Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show 2011

Fairest Of Them All

acrylic on canvas

(c) 2011 Amie Roman

I've put the above piece in this year's CVAC Fine Arts Show.

All are invited to Cowichan Valley Arts Council's 41st annual arts show. It is the largest non-juried art show in the Cowichan Valley, featuring recent artworks by artists living and working in the Cowichan Valley.

Gala Opening! Wednesday, April 6 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Everyone welcome. Meet the artists and share in the fun.

Thursday, April 7 Open 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Friday, April 8 Open 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 9 Open 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 10 Open 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Quw'utsun' Conference & Cultural Centre, 200 Cowichan Way in Duncan.

Admission is $5 for adults and free admission for children.

Your support of the arts and artists is greatly appreciated.

Each day different CVAC members, artists and representatives of arts groups will host the show, giving demonstrations and talking about the art work.

Daily Program
Thursday, April 7, 10 am – 12 noon : Handbuilding in clay, Jane Wolters
1 - 4 pm : Rug hooking, Colleen Wike

Friday, April 8, 1- 4pm : Artists Trading Cards with Beverlee McLeod

Saturday, April 9, 1 – 4 pm : Silk painting, Clare Carver
10 - 12 and 1 - 3 pm : Face Painting

Sunday, April 10, 1 – 4 pm - Weaving of all sorts by Alison Irwin
11 - 3pm : Face Painting

Catching Up

Wow. It's almost been two months of silence from this quarter. Mostly, that's been two months of no art, which is why nothing's been posted here. A couple of exceptions:

Oceans of Art

We attended the opening of this wonderful exhibition of the Bamfield artists' work in Nanaimo in June. Prior to the opening, a number of the artists & guests met for dinner at le Cafe Français for wonderful, simple French cuisine. We trooped across the street to the beautifully renovated Nanaimo Art Gallery, which used to be a bank, and admired the donations of the participating artists. As far as I know, five pieces sold from the show, the rest were shipped back to Bamfield and are still available for purchase through the Public Education Program.

Here's me at the opening, in front of "Exposed", one of my donations (also donated a couple from the "Flow" series"):


Gallery in the Garden

While not strictly an overwhelming success on the day itself (the weather turned from 30C the day before to about 12C in the powerful, probably almost gale-force winds the day of), I was happy to be invited to participate in the Delta Arts Council's Gallery in the Garden again this year. I sold a piece, and I was also invited to provide some works on consignment to the Upstart Crow, a delightfully eclectic gift shop in the village of Ladner. I might even be teaching some workshops through their facilities this fall; I'll keep you posted!

Katka, one of my printmaking buddies I've met through Wet Canvas! was kind enough to keep me company and brave the less than pleasant weather for a couple of hours. She provided me with a couple of photos of my setup and of me demonstrating printmaking to passers-by. You can read more about the day on her blog, The Blue Chisel.


Yes, I was freezing; unbelievably, I thought to bring a windbreaker, but didn't think about having anything warmer for my legs. I ended up, at the tail of the day, wrapping, sarong like, around my legs, one of the towels that I use to transport framed work. The wind didn't manage to take my tent, but I held on a couple of times just in case. It did take some other artists' tents and certainly blew down many displays, and damaged a few. Thank you, Dave, for your brilliant display stands (which he built for this event last year).

And what else, non-artful (or less artful) tasks, have I been doing in the interim, you might ask?

Well, as always, keeping Printsy (more or less) up to date with the (more or less) weekly "Who's Printsy" feature and the Printsy artist interviews. If you've not yet discovered the Printsy blog, definitely check it out - there are some incredibly talented printmaking artists selling their work through Etsy. If you're one of them, and are not yet a part of Prinsty, please convo me so that I can add your shop to the list.

And it's certainly that time of year again: the food production garden has been in full swing, and is just now starting somewhat to slack off a bit as the cooler weather crops come out and the hot weather crops are not yet ramped up to full production. I haven't posted any new canning recipes yet (although will, at some point, share all of my cherry preserve recipes that I tried this year), but you can always check out what recipes I've concocted or come across, as well as other stuff we're up to here, at my other blog, Roman Life.

