I had a great opportunity on Saturday to have my portfolio reviewed by the InFocus Portfolio Reviewers. What and Honor!. Big thanks to Alexis and Aaron. I look forward to next year.
Bear with me, this is like speed dating for artists. We had 15 minutes with some amazing reviewers. It was an honor to meet them let alone spend time talking about my art.
First up was Chris W Carlson, the Executive Director of CARFAC. He was intrigued by the stories i was telling.with my images. He gave some good advice on lighting to make the images pop. He liked how they looked on my back lit tablet and suggested finding a way to bring that light to paper prints as well. Otherwise he said Oh Wow, a lot. And told me my work was amazing and to keep working at it.
Next I spent time with Alexis Marie Chute, curator of InFocus and the Renaissance Gallery. Just one of many hats this very talented lady wears. We talked about the direction I want to take with my art from a business perspective.. She asked me where I want to see my fantasy work displayed. I said, galleries, book covers, record album covers and advertising for plays and such. She suggested I get a booth at Comic Expos and do cosplay photos.
I need to get as good at marketing myself as she is at doing it for herself. She inspires me.
Next up was Cathy Columberg, branch Manager for Technicare in Edmonton. I think she was very impressed with what she saw. She made some great suggestions about publication and printing options. We started off with letting her know that her lab is our only lab. We love their quality. She told me “I had heard you work was good, but it didn’t know it was this good:” She wants to display some of it for her upcoming event in Saskatchewan. I gave them permission to use my work for display. She suggested contacting high end dealerships and showing them some metal prints that they could offer to go with a new car.
Lastly was Jaciek Malec, a well-known art historian, critic, and lecturer with extensive international curatorial experience in Canadian and international modern and contemporary visual/new media arts, architecture and design with a track record of scholarly researched publications and exhibition projects, including creation of International Art Exchange Program while at the Triangle Gallery and MOCA Calgary. Jacek Malec is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) – Canadian Chapter and a past Vice President of that international arts organization. Since 2016, he has been working as the Executive Director/Chief Curator of the Harcourt House Artist Run Centre in Edmonton. (as per Alexis Marie Chute)
He had some very good points to make about composition and lighting. He also gave some pointers on dealing with backgrounds in composite work. He suggested I look at the painter Caravaggio to get some ideas about using lighting in a very natural but dramatic way.
All in all, it was fun and educational.