Volume 44 Issue 2

Next Meeting – February 13 At Tri Lakes Center for the Arts – social hour 9:30 a.m., business meeting at 10:00 followed by an hour and a half demo of encaustic painting (details below). Refreshments will be furnished by Margarete Seagraves and Marie Simpson.

On the Agenda Winter show update Summary of Board meeting Spring show

February Program

Encaustic Painting, an adventure in creativity! Encaustic is an ancient Egyptian art form achieved by heating colored wax and applying it to a special glossy paper. It results in very interesting but unpredictable effects that stir the imagination and stimulate your creativity. Our instructor, Lorraine Garbe, a member of Heritage Fine Art Guild, comes to us all the way from Connifer, Colorado. She is not only an encaustic painter, but a costume designer and previously owned and operated a costume store. The cost for the demo/class will be $5 per person, the cost for materials will be $6 per person. We will need a minimum of 15 people to run the workshop. PLEASE rsvp early via email or phone to Suzanne Jenne (sjenne@earthlink.net, (303) 681-0274) so that we may determine whether we have enough people for the workshop and for Lorraine to make the trip. Deadline for sign up is Friday, February 8. If you haven’t yet tried encaustic painting, you are missing out on a magical experience!

Winter Meetings The PLAG Board has decided to hold our February meeting at Tri Lakes Center for the Arts instead of our gallery. Given the parking difficulties when there is snow piled up on the sides of the road or a sea of mud when it melts, it seemed the best solution until the weather improves. Toward the end of February we will make a decision about the location of the March meeting.

Winter Show at TLCA Opens February 5, opening reception Saturday, Feb. 9, 5-8 p.m. Members who are exhibiting in the show are expected to bring refreshments. If you have not already volunteered to help, please contact Sue Jenkins or Jana Towery . And don’t forget to visit the Lucy Owens Gallery at TLCA to view an exhibit of John DeFrancesco’s beautiful paintings.

J Happy Birthday! ¯¯ Jan Cashman, February 2 Jan McGrath, February 26 (If your birthday isn’t mentioned, please let Mary Krucoff know and it will be added it to the list.)

Please welcome two new members to our group: Iola Pasquale Sharron Perotti

Board Meeting

On January 23^rd the PLAG Board met at Tri Lakes Center. A summary of items under discussion will be presented at the February meeting. The Board would like to get input from members at that time about the following:

· Should our Spring show have a theme? Suggestions?

· Possible grant money from the Tri Lakes Women’s Club. New easels were suggested. Others?

· Ideas for attracting new members.

· Making the gallery more usable for workshops, demos.

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Member News

Jan Cashman: I belong to Ikebana International. Our COS chapter has been invited to exhibit at Smokebrush Gallery March 7-9. Opening night is Friday, March 7 at 5:00. In addition, we are holding our March meeting and program at the TLCA at 12:30 on the 19th featuring a presentation by Naoko Kohlhepp titled Fans in Japanese Culture plus a flower exhibition by members. A fee of $5.00 will be charged to non-members. I had to work hard to convince many members that we in the Tri Lakes area do not live at the end of the world. I hope for good community attendance. There will also be a Sogetsu Demonstration by Midori Allmeyer on April 16 at 12:30 at the Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., COS. A non-member fee of $10.00 will be charged. (Jan is President of Ikebana International’s COS Chapter 95. Ikebana is Japanese flower arranging. For more information, visit their website at www.ikebanacos.itgo.com.

Margarete Seagraves: I am so excited about this new adventure of mine that I need to share it with the PLAG group. Also, I am certain that it is of interest to most artists and crafters who are interested in selling some of their items. Recently I ventured out into the www for selling my arts and craft. It is so exciting and fun and I want to share this with you. I signed up with ETSY, the arts and craft marketplace for selling all handmade items. Now I have a shop on Etsy and my shopname is Fiber Artsy. Have been busy putting paintings, handbags, hats, scarves, etc. on the website. You can see my shop and what it looks like at www.fiberArtsy.etsy.com. I found the Etsy website helpful and user friendly to get started with and am learning continuously how to improve my shop. If you are interested in selling your arts and/or crafts on the web, go to Etsy and read their info on selling.

David Futey: I submitted an article and photo to the OCN (Our Community News) for publication in the next edition. It will include basic information and historical background on PLAG and information about our Winter Show. Also, I had four photos selected for the State of the Union show at Smokebrush juried by Chuck Asay, John Hazlehurst and Blake Milteer. The show features artistic perspectives on current social issues with works submitted by local and regional artists. It opens Feb. 1 and runs through Feb. 25. There is an opening reception Feb. 1 from 5-8 p.m. The show is open weekdays 12-5.

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PLAG’s Website

Susan Arnold has done a wonderful job on our website and encourages members take advantage of the opportunity to display some of their work there. You may purchase one page on the website for your own artwork for $10 per year. Susan will set it up for you. She will need digital photos of your work plus misc. information. The website is (for now) available through Susan’s site, but will shortly be a stand-alone website. Please visit it at www.table-rock.com/plag.htm. Susan may be reached at susie@table-rock.com or phone (719) 495-9674.

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SOME WAYS ARTISTS MAKE MONEY

By John DeFrancesco

Some artists just enjoy their creative craft and don’t much care if they make money at it. For others, income is a necessity or a convenient way to cover the costs of their supplies.

The primary way most artists seek revenue is through the sale of their art work. But there are many ways to make money beyond that. One is to provide services to other artists. Ideally, the service you provide will be something you know well and enjoy doing. That way, your efforts will seem less like work and more like fun.

Following are a few examples of how some artists make money aside from selling their art:

n Providing What Artists Need – One artist discovered that the many baby boomers that live in her area prefer to create their own art rather than buy from other artists. In addition to holding classes for them, she put together a catalog of art materials, equipment and supplies. She uses it to take orders from students and other instructors.

n Teaching – This may seem obvious, but there are numerous avenues to pursue that are out of the ordinary. Opportunities for art instructors are available through community colleges, adult education centers and art centers. Unique ways to teach might include organizing plein air sessions or group painting trips to desirable locations.

n Marketing Services – Artists need promotional materials and services ranging from photography and brochures to publicity and advertising. One artist supplements her income by writing profiles of other artists and placing those in art publications.

n Internet Services -- An artist with computer skills and Internet savvy has made a side-business out of designing Web sites and helping artists establish a presence to sell on eBay.

n Framing – Many artists make their own frames, but some have cashed in by making frames for other artists.

The best way to make additional money is to identify a need and fill it by matching the service to what you enjoy doing.

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Reminder: contributions to the Newsletter are greatly appreciated. Also, please let me know about exhibits, sales, etc. Call or email: Mary Krucoff, (719) 488-8101 or emkaymonument@q.com. Deadline is the 25^th of the month. Also Please Note: if you haven’t received your newsletter by the 5^th of the month, please let me know. If you currently receive your newsletter via postal delivery and would be willing to switch to email delivery it would save us the cost of postage.