A new page on this site for the Gallery Store

4749 Wyandotte St. E, Windsor, ON

If you ever want to double check our store hours or location, there’s a new permanent page here now.

Check it out.  There’s a tab at the top of the page or here’s the direct link.

Back Room Artists’ Co-op Gallery Store Page

Bev Fish

Beverly Fish has a gorgeous new website.   Check it out

Fish Tales Studio

Making art: the inside scoop

 by Chris Ford

Welcome to a fresh look at the art world from the inside out. Over the past several decades, I have found out the hard way, that there is more to the art scene than meets the eye. The creative process does not end with a completed work, not by a long shot.

 

This should help take the edge off; help you as an artist polish some necessary skills required to present your items in the best light. Hopefully the info in the following will make promoting yourself a little less scary. It has been my experience that creative folk don’t always make assertive business people. That’s okay; all skills can be accomplished with knowing a few tricks.

 

I suppose a good place to begin is with believing in yourself, especially if you are new at the game. It is widely known that an artist’s earlier works are far more valuable and collectible, than later ones. This is true whether an artist is famous or not for several reasons. From an historical standpoint, early works tell the most about how an artist’s mature style has evolved.

 

From collectible and monetary standpoints, the majority of early works are usually in private collections or kept by the family, and not often available for sale. If an early piece should resurface, there may be strong competition to purchase, which drives the price higher. On the other hand, later works tend to be prolific and easier to get.

 

Other interesting points with earlier works, are the passion and energy mixed with temerity of direction. This combo holds excitement for art collectors and appreciators alike; showing raw emotion, with little care if another likes or understands. Artists later in their career have honed direction and create with a certain ‘look’, knowing exactly what to produce to satisfy their market. Worst-case scenario: passion, excitement and uncertain energies may be lost. Unfortunately, some well-known artists are little more than a predictable production line with dollars at the end.

 

Early examples of an artist’s work may be seen as significant because they show risk taking and experimentation, making them leaders as a style evolves. Moral of the story…be brave, create with wild abandon and all the passion you can muster. Those ‘experiments’ may start a style revolution.

Group show

Back Room Co-op members are invited to drop off their art to the new gallery (4749 Wyandotte Street East, Windsor) for a group show to be hung January 16-February 14. All items must be ready to hang and be labelled clearly with your name and price.

Each artist can bring in pieces that will fit into a 36″x36″ space. (ie 3 pcs each 12″ or one lg 36″sq). Cost is 10.00 for this space. There will be no commission taken. Unsold pcs must be picked up Wed Feb 15 – Friday Feb 16.

The space available for this show is limited.

Big News! We’ve opened a (physical) gallery!!!

Located at 4749 Wyandotte E in Windsor, Ontario, several members of the Back Room Gallery Artists’ Co-op have pooled their pennies and talents and opened a new gallery and store.

We went from THIS:

To the gorgeous space featured in the slideshow below,  and we’re not done yet.  Still more art and artists to install!  Come check us out.  Open Tuesday through Sunday 10-6 for December, January hours TBA.

Join us Friday, December 9 for our Holiday Open House. Food and food service generously provided by The Keg, wine provided by the artists and their generous friends, a fashion show by our in-house artists including Dilly Daisy Fashions, Chris Ford Jewellery, The Gilded Lily designs, and Nicola Ferguson.  The evening will capped with an acoustic performance by Den-igan

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Sandra Li Li and Juliana Schewe perform this Saturday

Sandra Li Li & Juliana Schewe perform this Saturday evening at  Taloola Cafe 390 Devonshire Rd.

9pm & 9:30pm.  You don’t miss out on this exciting event.

Trick or treat!!!

Competitions – Thoughts from Repeat Offender

And so, it has come and past. The Art of Fashion that is. I decided to go a bit out on a limb and do something that wasn’t really ‘artsy’ but wearable for an art event. I decided to this for two reasons:
a) With only 2 weeks to make the line, while working full time freelancing, and participating in two art shows with the Co-op, I had to do something somewhat simple.
b) I had done this competition in the past and did something incredibly ‘artsy’ and costumey and the person who won that year did a very ready to wear line.

Joyce and Chelsea before the event and after hair/makeup

Maybe it backfired on me – hard to say. I did NOT win. Ha! I am not even sure if I was contender. Is this HORRIBLE? Am I broken? IS ALL LOST!!!???
Um, no.

I am not new to the world of competitions. This is my 5th competition entered personally (I was included in mandatory competitions in the past, that I didn’t take all too seriously, whilst studying Fashion Design at Ryerson University), and 4th where I placed in the top ten. Out of 5 – I won 1. I am batting 20% and I think that is pretty darn acceptable. The competition I did win was the most important out of all of them to win. When I won “What Will Barbie Wear in 2005?” Design competition with my design “Inuit Legend” Barbie (google it) it changed my life. Honestly. I was suddenly thrust into the spotlight for my brief moment with popularity. I was featured in dozens of newspapers across Canada. I was on a handful of live radio and tv shows, including a spot on Canada AM. I did a little mini barbie signing tour. I even got asked to design another barbie for a convention, which I was carted off to Calgary to speak at the convention. It was INSANE!

