Dress Rehearsal

FJ5017Every year before the summer art shows begin I like to set up my booth and play around with the arrangement of the work I want to hang. By prearranging the work, and leaving the hooks in the panels, setting up does not take so long when I get to a show. It also helps me decide what extra work to carry along with me to replace what sells.

When I moved my studio into our new house in town, it left my old studio in my workshop at our mountain house mostly empty. Surprisingly (for me anyway–I seem to act like I abhor unfilled space) it has stayed way. The size of the studio gave me just enough space to set up the booth panels inside out of the rain and occasional spring snow.

You can tell what images have been selling best lately at these shows by the predominance of crow and ravens on the walls. There’s a good amount of other work as well though, but most of them are on a wall of panels just to the left of what can be seen in this photo.

8 thoughts on “Dress Rehearsal”

  1. You’re certainly organized! Looks good! I notice your framed work does not have wide mats and I very much like that look. In fact, in comparing my version of “Adjudication” (which I matted myself) with yours, I like yours much better. I hope all your shows are successful with fair weather this summer!

    1. Thanks Betty. I started trying out those mat-less float frame mounts for my photos several years ago and liked them a lot better than the traditional museum type mount I’d been using, so switched everything to that. Now, I’ve looked at those for so long the traditional approach has a lot of appeal again. I think, for me anyway, I get saturated with looking at one thing after a while so something new always looks better–until it becomes old itself. I guess now I like both types about the same, and the work we having hanging in our house is about a 50/50 mix of the two.

      One thing I do really like about the float frame approach is that not only are they mat-less, they are glass-less as well. It’s really nice to not have a layer of glass separating you from the artwork. you cans see the details, paper texture etc. much clearer. That’s an advantage that oil paintings have over water color as far as I’m concern. Now I don’t have to be jealous of oil painters. (Well, at least not jealous for that reason.)

  2. Looks great, Larry! Wishing you a successful (lucrative) art show season! Let me know if you exhibit on this side of the divide.

  3. Well CA is technically over the divide but I was hoping for something in my home state! 🙂 If you show in Bozeman, let me know. I’m willing to make that drive.

    1. Bozeman is closer to Missoula than California is. I’ll be at the SLAM festival in Bozeman August 8-9, and also a little farther away in Livingston at the Livingston Depot Festival of the Arts on July 2-4. Hope to see you this summer!

  4. Thanks for the dates, Larry. Not sure about the July weekend, but the August dates are on the calendar. Have a great season.

    1. Kathy, I should also mention one of my photos is part of the 2015 Triennial exhibition at the Missoula Art Museum right now. It might not be worth the trip just to see one single image of mine, but the exhibit as a whole has a number of nice pieces by other Montana artists.

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