Sheila M. Evans

This weekend is the Salem Art Fair and Festival! I’ve never done this one before, but I’ve heard glowing reports. There are some serious art fair rock stars showing in Salem, including pastelist Victoria Ryan, weaver Kim Morris, and painter Marla Bagetta. I can’t wait to see everyone again and kick off the summer circuit. Time to do the last-minute show-packing scramble. Hope to see you out there!

Salem Art Fair and Festival

When: July 15 – 17, 2011

Where: Bush St & High St, Salem, OR

Hours: Friday & Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

What I’m bringing: Pastels and Oils

Booth #219

At the moment, it’s craziness. The building where I paint is undergoing some major changes, and it’s keeping me very busy. More on that later, but let’s just say I’m being pulled in a lot of directions. I’m also working to promote the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour, which I suspect will be here before I even know what happened!

Thankfully, I do have a few shows coming up to keep me focused on painting. The Salem Art Fair and Festival is just three weeks away. Two weeks after that the Bellevue Arts Museum Artsfair. And, that same Friday (July 29) opens the Tinman Gallery‘s Peter Pan Invitational. I’ve used the Peter Pan show as an excuse to try painting a subject that has always fascinated me: insects. Which probably doesn’t make a lot of sense on the face of it, but for me, nothing conjured up visions of fairies better than cicada wings. Never having painted insects before, I tried a sketch before starting my piece for the show. The result: Cicada Study, left.

The cicadas were a fascinating challenge, and I may work with them more in the future. In the meantime, Cicada Study will be available at an art fair this July. I hope to see you out there!

Artfest begins this Friday at Noon!

After months of creating and framing new art, and one more week of last-minute details like matting new miniature pastels, I will be so ready for art fair season to start. Come on down and see my latest work in both oil and pastel, including my new 6″ x 6″ pastels in silver plein-air frames. Here are the details:

Artfest

When: June 3 – 5, 2011

Where: Coeur d’Alene Park, 2nd & Chestnut, Spokane, WA

Hours: Friday 12 p.m. – 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

What I’m bringing: Pastels and Oils

Booth #E-11

Click here for an artist list and booth map of Artfest.

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Night Flight Study, my latest pastel, is France-bound. It is one of three pieces created for the Pastels Salon International in Saint Aulaye, Dordogne, France, opening this August. But before it embarks on its journey, I hope to use it as a study for a larger oil painting to take on the road a bit closer to home.

This past week another pastel, Raintree No. 4, found a permanent home in a beautiful, historic craftsman home on Spokane’s South Hill. It looks absolutely perfect in its perch against the William Morris wallpaper, above the oak and art tile mantel! “Read more” to see Raintree No. 4 in its new home.

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Ascension 2, my commissioned work for Providence Regional Medical Center, is completed and approved! The piece, pictured above, will be shipped off for framing in a few short weeks. I’m so excited to (hopefully) see it in its new home. It has been a wonderful opportunity and experience.

And now that I’m back in the groove, I see more oil paintings in my future… my oils juried into more shows than I expected this summer, and I need to make more. My summer fair schedule will be finalized in the next few weeks, so please check back!

In other studio goings on, my three works for the pastel salon in France are nearly done. Pictures to follow soon.

Bellevue Arts Museum artsfair: It’s on!

First things first: I am more thrilled than ever to announce that I made it into the Bellevue Arts Museum artsfair once again this year. And I only got in with pastels. Why so thrilled? Let’s just say it’s been an interesting year in jurying. And it’s barely begun.

Me vs. The Jury: The Paranoia

As you might know, I was rejected from Cherry Creek again this year. I also re-applied to Art on the Square in Belleville, Illinois. I did that show last year and loved it, but alas, no joy this time around. So by the time Bellevue, my go-to show, announced jury results, I was shaking in my boots. Of course, Cherry Creek and Belleville are longshot shows—small, top-rated, highly competitive. Getting in once is no guarantee of getting in again, ever.* I’ve consistently juried in to Bellevue, but even so, those rejections had me worried. Did I choose the right images? Would the jurors, who appeared to be experts in fine craft more than 2D art, appreciate my pastels?

Art Fairs vs. Artists: The Dilemma

So yeah, I got lucky and made it into Bellevue. But here’s the thing: not every artist did. Read more

Ready to kick off the art show season? I know I am. Luckily, Mead’s Eye 4 Art is this Saturday!

The show and sale, founded by Harold Balazs, benefits the Mead Education Foundation. This year Eye for Art will feature 34 wonderful professional artists, including Harold himself. The show runs from noon to 5pm at Mead High School in Spokane. Cost is $10 per person or $25 per family at the door, and there will be live music and hors d’oeuvres.

I’ve created some fun pieces just for the event, including Nishikigoi 1, left. Don’t miss it!

Eye for Art
Mead High School
302 W Hastings Rd
Spokane, Washington
March 5, 2011, Noon to 5 p.m.
map

It’s Art Show Limbo Time again, that usually painful two-month waiting period between the first and iffiest art fair jury results (Cherry Creek, et al.) and the rest of them. Skunked again by the C.C. jury, I am naturally questioning my very worth as an artist, at least until the next bit of good news. This is pretty much an annual event.

My coping strategy is to start work on next year’s application a tad early. Since I actually did Cherry Creek a few years ago, I have a successful set of images to compare to my less successful set. Although the pieces are all from the same body of work, there are definite differences. The newer pieces are more literal, caught up in detail. The earlier set was quieter, simpler, more abstract.

Cherry Creek is a show that leans toward a modern aesthetic, so that makes sense. But they also have a whopping eight Drawing spots and receive literally thousands of applications each year. There is no magic bullet. Juries are always subjective. The same images that got me into the coveted Cherry Creek in 2008 won me a rejection from Boise Art in the Park. You just never know.

Fortunately, my first effort in the Jury Project has an ulterior motive. Waxing Wing, above, is not just a contender for 2012 Jury Image #3. It is the first piece destined for the Salon in St. Aulaye, France this summer. One of many good things coming up that I should probably be thinking about instead. Onward.