Beautiful Ontario- The book

Great news everybody!
Beautiful Ontario the photography exhibition is now available in book form from lulu.
So if you liked the show, and you'd like to own it all, now you can!

Great Success!

We're up!We had a great launch party last night.
So many friendly smiling faces, and so much support.
The install was insanely stressful and a lot of really hard work (for Andrew) but seeing it all there put together I know it was all worth it. (Andrew agrees). My full exhibition is now available for viewing online in the gallery section of our website (link on the right.) Check it out and let me know what you think.I'll post pictures from the party if any come my way. I didn't bring my camera because I knew I wouldn't be able to host and take good pictures at the same time.
Here is a bad photo from my cell phone of my wall!

Mistakes you can make while framing....

Not that I or anyone I know have made any of these mistakes or anything
*ahem*

Mistake #1 Putting your photo in the frame, putting the mat down, attaching the hooks to the backing, stringing the wire, putting the backing in, fastening the clips, screwing the backing into place, turning the frame around and noticing that the glass is not clean and there are little specks on your photo.

Mistake #2 Putting your photo in the frame, putting the mat down, attaching the hooks to the backing, stringing the wire, putting the backing in, fastening the clips, screwing the backing into place, turning the frame around and noticing that you actually strung the wire at the bottom of the frame instead of the top. D’oh!

Mistake #3 Going to unscrew the backing and realizing that you have completely stripped the screws when you put them in.

Mistake #4 Cleaning the inside of the glass of the frame, putting the picture down with the mat, checking it (see #1 & #2) finding a speck, taking everything out again and cleaning the glass again, putting it all back in, finding the specks still there, repeating and repeating until you figure out the speck is on the mat and not the glass.

Mistake #5 Misplacing one of your highly specialized tools and deciding that your finger nails will work just as well, breaking your fingernail in half, thinking “wow, won’t try that again”, putting everything together and checking it (see #1, #2, & #3) only to find the broken half of your finger nail under the mat. Ewwwwwww!

Mistake #6 Getting distracted while you are framing and going away half way through, then coming back after some time, thinking everything is put together then picking the frame up and having everything fall out because you didn’t actually screw the screws in.

Mistake #7 Dropping all the small screws on the ground and then wondering if you really need all the screws that came with it (You really, really do.)

Mistake #8 Calling out the wrong name in bed (Oh wait, that might actually belong on another top ten list…..)

Mistake # 9 Framing until the wee hours of the morning when you are so tired that you do not realize that you are making all the above mistakes repeatedly.

Mistake # 10 Greatly under estimating how long it will take you to frame all that stuff and procrastinating so that it’s all left until the last minute so that you are forced to stay up until the wee hours of the morning framing.

Status update: All ready to go! WOOOOOOO!

Because everyone likes free stuff.....

In keeping with tradition I will be "raffling" one of my photographs at our opening on Tuesday night. So when guests arrive at Insomnia to celebrate the opening of our Exhibition they will receive a ticket (free of course) just for showing up! At some random point in the evening (ie, whenever I fell like it) I will draw a number, and the person who has the ticket with that number on it will receive an 8x10 photograph of mine in a snazzy frame and everything.
This is one of my favorite things about launching our shows, looking over all the expectant faces as I read the number while everyone holds their breath, hoping they will be the lucky one. I remember the first year, the winner actually squealed with joy and started jumping up and down. Ah, good times, good times. (So if you happen to come, and happen to win, this is how I expect you to react ;)
Anyhoo, here's the photo I'll be raffling,
It's titled "Holding On" Taken in Niagara Falls Ont. 2009

Venue

I just came across a review of the venue where my photography exhibition will be this October, so if you are wondering about insomnia, hear about how great it is from someone who isn't me ;)

ART SHOW!!!

Man these things can really sneak up on you!
I can't believe we are installing in only a couple of weeks. I have updated the news section of our website with my artist statement for this show. I must say I'm getting really excited. It goes without saying that I hope this year is successful.
Wish me luck!

I've reached my decision regarding the art show.

I'm going to go with photography this year. In fact, I'm completely ready to go! Have prints, frames and everything! I have decided to go with really f'en big, so they will be 16x20
I find it really difficult to paint "on demand" and to do enough painting to form a "collection" so I'm choosing the low stress option. That doesn't mean I'm not still painting, I am (sort of) but instead of painting with a purpose, I'm painting for sheer pleasure (much more fun) and perhaps I'll show paintings next year....


Here is my favorite photo that will be included in the show.



Taken in Niagara Falls Ontario March 2009

Sorry for the nasty logo and web address on the photo but since I'm actually trying to sell this I don't want it popping up anywhere!
Actually I've already given a print of this to someone as a birthday present.

Yet another delima....

Okay, so as you may or may not know, I have an art show coming up. It's not for a while so I have some time to prepare, but first I must decide what to prepare.
I'm taking the smallest section of the place (front wall) and I'm tempted to do strictly photography this time around.
Photography looks really nice in the front section, but, is it worth it? The price of prints of a larger than standard size is pretty high, and framing cost for said prints are even higher. 8x10 prints and frames are more reasonable but how high a price point is reasonable for an 8x10 print? In the first show I charged $50 (included a frame and mat) and I sold a reasonable amount of them, but, didn't make a huge profit.
I could do strictly 8x10 prints at a higher price point, say $75, and that would make it more worth while, as I could display a lot of them. (although it could be I only sold so many at the first show because of the great price point) I could do less quantity of a large size, hoping that they will sell and potentially lose the cost of printing and framing (not to mention then being stuck with large photos that will make me angry whenever I see them because they cost so much to produce and didn't sell). Or, I could do a mix of the two, say maybe three large ones and the rest small. And still hope the large ones sell at that price point (undecided as of yet) while having the small ones there that are more likely to sell (because they are cheaper and it's close to Christmas) But then how could I decide which ones to make big? Also can I really justify the initial investment? I'm very confused and conflicted.
There's also the other choice, displaying painting, but the truth is I have only done one painting since the last show, it's not finished yet, and it's not really thrilling. All the good stuff from my last show has been put up around the house and by this point I don't really want to part with it.
So What to do? What to do?
Any thoughts or advice anyone has would be appreciated.....