1000 Woodcuts: art festival

Showing posts with label art festival. Show all posts

Monday, March 16, 2020

U-turn! And update on Acts of Kindness puzzle

That was quick...

In a nutshell: drove in pouring rain, checked in to hotel, watched Arizona panic, got cancellation notice from the festival, u-turn! drove in pouring rain back home. Wow, just wow.

So moving right along...

Acts of Kindness Update #8: Upgrade! We MUST flow!

Hello everyone! First and foremost, follow all the gory details in our new and improved headquarters:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/puzzlewoodcutprints

Second and most important, making very good progress on transferring the drawing to the blocks. I should be able to mail out in about a week so.

Drawing on the blocks! Soon they will be cut up into puzzle pieces

From 4 blocks to 5 blocks

Propped up and ready to draw

Upgrade

And, as promised in the update header, an upgrade! I was drawing and somehow didn't get enough "elbow room" for everyone's block. Let me explain, the designs for previous puzzles were easily compressible and so I was able to squeeze everyone in. But this time, the butterflies MUST flow out of the hand that frees them. They must! And I can't crunch them up like they are on a traffic jam on the California I-10 trying to get to the beach. No no no, flooowww....

So! I added a big block for a total of five. This means that 1-panel artists will be upgraded to 2-panels and full print artists will be upgraded to 5-panels. Aside from a few more sheets of paper (89 to be exact) and a couple more days of printing, no obstacles that I can see. Mailing weight about the same.

And our butterflies will flow free and unhindered up and up...

That's all for now, onward! Maria

Stay in touch!

1000woodcuts Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/1000woodcuts
Maria's Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/maria.arango.diener
Maria's Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/1000woodcuts
1000woodcuts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts/videos

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Upcoming event and a puzzle print

Festival alert!

I will be back in Scottsdale for the great Scottsdale Arts Festival (https://scottsdaleartsfestival.org/) in March. Here is all the info and keep an eye on my Facebook Page where I will publish my booth number and location once I get it. Get your tickets now!

Celebrating 50 years in our community

A three-day celebration of art, music, food, and family fun located at Scottsdale Civic Center Park.

March 13–15, 2020

Open Rain or Shine!

Tickets

$10 single day tickets

$16 two day pass tickets available online only until Saturday, February 1, 2020.

$6 for students (student pricing not available online)

FREE for children 12 and under

FREE for members of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMOCA)

Location

Scottsdale Civic Center Park

3939 N Drinkwater Blvd,

Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Puzzle Print Alert!

Yeah! Another great art-venture directed by the fearless yours truly. Here is the main/sign-up page, which will be live 1/24/2020

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1000woodcuts/100-acts-of-human-kindness?ref=7gs7uo

Stay in touch!

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Teaching an old dog new tricks

Trick one: less is enough

Teaching this trick was tough. This dog (that's me, in case the analogy eludes you) knows how to do a festival, having bagged around 200+ in my lifetime. Those included traveling as many as 1500 miles, rain, hail, snow, 70 mph gusts of wind, 107 degree temperatures although, of course, nice weather and beautiful locales for most. So what can a smaller easy festival in an indoor setting (no tent!) teach the old festival dog?

Simplicity!

Here is my pile ready to go, hardly a dent in my muscles and hardly a load for my truck. Three print bins, a fold-a-carry-all-office desk (Flight-Table), a stool to sit on. Which makes me a bit panicky...do I have EVERYTHING???

Ready for festivaling

BTW

Kyle Canyon Crafters Artisan Craft FairAUGUST 3-4 SAT and SUN 10am - 4pmTHE RETREAT 2755 Kyle Canyon Road, Mt Charleston NVlook for me inside the awesome lodge

Trick two: never enough tools

I have been reading about wood carving because, out of all the tasks involved in making woodcuts, this is what I like to do the most. So I am digging up all my used blocks and making some new blocks based on my existing images and making relief carvings. I started out shallow and will work to deep relief, maybe eventually go full 3-D.

