More NYC photos

Thought I'd post a few more photos. The photo showing the words "New Yorker" at the top of the building is a view David shot from the front door of the Javits Convention Center toward Manhattan. We stayed at the New Yorker. The tall spire behind it to the right is the Empire State Building. We went up the Empire on Wednesday night and David got some great sunset and night shots, as you can see here. On Friday morning, we went to the NBC plaza and got to see and hear Phil Collins in concert. I'm posting of photo of him and Matt Lauer. New York was wonderful and we can't wait to return and explore more of it!

Back in Texas!

We are back from New York. It was a fantastic trip. Got some solid leads that I will be following up on and feel really good about the future of my wildflowers for licensing. Now it’s all about the follow-up, which will take high priority over the weeks and months to come.

Above all, this was an amazing and invaluable learning experience for me and David. Just being in the thick of the International Licensing show and being in the thick of Manhattan (our first time to NYC)...Wow. I made the commitment for a booth in mid-April. That gave me about 9 weeks to pull it off, By “it” I mean everything from booking air and hotel, to designing and producing sales literature to planning the booth layout to shipping the artwork ahead so it would be waiting for us. For the most part, everything came together better than I could have hoped.

I'm posting a few photos of the booth and of David and I at the entrance to the show.

Ready for New York...Almost!

So it's almost noon on Sunday and I'm still checking items off my to-do list for the trip to New York for the International License Show June 20-22. I'll be at booth No. 1278 in the Art and Design Gallery displaying my wildflowers.
Mentally, emotionally...I'm ready!
In other news:
Art on Exhibit. A good selection of my work is out and around the area now: Gallery on the Square in Wimberley, Grandmother Moon's in Gruene, Vulture Gulch in Hancock, New Braunfels Cadiology (through the end of July) and, of course, at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery.
July Art Camps. One camp is full, but I have room in the other 3 camps for July. My Tuesday night adult painting class filled up so I've added a Thursday night class. Still have openings in Saturday classes at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. It's been a good summer for teaching and I've had a great time meeting new students and sharing my love of art with them. My summer brochure is available for download at my website, www.casadelinda.com.
Hope to have great news to report when I return from New York...or at least some great stories to tell!

Giant Art Steins on Parade!

I had mentioned in a previous post that I painted a 4-foot-tall stein and here it is. The New Braunfels Art League, of which I am proud to be a member, is sponsoring its own version of a "cow parade" this summer. But instead of bovines, the art league choose a giant German stein to honor the German heritage of the New Braunfels community. Local artists designed and painted 41 of the steins which are being sponsored by New Braunfels' businesses. The steins are now "on parade" for public viewing (including my contribution located in the lobby of Chase Bank in downtown New Braunfels). You can pick up a free map of stein locations at the NBAL gallery or at the NB Chamber of Commerce. To see all photos of the other 40 steins, go to the NBAL website and click on the virtual tour.
Odds and ends:
Finished up my first Summer 2006 camp and had a blast! Start another week-long camp on Monday. Been busy getting ready for New York...leave a week from Monday!
My art can now be seen at two new locations: Grandmother Moon's in Gruene (located near Adobe Verde) and Vulture Gulch in Hancock (Canyon Lake North). I'm also showing through the end of July at the New Braunfels Cardiology office in New Braunfels (on Common Street). Let me know if you need more information on any of these.

Webpage Woes

Thought I knew about all the broken links on my website but just yesterday found out I had many, many more. So I've replaced my extensive, multi-page site with a one-page, simplified version for the time being. If you have been to www.casadelinda.com before today, you might need to refresh or reload when you click in next time. If you see my logo floating on a cloud on a blue background at the top, you are on the right page. If you ever find any broken links (those little boxes with xes in them), please let me know!
Got my business card and one-sheet order in today. If you do go to my website, scroll down and you'll see the "one-sheet" that I'm talking about. It's a 8.5X11 flyer and I'm having them printed up full color on 100 lb gloss to hand out at the International Licensing Show. And speaking of the show...we fly up in 18 days!! Mucho work to do between now and then. Still packing and shipping my art out so it'll be waiting for me when I get there.
Camps and classes start next week. Can't wait to see all those smiling and eager-to-create little folks! I was able to add a link from my webpage for the 2006 Camps brochure (a pdf file). Another thing I can check off my to-do list!

My "riotous" Wildflowers

The writer of the article that ran in the Express-News last Saturday used the term "riotous" to decribe one of my wildflower painting. A friend just e-mailed me after reading the article, mentioning the "riotous" wildflowers in the photo. What an interesting word, "riotous." I googled it and first went to allwords.com where I not only got a definition but a pronoucition of the word. I had a sense of it's meaning just from the root word, riot. Allwords.com defines it as: very active, noisy, cheerful and wild. That'll work. The Merrian-Webster Online Dictionary's first definition gave "of the nature of a riot." But the second cited: "ABUNDANT, EXUBERANT: the garden was riotous with flowers." OK, so I've been using the Internet for over a decade, even met the Love of My Life on AOL, but I am still amazed at the wealth of information available online. And the speed. Wow.

