“The Scarecrow”
Oyonale:3D by Gilles Tran

Art Display and Show/Exhibition Booths

Displaying your art effectively and adding booth enhancements are key elements in helping you sell your art. You need to consider crowd traffic, sunlight direction, and access to the artwork within your booth. Oversized and colorful booths can be effective at attracting people but may not be worth the extra time in setup and may distract from the artwork. Booth backdrops, props, and table displays can create atmosphere and a theme for displaying your artwork.

Consider placing graphics or art on the outside of the booth as well. In some cases your booth might be in a middle row and you may be able to open the back wall of your booth. This can give you better light and more visibility for a second opportunity to sell. It may mean that you display less but sell more because your art will be seen at different angles and the pieces can be seen up close. If the show does not supply you a booth you may have to bring your own.

Before spending money on a booth, you can rent one for each show. There are people and organizations who can supply the booth and set it up for you. If you decide to purchase your own booth, it is well worth the money to invest in a well-made one.

Source: Michael Silva and Peter Koehler

Pain and Art A commentary from one of our readers...

“Mary said: ‘There is a strong correlation between rage, passion, and creativity...The more conflict, the more rage, the more anxiety there is, the more the inner necessity to create. Artists tend to feel this inner drive even more intensely than most and in some respects experience and give voice not only to their own demons but the collective demonic as well.’

How right you are Mary! After living months of unrelenting physical pain, I decided to see if I would feel better in a different climate: Los Angeles. Not only did I feel better, I felt great. I was also able to paint with a paint brush -- and painted walls and rooms. It was such a great feeling to be up on a ladder and even lying on the floor as I painted a room! Not only did I not have time to work on digital art, I had no desire - because I was able to use my tool of choice.

Having recently returned to Texas (and its violent clashing weather systems), I find the pain has returned. There appears to be little to no scientific research done to document changes in the body due to weather, and even LESS in my situation - numerous spinal cord injuries. Others with chronic pain choose drugs but I choose to fight pain and loss of consciousness through art. Give me art over drugs any time....

The computer is again in my hands as the storms roll in. The greater my pain, the greater the need to paint. It is something my family never understood -- how I could be up on a ladder painting the night before a back surgery, and how I create thousands of images now in constant pain. It is not a question of IF there will be artistic expression, but rather how I will do it. Photoshop allows me to work with color from bed.

I have even started copying the weather map from yahoo into my file system to show WHAT the weather was doing at the time I made a series. Many wonder how I can make 50 digital images while tornado like weather bears down upon my house. Digital art truly saved me from horrible depression, when I would otherwise be unable to design with color. It also keeps me off a ladder when I am unstable and likely to be injured!

Thank you for starting this site and discussion blog! It is long overdue.” Hannah Lake in Texas

REPLY:

Dear Hannah,
You bring to our attention an important subject.

Art is a fantastic way to communicate emotion. As with most intense human emotions, pain and anguish are abundant in art. Many of the great masters have suffered from one malady or another.

Creating art is a way to rebuild -- or make anew -- one's life. It is cathartic and purposeful.

Thank you for sharing. Thrive in your creativity and be well.
Sincerely yours, Mary

P.S. This website may be of interest to you: PAIN TREATMENT TOPICS GALLERY

“ Still Life With a Fish Tree”
Photo Manipulation by Andrew Polushkin

Illusion Defined:
1. Something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
2. A perception, as of visual stimuli (optical illusion), that represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality.

“ One Day of Mrs. Houdini ”
Digital Collage by Istvan Horkay

Artful Illusions:

The Italian critic Luigi Salerno has expressed illusion’s guiding principle in these words: "The image is no longer just a matter of line or color; the artist wants to convey something which goes beyond lines, colors and perspective that strikes the viewer's feelings and imagination. To stimulate the imagination, the artist attempts to break down the barrier between the viewer and the work of art and to give his/her painting a ‘non-finite’ aspect.

There are several different kinds of optical illusions. Some illusions distort an image’s size, shape, or length. Some use shadow and light or an image’s surroundings to create effect.

One type of optical illusion is the “after image.” An after image occurs when we stare at a picture or object for a while and then look away, but still see the image even though it is no longer in front of us. After images happen because of the level of contrast (the amount of difference between light and dark, for example a dark image against a white background) and brightness of the image.

