Catalogue for Sacred Flesh can now be purchased!

While I was tutoring calculus and heavily into derivatives and differential equations this morning, I got a most exciting phone call!  Michael at Uptown Color was calling to let me know all 75 copies of my catalogue were ready!  I went to pick them up immediately after the session.  Michael has been fantastic helping me get the color just right and working with me as I give him different versions of everything as I edited it and played with the color, etc.  I am so thankful that docucopies.com wouldn't print the catalogue (because there were nudes in it) and I had to go local.  It made all the difference in the quality for me to be able to see proofs of it and to correct it several times before going to press.  The product is infinitely better because of it.  Things do tend to work out how they're supposed to, but I sure was frustrated when docucopies told me they wouldn't do it.

If you ever need to get anything printed in Richmond, Uptown Color is definitely the place to go!

So now I have 75 copies of Sacred Flesh awaiting the masses of people eager to purchase them!  They are $25 if you get them from me before the show (plus $2.25 for postage if you want me to mail it to you in the US), $30 at the show or afterwards.  You can send me a check to my home address (email me for it if you don't already know it) and I'll get it out in the mail right away.  The Buy Now button down below can be used if you want to pay with PayPal.  It doesn't cost you anything extra and they'll ask you all the pertinent information.  A very easy way to go, I hope!  If you have any problems with it, please let me know and I'll figure out how to fix it.

Here's an excerpt from the catalogue so you can get a sense of what to expect:

When I told this woman that I wanted to paint this image, she was horrified - No!  It looks too much like me!  Everyone will recognize me!  I found her statement fascinating.  It’s ironic because you can’t see her face, and it’s likely that not all that many people have seen her nude.  It’s also wonderful because perhaps I captured the essence of her in this image.  That’s exactly what appealed to me about it - and what made her uncomfortable with my painting it, I assume.

Intent upon honoring her desire to not use that image, I had my husband come out to the studio and photograph me in the exact same position, with the same lighting, at the same time of evening.  The pictures he took didn’t work at all.  He did a great job, but the images were not compelling the way this one is.  It isn’t a normal gesture for me like it is for this model. 

Stymied, I completely released my desire to paint this painting.

Well, sort of.  I tried to, but the image stuck with me still, so I drew it in my sketchbook.  I drew a detail of her hand.  I kept thinking about the image.The next time I saw her, I told her about my compulsion.  She laughed and said, “Oh, good grief!  Go ahead and paint it then!” 

I was so excited, I began right away.I love the essence of this woman and how it comes across in the painting.  Her comfort in her body is clear.  Her centered nature and grounded being give me comfort and strength.  SS

Pregnant (no, not me!)

This morning I was very busy with logistical stuff.  I'll be glad when this show is up and running and I can get back to painting!  I went to Uptown Color again to check on the proofs for the catalogue and to give them new files for the text (which my most excellent friend Tina edited for me with her professional eye so they're pretty darn close to perfect!  Thanks, Tina!).  I hope tomorrow will be the last day of working with Uptown - they're wonderful - it's just been hard to get the colors right and I've had to go back there at least 7 times.  I sure appreciate their willingness to get it right for me.  The problem is that I'm seeing the colors on my screen how I want them to print out, but Michael at Uptown is seeing them yellower and darker on his screen, then they're printing even darker, so I'm not getting the images how I'd like them to be.  Today I showed him my computer and how they should look - hopefully that'll help!

In addition to working on the catalogue, Wendover Art Company, the company which wants to print my seascapes, emailed and called to say I was going to have to Fed-Ex my paintings to them so they could do the scans themselves.  I had them done by Staples Fine Art here in Richmond.  Mark Staples does outstanding work, and his assistant, Carole, is a dream to work with.  They have both been incredibly helpful.  Wendover was wanting to print my 6"x9" pieces 50" big, and they were thinking the files were too small to do so.  I think the problem was more that my art is too small to blow up so large.  Mark scanned them as large as is technically possible to do so at this time.  Finally we got it resolved.  I'm going to take over some larger pieces so they can make big pieces out of them, and the smaller pieces will be blown up smaller, and the pastels won't have to be shipped to FL.  It's all good.  Everyone involved is wonderful to work with and is doing everything they know how to make things work out just right.  It's just complicated getting art made by me, scanned here in Richmond, coordinated by Catharine in Atlanta, printed there in Florida, and marketed all over the world!  Next time I'm in Crate and Barrel and see artwork, I will certainly appreciate the effort that went into making it a lot more!  Geez Louise!

