If you are an art enthusiast in Seattle, you must head down to La Conner, the quaint little town in Skagit Valley, WA on November 5th! La Conner Seaside Gallery, home to two of scarletcanvas' featured artists, Mark Bistranin and Mark Conley, is having their Grand Anniversary Art Show.

The gallery features the work of Mark Bistranin, Steve Weldon, Melissa Ballenger, Mark Conley and Dave Nichols.
Gallery Website: www.laconnerseasidegallery.com
Gallery Phone: (360) 202-2956
Gallery Address: 101 N. 1st Street, La Conner, WA 98257

On July 29th, in the afternoon, I decided to stroll down a couple of blocks to view the BAM artsfair. I wanted to spend a couple of hours wandering through the art on display and talking to artists. I planned on talking to the artists about scarletcanvas and the focus was to find some great work to feature on this site. And of course I wanted to capture some precious moments to feature in this blog! But what I was not prepared for was the sheer size of this art festival. I have been to other art festivals in Oregon and California but never before have I seen one this huge. Featuring over 300 independent artists from across the United States and an amazing line-up of free community activities, this artsfair was completely WOW!

A little background into BAM artsfair:
This year, in 2011, BAM artsfair celebrates its 65th anniversary. The first one was held in 1947 in a small upstart shopping center called Bellevue Square. Nearly 30,000 people turned up to see this artsfair that featured 70 regional artists.

By 1961 Bellevue was a blooming town and 1975 saw the birth of the Bellevue Arts Museum. The Museum today serves 360,000 people through all of its exhibitions, programs and the annual BAM artsfair. 

If you missed BAM artsfair this year (I didn't know of this last year when I moved to Seattle!), save the dates for 2012: July 27, 28 & 29, 2012. If you love art, you'll spend 3 of your best days of the year @ BAM artsfair.

Pointillism, just as it sounds, is a style of art using only dots. French Artist Georges Seurat (2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891), was the founder of this movement in the 1880s.

The technique behind

When viewed from a distance the eye blends the dots, in a process called optical bending. Even though no orange paint was used, red and yellow create the effect.

The emerging picture
Seurat set up the ten-foot canvas in his small studio in the Boulevard de Clichy. Working from a step-ladder he painted over a speckled base, and patiently built up small areas of the picture at a time. The blobs of color on his palette were laid out in the exact order of the spectrum. Seurat began as a more traditional painter and later developed Pointillism. 
 
Scientific background and influences
During the 19th century, scientist-writers such as Michel Eugène Chevreul, Ogden Rood and David Sutter wrote treatises on color, optical effects and perception. They were able to translate the scientific research of Helmholtz and Newton into a written form that was understandable by non-scientists. Chevreul was perhaps the most important influence on artists at the time; his great contribution was producing a color wheel of primary and intermediary hues.

Chevreul was a French chemist who restored old tapestries. During his restorations of tapestries he noticed that the only way to restore a section properly was to take into account the influence of the colors around the missing wool; he could not produce the right hue unless he recognized the surrounding dyes. Chevreul discovered that two colors juxtaposed, slightly overlapping or very close together, would have the effect of another color when seen from a distance. The discovery of this phenomenon became the basis for the Pointillist technique of the Neoimpressionist painters.

His Works 
Pointillism, required so much patience, his most famous piece took two years!

Seurat made over 3 million dots in this piece (3,456,000 dots one at a time!). In the summer of 1884 Seurat began to work on this masterpiece of his, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 
 
Later he moved from the Boulevard de Clichy to a quieter studio nearby, where he lived secretly with a young model, Madeleine Knobloch, whom he portrayed in his painting "Jeune femme se poudrant."

In February 1890 she gave birth to his son, who was given the first name of Pierre Georges. It was not until two days before Seurat's death that he introduced his young family to his parents. Seurat died in Paris on 29 March 1891 at the young age of 31 only. The cause of Seurat's death is uncertain, and has been attributed to a form of meningitis, pneumonia, infectious angina, and/or (most probably) diphtheria. His son died two weeks later from the same disease. His last ambitious work, The Circus, was left unfinished at the time of his death.

