DaVinci Horse Print Sale

I am running a little more than half price off sale at:

http://catherine-twomey.artistwebsites.com/

on the "Da Vinci Piaffe" horse print, for a dear horse friend, until August 30, 2012. If you'd like an unprecedented "deal", this is it.

Look under the "Horses" link to the right. There are available a variety of sizes of prints framed on canvas, simple single sheet prints, even greeting cards.

Background:

Description:

Commissioned for the cover of the "United States Dressage Federation" magazine Connections, it was inspired by "The Vitruvian Man" by Leaonardo da Vinci circa 1487. This could be considered the "Canon of Proportions" for the horse performing the dressage movement piaffe. It is based on the correlations of ideal horse proportions with geometry. It exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance. 

Winning painting/illustration of the American Horse Publications Annual Awards, First Place in Illustration for "Da Vinci Horse", 2007. This print shows an anatomically accurate transparent horse and skeleton

Charitable Works for African Children

Illustration of Normal Eyes of an African Child for Ocular/Eye Examination

Just starting a charitable project that will help nurses in South Africa detect eye/ocular pathologies in children. Hope to visit Africa next spring and see the illustrations & copy in action. Here are normal eyes.

Marketing: Emerging Artist Tips 8.0

Continuing to respond to the series of questions I recently received from a new art school grad who needs marketing help, this Q and A or FAQ touches on a common stereotype for artists: being reclusive, quiet, socially inept, weird, anxious, reticent - you get the idea.

Q:
Part 2 of the original question: I'll go right out and say it -- I feel as if my networking skills are completely awful. I'm very shy and I feel uncomfortable approaching people, especially in business situations. I'm at a dramatic disadvantage here. I need to work on this. Overcoming these fears is the area where I feel I could use the most help, I think.

A:

When I started I was very shy; in both business and social situations I was as quiet as a mouse and rarely spoke up let alone be assertive about my skills. No one knew how I was suffering, mainly because I was so quiet and shy that I never could talk about it!!

However, there was a spark inside me that pushed me, over time, to learn about and get over that fear. It took effort, practice and motivation to do this. It still pops up now and again, mainly because it's hard wired into my particular artistic temperament. However, it is VERY treatable and very common. Many people experience anxiety, but only about a third of those who do actually do anything about it.

Today, my clients, friends and family would laugh if I told them I was shy and retiring. I find that a wonderful compliment!

Right now I'm reading:

The Mindful Way through Anxiety: Break Free from Chronic Worry and Reclaim Your Life by Lizabeth Roemer andSusan M. Orsillo (Jan 18, 2011)

which yet again gives me the confidence and strength to have a great life. There are a lot of "spiritual" and "touch-feely" types of books out there, but that's not me. I'm practical and want to know how to guide myself through life.

Some more business tips:

Tad Crawford is considered a strong, artist-oriented leader for the business side of the arts. Here's a link to amazon.com where you can find all sorts of his books. Back in my day, he only had this one book:

http://www.amazon.com/Selling-Your-Graphic-Design-Illustration/dp/0312712529/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334405203&sr=1-14

which was invaluable. It's probably dated now, but it looks like he has many other newer guides that are specific to various industries:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=tad+crawford

Another older but well-referenced book that taught me more than I'll ever appreciate:

2012 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market [Paperback]

Mary Burzlaff Bostic

The publishers also now have a website: 

http://www.artistsmarketonline.com/?r=amoppc&gclid=CNWawo6otK8CFQHznAod1VUbkw

I used to buy these books every year, read the relevant parts for my field, and then make the cold calls. A huge help that motivated me as well as led me to a lot of contacts and work.

One more piece of experience:

When you make cold calls and you finally get a human, they may attempt to just push you away. If you can tell that's what's going to happen, ask them if they're not buying at the time, could they (please) recommend someone who might be? They just might give you the name of someone else in their company/ad agency, or someone outside their business that will open up a whole new set of doors. Try to get something out of every call.

My artistic influences growing up. That's me on the left, Steve then Ann. Take careful note of the pajamas with feet; must have lost mine that day. We were trouble, with a capital "T". In the living room at our house in Naperville, Illinois. Probably planning an evil deed.

"Ocean Storm Sunset" Original Oil Available at Auction

Click Here to Bid

Oil on linen on stretched canvas, 8 X 10", 2011. Carefully packaged; signed by the artist.

About the Painting:  Ocean Storm Sunset was painted near Tampa, Florida in the spring. It is a plein air painting, which means it was painted outside on site, all at one sitting. This painting is full of vivid but accurate color, and the textured strokes add to the beauty and excitement of the coming storm. A layer of varnish has been applied, and archival materials were used throughout. 

