My Long Week-End!!!

Angela and I had a very nice, long week-end. I helped her as much as I could with the cooking she did on Wednesday and we had a very nice Thanksgiving meal, Thursday, that made me want to sleep for the next week.

On Friday, we took in a show, Cirque du Soleil: Quidam, at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, SC. There were so many fantastic performances! If any of you get the chance to see this show, please do so. You won't be dissappointed.

The rest of our week-end was spent getting ready for our final Arts and Crafts Show of 2011. We will be at the TD Convention Center in Greenville, SC for the Holiday Fair from December 1-3. This will be out third year participating in this show and we always have really large crowds. We have a corner booth this year, # 1331, so come see us! It's a great place to start and/or finish your Christmas shopping!

Cirque du Soleil: Quidam

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

New Hand Painted Ornament Designs by J Walls Creations!!!!

J Walls Creations has some great wood crafts, leather crafts, quilts, etc. Now they have some new hand painted ornament designs. These are going to be great!

I have looked at many hand painted ornaments but my favorites tend to be the more simple designs. You might think that's strange coming from an artist who puts so much detail in his drawings. However, with a hand painted ornament, I want one that will stand out on our Christmas tree and a simple design is going to pull the eye right to it.

J Walls also has some great wooden ornaments, too. Angela has ordered several of the wooden star ornament to use as gift tags for family members since you can have them personalized.

Here are three new designs that will be hand painted on ornaments soon.

Please e-mail them for more information.

New Drawing Completed!!!!

Here is the completed drawing of Forever Summer.

You can purchase matted, signed and numbered, limited edition prints in sizes of 11x14 and 16x20 on our website or on Etsy.  We will also have it listed on Artfire soon.

If you are interested in note cards, they can only be purchased through our website or by sending a request through an e-mail.

Once again, congratulations to RJ, the winner of our contest.
Thank you to everyone who participated!

Forever Summer

We Have a Winner!!!!!!!

Thank you to all of the people who participated in our contest. We had lots of really good name suggestions for my first coastal drawing.

It took a little while to choose one but we felt that the name we went with described what I wanted the drawing to represent.

Our winner is RJ from Virginia! We thank you very much for the great suggestion! Please look for your free signed and numbered, matted, limited edition print to be delivered to you within the next week.

I'll post the finished and scanned drawing in the next couple of days. For now, here is the drawing at 90% completion with it's new name.

Forever Summer

Contest Begins!!!!

As I stated earlier, we are starting a contest to see who can come up with the best name for a drawing I am almost finished with.

The one who comes up with the name we choose will get a free signed and numbered,
limited edition, matted, 11x14 print. We will also cover the shipping!

Previously I had told you that the drawing would be about 80% complete when you saw it. Well.......it's at about 90%. Sorry about that. I got so involved with finishing it that I forgot to take a picture.

This contest will conclude at midnight on October 31st so you don't have long to come up with a name.

Please e-mail me your ideas at p.shafranski@yahoo.com and we will let you know who the winner is by November 3rd.

Good luck!

Please excuse the quality of the photo.

The available light is not very good today.

Upcoming Contest!

Within the next few days, I will be posting a work in progress. You will see the drawing about 80% complete. Whomever comes up with the best name for the drawing will get a free one.
It will be a signed and numbered, limited edition print.  It will also be matted and ready for an 11x14 frame. We'll cover the shipping, too!

So get ready to put your thinking caps on and come up with a really good title for the drawing you will see by this week-end!

Here's a clue: This drawing is my first coastal piece.

T-Shirts on SALE!!!!

We sell some of my images on t-shirts. These are not on our website but you can e-mail us to see if we have what you are looking for. They make great gifts and with Christmas coming up, we are running a sale on them. They are regularly $18.00 but are on sale now for $15.00. If you buy more than one, the price drops even lower.
We're getting low on some of the sizes, so e-mail us quickly if you are interested!

We have more images.

New Drawing on Website!

For the last couple of years, I have wanted to do a drawing for a Christmas card.
We have taken a number of still life shots and I finally settled on a photograph of two ornaments and a candy cane.

