Inquiring Minds Want to Know?

Well, you'll notice there's a gap of about a year since my last post. Hmmm where, oh where has Kay West been?

Mid-March of 2016 an opportunity inexplicably presented itself, and I leaped on it! I opened LITTLE DOG Art Gallery, a brick and mortar fine art sales gallery in Spokane, WA, along with my silent partner sister, Mel.

Everything moved very swiftly and before I knew it I was scheduling upcoming art exhibits, hanging shows, arranging for in-gallery activities and artist receptions, lots of bookkeeping and paying out of commissions, meeting people, talking with gallery visitors, up to my eyebrows in art biz, et cetera.

It has been an awesome, invigorating, growth experience! I've met so many cool people and talented artists here in Spokane! Initially I was only showing other artists' work, but in the last couple of months I've started exhibiting some of my own paintings. You can check out Little Dog Art Gallery on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, plus our website at www.littledogartgallery.com.

Yes, I've continued painting and taking photographs. I had a dozen of my Bondo Series photographs in a summer exhibit at Liberty Building Art Gallery in Spokane. I was invited to exhibit work in a December group show at Marmot Art Space in Kendall Yards, Spokane.

"Red Lamp" in Liberty Bldg Art Gallery, Summer 2016

"Golden Nut" in Liberty Bldg Art Gallery, Summer 2016

"Frontal, Bondo Series" Marmot Art Space, December 2016

"Golden Curve, Bondo Series" Marmot Art Space, December 2016

Yup, Here I am posing in front of my displayed work at
 Marmot Art Space, Kendall Yards, Spokane, WA

I've pushed forward with my painting, so my work is becoming more loose, playing more with movement and pattern rather than realistic rendering a specific object.

It's been a fun year, with more growth and exploration to come!

Du Jour 8 and a return to non-representational composition

I've felt something missing with the representational paintings I've done in this challenge or a feeling of dissatisfaction. I keep going back to the non-representational. Maybe because it for me then becomes only hue and composition. I rather enjoy that.

I've always wanted to render some of my Bondo Series photographic images (macro shots of distressed and damaged metal of cars, trucks, buses, tractors, what have you--metal) in paint. So, today I used a recent Bondo Series photograph just to get the juices going. As you can see, the photo and the Shiva ArtistStik painting have little in common other than a starting point. Once I started I didn't want to include the rust spots, which I so like in the photograph. The painting exercise took on a softer effect rather than the sharp lines of the photo.

It was a fun workout.

After stopping work on today's painting, I was feeling much more at ease, more satiated, than after I had finished, say, the driftwood or the seascape paintings. Perhaps I'm making progress in finding my own voice in my renderings in paint. One can only hope.

Crackling Eruptions in Green Aqua
Photograph, Bondo Series

Day 289 Mish Mash

Today is Day 289 of Project 365



If I can't be by the beach, I can pretend!
I set up a little "beach" in a cobalt blue ceramic platter,
complete with beach glass and barnacles.
iphoto




This, on the other hand, is another shot
for my Bondo Series.
I pulled into the parking space next to the sedan
on which I found this patterning bitten
into the paint down to the metal ... Hallelujah!
iPhoto



A Bounty of Bondo Images

Mel knows about my predilection for dilapidated vehicles, so while we were out doing the monthly shopping, she took me by an old vintage truck she had previously noticed out by Airway Heights on the way to the Base.  Thank goodness it was still there. I've had so many instances where I thought I would come back to photograph something, but by the time I did so, the treasure trove was no longer there.

I was in luck! It was there, but since I didn't know I would be doing anything except shopping, I hadn't brought along my camera. What kind of serious photographer am I, anyway? Ah ha! The iPhone comes to the rescue once again!

I'll have to go back and take some better quality images ... hope it will still be there. But in the meantime, here are just a few of the shots I took. I was shooting into a strong, afternoon sun with no way to compensate.

There will never be an end to my Bondo Series of photographs. Hooray!

September 21, 2011

A Sure Sign ...

My son, Owen, sent a photograph to me today of his hairy face, with the caption "Starting the Winter Coat." Yes, a certain sign that summer is coming to a close. Of course, I wouldn't attest to that since Spokane is still sweltering with 90-plus degree days.

But it's coming. Halloween and and Thanksgiving merchandise already in the stores are vying for your dollars.

Today's photographs, however, have nothing to do with seasons, although they are the direct result of weathering. I came across some more Bondo Series candidates, and those are today's uploads. Enjoy!

