In anticipation of starting up workshops again I have decided to reflect on our most recent workshop at the new studio with a group of high school students from Belleville. Over the past few years we’ve worked hard to build a good relationship with the different schools around the area. We see art as a truly beneficial experience for any young person. Art provides youth with a place to express themselves in an open and nurturing space and we love giving a young person a chance to participate in an environment where they can freely be who they want to be.

This past fall we had the pleasure of hosting a two day etching workshop with a group of art students from Moira Secondary. Their teacher Rosanne Duke (a big supporter of the studio) she asked if her class could learn intaglio printmaking with us through the process of etching. We have done this workshop with Loyalist in the past and it has been a huge success so we jumped on the chance to share this very old process with her students.

This was the first big workshop we have held in our new space, making it a bit nerve-racking. With over 20 students we weren’t too sure how the space would hold-up, but to our surprise it turned out very well. We first went to their classroom to give each student their pre-grounded plates and the step-by-step instruction on how to carve their image. Then the entire class came to Picton to print their plates on our press. Each student had the chance to make an edition of four prints in two different colours. During the first half of the studio day students were timidly working with the inks and using the press but by the second half they were experimenting with different application processes and producing some really inspiring pieces.

If you are interested in learning about etching be sure to sign-up for our January Etching Workshop >> find out more here <<

This introductory course requires no previous experience with printmaking. Students will begin the lesson with fresh copper plates and learn how to transform them into a small edition of prints. This workshop will teach students a non-toxic form of etching and will include hard ground techniques, aquatinting and soft ground techniques. By the end of the course students will have an understanding of the basic principles of printmaking including the above etching processes along with working with printing inks and using a traditional etching press.

3 day workshop
October 27, 28 and 29th
11:00 – 1:00 PM OR 6:00 – 8:00 PM
$150.00 non-member or $140.00 member

We are very excited to soon be sharing our studio space with professor of print and innovative artist Nicolai Sarafov. Sarafov will be traveling from Germany to visit friends at Blizzmax Gallery this August. During his stay in P.E.C. he will be hosting a week long etching workshop, as well as an artist lecture.

About the Instructor:

Nicolai Sarafov studied for five years at the College of Fine Arts in Sofia, followed by six years at the Munich Academy. His etchings are figurative, narrative, filled with a literary references and rich with critical humour. Sarafov has been teaching for 25 + years, he has published a number of catalogues, books and magazines and has exhibited internationally.

About the Workshop:

The etching workshop with Nicolai will be a week long workshop starting Monday 8th and ending Friday 12th. The workshop will walk you through the various techniques of the etching process, including hardground etching and aquatint. You will learn about working with copper plates to create images and using an etching press to transfer your work to paper. The workshop is open to all levels, including experienced printmakers.

$250 (includes material fee) Monday, August 8 – Friday, August 12 6:00 – 9:00 PM

About the Lecture:

Here Sarafov will speak about his work, his founding of the “Institute for Bagonalistik” and his publications.

Sunday, August 7 Starts as 2:00 PM FREE *limited seating*

Please contact chrissy@sparkboxstudio.com to book for the workshop or the lecture.

If you’re like me you may find that you procrastinate on the things that you aren’t that confident doing. For example, building a website for your work. You may not know what templates work best for artists, maybe you are unsure of where to look to get your hosting or domain (maybe you don’t even know what those words are), whatever the case, having a website that shows your work, bio and CV is very important when starting your career.

The first thing you will want to do is pick a domain name that works best for you and your work. For example, my domain is chrissypoitras.com. If people want to search for my work they will be more likely to look up my name in a search engine. If you decide to use something other than your name make sure you think it through and have a good way of making people aware that when searching for you they should search that name in google/yahoo/etc.

Next you will need to purchase that domain name (we use godaddy.com).  You should purchase the .com and .ca versions of your site if you are from the USA or Canada. This will ensure that people typing in your site can type either and find you.

