Massasoit Arts Festival 2012

Today, two of my paintings were exhibited along with about 70 others. I didn't win anything, but I did feel pretty good about how my work compared with the others on display. I agreed with the jury's decision for top honors. I did notice a higher than average number of people who stopped and looked at my iguana painting which I named 'Liz Odd'. It is different than most others. It's one of my best works so far.

I may enter next year. It was fun trying. I'd like to think my work will get better.

Early 'Alien Contact : Titan' Sales from UK

I'm happy to see that early sales of Book 3 are coming in from the UK. Bo, the Titan Mission's Astrobiologist, is the main character from the UK in the book. He's a likeable character. Very bright with a good sense of humor. He plays an important role at the end.

Alien Contact : Titan [Book 3] is Published!

I have uploaded the final edit of 'Alien Contact : Titan' to Smashwords and Amazon. Both are in review now. Smashwords is my distributor who will distribute the book to Apple, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo and others. An image of the book is on the right of the blog. It is priced, like my others, at $2.99.

Description....

Two Titan missions followed the successful manned exploration of Europa in 2135. The 'First Contact' there engendered great enthusiasm for more exploration and discovery. Several of the most advanced technology-rich nations followed with manned flights to worlds in the solar system where life might exist.

Both the Chinese and the joint US/UK missions found life on Titan. Or it found them.

Meanwhile on Earth, the world's top two superpowers, US and China, were close to an armed confrontation relating to claims made on the Republic of China, formerly known as Taiwan.

Captain Ray Haskins of the joint US/UK mission to the Saturn moon, Titan, was the father-in-law of the captain of the other Titan mission, one from China. Ray hadn't seen his only daughter in 10 years. His son-in-law was the reason why.

The setting has the makings of a chilly family reunion on Titan, almost 900 million miles from earth and 290 degree below zero...an unforgiving father-in-law, an insensitive son-in-law, and an unusual cast of alien life forms, one of which may bring about the end of the human species.

Book 3 is being edited....It's Finished...except for the editing (duh)

Yep, it's finished except for the editing. And the title. And the description I need for the retailers.

Retail Book Sales by Channel for 20012 So Far

I thought I'd report my retail sales of books by channel thus far for 2012:

Apple Bookstore - 46%
Amazon - 22%
Barnes & Noble - 25%
Kobo - 5%
Sony - 1%
Smashwords - 1%

For the first time, Barnes and Noble shows more sales than Amazon. I can't be sure if the time frames are equivalent for each since I receive Amazon's results directly and the rest are reported to me through Smashwords, my distributor. Still, it's a change. Apple continues to outsell them all. I keep the pricing the same across all channels, so that doesn't account for any of the difference.

Book 3 is Moving Along - Word Count is Past 20,000

I've been concentrating on painting lately, but writing has been on my mind. I got to a point in the plot where I wasn't fully satisfied with its direction. So, I've slept on it...and slept on it. Slowly, it began to gel and now I'm writing again. You can follow the words written in the 'Book 3 - Word Count' box down to the right on the blog. I've been able to keep up more than a 500 word a day pace. I don't expect this to be as long as the zombie book, but the conclusion should satisfy all or most.

I still don't have a title yet, but I've been working at that, too. It would be nice to call lit something other than 'Book 3'.

When Is the Painting Finished?

Until I started to paint, I didn't think this would be an issue. When you're satisfied that you've painted what you intended, then the painting is finished, right? Not really. From the beginning, I've found myself going back and touching up, fixing areas I wasn't satisfied with. Or adding detail I thought the painting needed. Or changing a shade or adding a tone. At any rate, it seemed that I'd never finish anything. Then I decided to sign the painting. That would finish it. Not really. I found myself going back and changing things after I signed it. I recently heard this is not that unusual. Picasso would not feel at all uneasy to change something on a signed painting even years later, even after he sold it.

There is a time when you wonder if you're finished. I usually wait for a few days, checking the painting out daily to see if it 'needs' something changed. At some point, I just sign it and that's usually the end of it. I've come to grips with the feeling that I won't be happy with each and every painting I do, even after going back day after day and making changes.

At one point early on when I sarted, I decided to take all the paintings I didn't feel comfortable showing to anyone and cut them up into two inch squares. I took these and made a collage which did give me some satisfaction with an image which was more pleasing than any of the ones I cut up.

Entering the Massasoit Arts Festival Juried Competition

I am entering the Massasoit Arts Festival juried competition in the acrylic painting category. I had to send in a CD with three images (1 for $10 entry fee or 3 for $24). There is a pre-judge filter to keep out the riff-raff, I guess. This is all new to me. If I get in, I'll be notified ahead of the May 20th event so that I can bring my framed paintings to the Canton MA campus. The prizes are money. I'm excited just to enter and try. I'm at a point where I feel I'm not at all embarrassed to exhibit my work. I know there are better painters, but the idea of competition feeds the competitive juices in me and helps to fuel the desire to be better. The paintings I entered included: 1) Eye Site (close up human eye); 2) Tracks of Pompeii's Past; and 3) Liz Odd (the iguana painting, not just the one of an eye, but the whole iguana). I'm placing prices of $200 on each.