After settling all those details, I flew into the studio, ready to work!  I feel done with Faux Fur Follies so I had to find something new to work on.  For some reason, I'd been craving working on a pregnant nude - I started drawing them in 2000 and a series of small drawings of them was my very first show.  I found an image I've drawn several times before and painted it all afternoon.  It felt so good to create those fabulous curves.  Pregnant bellies are so gorgeous and so satisfying to draw!  (The red image is the one I did in 2000 of the same image.  It's in pencil on textured paper and is very tiny, so that's why it looks so static-y.)

Crazy busy day, and "Don't mess with me!"

"Don't Mess With Me!"



Closeup of necklace



Way too tired to write anything of note tonight, but I wanted to post these pictures of "Don't Mess with Me!" as she is now.  I worked on the necklace a lot the other day.

Today I tutored, took the catalogue files back to the printer once I'd re-worked almost all of them, tutored some more, worked on an application for a grant which is due TOMORROW!, visited with my lovely daughter who just got home for a couple of weeks before a year in Germany then worked on the grant application some more.  I'm not quite done and it has to be postmarked the 15th.  I have an appointment tomorrow at 7 AM to go over the contract for the publishing company tomorrow, then, at 9, an appointment to get my work scanned for said publishing company.  9:30 or 10 will find me picking up art a friend was kind enough to transport here from NC.  After that it's back to the printer to OK the proof (hopefully!) so the catalogue can be printed.  I think I'll take a nap after that.  Then I'll have to print out the grant application and double-check it before I put it in the mail with best wishes for a bon voyage and successful application.  Then there's laundry to do, meals to cook, cats to care for, and maybe, just maybe, a painting to work on somewhere in there!

To anyone who thinks all artists do is sit in their studio and play, they can read this blog and revise their picture just a tiny bit!  Sometimes it's quite a lot of work too!  It's all good - just a bit much at times when everything needs to be done at once.

Off to bed.  It's almost 1 AM.  5:45 is going to come VERY early!

docucopies won't print the catalogue

I've been so busy this last week, I've barely had time to write here.  My focus is split because there are several things I'm working on:

the catalogue for the show

my newest piece, "Don't Mess with Me!"
checking out the company which wants to license some of my artwork
tutoring at school again and trying to pick up some new clients
working out so I enjoy my body
being with Chris when he has time
several meetings this week
marketing a new art class which starts next Thursday
framing work for the show
laying out the artwork for the show

It's a LOT for one week - no wonder I'm feeling a bit fragmented!

So - progress report -
I sent the catalogue in to Docucopies.com.  It took 4 hours to upload all the files.  Tedious, to say the least.  The next day I got the following email from them: 

Hi Susan,


We do apologize for the inconvenience, but we will be unable to print your orders. It is a company policy that we do not print nudity, whether it is a painting or photo. Again we do apologize for the inconvenience.

Ashlee Anderson
Docucopies.com

THAT was a bummer!  I ranted and raved for a while about it then realized there wasn't a darn thing I could do about it other than find a new publisher, and FAST!  Of course I have a lot of ethical stuff to say about it, and of course it feeds into my project very effectively - what is our society about if a company won't publish a catalogue celebrating women and their bodies and supporting positive body image?? 
 
But pragmatically I had to act quickly to get the catalogue printed in time for the show.  I went to a local printer, Uptown Color.  They do a fabulous job, they're professional, they print nudes, they're local.  The only reason I didn't go to them right away is because they charge somewhat more than twice as much for the catalogue which makes the price a bit high for folks to buy.  But they're good, and they're willing.  So I'll be spending $825 plus tax for the catalogue.  I sure hope I sell out the copies of them!  I picked up the proof Friday.  It looks good but the colors are off, so I have to try to fix them somehow.  I haven't been able to figure out how to calibrate my monitor, but the colors are consistently too yellow, so I'll take that into account and try to adjust accordingly - however that is!
 
It will be done in time for the show.

Art as marketing...

Catalogue done, sent in.  Prints ordered.  Layout for show done.