And then all was quiet. I didn’t really like that much, and for some reason got this idea in my brain that I needed to continue doing this competition thing. 6 years later – I am TIRED.

So, now that I am back from my most recent competition gala, I have had some serious thinking to do. Thinking which in turn has inspired this post.

Types of Competitions

a quick shot of the girls

Internet Competitions:
Competitions that you submit work on the internet and it is either judged by a panel, or most frequently  is voted on by your peers. I don’t enter these competitions anymore. I did once, and that led to a crap-storm of headaches, so I steer clear of these at all cost. Popularity contests can be very disheartening for artists! You have to bug everyone you know to vote for you. They make it seem that random people from internet land are just going to vote for you because they like your stuff. NO – they won’t. Don’t kid yourself. Honestly, the only reason that people even go to those contest pages are because they know someone in the competition and they are there to vote for them. At the end of the day, whether you win or not, it comes down to whether you have enough friends or not, NOT how good your work is. Maybe I am jaded, but this is just my humble opinion.

Art and Design Competitions Where You Must Submit You Work Offline (or non-social voting contests):
I read somewhere, on some blog I used to follow, that you shouldn’t enter competitions that you have to pay to submit. I actually tend to disagree with this. Well, let me explain. There are competitions where they ask for insane amounts of money for an entry. My rule is, if it’s over $30 it’s not worth it. You may not even place in the finals, so that money is lost. I can afford to wager $30 on whether I’ll place in the finals, so I usually take the bet. These fees are usually to pay the competition expenses. After doing various competitions over the past 6 years, I know that these fees don’t cover even a fraction of the costs of running a big competition, which is why big sponsors are always in play. This is a great advantage to the competitor, which I will explain below.

the model, I believe named Sarah, who walked during the fashion show

The  Advantages of Entering Competitions:
- They push you to move outside of your comfort zone
- You get experience working on tight deadlines
- You add new pieces to your portfolio

The Advantages of Placing In The Finals:
- A new accomplishment to add to your portfolio, resume, and website
- Great exposure! This is especially true if the competition is during an event or gala. These events are often sponsored by various companies. These companies attend the event. You meet them, they meet you. You’re network grows. It’s all gravy. This has been an extremely important tool for me to growing my network, which as a designer or artist is KEY!
- There are often various types of media there who are always willing to share great photos, videos, blog posts, and articles with you post event.
- You meet a TON of people who give you feedback into your work.  You also, hear what people are saying nearby about what they don’t like about your work, which is key in your personal growth.
- You hear about new events that are taking place which you can participate in.
- You may even meet buyers who are interested in your work or commissioning a piece from you.

The Advantages of Winning:
- Money – although, more often than not isn’t really that much.
- Other prizes such as photoshoots, personal shows, a booth at an event, or even a spots in shops or galleries to sell your work
- Press! This is in my opinion the most important part. In the fashion and art world, you are as good as your last show. If you’re not doing anything, then no one knows about you, and that can SUCK!
- More contacts in your network
- The honor of winning, and to be able to add this to your portfolio.

Bianka modeling bikini and chiffon gown

The Disadvantages of Entering Competitions:
- It can be a lot of additional work
- It can be expensive, especially when having to submit physical work that is crafted specifically for a theme

The Disadvantages of Placing in the Finals:

- It can be very expensive!!
You may have to submit various new pieces on a very tight deadline. If there is a gala or event, you may have to create a booth. You may have to travel on short notice.

- It can be very labour INTENSIVE
All of the competitions that I have entered have required me to create new work on a VERY tight deadline. Now, if I wasn’t always completely loaded with work either now or back in school this wouldn’t really be a problem. I have no issues with burning the midnight oil. I actually enjoy a good deadline. But if you live off of commissions like I do, you’re often having to put off working on all these extra projects until late in the evening. If your lucky, and you have a good network of people who are looking to help you out, you may have help. However, the preparation of not only the pieces, but organizing all the other aspects of showing your work can be exhausting. By the time competition day comes, you’re usually fighting for energy (not that a little red bull doesn’t help).

- Shameless self promotion – Yes, you have to tell everyone, and try get as much press before hand as possible. That is why you are doing this. As an artist/designer/illustrator/nutcase I don’t really like doing this. I don’t really like the attention. I would rather my work speak for itself in most cases, but if you don’t put yourself out there, there is no reason to do the competition. PERIOD.

