Last Fall, custom wall covering company Area Environments debuted four designs featuring my work in their Collection VI. You may have seen me post about this new collaboration on social media and I’d planned to post here much sooner but, well, life happens!
AE and I had been following each other on social media for awhile and I was regularly blown away by the stunning designs they were putting out by favorite artists of mine like Carlos Ramirez and Andrea Pramuk. So when they reached out to see if I was interested in publishing with them, the answering was a quick and resounding YES!
luckless romance
We tried out some of my acrylic paintings and watercolor sketches but overwhelmingly agreed that the watercolors were absolutely the way to go. To give you a little hint as to the magic AE produces– most of these watercolors began as 5″x7″sketches and can now cover a full wall.
AE can create custom wall coverings for your space, whether you want one big statement wall or to fill an entire room (which I think would be AMAZING, especially with my watercolor forests!)
colors and promises
gravity
Statement wall coverings are definitely having a big moment in the design world (check out my Artsy Dwelling Pinterest board where I’ve pinned some favorites!) and AE’s wall coverings can be specified for residential AND contract design. I mean, how beautiful would these be in a healthcare environment?!
Every year at this time I like to take a few moments to reflect back on what has transpired in the past twelve months. This year was crazy busy personally and professionally and I’m ending the year with several goals met, some hard lessons learned, and a long To Do list already in place for 2019. Care to take a walk down memory lane with me?
acrylic paintings completed 75
Wow! I was definitely a busy girl this year. I continued my ECHOES and LEMOLO series in 2018 and began revisiting my VENTERS seascape series, thanks to a show in January inspired by Florida and the inspiration found at our new home on Camano Island in Washington. This year also saw the beginning of a new series, IMMERSIONS, which I’m still excited about though I pursued the idea more in new watercolors on panel, I hope to explore more in this series in acrylics in the new year.
watercolor paintings completed 42 plus loads of sketches
My love affair with watercolor continued this year, especially after discovering the joy of painting large scale watercolors on canvas! My IMMERSIONS watercolor forest abstractions were especially popular and I have a feeling there will be more to come in 2019.
Again this year, I upped my commissions completed, increasing from 3 last year to 5 this year (goal met, check!). I’m still learning what works best for me when doing commissions and I won’t lie, they can be a struggle. My painting process has evolved to where I work very intuitively, allowing the composition to emerge over time and with commissions often based on previous paintings, it can be difficult to retain the same sense of spontaneity and layering that is inherent in my work.
commissions completed 5
A goal for any commissions in 2019 is to paint without expectation of the outcome– to try to let the commissions evolve more naturally. A lofty goal, for sure, for a people pleaser like me.
This year I said yes to as many opportunities as I could, and learned some really valuable lessons along the way.
I’m sure this is different for every artist, especially depending on how one measures success, but the past year taught me that, for me, investing time and inventory in “shows” in which the venue or organizer does not have a substantial financial stake in either the sale of the work or the success of the exhibition leads to a whole lot of work and financial investment on the part of the artist with little but a pat on the back and a line on your resume in return. I usually think of these types of shows as “resume builders” but I’ve reached a point where my work is selling so well through my galleries that tying up work in shows just doesn’t make sense for that line on my resume.
exhibition/show participation 6
My work is selling well through my wonderful, hard working, committed galleries and representatives. And while I’m excited to participate in gallery shows, in 2019 I will only pursue non-gallery exhibitions that make sense for me financially and professionally and will be very careful about to whom I entrust my work.
Which leads me to the biggest womp womp of my year..
paintings lost or damaged 15 (cue sad music and crying)
The paintings pictured above were all damaged to the extent they required hours of work to recover/repaint completely or lost in shipment this year. There were 5 more that had smaller damage while in someone else’s care and there are three more that may or may not be sellable due to shoddy craftsmanship by a vendor I’ve used extensively in the past.
I think 2018 will go down as the year I learned some very hard lessons about how to know my worth as an artist and the worth of my work and that I must under any and all circumstances treat it as the important and valuable commodity it is and expect others to do the same. And if they do not– I will not work with them again. Period.
But on to happier topics! One of my goals for 2018 was to increase my streams of “passive income” by having some of my work published as prints and I’m thrilled to note that my small selections of my work are available as prints through Wonderwall Studio and as custom wall coverings through Area Environments.
2019 will bring more print publishing opportunities, as I’ve just signed a contract with Grand Image and (hopefully) will launch my own print shop on Minted. I’m not looking to become a print artist (original work will always be my focus), but it is my hope that by offering some of my work as prints, it will broaden my reach as an artist.
