Here I am at the reception last night standing next to my portrait of the Mayor of Bellaire. The Houston Civic Arts Association hosted a reception and auction of 12 portraits of the mayor, these are portraits we did from life back in January and February.
Here is the mayor next to my painting of her. I am very happy that someone did bid on my painting and it will be given as a gift to the mayor!
The gallery space at HCAA looked great and all the portraits framed looked so nice hanging on the walls. Four portraits were bid on so that’s a nice little sum raised for HCAA.Oh, this is exciting: my painting was used on the cover (yes, the cover!) of the local Bellaire weekly paper. I haven’t seen it yet, but you can bet when I get my hands on it I’ll take a photo and put it here on my blog.
This was a good experience, I especially enjoyed painting the mayor, she is a lovely person and it was a priveledge to be in her prescence for three evenings of painting. But I’m not sure I’ll do it again. I am feeling like I need to spend more time on painting, working on a collection to present to a gallery, and not so much on small local shows where next to nothing sells! Those little shows, and other opportunities to show my work, all sound so good, but in reality as I look back over the last few “events” that I’ve participated in, I’m discovering that they take up a lot of time and don’t advance my “career” at all. Live and learn.
Congratulations on your portrait being chosen for the front page of the newspaper! You deserve this wonderful recognition.
Joan, First of all, congratulations on the bid! That is fantastic! And the cover!!! Yes can’t wait to see it here on your blog. So happy for you.
I would be really interested to read more of your shift in thinking about moving away from the small shows…I often wonder what’s the best use of our limited time as far as marketing. Let us know what you’re thinking.
CONGRATULATIONS….
Well deserved “auguri”…
No wonder it was bid upon… It was a really lovely portrait and I’ll bet she liked it as well..
You know those local shows may not sell much but they do add to your career in that they give you confidence, exposure and a venue to show your work which you may not have had previously. Maybe it is time to move on, but hooray for you for your place in your journey…. Stop for a minute and bask in the pleasure of being you!!
Congratulations on creating such a nice portrait and the sale. Looks like a really great show!
Congratulations Joan – it’s really hard to know where and how to best invest our energies – and it will be different for everyone, so trust your gut!!! The mayor will be so happy to have this portrait!