Shows are coming in

With the deadlines come the jury verdicts.... some of the shows have come out with their invites....So far this year I will be at the Mclean County Art Center's Spring Bloom Show at the Bloomington Sale Barn - a one day affair on March 19th - 10 to 5

Also, I have been accepted at the Spring Art Fair at Queeny Park in St Louis MO - April 8th, 9th , and 10th - I've not done this show before but it is also an indoor venue with an attendance of around 5000 people. ( We'll see)

I will be at the Elmhurst Art Museum show(A suburb of Chicago) on April 30th and May 1st. ( Pray for good weather as this is the first outdoor show) Last years attendance was 16000 people.

Then I'm off to the Old Capital Show in Springfield - May 21st and 22nd - very excited to make the cut on this prestigious show in its 50th year!!

So - I better get back to work !

Deadlines

Today is the deadline for application to the Lincoln Fine Art Fair - People ask why do you care about Lincoln

There are a few reasons that make the Lincoln art fair a good one - First a nice grassy, shade filled park as a setting . Second the staff of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce are great hosts ( They pre-sale Art Bucks to members who then flood the market with cash ) Thirdly the balloon show brings in a substantial out of town crowd ( 70 or so balloon crews from around the country - with five or six couples on a crew - do you know how much money you have to have to travel around the country chasing balloons)


In two weeks is the deadline for the Peoria Art Guilds -Fine Art Fair . This year will be the greatest chance for realist painters in years.

Having set on the jury of the show the procedure is this - The previous years award winners applications are shown to the jury - to give them an idea of what the Fair is about. With these award winners on their minds they then start judging the new applications on a one to seven scale with no fours . Your combined total points of the seven or so judges is your score.

They cool part for realist painters is that last year at the show - most of the awards where given to painters - Including the best of show.

So if you are a painter and you have always wanted to get into the Peoria Show - You will never nave a better chance - go to www.zapplication.org and get moving - you only have two weeks!

I'm on Fire

Just finished another shaped canvas before I start a commission piece of La Salle Street Station in Chicago. I really like this one - its about 36" long and should go over well this summer ( If it lasts that long)

Finished Another

I just finished another painting and with the weather warming in central Illinois I might get out to stretch some much needed canvases this weekend.

I have to stretch a 24" x 36" canvas for a painting of the La Salle Street Station entrance in Chicago - and I may even stretch a couple of ballpark size ones ( as I have a couple of those that I will be needing this summer)

So here is the first look at Fishermans Wharf - the image isn't that great but it's the best I can do taking it late in the evening in the studio.

Snowpocalypse

Well the entire country was hit by what weather commentators are calling a cold hurricane ( 20" of snow and winds up to 60 miles an hour) periods of intense thunder snow ( which is sort of eerie in a complete white out ) Shutting the whole area down and like the Buffalo Wild Wings commercial - "Stay inside, hunker down, it's going to be a long one"

I managed to get off work a little early on Tuesday , Just as the storm was hitting. Stopped by the store and picked up a few things we might need and made my way home just before it got really bad. Shortly there after I got a call from the VP at work and I was getting a snow day for Wednesday. Let me tell you that doesn't happen very often, so after making my requisite call to people in my department, I settled down to make the most of the time I was just given.

I had just started a new canvas "Fisherman's Wharf" and I now had just be given almost a whole weekend to work on it for free. So as the wind howled outside my studio window I was warm and dry in the studio painting.