SURTEX, NEW YORK
I can't believe they featured silly ole me as the first featured artist in The Surtex newsletter, that the editor told me goes out to "gazillions" of people!!! When sending in my bio, I was hesitant to be my usual donkey loving self (maybe way too unsophisticated for this New York crowd) but I thought, "What the heck, I might be the laughing stock, but hey, everybody loves to laugh, right!!!??" Well, they embraced me, my true me...how fun is that?
Fri, Apr 08, 2016
Testing the Waters?
FIRST-TIME EXHIBITORS PLUNGE RIGHT IN
On your mark? Getting set? Ready to go test your talents, timing, and temerity, big-time, at SURTEX 2016?
Takes guts, especially the first time around. Putting one's art on the line, in the limelight, also calls for confidence, commitment, and hard work, years of it, according to these newcomers who will be exhibiting their art at SURTEX for the first time this May.
Why this year? we asked. Was there a decisive "Aha" moment?
Rhonda Addison, Great Falls, MT, still describes that moment breathlessly: "So here I was, after flying yet again to Seattle, lugging all my portfolios and rolling luggage ensemble into one of the beautiful home decor stores that carries my art, and trying to look calm and professional as I spread out my collections."
The owner/buyer intervened: "How in the world are you managing to create, produce, and sell your art to all these stores throughout the country? Have you ever heard of SURTEX?"
"What a wonderful concept! I checked into it (consulted my think tank, consisting of me, myself, and I)...and signed up immediately!"
FIRST-TIME EXHIBITORS PLUNGE RIGHT IN
On your mark? Getting set? Ready to go test your talents, timing, and temerity, big-time, at SURTEX 2016?
Takes guts, especially the first time around. Putting one's art on the line, in the limelight, also calls for confidence, commitment, and hard work, years of it, according to these newcomers who will be exhibiting their art at SURTEX for the first time this May.
Why this year? we asked. Was there a decisive "Aha" moment?
Rhonda Addison, Great Falls, MT, still describes that moment breathlessly: "So here I was, after flying yet again to Seattle, lugging all my portfolios and rolling luggage ensemble into one of the beautiful home decor stores that carries my art, and trying to look calm and professional as I spread out my collections."
The owner/buyer intervened: "How in the world are you managing to create, produce, and sell your art to all these stores throughout the country? Have you ever heard of SURTEX?"
"What a wonderful concept! I checked into it (consulted my think tank, consisting of me, myself, and I)...and signed up immediately!"
SURTEX will be a new step forward for Rhonda, who has been creating art since she was a four-year-old, intent on "making the world a happier place.
"My first serious endeavor was collecting and painting murals on the back of stinkbugs! It was grueling, the wigglyness, not to mention the smell.... I would paint their little backs and set them free to go show their families!"
Today, some 30-plus years of making art later, Rhonda is a fine art photographer with a background in graphic design and art direction, living "somewhere in the middle of Montana" with her art collecting husband. And a new animal muse: "This humble, sorrowful looking donkey. I often decorate him with all things sparkly and photograph him. He has become my branding image with the tag line "...just trying to make the world a bit more fancy..."
- Rose Gilbert
"My first serious endeavor was collecting and painting murals on the back of stinkbugs! It was grueling, the wigglyness, not to mention the smell.... I would paint their little backs and set them free to go show their families!"
Today, some 30-plus years of making art later, Rhonda is a fine art photographer with a background in graphic design and art direction, living "somewhere in the middle of Montana" with her art collecting husband. And a new animal muse: "This humble, sorrowful looking donkey. I often decorate him with all things sparkly and photograph him. He has become my branding image with the tag line "...just trying to make the world a bit more fancy..."
- Rose Gilbert