During past months, I've been doing a bit of research by asking collectors where and how they most enjoy buying artwork. Additionally, I've been casually interviewing professional artists - asking them how their sales are going and where they're selling the most art.

A few trends have emerged, and in a few sentences, I'll share these with you. Since I'm not an art marketing consultant, but rather a professional artist and arts writer, I have no conflict of interest in sharing information that I know is true - whether the current trends are looking bad or good. My only goal is to help artists understand what's happening with art sales and perhaps help them take advantage of art market trends. Yes, the way art is sold and bought has changed significantly in the last 5 years.

Ten years ago, I wrote the chapter on artist websites for Calvin Goodman's Art Marketing Handbook. At the time, few - if any, artists were selling online. Today, artists are selling online from their websites, blogs and even Ebay. Brick and mortar galleries are handling a great deal of sales online, as well. Collectors are buying more and more artwork without having seen it "in real life". Even auctions take bids online or by phone these days. American Art Collector Magazine has a section near the back of each issue showing which paintings were bought, sight unseen, over the phone - solely from gallery advertisements before the show's opening.

OK, now I'll share what I've been hearing from collectors. Some of these collectors are what I think of as lifetime collectors. None of them are multi-millionaires (that I know of), but they consider building a significant art collection one of the joys of their lives. When I asked each how they prefer to acquire new work, they first mentioned museum invitational art events... one time shows where the paintings hang for a month or so and then are returned to the artists. They enjoy attending these shows where they meet the artists and visit with fellow collectors. The only complaint is that many of the paintings are sold by draw - which means names are pulled out of a box - and collectors often "lose-out" when the painting they really wanted goes to the name that was picked.

The great thing about these types of events/shows is that the non-profit museum often takes as little as 25% on the sale. The downside is that it's difficult for artists to get invitations to these events. The list of artists on the roster is what gets the avid collectors to travel to them. 

Many art buyers want to meet and get to know the artist, and furthermore, they are interested in knowing why the artist painted the work they would like to purchase. Collectors truly want to know the stories behind their collected treasures. With the internet, these folks can easily get in touch with artists, and sometimes arrange for a studio visit. One collector said he prefers to buy from the artist in the quiet of the studio - even though full retail price is paid. That way he is assurred to get the work he wants without competition from other buyers.

As artists' galleries close, they are left with no recourse but to sell on their own. Many I've interviewed are just waiting for the economy to improve so that gallery sales pick up. However, just like the housing market - art collectors are not in a buying frenzy like they have been in recent years. Some collectors are wanting to "cash-in" on their investment and are selling their acquisitions at the same galleries where these artists are selling new works. Unfortunately, for all involved, these collectors are finding it difficult to re-sell work.

So, where's the good news? Gallery district rents are dropping as they deal with empty space, artists are looking for new venues and getting creative in their marketing efforts, and collectors are saving their purchases for the best art they can afford. Artists are forced to improve on both the quality of their work and and at the same time, get that work in front of art buyers. Instead of paying the traditional 50% commission to a gallery, some artists are doing their own advertising and hiring an administrator to handle sales from their websites. Of course, I'm talking about wildly successful artists who already have the money to invest in magazine ads and a staff.

So that's great for all those big named artists, but what about the middle ones, like us... like me? Here's more good news. If we create a cohesive body of work that rocks and set aside some money to get our work in front of collectors, we no longer need a gallery. It makes me sad to see so many artists vying for gallery representation, when most of the artists I know who are working with galleries are not selling any work from them (at this time). Right now, galleries are not the panacea that artists imagine.

