Festival Of The Arts

In our continuing effort to grow our Texas fan base we jumped in and did the Festival Of The Arts in Corpus Christi. It was sort of a leap of faith for us since it seemed like an art scene that wasn’t having us. I have been chatting up a gallery in Port A for years with no results. We couldn’t find a sponsor when we wanted to do the "turtle trail" thing and we didn’t get picked to do the art on the ferry. I have been trying to get something going with a few art spaces and studios, but nothing. I had a feeling it just might not be a place for us to be. But Hannah loves going there and since this was a lower priced show we felt it was a no brainier to go and see what happens.





this is why i became an artist



It started up with an over 20 mile an hour wind blowing all the tents and blowing all of us all over the place. We had a quick set up and hung out in our van till the artist reception. We ran into a few artists that have been out and about at most of the shows we do, building that art family. Its always nice to know people when you show up to a place like this. It was so humid and the wind never really stopped by it seemed like people were loving on the art.



view of the party

We sold an original right away and sold a ton of necklaces and prints. It wasn’t one of our best shows but for the price and the great parking spot it was well worth it. So watch out Corpus I’m coming for you. I got a few leads about showing some more work and I’m not going to give up. I'll pull all the strings I got to get more in the city.



view out the van

The Big 3 5

As some of you folks out there might know I have a birthday coming up, March 30th. I want to talk a little bit about where I’m at in life, what going on and what I have planned. As you guys know I’m on a USA Art Tour with my wife and living in an RV. We got a good hang of it now and I can dump like a crazy fool now, fast and clean. Here’s a blog about the First 3 Months and living together. We still feel good about what we are doing.

We have in a sense, just been at home here in Texas, living out at Hannah’s family's ranch. We go into San Antonio as much as we can and all the shows I have been doing are all there, although we have a new one to try out down in Corpus Christi this coming weekend and who knows how that will go. But it’s a new city and a new venue. I got a solo show coming up at Art SA with my “CircleScapes: 7 States In 7 Months” I got 6 of them done and framed and the show is looking really, really good. I am also trying to come up with other products and marketing aspects to bring in more money off the images.

We are planning our summer up north but haven’t had much success. We are doing Downtown Denver Art Fest again. We are also doing a dinner thing with the Art Pimp, here’s what happened last time we got together. But every thing else is up in the air. We got wait listed for a show in Utah and we are trying for one in Minnesota.

These are crazy times and they call for crazy actions right…….

Busy Weekend

Thursday started out like any other, with a drive into San Antonio from Comfort to take part in a Career Day at Woodridge Elementary. We spoke to and gave a little power point to about 90 2nd graders, talk about warping young minds. We tried to push "find the one thing you do the best and never stop doing it" and maybe one day you too can get paid for doing it. We were asked over and over, “have you been to Disney Land” and “how old are your kids”?

Then off to our gallery in SA where they were having a privat party in which we played bar tender to get free drinks and food. I chatted up a few of the young ladies and told them about my show there next month and showed them my work and even sold a few necklaces. We talked a lot to the caterer Tim The Girl and must have been seen as pretty dependable people cuz when we saw her the next day she asked if we could help her out at another event. We knew the owner Peter so we said yes so we could show up and surprise him. Once again free drinks and food and lots of nice people to chat with.

Then Saturday was the Tobin Hill 1st Annual Art Fair which started out cold, windy and slow. But once the sun made its appearance so did the buyers. Still not that many people came out but they were very active. We sold a few originals and a lot of necklaces. Hung out with some old friends and heard some great music, tho the wind never left. This show had a lot going on for it and if they keep doing it we will also keep doing it.

Then back to Flat Rock Ranch for the big race and we were working the gate till late, well I drank beer and played with the flash light. We also had to get up early to do the same thing but there was a ton of volunteers so it wasn’t that bad and it was fun. Here’s A little write up saying who won and how it went.

Not That Color, I Want It This Color

We were chatting it up with a lady who was looking at my site and loved one of my wine labels I did for a show a few years back at a wine place in Denver. She really liked the one with the red umbrella and asked if there was any way that she could get me a make another one. Being the nice guy I am I said sure, no problem. They in a "I would hate to piss off the artist type way" she asked if she could get the umbrella blue instead of red. Once again being the nice guy I am I said sure, no problem.

I only mention this commission to let people know that not all artists get mad if you ask them to change a color or if you want something in a different size. I was told if I didn’t want to do it I didn’t have to but I don’t mind what I am drawing only if the circles are round, nothing else. To me it makes no difference if its red or blue, if it’s a 4”x6” or an 8”x10”. The only thing I care about is that my circles are perfect as perfect can be.

What do you folks think? Could you change colors as fast as I did? Have any of you wanted a piece of mine but wished it was a different color?

Rock Star

So for a few weeks and from many different people I have been told that I should show my art at SXSW. Which seems like a perfect idea, if I didn’t want to sell any art and sit around looking like a dumb ass. As far as I know SXSW is mostly a music festival with a little bit of other things thrown in there like film and interactive, whatever the hell interactive means. I looked all over their site and guess what? Yup nothing about art in there.

Here’s the main problem I have with “music festivals” they are music festivals, yeah music, go figure. I grew up with a ton of friends who always had their tickets to see the next best band and yup, they could care less about fine art. Don’t get me wrong, dread beads and incense holders might have gotten their attention, art, not so much.

I have been to a few music shows where you can see artists painting away off to the side. Between bands people might actually go over and see what they are doing. Who knows, someone might have sold something. I for one don’t care. I hate having to yell into the ear of a potential customer cuz the music is way too loud. They always turn the lights down low so vision is hard. And when the band is done they most likely leave and take all their fans with them.

Now if you’re a big fan of watching live music or even know the band good enough where you can get them to say your name a few times between songs, more power to you. A good friend of mine Laurie Maves is a pro at mixing live painting and live music. She has turned it into a career, check her out. I for one have not figured it out and may work too small and too slow to create a “live art” following. But people like Laurie make it look easy. Everyone should give it a try before they down it.

I even went to markers to show how I work since the pencil on paper wasn’t ideal when other people were around. They always wanted to touch the paper and that would dirty it. They had to get really close in order to see what I was doing. The makers and canvas make the pieces a little bigger and I can work a little faster but an 8” x 10” canvas is still taking about 2 to 3 hours to finish and isn’t much of a show for people. Here are two blogs I blogged about a while back which talk about my tries and give some more insight to what I think about. What do you think about it?

Say Si

I have been donating to Say Si for many years now and it’s the only place we consistently donate art to. Not only are they professional, share information about the buyers, have crazy good parties every year, help the youth develop amazing art skills but they also teach them that they can become artists when they grow up. Their fundraiser is kind of a who's who in San Antonio with heavy hitting artists donating art and time. They always remember who I am, some read my posts and comment, and having people come up to you saying they follow you on Facebook is always a good thing. Not to mention some of the finest women of San Antonio hang out there and some of them even know my name. I really wish I had a place like this place when I was little, I didn’t even know there was such a job as being an artist till I was 27 or 28 which is sad cuz I have been able to draw perfect circles all my life, image if I was told how and what to do with them when I was 10.

We were so happy we were in town for this event. We love going to it and seeing all our old friends, coworkers and meeting all the new faces and Facebook people. Its really great to come back home so to speak since we missed the last 2 being up in Denver. Some of the people we run into we haven’t seen since the last show there. Its always a good time and the small after party in our van after the show was fun, never seen so many people in here at once.