Another type of illusion is the ambiguous illusion. This is when your brain can interpret a single image to be more than one thing. Depending on how you look at an image – the angle of the image, shading from light to dark, and the way the image is related to your past experiences – you may see something entirely different than what another person may see.

Some illusions cause us to see an object or scene that could not logically exist. This accomplished through the use of shading and layering, which can cause something to appear to be farther away, and lines, which appear to give depth or dimension. (See the work of the great illusionist artist M.C. Escher's Website)

Optical illusions happen at the intersection of art and science. There is a physical reason for the illusion. It’s not ‘magic’ but instead a trick that the eye plays on the brain. Once one understands how the eye sees things and how it misinterprets what it sees, the artist is free to appropriate the phenomenon into his/her own art.

References: Illusion Art Works; Art critic, Luigi Salerno

“Android Ecstasy ”
by Rob Hassan

“ Under Construction ”
Photo Compositions by Dominic Rouse

Dots of Distinction

A computer monitor is one big optical illusion. Your computer screen is made up of tiny red, green, and blue dots. The illusion is, you see more than just red, green, and blue dots; you see thousands of different colors. Our brains blend these dots together to make a variety of colors. Essentially we are tricked into seeing more than what is actually present.

Recommended Reading:

Matthew Luckiesh’s 1922 book describes all different types of Optical Phenomenon organized by chapter. The book contains graphs and charts as well as illustrations of many types of illusions. Visual Illusions: Their Causes, Characteristics And Applications

Interesting Links and Winks...

"Art of Illusion" is a free, open source 3D modeling and rendering studio. I haven’t tried it, but it looks to be promising… Art of Illusion

You are encouraged to create or photograph your own textures for your art, but when a specific texture is hard to come by try finding an appropriate sample image here at the Texture Repository -- They’re free!

Fellow “Mary’s Page” reader and artist, Carlos Romero, invites you to join the: WORLD ART FOUNDATION
An organization of professional artists from around the world.

IN-BOX
Dear Friends,
Your insights, perspectives and viewpoints are welcome...

“In Response: Talking about your art… Tips for Selling…
I place relevant art titles to clear up any confusion. I prefer names paving a mind set that has leeway for taking the complexity via simplicity. Perhaps in the future I might title with numbers if I feel it warrants no mind set. When is it more appropriate titles or numbers? “ from = tom@evokedtempest.com - Tom Crayns

REPLY:
Dear Tom, It is important to consider how a title might add to or distract from the art viewers experience. Numbering can be evocative -- more is left to the imagination of the viewer of your work. However, if you want to be absolutely clear about your message than give it a title. See previous commentary: “Mary’s Page" #4

“Interesting post, thanks. One question - there will be continuation? :)” from = Timur

REPLY: Thank you, Timur. Yes, most definitely, “Mary’s Page” will continue :~)

“A question to the author of [blog], what time is each article written… Moscow?” from = Rodion [Kuzmin]

REPLY: Rodion, Hello! “Mary’s Page” is written and officially posted on Monday of each week by USA, East Coast Standard (EST). Should this time frame change we’ll let our viewers know.

“Well, as to say, it was pleasing certainly:) Although I nevertheless practically nothing understood :)” from = Arthur

REPLY: Dear Arthur, thank you for your comment. What can I do to help clarify the material? Are there subjects that you would like to read about?

“These commentaries matter. :)” from = Mikhail “Judging by the commentaries here on [blog], no one offers these topics more brightly to be expressed, to support interesting conversation, to be ingenious -- finally… :)” from = Peter

“[Many of the dark images this past week] look like recent reporting in the news on TV. This site has been a long time coming :-) Entire site brilliant and simple!” from = Sergey

“REGARDING TALKING ABOUT YOUR ART . I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK. PRETTY COOL, PRETTY NEAT . HAVE A HAPPY DAY from = johnboat@xtra.co.nz - J R O'BRIEN

Quote
Submitted by the artist Jan Kolling...
"If death can fly, just for the love of flying, what might not life do, for the love of dying?"
:::Malcolm Lowry:::

This page posted 2 November 2009 ARCHIVED PAGES
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