I drew this in pen and ink and Angela got with our printer and had the printing done in red and in green. We decided we would offer this image in a print size that has been fitted for an 11x14 mat and frame. The print is NOT signed and numbered, nor is it matted. The price for the print is $20.00.

We also have the note cards which can be used as a special Christmas card for someone you would like to write a personal note to. You can use it to give cash or a gift certificate. Angela likes the Christmas image as a Thank You card.

Visit our Shafranski Art Facebook page and let me know what you think.

Note Cards!

You can now purchase note cards from our website. Just find the image you like and click on the add to cart button for the note cards. If you would like to special order a package, please e-mail us and let us know which images you would like. These are great stocking stuffers. We also have Magnolia 1 and Pinecone 1 images in Thank You cards.
Remember, each package contains six cards and seven envelopes.

For all of you horse lovers, here is "The Leap" in note card form.

Thank you!

We would like to thank everyone who came out to the Wine and Garlic Festival in Amherst, VA. We appreciate you all! We really enjoy talking to people who know and appreciate art so thank you for visiting with us.

The festival was last Saturday and Sunday but we didn't drive back home until Monday evening. We decided to take a drive to Appomattox, VA where the Civil War ended.

You all know how we enjoy tooling around and taking photographs so it was a lot of fun and very interesting.

This is the McLean House where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at the village of Appomattox Courthouse.

This is the room in the McLean House where the surrender took place. We could not go in to the room so these pictures had to be taken from the doorway.

New Drawing!!!!

I have finished my new drawing that I was hoping to complete in time for the Rebec Wine and Garlic Festival in Amherst, VA on October 8th and 9th.

I am posting pictures of the framed original, matted 11x14 print and a sample of the note cards that are available. Please excuse the quality of the pics. These were done in a hurry and as usual, the original was left in it's plastic wrap.

You can find this drawing in our Landscape Gallery at the Shafranski Art website.

Angela will soon be creating more galleries so we will be able to pull what doesn't really belong in landscapes and put them somewhere else.

Sandra Francis Art

As I have mentioned before, we will be at the Rebec Wine and Garlic Festival in Amherst, VA this week-end. This will be our first time doing this booth show and we anticipate having a large crowd. We will be leaving Friday morning and we will set up our booth Friday afternoon to be ready for the show on Saturday and Sunday.

Sandra Francis, a friend of ours, will also be there. She has done this show several times and raves about it each year. Sandra paints on many surfaces, to include ornaments, any kind of glass, and wood. Please stop by her blog or her website and take a look at her work. Everything is one of a kind. She loves hearing from people so let her know what you think.

If you find yourself up our way this week-end, stop in for some wine tasting and Christmas shopping!

Here are a few examples of Sandra's work.

Commissions!

I am asked quite frequently if I do commission pieces of art.
Yes, I do. However, because I have a full time job, my time is limited so I have to pick and choose the pieces I think I can squeeze in between my work and the artwork I generate.

I put a lot of detail in my drawings so I work from photographs. Typically, these are photos that either Angela or I have taken. Occassionally, I have completed a piece by using a friend's photograph.

For many of my drawings, I will use several different photographs. For commission pieces, I must have several different photos of the subject/subjects they want me to draw so I will have different perspectives. Once I look over the photos and speak more with the potential client, I will then make a decision as to whether or not I can complete the drawing in the time line they have given me.

In the last couple of months, I have been approached several times about commissions
to be given for Christmas gifts. Time is running out. If you are thinking about hiring me or any other artist to create a drawing for you to give as a Christmas gift, please keep in mind that it takes time to create a piece of artwork.

SASI

SASI stands for the Southern Arts Society, Inc., which is located in King's Mountain, NC.
They are having a judged art competition and exhibit called "Gateways to the South" which runs from October 2nd until November 11th, 2011.

Their rules state that you can submit up to two pieces of artwork but your work MUST represent the south. The days to deliver your work for the exhibition were last Saturday and Sunday so Angela and I drove over to there on Sunday afternoon and entered two of my drawings.

