Exhibition prep

I delivered artwork to the gallery director on Sunday, and there's only 1 week until the show opens at Bishop's Stock. For me there's a tiny lull until opening night, so I would like to share with you some of the work that goes into preparing for an exhibition.

First I take photos of all of the finished artwork. Well, first I finish all of the artwork. Then I wait for a nice bright day and place a sheet of foamcore up against the picture window. I use smaller white panels to bounce the light around and shoot straight down at the picture. I use a photo editor to make adjustments. Then I use the photos for my own records, for newsletters and social media posts, and for printing business cards and postcards. I also share the images with the gallery to use for promotions and to email/text to interested collectors.

Framing time. Franken Frames in Tennessee custom makes all of these beautiful maple floater frames for me. I affix each panel its frame using a special epoxy. I call this stage "Framesgiving" because I raid the pantry for canned goods to weigh down the paintings.

A few days later the paintings are ready for hardware. I always underestimate how long it takes for this step: careful measuring, pilot holes, d-rings, tiny screws, cutting and twisting wire, and labeling.

And then another photography session. I like to photograph everything framed, too. "Skeleton Key" is all dressed up for the party. The black frame really makes the bright, playful colors pop. And the floater--that 1/8" space all the way around the edge of the panel--adds a teeny pause, an inhale, a moment.

Meanwhile, I started doodling. The coloring page started as a photograph of my house. I used my light box to make a pencil drawing. After making adjustments and embellishing the corners with the black-eyed susan and lavender from our flowerbed, I went over my pencil sketch with a black pen and erased the pencil lines. You can see here that I was too impatient about erasing and smeared the ink. That's okay. When I scanned the final drawing into the computer, it was easy to manually clean up the smears. (You can download the free coloring page HERE.)

I carefully packed up all of the framed paintings for delivery and couldn't resist using my cute, zigzag duct tape instead of plain old packing tape. I hand delivered the paintings, which is way easier and less expensive than shipping. I drove up after work on Sunday--yes, I do have a part time non-art job that I love. I got to visit with the Coates family and meet their new puppy Rye. Squeee!

My studio was suddenly very empty. So I got to work making a fresh mess. I primed 40+ small panels. Now I'm ready to jump into new work.

I also had time to daydream about how my work would look hanging in The British Museum. Not too shabby. They should call me. lol

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Opening Reception

Friday, August 4th, 5 – 8 pm
Bishop’s Stock Fine Art, Craft & Wine
202 W Green Street, Snow Hill, MD 21863
(410) 632-3555