Sheila M. Evans

Today is my first day home from Sausalito, my last art fair of the season. I can’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that summer is almost gone. Although the weather is still beautiful, it was cold when we walked into our house last night, which seemed telling. At the moment I am debating whether to go get a hoodie, as the chill has lingered. Maybe this is for the best. Maybe it will help me transition into the studio season. But the fair season has been so fantastic that it is not easy to let go.

Fantastic comes in a lot of different forms. Of course we all hope our shows will be fantastic in terms of sales. In some places, this was true. But in other areas, the economy definitely seemed to be taking its toll. All in all, I was lucky enough to have a pretty much profitable season thanks to a few shows where the patrons really came through for us. To all of you who purchased art this year, thank you. It means everything to artists.

This year was also fantastic for me in terms of recognition from show juries. I won three awards this season: the President’s Award at the Edmonds Arts Festival, a Benchmark Award from Art in the High Desert (Bend, Oregon), and First Place in the Drawing Category from the Sausalito Art Festival. All awards include an invitation to exhibit at the following year’s festival, so I will happily return to all three shows in 2010.

One more aspect of the show season I will miss is the fantastic camaraderie that goes with the show circuit. Every summer brings an opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new ones, and I did more than my share of both this year. Over the past few seasons the shows have evolved from odd places filled with strangers to familiar haunts full of friends. With each passing year it takes longer to walk from one end of a show to the other as I stop to chat at more and more booths. And in the towns, annual traditions take root, such as shopping at Burnsies in Ketchum, eating at the Lotus in San Rafael (we ate there so often the restaurant bought our dinner on our last night in town!), and now lunch from Cafe Yumm in Bend.

Thankfully, there is still a little bit of summer left to savor. I have one more outdoor event ahead: the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour. It promises to once again be a beautiful event and a great way to wind down the season. Much more info to come, so stay tuned.

I just received the first place award for Drawing at the Sausalito Art Festival (tied with my friend Casey Klahn). This is my first award at Sausalito and a huge honor. Looks like there will be a strong Eastern Washington faction here again next year!

This weekend is the Sausalito Art Festival at long last. It’s hard to believe the festival season is almost over. But after my one day at home after Art in the High Desert, I am packing to leave for California tomorrow. I’ll be showing oils for the first time in Sausalito this year, including Serenity, above. Serenity is my most recent oil painting (save one), and was just varnished today for its first showing on Friday. In addition to Serenity, I will have lots of new work in both oil and pastel in my first double booth at Sausalito. For those that have seen me at Sausalito in the past, I will still be on the tennis courts in the farthest aisle from the show entrance. I hope to see many new and returning collectors there!

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Sausalito Art Festival

When: September 4 – 7, 2009

Where: Marinship Park, 2400 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA

Hours: Friday (Opening Gala), 6:00 – 9:00 p.m., Saturday – Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m, Monday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

What I’m bringing: Pastels and Oils

Booth #416 (on the tennis courts, farthest row from the main entrance)

This morning I received one of five Benchmark Awards at Art in the High Desert. The award is described as representing excellence in art, booth and display, interactions with the public and with other artists. The award is a huge honor in light of the amazing quality of work at this beautifully juried show. And best of all, I am invited back for next year!

This weekend I am heading to Art in the High Desert. I am very happy to be doing this show. It is only in its second year, but I have already heard wonderful things about the jury and the quality of artwork selected. Also, I know some of the artist-organizers and expect great things. As I think I mentioned here before, I missed the jury deadline for the inaugural year of the show. I had heard the show was coming, but didn’t know what the name of the show would be or its jury deadline, so I missed it when it appeared on the jury submission website. As a result I am particularly thankful to be included this year, especially since it is such a small, high-quality event.

I will be bringing some new artwork, not including Shoji Study, pictured at left. I made Shoji Study last week in anticipation of the next round of shows, and sold it at Arbor Crest last weekend (thanks, Arbor Crest, for a pleasant and profitable show, and thank you to my new collectors). But I am spending the few days I have before I leave for Bend creating a few more red hydrangea pieces, so if you liked Shoji Study, don’t despair.

I hope to see some of you in the High Desert this weekend!

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Art in the High Desert

When: August 28 – 30, 2009

Where: The Shops at the Old Mill, 661 Powerhouse Drive, Bend, OR

Hours: Friday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m, Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

What I’m bringing: Pastels and Oils

Booth #10-11

This Saturday and Sunday, August 22nd and 23rd, Arbor Crest Winery will hold its annual Art and Glass Fest. The show runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. both days. This is a seriously fun event with lots of original art and crafts, live music, food, wine and a beautiful hilltop setting with a spectacular view of the Spokane Valley and the river.

Come see me and some new paintings in pastel and oil, including one of my newest small pastels, Magnolias Study, left.

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Art & Glass Fest at Arbor Crest

When: August 22-23, 2009

Where: Arbor Crest Wine Cellars, 4705 N Fruit Hill Rd, Spokane, WA

Hours: Saturday – Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

What I’m bringing: Pastels and Oils

Where has the summer gone? My friend Amy just reminded me she will start teaching again in two weeks. I am already most of the way through my show schedule. Summer has become my favorite season, but it disappears so quickly—divided among show days, travel days and in-between days. I’m taking advantage of a few of the latter at the moment, gearing up for Arbor Crest,  Bend and Sausalito with some painting. I took my new “daisy” pastels with me to Bellevue a few weeks ago, and was somewhat shocked when I sold out of them. So, my priority for the next weeks is to paint a few more for my remaining shows.

Before getting back to the studio, I had the idea to turn one of my horizontal daisy sketches on its end and make some adjustments to create a new composition. I don’t have a lot of time to paint, and planning my designs can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of the process. So I worked on that for quite a while, and even made a small sketch. I liked it, but in the end it wasn’t quite as inspired as I would have preferred to take to a large size. I tried tweaking the sketch some more, but eventually set it aside and started fresh. And within a very short time, I had worked out my idea for Golden Ascent, left.

This isn’t the first time I’ve chucked an idea and started a new sketch, when I really just wanted to get into the studio and paint. Now that I think about it, some of my favorite and perhaps strongest work has come out of similar situations. I think my tendency when clearing the slate is to go simpler in my designs. While Golden Ascent isn’t simple in every respect, the overall concept of the winged shape is. This is especially intriguing to me at this moment, because on a whim last week I purchased and read the book, “In Pursuit of Elegance” by Matthew May.  I don’t want to give too much away, because it is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it. But in essence it is about editing, leaving out, clearing the mind of the urge to solve problems by adding. My latest pastel drove the point home nicely.

For a few more examples of my favorite simplified designs, go here.

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This upcoming weekend is the Sun Valley art festival and I am so happy to be on my way there. Sun Valley is always a great show for me in so many ways. The collectors are wonderful, the show staff is extremely organized and helpful, and we always see several artist friends. Not to mention KB’s, my favorite burrito place away from home. Their tofu soft taco with miso sauce is amazing. I’m getting hungry already.

This year I’m bringing oil paintings, including Red Skies, left, to SV. I’ve only shown pastels there in the past so I’m excited to be showing a new medium. And, of course, I’ll have plenty of new pastel work too. If you are planning to be at the show and want to see a particular piece of art, please contact me by Tuesday. I may already have the work with me, but if not I just might be able to talk Paul into bringing it when he meets me there.

The details:

Sun Valley Center Arts and Crafts Festival

When: August 7 – 9, 2009

Where: Atkinson Park, 900 3rd Ave., Ketchum, ID

Hours: Friday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m

What I’m bringing: Pastels and Oils

Booth #G8-G9