9 Days till Open House

Behind the Scenes of Open House...
I am still painting and will continue until
next Wednesday. Linda and her helpers
are working on the framing. I think framing
will be completed on Friday. Linda is also
working on the menu. She plans on an unknown
number of people, needs to be set out in small
quantities to stay fresh since our hours are long.
Nothing hot because we are to busy to heat it.
The hors d'oeuvres change every year.
I will share the menu when she has it ready.

Here is
another
example
of the
fabulous
new
paintings
I am
offering
at
Open
House!

20x23"

None of my new paintings are available before
the doors of Open House open on Friday 11/20
promptly at 2:00pm. At that point you may walk
in the door and pick your painting or call
(717-627-3383) to make a purchase. It is the only
way I have to be fair to all clients wanting first
choice. The exception is the 3 originals to
my new prints. You may purchase them now
at $2000. each. Just call or email or ask to stop
at the studio to see them.

Meanwhile, I am demonstrating tomorrow
at Moravian Manor, a local retirement home.
Then in the evening there is a reception for all
the exhibitors in 2010. So I will be attending.
Friday, I set up for a local show at Manheim
Township H.S. with the PA Guild of Crafters.
I will be exhibiting on Saturday and Sunday.

11 Days till Open House

Behind the scenes of Open House...

We drove to New Jersey to pick up the
frames today. 6 hours round trip but
a huge savings in shipping.

This is
what
$4000
in
frames
and a
weary
artist
look
like!

12 Days till Open House

We just figured out that when you
place an order from my website and
try to pay with PayPal you cannot use
your $20 discount. So...
Order, pay in full and I will return your
$20 through PayPal immediately!

Just the little glitches that require some
problem solving...
Go place an order!

13 Days till Open House

I spent my day exhibiting at a local benefit.
Sold a few prints and finished my painting
of pears...

Linda spent her day taping the new prints
into mats. We ran into a problem with using our
$20 discount offer when ordering from the
website. Paypal does not have a line for a
discount... she looked in our paypal merchant
account and cannot see how to do it. If anyone

has experience and can talk her thru it feel free.
She is pretty frustrated since no one can order...
Tomorrow is my glass cutting day.

15 Days till Open House

We had a "care plan" meeting for my Mom
this morning then we spent some time with
her. After that there were a few errands to
run and back home to paint.

Behind the scenes of Open House...
I moved out of my studio a few weeks ago
because Linda needed the room for cutting mats.
I am able to paint all over the house, I am not
to choosy where I sit or get hung up on having
natural light. I do like having a TV on for noise.
Tonight I am in our kitchen area. Notice I have
two paintings started. I am studying the one
propped up, planning my next move. Meanwhile
I am working on pears. My eyes are tired tonight
and it is only 8pm!













I picked up my new prints today! Tomorrow
I will sign and number them. They look great.
I print the old 4-color off set lithograph and usually
print an edition of 450. This time I only printed
200 of each! It is truly a limited edition.
My goal is to sell out! Linda has them on my
website under "new prints" if you wish to place
an order! The numbers on the prints will go out
in the order the orders come in. We are going to
Chadds Ford Gallery tomorrow so if you are
calling to order wait until after 4:00!


Here is another sample of an original that will
be available. 11x22"

16 Days till Open House

I am writing early today because we are taking
some young friends to see Disney on Ice...

Behind the scenes of Open House...

I received a few questions about the
amount of my mailing.
Invitation background:
Way back when I first started showing, Linda
set out a tablet for people to add their name
and address if they wanted info about what I
was doing. She keeps a database that I have
never even been into. It has names, who bought
what, when and where. So we now have over
6000 names. Every one gets an invitation
because even if you live in CA you can see the
new prints and place an order and we ship it to
you. It becomes double marketing.
Yes, we mail out over 6000 first class .44 postage.
Yes it adds up fast, Yes Linda is up nights worrying
about regrouping the cash outlay! But it has
faithfully been successful for 26 years.

Keep your eye out for this card...



















click to enlarge...