In other news this year, the Mr. and I did lots of hiking, explored territories both familiar and new, including over a month spent exploring the Southwest.
But perhaps the most exciting event of 2019– officially moving our residency to Washington! We’d decided in 2017 that we wanted to settle for awhile (maybe forever!) in Western Washington this year. So when the Mr. landed a travel contract in Everett and we found a lovely little apartment on the water on Camano Island, we were thrilled. Little did we know that we would fall hard for this little island and George would land a full time permanent job in Everett.
one of many beautiful sunrises from our bulkhead
So we’re here to stay in this place and I’m looking forward to the new year and getting back to business!
I’ve already mentioned a few things to look forward to in 2019, but mark your calendars for May 3, 2019, when I will be opening a new show at Art & Light Gallery in Greenville alongside the wonderfully talented Alicia Armstrong!
Goals for 2019:
Expand my gallery representation in the West/Northwest and beyond
Expand representation for corporate and healthcare artwork placement in the Pacific Northwest
Build a new website (ugh! this needs to be done but I am SO not looking forward to it)
Merge this blog into the new website
Explore more IMMMERSIONS work in acrylic
And of course, I will be creating new work in all my current series– so many ideas to get out of my head!
Thank you all for continuing to follow along and join me in the journey. See you in 2019!
Another year is nearly in the books, ya’ll! This year was one of the most “settled” we’ve had in our nearly seven years of traveling– we were in Tacoma until the end of November and I had my own little dedicated studio space for all that time. It was very good for my creative energy and artistic well being!
As much as the travel and new places fuels my inspiration, the stability of being in one place helped give me the time and space to work out lots of ideas in the studio!
acrylic paintings completed 38
While the number of completed acrylics this year was lower than last, I explored abstraction more than before and felt more emboldened to try out some different ideas. I found my groove in the reflection inspired ECHOES series, completed a second round of the tiny SCINTILLA series, began a new wilderness inspired series LEMOLO, a conglomerate of my CAESURA explorations and my earlier LATITUDE series.
watercolors completed 40
2017 found me diving more into watercolors after my #the100dayproject last year. I explored a range of techniques and forays into abstraction with watercolors this year. In addition to the larger watercolors, I continued my almost daily #watercolorsandcoffee practice.
A goal of mine for 2017 was to increase my experience with commissioned work and I’m proud to have completed 3 commissioned pieces for clients in Florida, Boston, and Vancouver, BC.
28×36 acrylic commission
36×44 watercolor commission
60×36 acrylic commission
Be on the lookout for a new Commissions page on lesleyfrenz.com with more info on past commissions and my process for working with you on a commissioned piece!
I have been hearing for years that having a newsletter is mucho important for any online presence. And yet, for some reason I resisted. UNTIL NOW!
I’ve been getting requests on social media for folks to be notified when new work is available, when larger pieces are available, etc., so instead of making you guys do the work of checking the website or keeping up with social media posts, you can now be notified first thing when new work is ready for your eyes! Newsletter subscribers will get first access to new paintings and more!
You can sign up for my artist newsletter, From The Easel, over on the blog sidebar–
Even though I’ve been focusing much of my energies these last few months on my upcoming LATITUDE show at Art & Light, I’m still working behind the scenes helping other artists through Forager Services. And if you’re in or near the Greenville area, I’d love to help you, too!
I will be teaching two workshops at Art & Light Gallery in Greenville on Saturday, March 5th and I’d love for you to come and join the fun!
Interested? Here are some details–
FINDING YOUR VISUAL VOICE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
SATURDAY, MARCH 5 (11:30 AM – 1:00PM) $35
Social media has become an integral part of any artist’s marketing program. Your social media platforms should represent your brand to potential clients, collectors, and collaborators in a way that inspires and excites. You already create beautiful artwork. We’ll work on cultivating your social media outlets to reflect that same creative voice!
What we’ll cover in the workshop session–
Why a unique and unified visual voice is important to your success on social media
We’ll look at the major social media outlets ( Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram ) and discuss the advantages to each
How to focus your energy on the platform(s) that work for you
How to use one platform to funnel content to others
How to look objectively at your work and discover and identify your visual voice
How to incorporate your unique visual voice into your social media posts
How to style your voice across several social media platforms
CALL THE GALLERY WITH YOUR PAYMENT TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE
ART & LIGHT, 16 AIKEN ST. GREENVILLE, SC 29611 (864-363-8172)
FINDING YOUR WORDS AS AN ARTIST
SATURDAY, MARCH 5 (2:00 – 3:30 PM) $35
Creating art comes naturally. Writing about yourself and what you’ve created? Not so much. So many artists struggle to put into words what makes them create, what their work means to them, what they want it to say to the world. Sometimes they just need someone to help them find their own words.
