Volume 44 Issue 3

Next Meeting – March 12 We will meet again at Tri Lakes Center for the Arts – social hour 9:30 a.m., business meeting at 10:00 followed by an acrylic painting demo (details below). Refreshments will be furnished by Susie Rieple and Suzanne Jenne.

On the Agenda Winter show wrapup Looking ahead to Spring show Membership/gallery usage Nominating Committee

March Program

Come join us for an acrylic paint demo with Tom Woody of the DaVinci Paint Company. You’ll have a chance to learn more about DaVinci paint and Tom will be giving away valuable coupons. DaVinci is manufactured here in the U.S. (in California) and has remarkable lightfast qualities as well as creamy consistency. Don’t miss it!

Upcoming Workshops

March 15 – Laura Richardson’s Tiling Workshop from 10:00 to 3:00. Laura was a hit at last October’s PLAG demo. Come and learn how to tile a backsplash at Vaile Gallery from a tiling master! It’s free and you can get involved in a worthwhile project!

April 26 – Silk Painting Workshop from 10:00 to 3:00 Yelena Sidorov, a Russian silk painter, will teach you how to paint a scarf or a painting on silk using the serta method, a French technique. She’s a terrific teacher with a passion for silk painting. Yelena is here from the east coast for a limited time only and you don’t want to miss this class or you’ll have to wait until next year for the opportunity!

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PLAG’s Website

Our website is now up and running at www.palmerlakeartgroup.com. Be sure to take a look and then take advantage of the opportunity to purchase one page on the website to display your own artwork for $10 per year. Susie Arnold will set it up for you. She will need digital photos of your work plus misc. information. Susie may be reached at susie@table-rock.com or phone (719) 495-9674.

Member News

David Futey announces that the call for entry for the art event regarding homeless issues is now available at www.smokebrush.org and printed copies will be available at our meeting March 12. Dave spoke about this at our January meeting. He became interested in homelessness while living in California and saw the shopping carts used by people to carry their life’s possessions as symbols of the homeless life. Dave began taking and collecting photographs of these carts, then pitching his idea for an event highlighting the issues surrounding homelessness. After a couple of months of discussion and refinements, Smokebrush Foundation for the Arts in Colorado Springs has agreed to endorse the project. PLAG members can assist this project by (1) consider entering a piece following the guidelines in the call for entries. This is a juried show. (2) Please pass on the call for entries to any artist you know who might be interested in participating. (3) Your art work may be for sale and fund raisers/donations sought for local organizations that assist the homeless. Dave: “Thank you for considering this opportunity to address a national and worldwide issue and helping me develop an idea into a reality.”

From Suzanne Jenne: The Artist’s Way. Dramatically increase artistic confidence and creative expression! Become more productive. Proven 3-month program uses empowering activities and exercises to show you how to tap into your higher creative energies. Recover your creativity from a variety of blocks including excessive self-criticism, jealousy, perfectionism, self-sabotage and other inhibiting forces, replacing them with enthusiasm and spirituality. Inspiring sessions spur the imagination and capture new ideas! For creative and “non-creative” people in all walks of life. Monday nights – 12 weeks. Call Suzanne for details: 303-681-0274.

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Robert Burridge Painting Workshops in Larkspur, Colorado!

On Monday, May 19 through Saturday May 24, 2008, Robert Burridge, internationally acclaimed painter, author and teacher returns to teach art workshops in Larkspur, CO. His workshops in 2007 were a sell out! The first workshop, “Abstract Acrylic Painting and Collage” will be a 5-day workshop from May 19-23 and will focus on abstract and collage techniques using aqua media. On Saturday, May 24, Bob and his manager, Kate Burridge, will also present a 1-day “Art Marketing” Workshop. In this workshop you’ll learn Bob’s successful method for getting into (and winning) more shows, as well as a foolproof method for photographing your work, how to best approach galleries to represent you, and how to deal with copyright and licensing issues.

The cost of the 5-day workshop “Abstract Acrylic Painting and Collage” (May 19-23) is $550 with a $165 deposit required (refundable up to 30 days before the workshop). Special payment plans are available for this workshop this year. The cost of the one-day “Art Marketing Workshop” is $80 (May 24) with a $30 deposit required (refundable up to 30 days before the workshop).

Please mail your deposit to Suzanne Jenne at P.O. Box 557, Larkspur, CO 80118. You may also email Suzanne at sjenne@suzannejenne.com or call (303) 681-0274 for more information about the workshops or lodging. You are invited to peruse Bob’s website at www.robertburridge.com to get more information about the workshop, his background and his paintings.

Suzanne Jenne will chair the Spring Fine Art Show at TLCA with Margarete Seagraves as co-chair and Bonnie Wendelburg as Food Manager for the reception. The show will run from June 3-27. Delivery of artwork May 31, pick-up on June 28. The reception will be held Saturday, June 7 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Entry forms for the show will be mailed with the April newsletter.

J Happy Birthday! ¯¯ Joy Baldwin, March 25 Mary Krucoff, March 28 (If your birthday isn’t mentioned, please let Mary Krucoff know and it will be added it to the list.)

Please welcome our new member: Linda Pavian Roberts And returning member: Cydney Spreier

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KEEP IT FRESH

By John DeFrancesco

As artists, we want to sell what we create for a variety of reasons: to make money, to build a reputation and a following, to increase our base of collectors, or to reduce the inventory we must store if we don’t sell it.

Unfortunately, not all art sells, at least not immediately. When it doesn’t sell, the question becomes: what shall we do with it? To continue to display the same works again and again over long periods of time may affect your image among collectors. When people see the same works, they might wonder why it hasn’t sold. Is the piece flawed, unappealing, wrongly priced? Is the artist not good, popular or worth collecting?

People quickly tire of the old, the “stale.” It’s important to keep your offerings fresh. Product marketers understand this principle very well. Auto makers introduce new models every year. Electronics hardware and software firms continually develop new formats and applications. Grocery chains update the layouts of their stores, catering to the demand for fresh produce, meats, and deli products.

Artists can adopt some of the tactics used by these experienced marketers. Here are some ways:

n Make New – Keep creating new work to enter into exhibits. Avoid the temptation to show the same work show after show. At the beginning of each year, make a list of all the shows you plan to enter and then set out to create pieces specifically for each show.

n Go to New Markets – One way to continue to market “old” art works is to move it around to new locales. Enter shows in cities or states far enough away from where you normally exhibit so that different prospects will see the work.

n Try New Venues – Shows aren’t the only place to exhibit. There are obvious outlets such as galleries and retail outlets, such as gift shops and home accessory stores. And there are the new-wave opportunities such as the Internet.

n Limit Local Exposure – Some artists try to place their work in every possible store in a town. That kind of overexposure can result in a reputation as a production artist (which is fine if that’s how you want to be perceived). A better approach would be to develop exclusives with local galleries or stores. For example, place one style, theme or size with one outlet and something completely different with another.

n Continually Change Offerings – This may be one of the most important merchandising methods. Establish a schedule, say every six to eight weeks, and change the offerings you have in a retail outlet. Also, consult with the owners of galleries in which you exhibit to determine a frequency for turnover of your art.

Applying these ideas will keep your offerings fresh and interesting and should help to attract greater numbers of people who will be interested in your art.

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Please Note: If you would like to have an official PLAG member name tag, please contact us, info on the home page.

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.