Hello 

Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #96, Letting Go

What a great weekend! Last Saturday and Sunday was the pop-up gallery expo that I put together for my local students and it was such a great time and a huge success. The idea came to me when a local street show in Wisconsin, called the Paint-In took a bad turn a year ago when the local business owners took over the show and changed many things about the show. They should have known don't fix what isn't broken.
My goal for creating this SHOW-iN was for my students to show off their work and see what it was like to be in an art-fair type show without having to purchase things like a tent, walls, and tables like you need in a big show. This gave them an idea about how much work a big art fair show is compared to something smaller. It also gave them a chance to sell some of their works of art, which most of us artists are so desperately seeking to do.

This week's newsletter is about letting go of your babies (paintings that you love and don't want to let go of)

This coming Thursday is the Lake Region Watercolor Guild meeting/demonstration.
The guest artist is Sue Macfarlan.  A must see artist! Get info HERE

I will be back at the Smith Central Garage on March 19th for The Dillman's Festival of Artists.
Get info HERE.  

David

Yes to Class at the Civic Center in Libertyville on March 9th
Yes to Class at The Studio in McHenry on March 11th

How many paintings do you think you have in your studio? If you are like my students you probably have quite a few tucked away. Some of your paintings you probably really like and those are probably in a different pile from the ones that you felt weren't as good. You may even have put a frame on the ones you thought were worthy. Now I have to ask you, are you willing to sell and let go of your good paintings? many beginners won't sell their best work because they want to keep them and feel a close attachment to their best work.
This is okay to do for a little bit of time but sooner or later you need to let your babies go.

Letting go of your best is something my mentor Irving Shapiro had told us was good for an artist to do. He said after a while you need to let go of your paintings because it makes room for your growth as an artist and makes room for all those best paintings that are yet to be created. The paintings you feel are your best right now, in a year or two will probably not be as good as the ones you are yet to create because of the growth you will have achieved as an artist if you keep on creating new paintings. 

If you feel a need to hold on to your best pieces there are ways to have your cake and eat it too. Get them professionally scanned or photographed so you can have them stored digitally forever. You can then use those files to get prints made, along with having them printed on most anything. Refer back to my December 2016 newsletter GIFTS for all the things you can have your painting printed on.

Most importantly, If you never sell any of your best work, original or prints, how is anybody ever going to see and own your best pieces. Then there is the storing of all your best, in time you will have way too many paintings to store. let go and sell them. Selling them, of course, is another newsletters that I will have to write. But before I write that newsletter start by selling at shows, exhibitions, and Etsy.

Let go and sell your best, the new owners will take real good care of your baby. Most new owners will gladly let you come and visit your babies new home!
David