If you get a chance, please drop by the Southern Arts Society and look through all of the artwork on display. Lots of good stuff! They also have a pretty good gift shop.

These are the two pieces we entered.

Visit us at our Shafranski Art website or on our Facebook Art page!

Almost Done!

I am almost finished with my new drawing I am doing for the Rebec Wine and Garlic Festival.

It should be finished by Wednesday night and Angela will have it scanned and printed on Friday. I'll then sign and number, mat and package them. The week of the festival, we'll have it matted and framed and we'll be ready! This one will have a little color in it. Hopefully it will generate a lot of interest.

I'll post it as soon as I can.

In the meantime, here is another original we will be taking to Virginia.

Fall is Here!!

Today is the first day of fall which is rather hard to believe with the humidity we have been experiencing in the southeast. Fall is a beautiful time of year and I'll be glad to see the leaves change colors. It's a great time for Angela and I to go on some day trips and take pictures!

In the Dark

A few days ago, I blogged about our next large show at the Rebec Vinyard Wine and Garlic Festival, located in Amherst, VA.

I did a drawing a while ago called In the Dark that we never had matted and framed. We decided that the show at Rebec would be a good debut for this drawing.

This photograph is a little soft and doesn't do the completed piece very much justice but it will give you an idea. We still have it wrapped in a plastic bag. We need as much protection as possible before the show.

Here is the drawing you would see on the Shafranski Art website.

And here it is matted and framed.

United Way Silent Auction

We had a Silent Auction at work to raise money for the United Way and it ended today.
Many different things are auctioned each year.

This year, Shafranski Art donated three 16x20 signed and numbered limited edition prints and three matching note card packages.

Juried Show in Belton, SC

The Belton Center for the Arts in Belton, SC is having their 13th Annual Standpipe Heritage and Arts Festival Juried Show starting September 23rd and ending November 18th.

This is the Shafranski Art piece that was juried in to the show and can be seen in their gallery, along with many other artist's works. If you get the chance, go have a look. Belton is located between Anderson and Greenville, SC.

Barn: Chapin, SC

Pencil Drawing

Rebec Vineyards, Amherst, Virginia!

Our next large booth show, Rebec Wine and Garlic Festival, will be held on October 8th and 9th at Rebec Vineyards in Amherst, VA.

This will be our first time as vendors at this show and we are very much looking forward to it. Our cameras are ready since we will be in such a great area!

Our good friend, Sandra Francis, will also be at this show so make sure you stop by her booth to see her and her fantastic hand painted ornaments and wine bottles!

We will all have great stuff for Christmas gifts for your friends and family so come on out, drink some wine and visit with us! The weather should put you in the mood for shopping!

Here is an example of Sandra Francis Art's painted wine bottles.

I am presently working on a drawing specifically for the Wine and Garlic Festival but I thought I'd post the Garlic drawing I already have. Please stop by to see my other pen and ink drawings at Shafranski Art.

SLAM

We had a very windy day at SLAM yesterday. However, the temps were much cooler.

We thank everyone who came out and saw us.

Shafranski Art will be back at SLAM on October 1st so come back out and purchase some neat Christmas gifts for your friends and family! Lots of cool vendors!

SLAM

Tomorrow we will participate in Greenville's Saturday Art Market (SLAM) for the first time this year. It's new to Greenville and started around July. The show is four or five hours every Saturday until the last Saturday in October. SLAM is located on the corner of Main and River Streets.

Hopefully with cooler temps, we will see a crowd since downtown Greenville is such a great place to be on the week-ends.

We will have a lot of signed and numberd limited edition prints, some of our t-shirts and note cards available so come see us at SLAM!!!

Booth Shows 4

Once you have your tent up and your artwork displayed to your satisfaction, you are ready for your customers. For the most part, we enjoy our customers. Most of them are very personable and have some form of artistic knowledge. However, please be aware that when you are dealing with the public, you will always have someone that is disagreeable.

Some folks just live to be disagreeable and have been and will forever be that way all of their lives. Don't let that get you down! Keep in mind that your attitude reflects on your business so no matter how miserable a person tries to make you just smile and tell them to have a great day!

