Playing with Colors

So the last couple of weeks I’ve been fighting a cold that turned into a sinus infection and haven’t gotten much done. I’ve dabbled here and there and finally got around to finishing a number of pieces I’ve been experimenting with.

The idea behind these pieces is based on my word for the year “Failure”. The idea here is that I need to be willing to embrace the chance of failure to push through into new areas I might not be otherwise willing to try out. So on and off you will see pieces that might or might not speak to you as I try to expand my approaches to my art.

As anyone can tell looking at my work, I love to work with bright vivid colors. I tend to express myself as much if not more so in the color choices and mixtures as I do with the subject itself. So it seems natural to play around just with the colors themselves to see how I can express myself differently. Below are some of my recent results of that experimentation.

Starting over was a surprise for me. I started with a variety of colors and got a little too aggressive as I muddied the combination into a dark mess. I then decided to start over and scraped it off using a business card only to discover the remaining colors that held on to the canvas.

The other thing I’m focused on is starting up my new web site. I have the basic structure in place and this will be my first post in the new website’s location. Moving from janoba.net to janobastudios.com will allow me more consistent naming across accounts and gives me a more commercial site to start my store.

I’m in the process of taking new pictures of all the art that I will have for sale on the site. It’s a lot more work than I realized it would be, but if I get it all set up I should have over a 100 pieces available on the site! Tackling getting my tax id and figuring out how to get shipping costs set and I should be good to launch the site.

Lastly, I’ve been accepted to my first juried art festival! If you aren’t familiar with the process (I’m just learning this myself) – a lot of the art festivals will require that you send them photos of your booth setup and some examples of your art. Those then get reviewed by the jurors who decide who to invite to be a part of the festival.

My goal this year is to apply for at least 10 festivals and see where that lands me. My intent is to go as an attendee to those I’m not chosen for so that I get as much exposure as I can to get up to speed on how things are done at the festivals. I have a lot to learn and hope to meet a lot of good people there.

Festivals I have confirmed:

May 18th – My first official art festival will at a local winery in Woodstock, CT (https://www.taylorbrookewinery.com/) – I don’t expect a lot of people as it is their first year, but it will be good practice for me. This one wasn’t juried, but is nice and close and should be a good way to kick things off for me.

May 25th – 26th – My first juried art festival! I’ll be at the Virtu Art Festival in Westerly, RI on Memorial Day Weekend! (https://www.oceanchamber.org/events/details/28th-annual-virtu-art-festival-36870)

Festivals I was rejected from, but plan on attending to learn more:

June 8th – 9th – 37th annual Celebrate! West Hartford Arts & Crafts Show! in West Hartford, CT https://www.westhartfordct.gov/town-departments/leisure-services/celebrate-west-hartford/arts-crafts-show

Festivals I have applied to or will be applying to:

June 2nd – 23rd – 2nd ANNUAL PUTNAM FINE ARTS & CRAFTS FESTIVAL in Putnam, CT on https://www.putnamctartscouncil.com/art-festival

July 13th – 14th – Wickford Art Festival https://wickfordart.org/wickford-art-festival/ (This one I expect to be rejected from as it is a bigger show in Rhode Island, but I definitely want to attend to see if I like the vibe of a bigger show

August 10th – 11th – Mystic Outdoor Art Festival – https://thisismystic.com/to-do/festivals-annual-events/mystic-outdoor-art-festival/# – Another big one that I’ve heard good and bad about it, but the location is nice and not too far away.

Sept 7th – 8th – Boston Arts Festival https://thebostonartsfestival.com/ – I will probably just be attending this one. It’s a little intimidating especially considering the challenge in unloading and then parking. I want to be pretty seasoned before I try something like it. I will definitely be stopping by to talk to folks though.

October 19th – 20th – Roseland Cottage Fine Arts and Crafts Festival https://www.facebook.com/RoselandCottageFineArtsAndCraftsFestival/ I hope to get into this one as it is close by. I’ll certainly be there either way

Beyond those I’ll be checking out some of the smaller craft and art shows just to give a few of those a try as well. I’m already getting close to my goal for the year – feels weird since I haven’t made it to a single show yet. I’m looking forward to some great experience this year along with the chance to meet up with a lot of fellow artists and art lovers.