Painting featured in Express-News article

A couple who own 2 of my paintings were recently interviewed for the San Antonio Express News for a Saturday home feature called "Spaces." The lead photo is of their dining room with my art as the focus, plus I am mentioned in the article! How exciting! If you'd like to read the article online, go to: http://www.mysanantonio.com/salife/realestate/storyindex.html and click on the headline:
"Spaces — 'Sweat equity,' love of art help couple renovate home"
After today, this link may not work. If you still want to find the article, you can by searching the archives.
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23 days before I fly to New York. Spent much of yesterday and day gathering packing materials and assessing what work I'll ship up this coming week. Almost done with my new business card, need to work other sales material and my packets. But I even found time to do some painting this morning!

Summer Art Camps and Classes

Lots of interest is stirring for my summer schedule of camps and classes! And I couldn't be happier. I do love teaching art so very much. What's great about this kind of teaching is that the students (at least most of them) WANT to be there! I've already filled one camp and have several others with students signed up. And my summer Tuesday evening class for adults has 5 students. Wow. What a great group...it's going to be a lot of fun! If you live in the area, help spread the word that I offer camps for ages 5 and up. I can be reached by e-mail at artclasses@casadelinda.com. Thanks!

New York hotel...flight...check

OK, one more thing off my to-do list. Booked a flight and hotel for NY last night. So much more to do. Leave in 26 days! Had some more title suggestions for my most recent works. I've already registered the copyrights with the titles I choose a few days back. But thanks to those of you who looked and posted or sent me comments! If you haven't checked them out, please click over when you have time.

Progress on preparing for Licensing show

I almost feel like I need to create another blog just to journal about my journey to make it to the International Licensing Show. Every day I try to spend some time on some aspect of preparing for the show. For example, last week I completed a few more paintings to choose from. They are photographed for copyright registration. I now need to varnish them so they have time to cure so I can pack everything up to ship it to New York. In going over the options last night I've decided my best bet is to ship the work to the Freeman warehouse (it has to be there by June 8). Freeman handles the material (and decorating) for the Jacob Javits Convention Center. They will store the work and bring it to my booth during set up on Monday, June 19--all for a fee, of course. Every time I turn around, there's a price tag in addition to what I've already paid for the booth. No one said this would be cheap or easy. So here it is Sunday morning. I leave in 29 days. On today's agenda: work on a spiffy business card design and flyer to print up to have something to hand out; work on a nice packet that I'll have for those really serious contacts (that'll include a CD burned with images, my bio, etc.); varnish the paintings ... and I volunteer at the New Braunfels Art League Gallery today!
If you haven't seen my latest works, please click over to my wildflower gallery and help me name these paintings! Thanks!

Help...Newest Wildflower paintings need titles!

In preparing for my trip to New York in June, I saw the window of opportunity to get any new paintings done to choose from quickly closing on me. With that in mind, I did some serious--really serious--painting over the last few weeks. I have 6 new works to pick from now as I choose what to ship for my booth at the International Licensing Show. I've posted one here, but this and all the others are posted on my Wildflower Gallery blog. And now I need titles! Previously, I had great results from inviting friends and strangers to suggest titles for my paintings. I need your help again. Check out the new works on my other blog, Linda's Wildflower Gallery, and post your suggestions and comments on the new additions.
In other news...the Open House and Sale-a-bration for my 2nd anniversary was a great success. I am so thankful for such wonderful friends and supporters...true patrons of the arts--of my art! Thank you all! Registrations for summer art camps and classes are going well. Life is good. Busy. But good.

Open House, Art Camps and classes

Lots to do this week getting ready for my 2nd anniversary Open House and Sale-A-Bration at Casa de Linda Art Studio. I've sent out my newsletters to over 300 friends. Some went e-mail but most went snail mail. If you live in the area, please mark your calendar for May 11-14 and come celebrate with me! I'm putting up a special exhibit of my paintings and I'm having an Inventory Reduction Sale on select works--save 10-50%. David will also have his photos out and some will be marked 25-50% off. Our hand-painted Texas Birdhouses are marked down 25% and I'm having a clearance on my lo-carb cookbook at 75% off! The fun begins Thursday, May 11, when the studio will be open 6-8 p.m. In fact, most of the stores in downtown New Braunfels will be open for "2nd Thursday" so come stroll the shops! An extra special treat: the premier of the New Braunfels Art League Giant Art Stein Parade! And my stein, SpringStein, will be one of them. Then my Open House continues on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. -5 p.m and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. As you can tell, this is all consuming of my time and energy. I have been painting this week and last. Finished my largest yet--a 6 foot by 8 foot canvas--to take to the International Licensing Show in June! Plus I did two 30X40 and a 24X30 canvas, as well as a round of the squares. On top of all this, I'm gearing up for my Summer Art Camps and Classes.