Last week I did my first shift at the Kentucky Watercolor Society Gallery at Louisville's Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center. I successfully opened the door, adjusted the lights, reset the thermostat, talked to the few people who wandered in, reset the thermostat, adjusted the lights and locked the door!
It was a pretty uneventful first day, but exhibiting in a cooperative gallery has been pretty exciting overall. The deal is a $20 monthly rental for the half-space; plus, I work two five-hour shifts a month. KWS takes a 10 percent commission on paintings sold but nothing from the card sales.
A few weeks ago I traveled to Louisville with paintings and notecards in tow for my first Gallery Committee meeting. After chatting with some old friends and introducing myself to some new folks, I eagerly climbed the stepladder to hang my three paintings. After all, what could be more important than getting those paintings hung, right?
WRONG!
I now know that the No. 1 task at those meetings is to schedule my work shifts. While I was hanging those paintings, the calendar was filling up. By the time I got to the calendar, I had precious little to choose from, especially if you remove Wednesdays and Fridays, the days that I teach for IU and Ivy Tech. I'm hoping to get back-to-back days during the summer months, but for now I drive to Louisville, do my shift, visit my in-laws or niece and head back to Bloomington.
The "do my shift" part is a lot more fun than it sounds. Last week's "shift work" included some painting and art book reading in between customers. I compiled a whole list of future blog topics, so stay tuned.
It's spitting snow -- a hard pill to swallow after a week of temps the 70s! To fend off winter's return, I spent a while this afternoon looking for a nice mixed green evocative of that gentle greenish cast the woods take on this time of year and the crazy wild yellow of forsythia. The photography doesn't do the colors justice, so I'll add some commentary.
The best combos were:
- Winsor Blue (Red) + Winsor Yellow
- Winsor Yellow + Cerulean Blue
- New Gamboge + Cerulean Blue
All three were light, fresh and especially interesting when mixed on the paper instead of the palette.
New Gamboge also worked well with Winsor Blue (Red), but appeared weak when compared to the rich granulation that the Cerulean provided. (I never thought I'd label Winsor Blue "weak.")
I had no success with any combos including Quinacridone Gold, Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna. They all seemed too warm. Cobalt Blue with New Gamboge (the next to last sample in the picture) starts to skew warm but might work depending on the subject matter.
Please click on Post a Comment below and share your favorite mixed greens for spring.
Got a bad case of Spring Fever.
Friday Finds will return March 18.