I'm all for galleries that do a great job of representing their artists, have fair contracts, and actually sell the work that's consigned to them. I've worked with many galleries through the years, but I've also sold my work on my own.  I do understand how awesome it is to say I work with "so and so - bigtime gallery", but in the end... I've sold more work on my own than any gallery has for me. I like keeping that extra 50% commission and I enjoy the relationships I have with my collectors. It's really not all that difficult to sell art - even for shy artists; just takes a bit of know-how and practice.  Recently, I wrote a post on how artists can sell each other's work -- why not? Other artists who don't want to work direcly with collectors might consider hiring a friend, or even a collector who has great administration skills. Hiring someone with writing skills would also be a plus. Either pay them by the hour or else give them a 20% commission on sales. 

Some artists are selling better than ever at plein air festivals right now. When the economy drops, plein air paintings sell better. The collectors buy smaller, less expensive works and, as a plus, get to meet with and eat with the artists. Another option I'm checking into right now is setting up my art booth at local farmers' markets in wealthy towns. Last week, I got in touch with an artist who has been selling her work this way. You know, if a group of farmers can get together and sell their goods on the village green once a week, what's to stop several artists from getting together every Wednesday afternoon throughout the summer months to hold a regular art show? Do we really need gatekeepers to organize events?

With all this said, if you are working with a gallery successfully, there's no reason to leave. As my tennis teacher used to say, "If you're winning, don't change a thing; if you're loosing, try something different until the tides turn."

So let me leave you with this question: if artists who are working with galleries are not selling much work, and those galleries are not taking on new artists, then why would an artist spend hours building a portfolio to submit to galleries (at this time)? Why not get started selling on your own for far less money and much more profit? Forget the ego thing... being in a top gallery might make you feel good, but it won't necessarily bring you income right now.

Let's talk Math today! Remember the Fibonacci sequence  (1, 1 , 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89....) from high school? What you then thought was a mathematical conundrum and was in the curriculum just to make your life miserable, is in reality, a phenomenon that occurs throughout the world of
nature, art, music and mathematics.

To refresh our memory here, each term in the series is produced by adding together the two previous terms so that 1+1 = 2, 1+2 = 3, 2+3 = 5 and so on. The sequence takes its name from a famous thirteenth-century  European mathematician, Leonard of Pisa, also known as Fibonacci.

So what has this got to do with art?
The ratio between successive Fibonacci numbers approximates an important constant called "the golden mean," which is approximately 1.61803. A  rectangle whose sides are in the proportion 1 : 1.61803 is supposed to be the most aesthetically perfect rectangle (the "golden rectangle"). The dimensions of the aesthetically pleasing products from apple, the iPod and iPhone are a close approximation of the golden rectangle. This adds to the visual appeal of the product. One of the most recognized building in the world, the ancient Parthenon in Athens too adopts this mathematical ratio. Check out the rectangles I've created to highlight the golden ratios in this architectural marvel!

Many artists have exploited the golden ratio to create visually appealing art work. Leonardo Da Vinci called the golden ratio, "divine proportion" and featured it in many of his paintings. I spent most part of the day doing research into Da Vinci's paintings and superimposed some of his greatest works into the golden rectangles I created.

Let us start off with the most famous painting in the world, Mona Lisa, by Da Vinci. There are multiple ways to draw golden rectangles in this painting. I chose to frame the face in a golden rectangle and using Mona Lisa's eyes as a divider went about splitting the golden rectangles into smaller golden rectangles. See how each of the facial features aligns with the golden proportions.

The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned painting by Da Vinci based on the correlations of the ideal human proportions as described by the ancient Roman architect, Vitruvius. Another painting by Da Vinci where there are multiple golden rectangles. I have highlighted three here dividing the body into head, torso and legs. Look at the classic positioning in each of the golden rectangle!

Here is another of Da Vinci's creations - Saint Jerome, the great scholar, sitting with a lion at his feet. This is an unfinished canvas. A golden rectangle fits so perfectly around the central figure that it is often said the artist deliberately painted the figure to conform to these proportions.

