November Skies

Have you ever noticed in November when the trees have turned red and orange and the sky becomes a beautiful grey blue color when a storm is either approaching or ending? The sun casts a back light and the sky becomes this gorgeous color against the backdrop of the trees. Everything is back lit and the colors become more vibrant.

A few weeks ago this was happening outside my studio. Every time I tried to capture it on the camera the clouds rolled in and the sun went away. I wanted to try to mimic those colors in a scarf using Barnett Newman's technique of "Zips". I have talked about him before. He was an abstract expressionist and in his paintings he developed a technique of introducing a second or third color by painting what he called "Zips". They were lines of color, usually unexpected but very pleasing.

Here are the results of my efforts.

There are actually 3 scarves here varying in color from a lighter blue to a charcoal blue color. For the "Zips" I used a variegated yarn which goes from a spice orange color to brown to red and along with a forest green variegated yarn.

I am very happy with the scarves.

I will have these scarves at my show this weekend in Duxbury, MA. If you are in the neighborhood, come visit my booth. You can get more information by going to my website, http://www.judyconnorjones.com/, and linking on Duxbury Art Association’s 37th Annual Craft Showcase.

Hope to see you there.

"Art on the Pews"

What a lovely little show this was! Unfortunately, very few people came to see it. It was their loss as the work presented was excellent! There were 21 artists in the show, both fine art and fine craft and live continuous music performances.

The people from St Peter's Episcopal Church couldn't have been nicer. They did all the right things. They had volunteers there to help unload and load. They had people there to help with set up if you needed it. They provided grids and lights for those who needed that for their set up. And they provided the boards to go over the pews for those who used tables for display.

They went over and above to help where ever they could.

The breakfast they provided on Saturday morning was a virtual feast! And they gave awards and door prizes to the artists! They treated us like gold!

I felt like I made several friends, both artists and congregants. This was such a contrast from the treatment I received at the last show!!!!! They definitely were the "Craft Show Angels"!

I made a few sales, enough to cover costs but not enough to be profitable. It's too bad because these are the types of shows I as an artist love to support. The unfortunate side is I need to make a profit and there was so little traffic and it seemed like so little potential for my buyer to show up that I have to think long and hard about doing the show in the future. What a dilemma.

How long do you stay loyal to a show because you like the people? Right now with selling so hard the business hard edge, I am afraid, must prevail. Any thoughts on the topic?

Off to the Show!

Today is the first day of the "Art on the Pews" show in Cambridge, MA. I will be setting up my display this afternoon and the show starts at 4pm and goes to 8pm.

If you are in the Boston area, stop by and visit me in my booth at St Peter's Episcopal Church.

You can get more information about the show on my website, http://www.judyconnorjones.com/, and linking to the "Art on the Pews" site.

I'll try to remember to take pictures so I can put them on the blog.

Here's hoping it will be a good show!