I've been home for almost a week since Spectrum Live. It was a wonderful experience overall. I got in late Friday night so I missed the preview. But come Saturday morning I walked over early to set out my prints and take a look at the event. On my way over, I ran into Dan Dos Santos who graciously walked me through the set-up process along with his assistant, Lindsey Look.
Here is the entrance to the show with bigger banners outside the building.
Here's Dan at his booth, signing some of his admirer's purchases. To the left of Dan...
...was Greg Manchess's display. He was NEVER without someone asking him to look at a portfolio or something else.
His "Helmet" series all sold before I even arrived. So did his "Major Tom".
On the right of Dan was a demonstration area where both Donato and Greg did some demos for the crowd. And behind that was the "Muddy Colors" display.
Above are Liz Pulido and Ryan Lee. The young woman holding the cup is Karla Ortiz who is amazing! Watch out for all these youngsters. I predict big adventures for all of them.
And here are all four of us. I'm the more "mature" woman in the middle. Mia Araujo is on the far right.
Surrounding us were Justin Gerard and Cory Godbey, both delightful young men who did a lot of business.
Charles Vess was there just around the corner selling his Cats of Tanglewood Forest book.
Chris Rahn was there.
The wonderful graphite magician Allen Williams too. Both he and Cory Godbey brought home Spectrum awards.
IMC buddy Drew Baker was there.
One of my all-time favorite artist, Jean-Baptiste Monge was there with his delightful partner, Margo. I was so pleased to see prints now available through their own company as well as a comprehensive art book which he is personalizing for me below.
Of course, Donato was there...
with his lucky Smaug singed name tag.
His booth was so beautiful. He had a lottery for an original toned print.
I put a lot of names on people's faces from both Facebook and SmART School. I also discovered some artists who were new to me.
Armand Baltazar blew me away with his sketchbook and book concept.
I was able to convince Bill Carman to sell me one of his prints and now I have a few family members fighting over it. Tohru Patrick Awa had this incredible Oz print I had to bring home. John Esh enticed me with one of his graphic oil prints. Meeting and dining with Paul Bonner, Bill Carman, Donato, Tara Chang, Jean-Baptiste, Margo, and the White Cloud Worlds New Zealanders was also a highlight of the weekend. There was so much to take in folks. I'm not sure I even made it to all the booths there. And the lectures? I didn't make it to one. Ridiculous, right? But seriously, I would start to go to the lecture room and got distracted either from visiting or gawking at someone's work.
But the biggest "event" for me was experiencing my first original sale.
This is Rich and he is a collector and he bought my sketch of the Butterfly Girl to take home to his wife.
I sold many prints there but selling an original was a thrill I wasn't prepared for. Floating....yes, I was floating for the rest of the day.
So, my deepest thanks to Tara Chang, Muddy Colors, and especially Dan Dos Santos for giving me this opportunity. Having this experience has encouraged me to try another show next year as an official exhibitor.
Hope to see you there.
