During the holidays it’s common for galleries to have a small works show, to encourage the gifting of art as holiday gifts. I’ve seen many collectors start their collection with these shows.

The five paintings below are on their way to The Vault Gallery (Sonora) for their “Little Gifts” show, opening December 1st and closing Dec 31st.  A reception will be held Saturday, Dec 8 from 5-7PM.   I will attend the reception and paint in the area that weekend.  If you’re also there and would like to paint, let me know.

Truckee River, Winter
Oil on Linen, 8×10

“Towards the Sun” (Crystal Springs)
Oil on Linen, 6×8″

Window View
Oil on Linen, 10×8


Ice Plant, Carmel
Oil on Linen, 8×10″

Peninsula Hillside
Oil on Linen, 6×8

How many open studios have you done? They’re a lot of work, right (Mike Bailey)? There’s got to be another way.

I’m a “high tech” guy–that’s what people call me, usually other artists–so I decided to try something different, an online-only Open Studios sale. I’ll advertise using my online resources, like online ads, social networks, this blog, email lists I belong to, etc. It’s a good test.
All my paintings are in an Excel spreadsheet, so I selected paintings for sale and used “mail merge” in MS Word to generate the HTML for the site. I’ll let you know how it goes, and be happy to share my code if anyone is interested.
I’m going to launch from this blog first for a few days, so you can get first choice: http://www.edterpening.com/store.html

Let me know if you come across any problems, or have any suggestions. Happy shopping!

It’s time to clean out my studio, and offer paintings at a discount for you holiday shoppers! November is apparently the largest retail month, so I’m going to join in with an online-only, unframed studio sale.

Starting November 1st, I will have web pages set up for this sale that will allow you to select a painting, pay online (using PayPal’s site) and enter your shipping address/information.

I am also going to experiment with online advertising, buying targeted ads on Facebook. (”Facebook Flyers”) For those of you that sell your art (probably the majority of my readers), I will let you know how that works out. If you have any online sales/advertising tips, please chime in with comments. I have noticed a wide variety of sales approaches by other artists, from eBay to specialized art sales sites. What works for you?

I am going for volume here, so these unframed prices are big discounts (hope this doesn’t hurt me later!):

$100 - 6×8
$150 - 8×10
$175 - 9×12
$250 - 11×14
$275 - 12×16
$500 - 16×20

We had perfect weather for today’s Quickdraw event at San Luis Obispo Plein Air.  As happens in many events like these, there was a mix of adult part-time, learning artists and collectors.  I gave away lots of cards, advice to early artists and set up a snow scene near my easel so passerby would see my finished work at a larger scale.  You know how paintings go through an “ugly stage” at the beginning (not unlike newborn babies…parents excepted ….I didn’t want a collector to see that and walk on. I think it worked.  I got lots of praise for “Thanksgiving Day Snow”, which I painted plein air last November.  But alas, no buyers.

I struggled with my painting of the mission for a while, and about half way through the two hours thought that I may not be able to pull it off. Panic.  After scraping a section that wasn’t working (and simplifying…always think about simplifying areas that aren’t coming together), was able to finish something I was very happy with.

Luckily, a wedding was held in the mission church that day, so given I painted a view of the door and steps–complete with wedding garland–I had a nice little bidding war for the piece. I sold for a respectable price to a member of the wedding party.

No luck later that night, however, at the reception’s silent auction. I’ve doubled my prices from last year, but don’t think that was the problem as paintings next to mine at 1/4 the price didn’t sell either.  Sales were terrible.  Following the auction, which didn’t seem nearly as successful as last year, someone mentioned “we’re definitely in a recession”. I don’t know if “The Fed” would agree, but let’s face, art’s one of the first things to go when you’re thinking about your mortgage payment going up and whether your job will be there if a recession does hit.

Oh well. I’m just honored to be here and meet so many talented artists and truly wonderful, giving people.

We’ll see, maybe sales tomorrrow, the last day of the show. I’m painting Morro Bay in the morning for the joy of it.  No competition or sales worries, just painting.

Mission, at San Luis Obispo - Oil on Linen - 12×9″

Okay, I need your help blogosphere! I need to pick the top 3 paintings for the jury, and top 6 for the exhibition. I’ve listed my picks below. This group has done a great job last year, making suggestions and providing a much needed second pair of eyes. You know when you look at your own work too much, you loose some perspective. My personal favorites aside, I need to pick work the judge and collectors will most appreciate.

So, tear pause your Tivo with Larry King’s coverage of Britney Spears and chime in with your comments!

UPDATE [5-Oct]: I left out a painting, Rocks and Surf, below. Is it in the right order? I didn’t put it in the top 3 or 6…should it be? Thanks!

Top 3 for the Judge

Untitled - Oil on Linen - 12×16″

Bluffs (Montaña de Oro) - Oil on Linen - 16×20″

Tom’s Boat - Oil on Linen - 16×12″

Backup for sold paintings

Morro Bay Nocturne - Oil on Linen - 9×12″

Sweet Springs Marsh - Oil on Linen - 12×16″ UPDATE [5-Oct]: I adjust the edges of the distant hills, and better explained the light on the water, lower part of the painting. I think this now reads better (note: this photo isn’t great, the colors aren’t as true as the image above): Sweet Springs Marsh - Oil on Linen - 12×16″

Near Laguna Lake - Oil on Linen - 9×12″ Rocks & Surf (Montaña de Oro) - Oil on Linen - 9×12″

Sycamore - Oil on Linen - 16×12

Cambria Bluffs - Oil on Linen - 12×16

Great day today! The weather cooperated, my paint cooperated and my mind and brush worked together in harmony. That’s a relief after yesterday. Let me know what you think of these!