For now, I am enjoying carving every minute of my studio time and so I started reading to pick up tricks specific to relief carving. And here is an awesome one!

The traditional Japanese woodblock carver uses a toh or single blade knife to make the first cuts around lines. Here is a picture stolen from the incomparable Annie Bissett's blog https://woodblockdreams.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-about-hangi-toh-knife.html

Traditional hangi-toh knife for outlining woodblock carving

And a fine knife it is, however I'm carving cherry wood and very deeply so. The blade of my hangi-toh (toh's I own several) just felt a bit flimsy and I had to go over my lines over and over and over and...

Always looking for efficiency, I came up with the versatile chip carving knife! Of course I already own about three different versions, the one pictured below folds for travel and has two blades, one sturdier than the other.

Presto! deep lines, full control and quick but precise carved lines and stop cuts.

The very chip carving knife I own

Woodblock for Moonshadow and my arsenal
I am making the sky recede, the moon rounded,
and the lady of the moon will be left up front
with some rounding and reshaping

The chip carving knife being driven deep into cherry wood

My depth gauge (yeah, I have one of those) tells me
I'm about half-way through the block so that's enough
for the deepest layer

I reiterate...

Kyle Canyon Crafters Artisan Craft FairAUGUST 3-4 SAT and SUN 10am - 4pmTHE RETREAT 2755 Kyle Canyon Road, Mt Charleston NVlook for me inside the awesome lodge

Stay in touch!

Sunday, July 14, 2019

A tiny festival? New works

Festival in the Pines

August 3-4 at The Retreat
(formerly the "new" lodge"
or The Resort, depending how old you are)
2755 Kyle Canyon Road Mt Charleston NV

Oh it's just a little one for Artisans residing in Mt Charleston Nevada or whereabouts. But I'm getting into matting a little, no framed works except 8x10s and just a few. Easy does it...I will be inside the lobby with my matted displays.

New stuff

Kind of getting into remakes of some older works, especially big ones that are near sold out. The online world is completely different from the "real" festival world, in terms of visits, sales and resulting income. So we adapt to the little prints and some of my best selling works are getting "revisited" in smaller versions. Still original woodcuts as I am making some modifications and carving a completely new block or three, but smaller. The image is roughly the same.

Fun! Here is a tiny "Oculus" remade into "Fragile"

Print Title: Fragile

Paper Dimension: 10 x 10 inches

Image Dimension: 9 x 9 inches

Block: Cherrywood

Pigment or Ink: Gamblin and Daniel Smith

Paper: Daphne handmade

Edition: 100

Comments: "For all those born beneath an angry star

Lest we forget how fragile we are"

Those lyrics are from a Sting song, later I heard it by Jesse Cook. I am a loner and enjoy solitude but time and again I am reminded how very much I depend on and cherish connections with friends and family, however fragile they may be.

The image is a revisit of an early large print with some modifications...and a new tiny block of course.

Stay in touch!

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Artist Roles: Supporting My Art Habit

Roles of the Artist

In my view, the productive printmaker needs an outlet for created works. As you may know, my very favorite venues are art festivals. I have been an active art festival artist for almost 20 years! Through the years I have tried a variety of approaches to festivals, from going on the road almost full-time and attending 30 per year to a very comfortable 5-8 per year. Of those some are local but most are "the big ones," that is, well attended, well established, proven successful festivals.

Yeah...that was LAST year! This year I am attending a grand total of zero festivals. My first "year off" since I began this crazy adventure. Why, you ask? I have unfinished art projects every place I look in the studio. Carved blocks waiting to be printed, drawn blocks waiting to be carved, half-started books waiting to be written, new ideas waiting to come to life, this and that...

I am making a firm commitment to attempt to finish at least some of them, how's that for a hazy promise!

Sales Continue Online

But reality is that there are all those prints in my flat files and, after a busy festival year, some leftover matted and framed works begging to be shown. And so I turn to online sales to continue to support my art habit.