Finally thinking I can have some time to paint when I received an email from a place that sells prints to interior designers, hospitals, businesses, etc.   They like my color studies and seascapes and want to talk to me about printing them and distributing them.  They need excellent scans of them by next week.  The pieces are all framed so that will involve a LOT of work unframing them, taking them to get them scanned, then re-framing them.  Ugh.  Oh well.  Interestingly, they don't give the artists credit for the work, unless the work happens to be signed.  Instead they're the prints you find at Macy's or Crate and Barrel, some place like that.  I'm flattered that they like my work and want it.  I'm a bit perturbed that I wouldn't get any credit for them.  That seems weird.  I'd get between $3 and $5/print they sell.  That could add up if they sell a lot.  I assume they get about $125-$300/framed print, so it's a pretty good mark-up for them.  Still, all I have to do is the initial work of getting the work scanned then sit back and hope the work sells like crazy.  I still have the copyright and can sell the original.

I'm planning to check into it further.  It could be a way to be able to work full time at my art, so I'm certainly interested! 

I read a book about Art Marketing about 8 years ago.  It said you have to spend as much time marketing your work as you do making it.  I certainly find that to be true.  Between the show and these prints, I won't have time to paint this week at all.  Hopefully I'll have some time next week and can get back into the studio.  I get a bit grumpy when I don't get to paint for a long time.

Oh, one interesting thing about the images they really like - mostly the seascapes - I did those pieces when Chris and I went to the Outer Banks several years ago.  Chris had been unemployed for about 4 months when I gave him a Christmas present of a week at the beach in March.  He was still unemployed then, and I was having trouble coping.  I was so thankful to go on vacation.  I was so drained and exhausted from worry that I could barely talk the first few days.  Instead I sat on the deck at a picnic table and drew what I saw.  I drew 8-10 different pictures over the course of the week, paying attention to the different colors of the sand, sea, and sky.  The pictures have a great deal of emotion to them because I was feeling so much at the time.

I find they are a true testimony to faith and trust.  In choosing to rent the cottage for a week even though Chris was unemployed, I was trusting he would find a job.  I trusted my art to help me find a way through my anxiety and upset. 

The third day we were there, Chris got a phone call from a company offering him a well-paying temporary job.  We were able to relax and revel in the vacation the rest of the time.  Such a relief, such a joy, such a pleasure.

This was also the trip when I found a gallery in OBX to sell my work.  The gallery no longer exists, but it was these pieces she saw and liked.  They fed me spiritually when I did them, and perhaps they'll feed me literally in the years to come if the sales happen!  I feel truly blessed.

Putting together a catalogue

Whew!  What a lot of work!  And a lot of fun!

I'm working on compiling a catalogue for the show I have beginning September 30th.  The show and the catalogue are both called Sacred Flesh.  The show will be held at the Visual Art Studio  at 208 W. Broad St in Richmond from Sept 30 - November 24.  Thursday, September 30th, there will be a preview for folks who really want to study the art without lots of crowds.  Friday is First Friday, a very fun, crowded, let's-see-who's-here-kind-of-evening that has turned downtown Richmond into a safe, fun, and very cool place to be.  I'll be giving an Artist's Talk at 5:15 on the first, and several of the models plan to be there as well to discuss their experiences.

For the month of November, I'll be switching out almost all the artwork.  On November 4th, there will be another preview, and First Friday will take place again November 5th with another Artist's Talk at 5:15 that night.

If you are on my mailing list, you will get a postcard in the mail in the next week or so.  If you'd like to be on my list, you can send me an email at susansingerart@msn.com, and I'll be happy to put you on the list and send you a card about this and other events I'll be having.

The catalogue will contain almost all the paintings which will be in the show both months as well as statements by or about each of the models.  Here's an example of what'll be in the book:

When Susan asked me to model for her new series, I believe we were having dinner together with a few others. I was intrigued and flattered, and after hesitating a moment I agreed to do it with a friend. A few weeks later we set a date and went to her studio one evening. I was extremely nervous and was partially regretting my decision. My friend offered to go first, and I was relieved. She was very natural and relaxed, and her confidence helped me loosen up. I imagined that I would be nervous at first, but eventually forget that I was completely naked.

That's not exactly how it played out. I felt unsure of what to do with my body, and was constantly worrying that my poses were awkward and unattractive. The fun part came afterward, when we looked through the photos. Once I was able to view what Susan was seeing through her lens, I have to admit that I was more than pleased with what I saw. Her ability to capture grace where none existed is amazing. In the end, I felt emboldened by the experience and came away realizing that I'd like to do it again!

If you're interested in having a copy of the catalogue, you can order it until September 25th for $20.  At the show and afterwards, it will be $25.  Email me for details.