Award of Merit

Being Shod
reduction relief print - MDF carved with Dremel
Daniel Smith water soluble inks on Rising Stonehenge
© Amie Roman

I have been honoured with an award of merit from the Delta Arts Council's artSpacific exhibition for my piece, "Being Shod". My thanks to the jurors who chose my piece for this award, and my congratulations to the other artists whose work was also recognized at the event. It's the first time I've received a juried award, so I'm very thrilled (although one of my paintings was chosen in a wine label viewer's choice event, and that was also pretty exciting).

If you're able to get to see the show, it is at the Firehall Centre for the Arts (11489 84 Avenue, Delta), until May 29, open 10am to 4:30pm.

Lessedra Update

For anyone out there who is curious about Lessedra, an annual international miniature print exhibition, I have some answers.

When I first heard about Lessedra, I thought I'd do some investigation. I found that a number of printmakers that I know of and whose work I respect had entered in the past, so I thought that it might be a good opportunity. One of the reasons I had some concern was the method of payment for non-US international participants is with Western Union, and that is typically a red flag over the internet. After discovering how many artists had participated, and done so over multiple years, I figured that for the US$50 (at the time) how much of a scam could that be? Really, there aren't that many printmakers in the world :) You'd have to work awfully hard for a pretty small return, so I decided to enter (Yes, I'm skeptical by nature, but especially after being touched by scammers a few times - see my scam roll on the right side-bar).

When I was accepted for the 2007 exhibition, I was extremely excited: this is an international exhibition and I got in!! Late in 2007, my prints were returned and I received the fantastic catalogue for the exhibition. As I looked through the catalogue, I was astonished at the number of printmakers represented, and I started to become somewhat skeptical about the actualities of the exhibit. I felt that even though there were jurors, if there were that many successful participants, how could there really be any "selection"; did everyone who applied get in? Not that there's really a problem with that, but if that were the case, then the jurors' efforts would be more towards selecting winners, and being accepted would be less of a prestigious occasion.

I stand corrected.

Lessedra is a gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria. Their annual World Art Print Mini Print exhibition showcases contemporary printmakers from around the world. While the event started in 1991, it really began to take off after 2002, when Georgi Kolev, current owner and director of the gallery, started to work on the event to make it the huge success that it is today. By 2006, over 500 artists from more than 60 countries were represented in the event.

I had complained about the fee for entry, and still, I do think it's a bit expensive for my purposes. That said, the fee goes towards:

• a spectacular catalogue (really, if you've never entered, and you're considering it, the catalogue of incredible work alone is worth it)
• posting of successful artists' CVs on the Lessedra website (the list is maintained for the year until the next exhibition)
• return postage for successful prints that remain unsold during the exhibition
• administrative costs (including promotion, coordination of jurors, administration of prints and entries, etc.)
  

Unaccepted works are returned and the fee is refunded to any unsuccessful applicants. Lessedra does not take a commission on any sales of the prints from the exhibition. Again, that alone is a pretty good deal; most competitions/exhibitions that I know of take at least 25% commission on any sales, and often closer to 40%.

And, if you're work is of prize-winning calibre, the prizes are pretty darned good (even the special prize is equivalent to the entry fee):

First Prize (USD 500 = purchase of 3 works in edition of 2) and an invitation for a solo exhibition of the artist during the next annual exhibition.
Second Prize (USD 200 = purchase of 3 works),
Third Prize (USD 100 = purchase of 2 works).
5 Special Prizes, each one equal to USD 80 (purchase of 1 work) - a cheque covering the entry fee for participation in the next print annual.
Prize For Young Emerging Artist - USD 300 (in materials for print works) and an invitation for a solo exhibition of the artist during the next annual exhibition.
The Jury has the right to grant more than one Second and Third prizes and also more than one Prize for Young Artist.

from Lessedra Conditions for Entry

And I can attest to the fact that the catalogue itself is a potentially valuable asset to the participants: I sold a piece from the exhibit as a result of that catalogue to a purchaser in France. That sale actually managed to mostly cover the cost of my entry in 2007. So really, I shouldn't complain about the cost, but the chance of a sale from an exhibition is always iffy, so you can't bank on it when you're calculating your expenditures for the year. And I'm particularly adept at whinging about money.

I wish to thank Georgi Kolev for taking the time to contact me and to explain the success of the Lessedra exhibition, and the value of the event to international printmakers. I hope that other printmakers who are interested in participating will have a better understanding of this event when they're considering entering. If I've got enough cash rolling around spare by the time the entry nears, I'll definitely submit again.