Da Vinci is not the only artist to leverage the golden ratios. I picked La Parade, a painting by Georges-Pierre Seurat, a French painter. The painting adopts an innovative technique called Pointillism (I'll blog about this technique on a different day), yet adopts the golden ratios!

Even today, several leading artists leverage the golden mean to draw the viewers' attention by placing their subject in the center of the golden rectangle, thus creating a strong visual path in their compositions. This is a simple, fundamental, mathematical technique that can be applied by all artists when creating their compositions.

Are you an artist who uses the golden mean when creating your painting? If so, let us know your opinion or send us some images of your creations in which you leveraged the golden mean technique.

Until next time...

I see a lot of artists in their early careers spend money and time on business practices that are hardly needed. Before you spend time with a consultant, elaborate marketing plan, or approach galleries, make sure you have a cohesive body of work framed and ready to sell. The quality and attractiveness of your work is your main asset. If you haven't got 10 -20 similar works ready to sell, all the other marketing activities are like adding the finest icing to a plastic cake.

Yes, in the late 1990's, I did spend money on ads and had a 2000 square foot studio, and yes, having the studio in a community of professional artists was an asset, but I could have skipped all that and just spent more time on developing a great body of work and my career would have come out ahead. I was indeed putting the cart before the horse, marketing wise.

I discovered that developing an elaborate business plan, while it was fun, was also a waste of my time and energy. Why is that? As unexpected opportunities came along, I abandoned my plan again and again. My art career has been a flexible process. I never really know what's around the corner, and the better my work is, the more frequently opportunities pop up. I'm not saying that artists shouldn't have a plan at all; what I've experienced is thatI need to keep a path in mind, but be open to change.

Even if you are ready to approach galleries, shows and invitational events, you still may not need an elaborate business plan. There are many ways to promote your work on a shoe-string budget. Spending big bucks is hardly necessary to success and there is nothing terribly elaborate or magical about marketing your work.  It's mostly just plain common sense.

So let's say you do have a style and a body of work to sell? How do you start to get your work out there? Many of my friends have placed several times in national art competitions -which lead to calls from galleries and magazine articles. That's the quickest way to get your work seen by a larger audience without spending thousands of dollars. Be picky about which competitions you enter and get ready for disappointment. If you place as a finalist, that's great, but competitions are a bit of a gamble because you never know what the juror will like and there is a ton of competition.

What happens if you enter more than a dozen shows in a year and you don't "place" at all? Go back to the proverbial drawing board and revamp, revise and improve your work. Get a critique from someone who is successful and wants the best for your career and be prepared to work hard. If art were easy to make and sell, then everyone would do it and it wouldn't be worth much.  However, it is a good thing that it does take a long time to learn how to draw and paint - because it makes good artwork scarce and therefore - valuable.

There are dozens of ways to put your work in front of the eyes of collectors, working with galleries and placing in competitions is only two ways. Today there are artists out there making a living who do not work with galleries or enter competitions. Even if you do want to show in a gallery, avoid any offer that sounds like a Vanity Gallery. If they ask you for a fee to show your work, pass those up. A gallery that has you pay them to show your work has no incentive to sell it. Besides, real collectors don't shop at vanity galleries - most of these will say you'll have a show in New York City.

Try a number of different sales venues and see which ones work best for you. I did the art-in-the-park circuit in New England for a number of years. I did well and enjoyed selling my work. The hard part is the physical labor of setting up and taking down the tent and carrying all those paintings. Of course, the goal was to have far fewer paintings to carry home than I brought. 

Don't discount local galleries and frame shops - I happily worked with some frame shop galleries just a few minutes from my home. But don't let the gallery frame your paintings unless they buy your work at a 50% discount outright. I've heard some horror stories about how some artists had to pay for all the frames before they could remove unsold paintings from the gallery - and it amounted into thousands of dollars owed. Again, you should not have to pay your gallery for anything.  They work on consignment and when a painting is sold, you get the agreed percentage of the sale. If it doesn't sell, you are not out any money and can get the painting back.