One art carrier at a time, I have been uploading framed works and blocks. Next week I begin with matted works.

To spur sales along, I will conduct a "special" each month. This blustery March I begin by offering either:

25% OFF with checkout code MARCHLION25

free shipping with code FREESHIPPING

My shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/1000woodcuts

Stay in touch!

Friday, August 5, 2016

No sooner I touch down...

Crazy life

As the story goes, I was driving back from Bellevue Washington and vowing to take 5 years off this crazy life when...ding! Message from Tempe Festival of the Arts in Arizona, letting me know that the very next day the invites for the 2016 Fall show would be sent.

Tempe is a staple in my show schedule, a very well attended show with many avid collectors attending from the huge Phoenix valley. So I'm very tired and I still feel the tingle...where will I request a booth? where will I stay this time? single or double booth? ay ay ay...

And so the next day, I boot up my sleepy computer and, as I lick my Bellevue wounds and bruises, already itching to get my notice...

Going to Tempe!

Yay! By the time the email hit my mailbox I had chosen a booth, looked at hotels nearby and decided on a 10x20, double booth. Why not, only 4 festivals this year and none! scheduled for next year. I need to regroup in 2017.

Still a ways off, December 2-4, 2016 normal hours finally! 10am - 5:30pm daily.

Here is the link:

http://www.tempefestivalofthearts.com/

Last time I was in Tempe
double booth on 7th just off Mill Avenue

Info from the website:

"December 2-4 2016
Downtown Tempe along Mill Avenue
The Tempe Festival of the Arts is a well loved community event that showcases over 300 artists from around the country. This year is the 48th annual Fall Festival and we have an exceptional event planned for you.
Look for a few changes to this upcoming festival. Check out 6th & Mill Makers, a local Makers section curated by local artists. Next we have added entertainment stages on 5th Street East of Mill Avenue and in Hayden Amphitheater, tripling the stages at the event. Bringing the family? You won't want to miss Kidz Row, where kids can see works by their peers and do some projects of their own.
And while you are at the festival, take a break from the crowds and check out some of our downtown restaurants, pubs, breweries and shops. You'll find great spots that will keep you coming downtown all year long."

Stay in touch!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Some Festival Trivia

The Festival Life for Me

Upcoming! http://www.bellevuearts.org/fair/

As the story goes, I had a real job once! Armed with a Masters in Exercise Physiology and a lot of energy, I managed health education programs for a large insurance company and later for a rehabilitation facility. Then I started making art seriously and found myself enamored with the process of creating something from nothing. I struggled to take the leap into full time art because I liked helping people fix their aching backs, quit smoking, lose weight and manage lifestyle diseases. But I eventually couldn't stop myself from diving head first into the art world.

Once in art, I found that the "art scene" wasn't really my cup of tea so I kept finding ways to make myself fit in. Calls for entries helped build a nice resume of exhibits both in US and abroad; groups kept me motivated and involved with other printmakers. Then one fateful day, I entered into an art festival, a small local affair. I showed my artwork on clunky easels made with plywood; I shaded myself with an umbrella; I didn't sell hardly anything...but I was hopelessly hooked.

My "brag-wall" with mementos and awards from festivals

That was 1998, fast forward to now and I am planning a 1000-mile drive to Bellevue, Washington to participate in one of the most coveted art festivals in the West US. I have an indoor and outdoor setup, a modified truck to carry my wares and a trailer just in case I take off on a blissful two-festival run sometime again. The "good" festivals are few and far between and are competitive to enter so I am happy to travel wherever the collectors like to shop.

Kings Mountain Festival, California, they let you camp in your booth!

