Full steam ahead

Comic Expo bound

Yesterday turned out to be "one of those days". In order to get my business cards which were held hostage in Vancouver I had to pay an additional $30, and hopefully I'll get the call soon that they have arrived. NOPE - BAd news, they forgot to pack my finished cards into the shipment and now I'll have no crds to hand out at the event :=( While dong my running around  I saw the flash of a photo ticket, adding insult to injury. Today I awoke from a dream where I removed a plastic layer over my entire teeth, I think the anxiety has passed.   No matter, the show must go on.

It is pouring rain and I have to load up my truck and set up my booth. I am going to hit a place where I can make many copies of my presentation notes. I need about 50 of each, they said 60 but I think I'm a bit more realistic in being conservative on attendance numbers.  It should be a good week-end though if this wet weather keeps up, people will want to spend their time indoors, and hopefully at the comic expo.

I have a bunch of stuff to put on my table, I hope I can fit it. Wish me luck!

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Come by and say hello my booth is F04 in ARTIST ALLEY at Calgary's Comic Expo April 27-29) under the name Artistavision Inc.

I will be giving two free panel presentations at this years event::

History of Animation Quickdraw Brian Batista
Room: Palomino C
SATURDAY Time: 4:00 - 5:00

When did animation start? How was it done throughout the ages? What exactly is animation? Brian Batista from the Calgary Quickdraw Society is here to answer all these questions and more.

&

Challenges in Independant Art Forms Brian Batista
Room: Palomino C
SUNDAY Time: 12:00 - 1:00

Traditional artist Brian Batista will delve into the challenges artists face in getting their work seen and sold. If you are a painter or an illustrator, a professional or just starting out, Brian will give you ideas on what it takes to transition to that "next step". 

The Final Countdown

As we quickly approach the opening of this year's Calgary Comic expo, tension begins to run high.

Mostly my stress comes from not knowing and time quickly ticking away. I'm kind of new to doing this sort of thing. I have run booths for other organizations in the past and had my booth for my Rooibos tea company for two summers. This is the second time I've operated a booth as myself, an artist. Once was at Market Collective. I just hope I don't suck!

At this event, I have a booth (F04) in Artist Alley to man for the three days plus set up and tear down. I am also giving two panel talks. With these talks I not only have powerpoint presentations to put together but also notes for every participant who attends. I need to have them done and printed tonight so I can make 60 copies of each on Friday before the expo begins. I am hoping to staple them together with my new business cards attached. I am waiting on a call to pick up my new business cards, fingers crossed. I was expecting to have them today, I hope they get them done in time or I'm S.O.L.

  I have to pick up exhibition passes, get set up, confirm a volunteer for my booth while I give talks, do I have to pay for a parking pass too all week-end?! I have to gather some random elements for my booth like safety pins and butterfly clips to hang some stuff like prints and signage. I will be offering some space on my table to friends. I will have the last 30 copies of Mr. Reaper Really Bad Morning with all the extras for only $10 each, there will be Versus handbills on the table to give away and Frosst Books business cards. I paid for the booth but am not really pushing sales, so its best that I get the most out of it! I will have my prints available at their regular price however I am not counting on earth shattering sales since it is a comic and not an art event. I'm going to have one copy of my book for people to peruse. What I really hope is to have an original painting or two at the table but that may not be logistically possible.

Trailer for Mr. Reapers Really Bad Morning.
 
For me, its going to be a great week-end to show up, get my name out there, talk to people, be in the excitement of the expo, meet other like minded individuals, vendors etc. Make a few sales. At least my expectations are not too high, I wont be disappointed since I will easily attain my objectives. I really hope I can drive some traffic to my site, get more followers on this blog and more likes on my FB artist page.

Stay tooned!

Priming with a bit of purple pigment

I'm a busy bunny, but when I have free time I don't waste it.

I should have been studying for my bar tending exam, instead I put in some time priming near a dozen canvases with gesso with a bit of purple pigment added to it.  I also got a can of bright red enamel spray paint to jazz up the frame for the "Taming the Tiger" canvas. I think it is going to look super good when finished and framed!

Gesso with purple pigment added.  Having a little pigment added allows me to tell the difference between the layers and which direction the strokes go between sanding. I laid it on thick with a brush. It took a number of hours, two of the canvases are 5' X 5'.

To the top right of this picture you can see my first framing job with the ikea frames. "Blissful Union" just happens to fit particularly well with the matte that is included with the frame.  Its not easy keeping the glass dust ad speck free or mounting the image in the matte. It will take some experience to master this skill.  For the remaining prints and frames I will need some additional supplies and will need to have the mattes cut. I am planing on doing it when I have my first bit of free time, hopefully as soon as next week-end.

Prints Available on ETSY!

I have been slowly listing my limited run of high quality prints of selected works from my solo exhibition of Sacred Images. When I say limited, I mean......... I only got 5 printed of many of these works and not all the works at the show were selected to make prints.

Each print and is hand signed by the artist and printed with high quality archival inks on a semi-gloss photo quality paper. Most measures approx. 18 X 24 inches, which is how large the original paintings tend to be, because of this, they should fit in many standard frames, including ones from Ikea. There is an inch white border surrounding the image giving it a very clean look. These are not a poster! They are high quality prints that you can get no where else and I wont be making any more because they are rather expensive to produce.  I am hoping by making these prints that people with limited budgets for art can have beautiful, inspiring works created by me in their houses.

If you order one and are in Calgary, if you pay the shipping on ETSY but arrange a pick up, I will happily reimburse you in cold hard ca$h especially if you give me some +feedback on my ETSY account.

If you would like to purchase on, they make great gifts for all seasons go HERE.

 *There are much more paintings available and I will be adding a new print every week-day. 

If there is a work that you are interested in please feel free to send me an email and I'll post it to my ETSY account earlier.

Prints at the Press

I just got the proofs finished for a large selection of prints of my work. Now you too can afford to own one of my paintings.  Here is a photograph of the color proof  of a variety of works (the three pictured top left are by Chad Wilsie) that I will be printing. I am printing a run to take with me for sale at Shambhala. There are currently 18 different prints to choose from. Some are very limited in run.

The prints will be on a high quality paper with satin finish, the large size will be 18" X 24" with a white border. There will also be an option for a smaller size on card stock for those who want more or have to spend less. Both will fit standard frames so you can get them from anywhere (including Ikea..... if you get my drift). More info to come once the prints are done. Keep your eyes peeled ;)