The wee months are perhaps my best time of year. Cold weather, limited sunshine and slow sales aside, it’s a time to be creative and explore new territory. The “Produce to Sell Tomorrow” pressures are gone. They are replaced with the very real pressures and challenges of producing new work. But  – if you have new ideas and the time to develop them — those pressure pale in comparison to the crazed production periods that surround summer and holiday seasons. Right now — I have an idea!

I always have mixed emotions when my summer art show season ends. Living in Buffalo, New York, September days lead all too quickly to falling leaves, followed by snow, and then the long, long stretch of cold, gray days that can make you forget the sun exists. On the other hand, the end of “BIG” show season is also the end of heavy physical labor, 15+ hour work days, and the ever so fun hobby of looking at the darkening sky in dread of the storm that will blow both you and all of your artwork away. It marks an end and a new beginning and makes you realize that, OMG, you’re really behind on holiday stock and promotion!! So goodbye Summer 2011, you were very good to me. Now about that holiday stock…………………….

Spoil your mom or yourself for that matter! Win a Beautiful Basket Full of gorgeous Polymer Clay items. No Purchase Necessary. To be entered into the drawing, either purchase an item from the stores below from April 11th to the 25th or send an email to Laurelsteven.etsy.com with your name and email address.

What better way to honor your mom than with a handcrafted, beautiful item from the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy members? Shop handmade on Etsy. Shop at the stores listed below to enter!

http://www.AlisonEKurek.etsy.com
http://www.Ashpaints.etsy.com
http://www.11BOLDStreet.etsy.com
http://www.Beckysuecreations.etsy.com
http://www.Claycenter.etsy.com
http://www.Higirls.etsy.com
http://www.Jkollmann.etsy.com
http://www.Kellyplaysclay.etsy.com
http://www.Marcympc.etsy.com
http://www.NKDesigns.etsy.com
http://www.Peggers.etsy.com
http://www.Polymerclaycreations.etsy.com
http://www.ThePleasantPheasant.etsy.com

Anyone who suffers from migraines knows all too well that daily plans can come to a screeching halt when you get hit with a migraine. I count myself lucky in that I get what I call “functional migraines”; I can usually muddle through the day in some way or the other, but I had a nasty one earlier this week and spent a good portion of the day in bed. The thought of working with paint or polymer clay just made my head hurt all the more, so I came up with a new digital series instead. All of these new images are based on my original paintings.

Here’s a detail of my new painting “Martini Girl Merlot”. I recently purchased an archival ink printer. In addition to giving me the ability to produce beautiful, archival reproductions, I’m able to pick and choose sections of paintings and make them into separate pieces of art. 

The wee, cold, dark months of the year are an important time in the life of a “show artist”. While I haven’t run a full summer schedule of shows in a number of years the shows I have done have kept me very busy throughout the summer months. Likewise, the Holiday season — and the lead up to it — can be hectic. January through April tend to be slow months for sales — but they are BIG months for creating new work. Here’s one of the new paintings that I’ve completed over the past week.

Brrrr!!!!!!!!!!! It’s cold in the Northeast. Gray skies, cutting winds. This is a great time of year to stay at home and shop online while sipping a hot cocoa.

Visit my Etsy shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlisonEKurek

Enter coupon code: 2010WINTERSALE2011 at checkout to receive a 10% discount.

Stay warm!

Alison

Anything is possible during the holidays!

St. Pigolas and his friends are available at my shop: www.alisonekurek.etsy.com

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New year to all!

A good friend of mine, a fellow painter, is constantly after me to “paint big”. His encouragement ranges from subtle hints, to emails containing only the words PAINT BIG, to rambling speeches about the potential benefits of, you guessed it, painting BIG.

Don’t get me wrong; I like to paint big. The finished product is so much more satisfying than finishing 10 mini paintings; but we’re not living in a “big” economy these days. Sure, some artist are doing well through a select number of galleries, but if you sell your artwork on Main Street, as I do, the trend seems to be more about affordability these days.

So I’ll continue my small work for now while keeping in mind that BIG things often come from tiny seeds.

Yesterday was the kick-off of my 2010 Art Show season. I had the good fortune of being invited to participate in the 2nd Annual Celtic Art Event and Sale put together by Urban Artisans. The show was at ZGM Fine Arts  (1045 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222), a fabulous gallery located on the Elmwood Strip. I have to say that I can’t remember the last time I’ve enjoyed an art show so much! The gallery owners, exhibiting artists, musicians, the guests and visiting psychic blended so well that it was as if they were part of a gourmet recipe — maybe for boulibase or some other tasty dish.

As usual, I struggled to get ready for my first show since the holiday season. Paintings were unfinished and left at home along with several new polymer clay pieces that just didn’t make it into frames in time. The list of things I need to accomplish before my next show grew exponentially, but that’s all part of being an artist and I’m glad to be back at it.

Here’s a sneak preview of some of the work that I’ll be showing at the Allentown Art Festival in June: Long Live the Queen — and her Cuckold husband the King!