Whether you’re an artist, gallery owner, or other creative type, maybe writing just isn’t your forte. We’ll work together to put into words what can be so difficult to express.
What we’ll cover in the workshop session–
Examine examples of good & bad art writing
How to begin
How to edit your words
Keywords to include and avoid
How to present yourself verbally
CALL THE GALLERY WITH YOUR PAYMENT TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE
ART & LIGHT, 16 AIKEN ST. GREENVILLE, SC 29611 (864-363-8172)
You can also RSVP on Facebook here but you’ll still need to call the gallery with your payment. If you can’t attend, please help me spread the word by sharing a link to this post or the Facebook event! Thanks, friends!
only love can bring the rain, 2015, acrylic on canvas panel, 6×6
As the year comes to an end, I choose to focus on the positive things that happened this year. There were so many! Because I love a good list, here’s a wrap up–
It has been an amazing year despite the stress, the worrying, the painful loss. I am ready to get a new year underway as I prepare for my March show at Art & Light Gallery and can’t wait to see what else 2016 brings!
It’s been awhile since I checked in and caught you up on what’s happening with the business side of Artsy Forager, and I’m also long overdue for taking a look at how I’d like to see Artsy Forager evolve over the coming months and years and for that I need your help! If you wouldn’t mind taking the survey at the end of this post, I hope to be able to truly take your input into account according to how you use the blog and why you read Artsy Forager.
But onto what’s happening these days with Forager Services— oh so very much! I’m continuing to do curation and art research for my main healthcare art consultant. Lots of photography being placed in facilities in Florida and Tennessee! It’s really interesting to see how art programs in healthcare facilities are evolving. With advances in technology, we’re able to print affordably on so many different substrates at affordable price points, the old days of simple matted & framed open editions adorning patient rooms and halls are quickly coming to an end.
I’ve had the privilege of working with several artists over the past few months on various aspects of their branding and marketing. For Nashville area artist Deann Hebert, I not only helped her tell the story of her work and life verbally, but also created a beautiful press kit she can send to her dream retailers and collaborators!
In addition to working with Deann, I’ve helped a very busy and in demand artist write statements for two upcoming solo exhibitions as well as reworking her artist statement and bio. And I’ve been working one on one giving art direction/critique to an artist whose work I greatly admire but who was feeling like she needed a second set of eyes and a little push to keep the work moving along! Will begin working soon to start expanding her gallery representation. Exciting stuff!! If you’re interested in working with me, please check out the Forager Services page to see the type of services I offer and feel free to shoot me an email with any questions.
Then there’s another little project I’ve been working on.. Since the end of last year, I’ve been working with Mantle Art, an awesome framing app based in Seattle, to bring together a collection of small scale limited edition prints to be offered through their site. The collection is looking amazing and will be launching very soon!! You can see a sneak peek of a few of the prints below. The quality is superb!!
And of course, there is my own fledgling studio practice. And a newly released feature in Professional Artist Magazine on the Thriving Artist Summit! Oh and I’m also trying to put together my first curatorial proposal. And maybe apply for a grant if I can get my app together in time. So to say I’m feeling pulled in a million different directions and perhaps a bit scattered is the understatement of the year! Which is why I need your help, dear Artsies. I want this blog to be not just a source of delight and inspiration, but of actual use to you. I would like to be able to refresh and renew the site with a clear and present focus! I hope you’ll take a few moments to complete the survey below, so that I can get a handle on what really matters to the artsy folks who visit here day after day!
Tomorrow’s the day, ya’ll! I’m making my “appearance” at the Thriving Artist Summit tomorrow December 9th, sharing my tips and thoughts on how artists can use tools like blogs and social media to promote their work, as well as insight into Artsy Forager, tips for approaching galleries, and more!
The interview will be available for 72 hours but if you can’t listen in the next few days, you’ll be able to catch a replay at a later date, but you have to register for access! You can do so by clicking the image above. Please share with your artsy friends!
Many of you are artists. Or you know an artist or two, or twenty, you love their work and want to see them succeed. So I’m super excited to share with you the Thriving Artist Summit, a FREE online event happening December 2-13, 2013!
My friend Bonnie Glendinning of artmuse.com is on a mission to help artists be successful and THRIVE, not just survive. Bonnie has brought together 20+ highly successful artists, experts, and mentors ( including Yours Truly! ) to share their key insights for real success.