Note: the second photo shows how the painting would looked framed. If you are interested in a frame, please add an additional $25.00 for a high quality frame and ready to hang piece. 

The Artist

Twomey's interests have evolved from consolidating and translating the most complex, stimulating visuals into personal artistic jewels. Nature and animals are her stimuli. Her images are founded in a love for the flow of the earth; a desire to convey the direct simplicity of the land as well as living, breathing things. Colors complement the seasons and are melded to reverberate off of each other. 

Complexity is explored as a jumping off point for the ultimate in simplicity. Twomey's goals are to create works that are “jewels” full of color, light, design and emotion. Her work can be influenced by the abstract work of Georgia O'Keeffe, or the realism of Winslow Homer, or the Impressionists, or even Pablo Picasso. 

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION 

• TED Conference: invitation to and work shown, the medical division, TEDMED (Technology, Information & Design) 

• Winner of the 2010 ArtInPlace Mural Competition Charlottesville, Virginia; Barracks Road, Charlottesville, 12 X 24' on Aluminum 

• Fellow of the Association of Medical Illustrators (FAMI), 2009 

• Exhibition at the William H. Benton Art Museum, Connecticut 

• Winner of the American Horse Publications Annual Awards, First Place in Illustration for 'Da Vinci Horse' 

• Exclusive medical illustrator for Roche Pharmaceuticals interactive multimedia program, OTIS: Organ Transplant Information Systems –Award-winning program distributed worldwide for heart, lungs, liver and additional transplant patient education 

• Accepted into League of Milwaukee Artists, 2005, juried 

• Founding Member, Illustrators Partnership of America, (Top 100 Illustrators nationally) 

• Salon judge and presenter, 2007 Association of Medical Illustrators Meeting, Bozeman, Montana 

• 17th Annual International Exhibition of Animals in Art - University of Louisiana Veterinary School, entry juried in - only 85 accepted out of 900 applicants 

• American Horse Show Association 'Buy' review of The Guide to Equine Electrolytes: What Every Owner and Trainer Should Know

• International Museum of Surgical Science, juried invitational show 

• Association of Medical Illustrators, Award of Excellence; Concepts in Biology 

• The RX Club/Art Directors Club, NYC, Best of Medical Art, Award of Excellence 

• Association of Medical Illustrators, Award of Excellence; Human Anatomy 

• Association of Medical Illustrators, Award of Excellence; Biology: Visualizing Life 

• The RX Club/Art Directors Club of New York City; Award of Excellence 

• Association of Medical Illustrators, Award of Excellence; Human Anatomy and Physiology 

Twomey is a graduate of the University of Illinois School of Biocommunication Arts and Northern Illinois University. She has also studied at Northwestern and Oxford. Catherine has practiced as a Board Certified Medical Illustrator for 25 years, and is currently working with the international eye-care organization, ORBIS, to produce a series of ocular illustrations that will educate nurses about children's eye pathologies in South Africa. 

PayPal is accepted for payment.

Marketing: Emerging Artist Tips 6.0

Introduction

Recently a young, fresh out of school artist/illustrator in New York City contacted me for advice about how to jump start his career. This is an on-going dialog about how to approach marketing your skills.

Random things can make or break your ability to get an assignment. It helps to prepare and control as much as you can. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but your personal image and marketing methods are often your first, and maybe only, chance to make an impression.

Q:

I'm getting so discouraged about the number of "not interested" responses I get to my attempts to get work. Do you have some more creative ideas for getting clients? I don't care if it takes some work, I just want something to come out of it.

A:

Realize that you will make many, many calls and contacts for every one job you get. It helps to hear this, and this is a hard thing to do, but do not take it personally if you don't hear back. As best you can, keep negative thoughts and emotions out of it. This is just business. You don't need 100 clients until you're ready to handle 100 clients. If you can establish a few well-paying, dependable gems, you're on your way. 

• Keep an eye out for online or print announcements (press releases) about people who are getting job promotions who might need your services in their new position. As in the previous marketing post, congratulate them, and start to imprint your images into their brains.
• Use corporations, publishers, ad and design agency's websites to increase your ever-growing and ever-changing (Potential) Contact List. For example, take this ad agency with offices in New York: http://www.wk.com/ . On their website, go to: http://www.wk.com/people . There's a page full of creative/media people, from their offices in New York to all over the world, some already using illustration on this page, that you can start contacting. Note: these people change jobs ALL THE TIME! They leave for greener pastures, get promoted, get fired, etc. so it's worth it to keep up with them and their changing contact information, otherwise you could be lost in the shuffle.
• Some of this best advice I ever got: develop a VERY THICK SKIN!