Promotion, By The Way

Promotion seems to be the order of the moment. Makes sense since I've just raised my prices.

So, besides the upcoming Bookmans show, TBA, I have 2 other events to share.

My work was in the Santa Monica Airport Artwalk! It went really well. Even sold a couple pieces! They looked great on the hallway wall right near the entrance:

This photo is courtesy of my friend Ryan Barton, who, by the way, won that auction I talked about in my last post. Such a cool guy.

So the great thing about this show in Santa Monica is that the pieces will stay up for another month! They'll stay in the same place and can be viewed any time the gallery is open. If you'll be in the area and want to check out my work up close and personal, send me an email and I'll put you in contact with my west coast rep, my mom, who can make sure you get a chance to see them!

The paintings got a great response from the tons of guests and hopefully a lot of them will visit my website and commission a piece of the musician they wanted, that one that popped in their head the second they saw my work and got what it is about.

Helping people to get what my work is about is my first radio phone interview! I was a bit nervous, but Jane and Norm Geddis of Counter Clock Radio asked really good questions. Hopefully they editted my rambles into coherent responses. It airs this evening live and then will be in their podcast archives. The link above gives details and I'll share the links to the archived version when I get it! Check it out if you can. It, along with my video, by Ryan Barton by the way, will provide a really good sense of what I do and why.

I am painting little by little and will start posting pieces again soon!

Peace.

On The Rise

Things are getting exciting for my art. Well, not that they weren't before, but it feels like things are rolling nicely now. Those of you who've subscribed to my email newsletter found out this weekend about a couple cool things and Facebook fans learned about another. Today I'm getting around to doing a post too.

First, I have my work in an auction online:

http://auctionforafrica.blogspot.com/2010/03/vinyl-art.html

The auction is being run by my friend Zane and his wife. Zane won my contest last year and we've since begun to collaborate on and offline. His wife had gone to Africa awhile back and has since been trying to figure out how to help the charity she worked with as much as their family can. So generous, these people. Even their 4 year old is awesome and good-hearted.

So when Zane asked if I'd participate in their auction to raise money for the charity, I said yes before he finished asking. The offer is for a custom piece of Vinyl Art, painted specifically for you of the musician of your choice, framed and delivered. Right now, the bid is at $95. The auction goes until the 17th, so act fast!

Only $95! You could get a piece for like $100! This is cool because...

Second, I'm raising my prices. My first significant increase since I've promoted my work online in earnest, the base price will go from $175 to $250. I hope to make it a yearly thing, both to keep up with health insurance costs, and to show potential buyers that indeed my work will go up in financial value. I've avoided thinking about my work as an investment, but people who collect art do like to know that at least there is a market for the work. So the price increase percentage will mirror my sales volume increase percentage. Cool, huh? So I did well last year, I'm saying.

Hopefully this year will have good growth too, partially because...

Third, my work is in a show in southern California:

http://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/Airport/Art%20Walk%20Flyer.pdf

My first big art event participation, 30 of my pieces will be on display for sale at the annual Santa Monica Airport ArtWalk. The opportunity came to me through my mom who does her art-ing at the same gallery space. She'll be there on the 20th this month, the day I'll raise my prices.

So, Vinyl Art is on the rise! Next I'll get to share my first podcast interview!

Peace.

Family Focus

Until March next year, I'll be "out of the office". Abbey will be about 2 months old then, if all goes well with her year-end delivery, and that feels like a good amount of time to devote solely to our growing family. After that, I'll take care of business again, responding to emails, blog posts, tweets and so forth, and painting commissions.

Besides Abbey's birth, I'll have the Bookmans show sometime in January. So definitely check in come March and I'm sure I'll have news to share. This business of Vinyl Art has been built on moments when I say "That was unexpected", so I'll bet there'll be surprises too.

Like Alice Cooper signing a piece to auction for Ear Candy Charity.


Happy Holidays and New Year!

Peace.

Coming Soon To A Bookmans Near You

Yesterday I delivered 20 pieces to Bookmans to be distributed to all 6 stores around southern Arizona. So exciting. The cafe in the Mesa store is open and looks terrific, but the show will coincide with the grand opening soon. I'll definitely let you know the date when I do.

I found this album at Bookmans. Totally cool. I didn't think I'd get to paint Bogie unless I started painting on film reel cans or something. I've talked before about actors I love. Film is definitely a big part of the culture that has shaped my aesthetic, that I'm thankful for in a big way, visually and musically.

This is a list of a good number of movies that stick with me, in no particular order:

Holiday
Tank Girl
Elf
The Usual Suspects
Blue Velvet
Wilder Napalm
Sneakers
Hugo Pool
Being There
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Fight Club
Joe Vs. The Volcano
No Country For Old Men
Spaceballs
The Big Lebowski
Batman Returns
The Fifth Element
Kafka
Monty Python & The Holy Grail
Hook
Yellow Submarine
Up
I Heart Huckabees
Mixed Nuts
Hudson Hawk
The Shawshank Redemption
Good, Bad, and The Ugly
The Truman Show
Silence Of The Lambs
Meet Joe Black
The Natural
Barton Fink
The Last Temptation Of Christ
Casablanca
Monster In A Box
Halloween
Hellraiser III
Dick Tracy
Falling Down
The Sandlot
Scrooged
Who's The Man?
Wings Of Desire
Pulp Fiction
The Shining
Orlando
Max Headroom
Pi
Rashomon
The Professional (Leon)
Big Night
Field Of Dreams
The Untouchables
The Fisher King
The Princess Bride
A Fistful Of Dollars
Zorba The Greek
M*A*S*H
Feris Bueller's Day Off
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
The Odd Couple
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Men In Black
Willie Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
Home Alone
After Hours
Glengarry Glen Ross
L.A. Story

What do you think? A few surprises probably. What would you add?

Peace.

Ignorance Is Not An Answer

Earlier today I talked about "yes". Responding and receiving yes as an answer is satisfying when backed by a good gut-feeling.

Ignorance isn't an answer. Yes, no, and maybe-so are.

Peace.

SOLD - Frank Zappa 12/15/09