If you do place in national competitions, you can then approach well known galleries, but it's no guarantee that they'll take you on. When they are having slow sales, they usually spend all their time trying to sell the artists who they already represent, and are reluctant to take on new artists. If they're not biting, then try something else.

It might surprise you to know that I've never showed in a major, well-known gallery. They are not always a straight ticket to sales. Let's look at an example: an artist finally gets into the gallery of his dreams, but this gallery also sells work by masters who've been in the biz for a long time - some have works priced over $100,000. This new artist has works priced between $1500 and $10,000. If you're the gallery owner, who are you going to invest more time promoting, the one who sells a painting under $5000, or the one who reaps you $50,000 on the sale? Did you know that well established artists don't usually give the gallery 50%? When prices are that high and a sale is almost guaranteed, the artist normally gets 70% of the retail price.

All of this is to say: don't spend too much time worrying about how to approach galleries or print up that great letterhead before you've got a dynamite body of work.  Your work needs to have a recognizable style that collectors can recognize as "yours" from across the room. You can fight me on this concept all you want, but if your work is "all over the place" style wise, you'll have a hard time getting into any gallery and even selling from your tent in the park. Collectors want you to have a "look" and gallery dealers know that fact.

As soon as your have that body of work, then you need a flexible plan to promote your work.  There are plenty of sales venues out there, and today, selling on your own is a viable one. Focus on a few ways to get your stuff out there and see how that goes. If something doesn't work out, try something else. As my tennis coach often said, "If you're winning, don't change a thing; if you're losing, keep trying something until the game turns to your favor". I do that with my art career.


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Today, scarlatcanvas brings to you a very unique artist - Barbara Rutherford. Based in San Diego, Barabara's creations are non-conventional. Her art celebrates the good, happy times and brings to the audience the jolly, fun side of art. 

Most paintings are intense either because of the theme or simply because of the heavy colors and shades. But Barabara's are quite contrary to the norm. Just look at some of her creations from her "Cities in Dust" collection and you'll know what I am talking about.

Barbara's work is primarily inspired by locations where she has spent a lot of time. Her cityscape series, "Cities in Dust," has been her most successful collection professionally and enjoyed personally. The series title is a reference to the medium that Barbara uses, oil pastel. Her use of the medium, different from most artists, gives each finished piece, a soft, "dusty" texture of pastel with the vibrancy of oil.

When scarletcanvas talked to Barbara to understand her painting style, this is what we learnt! "As a self-taught artist, I discovered oil  pastel by accident and experimented with different qualities of the  medium until I arrived at an application that fit my need to paint large scale in an expedient way. The color intensity and minimal dry time of  oil pastels were very appealing, particularly because my designs became  increasingly intricate and locations became increasingly ambitious. My  painting style is design-driven; in fact, I may spend several weeks or  months sketching designs before starting to paint and painting is  usually completed within a few days. One of my favorite components of  the cityscapes is the sky - it is essential that the sky reflect movement, life, and light reflective of the time of day, setting the  tone of the piece. Unlike the multiple layers and heavy outline of the  structures, the sky is sheer and I work the wet medium at length,  removing pigment with broad strokes and brushes. Regardless of color, the sheerness of the sky balances the solid heaviness of the  structures. While my designs and the application of those designs are  very organized and structured, I prefer to be spontaneous with color,  reflective areas, and texture. Leaving these crucial details undecided  until I apply paint to canvas helps to create the fun, life, and whimsy  often attributed to my work."

You can find more of Barbara's work at her website: www.barbararutherford.com
Barbara's art is very affordable and if you are interested in purchasing her creations, send her an email at artist@barbararutherford.com

Until next time...

scarletcanvas continues our interview with the talented, Florida based artist, Sydney McKenna. In the first part, Sydney candidly talked about her love for paintings, her initial memories as an artist and her proudest moments. Click here to read part one of the interview with Sydney.