Thus far I have participated in some 200 festivals
Longest drive to a festival was 1300 miles one-way
Income lowest was $142, highest $12K
Longest festival 7 straight days, 10 hours each day
Worst experience in Scottsdale, Arizona, festival cut short one day, overcome by rain and wind, got caught in a desert flash flood on the return trip
Best experience in Colorado, a two-festival trip (Breckenridge and Castle Rock); between the festivals I stayed in a State Park campground where I was the sole happy camper aside from deer, elk, bunnies, birds and other forest dwellers

Sleepy booths in Fountain Hills Arizona

The Road Awaits

One of my favorite things about the chaotic festival life is traveling and seeing the great scenery go by. Desert, forest, mountains, farms, cities, rivers and railroad tracks...I become mesmerized by the getting there and the variety of things and people along the way. The first anxiety of a festival is getting to the destination in one piece with all my artwork and setup intact. Road travel is like a meditation, I love driving; I marvel at the fact that there is pavement between almost any two points in this vast country.
For my European friends, Vegas to Bellevue is about the distance from Barcelona, Spain to Hamburg, Germany, give or take a click.
Bellevue, Washington, here I come!

I took my Mami to a show and we took this pic in Nevada

Upcoming! http://www.bellevuearts.org/fair/

Stay in touch!

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Work Between Festivals and BAM! Bellevue Here I Come!!

Bellevue Arts Museum

First thing is first, here is the official announcement:

And Now More Work...

One of the "bad" things about having a good festival is that I have to mat and frame more and more between events. And as my hubby likes to say "are you bragging or complaining?" Weeeellll...a bit of both I suppose (she says with a smirk).

Anyhow, upcoming is a first for me, the Bellevue Arts Museum (BAM) Art Festival and I am told it is a good one. I applied with figurative works so I have been working my fingers to the bone trying to fill my empty art containers (I'm just bragging now).

But seriously! Usually I need a week of rest right after a festival to allow the bruises to heal, catch up on my sleep and generally go on "hermit mode" to make up for all that socializing.

Some of the works going with me:

Baila, baila

Oculus

The web

All Those Details

Not this time, I am on full production mode and am about 3/4 of the way back to having a full truck. I also had to find indoor poles and lights and such minutia. The festival is not exactly indoors but under the protective roof of a parking garage so my indoor setup is the appropriate one. Which reminds me of the time I forgot my legs...well, not MY legs but the canopy legs! Yikes! I had to make do with some short poles cut off with a hacksaw at the last moment as the replacement for the bottom section of the leg poles. Sigh.

All my indoor track lights got new LED bulbs to have more light with less heat and less amperage. Awesome. Indoor curtains (required division between neighbors) got a freshening up, as did my carpet floor covering. Business license for Washington...check! Extension cords...check! Reservations for halfway points (1200 miles one-way)...check! New banner and signage...check!

And the list goes on...now you know where I've been. Here's my new banner:

Stay in touch!

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Wandering Off to Utah Arts Festival

Prep time!

That time of the year again, June 23-26 Utah Arts Festival upcoming faster than I can say "yipeeee!". This massive event is held at Washington/Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The setting is glorious, a huge grassy area adjacent to the Library and along the fountains and walkways of the library itself. I'm on grass, under a tree again. I love festivals on grass, much more suited to my taste. Look for me in booth #76, corner end of a row in the thick of things.

This week I made some sketches of my booth setup (I always forget them), double checked my hotel reservation, serviced and tinted windows of the truck, made a list of things to do and padded my inventory. Festival hours are noon to 11:00 pm each day for four days! Long days for sure but the evening crowd is so energetic we don't have time to get tired. I'm looking forward to the mayhem once more.

I have the advantage that my inventory was still full from the Tucson Festival which I had to skip due to illness. Someone asked me what happens when you miss a festival? Nothing. Nothing happens; you miss a festival and that's that. Collectors sometimes are disappointed but there are another 300 artists to buy from. Nobody misses you, there are no refunds, there are no do-overs, no compensation, no pity. The art festival world is as delightful as it is harsh. One festival on top of the world, the next down and out. Exhilarating and humbling all at once. Keeps us festival artists working hard and expecting nothing. Life is always a reward that way, new blessings each day.

