Sheila M. Evans

Serenity is both the title of my newest pastel study, and what I hope to find a bit of in my studio for the next few weeks. My next show, Bellevue Arts Museum, isn’t until the last full weekend in July and I hope to get some serious painting done between now and then. My goal for next week is to use this study for an oil painting to take to Bend and/or Sausalito later this summer, although I realize I will be pushing it for drying time. It’s not as if I don’t have plenty of oils to take with me already. I do, however, have other shows coming up, and I guess I’m just never quite satisfied with what I have. I suppose that’s to be expected in a situation where a sale requires having just the right piece in front of just the right person at the right time. Small wonder artists are constantly second-guessing themselves. Or are they? Is it just me?

See what I mean?

This past weekend was the Edmonds Arts Festival, and I enjoyed a laid-back four days including great booth neighbors, visits with old friends and collectors, and re-familiarizing myself with the smell of the ocean (much needed). The weather mostly cooperated, and I made it through setup and tear down without ripping out the stitches I received after a freak utility knife accident during my preparations for travel. All in all not too bad, but I must say the possible highlight of the weekend was receiving the President’s Award for my booth. Not only is the award an obvious honor, but possibly better still, it came with the single most ginormous ribbon I have ever laid eyes upon (see photo for scale—the Pro Panel wall is seven feet high). Now I need to figure out what to do with it… maybe someday when I have a bigger studio, I’ll have room to display it. Not likely anytime soon, but a girl can dream, right?

See my pastels and oils at the Edmonds Arts Festival this weekend:

Edmonds Arts Festival

When: June 19 – 21, 2009

Where: Frances Anderson Park, 700 Main St, Edmonds, WA

Hours: Friday 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

What I’m bringing: Pastels and Oils

Booth #22 (O’Keefe Blvd along Main St.)

Above: my booth at last year’s show.

Artfest left me a bit disconnected for the last week or so. There’s something about starting the fair season that really messes with my painting mojo. Invariably I return from the show with a great to-do list of details missed during initial preparations. This time it was price tag holders, an extra naugahyde baseboard and a few other things apparently too inconsequential to remember at this writing. I can’t seem to shift gears out of show-prep mode after the show, so I tackle these projects instead of doing what it is that I think I am supposed to be doing, i.e., painting. After finishing those items and still feeling incapable of entering the studio, I moved on to more framing, sending out packets to persons of interest in the art world, and unexpectedly getting together a group of paintings for a new gallery. 

I’m finally back at the easel (at least somewhat) this week. I just finished Lacewing Study, shown here, which may be the beginning of a large pastel or oil. I hope to complete a few more small pieces in the next few days, but then it’s off to Edmonds. Hopefully my recovery time will improve this go-around. Riiiiiiight.

Thanks to everyone who came down to Artfest this year. It was a fantastic show. I had fun, saw lots of friends, met some great new people, and of course sold some art.

One of my favorite stories from this weekend involved one of my very first and most loyal collectors. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say that she mentioned a piece of work she saw on my website which she thought was long gone. It turned out I still had the painting, and collector and painting were united at last! I am so happy she ended up with it—things just could not have turned out any better.

Also, I may soon have some more gallery show news. I have a few things in the works and will post again when details are more concrete. All in all, an extremely fun and productive weekend. Next stop, Edmonds, Washington!

(Above: this year’s booth at Artfest with oils and pastels.)