Peddler’s Village Fine Art and Craft Show 2011

Since 1997 the Peddler’s Village Fine Art show has been an event in which I have looked forward to participating. Set up right inside the heart of a great village of shops and restaurants, the show is a must see event in Bucks County. The show offers awards in several categories and a Founder’s Award to exhibitors. Last year I was very pleased to both receive a second place award in the Photography category as well as the Founder’s Award (a purchase award).

It’s always wonderful to receive recognition in the form of an award, but I’ll be very pleased with a weekend of fair weather.

New 24"x36" canvas giclee

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Artists’ Gallery and Kalmia Club Garden Tour

Artists Gallery Again a Destination

for Lambertville Garden Lovers

LAMBERTVILLE, NJ —  Fine art photographer Paul Grecian and other artist members of the Artists’ Gallery will again join gardeners and garden lovers this spring in supporting the Kalmia Club’s 15^th annual Lambertville Garden Tour on Saturday, June 11, from 10 am to 4 pm. The Gallery, located at 18 Bridge Street in the heart of Lambertville, is an official stop on the tour, if a unique one. 

“Clearly, we’re not a garden,” said Gallery spokesperson Laurie Nicholson, “but visitors will find beautifully rendered representations of flora and garden landscapes on display in the Gallery. There’ll be an opportunity to further support Kalmia too, as we’ll be donating 15 percent of the sale of select pieces to the Club. Also, light refreshments will be available to our Kalmia friends and their supporters.” 

Art and artists will likely be on display along the tour route as well throughout the day.

“If the weather is good, several of our members plan to be working on site in their own favorite Lambertville garden locations,” said Nicholson.

The self-guided tour begins at the Kalmia Clubhouse, 39 York Street, Lambertville, and showcases a variety of garden types and plants, from eclectic to formal, orchids to cactus and beyond. Net proceeds further the Kalmia Club’s mission and assist with its community outreach and annual scholarship programs. Additional information about Kalmia Club and the Garden Tour may be found at http://www.kalmiaclub.org.

About Artists’ Gallery

Artists’ Gallery is a partnership of eighteen established artists with national and international reputations who attract collectors and art lovers from throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware.  The Gallery is open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11 am to 6 pm, and by appointment.  For more information, call 609-397-4588 or visit the Gallery online at www.lambertvillearts.com.

(c) 2011 Paul Grecian - www.paulgrecianphoto.com

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No Business Like ……Show Business

Doing art and fine craft fairs and festivals is really unlike most other lines of work. It offers much in the way of personal and sometimes financial reward, but also requires a very serious level of committment. There are compromises that an artist must make if they are going to make shows of this kind their primary means of income. It really requires an acceptance of a certain kind of lifestyle. It is this lifestyle choice that I describe in an article published in the June 2011 issue of Professional Artist magazine .

My article in June 2011 issue of Professional Artist magazine

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Is It Done Yet?

An excellent recent blog post by Mark Graf deals with a quote I had never heard before:

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”  - Leonardo da Vinci

As is often the case, Mark’s posts stimulate thought.  I commented on his blog that I often develop an image soon after making it if I feel I can capture the emotion I felt while in the field. This allows me to most precisely create an image that reflects both my feelings about an experience and also the colors, contrast, and general biological attributes of the scene. In this way, my “finish” point is based on a fresh memory. It’s not so much an “abandonment”, as in I don’t know what else to do to the image so I will just leave it be, as it is a recognition that the finished piece is what I intended when I started the process in the field.

The result of working on an image while the experience is fresh in my mind often results in a finished piece that also reflects closely what I saw. Although, once I am physically removed from the scene, if only by hours, every image becomes an interpretation based on memory. An especially exciting experience may be remembered more “vividly” than it would have appeared to someone standing next to me while I made the image in the field. I am of course perfectly OK with this (not that I have a choice really), as what I am creating is always an impression of an experience, not the actual experience. Neither film nor camera sensors record anything exactly as they appear. Film always had color and contrast biases. Working in digital format can be just the reverse of film (if working in Raw) in that it can require almost total artistic input due to the little pre-determined color or contrast decisions made by the camera.

So what happens to an image not developed soon after the field experience, but instead worked on six months or even years later? Well, like any other art I use all my experiences with the subject (some of which may be new since making the image), and my current mood and esthetic tastes to make a finished piece that reflects who I am at that moment. In this case, I have less of a “field intended result” in mind and more of a “current state” of mind on which to determine when a piece is “finished”. A year later I may be in a different state of mind still and work the image differently.

I suspect da Vinci didn’t foresee photography when he made his quote (or did he?). Photography, unlike many other art forms, may always be a work in progress, allowing different interpretations by the artist without end. It may not be so much a matter of abandonment as it is a temporary withdrawal (a temporary satisfaction). Because, unlike a painting which must be cast off (abandoned) if it is ever to find itself with a new owner, an original photographic image is always within reach of a new interpretation by the photographer. Unless of course you consider each iteration of a photographic image a form of abandonment, in that case……never mind.

Blue Bird - (c) Paul Grecian

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Bethlehem means Art

Bethlehem, PA is continuing to grow as a serious arts town. This weekend will be a great example of one of the fine shows and venues available there. I’ll be set up right in front of the famous Moravian Book Store on Main Street. The Bethlehem Fine Art Show   is Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm.

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