If you like old cars and trucks, take a look at my Landscape Gallery on our website.

Booth Shows 3

Now that you have an idea of the inventory you will take to a show, you need to think about what you will need to display your inventory.

For instance, we sell pen and ink originals, two sizes of signed and numbered limited edition prints, magnets, note cards and t-shirts. Therefore, we take pro-panels to display our originals, two tables that help us display the t-shirts and magnets, two prints racks for our signed and numbered limited edition prints, and a table top note card rack to display our note cards. We also take chairs, a calculator, pens, receipt book, etc.

However, the most cumbersome item you will ever take to a booth show is your tent and your four forty pound weights you must use to weight the tent down in case of bad weather. No matter how easy a manufaturer advertises their tent is to put up, it is far more difficult than they lead you to believe.

Once your tent is up and weighted down, you then have to figure out how you want to display your merchdise inside your tent or booth space. For instance, we try to prominently display one piece that is in keeping with the theme of the show.

To see all of our images, please check out our Shafranski Art website.

Booth Shows 2

You've been accepted to the show you are interested in doing. So now what do you do?

More than likely, your show is out of town so it's a good idea to go ahead and make your hotel reservations.
One important tip I did not mention to you yesterday is that when you are researching shows, you might want to look at hotel costs in the area before you fill out your application. Some of the shows in out of the way places have fewer accommodations and therefore are very expensive. At that point, you may decide that your expenses would be too high for you to be financially successful at that particular show.
Remember, there are NO guarantees that you will sell anything at any show in which you participate.

After you have been accepted to a booth show, you can then concentrate on your inventory, what and how much you think you should take. For us, because I do pen and ink drawings, one of the things we look at when deciding which originals we will take is the area where we will be. For instance, if our show is located in the mountains, we will probably take more wildlife and landscape originals, note cards, magnets and t-shirts. The number of inventory you take is nothing more than a guessing game. After you have a few shows under your belt, it becomes a little easier. However, it will always remain a question in your mind.

One of Shafranski Art's more popular Native American prints is Chief's Daughter. However, that does not mean we would take this print to every show.

Information About Booth Shows

I will be taking the next few days to answer questions we have been asked about what all is involved with doing a booth show.

For those of you who have never been involved in selling, setting up and breaking down for a booth show, let me say that it is an extreme amount of work.

The work starts long before the show with researching when and where shows are held. Depending on what sort of art you are trying to sell will depend on what type of show you will be more successful in. It takes quite a while to find the right venue.

Once you find a show you are interested in, you fill out the application, pay your application fee and usually submit samples of your art in the form of pictures. The jury process on most shows can be time consuming but is usually done to insure it is the proper venue in which to sell your artwork and to help eliminate duplication. If you are accepted, you pay your booth fee and then the real work begins!!!

As ususal, don't forget to check out our website, blog and Facebook art page!

Happy Labor Day!

I apologize for being absent from my blogging for the last several days.
We've been extremely busy and we also decided to take a couple of nights and go to Maggie Valley, NC. We didn't even take the laptop! It was a very relaxing trip.

The last couple of times we have visited the valley, we have been there as vendors in an arts and crafts show. This time we went to visit an arts and craft show and to concentrate on our photography that eventually could become a couple of future pen and ink drawings.

We went to see Soco Falls and when we got there, Angela decided she'd wait in the car. She had no problem getting down the path but she didn't want to kill herself getting back up the steep incline. I'm a man so my ego was on the line. Needless to say, I went down to the falls and got some very good pictures. It was inspiring and I hope to eventually come up with a drawing of Soco Falls.

As much as I enjoyed seeing the falls close up, the climb back up the trail was very steep and I was doing a lot of huffing and puffing when I finally threw myself back in to the car. Maybe next time I can wait until late fall when the leaves will be off the trees and see the Soco Falls from the road!

I had better wrap this up, for now.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day. Stay safe!

Here are a couple of pics of Soco Falls.

As you can tell by the next photo, I traveled closer to the falls. The problem with that was having more of a distance to climb back up!!