All posts by Amy Guidry

Art Help & Info

Artists: Scam Alert!

6 Comments
"The United States of Consumerism" by Amy Guidry; Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to further my art career.  Unfortunately, there are some losers out there who are looking to take advantage of that.  I did a little research online concerning an opportunity I came across that sounded too good to be true.  Apparently that’s because it is.  ArtistGrants.org is promoting their Biennial Competition with a $10K first place award- yes, 10,000 dollars.  Aside from the fantastic prize money, I had to wonder about this since I’d never even heard of them before.  I’ve heard of many artist grants organizations, but never this one.  So I kept an eye on their site…  interestingly enough, I discovered that their entry fee kept changing (increasing, of course) over the past couple of months.  And the deadline has been extended three times so far (at least since I’ve discovered this “competition”).  And who the hell are the jurors?   

Well, further investigation has dug up some more interesting tidbits…  According to Art Opportunities Monthly, ArtistGrants.org tried to get their Biennial listed in their classifieds.  Turns out AOM discovered their domain had been registered for a matter of days before they were listing their competition. AOM also states that the address provided to them for the listing “was a private home which had been bought for well over the asking price just a short time ago (arousing a newspaper’s suspicions that a kickback and finagling with mortgage money was involved). And now, the house just appeared on the market as a HUD foreclosure, meaning that the extra money the buyers had borrowed will not be paid back.”

In addition, AOM also asked about their organization, judging, funding, etc. and never received a response.  I found the same to be true for others’ attempts to contact ArtistGrants.org.  So, after finding out all of this, I am steering clear of this “opportunity” and passing on this information to everyone in the blogosphere!  Just goes to show that unless you are already familiar with an organization, you should always look into them before entering or sending them money.  Many artist listings sites have a disclaimer that they are not responsible if it turns out a listing is a scam and that they do not do background checks, so to speak.  So be sure to do your homework!

www.AmyGuidry.com

My Exhibitions

I’m So Excited!

Leave a comment
"Metamorphosis" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series. Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

And I just can’t hide it. If there’s an award for dorky blog titles, I’m sure to receive it shortly. Anyway, as you may have already surmised, I have some good news. No, great news. I’ve been dying to find out the results of a competition I entered recently and as per usual with these things, the results were not announced on time. (I’m no math whiz, but I’d have to say this happens about 97% of the time.) So I was just taking care of emails and got my announcement! My work has been accepted into the 2009 Art Melt to be held at the Brunner Gallery in the Shaw Center for the Arts! Yea! So here’s the really exciting part… normally they only have one juror, but this year they had three. One of which happened to be the curator of Prospect 1, the Art Biennial held in New Orleans recently. Here’s the listing of jurors from the Art Melt site:

Dan Cameron is the visual arts director at the New Orleans Center for Contemporary Art. Cameron served as the director and curator for Prospect.1, the largest biennial of international contemporary art in the United States, recently held in New Orleans. Cameron has previously served as artistic director of the eighth Istanbul Biennial and curated the 2006 Taipei Biennial.

Ann Connelly is a Baton Rouge-based gallery owner with more than 18 years of experience as an art dealer. Her gallery, Ann Connelly Fine Art, represents a wide variety of local and national contemporary artists who have achieved recognition in national collections and publications.

Brian Young is the curator at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Md. With more than a decade of curatorial experience in both traditional and contemporary art, Young has a history of success at Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. and the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock.

The painting that was chosen is “Metamorphosis” from my New Realm series. It happens to be one of my favorite pieces, so I’m especially happy it was selected. (If you’re new to my work, that’s a photo of it on the left.) The opening reception will take place July 10th from 6:30-10 pm at the Shaw Center for the Arts in downtown Baton Rouge, LA. You can find out more details at www.artmelt.org.

And if you’d like to see more of my work, visit www.AmyGuidry.com

Art Help & Info, Sold

The 411 on Donating Your Art

Leave a comment
"New Realm" by Amy Guidry- Sold at Auction

I get asked to donate my artwork fairly often. And this topic has been broached with me before in the art marketing class that I have conducted. So I thought it might be helpful to offer some insight into donations. First, you won’t be able to do them all- and please don’t feel bad about it. I get letters and emails requesting my work, sometimes several in one month. If I donated to all of them, I’d be out of paintings. And a girl’s gotta eat, so I have to have something left to sell. Next, you should decide who you’d like to help. Some charities hold the same art auction every year, so if it’s one that you would like to help on a continual basis, you can go ahead and plan on that and mark your calendar for it in the upcoming year(s). Or, you may like to alternate who you help and plan on donating to a different charity next go round just to even out the playing field a bit.