Now that you have your domain name purchased you should purchase you hosting service. You can also do this through godadddy.com.

NOW, before I go too far, there are other options as well. You can use sites like otherpeoplespixels.com where you can pick your template, purchase your domain and hosting all in one spot and they work only with artists.

If you decide you want to get a blog template you can either set it up with godaddy.com so that your domain name doesn’t look like this: chrissypoitras.blogspot.com. OR if you don’t really care about having .wordpress or .bloodspot, etc tagged onto the latter part of your domain than you don’t necessarily need to purchase a domain name or hosting service at all.

Have I lost you yet??

I hope not. Lets just recap:

1. Think about what you want you site to be called. Either name it after yourself so that it is an easy search for galleries and potential buyers OR pick something different that relates to your work (just make sure this makes sense before doing so).

2. Think about whether you want to purchase your domain name and hosting services OR if you are fine with having WordPress or Blogspot or Tumblr adding their name at the end of your domain. Once you have decided continue to either start your blog or purchase you domain and hosting.

Now that you have made your choice you can start looking through the many online templates. You can find several different styles at the sites listed below. Your hosting/domain service should have a great troubleshooting service and can help you upload your template to your website.

Artist Website Templates:

artistportfoliowebsite.com

otherpeoplespixels.com

foliolink.com

foliosnap.com

foliotwist.com

mosaicglobe.com

bigblackbag.com

indexhibit.org

cargocollective.com

Blog Websites:

blogger.com

wordpress.com

tumblr.com

Now that you have your template start populating it. Select the work that best represents who you are. Put up your bio, contact information, artist statement and CV. All of these items will give viewers an idea of who you are and what you are about.

You can also post your work on these sites:

artsetter.com

flickr.com

myartspace.com

behance.net

deviantart.com

These sites bring in different clients and it is always a good idea to get your work out on as many sites as possible. This will give you more chance to get noticed.

If you decided that the template sites aren’t your thing you can always hire someone to help you with your website. These can get expensive and it is generally a good idea to have the capability to edit/update your website on your own.

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Last night we had a great turn out for our collaborative “How to Work the Media Workshop” with the Kingston Arts Council. With 6 panelists and a great group of attendees the night was filled with informative media tips and valuable questions. Our panelists were honest and forthcoming with their advice and our audience didn’t shy away from asking real questions and discussing challenges they face when trying to get their exhibits, openings and events noticed by local and national media.

Greg Tilson, Programming Director for the Kingston Arts Council, picked a solid panel featuring many local media reps including Rene Dick from Scout Design, Steve Campbell from The County Magazine, Katy McIntyre from the Picton Arts Council and Scott Johnston from the Picton Gazette. Below is a sample of some of the great information that was offered to the group. This tidbit comes from Adam Bramburger, the editor from the Picton Gazette. Here Adam tells us what he looks for in a press release.

TIPS FOR PRESS RELEASES

There’s a simple format that I teach reporters and people writing press releases to follow that I’ll pass along. This format should help them get the media’s attention. I think most people have watched the movie Austin Powers and remember my favourite character, Fat Bastard — another oversized redhead — and his catch phrase “Get In ma belly.” Well, if they remember Get INMA, they’ll be set.

INMA to me, is an acronym with all the pertinent questions the media needs to know.

I – The Issue

Simply put, tell us what you’re about in a single sentence with focus – somebody doing something for a reason.   That’s enough to build a story on right there.

N -  What’s New

We need a hook to tell us what makes what you’re doing different than anything that hasn’t happened before and why it is timely right now for us to be there.

M – What it Means

We need to know why the average joe, whether they’re superbly interested in the arts or not should care that this development happened.  Give some context to let us know the broader hopes of what you want to accomplish.

A – What’s Ahead

This is where you make sure you relate to the community what they can do with relation to your event or project — get in the dates, prices, phone and e-mail whatever — and maybe leave them looking forward to things that will happen in the future.

