Blooming Art 2024 - Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, Western Australia

 Over a cold, wet and blustery weekend, it was time for the Blooming Art 2024 exhibition, in conjunction with the Floral Designers Club of Bunbury. 

Held annually in the beautiful Chapel Gallery of the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery (built in 1897, as the Convent of Mercy), the blooming art brightens up a winter's day. 

As well as various categories of competitions for Floral Designers Club members, the club invites a number of artists and related art groups to participate by choosing artwork from the City of Bunbury Art Collection and responding to it by making an ephemeral artwork with flowers and plant material.

Here I share some of them.

Jacqueline Gibsons interpretation of Kangaroo Hill by Phillip Hansen

Donna Fortescue's interpretation of Guy Grey-Smith's Landscape 1969

Deanne Wenn-Mayne's interpretation of Eigma 33 by Janis Rudolfs Nedela - includes little yellow ducks and invited children to draw a picture of a duck with the provided pencils and take a duck home. Deanne who lives with Functional Neurological Disorder dedicated her piece to all the children who visited.

Kaylene MacLoughlin created a beautiful felted vase as part of her interpretation of "Waiting for the Boat 1986" by Helen Grey-Smith. 

Merle Topsy Davis's interpretation of Drawing for Painting by Ted Snell

Carolyn Nicholls's showcases the plight of the Red Tailed Cockatoos in her interpretation of Occupied Territory by Kay Gibson

Kathleen Pinkerton's interpretation of The Silent Camp by Graham 'Swag' Taylor represents a campfire and the loss of children taken from aboriginal camps. "Some is missing forever, will they ever be returned".

The centrepiece this year put together by members of the Floral Designers Club was a mermaid

Among all the wonderful floral art works by the designer club members I couldn't go past Catherine Meads display which won Best In Show and 1st Class 1 - Designer of the Year 2024. Obviously the judges couldn't either.

In 2014 I was an invited artist for Blooming Art. You can read about my experiences here: Blooming Art 2014. Below is my exhibited piece. The painting is by Alisa Small, called Up The Gorge to Tallering Peak.

To find out more about the Flower Designers Club of Bunbury and see more of the exhibition and the work they do. Flower Designers Club of Bunbury

A few images of the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery. It really is a beautiful space. I've just realised that they covered up the chapel stain glass windows for the exhibition.

While we were at the art galley we had a look at other current exhibitions including The Claude Hothin Bequest of historical artworks, and the Iluka Visions annual exhibition of student artworks from high schools in the South West region.

More about the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, it's history and exhibitions: Bunbury Regional Art Gallery

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
   

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Saturdays Critters - Viewing Nature With Eileen

Travel Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

Talking About It Tuesdays @ Slices of Life

ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Until then, enjoy your day... it won't be back. 

Art and Business

The question I am asking today is "do art and business go together?" And the answer is "absolutely", but how can we make it work for us, and have balance in our life too.

Diversity in my art practise - Homewares and greeting cards printed with my photography, leaf prints on scarves, prints and greeting cards, paper flower making.

If you are a working, professional artist you probably spend the majority of your time on your art, but you need to work on the business side of your art practise too. If we want to survive as an artist we need to make some money to pay the bills. Many artists juggle their time between doing their art and working a full or part time job in order to survive. 

You need to ask yourself what do you want from your art. Is it a passion that you have to do regardless of the returns, or are you trying to live off your earnings. It wasn't until I retired that I could spend more time on my art, and I still don't make a full time income from it. But it is something I enjoy, and it makes me enough that if I want to buy something for my photography, like a new lens or camera, I use the money I've earned from my business.

On the weekend I went to a workshop, 'Art and Business', conducted by artist Andrew Frazer, who is the founder and creative director of the Bunbury street art project Six Two Three Zero. I had been to a couple of Andrew's hand lettering workshops in the past and I knew he was a very enthusiastic presenter.  So I looked forward to meeting up with him again.

Here are a few points that came out of the workshop that, if you are an artist, you might want to consider. Of course there are the more practical aspects of insurance, record keeping, accounting, tax, business registration numbers, etc etc, which I am not going to go into here.

** There is always someone out there doing something better than you. Celebrate your individual craft and don't give up! Create something unique and take a risk.

Experimenting with leaf-prints on paper

** Balance your time. Don't forget those around you while you are pursuing your dreams. Your family are an important part of your life, and so spend quality time with them.

** Be focused when you are working on your craft. Being focused will lead to productivity. 

** Schedule regular breaks and give yourself time to breathe, reflect and refresh. Go for a walk!

** The customer is valuable, but they might not know how to connect with you. Take a risk and put yourself out there. (I entered one of my leaf-prints in an art competition in May, and unexpectedly won the "emerging artist award")

** Look everywhere for inspiration, not just within your field of art.

** Always carry a notebook or sketch book or camera to put down ideas and inspiration. 

** Your portfolio or website or blog is a visual representation of your work. Make it as professional and the best that you can. You might have diversity in your work, but you need a thread that binds it all together. Keep your CV on file, and update it regularly. Document your work.

** Which artists do you admire? What were they doing 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago? Just looking at their current work can be disheartening. At one time they were just starting out too, just like you.

** See the bigger picture. Seek out people who have a similar ethos to you. Develop partnerships and relationships.  Don't see these people as competition. Find opportunities to work with other artists. 

** If a project doesn't seem to be a good fit for you, it is ok to say no, and refer them to someone who you think might be able to do the job better. (I have done this a couple of times).

** What are galleries and agents offering? Is it worth the commission they will take from your sales? What is the evidence of the benefits of exhibiting with them?  An agent can generate/source work for you at a cost.

** Don't say yes to every 'work for free' offer in return for 'exposure' that comes your way. Only commit to those projects you are passionate about. Limit the number you do. You cannot pay your rent with 'exposure'.

** Get out and make connections with potential clients. Be on the look out for projects. Connect with businesses you like. Showing your work in context is valuable. 
I exhibited at an art trail early this year, and it was a very valuable day for me, both from sales and exposure. 

**  Be open to opportunities when they come along and spread your potential opportunities. Link into tenders.

** Expand your business and diversify - workshops, artist talks, posters, prints, greeting cards, TShirts, homewares. (I do this through Red Bubble). Diversifying will help make your business sustainable.

**  If a project is not working, walk away and come back later. Don't self-sabotage yourself. Just because you are having a bad day doesn't mean your whole life is going to be like this.

** Don't overshare and don't be a slave to social media.  Go in, look, comment, and then get out of there!Yes, you need to connect with your followers, but be careful of how much time you spend on social media, as it is sucking up productive time.

** Pricing is difficult, find a balance. Time is difficult to charge, but don't undercut yourself, and don't go cheap on materials you purchase. 

** Everyone is busy, so do follow up on quotes you have given. Don't overspend on marketing, schedule your time, support local and build relationships.  

And in the meantime, keep the pot of inspiration brewing.

Thank you so much for stopping by. If you are an artist, I hope you have found something valuable in these little hints. Is there something you do that has worked well for your art business? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   

Eco-prints on paper

All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit and 50 Shades of Age
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

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An InLinkz Link-up