When deciding on who you would like to donate to, there are a few things to take into consideration. What does your donation do for this charity, organization, etc.? What will you be supporting? Does this follow your personal beliefs? What type of venue will hold the event? Who are the other participating artists? Would you be honored to have your work seen in such an event and amongst the other artists’ work? What kind of publicity will you gain from this experience? Will your donation conflict with another obligation, be it an exhibit, juried show, etc.?

I know this is a lot to consider and may even sound selfish, but the truth is, there’s much more to consider when donating your art than just simply writing a check to support a cause. This is about more than just money because it also involves time and labor- lots of it. You’re an artist, you know that it wasn’t easy to create this piece you’re about to give away. It took time, supplies, energy, creativity, willpower, and probably involved a personal sacrifice ranging anywhere from sleep to your family. So yes, you should consider what you get out of this. And if you decide that you can’t part with your work for whatever reason, but would truly like to help, simply write a check for this organization, charity, etc. You’ll directly help them without feeling guilty. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with just stating the truth- “I’d love to help, but I have [fill in other obligation here] and won’t be able to. But please add me to your mailing list, I’d love to donate next year.”

Thoughts? Questions? Let me know, either here or at www.AmyGuidry.com!

My Exhibitions

The Next Place to Catch My Work

Leave a comment
"Special Ingredients" by Amy Guidry; Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I know, I know, not the most creative title for a post. Maybe I’m just tired…it’s been a long day and I’ve been out and about in this dreaded heat. Summer in Louisiana is miserable. Sooo, how appropriate that my next show is up north. R. Coury Fine Art Gallery in Savage, Maryland has a group show currently up for the next couple of months. My work is included in the exhibit, which is opening for their 3rd Friday Artwalk. The reception will take place June 19th from 6-8pm. So if you’re in the area, check it out. Or depending on how badly you want to get out of this heat, maybe you’ll take a trip up to MD. It’s at least 10 degrees cooler up there and probably not as humid… And if you’d like to just stay put and enjoy your air conditioning, you can always go to my website to see my work at www.AmyGuidry.com!

Paintings

The Newest Addition

Leave a comment
"Liberty" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series. Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I must be feeling guilty about my blog abandonment since I’ve got two posts in one week… So here it is, the latest painting of my “New Realm” series. Not even on the website yet! Consider this a sneak preview that only my blog readers are in the know about. Feeling special yet? Okay, okay, so here are the details. The title is “Liberty” and this is another large piece since it is 36″ wide by 48″ high. And as per usual, it is an acrylic on canvas. This piece features the purple butterflies from many of the other paintings in the series. I thought of this one as an extension of “Release” which also features the purple butterflies seen from above. This painting will be part of my solo exhibition this October at Galerie Lafayette in downtown Lafayette, LA. If you’re in the area, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to see these paintings in person. The photo here does not do the piece justice. Anyway, if you’d like to find out more about my upcoming exhibits, sign up for my newsletter under my website contact page. And while you’re there, check out the rest of my work- www.AmyGuidry.com.

Press

Did You Miss Me?

2 Comments
"Adaptation" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series; Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I’ve been away for a little while from my blog. Hopefully you’ve noticed. 😉 I’m working on a new body of work and am deeply involved in sketching out all the new ideas I have. Okay, so enough excuses. Here’s one new piece of information. If you haven’t read about it by now, my work has been featured in three volumes of Studio Visit Magazine. Studio Visit is the sister publication to New American Paintings and is published by The Open Studios Press. So now in addition to having my work in their publication, they have also featured me on their website. All past volumes of Studio Visit Magazine are now shown on the website and the winning artists from each issue are listed as well. In addition, those artists that have websites have a link to their site via StudioVisitMagazine.com. So if you’d like to check out the volumes that I’m in, go to www.studiovisitmagazine.com/volumes.html and click on an issue to see the artists. And if you’d like to view more of my work, be sure to check out my website at www.AmyGuidry.com.

My Exhibitions

2nd Saturday Artwalk

Leave a comment
"Tranquility" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series. Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

Okay, so this won’t be the next upcoming 2nd Saturday Artwalk, but it will be a 2nd Saturday in the future… October, that is. So here in Lafayette, Louisiana, we have a 2nd Saturday Artwalk each month in the downtown area. All of the galleries are open late, usually until 8 or 9 pm depending on the crowd. So I will be having a solo exhibition at Galerie Lafayette, which is located in Jefferson St. Market this coming October. This will actually be the second solo show I’ve had at Galerie Lafayette. I will have all new work for this exhibit! The opening reception will be held during the Artwalk, which will be October 10th from 6-8pm. More details about the show will follow closer to time. In the meantime, you can view my work at www.AmyGuidry.com.

