5th Annual 2009 Autumn Art Trail

This year, I'll be participating for the first time in this Outdoor Festival at the beautiful Clinton Landing, behind the Andrews Memorial Town Hall, 54 East Main Street, Clinton, CT

The event will take place
Saturday and Sunday, October 10th and 11th,
from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

There will be a Kick-Off Reception held in The Rose Room at The Clinton Memorial Town Hall on Friday, Oct. 9th, 7-9pm. The public is welcome to attend.

DESCRIPTION: Modern and representational painters, sculptors, potters, crafters, illustrators, fabric artists and jewelery-makers share their artwork during the 5th Annual Autumn Art Trail.

Begin this art adventure with the FREE Two-Day Outdoor Arts Festival on the waterfront of Clinton Landing, south of Clinton Andrews Memorial Town Hall.

After the Arts Festival, purchase your Weekend Pass for only $10.00 and head out on the Trail with a colorful program and map in hand to explore the private studios of well-known artists throughout the Shoreline. They will be discussing, demonstrating and selling their work.

For info and to purchase tickets to view the private studios: www.artscenterkillingworth.org

For more information about the work I do and to learn about other upcoming exhibitions, go to: www.corinadotdash.com

12th ANNUAL CITY-WIDE OPEN STUDIOS

Once again I'll be taking part of the City-Wide Open Studios in New Haven. This event has been celebrated for the past eleven years, and as always, it draws thousands of visitors to explore New Haven's neighborhoods while discovering artists, galleries, and the treasures of this beautiful city.

City-Wide Open Studios celebrates contemporary art in all its myriad forms, and is undoubtedly Connecticut's leading visual arts event. Art dealers and curators from the region and beyond have used CWOS as a resource to discover new artists, plan upcoming shows, and buy art. As one of the largest Open Studios programs in the country, CWOS connects hundreds of local artists with the Greater New Haven community. As described on the CWOS website.

To learn more about the artists participating in this event go to
http://www.cwos.org/directory.asp

Friday October 2, CWOS kick-off party, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. at Artspace, 50 Orange Street, New Haven. Free.

CWOS day 1: Saturday October 3, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
CWOS day 2: Sunday Oct 4, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

...and start your tour of the Open Studios from Erector Square, 315 Peck Street, Building 7, second floor, New Haven, CT

Want
mixed media
(paper, encaustic, acrylics, handmade paper, ink on wood)
18”h x 19”w
© Corina S. Alvarezdelugo

To sign or not to sign your two-dimensional work, where and how?

Renee Phillips, "The Artrepreneur Coach" (Author, Artist, and Director: Manhattan Arts International, and The Healing Power of ART,) just opened up a discussion on the LinkedIn group of the Manhattan Arts International about this theme.

I find her questions very thought provoking as I'm sure many of you artists out there, like me, have thought about them many times. In this way, I want to share my response to her questions with you, so you know a little more about me.

Renee Phillips asked:
"Artists who create original two-dimensional art, where do you sign your art work, on the front, back or both? What is the general consensus? Assuming there is a current trend regarding signature placement, do you follow it? Is it important to you to have your name visible on your art work? Do you place the date of your piece on the back of the painting? What material or medium do you use to sign?

My response:
I'm always debating on what suits best with the piece I'm working on. But as a general rule, I like to have my signature visible and no date. I sign and date the back as well, just as an added bonus. In this way, the buyer is certain that's buying an original piece of art.

In any case, if I feel the signature is going to be in the way, especially when working on mixed media, in a more abstract way, I try using a color that will blend with the rest so it does not take away from the message I want to convey. Sort of inconspicuous. Even sometimes I have no other option, but to limit my signature just to the back of the piece.

Now, when I’ve done landscapes and other realistic themes I would sign in a diagonal, somewhere in the lower portion of the canvas, preferably on the right, but some times on the left (depending on where it fits best). In this cases, I like to use a solid color (blue, gray, or brown) depending on what matches better with the particular piece, and sign it, using a very fine brush, so it's not too bold ("in your eye".) 

However, this practice, which I don't regret, caused me an entry to an exhibition. The juror just couldn't get over my signature, as I was told. He would’ve wanted me to sign discretely at the bottom of the canvas instead, as old masters used to do it. Well, it was a Plein Aire exhibition, what would you expect?

My thought is that your signature is one of your assets, that can set you apart from the rest of the artists out there, is what identifies you as you. So unless you have a very distinctive and unique style that speaks for itself and tells the world it's yours, your signature is your second best tool. 

Imagine if someone would have told Picasso not to sign big and bold and anywhere he pleased?  

Picture use to probe a point
from http://www.squidoo.com

I feel that, when you make your signature recognizable, you're then freer to experiment with new ideas and techniques, to try different mediums and approaches, and your creativity will have no limits. It is your signature what, at the end, will tie everything together as your body of work…your legacy. Just like Picasso did!

Going back to my Plein Aire exhibition incident, I guess I was just starting to get bored of seeing everyone in the field painting the same "scapes", that my signature became my "escape", what made me  ME, identifying my little seascape as MINE. Besides, it kind of balanced that piece ;)

Regarding Renee's question on the material or medium one uses to sign with; it all depends on the media I'm working on. I use oils if the painting was done in oils, acrylics if it was done in acrylics, and sometimes archival ink markers (very fine) when working on paper collages. Now, when making hand pulled prints (printmaking), I sign those the traditional way, at the bottom right, below the printed area, with a sharp clean pencil. The signature on the back of the painting also depends on the material used as substrate to hold the painting: Paper = pencil; Canvas = fine ink markers; Wood = Sharpie... What I cannot stress enough is the importance of being consistent with how I sign.


I would love to hear your comments, please feel free to post them here!