be-backers actually come back. We sold about 15 necklaces and most of them went to cute little girls. I have been wondering about how to break into that teen crowd and blow up like Lady Gaga or whatever it is that the teen crowd likes. You know all you need one cool little girl to wear one and everyone’s gonna want one too. Seems to me like most people took the whole day to sort through all the melted bottles, tie die shirts (there were about 5 booths with tie die at this show) puppets, marshmallow shooters and dried flowers to find what they were looking for.





I like when beautiful young ladies play chistmas music for me



By the last day we had had are fill of cigarette smoke and lame remarks about everything being so expensive there. Somehow we were able to push our necklaces and even sold 4 small originals. However all the smokers were killing us. We don’t plan on coming back till there is a smoking ban or something, and the booth was priced way too high for it to be filled with such crap, again I say that with the utmost respect, even tho it might have been the best show money wise for us it wasn’t heath wise.





right before he looked at me



So now on to Texas for a little gallery holiday show and tell. We will be setting up our tent and opening up our van for all our family and friends to come out and see what and how we do what we do.

Big Town VS Small Town

Hannah and I were joking about how we didn’t go very good at the shows where people who were stuck in the 70’s and 80’s were walking around. Please keep in mind we were joking. But there was some truth to it. We were sitting around the other day drinking wine trying to plan our futures. Once again we joked about doing so well in Denver and in San Antonio. And if you have been keeping up with my shows on tour you would also have seen what shows were good and which ones sucked. Then it hit us, we don’t do very well in smaller towns. So we set up the last two shows to prove it to ourselves.

First up a show near Carefree (the sight of our last bomb of a show) at an AJ’s which is a fancy grocery store. It was a two day thing and we set up our whole tent and waited for the big sales to come. Well we made about 17 bucks and only had a few people stop by. One would think the show in general was a bad show, but the guy next to us made quite a bit of sales and the lady next to him did pretty good too.

Then we set up at a show in the middle of downtown Phoenix at an office building for the lunch crowd. We did have a few more people come over and talk to us but really not that many people, but they almost all walked away with something. One lady even bought an original. Since it was more of a craft show (lots of jewelry and holiday stuff, there were pine cones covered in glitter and some guy selling bed sheets) we didn’t think we were going to do well but the table was cheap and we wanted to be downtown.

So I stared thinking about other shows we have done both good and bad. Before we would shy away from craft shows cuz we got bitten bad by a few up in Colorado, but I’m beginning to think it wasn’t the show it was the town. We did just about the crappiest show for fine art in San Antonio but it was about the best money making show for us. What was the difference? Yup, the town, San Antonio is huge and the two shows in Colorado were in small towns, beautiful none the less but small. Since we have been on tour we were shooting for shows we heard were good, but they almost always are in small towns for some reason and we didn't do well. A few have been in the city or really near a big city and we did really well there.

So after all the California shows which might be in smaller towns we are shooting for the biggest towns and if not right downtown very close to downtown. If you can see tall buildings in the background of every picture I take it just might be a great show. However I do know there are exceptions to everything and I also know everyone reading this won't have the same results but its how I see it happening to us. What do you good blog reading folks think about it? What do you see going down?

First Wave Of Commissions

Every year around this time we here at Art By Nemo run a commission drive. Since most years the holiday random shopping rarely stops at our door and my prices go up 10% January 1st, we like to give all the Nemo fans and collectors out there a chance to get their pieces done at the lower price. Here are a few to start out with.

First up we have 2 dogs sporting the latest in fall fashion

Then a favorite of ours, Harlan, a good buddy of mine I use to work with in what seems 2 or 3 life times ago and lives in the Cayman Islands. He had all these pictures of the area and told us to collage them together and to see what we came up with. Hannah being the one wearing the design pants around here cut and pasted them around in Photoshop to come up with something I could put my circles on. After it was all said and done, it has become one of my favorites.

If you might want to take part in this years commission drive just let me or Hannah know and we can work something out. I can put circles on just about anything - kids, cats, dogs, your favorite anything and a collage of your vacation shots.