In this second part of the two part interview, Sydney talks about patronizing original art and shares valuable life lessons for upcoming artists.

scarletcanvas: How many paintings have you sold till date? And what are your price ranges?
Sydney McKenna: Hundreds of paintings.My paintings range anywhere between 350 USD and 7000 USD.

scarletcanvas: Do you ship your creations internationally?
Sydney McKenna: Yes, I absolutely do.

scarletcanvas: Why should one support original artists and buy paintings?
Sydney McKenna: Art enriches our lives. Without the arts, life is sort of dry. Original art gives you a connection with the psyche of the artist. If no one can make any money with it, it becomes more difficult to justify the amount of work and time it takes. I want people to buy more art work and I am looking for ways to convince people to buy more original work for the  sheer beauty and joy that art brings.

scarletcanvas: Did you at any point regret being a full time artist?
Sydney McKenna: There are times I have felt discouraged and underappreciated, but I don’t know how I could have done anything differently.

scarletcanvas: What is really hard about being a full time artist?
Sydney McKenna: Feeling inspired enough to infuse my painting with the energy it needs, when it is a difficult market.

scarletcanvas: You seem to have made a good career out of painting. Do you have any suggestions for artists on how to better market themselves? How can an  artist effectively sell his creations? Most artists I have spoken with  in the past have told me that their inability to market and sell their work is their biggest roadblock.
Sydney McKenna: It is for me, too. If you or your readers have anything to share with  me or if you discover something relevant in this field, let me know!

scarletcanvas: As an artist what is the one mistake that you did that you would like upcoming artists to learn from?
Sydney McKenna: Not starting to take it seriously early enough.

scarletcanvas: What is the most important lesson you would like to pass on to upcoming artists?
Sydney McKenna: As with everything else in life, have a back-up plan.

scarletcanvas: What project are you working on next?
Sydney McKenna: I am currently working on some bird paintings for an exhibit in October I am calling “Looking Up”. My trademark skies will be included, but I felt like adding some life.

scarletcanvas: Wow! Thank you Sydney. It has been an absolute pleasure and delight to talk with you, learn  more about you and your creations. We got to know the real Sydney McKenna.

And here is a gift from Sydney to our readers! A sneak peek into her "Looking Up" collection that she is working on.

If you haven't visited Sydney's website yet, we encourage you to do so. Send her a message, shower your love and buy her wonderful creations.  We wish Sydney  every success for her upcoming exhibition and for all her future  artistic creations. Best Wishes Sydney! Cheers!

scarletcanvas is pleased to present the wonderfully talented, Florida based artist, Sydney McKenna. Born in Santa Monica, California, Sydney has called Florida her home since age 11. She began her painting career in the Sarasota area in the mid- eighties as a mostly self-taught watercolor artist. She quickly gained success and won multiple awards and began exhibiting in Sarasota Art Galleries.

In this first part of the two part interview, Sydney shares her love for paintings, her initial memories as an artist and her proudest moment as an artist. Read on to get a glimpse of Sydney McKenna.

scarletcanvas: Can you please describe your painting style (and your preferred medium) to our readers? Your portfolio mostly consists of beautiful depictions of clouds in various hues, why so?

Sydney McKenna: I have been painting with oils now for about 16 years, after making a transition from watercolor. I use the classic oil painting techniques of building up thin layers of paint using linseed oil as my only medium. I like the idea of unifying classical technique with somewhat contemporary imagery.
I like to explore the humid atmosphere that is one of the key elements that define life in Florida, and I am fascinated with evaporation in general. Over the years of painting clouds I have grown to see quite a bit of symbolism in the water cycle. The fact that it can transform itself, rise into the heavens and move around the world through the skies, is somewhat miraculous; as if the clouds are the ‘spirit form’ of water. They have come to remind me of the spark of life; a lifting of the physical, into the spiritual. I also find that in studying clouds and striving to paint their ephemeral nature, I connect more to my own spirituality.
I am also intrigued by how the many transformations of water tie us to other places, physically and metaphorically. Scientifically they are fascinating; through evaporation and rainfall, water spreads throughout the world, spreading life in its wake. I was recently intrigued by an article describing life systems in cloud formations. This thought makes me aware that the world we experience is really a collision of a multitude of worlds.