The Disadvantages of NOT Winning the Competition
- That crappy initial feeling like you have totally wasted your time and suffer from a severe case of sucking.
- You have to now tell all those people you told that you DIDN’T win.
- You have to “be strong, carry on” and get your mind right back to normal
- You often don’t get to find out what they judges thought of your work and have to try decipher where you may have gone wrong.

whitney rocking out denim and velvet

Overall, I always encourage people to enter competitions because they help you grow as an artist. They force you to put yourself out there. You get to meet great people, and maybe some not-so-great ones as well ;o) If you win, you’ve won. If you don’t, ya didn’t. That’s pretty much it. At the end of the day, you don’t make or break your career on a competition. They are good practice for the real world, and force you to become more comfortable promoting yourself and meeting new people. You learn how to accomplish big things on a very short deadline. Finally, they test your sanity.

Will I do it again? I am thinking not. I feel like I have been there, done that. (famous last words)

So, I will leave you with a little video from the Art of Fashion

Christy Litster. ART OF FASHION from stasbasko on Vimeo.

Happy Creating!

Art shows! Art shows! (and a fashion show to boot)

I can’t tell you how insane September has been for the rest of the Back Room Gallery Artists’ Co-opers, but it’s a little surreal to me! For some of us there are 3 (!!) art shows happening this month! The first was the aforementioned and so far very successful “Edge of Wake: An Art Show About Daydreaming”. In only a week and a half into the show two pieces have sold! I have been down to check out the show a couple times since hanging and each time I am hearing (okay, so I eavesdrop) great and inspiring things from Milk patrons.

I am sort of bummed at myself for missing the Fun House show last weekend in the ever evolving art scene in Windsor’s Sandwich Towne. How did it go ladies? Where are the pics? Are you just going to leave us all waiting in agony?

The third show for some and second show for me is “The Syndicate” happening at Art House in Chatham! The opening reception is this weekend, September 17th, 2-5pm! Come out and see great art, meet FUN people, and nibble on delectable hors d’ouevres  prepared by Lori Moore of the Gilded Lily. Once again, the Back Room Gallery Artists’ Co-op is showing an array of different styles of arts and crafts. I am bringing some more fiber spray art to the mix and thought that I would share a couple sneeker peekers with ya!

Finally, I am just ecstatic to share some personal news with the WORLD! I am a finalist in the prestigious Art of Fashion Design Competition 2011. I will be showing a small line of clothing that I have designed at an exhibit featuring 10 talented up-and-coming Fashion Designers from around Ontario. So I will be heading up the 401 to Toronto on October 1st to compete and hopefully WIN the competition. I have checked out the other finalists, and lets just say I am a little INTIMIDATED. However, in true Christy fashion, I am going to pull up my stiletto  straps and jump in face first. The Art of Fashion competition literally hosts thousands of people in a single evening and is part of the amazing Nuit Blanche arts festival which takes place every fall in Toronto. Check out www.artoffashion.org for more competition info including the impressive line of judges! WISH ME LUCK YA’LL!

Art Fun House, part of the Sandwich Towne Festival

Chris Ford and Kathryn Tisdale are involved with some other crazy artists in this weekend’s Art Fun House — part of the Sandwich Towne Festival. Presented by Hanakaeye Photography (Miss Lindsay Sunshine Hanaka), the Art Fun House will include a glass-works demonstration, prints, paintings, photographs, jewellery and for the first-time in this area, a black light art exhibit!!!  Oh, and refreshments, too.  All for FREE.

When:  Saturday and Sunday, Sept 10 &11, 11 am – 5 pm

Where:  3170 Sandwich Street (Sandwich Dental Office), Windsor — conveniently close to the beer tent.

Edge of Wake: An Art Show About Daydreaming – ON NOW @ Milk Coffee Bar!

This month and the beginning of October is looking to be a very exciting one for the Back Room Gallery Artist’ Co-op! We have three great art shows lined up for our members!

First up is “Edge of Wake: An Art Show About Daydreaming” on NOW at Milk Coffee Bar!

When: Sept 1st-29th

Artist Meet and Greet: Sept 3rd, 1pm-3pm

Location:
Milk Coffee Bar
68 University Avenue
Windsor, ON

Artists Showing:

Kathryn Tisdale
Chris Ford
Irene Sekersky
Beverly Fish
Suellen Evoy-Oozeer
Lori Moore
Gulnaz Turdalieva
Christy Litster
Heather Teahan
Sergio Mazzotta

Co-op artists had a great time yesterday morning hanging our pieces in the newly repainted Milk. The array of art features portraits, abstracts, fabric art, manga, pastels, photography, and watercolor. We are very much looking forward to meeting with art lovers on Saturday, Sept 3rd from 1pm-3pm.

Here’s a sneak peak of some of the great art you’ll see!

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Have a Happy Art Day!