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!!