I shared my expertise in blogging and social media at this powerful summit and I hope to help you learn how to use these powerful tools to promote your work, find your own unique online voice and draw collectors to your work. You can learn more and reserve your FREE spot here: http://thrivingartistsummit.com/lfrenz
During this special community summit you will discover how to:
Make Your Creative Biz a Real Success
Build Your Brand for Your Ideal Buyers
Price for Real Profit and Growth
Increase Your Sales with Marketing, PR, and Social Media
Diversify into Licensing, Wholesale, and Direct-to-Consumer
Get Into Galleries, Shows, and Raise Project Funds
I’d love for you to experience this yourself and JOIN US FOR THIS FREEsummit. In addition to all the incredibly valuable information you’ll receive from industry experts, you’ll also get exclusive access to helpful downloads available to no one else!
The Thriving Artist Summit
With Lesley Frenz and Bonnie Glendinning
December 02 through December 13, 2013 Approximately 1 hour, replay available to registrants
A few months ago, you may have seen me make an announcement that Artsy Forager was now offering a variety of services to creative folk. With the exception of sporadic mentions on Facebook & Instagram, I haven’t really shared with you what I’ve been doing or how it’s been going. Pretty darn great, that’s how! The response has been very positive but thankfully not overwhelming. I’ve been able to gradually dip my toe in and I’ve been given the opportunity to help some wonderful artists, gallerists and consultants.
A few artists have approached me for help with their websites– now I’m not a web designer by any means, but I do approach an artist’s website from the direction of a blogger, a former gallerina, an art consultant and a potential collector.
Sometimes all an artist needs is an objective eye, a voice from outside themselves to give them a bit of guidance and direction. I’ve been super excited to work with several artists to be that source of advice and direction. It’s my favorite thing in the world! I’ve also been helping an artist proofread and edit her blog posts— the verbal thing isn’t everyone’s strong point, but this artist still has something to say and wants to make sure she is saying it to the best of her ability! That’s where I come in. A tweak here, a quick edit there and she feels much more confident in the content she is sharing with her followers and collectors!
One of my favorite and most challenging opportunities came along in the form of a social media makeover for a gallery. I’m still a firm believer in galleries and if a gallerist is hustling and working hard to sell the work of her artists, plan shows, AND have a life, that doesn’t leave much time for learning all the ins and outs of social media. But galleries need to use these tools to thrive!
Creating and managing your social media is a bit like throwing a fabulous party.. You get your house and yourself all dolled up and then serve your guests delicious food, cocktails and conversation. So for this gallery in particular, I went through their social media and implemented changes to create more engagement, as well as giving each platform a visual makeover, to sort of put on a digital party dress, if you will.
We got their social media all powdered up and ready to party! And the gallerist was thrilled with result, along with the rather lengthy list of social media “How To’s” I included for reference.
Doing all of these tasks for folks other than just myself has encouraged me with such a sense of purpose and pride! But then I’ve also been doing a bit of freelance art consulting/curation which is totally my jam, ya’ll. It’s what I did for five years and I could almost do it in my sleep. I’ve been working mainly for one art consultant in particular who specializes in art for the healthcare environment. So lots of peaceful, calming images, mostly photography and limited edition prints, for facilities in Florida, Tennessee and New Jersey. But even on a tight budget, we can still end up with beautiful, inspiring collections!
I’ve also spent a good deal of time lately putting together a proposal of art consulting services for a small rural hospital here in Western WA. Small hospital usually equals tight budget, but I’m hopeful the arts commission can raise the funds for at least a few key pieces. In any case, I had a blast putting together a “dream” proposal to give them something to shoot for!
Finally, I want to tell you about an exciting project I’m a part of that puts all this experience and knowledge to the best use ever– helping artists to succeed! I’m honored to be a part of The Thriving Artist Summit, a totally free online artists conference happening December 2-13th, giving you access to more than 20 industry experts whose knowledge will help you bring your art and the business of being an artist to the next level. The summit aims to teach, inspire, inform, guide and mentor artists on business, money, pricing, legal issues, inspiration, social media, wholesaling, and more.
All attending this online conference will cost you is a little bit of your time. And I think you’ll get a huge return on your investment! You can save your spot at The Thriving Artist Academy website. Plus, if you subscribe to the Artsy Forager email list over in the sidebar, you’ll receive an exclusive bonus from yours truly!
Just a little glimpse into what’s been keeping me busy lately! All this and writing the blog, of course! If you’d like to know more about the services I offer or working with me, you can get more info on the Forager For Hire page or shoot me an email at lesley(at)artsyforager.com.
