Time is A Flyin'!!

Already 1/4 of the way in to the year - how incredible that is!  And the rest of the year will not include any slowing down :)  I just got an events calendar of where my work will be and this list will only be growing as I hopefully get juried in to even more shows.  You can see my calendar of events at: http://www.cathysheeter.com/events.html

I have finished "In Hot Pursuit" and have started two new paintings.

"In Hot Pursuit" - 36"x24" - scratchboard and ink

If you are a scratchboard artist please consider submitting work to the 1st Annual International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA) exhibition.  Deadline for entry is April 25.  You can find the prospectus at: http://www.scratchboardsociety.com/exhibition2012.html  You DO NOT have to be a member of ISSA to submit work.  You also do not have to attend the opening!   The opening will be July 7 in Glen Ellen, CA and the two days after the show opening will be demos and workshops.  You can find that info at: http://www.scratchboardsociety.com/workshops.html

Next weekend will be the opening for the Colorado Governor's Show in Loveland.  You can preview my work and other artists works on their web site at http://www.governorsartshow.org/  If you are in the Loveland, CO area April 29 to June 10 please stop in at the Loveland Museum and check out the show, as it is always full of very nice work.

I also have two works that will be hanging in a booth hosted by the Society of Animal Artists at the  World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition and Art Festival in Ocean City, MD hosted by the Ward Museum.  This event is only a weekend long - April 27-29, so if you live in that area stop by that booth and check it out.

Updates

I was notified that my scratchboard and ink piece of a white tiger,  titled "The Interrupted Drink", won Viewer's Choice at the Bennington Center for the Arts "Art of the Animal Kingdom XVI".  Thanks to all who voted for my piece!  It was totally unexpected to me :)



"The Interrupted Drink" - Original Available

















Here is an update on "Comin' At Ya" the big horse piece that I am working on (36"x24").  Still a long ways to go.



"Comin' At Ya" - WIP - 36"x24"























And I have also started a new piece titled "Sibling Rivalry" sized 16"x20".  As you may figure by the title (and random tooth) there will be a 2nd wolf in the image

"Sibling Rivalry" - WIP - 16"x20"

News and Updates

Yesterday's e-mail inbox was full of news from shows. 

"The Naturalist" has been selected for the 51st Society of Animal Artists Annual exhibition "Art and the Animal" which will run September 17 - December 31, 2011 at the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, MI. The piece may then be selected to go on national tour to additional museums for up to a year.

"Going for Gold" was not selected for Birds In Art.  There were MANY outstanding works that did not make the cut this year and I swear you could make a top notch show with the rejected works from this show!!  And I say that in absolute, total honesty.  This show is a tough egg to crack (ok bad pun...I know!!).  I know top notch artist that have applied over 10 times without ever getting in and others seem to get in every year.  I got in on my first try in 2009, but was rejected last year and this one.  Oh well... its the name of the game in the art world.  It is just their opinion, on that day, with that set of work.  Its not wrong, its not right... it just is!  LOL...  I knew that this piece would not be their traditional bird art... so it could play out either way.  My congratulations to those that did get in this year.



I have pretty much finished "Edge of Darkness" though am still making some minor edits to the work before I spray it with its protective fixative.    Size is 20"x16" and it will be left black and white.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The bison portrait is finished as a black and white, but I am pondering coloring it.  Hmmm....
Any unevenness that you see in the black parts of this photo (or Edge) is a result of the work not being sprayed with fixative.  Different tools can make the board shiny or reflective where they are used than other areas that are more of a matte black (the board starts out a matte black).  These shiny parts usually look 'more black' and or like odd glare when photographed.  Once the works are sprayed with varnish it all evens out and is a nice even shade of black. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And Bee-Mused is in the process of being colored.  It is far from done, so it would be a WIP photo of the coloring.  I still have to color all grasses (short and tall) as well as the bee and the background.  I will continue to work the wolves a bit more too.

A Most Successful Show Opening!

The Colorado Governor's Invitational Show and Sale opened this past Saturday.  This show is limited to Colorado artists, and you must be invited to get in.  You can also submit your work for their consideration, which is what I did and I was lucky and got in.  It was my first year in the show (obviously) and other than being told that sales had been pretty good last year I had no previous experience with the show to go off of. 

Since it was my first year I had to take in six pieces and they got to choose which four pieces they would hang.  Typically they choose two smaller pieces, which go downstairs, and two larger works to hang in an upstairs gallery.  They selected my three largest pieces from me and just one smaller work - all wildlife, and they sent me home with my two horses that I had brought as the other two works.

The four works that they chose were "Walking The Line", "The Brotherhood", "The Challenger" and "Patience Is A Virtue" 

There was a TON of  "what the heck is that medium!??" "and How do you do it!?!" "and how long does it take to do one??!!"   So lots of talking and educating (as usual).  And people kept coming over telling me that other artists and people had told them to make sure and take a look at the scratchboard artists work!!  The sales staff was blown away as well (and if you want anyone in your corner the sales staff would be them)!  And By the time the night was over three of my four works had sold, with strong interest in the fourth as well!!

It was really fun to meet the purchasers as well.  The people that purchased "Walking The Line" kept debating which room it would go into.  The lady told me they had bought a lot of art, but my piece was the one she was most excited about EVER!

And "The Brotherhood" was purchased by a couple that had two boys that were now in college.  The whole family loved wolves and the brother wolves reminded them of their sons, especially because of the title of the work!

