Fade into you....

Dear Readers,

First, I must say how amazed and overwhelmed I was by the reaction to last week's post and all the support of my fund raising efforts for my friend Will Boyd. Many of you responded by not only purchasing my small works on paper from my etsy shop, but by taking it a step further and re-posting or linking to my blog on your own blogs! Some of you even donated art for Will's cause, giving a percentage or all of the proceeds to Will's health care fund. Also, many of my myspace friends re-posted countless bulletins to call attention to Will and our fundraising efforts. These are all very inspiring and selfless actions. I appreciate all of this and I know that Will and his fiance Elizabeth appreciate it greatly as well.

A short list of major players:
Michele Maule : (Amazing etsy shop owner and awesome artist) promoted my blog with mentions twice in her very popular blog, How to draw a cup of coffee.



















Beth of Tangled Sky Studio: gave me another blog mention and then she donated 30% from the sale of this beautiful painting from her shop to Will's fund.



















Deborah Burrows from England, purchased one of my small works on paper and then donated this painting from her newest series and 100% will go to Will. Her lovely painting is still available and can be found in her shop. $87.00 and free shipping! Please visit her shop or contact Deborah for more information about this painting.



















Tim Lane donated a minimalist abstract painting from his pale series which sold right away in a myspace bulletin and 100% went to Will. Now, Tim has donated this painting from the same series and plans to donate 100% to Will again. $75.00 Please contact Tim if you are interested or want more information about this painting.

















Istvan Ocztos from Budapest, Hungary bought Tim's first donated painting and then is donating the painting below for $95.00 and free shipping and 50% will go to Will's cause. Please contact Istvan if you interested or want more information about this painting.














Jerome Montens from France purchased one of my small works on paper and then posted this painting in an ebay auction with a minimum bid of $40 and has pledged to donate 50% to Will's cause as well. Please visit ebay and take a look if you are interested the auction ends on October 14. So get your bids in or contact Jerome for more information about this painting.



















Thanks again to all my myspace & facebook friends that re-posted bulletins, sent helpful messages, and some even sent healing reiki energy through the cosmos direct to Will- you guys are just as important and major but there are too many of you to name! Thank you also to my dear blog readers for your continued support of me and my art.

And of course, thanks to everyone that purchased my small works on paper from my etsy shop. I sold fourteen small works on paper since October 2 when I started 20% for Will. I will continue to post new work in the shop as it becomes available and continue to donate 20% to Will the entire month of October.

Will's friend's have now set up a website that tells you more about him, as well as his humanitarian work and interests. The site makes it easy to donate to his health care fund as well. If you are interested in learning more about Will Boyd or donating please visit. www.loveisone.org

This is all about grass roots activism, caring for strangers, and sharing the wealth. There is a great deal of trust involved in all of this as well as idealism and hope. I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful and supportive community. This is how we get along in a strange and uncertain world. This is how we shrink boundaries and borders and rise above.

This is how we move onward and upward.
This is how we take care of each other, and this is how we take care of ourselves.

Thank you all.

x-Megan


















All images copyright 2008 the respective artists, please do not use with out their expressed permission. thank you.

Six Amazing Artists You Should Know

Today, I would like to take the time to spotlight some very hard working artists. These artists deserve your time and attention. They deserve your business, your gallery representation, and your blog comments. They deserve your MySpace messages, and your Etsy reviews. Some of them, I am lucky know locally, and some of them I know only from the Internet, but we are good friends just the same. These six artists blow me away with their skill, determination, and style not to mention the honesty and passion they bring to their work.

First, from Fayetteville, Arkansas, painter Basil Seymour-Davies. His paintings seem impossibly accurate yet loose enough to be abstract in spots and almost surrealist in nature. Upon viewing Basil’s paintings, I am immediately drawn into the psychology of the person who appears caught so elegantly being their true self. Basil’s paintings are always intimate, and they serve as a window into the subjects inner workings. However there is still enough space around the subject to allow our own psychology into the mix. These paintings create an edgy narrative without being overbearing. Basil’s skill in painting portraiture is tremendous and luckily for those of us in the region he will be having a solo exhibition at the Art Center of the Ozarks in Springdale, Arkansas in June 2008. Please Visit Basil Seymour- Davies' MySpace page and his Website for more information about his work and process.

