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Welcome to our Back to School September issue! This is a New Beginnings Newsletter: We have a great 2009 schedule, a new product combo, even more workshop music to move by and a new series of “Color Combinations” that will be featured over the next few months. The Sausalito Art Festival is held annually over Labor Day Weekend. We had a wonderful time this year seeing old friends, making new ones and selling a bit of artwork too. Some of my new Circus Themed work, created for Sausalito can be viewed in the “Small Original Paintings” section of my website.
Right after The Sausalito Art Festival, I flew to Austin, Texas for the First Frontier Collage Society’s final workshop and exhibition. I was honored to also jury their final National Show. What a great group of people! Thanks to Odile Burton, Delda Skinner and Dianne Talley for making me feel so welcomed.
Who knew that Hurricane Ike would be so devastating for Texas - we were out of harm’s way in Austin, but my heart goes out to Galveston, Houston and all residents affected by Ike. I am returning to Texas in October - this time to Corpus Christi for the Watercolor Society of South Texas.
Bob’s Blog is launched! We are starting slowly so please be patient. Our intent is to make our Blog more casual - almost like a running commentary of what is going on in my studio, out and about at workshops and as soon as we figure out how to do it, we will post “video clips” and have an option for me critiquing your paintings. Product Spotlight BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIAL! Workshops in the Spotlight
We are returning to Raleigh in November! Jerry’s Artarama holds their annual trade show, the popular Art of the Carolinas, November 14-16 (Workshops start on the 13th). I will be teaching with Holbein art materials. The great thing about this Trade Show is all materials used in the mini workshops are supplied. That’s right, you don’t need to bring a thing. If you like what you worked with, you can purchase at a sizable discount on the convention floor! After I teach, I go shopping - paint, brushes, canvas, paper, sketchbooks - it’s all there!
Bob’s Classes: For our 2009 Workshop Schedule, click HERE. For more fun workshop photos, go to our Workshop Photos section. Recommended Book
In my opinion, when it comes to knowing the heart beat of American painters, no publication comes close to the Open Studio Press’ “New American Paintings.” Published six times a year, it’s a juried exhibition in print. Each competition is cataloged in a regional volume of New American Paintings: Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, Midwestern, Western and Pacific Coast and presents the work of roughly 40 painters. Featured artists are selected on the basis of artistic merit by one juror and receive four pages of their work, bio and artist statement for free. Finalists are either over-the-top technical executionists or fresh, original, new visionaries in our field of painters. Go to their website to find out how to apply. I have been a subscriber for ten years and have saved all by issues. When my copy arrives in the mail, it’s like receiving a birthday present! You can either subscribe annually ($89 for six editions) or pick up single copies at popular book stores for $20. New American Paintings DVD Review
This month’s highly recommended DVD is Baraka. I’ve watched and showed this dazzling film to my painting students over the past several years. I can tell you the power of this visually enlightening film by describing everyone who has watched this to the end. When Baraka was over, no one moved, or even spoke. They simply sat, staring at the screen - then composed themselves and eventually filed out of the room. That’s the strongest testimonial I can give you! Baraka is powerful… no dialogue. It’s a visual documentary of a poetic tour of the globe set to the rhythms of various religious and spiritual rituals, spanning diverse locales as China, Brazil, Kuwait and major US and European sites. The soundtrack will lubricate your mind. If you are an artist, you will want to own this DVD! Hint: To fully enjoy this experience, turn off the phone, sit quietly and close to the ones you love for just a few minutes before pushing the play button. It will be memorable. Baraka must be seen, felt and experienced to be understood. BARAKA, A World Beyond Words Ask Kate about Art Marketing
Julie from Grants Pass, Oregon asks: Tags and stuff - whose job is it? I am doing a show in July at a large health club. This place takes a 40% commission on any sold work. I am new at this … what is the etiquette? Dear Julie, In our experience -- for all galleries we have been in -- they do the tags for the show (or just regular hanging) so the tags will have "the look" of the gallery. If we are showing in an Alternative Space -- like a health club, restaurant, coffee shop, winery, etc. we do our own tags, we will even hang the work and aim the lights so we know it's perfect! Curt from Bayfield, Colorado asks: I am working on a series of mountain scenes with a goal of creating about twenty pieces that will be my first body of work. I am under the impression that Bob’s “Good Life” series for example, has gone on for sometime, so I am wondering if you add to the series with new originals or simply sell off the original body of work plus prints, etc. Dear Curt, Great question! To give you a quick and simple answer-- Bob just keeps adding to the overall "body of work" theme. There are times though-- when he is getting ready for a specific exhibit -- he will still work on the Good Life, but zero in on a body of work that is just wine bottles, or just interiors. But because "The Good Life" can be interpreted in an immense way, we just keep adding originals and prints. Remember, the key is to have a broad, general theme (or BIG IDEA) that affords you the most variations. Thanks Curt-- Hope this helps! Special Note: We have updated the “How to Photo” Notes in our Hot Art Marketing Workbook. We collaborated with our pro photographer, Forrest Doud from San Luis Obispo. This new section includes more up-to-date info on taking digitals. If you would like to update your book with these notes, please send us $5.00 and a Self-Address Stamped Envelope (42-cent postage) Thank you! For more info, click HERE to check out our Hot Art Marketing Workbook. Thanks for asking Kate!
