GIve it your best shot! (literally)

With the arrival of Spring, we've noticed a new crop of juried show opportunities. 

(Full disclosure, ours is among them- details HERE).

Many of these require submission online.
(More  exhibition opportunites are listed at the bottom of this post.)

As artists, we submit our strongest pieces, work that has been carefully conceived, expertly crafted, our best efforts. We labor over the artist statement, navigate the online forms. 

But WHAT MATTERS MOST in the selection process is how the work is seen by the juror- In our experience, submitting TOP QUALITY IMAGES is critical. 

True Story-  During the jurying process for 'COTTON,' our last juried show, a piece came very close to being rejected simply because of the poor quality of the artists' images. Fortunately, we were able to ask the artist for a written description and better photo, and ultimately the piece was included. We don't know for sure, but others may not have been so lucky.

The higher the stakes (in short, the ones you REALLY want to get into), the less likely it is for anyone to go to these lengths to insure that your work is appropriately considered. AND the less likely that the juror will recognize your work and give you the benefit of the doubt.

Don't sell yourself short! 

Submitting top quality images is not rocket science. You can learn to do this yourself; many classes and workshops, online or at local institutions, can help you learn the basics. (Try googling 'how to resize photos' to see just how many resources are available online!)

We're hosting just such a workshop in the Gallery, Wednesday April 3, 2013 1 - 3PM, taught by member artist Bob Evans, a photoshop expert for over 20 years. Called ESSENTIAL PHOTOSHOP FOR ARTISTS, it's one-stop shopping; everything you need to know to get the most out of your submission photos.

Key points which will be covered by Bob are
• Sizing Images for entry, web placement etc
• Preparing your images for printing / web use / invitations 
• Basic Image Correction or improvement
• Sharpening 
• Converting Color images to Black & White 
FInd out more and register HERE

If you're one of the many artists who've got this down, pat yourself on the back, and share this post with fellow artists-  after all, Friends don't let Friends submit bad pictures!

FYI- links to lists of upcoming juried show opportunities.
This is by no means a complete list-
Please share opportunites you're aware of, on our facebook page or in the comments. Thanks!
artdeadlineslist.com
callforentry.org
artsake.massculturalcouncil.org/blog/artsake
.multiculturalartscenter.org/call-to-artists/
danforthmuseum.org/juriedexhibitions2013

Dubuffet and Nan Hass Feldman

"The Cow with the Subtle Nose", 1954, by Dubuffet.

In a series of occasional blog posts, we've asked a member artist to talk briefly about an artist who's profoundly influenced their work. Artist Nan Hass Feldman tells us about two artists who've profoundly influenced her.

I was introduced to art at a very young age.  My mother signed up for mother and daughter art classes weekly at the Brooklyn Museum when I was ages 3 though 10 years old.  When I turned 12 years old, my closest friend from middle school and I would meet at the subway station at Kings Highway in Brooklyn and travel to Manhattan where we would get off at 8th St. in Greenwich Village and walk up 5th Avenue to 53rd St. where we would visit the Museum of Modern Art.  Then we would walk over to Madison Avenue and visit the Whitney Museum, and on upwards to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We did this almost every Saturday until we were 18 years old and off to college. During these years, I had a few favorite paintings I would visit each week.

 "The Goldfish", by Matisse

Ultimately, Dubuffet's and his painting "The Cow with a Subtle Nose" was my alter-ego and had the qualities I admired that I wanted more to have in my own work.  At the time I was writing my thesis, and my own work involved large mixed-media paintings which  were realistic (though made-up) of architecture, people inside and out, and lots of fantasy.  The works were representaional, though fictional, and took me months to create.  After writing this thesis about the cow, my work totally changed and indeed, the paper did end up being about me after all. 

The second artist I fell head-over-heels about was Matisse.  Of course, he is immensely loved world-wide, but I fell for him also as a very young child.  One painting I remember along with others of his is, "The Goldfish". Matisse's colors, shapes, and subjects are all about color and design without the baggage of correct perspective or true colors and I have been influenced whether consciously or otherwise by him all my life. 

Nan Hass Feldman, The Yellow Tablecloth

 I've attached my painting of "The Yellow Tablecloth" of my dining room which everyone mentions it reminds them of Matisse.  I am sure I did not think of Matisse while I painted this, but I too paint as I see, am focused on my subject as a vehicle for a love of subjective color, patterns, details, and a communication of a more interesting world.

Nan Hass Feldman

508.380.6222

NanHassFeldman.com

Internal Combustion: a gallery transformed

transformation complete!

Special thanks to the all the artists who submitted work, to juror Joseph Carroll, who selected and curated the exhibit, 

and to the three fabulous interns whose assistance made this happen in record time.

See more images of work on exhibit at 

images-fountainstreetfineart.blogspot.com

Internal Combustion/ Juror Selections

INTERNAL COMBUSTION:

 152 entries

+ 76 artists

 x 1 juror =

a very strong show!

We spent the better part of the day watching quietly while Joseph Carroll carefully examined each piece, as he made his selections for the show. Earlier, we had randomly arranged the submissions  along the walls and on every surface of the gallery, in order to make each piece visible at first glance without introducing any bias.

Joseph may have experienced a bit of sensory overload when he walked in (as you might expect from the above images), but was undaunted as he methodically studied each piece. If several pieces had been submitted by a single artist, he often considered them together. By the end of the day, he had selected and arranged 50 pieces by 38 artists.

Joseph told us later that he likened the experience to "walking into a party where you didn't know anyone", and trying to get a feeling for which people you'd like to get to know a little better. He commented that as he grew a little more familiar with the individual pieces, he noticed common themes in work that was executed with different media and of different styles.  He curated the show to reflect this interplay and create a conversation between the disparate elements of individual pieces, with the intent that the exhibit as a whole comes together in a way that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Come see for yourself!

Internal Combustion runs from June 22- August 4.

Please join us for the

  Opening Reception, Saturday June 23, from 5 -7pm

or visit us anytime-

Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday 11-5

Our summer hours are as follows:

Closed July 6-7, Independence Day weekend

July 13- Aug 4, Fri-Sat 11-5 

and as always, by appointment

508-879-4200

It takes a Village....

or perhaps, America’s biggest town

Artists, historically, have played an important role in society- as observers, interpreters, instigators. So what’s our part to play, here, now, in downtown Framingham, officially (fun fact) the biggest town in the US?

Roy Perkinson, Rte. 135, Late February, oil on canvas

Artists have a proven track record of being on the front line of revitalization and renewal in communites everywhere, Just in Massachusetts, examples abound. Let’s take North Adams, a mill town in the Berkshires completely transformed by MassMOCA. Facts and figures can be found at Economic Impact of MASS MoCA in Berkshire County, MA.  Boston’s SOWA Open Art Market, was instrumental in the turnaround of Boston’s South End neighborhood. Sowa market: rebirth of bostons south end. Waltham Mills Art Studios are a part of the revitalization of Waltham’s formerly seedy Moody Street.

Artists play a vital role in our community

- as volunteers, actiists, revitalizers.

The Danforth Museum, Amazing Things, and the Framingham History Center are already an important part of Framingham's cultural economy. But this is just the beginning... 

 

So support your friendly neighborhood artists- 

Visit your museums and galleries, often! 

And buy something. (a greeting card?) 

Grab a coffee or a snack at a local shop. 

Pick up a list of our favorite things and to do places to eat when you visit the gallery, and get a free pass for same-day admission to the Danforth Museum.

And be the change that helps everyone realize that South Framingham is 'the cool part'

of town!