My Exhibitions, Sold

LPB Auction

Leave a comment
"Transcendence" by Amy Guidry; From the New Realm series. Copyright Amy Guidry 2009

I will be participating in the LPB Art and Travel Auction, which supports Louisiana Public Broadcasting. I was asked to participate as a representing artist for the Oak Street Gallery in Hammond, LA. So I did a small piece, 6″ x 6″, wood-cradled panel, titled “Transcendence.” This piece is an extension of my New Realm series and features the red and black butterflies seen throughout the series. I also added some of the flowers and blue swirls seen in a few of the other paintings in New Realm.

Aside from being part of the live auction on LPB during primetime, my painting is included in an exhibition of all the art up for auction at the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge. The exhibit will be on display through May 18th. On-air coverage will be during primetime on June 7th at 6pm. You can also bid online at http://auction.lpb.org/. Just look under Gallery 17 Oak Street and you’ll find my work listed there!

If you’d like to see more of my work, or my entire New Realm series, go to my website at www.AmyGuidry.com. And if you’re a regular, check out my new home page design!

Art Help & Info

How to Be an Art Star 2.0

Leave a comment

Recognize this blouse? Answer at www.AmyGuidry.comOkay, that may be misleading since this is not the second edition, but a second time around for this class. For those of you who are not familiar with my Art Marketing class from last fall, this is your opportunity to to take part. As part of Frederick l’Ecole des Arts in Arnaudville, LA, I will be teaching another Art Marketing and Self-Promotion course. The first class was quite a success and a great, interactive opportunity to get together with aritists and gallery owners. In addition to my course outline, we had a group session covering individual questions and sharing ideas.

So if you missed out the first time, or are new to this blog and will be in the area, please sign up for Art Marketing and Self-Promotion. The class will be May 2nd (a Saturday) from 10AM-12Noon. Of course we did stay late last time because people had lots of questions and ideas to share, but if you need to leave at noon, feel free to do so.

To give you an idea of what the class is about, here is a general course outline. Overview: Risk assessment; getting out of your comfort zone. Changing your mindset. Goal-setting. Portfolio Development. Gallery submissions and approaching galleries. Alternative exhibition opportunities and juried shows. Marketing Materials. Pricing. Sales. Some of the additional topics discussed included shipping work, Ebay, vanity galleries (just stay away- that’s a free tip you can get from me right now!), and what else, but blogging, of course.

Some of these are very basic principles, and some of it boils down to good old-fashioned common sense, but for many artists, their expertise is in their medium and not in marketing. Unfortunately marketing is not a course requirement when getting your art degree, and quite frankly, it’s just plain scary to people (not just artists!). In addition, to succeed at ANYthing requires goals, planning, and organization. All skills that most people don’t think of or skip when trying to succeed at anything. How many people do you know who blame things on bad luck or lack of luck? Or think the only way they can do what they truly love is if they “win the lottery?” I can think of many.

Okay, ready to sign up yet? Go to http://frederickarts.homestead.com/Classes.html to register for Art Marketing and Self-Promotion. Sign up early to ensure your spot in the class. And it doesn’t matter if you are in high school and planning on your future career as an artist or if you’ve been an artist all your life. If you want to improve your marketing skills, ask questions, or take your career to the next level, this is your opportunity. And meet some great people, too!

www.AmyGuidry.com

Press

Spring Studio Visit

Leave a comment
Studio Visit Volume 5 Cover
"Adaptation" by Amy Guidry ; Painting by Amy Guidry, featured in Studio Visit Magazine Vol. 5

The latest volume of Studio Visit Magazine has arrived! I just got my copy the other day. It’s Volume 5, the Spring 2009 edition. My work was selected (again…yea!) for inclusion. My painting, “Adaptation,” from my “New Realm” series is featured.

The juror for the Spring 2009 issue was Michael Klein, an independent curator and private art dealer. He was the former Director of the International Sculpture Center and former Curator of the Microsoft Art Collection. Studio Visit is published by the Open Studios Press.

Studio Visit is the new sister publication to New American Paintings.  In contrast to New American Paintings, Studio Visit Magazine is an internationally juried publication featuring 2-D and 3-D artwork.  Featured jurors are internationally recognized professionals in the art industry.

My painting “Adaptation” was accepted for inclusion. (See photo on the top right.) It is from my “New Realm” series and is currently at Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, TX, which is one of my representing galleries.

To view more of my work, or a larger image of “Adaptation” visit my website at www.AmyGuidry.com.