September 12, 2011 (oh, and it's a full moon, to boot ... all together now 1-2-3-HOOOWWWWLLLLLLL)

These bumps inspired a bumpy treatment
in some sterling jewelry I'm making
One never knows
where one will next find a great idea!



iPhoto



iPhoto



Bondo, Baby!

Suki and I took a little look-see this afternoon. What better way to spend a hot summer Sunday afternoon than going to a drive. I have this whopping big truck now, so I can see ever so much more than what I observed from my low slung Miata. I do miss that sweetie ride, but I've moved on to bigger stuff, in a manner of speaking.

One of the places we encountered was an old, small auto repair garage that looked like it was no longer in operation, but it had a number of old cars--some very old--but most of them were only the chassis and body, no innards. Just my kinda vehicles!

Let me reiterate about my Bondo Series. Years ago, my two sons worked on their own cars in my driveway. There were times when they did body work, and took the paint down to the bare metal in preparation for applying bondo, finishing, and repainting. There was something very appealing to me about the marks and scratches of the damaged, distressed metal, and the marks of the hand work done to repair. There was also something about the odd beauty of the deterioration of the metal that would soon be covered over/hidden and made shiny and new. I liked the imperfections, the dents, the rust, the stressed metal.

My sons no longer fix their cars in my driveway, but I'm hooked on finding distressed metal and photographing it. I've called it Bondo Series, even though I don't photograph ANY bondo. I just liked the sound of "Bondo."

OK? Alright!

Today I took some Bondo Series photographs. Here are a few of them:

August 7, 2011 (Happy Birthday, Meggan!)



Love the bullet holes (iphoto)




The tension of the rope seemed to add something
and the snippets of blue sky beyond
(iphoto)




This was an orange Dodge muscle car
(iphoto)




I'm uber pleased with this one, great colors
(iphoto)


Oh, Etsy treasury: Yesterday I uploaded a new photograph, one of the ones from the violin repair shop here in Spokane. Within 5 minutes or less, it was featured in curator Lan Mantas' treasury. Did the photograph sell? No. But it was nice to be featured in "Dada Poetry."
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTU3MzM1Njl8NTQzMjY1MTg4/dada-poetry
Today another one popped up:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTI3MjYyODV8NTQ3MzQ4ODYz/lighthearted
 "Lighthearted" curated by http://www.laurenparadise.etsy.com/ featured my photo "Hello Yellow."

Today Let There Be Photographs ...

Getting caught up for the last couple of non-photo-upload days. Here we go. I really had fun shooting a number of angles of the empty metal drums, enjoying not only the repetition of the circles, but the individual deterioration and dents and dings that made each drum unique.  It was hard to narrow the selection down to just these five, but I feel they represent the variety.

I also came across this derelict yellow taxi on one of my trips down side roads here and there throughout Whatcom County. These images will be added to my ongoing Bondo Series.

I'm having technical issues with my laptop, which are making editing very difficult until I can get it fixed, or replaced. I'm concerned about quality being compromised, but such is life right now ... a series of compromises.

Onward!

First comes identification of target market ...

Danielle, Etsy Seller Education Coordinator, has been publishing a weekly “Holiday Boot Camp” to help online vendors gear up for the holiday season of sales. There are thousands of us vendors on the Etsy site, so trying to stand out from the crowd is an ongoing challenge. I'm finding her articles very helpful.

However, one point in particular made by Danielle that keeps tumbling around in my head is to identify one's market. Once you identify your target buyer, you can then cut to the chase and market your product more successfully to them. Now, that seems a no-brainer, right?

In previous sales in actual brick and mortar stores and galleries, I’ve had the most success with my Bondo Series and the Street Art Series. But when I cobbled together my online shop, those seemed too restrictive.

I have to admit that I do not know to whom I’m marketing my photographs. They don’t fit a niche. I offer a mish-mash of photographs.

I’ve noticed that some photographers’ photos have a dreamy or romantic quality. Some are strictly of nudes or figurative studies. Some are wholly architectural in subject matter. Other photo vendors sell floral photographs. Still others offer photographs of clouds, or birds, or balloons, or baboons.

So, do I narrow my subject matter or style down to appeal to a specific market?

Am I offering too many different photographs? Should I develop a KWest Studio 8 “brand” of photography and adhere only to my brand?

 

So, who ARE my target buyers?

I think I’ll pour a glass of Vognier and ponder this weighty topic. It may take two glasses.