Also from Fayetteville, the incredible work of artist Ben Strawn. For those of you who know me, you know I am a champion of this artist’s work. Seeing Ben’s work was love at first sight! I am not the kind of person who sees something on the web and says “I must have that now,” but I did with Ben’s work. I own a piece from a different series than he is currently working on, but I love everything this artist does. He is an amazing illustrator and painter working with meticulous detail to create this beautiful and strange world filled with insects, animals, and figures co-mingling in odd habitats and homes. He works with paint on layers of Plexiglas which then gives his work a multidimensional feeling. As Ben builds up his inventory of paintings ( he practically sells out every time he shows) he has gotten in the habit of posting a Friday painting on his My Space blog. Please check out his MySpace page and his website for more information about Ben and his exciting and innovative work. On his website you will find a link to prints he has for sale.

Third, Cuckoo Bags by Prairie Grove artist Sarah Nunn. Sarah is an amazing abstract painter in her own right, but she has now turned a corner and created her own wonderfully stylish brand of bags and purses. She has sold her impressive line of "Cuckoo Bags" at local boutiques, and galleries in Fayetteville and Tulsa, and now she has turned to Etsy to market her chic recycled fabric bags. This woman has mad style and a quirky take on fashion. So, if you like being earth friendly and chic, these are the bags that you must carry. I always have one on my arm, and each is unique. For more information about Sarah Nunn’s Cuckoo bags, please visit Terra Tots in Fayetteville or buy online at Sarah's Etsy store.

Alright, moving out of Arkansas now, the amazingly sweet and sometimes nostalgic mixed media paintings, of Michele Maule. Michele is currently a Michigan artist and her whimsical and well designed paintings are flying out of Etsy and out of galleries as fast as she can paint them practically. It has been exciting to learn of her work and how things have taken off for her lately. I feel so lucky to own the piece of hers that I do (the one of the water tower pictured here). Local readers of my blog first got acquainted with her work when she participated in the small works show this December at the DDP gallery in Fayetteville. She uses collage, paint, and encaustic on a wood support for her paintings. They tell shy little stories of her longing to get back home to Portland, sooner rather than later. Her work is fresh and clean yet never sterile. I can always relate to the concept of "waiting" that seems to pop up in her paintings. Michele was just mentioned in décor8, a popular design blog as well as in Real Simple. This artist is very deserving of all the attention she has recently received. So, give her some more and check out her paintings at her Etsy shop as well as her musings about life as an artist, student, and dog lover on her blog. Also check out her lovely new website and her MySpace page.

Now, onto my international friends (thanks to MySpace).

The work of German artist Isabel Reitemeyer. I was immediately drawn to these stark and lovely collage pieces. Isabel’s work struck a chord with me that I couldn’t shake, eventually with the help (if you can call it that) of an online translator I tried to communicate that I was in love with this piece (pictured here) and the rest of her work as well. I attempted to ask her about them and where she showed her work. The translation was a wreck of course and we quickly moved on from there. She said that she is just getting started with these collage pieces and is trying to get together a show, and at some point she may create prints. I love going to her MySpace page, which is currently the only place I know of to view her work. She also has a cryptic website, with her contact information, but that is it. I would love to one day see her work in person. I think her sense of composition, line and humor is spot on. Spare but engaging, I absolutely love this artist’s work. She is one of my favorites. I think she may be a children’s book illustrator as well, but I can’t be certain. Please view her work on her MySpace page. She seems quite prolific, and her page is a joy to visit.

