Rebecca Wachtman

If you didn't have the chance to stop in and see the Fine Art Show at the Puyallup Fair (now known as the Washington State Fair) - you missed out on seeing some great stuff!  I have 2 friends that had works in the show (as I did - and I mentioned in the previous post). Teresa Palmer is a quilter and has only been quilting for a couple of years - but is creating amazing pieces!!  Her quilt won an honorable mention for this year's fair! Dragon Bowl - Sally Anaya The other artist is an INCREDIBLE weaver!  Her name is Sally Anaya and is is known throughout the country as an expert in her field! She's a lovely woman whom I've gotten to know when I joined the Fiber 19 art group.  I watched her work on her dragon basket for over 2 years.  She created the design herself and spent countless hours weaving it. It won "Reserve Grand Champion" - and rightly so! Isn't it amazing??!!! To find out more information about Sally and her art - cl...

I had such a great time this year - visiting the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, WA (known until recently, as the Puyallup Fair)! This year, I applied for (and was accepted into) the Fine Art Fair which is held during the fair.  Both of my pieces made it in and it was a real thrill for me to go to the fair and visit my pieces on display!! Of course, I had to take pictures of myself with my paintings.  My two pieces which are on display are: Oh My, Camelia! and "Sweet Lil Tulips". We didn't just stay in the Fine Art area of course, we had to have the prerequisite fair foods (Scones with strawberries are ALWAYS a hit), ride a few rides (love the roller coasters, hate ANYTHING that turns upside down!), and see a few free shows (the hypnotist is always hysterical!). I ran into a couple of friend's pieces while I was there too - my next post will be about their artwork (which is fabulous, so stay tuned!) If you went to the Puyallup Fair, I hope yo...

I have found applying for shows to be an interesting situation.  Did you title your piece correctly?  Do Rejected Also rejected the curators think it in some way, correspond to the theme of the show you're applying to?  Do they like your work or not?  If you're rejected... you never find out why.   If you're accepted, you may hear some positive feedback - but you may not. In light of the above questions, I have decided that IF I am going to apply for shows - I simply must be confident in my work.  If I am not, it will show through my art and my art will not get in. And IF I am confident in my work, then it doesn't matter if I do or  don't get in to a show - because my art pleases me and I know that art is extremely subjective.  This is a weird mindset for me!  I tend to be a people-pleaser/worry-wart.  Usually I tend to obsess a bit on the what-if's.   So to accept that my art may not get in to everything I apply for A...

Well friends, this year is turning into a bit of a trial for me as an artist.  I'm finding my time (as an artist)  severely limited and that is INCREDIBLY frustrating!  This year, my plan was to ramp up the business side of being an artist.  Get the blog going more regularly and modernize it Post on Facebook more frequently Get more involved in other social media (ie, instagram, pinterest, youtube, etc) Try selling more online Get in more shows, galleries, etc Sell more It all sounds great and I am getting some done (researching what I want my website and/or blog to look like, posting on my blog more often, applying to shows), but life has a way of throwing a monkey-wrench into the heart of things (for instance, having to get a full-time job in order to provide benefits for my family).  But I am working my way through it all, and squeezing in art whenever I can! MTB The Inner Soul MTB The Outer Shell To that end, I have applied for two mor...