Other things to consider:

1. Contact by email and phone (usually on the same day). Mention that you have sent an email or that you phoned earlier and that you are following up to ensure everything was received. Adam mentions that Wednesdays are the WORST days to try and get in touch with him, consider asking other media representatives the best or worst day to contact them.

2. Don’t clog up your press release with bios and photos. Keep it simple. Send all the additional information as added attachments.

3. Think about timing. It is best to send in a story two weeks before your event. This way the media can plan and have time to get your information out there.

4. Adam would like to reveal a press release myth, that media would rather have press releases or articles written by someone else and submitted in full to save time. For the Picton Gazette it is the exact opposite. They employ many reporters and journalists and they would much rather give them the job of writing about your event, putting together an interview and writing an article for the paper.

5. When you are drafting your press release for the media consider what they generally feature in their paper/magazine/website. The Picton Gazette  enjoys featuring local artists who are engaging with the public, doing something interesting and different and enriching the community.

6. Always consider sending a one-line summation. Sometimes it might be a good thing to send as a subject line, as a headline on a press release or as a bold note.

7. It is always a good idea to give the time, date, and place in a simple to find manner.

We recently found a great video on the Montreal blog BLDG//WLF.

The video gives you an inside look at the animation process of the Japanese Popstars music video “Lets Go”.

Soon after Spark Box opened its doors we began receiving inquiries about hosting a children’s art camp during the summer. However, the thought of a bunch of paint-covered kids running around our small studio space was enough to keep us up at night. When we expressed our dilemma, our supportive community stepped forward to provide us with a camp location! Mia Lane, and her daughter Becky Lane, offered to host the camp on an amazing wooded property by Fish Lake. During the week of August 16 – 20, 8 kids from all over the world came to print, paint, draw and sculpt in the woods.

Not only did we have a great location, we also got great help. Becky Lane, a local designer, helped Chrissy Poitras plan, organize and run the camp. While the kids had fun creating their art, they were also taught and inspired by the art history each of their projects was drawn from. The campers learnt about the impressionists while painting en plein air, the earth art movement in the 1960s by creating sculptures out of natural materials, and the history of street art when making their own graphic text pieces, to name a few.

By the end of the camp the kids had created an impressive array of remarkable art works, installed their own exhibition in the woods, titled and priced their work, and made personalized invitation for their family and friends. They had a great turn out and some even sold some work!

The May 2010 issue of Moneysense magazine has a great article about buying art and how great it is!

The article explains to its readers how its time for everyone to take down their Michael Jordon dunk shot posters and framed Monet prints and put up some original art! Understanding that this can be an intimidating experience for many people writer Mark Anderson walks virgin art buyers through the process of selecting the best artwork for their home.

Anderson explains that you should buy what you love. Art can’t always be about investment, let’s face it the market is just too unpredictable. “Don’t buy what other people tell you to,” says Peter Simpson, arts editor of the Ottawa Citizen and avid art collector. Buying art that you love means you are going to be happy everyday you wake up to it.

The article tells art buyers to avoid hesitation. He who hesitates looses out! The thing about original art is that… well… it’s original! If you like something chances are so will a lot of other people and there is only one, so jump on it!

Anderson then demystifies the gallery experience. Explaining that you shouldn’t be intimidated or feel like you need to have a Fine Arts degree to enter a gallery. “You’re ultimately the only expert on what you like.” says Simpson.

For all of you artists out there Anderson also talks about the always confusing pricing structure of artwork! “The art market is perhaps one of the least efficient markets on earth… painting of seemingly similar quality can be priced tens of thousands of dollars apart”.

I found this article pretty interesting, with a lot of good points for the artist and patron. It doesn’t seem to be up on the website but I am sure you can find a copy of the magazine at your local bookstore!

If you think the information you find through these blogs or our emerging artist site are good, worth your time and full of handy information you can show us through filling out the survey linked to each post. This survey will not only show us your support and give us a reason to keep working at this part of the studio, it will aid in us staying alive as it helps fulfill our grant!
Click here to take survey