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I have a few quirks, a few hang-ups and a few things that just generally rub me the wrong way. One such hang-up is the “Christmas Combo” - red and green. I never liked those colors together. A few years ago, it was a slow day in the studio so I squeezed out a long line of red and a line of green, plus black and white. I painted only with this color combination. By the end of the day, after painting a series of small sketches and several larger canvases, I can shamefully claim that I LOVE red and green together!
So try this - whatever your hang-ups and superstitions are, face your painting fears head on and set out to do a series of paintings based on your self-imposed limitations. Here’s another one of mine: I just can’t get behind the colors of sepia, umber and brown (Hey, it’s my problem!) And yes, I know individual burnt siena, raw umber and sepia are beautiful unto themselves… when used in a landscape painting, I feel they just suck the life out of the scene. So wouldn’t you know it, my students, upon graduation, gave me a present: A large box of all their tubes of brown paint! I had no choice but to do a body of work based on brown, black and white. I LOVE browns… go figure! Face your fears.
Try this Assignment More Painters have Success with the Readers of the ArtsyFartsy News know I have developed a color wheel of ten color combinations that I use exclusively in my paintings. And many of you have emailed, describing your own successes utilizing these “goof proof” color combinations. It’s a simple color system I’ve been adhering to for two years. Painter Anri Tsutsumi was recently in my Studio Mentor Workshop and created a series of wonderfully bubbly paintings with this goof proof system. I like her fresh, original style. I find Anri’s paintings uplifting. intriguing and beautifully painted.
Anri has been painting her series with my color wheel since it’s inception and is one of the fastest rising stars from Tokoyo. Note: I said SERIES. To see more of Anri’s work, email her at anri.tsutsumi@gmail.com. For a detailed description of the Burridge Goof Proof Color Wheel, click HERE
Product Review
Lascaux Aquacryl Hybrid Acrylics are one of my “secret” transparent glazing paints I have been using in my studio for the past fifteen years.
Watercolor painters know about glazing a “tone” over sections of their paintings to pull it together. I use this product as a glaze over my acrylic paintings. Aquacryl colors are extremely intense and 100% lightfast. They are similar, but better than nationally known fluid acrylics. And as an added advantage, even after they dry they can be re-wetted and wiped out. You won’t find these high quality professional paints in every art store. Lascaux has fifteen national, retail art supply stores or you can order from Jerry’s Artarama, www.jerrysartarama.com or Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff,www.cheapjoes.com
Music to Paint (and Move!) By
More music! My taste in music is rather eclectic. In my studio and during workshops I play many different styles - classical, world, jazz, lounge… Below are a few more of my favorites. •Bombay Dub •Quango Space Jazz •Miles Davis •Concertos for Two Pianos For more music, click HERE and it will take you to my favorite Workshop Music. We will post more favorites and new finds every month in our ArtsyFartsy News and on my website. We’ve separated them into categories to make it easier. Enjoy! “Remove the concept of fear of failure and the concept of fear of success from the creative process. Add instead, 'what if' to your creative self -- I’m more interested in what I don’t know than what I can do."
Copyright ©2008 Robert Burridge. All rights reserved. Click HERE to sign up for the ArtsyFartsy News.
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