JANUARY 28, 2019 '18 WAS A BIG YEAR
Well, here I am again, having procrastinated on my blog postings.
The biggest news for the year was being invited to the Pebble Beach Concours once again as a guest artist. This time, the difference is that I was voted into the Automotive Fine Arts Society as an associate member. This means that I will be able to show my work at Pebble Beach on a regular basis. We had a great time there, eating really good seafood, driving around the area, and we managed to get Lynn out on a whale observing tour on Friday. Saturday was set-up day, and then a cocktail party/reception early evening. Sunday of course was the Concours itself. I was fortunate to get to the show pretty early, and got out for a nice photo expedition before we opened up for the day. Renewed some California friendships, got to talk with the amazing artists that are the AFAS. I didn’t make any actual sales, but I did manage to make some new friends/contacts, and I am very much looking forward to attending again in 2019.
I managed to get a couple of commissions for event poster art in ‘18, one for a Queen City Corvette Club Show held in conjunction with the Southern version of Bloomington Gold at Hendrick Motorsports in October, and one for the Trump Concours at Charlotte, held at Lake Norman in November.
My other events were an interesting mix of car shows, vintage races, and Concours. As always, I saw many great friends and customers and met some new folks, as well. Also, a handful of originals found new homes during the year. On a very unusual note, a couple of originals sold within minutes (“All Tuckered Out” a close-up view of a Tucker dash) or days (“Take the Helm, Mister Sulu”, another dash close-up of a ‘61 Dodge) of being posted on facebook. Thanks facebook, you have helped me stay somewhat afloat!
I’m up to five different guitars in my series of guitar paintings now, with another handful in the works. Tried a guitar show in Asheville, NC late in the year, with very little in the way of sales, but lots of positive feedback. Of course, compliments are nice, but I certainly need to figure out a way to actually sell these in order to continue.
My show/travel schedule is changing again. Some small shows I had been doing just because I “always did” were unfortunately so bereft of sales that I had to make a couple of decisions - that the days I was sitting with the crickets might be better spent staying home and painting.
Many thanks to my friends and faithful (and new) customers for supporting me all these years - hope to see you all soon again during this coming year. And always remember - Support Living Artists, because the Dead Ones Don’t Need the Money!