Take a Flyer....All the way to heaven

Dog Portrait Promotional Flyer

Click on image to enlarge the view.

Well, I'm trying to cover the bases and convey a couple of good thoughts today...though it is hard to try to move forward at the moment. My Dad passed away Tuesday morning and we are so sad to lose him. One of the things he asked for in his last few days was to see Bosley...he is the napping fellow on the lower left of the flyer. We took Bosley over to Dad's assisted living apt. on last Saturday so Dad could pet him once more. It was a tender scene and we are very glad we did that. When my Dad could still come to our house, Bosley would promptly hop up on the couch to sit by my Dad, so Dad could pet him. It made them both happy. I'm writing this for several reasons. First, my experience with our dogs has been so totally enriching and wonderful. Dogs give us so much joy and love. Today I am trying to think of our blessings and keep from crying over the loss of my Dad. We are missing him so much.

Another reason is to say something about cancer. It is such a hideous and ravaging thing and we can feel so futile in the fight against it. My Dad had prostate cancer and that is what killed him in the end. He also suffered through a melanoma several years ago and had surgery which saved his life then. My little contribution to our local cancer society is donating a pet portrait to their fund-raising auction this Saturday. So the first painting I will do after my Dad's death will be for the cause of helping to fight cancer.

The last reason I'm publishing this is to give other artists a possible idea for promoting their work. I have a program in my computer called Freehand which lets you import pictures and type copy without too much hassle. The picture importing is easy and there are selections of fonts to make your page look great! I have used this "flyer" to promote my work at various venues, leaving them with galleries, etc. Maybe this idea could work for other artists reading my blog.

That's it for now...
I'll be baaaackk......hopefully soon.
Thanks for your visit!

Two By Two

"Two by Two"
12X9
Oil on Linen Panel

Sold

We are very fortunate in my local area to have a wonderful, judged and juried, art show each year sponsored by our art guild and The Schiele Museum of Natural History. We have only two other shows, one a miniature show and the other an open show at the local community college. I have been very fortunate to have been chosen to exhibit at the Schiele Show, titled "A Natural View," for the past few years. This year's show is on exhibit right now through April 2nd. It is at this address: 1500 E. Garrison Blvd., Gastonia, NC. So, if you are in the area, you are welcome to stop by and take a look at the show.

This year my painting "Two by Two" was purchased by a patron who also purchased my "Christmas Dove" painting last year. I am thrilled and so happy that my art has found a good home to a collector who likes my work. And also grateful to have the opportunity to exhibit in such a respected museum that is known nationally as a special resource for its knowledge on natural history. I have especially loved this show for the theme of it. All entries must reflect the artist's view of the natural world...and that is something so fun to contemplate and try to paint.

A couple of things....
One is that I really loved this painting. It was fun to do and expresses the cheerful, sheer happiness of being a duck in the water! It's a great thing to be in one's element...and that is what I felt as I painted this one.

The other is that I am not huge at marketing. I think that is true of a lot of artists, but I am not one to go around flashing signs and bragging about my work. I think I rely on the viewer to come to their own conclusions. If they like it...GREAT! If they don't, well...I didn't succeed at appealing to that particular person. Mostly it is easier for me to keep my head down and just do my work. The goal is getting it out there where it can be seen by a lot of people. That's why I do this blog and my website, so I can share my work with as many people as I can. When I owned my stationery company, Wild Hare Post, Inc., I had a contingent of 50 sales reps whose job it was to go about selling my work to retail stores. I will never get over how good they were and how grateful I was for them to do that job. They did what I just could not do.....national marketing. My relationships with them is something I will always carry with me as a great thing. I still miss them.

Now it is up to me. I forget to tell people that you can buy prints and cards of my work at Fine Art America. Here is a link to the page: Cheryl's Profile at Fine Art America From there you can choose a painting for either a poster, paper, or canvas print, or greeting cards (one or a box), where you can choose blank or create your own greeting.

Of course you can always contact me for availability of certain paintings or commission me to do a painting just for you.

Thanks for stopping by....