Busy Mind ~ October

Florescent and Granular Watercolors

One of my favorite combinations for illustrative style pieces is watercolor and ink. Holbein Artist Materials recently introduced me to their granulating and florescent watercolor series. Now, it's like painting two pieces at once! Just expose these pieces to UV/black lights and a whole new range of color and depth emerges. I feel like a kid again.

The granulating watercolors paint smooth and uniform. But they dry with surprising variety and speckled contrast! These sets feel like magic. Hands down.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Julia Lawson
Julia is a Rhode Island Native who has been painting for as long as she can remember. Generally working on large scale acrylic paintings, Julia’s colorful work leans abstract while intertwining human figures with elements from the natural world. Currently she has been exploring different realms of creation including photography, digital art, and oil painting.

Social media/ General inquiries/commissions:
Instagram: @lawson4artist
Email: jklawson215@gmail.com

TIPS FOR ARTISTS

Mark your calendar!

Now is the time of year when you may discover a bunch of seasonal markets and events that make you say "I wish I knew about/how to join this!"

Write. That. Down!

There is a ton of planning and time that goes into putting together and hosting an event. Think permits, communicating, schedules, back up plans, and months of making sure that one weekend is well-oiled and well-advertised machine. Because of this, those events likely opened their applications 3-4 months ago!

My flow of production and organization is on January - March. During this time, I'm re-calibrating to what went well last year, what would I like to explore, and what could stay in the rear view.. This is the time of honing in on what events are true "musts" and checking in on the event websites, or peeking back at earlier social media, to see if and how they called for art.

This time is also recovery from a busy end of year. It's rebuilding inventory, taking time to actually unpack from holiday shows, rest just a smidge, then settling into the creative routine again. This time of year usually does not have many markets.

As March - May rolls along, applications shift to end of summer/welcoming fall events.

Before we know it, June-August brings weekly outdoor markets, art festivals, and inspiration. It's important not to get entirely lost in the cycle of finishing new inventory between events - because winter and holiday season shows are now opening their doors..

And the cycle continues.

Let me know if you find similarities or differences - Id love to learn how you look at your seasons!