January 17th & 18th, Riverview Park, Sebastian, Florida,
As I type this, I am ready to crash. Tent shows can be exciting, but exhausting. And it's all about Sell-Sell-Sell. That is basically what we're there for, so we all put our creative juices aside and put on our marketing hats to help pay for our addictive habit.
The weather was beautiful, and I was neighbored by a potter and jeweler. Lots of friends and students came by my tent to chat, and I handed out lots of literature and business cards. So it was a slow start on Saturday, but in the end I did ok ... not great, but ok. Moved out some originals and prints, and promoted some upcoming shows: "Art By The Sea," the Vero Beach Art Club's premier show in the Vero Beach Museum of Art, Friday-Saturday-Sunday of next weekend. I'll be doing Quality Control for incoming art, and helping Dawn Mill as part of the hanging crew inbetween. Below is a picture of my own entry into that show. It is painted in acrylic, and is from a photo I took during a visit to the Brevard Zoo--a fabulous place to find painting subjects.
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| "Flamingo" acrylic by Judy Burgarella |
Art By The Sea is a fun show and a wonderful venue for VBAC artists, being that it is in this wonderful museum in Vero Beach. I will be teaching a 5-week course on portrait painting in acrylics there this spring, and I am currently assisting Christine Thomas with her "Cork and Canvas" classes there, which are a smashing success on about every other Thursday night.
After Art By The Sea next weekend, I will be getting ready for the 4th Annual Sebastian Art Studio Tour, which will be February 7th, 10-5:00, and includes 13 artists in 11 studio stops, including mine.
After that is "Art on the Island," another VBAC-sponsored show featuring 3-dimensional art. I've got a doozie in the works for that one, which I will post soon--but right now it's in the ugly stage.
And following that in March will be the BIGGIE ... the Vero Beach Art Club's "Under the Oaks," one of the biggest shows in the state, drawing upwards of 80,000 visitors. Need to paint some special things for that ... but when time? Life is rich with exciting ideas, interesting people, fun art events and beauty all around when one is involved in the arts. It is my drug of choice, my therapy, my food for life ... though only second to my grandchild Salem.
And so it goes, after Under the Oaks my art-life will slow down and bit, just in time for the blast of hot weather here in Florida, but along with the hot weather comes all of those beautiful tropical birds who migrate up in the spring to new feeding grounds. It's a veritable zoo here in Florida, compared to where we came from--Connecticut. And also I will spend more time with Salem and her family. And have more time to get all those painting ideas out of my head and onto the canvas.
Stay tuned for news of the expanding arts district in Vero Beach off 14th, as I hear more about it.
Judy Burgarella
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