Benefit Four: Responsibiltiy and Committment to the Co-Op Gallery Experience.

“The more you give the more comes your way.”

A series by Artist Karrie Ross

Responsibility and Commitment: without these two qualities, where are you? Not to far along in following your dreams I would suspect. Remember, You make it happen. When you are a part of a co-op gallery or group you accept the responsibility to participate, to help it grow and expand. From the moment your name is posted, you supply a bio, images of your art, your email, you start getting notices and you respond … this action grows over time and as you respond more there becomes more to respond to… but without your commitment and feeling of being responsible to respond… nothing happens… you are just a blob. Being a member, a part of a greater community… brings into your life the quality of having and giving from another perspective.

Here are thoughts for being responsible and committed:

  • Stepping up to the challenge: Think positive thoughts. Start slowly if you have to, get a feeling for the general membership and group and figure out where you fit, where the skills Continue reading →

Letting Go… an important part of painting and the Fine Art and Life Process…

What do we do with the unwanted…

Here is photo of a stuffed toy that was left as trash in the alley near the dumpsters… just it’s poise tells of letting go the love so implied.

Letting go is certainly a process in life and can be found as well as in art and process…

QUESTION: Without the action of letting go of oneself into the painting, does the art become stagnant, does it still have the question that originated the art in the first place… the Why?

For me letting go is an on-going process of life and I move that into my are with purpose. I want to let go of the thought, positive or negative, I want it to be out in the universe ethers.

As an example, I know from experience that the more I talk about my art the more interest comes to me…might be internal or external interest but it comes.

Are you letting to or from? Tell me of your experience… Let’s talk!

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

Karrie at the Topanga Gallery Studio Tour 2010

I had a great time. I was located at one of the more spacious beautiful sites on the tour… a 25 acre property and one of the oldest in the Topanga area. There were five artist on the property all together… and we had a steady stream of people coming to enjoy the day and our art.

Karrie Ross 2010 Topanga Gallery Studio Tour

I really had a good time this weekend. I like being outdoors and having the opportunity to share my concepts,  my art work and process.  I was happy to know that so many people are able to relate to my Spiral Series and the concepts I have about energy.

Anoush and Hedi and art work purchased

I met a lovely couple who purchased one of my 8×8 pieces from the silent auction. Thank YOU Anoush and Hedi! May it’s energy fill your life with inspiration.

If you are looking for a June outing, I highly recommend the Studio Tour. Not only do you get to see great art and meet the artist… but, you get a self-guided tour of the Topanga Canyon area that is seldom seen.

Tell me about an experience you’ve had with art shows or tours…

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

Benefit Three: Gallery Artists need to know how to be Business People too!

“It’s not just the art that keeps the gallery going.”

A series by Artist Karrie Ross

Learning how to Run A Business: Being a part of a Co-op Gallery we all get to learn about the back-end of running the business.  This involves organizing the member participation, making sure the gallery is occupied during business hours, scheduling the solo, group, juried and special monthly shows; general business and bookkeeping and artist payments; organizing call-for-entries submissions; advertising, publicity, promotion… and a lot more. After awhile, everyone just seems to find their place and step-up into what needs to be done. Being part of a community, helping it move along, helps create a positive energy that supports its efforts.

Here are some parts that help make it run smoothly:

  • The Galley Book: There is a three-ring binder presented to each new member and includes the members contact list, how to write up a sale, what to do when sitting the gallery, how to secure a Continue reading →

What do you think happens when you paint over older paintings?

Ever look at all the paintings you’ve painted… and not sold or not totally happy with… or your style has changed and well, they just don’t represent you the way you want to be seen anymore?

I have… and I took action to change the pile of “just sitting there” work into work I love and it lives. Of course these were watercolor on paper not work on canvas, that’s a different story I mention later on.

These two paintings from the “Mystical Druids Series” are an example of those paintings I’ve overpainted and although you can see the under painting, it still looks like it was meant to be, and that’s the trick. Now, yes,  I’m an abstract artist and this concept might not work for someone who paints landscapes or still life or people. Although, try it and see what happens, what the depth becomes and does it add to your work?

As an abstract artist my style changes over time, the imagery differs as does the energy shared. I woke up one night and jumped out of bed just to try this new addition to my style and it worked… I believe I was up all night painting over paintings that I did so many I had them all over my house to the point I could barely walk so I had to stop… until they dried.

“Can you do this with canvas?” you might be wondering. Yes, but of course with canvas you can totally cover the under painting, as I’ve done many times with success. Sometimes the bottom texture shows through and adds to the new work or it’s totally gone.

I wrote this mostly for the watercolor as it’s on paper and we might be stuck thinking that paper can’t be re-used…

Tell me about an experience you’ve had…

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

Benefit Two: Community and The Art Group, Co-Op Galley Experience.

“Having someone in the same boat helps get you there faster.”

A series by Artist Karrie Ross

Community: a group of people joining together and having the same interests, work etc. in common.  Artists with similar goals and commitment for making something happen and sharing with the group. Where all members put their time and expertise into benefiting the groups success. A co-op has committees assigned for the variety of tasks necessary to run a successful gallery. From member selection, monthly shows, annual tours to organizing all the events for the year… this cannot be done without community participation.

  • Artist Members: it’s always great inspiration to talk with other artists about what they are doing, how they do it – their process, where they go – other galleries or Continue reading →

Benefit One: The Gallery Space

“If art is not seen, how will the artist get known?”

A series by Artist Karrie Ross

The Gallery Space: the public space where an artist can have artwork shown each month and have the opportunity for solo and group shows each year.

This is the most obvious reason for an artist to want to join a co-op artist community gallery. So I’ll talk about it first, but it might not be the most important reason.