I am not sure who the winning buyer of "Patience" was, as it was the work that was downstairs (and I was upstairs all night), but when I went down at the end of the night to see if it had sold I was told by the sales staff that it was the most popular work down there! 

Throughout the show I think about 35-40% of the work sold... so a good show all around, but I do believe I may have been one of the top sellers of the evening.

So to say it was a successful opening is a bit of an understatement I guess :)  I think it is very likely that I will be invited back next year as well.  Maybe once you do this art thing for a bit longer than I have you get used to shows where you make lots of sales, but I am not there yet in my career and every sale makes me feel like doing a happy dance still :) 

So anyone care to join me in a happy dance?!?

BTW I also have an art fair in Parker, CO this weekend.  If you live in the area be sure and stop by the Southeast Christian Church off of Jordan Rd. this weekend. 

Happy Halloween

Well where do the days go... once again it has been too long since I have had time to post on here!

But like usual I have not been quite idle...

I just finished a decent sized colored commission, but am unable to post it at this time as it is a surprise birthday present for the person who will recieve it, so it has to wait until after their birthday to be shown.

I have also started several new boards including a bighorn sheep kid (8"x10"), an elk (24"x36")  and this horse piece (10"x8"), which I am calling Wisdom.

I heard recently that I have been accepted into the Colorado Governor's Show, to be held in April in Loveland, CO.

In other recent show news I had two works accepted into the Colorado Artist Guild art show and ended up winning 1st place in the drawing division with "Patience Is A Virtue".

I also had three works accepted into the Estes Park show "Lines Into Shapes" show and cleaned up there too winning 3 awards.  "Walking the Line" was the winner of People Choice and the Mayor's Award and "The Challenger" was winner of the Len Taylor Memorial Award (which I also won last year).

updates and such

Sorry for being so reticence in posting updates to my blog!  The days just seem to go by so quickly and before I know it I am onto the next one!  How did it get to be the middle of July already!!  Wasn't Christmas like a month ago??

Anyways... I have been busy indeed. 

My art portion of my website (http://www.aphelionart.com/) has had a bit of an overhaul as I try to get my page rankings up and make myself more findable for search engines.  Most of the changes were html and behind the scenes things, but I did add a couple of links about scratchboard with some tutorials and FAQs.

From the end of June through July 4 I had seven works hanging at the Greeley Stampede Invitational Western Art Show.  Two works were sold (Bending and What Next?) and I also earned the top two spots for people's choice awards with Walking The Line and Bending.

From July 7 through the 14th I was off to Indianapolis where I was a part of a scratchboard artist show and workshops.  Approximately 15 artists from all over the US and Canada attended.  We shared techniques, styles and tips and had an overall wonderful time!  We also discussed the formation of an international scratchboard society and I will be helping to work on that as well.  If that is something that you are interested in once it is up and running feel free to send me an e-mail and I will make sure you are notified.

While I was away in Indy I found out that my piece, A Driving Force, has been selected to be published in "Strokes Of Genius III - Best of Drawing".  This book is slated to come out in 2011.  The original of this piece was donated to the Buffalo Bill Historical Society "Patron's Ball" that will be held in September.

I also learned that The Interrupted Drink was picked as a finalist in The Artist Magazine Annual Competition.  While my 3rd place last year was a step up ;)  it is still quite an accomplishment to make it as a finalist.  They pick around 30 total winners/finalists in each category (of which there are 7) out of around 12,000-14,000 entries!!

Two piece were juried into the American Academy of Equine Art exhibition, a pencil drawing (A Kind Eye) and a scratchboard (Darkness and Light).  This show told me last year that scratchboard was not an eligible medium. This year I wrote a cover letter explaining why it should be included so I felt like getting one scratchboard in was a small victory! This show starts in the middle of September at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY

So I guess you could say it has been a productive month already!!  Look for an update on the pinto pony tomorrow.

Sometimes when you open the box...

...you find good things!  Today I finally got around to opening my box that I got back from LSU Animals In art Show a couple of weeks ago.  As I am  unpack my piece,  "Shaking It Up", out comes an envelope as well.  Inside the envelop are two articles printed in local newspapers during the show (one that my piece is mentioned in) and also a People's Choice Award ribbon!  Woo Hoo!  It turned around a day that started out not very good and put me in a much better mood. 

My list of awards still astounds me; that my work can win awards so consistently under so many different judges is well... amazing.  With this win, this year I have won awards in every show I have entered.

My Birds will be flying To Vermont!

I am excited to say that two of my works were selected for the 2010 Bennington Center for the Arts "Art of the Animal Kingdom" Exhibition that will open in June.  This is my first year entering this show, so I am delighted to have work selected.  I am planning on attending the opening and have never been to Vermont, so also looking forward to exploring the area and trying to find some local wildlife.

The two works that will be going are:

"Blue And Gold" (20"x14" - scratchboard and ink)

Mantling Golden Eagle (16"x19" - scratchboard)

I also recently submitted my work for the Society of Animal Artists show (it is their 50th anniversary), Birds In Art, and the Coors Western Art Show- keep your fingers crossed for me!  All three could be tough to get into this year!

Art Show At the Dog Show entries accepted

all four of my entries for Art Show at the Dog Show were juried in this year (a first for me).  They are the following images:

Photograph- "Soulful"

Photograph - "Flying High"

Scratchboard - "Moment of Reflection"

Scratchboard - "Charisma"