Last but certainly not least, is the work of English painter Steven Heaton, he is also known as “The Factory Supervisor.” Readers of my blog may recognize the factory supervisor as someone who leaves thoughtful comments that seem to come from experience. Steven is an abstract painter that creates brilliantly colored atmospheric worlds made up of paint, metals, strings, and whatever caustic chemicals he can combine to create a beautiful patina. Sometimes Steven turns to his “garden” to take care of any missteps in his process, as he lets the weather and earth do their thing to enhance his stubborn paintings. This artist amazes me in his sheer dedication to his art. He works what seems like beyond a full time job, with hours that reach long into the day and night, and yet he keeps painting regularly; entering and getting accepted into exhibitions, not to mention selling his work. I have included a detail of his work, which shows the lovely metallic patina that adorns his vermilion streak of "sky." This artist also writes a blog that I frequent, and I highly recommend it. The tone of his blog, as he maneuvers us through his life as an artist, is more honest and vulnerable than many I have read. He isn’t selling anything here; he is simply sharing his artistic world and musings with us. This includes all the questions, problems, and inspirations that may pop up in this messy life and take form in his art. I take considerable comfort in his words, and I think you might as well. Go to his Blog, his carbonmade portfolio , and find even more of his work at the ok studios website.

Here are just six of the many amazing artists I know. Again, please give them your time and attention. These artists make me work harder, they fill me with wonder, and they make my world a more beautiful and inspired place.

I hope they will do the same for you.

Creating a Free Web Presence

Today, we are going back to the art career basics and building blocks. I want to talk about the importance of creating a web presence. Hopefully, many of you already have one. A web presence is crucial for exposure and networking for your art. This article is for those who think it costs a lot of money, time, or energy to maintain a website. I have some free and simple solutions to get you and your work online in no time.

First, of course is the very popular social networking site MySpace. I have to admit I wasn't much of a fan at first, I was under the impression that the sites were always ugly and glaring and that MySpace was primarily a place for teenagers. Well, I stand corrected. I have seen some beautiful MySpace sites run by emerging artists and professionals. You control your space, and can easily upload your art into a slide show or other format, choose some music and set the scene for showing off your art to the world. You even pick a URL that you can share with others and not just other myspacers. You can share your links to other sites/galleries you might be affiliated with to direct visitors to your "real" website or galleries if you have one. Before you know it you will be finding friends that you had forgotten about as well as letting everyone know you are an artist, and all for free.

Also, it is a great way to make the larger art community feel smaller and become friends with other artists you admire. If you are not already on MySpace check it out, I highly recommend it. Just watch your time on the site- it can become addicting! Now with this being said, I wouldn't only use MySpace to promote your work. Most of the time, MySpace pages tend to be a little more personal in nature, and might not be professional enough to submit to a potential gallery or client as your "website."

Here are some examples of some artists myspace pages that I like: http://www.myspace.com/studio545
http://www.myspace.com/bloodle
http://www.myspace.com/thomaspetillo
http://www.myspace.com/flowersinspace

There is also Facebook which is becoming more popular, as the layout is clean and simple. You don't get you own URL though so only other Facebook friends in your network can see your work. Again, you can display all your links to various other websites where your work is hosted, which is nice. I enjoy the MySpace application more for promoting your art, as it seems a bit more dynamic. Yet, I do currently have both.

If you don't have a website for your art and only do one thing towards setting up a web presence, I highly recommend setting up an online portfolio on a site called carbonmade. This is a great application, and the closest thing I have seen to a FREE classy website. This site is very easy to use and update and allows you to create a beautiful and did I say a FREE web presence. With this site you get your own URL so this is something that can be professional enough to print up on some business cards when you are just starting out. It has little fluff or frills, but it looks sharp and does the trick. It doesn't take long to make a site that will fit your needs here. I also have a carbonmade site, where I keep a virtual studio sale for my older work that is in a different style and no longer represented by galleries.

Some carbonmade sites that I like are.
http://henryturner.carbonmade.com/
http://benstrawn.carbonmade.com/


If you are really trying to make a go of it as an artist without a web presence in this day and age you are just shooting yourself in the foot. There are many opportunities to be had out there and the web really allows you to reach clients and galleries from all over the world. You do not need a web designer, or your own domain name to play in this game, nor do you need money. So, stop with these excuses. It is up to you to put yourself and your work out there. You can do this!

If you have created a great looking MySpace page that promotes your art or a carbonmade portfolio, or a portfolio on another free site that I need to know about, please post it in the comments section.

See " Desire Suspended" by Megan Chapman at the Blue Moon gallery
located at 718 Central Ave.
Hot Springs, Arkansas