  • Exposure on a continuous basis for both the artist and their work.
  • Solo Show: the opportunity to have a solo show as the gallery calendar allows. This adds to the artists exhibitions listing and gives credit to their artwork.
  • Theme shows: Group Shows: usually taking up the Continue reading →

ArT is found in many places… check out Waterloo and City restaurant…

ArT™ is found in many places… it’s not just painting, sculpting, jewelry, writing, acting or music… art is cooking too! The smell of sauces, fresh bread, smoked meats, the chopping of fresh vegetable and science of perfection … Waterloo and City restaurant… is one of those places where the ArT of cooking is flourishing in our city today.

This new restaurant has just opened in Mar Vista on Washington Blvd. in the old Crest House building… and is a long awaited gift to the area.

Tonight I decided to have dinner there… at 7pm it was packed. There was a table of 12 on the outside patio and when I walked in there wasn’t a table free… being one person, I headed to the bar… YEA! one stool just waiting for me… and ladies,  they have purse h0oks! The stool was padded and a good size square to make sitting comfortable. The atmosphere from my stool was of three bartenders, mine was Liz, tall dark haired and a pleasure to speak to… behind her was a long open window with a view of the kitchen… at least 10 people busy at their stations… some wearing baseball caps, bandannas, black and white small chefs hats (no tall hat so I’m not sure what they all mean).

I had a Pims cup on ice and ordered the corn soup with parmisian ravioli and chili, it came with a selection of fresh, on-site baked, bread… DELICIOUS! is the word that comes to mind.

Everyone was attentive and smiling, the other guests sitting at the bar shared their tips as to what they thought was good to eat… on my way out the two hostesses said goodbye and asked me to come again… I will.

That’s it for now. Remember to sign up for my feed in the upper left corner for more “ArT” related experiences.

Karrie Ross, Los Angeles ArTist

Benefits of being a part of an Artist Community Gallery

“If art is not created, how can art change OUR world?”

A series by Artist Karrie Ross

Benefits of the Co-Op Gallery: One might not need to look too hard for a co-op gallery… it seems you can find them everywhere there are artists who are excited about the work they do and about sharing it with their community and the world. Sometimes it might not be a gallery but an organization of emerging and mid-career artists like the Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA.org) or a local artist lofts community bi-yearly art show like the LA Brewery ArtWalk or a non-profit fund raising event like the yearly Venice ArtWalk and Auction, but the goal of getting art out into the public’s eyes, getting noticed and making a difference, is the same.

Here are the benefits I’ll be discussing in the series:

  • Gallery Space: this is the public space where the art is put on display.
  • Community: this is made up of the members of the gallery, the artists as well as the location public.
  • Running a Business: this involves Continue reading →

What happens when your style changes… can you paint it again down the road?

Change happens.

I met a famous (from the 1980s) painter who showed me a painting he’d been struggling with for months, it was only 16 x 20 and he couldn’t find the “time” to finish it, he was getting paid $30,000 to paint it. This event started me thinking, asking… “Could I paint in a style that was not my current style even if paid to do it?”

For the past 10 years I’ve painted a bi-yearly line of images for a company who shows and sells my work to the gift and decorative industry at HiPoint, I can paint images I created from years ago… so for me, I know it is possible, to channel of energy to a previous style. Certainly some aspect of it will have changed but the art will not suffer because of this… it will turn out with the same quality as when first painted. This has become an enjoyable exercise for me and an experience I wouldn’t have changed for the world. The painting of images over and over for sale… selling art brings more art creation and more sales. Promoting the energy of change, which I love to encourage.

This energy has transferred into my newest series and pushes it along through the 34 paintings I have so far… and they in turn keep pushing me to the next. Would not even think of living without it.

Art Lighting… not what you are thinking… this is interactive and amazing!

I had the pleasure to experience this installation of LED lighting by Eric Gradman of Virsix at the 2010 LA Brewery ArtWalk this April.

The Brewery is a colony of buildings filled with artist lofts ranging from condo like with outside spaces to surrounding an atrium area to 8″wide hallways shooting off from left to right into apartment-like spaces. If you’ve never taken the time to explore this event, I encourage you to make the time. It occurs twice a year in April and September.

Eric’s space was off one of the hallways…you walk in through a narrow hall and pow there it is… this expanse of LED lights that respond to your touch. I was mesmerized and had to play.  Thank goodness for iphones or this photo would not have been taken as I forgot my regular camera… as taking photos of others work is usually not permitted.

Eric was in his element sitting silently in a chair next to a computer watching all the action his creation was getting. We spoke a little about his piece and a little about “GLOW“,  an installation show put on by the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Department… an all night event and all about lights and interaction in art… Check it out this September 25th… 7pm to 7am… yep that’s all night.

Tell me about an experience you’ve had…or your thoughts….

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Los Angeles Artist
California

What Part Does a “First” Painting Play in Creating a Series No. 2?

The second part in this question is:

Does every painting in the series have to look like the first painting?

My answer is no not completely but there must be something that is continued that binds it all together. For me this can be the continuation of a question, a thought, a process, and most of all, feeling. The medium can change from painting to sculpture to photography to jewelry. My “FreeSpirits” Series did just that, moved from drawing to painting to sculpture both ceramic and iron… and the basic feeling and question were still there. I have had series that were based on an image, like the “Mystical Druids” series where a form appeared in each painting yet that was the only similar part of any of them. My “Power” and “I am the Dance” series were driven by the medium used, pen & ink and watercolor. My newest is “Spiral Series” and I’m driven to continue by the spirals, their energy and the color palate.

Tell me about your series experience…

That’s it for now and don’t forget to sign up to receive my Art Notes by email in the upper left corner side column.
Karrie Ross, Artist
Los Angeles, 
California