I started out the morning in an area of Los Osos called Baywood Park. I’ve seen this spot before. There’s a small shore and short pier, all surrounded by a few small boats. The boat I painted belongs to a one “Tom Freine”. I painted in a sort of portrait style. I stylized the boat and muted the surroundings, as you would a portrait, almost in a sort of Cezanne style. This is almost a study in greens. I brought this to a critique tonight and got some good feedback for a couple of minor changes.

Tom’s Boat - Oil on Linen - 16×12

I drove to Montaña de Oro State Park to rest between paintings. Glad I did, the weather and light were perfect. Several other artists around, too (thanks Daisy for picking me up some lunch!). I decided to get comfortable, so set up my chair and large umbrella.

I’m very happy with this painting, perhaps the best so far this week. The color in the shadows contrasted with the rim light of the bluffs drew me to this subject. The scene had drama, and I think I was able to capture some of it. I also spent some time on the lower right foreground rocks. I wanted to capture a convincing cast shadow and reflected light. Can’t wait to see this one framed!

Bluffs (Montaña de Oro) - Oil on Linen - 16×20″

I feel I’m doing well–it’s only Weds, and I have enough paintings for the show. Thursday and Friday I can relax a bit, which usually means I’ll paint better. We’ll see.

Tomorrow night (Thursday) I’ll post all my paintings for the week and seek feedback from my readers here to help me pick the top 3 for the judge, and 3 backup (for sales). Please check in then and let me know what you think. Cheers!

Today was a “crisis of confidence“.   I couldn’t find the right spot, it was windy, etc…  Oh well.  You need bad days to recognize the good ones.  Here are the two paintings I did today.

This painting was done on the coast of Cambria, just south of San Simeon, home of Hearst Castle.

Cambria Bluffs - Oil on Linen - 12×16

Mike’s favorite trees are Sycamores, and some of our favorite painters have painted these trees, such as Cornelius Botke–who lived in Mike’s hometown of Santa Paula.  The white bark makes for some great contrast, and their shapes great compositions.

Sycamore - Oil on Linen - 16×12

Oh, and one last shot to liven things up   Here was dinner Tuesday night.  I may skimp on food, but not wine!

Painted today from 7am to 9:30pm–and okay, yes, there was a 2-hour nap in-between, I’m not a machine! I finished 4 paintings, so at this rate, I should have a good selection from which to select my 3 for the judge and exhibition, and 3 backups.

I started the morning at Laguna Lake Park, which happened to be recommended by the SLO Art Center currator, Amy Grimm. I checked out the spot last year, but didn’t find much of interest. This morning (7AM) the light was great, so I thought I’d do a “warm up” painting. I like to do several small studies the first day to get back into the swing of things.

Here’s my setup:

The finished painting (these pics are all from my cheap digital camera…I get better images at home from my digital scanner, but with this disclaimer aside!).

Near Laguna Lake - Oil on Linen - 9×12″

I then headed out to Montaña de Oro State Park, a rugged cliffs/beach setting. When I paint turbulent water, I like to use a lot of paint as I can create the texture and colors of ocean water most effectively. I remember Ken Auster saying, in a workshop, “the ocean is all edges.”

Montaña de Oro - Oil on Linen - 9×12″

After my mid-day siesta (how Spanish!), I headed to one of my favorite late-afternoon spots, Sweet Springs, in nearby Los Osos.

I don’t think this is quite finished–not sure. The sun was shifting quickly, so I didn’t have time to finish it. I’ll set it aside and decide later. What do you think? I can always go back the same time later this week when the light is in the same place to finish it.

Sweet Springs Marsh - Oil on Linen - 12×16″

My the time I finished cleaning up from this painting, it was dark enough for a nocturne, so I headed out to Morro Bay, as I wanted to paint reflections of boats and/or the power plant there. I found a great spot, Tidelands Park. I had a well-lit boat slip that provided a great view of the power plant reflected in the bay. Painting this was a bitch, though. The light overhead was yellow, which really altered my pallette. I had to rely on the location of each pigment to know which was which, because everything looked more yellow than normal. This is a hotel-room-photo (bad light!), but I think I was able to adjust it enough in iPhoto to get it close to what it looks like. If I have time tomorrow I’ll re-photograph in the shade outside (a much better place to photograph art).

This is one I can see myself re-painting larger during the week. I brought lots of 16×20″ linen boards and frames, so need to get a couple larger works done.

Morro Bay Nocturne - Oil on Linen - 9×12″

I’m headed to San Luis Obispo tomorrow morning for their annual plein air event. The weather forecast looks terrific, so I shouldn’t be hampered by rain (like last year). There’s a great roster of artists attending, so it should be a terrific show! Hope to see you there. See below for show details.

• Click for detailed show information at their site.

A painting from last year’s show:

Marsh, San Luis Obispo - Oil on Linen - 16×20

FIRST PLACE, San Luis Obispo Plein Air 2006

Hey, I won an Honorable Mention last night! Nice surprise. The show was judged by Sarah Besarra, of the Plein Air Scene. My personal favorite, “Trash Day” won the award. The funny thing is, Julia Seelos painted the same house from a different angle, and won an Honorable Mention as well.

My next plein air event isn’t until October (San Luis Obispo Plein Air), so I’m going to focus on my own projects the next couple of months, including my series of views from San Francisco’s Buena Vista park, as well as other studio work. Cheers!