Linda lays out the design and works with a
local printer; Miller Printing who has been
printing our mailer for years.


This is what
6000
invites
look like
on their
way to
the
post office!




It is the old adage, you need to spend
money to make money and believe me
it is flying out our door!!

22 Days till Open House

Here is a sneak peak at one of the

paintings that will be available at
Open House.

It is 14x18 and very nice! Lots more just
like it! So you want to save the date: November 20-22

and plan a visit to Lititz.

Behind the scenes of open house...
Linda and her helpers Stacy and Lori have been busy
cutting mats and framing for two weeks and there
is no end in sight!

Label the Invitations day...

There are 6250 invitations being picked up tomorrow.
Stamps are here and the labels are ready. There is a
crew of friends that come and help and all I know is they
will be ready for me to take to the post office by Monday.
I stay out of the whole thing! Much easier to go to a show.

I will be setting up my exhibit tomorrow but the show
is Saturday and Sunday :
Reading-Berks Guild Holiday Show
Held at Keystone Hall at Kutztown University
Kutztown PA. This is the old Penn State-Berks
show that had to move so they went to Kutztown.
The quality is very good.
Sat. 9-5 and Sun. 10-4
$4 admission and there is a coupon at the
Promoters website: www.rbcrafts.org/rbg.htm

None of the new prints will be there. You can

call and have one held for you but they are not
here yet.

23 Days till Open House

My last class is tonight and I am finished
teaching till January. This gives me more
time to paint and there is no point trying
to teach through the holidays.

If you are new to my blog, this time of year
I am getting ready for my 26th Annual Open
House. It is held at my house/studio. It is
the only time I present my new prints and
there is a terrific display of new original paintings.
We offer wine and hors d' oeuvres and it is
by invitation or referral only. I do not advertise
to the general public. More invite info later.
In lieu of a blog painting I am sharing what goes
into putting on an open house of this size. My
job is to paint, paint and paint some more.
I will also be cutting down 20 cases of glass,
drive to NJ to pick up the frames and take the
invitations to the post office. Linda pretty much
manages the rest. She assures me we are on schedule!

Behind the scenes of Open House...
Printing: The 1st big job is picking the new prints.
Thank you to everyone that voted. In the end the
voting was so close we decided to print three but
in a very limited edition of 200 each. So if you wanted

one of them do not wait. They are at the printer
now. I use Pemcor in Lancaster, printing 4-color
off set lithographs matching the original as close as
possible.

Reflections of Home

Sanctuary

Sunlight and Shadows

Titles, pricing and copy for sell sheets all need
to be decided. This was done last week.
Somehow Linda got creative while sitting in
the hospital with her Mom. If you are really

interested in this process and want more
information check back to October 2008.
I do not want to repeat the same story but we
do the same thing each year.

I need to get ready for class...
more to follow

Fall Nighttime Landscape

4"x6" Original Watercolor
SOLD

You know me and night scenes!
It is an interesting study with yesterdays
day time.


Painting, painting, painting...
I finished a strong farm scene with a reflection
in a pond. Very happy with the way it turned
out. Tonight I am putting some finishing touches
on a building and that will be done. Linda is
cutting mats tonight for the new originals. I love
to see them framed. It gives me a feeling of
accomplishment. Tomorrow I need to repack
the van from the outdoor display to an indoor display.
Pack the lights and a rug. This weekend I am
at Kutztown University with the Reading-Berks
Guild. Great quality.

Fall Daytime Landscape

4"x6" Original Watercolor

I painted this scene during the daytime
and tomorrow I will have the same scene
at night.

I have not been able to keep up with the blog.
I realized it has been 19 days since I reported
in. I AM working!! Just not on small blog
paintings. This is open house season, all my
paintings are large ones. In between painting
I had my last outside show...in the cold pouring
rain which did not go well. Linda's mom had a
stroke and Linda spent a week at the hospital
with her. It has effected her eyesight. The studio
is piled with work and we are both putting in very
long hours. Since Linda is back at her desk I will
do a little better job of blogging.
Tomorrows painting is ready to go...