scarletcanvas: When do you choose watercolor over oil or vice versa? What according to you are the differences between the two mediums?
Sydney McKenna: I rarely paint with watercolor any more. I like the permanence that oil gives, and the fact that I can take my time with it more. Timing is everything in watercolor, and oil is more forgiving. If I am not sure about a color choice, I can try something and have the opportunity to change it.
That said, when I choose which pieces I want to keep to decorate my own home, I most often choose my watercolors. I love how many subtle changes and intimations of texture you can get with the way the colors bleed together with variations of edges. That’s where the technical aspects of watercolor come in- the timing is so critical for special “blossoming” effects you can get with your edges.

scarletcanvas: What drew you to this profession? When did you realize that you wanted to become a full time artist?
Sydney McKenna: Though I was always interested in art, I didn’t start thinking of it as a profession until the late ‘80’s. Basically I tried so many other things that were more mainstream but wouldn’t stick. Being an artist is the only thing I have been able to stick to.

scarletcanvas: What is your first memory of sketching?
Sydney McKenna: As a young child I drew all the time. I became really good at drawing horses. We lived in Arizona next to a dude ranch, and the owner let us ride all the time to keep the horses exercised. I spent as much time drawing them as I did riding them.

scarletcanvas: When did you realize that you are going to be an artist?
Sydney McKenna: After working briefly as a registered nurse, I took another drawing class in a local Community College when I was about 32. We had to do a self-portrait, and while doing it, it was like I saw myself so clearly, I realized that if I had stuck to it all along, I would have already been somewhere with it. I realized that I had an ability and I felt an obligation to pursue.

scarletcanvas: What has been your most cherished artistic moment till date?
Sydney McKenna: I had a commission to paint for a woman who wanted to surprise her husband. They owned a beautiful lake front property in Florida and had lived in a small cottage on the lake for many years while saving the money to build their dream home. The husband finally sold his beloved antique Porsche to raise the rest of the money. She had me do a painting of the old cottage at sunrise on the lake, with light coming through the windows, and his Porsche parked out front, and their dog sitting next to it. I had a solo show opening at the time the painting was completed, and we schemed for her to bring him to the opening and “discover” the painting on the wall. Many people there knew what was up, and the look on his face was priceless. The entire room broke into applause and it made me feel so special to be able to do this for them. This has been one of my proudest moments as an artist. While there have been many things that have made me feel proud, like having a piece included in a permanent museum collection, or winning  awards, I think the story above is still my proudest moment.

Tomorrow, in the second part of the interview, Sydney talks about hardships faced by artists and her advice for upcoming artists. In the meanwhile, visit Sydney’s website to see her creations.

Artist Liu Bolin, from Shandong, China, manages to camouflage himself in any surroundings, no matter how difficult they might be. Liu works on a single photo for up to 10 hours at a time, to make sure he gets it just right. Sometimes passers-by don’t even realize he is there until he moves.

A solo exhibition of Mr. Liu's work, featuring his hidden portraits from Beijing and Italy, will open June 29 at the New York gallery Eli Klein Fine Art. Wall Street Journal featured an article on Liu's creation. 

Liu Bolin says his art is a protest against the actions of the Government, who shut down his art studio in 2005 and persecutes artists. It’s about not fitting into modern society. Despite problems with Chinese authorities, Liu’s works are appreciated at an international level. This is indeed a very arty and a one of a kind of protest. It is helping Liu gain fame and fortune while garnering support for his cause. 

More pictures of Liu's creation can be found here.  And a video of Liu Bolin at work follows.