Milton Museum of Art Annual Juried Competition

Tomorrow I am sending my entry into the above competition. This will be my first juried competition ever. I'm not sure what my expectations should be, although the requirements suggest a little more experience than I have (at least exhibiting experience). I am submitting an Artist Bio, Artist Statement, an Exhibit Resume along with the Submission Form and images of four of my paintings. The entry fee is $30. The First Place winner will have his own exhibition in the Sep/Oct 2012 timeframe. Six Runners Up will be able to participate in one of two joint exhibits; one in Jul/Aug, the other in Nov/Dec timeframe. All of the exhibits will be publicized.

Artist Statement

I am strongly considering entering a juried competition in which I send in images to be judged. The process also calls for an Artist Bio and an Artist Statement. I knew what a Bio is (duh), but truly had not heard about Artist Statements. So, I did a little research and took some notes and fashioned one. Wikipedia, by the way, defines Artist Statement as follows, "An artist's statement (or artist statement) is a brief verbal representation (didactic, descriptive, or reflective in nature) created by the artist about his or her own work.

This will be mine. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am still discovering what I like best to paint. My artwork has been evolving since I began three winters ago. Acrylics on canvas is the usual, although my best work so far is on illustration board. I started with landscapes, but am now venturing into portraits, still lifes, folk art and hard-to-categorize subjects to challenge myself. While I wonder what would be commercially successful, I continue to paint only subjects which interest me. I have come to appreciate, and look forward to, the occasional, but inevitable 'fixes', i.e. the corrections, reformulations of color and shading as a way of learning and further evolving my work. Most of my varied collection of brushes have found a way to be used, and I discovered sponges and toothbrushes to be useful and interesting additions to my tools. I paint almost exclusively from a photograph of the subject, especially since my work is limited to the five or six coldest months of the year. I generally work from the back to the front and make adjustments along the way. The right type of pattern interests me, whether it's a row of houses, a wet stone roadway in Pompeii, a reptile's eye, an iguana, or a bloodshot human eye. Each of these has resulted in some of my best work so far.

Never having taken a painting lesson except what I've seen on YouTube, I have made improvement as my top priority. I am able to see my own progress and that is exciting. 

The Fall River-Taunton Art Associations Joint Exhibit is Coming to an End

I was considering entering the juried competition at the Greater Fall River Art Association (GFRAA) later this month. However, it's themed, i.e. Springtime, and I don't have the paintings I think are worthy for such a theme. I've looked around and I am considering entering another competition. It's local but the entry can be made digitally. They don't want the work itself, just the .jpg file in a specific size and quality. I'll have to make a decision pretty soon.

A Couple New Paintings - Work on Book 3 Moving Along

I've included to the right a couple new paintings, both with trees as the subject.

Also, I picked up the pace a little on Book 3, adding some more tension (and potential tension) between Captain Haskins of the US/UK Titan mission and Captain Aiguo of the Chinese mission. As you probably don't know, Haskins' only daughter married Aiguo when he attended college in the US and left. Haskins has not seen nor heard from his daughter in over ten years. Makes him a little cranky when having to deal with Aiguo whom he blames.

My Paintings Made the Newspapers! (Fall River Herald News and Taunton Gazette)

Go to the following link for a story about the exhibit I mentioned in my last post.

http://www.heraldnews.com/newsnow/x1231828090/Fall-River-and-Taunton-artists-featured-in-Creative-Connections

Two of my paintings were printed in the paper, one I call 'Houses, Mon!' and the other 'Reptile Eye'. Links to these are here...

http://www.heraldnews.com/photos/x738243962/Photo-gallery-Taunton-Fall-River-art-groups-joint-show

The Paintings I am Exhibiting are Posted to the Right

For those interested and those not...I have provided four of my paintings to the Greater Fall River Art Association for exhibit beginning next week. The images are posted to the right, labelled Exhibits 1 through 4. My first time.

The Number of Page Views is About to Top 3000! You May Be the One to Do It!

If so, thank you.

Painting...
I am about to expose my artwork to the public in person. Members of the Taunton Art Association will be exhibiting their work at the Greater Fall River Art Association (GFRAA) from 3/24 to 4/15. I've chosen to participate. It's not juried, but it will give my work a chance to be seen in a place other than this blog (and only in digital form). I'm excited to see how my work compares. It will give me something to strive for. Shortly after that, sometime in April, the GFRAA will host a juried exhibit. I'll be submitting three of my better works (fee of $25) and see how they do in competition.

I changed a little of the human eye painting which is shown on this blog. You may not have noticed. The eyebrows and eye redness needed a little modification. All set now. Let's all hope we don't have eyes like that.

Book...
I've slowed down a little on the new book, but intend to pick it up a little soon. I have most of the story. It's a matter of putting down the words.