Bring me a beer, I'll tell you some stories...

Illustrated...

bread and butter, tiny woodcuts

The Tabernacle

The Temple

My booth last year

New offerings this year

Almost have mat bin full

All my art containers full

Everything on wheels!

Tinted and ready for action, the faithful steed

Stay in touch!

Monday, May 23, 2016

Nothing to see here...spring cleaning!

Upcoming

Don't miss this year's Utah Arts Festival! massive event coming up on June 23-26

Utah Arts Festival

Washington/Library Square

Salt Lake City, Utah

http://uaf.org/

I will be in a corner booth on the grass again, under the shade of a beautiful big tree I hope. Funny how I'm looking forward to it even though, as I recall, the hours are long (12:00 to 11:00PM daily) and the weather is hot. Fortunately the beer is cold and the food is just amazing!

Training? or just spring cleaning?

A bit of both I guess. I have been gardening, rearranging the earth (gardening), and finishing some long due house projects.

Aside from plotting my latest artworks (a few smaller "bread and butter" works for Utah and a few balloon-themed small color works for Albuquerque in October), I've been spring cleaning. Really I should say 3-year cleaning. I just filled up a 23 cubic yard container with godknowswhat. Stuff, mostly. Some stuff in boxes I hadn't opened in so many years I didn't even bother to break the tape...DUMP! Some stuff that I just can't believe I was keeping. Some stuff too big to fit in a standard trash can. Feels good, I'm in great shape and our house is so much lighter now, ha!

Enjoy the rest of spring, summer's coming! Festivals around the corner:

June 23-26

Utah Arts Festival

Washington/Library Square

Salt Lake City, Utah

July 29-31

BAM ARTSfair

Bellevue Washington

Bellevue Square, downtown by the Museum

September 30 - Oct 2

& October 7-9

Rio Grande Balloon Fiesta Show

EXPO New Mexico Fairgrounds

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Stay in touch!

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Balloon Fiesta! Rio Grande Festival in Albuquerque says YES!

Love a Fiesta!

The Rio Grande Balloon Fiesta show is ranked #11 in the nation and I was happily invited to participate on BOTH weekends of the show. I am very excited and look very much forward to this massive event taking place over two consecutive weekends, not to mention some balloon festival sight seeing in between.

DATES

September 30 – Oct 2 & Oct 7-9

HOURS

Fridays: 10am–5pm

Saturdays: 10am–5pm

Sundays: 10am–5pm

LOCATION

In the BIG WHITE TENT at EXPO New Mexico’s Racetrack Infield. Enter through Gate 8, which is on Louisiana blvd., just south of the intersection of Lomas and Louisiana. Once you get to the intersection of Lomas and Louisiana, head south on Louisiana and follow the signs into Gate 8!

Calendar All Set

And with that, I believe my calendar may be all set for the year. Four huge shows, plenty for this ol' bod of mine. I feel the limited calendar allows me to concentrate more on home and art, shooting for that happy balanced life. Check the Gig Alert calendar on the left column for all my shows and come on down!

Stay in touch!

Friday, March 18, 2016

Traveling Year! Big ones are biting...

Calendar Shaping Up

Started out the year thinking "eaaaasy girl..." after all this is only my second full year back in the mad mad world of art festivals. Well, toss easy out the window! Since my last stint at being an itinerant artist, I decided last year I would only apply for larger and well rated festivals hoping to get into a few. The reasoning being that a festival is hard to do, mentally, emotionally, and most of all, physically. Little festival, big festival, all the same, really and the big ones pay dividends. I'm getting up there in years and haven't gotten any taller lately which would greatly help!

Seriously, the road life can be tough on a lass like me and so I thought I would end up doing two or three festivals a year and work on my tan and my art the rest of the year. The events are very competitive and usually takes several years of applying to break in. I'm not complaining, mind you...