My Art Showcase Aftermath

And just like that…the show is over. Queue up the song Closing Time.

I was sad packing up my artwork last week. I must have thanked Sandy, like, a thousand times for having me display my work and, likewise, she said that Almost Famous was happy to do so. This opportunity had first posed some questions in my blogpost “I Got My First Art Showcase To Get Ready For”. I’m happy to report that I can answer them.

What my showcase will consist of:

A three tiered display of the different categories of cartoon, realism and fantasy. My cartoon and fantasy were placed on one side of the room, while my realism and portraits were placed on the other side. This helped the gallery viewer, as well as myself, see what I have to offer, creatively.

What styles I need to really hone in on, with my skillset:

My three categories were narrowed down into two different art style approaches. Cartoon and realism. This art showcase helped place a mirror in front of me. It forced myself to make decisions on how to categorize my art and, in turn, help sell my skillset to the public. I’m so thankful for that. I had created multiple events for my family and friends to attend while my artwork was up on display.

Each time I went to Almost Famous, I got to see various people and answer various questions on my art. Due to these events, I gained the confidence to let someone know what I can offer them, when commissioned.

What will get me recognized as an artist:

Lastly, this question was my biggest hurdle to jump over. I needed to do research on not just me, as the artist, but what other elements that make up my artwork.

Some elements were; the mediums, of both digital and traditional (pencil and painting), and how to display them all successfully, the design and print materials that needed, as well as, framing and pricing of artwork. I took surveys of what people thought and put their feedback in consideration on how to approach things in the future. So many great things were learned from this first art showcase, but I also know that I still have a long way to go. That’s part of being an artist though - it really is about the journey and not the destination.

If you have some feedback for me, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Thank you for your support!

A very important thing that I learned throughout this experience was my art was only one part of the show. The other part were the people, present. Before the showcase, I felt that I created my art only for me, but that’s not true anymore. When I create a retro inspired piece and someone tells me of their stories as a kid…

…or when a person tells me about their loved one after seeing a portrait I drew - it makes me so happy. I’m happy that my art got someone to think about their own life in a positive way.

My artwork has been taken down off the Almost Famous walls, but that doesn’t mean the showcase is over. Keep your eyes open for more art showings in the future. Also, please feel free to contact me on buying existing artwork as well as commissioning me to create something for you!

I really can’t say it enough, thank you.

A Little More About This Geeky Gal

I was born to two geeks.

One, is my dad, whom was into movies, TV shows and Intellivision video games. The other, is my mom, whom needed to have a record or MTV music videos always playing in the house. Their pop culture preferences paved the way for my own music, cartoon and geeky interests that I would draw, often.

I can still recall running into my parents bedroom, at 7am. I would jump onto the bed and show them my latest creations I drew while watching the Saturday morning kids art show, Captain Bob. They may not had shown it then, so early in the morning, but my mom and dad were always very supportive of my artwork growing up. That was where my own Geek Gal Go brandmark came from.

This is me.

The bright-eyed, corduroy pants and Hush-Puppies wearin’, 80s child that drew everything in sight. Even though I am now a mom in her 40’s I will never forget to always be that little creative girl, at heart.

This week has been a lot of print cutting, frame cleaning and matte assembling to get my art pieces prepped for the show.

I can’t even count how many times I have been to Michaels. I believe the cashiers all know me by name now. Many frames were bought and many coupons were used (thank God) because buying printing materials has been EXPENSIVE. I have forgotten this, since I have been in the digital world as a graphic designer for so long.

I also have been getting my artwork professionally printed on poster paper and canvas, so cardboard tubes of joy have been showing up on my doorstep, recently. Among all of this, I have been setting aside time to sit and create several traditional pieces that I have been showing WIP (work in progress) posts of. Lastly, I have been working on advertising graphics which I will end this post strong with an ad of my art showcase opening. Hope to see you there!

My Art Showcase Title Backstory

For my art showcase I decided to play on the phrase “Sex, Drugs and Rock’n’Roll.” I thought it was a great way to categorize my own three types of artwork, I will be displaying. After a little bit of word swapping magic the title for my art exhibit will be:

“Portraits, Cartoons & Rock’n’Roll”

I was curious, though, on the original phrase. I do this often. I like to know of the backstory to things. Why do we have “Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll” in existence? The first thing I thought of was the 60’s. I think this phrase pretty much explains the whole decade, right? Well, I went and asked the smartest guy I know, Google, and he told me that it was based off of a song in the late 70s...wha?! 

The song “Sex, Drugs, and Rock’n’Roll” was a B-side track off of an album called “Razzle In My Pocket” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. Now here’s a fun fact that got my eyebrow raised, boys and girls... The song was released in 1977 - the year I was born (head explosion). You have got to check out this video. It’s has all of the 70’s vibes, man, and some far out wipe-in effects. But what caps it all off is the super-rad Ian Dury floating head that moves into center camera. It’s perfection.

The birth year connection to this raunchy classic inspired me to officially make this the art showcase with the most sexy, addictive, air guitar hands (get it) EVER! I’m now completing portraits and my art prints are starting to come in, so more developments and little artwork teasers are in the works. It’s starting to come together :)

For My Brother's Birthday I Made Him An Unfinished Megazord

I took some time off this summer. It was nice to get away from time to time and go on some family adventures, but now the summer has ended. It’s back to morning school prep madness of reciting simple chores and “did you remembers” along with daily bento box wrestling matches. The phone has been ringing more frequent with current client projects and new clients that have been requesting my artwork. It is all very exciting, but something is amiss…

Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday. This year, it had snuck up on me. Back in May I was starting to draw a piece for Ryan. I knew how much he loved the Power Rangers, when he was younger, and thought of creating a Megazord art piece for his birthday, in September. I had plenty of time. I then got busy and put my borther’s birthday gift on the shelf. The funny thing about shelves is that you tend to forget things being placed on them.

Sigh.

This is what I have for him, an unfinished Megazord. I know he would be fine with it. I know he would just smile and say it looks great…but I’m not fine with it. I’m not OK with giving him an unfinished art piece. To me this symbolizes something. I have a lot of unfinished work to do. I need to refocus a little bit more on myself and my feelings. I think that is what Ryan is trying to tell me.

I also recently drew my brother, again. It has been a year since I had done the last drawing of him. This time, I drew him older or at least he appeared older to me. Ryan was happy in the reference that I drew of him. The reference was of a family shot during my wedding day. I need to revisit him more this way. I think that this is another thing Ryan is pointing out to me. He wants me to stop being sad and just draw his happiness.

Thank you Ryan, I love you <3