1000 Woodcuts, quest and adventures of Maria Arango

Heading into "retirement"...for the year!

Maria Arango — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 14:15:17 -0800

End of November 2006

Almost seems an automatic activity to come from a festival to immediately head into the next. The easy part is that there is not much loading or unloading. Everything having to do with travel or art simply stays in the trailer and I quickly do "the paperwork" from the last festival just so the boring stuff doesn't pile up. For anyone interested, that entails recording the sales and other data regarding the event, entering the customers into my database and filing away receipts and other paperwork. I also always send thank you cards to customers who gave me their address, a habit that started with my first festival and one that I enjoy. Customers, after all, are my current audience and thanking them just seems the least I can do to reassure my identity as an artist. I also like to stay in touch with everyone, so I sent my November 2006 Update. This newsletter audience has grown and grown and I enjoy "talking" with everyone, even sporadically.

Aside from that, I quickly replace any pieces that need replacement, such as the prints that go with any blocks I have left to sell, and my most popular woodcuts or "the bread and butter." In preparation for the back to back shows, I usually over-stock anyway, so the tasks are minimal which allows me time to rest up, both body and mind.

I am looking forward to my yearly "retirement" where I crawl into my studio and produce the works that have been in my head and struggling to get out. I used to sketch and refer back to the sketchbook in these times; now I simply remember what I want to do. Whatever stays in my head for a period of time, that's what I figure was meant to be created. At the moment I'm working on a new series, "seeds", and a few larger works on the vast beauty of the Grand Canyon. I also have in mind and have started some pieces that perhaps I will not print at all, along the lines of my puzzle works. Who knows!?

Next year, even less festivals. I figure I deserve to create more for a year or two and then maybe I will begin again with a flurry of selling...all new works!

Heading off to a festival, but first! Framing...

Maria Arango — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:02:58 -0800

Almost September 2006

Getting ready for the (fanfare!) first festival of the season!!! That magical moment, er, week, in which my studio is transformed into a frame shop and cursing can be heard as far as a mile away...perhaps farther. I hate framing. Well, not entirely true, I hate the thought of framing. Then I get going and really kind of enjoy dressing up my prints in new mats and frames. I really enjoy getting my blocks ready to exhibit, I don't know why because I hate to let them go when they sell.

QUEST: 1,000 Woodcuts 238 Completed

Maria Arango — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:56:37 -0800

So much for summer, huh? Where did it go? In a nutshell, this is what I did this summer since June:
-Finished some print editions so I could offer a new set of blocks to collectors this fall
-Lost air conditioner and roasted for 2 weeks
-Almost lost dog to stupid "bloat" disease followed by pneumonia, she's doing fine now although hopelessly addicted to being hand-fed home-cooked meals (go figure)
-Made 6 new prints, some for exchanges and some for me
-Started a Grand Canyon series of very large woodcuts; undoubtedly I will still be talking about them next summer
-Finished a book entitled "Artist's Guide to Becoming Rich and FamousWithout Ever Leaving the Studio"--wait, that's not it, how about: "Guide to Art Festivals for Artists", yes! that's it, to be published this fall/winter

More...http://1000woodcuts.com/1000woodcuts/updates/2006_August.html

New diary entry, summer celebration!

maria@mariarango.com — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 18:52:51 -0800

July 2006

Finished 4 more prints! Just little ones and not very complex, but it "felt" like progress, finally. I am enjoying my summer off selling. I miss the traveling and the artists and I know when I go back this fall I will feel a bit out of place again, but it is nice to have uninterrupted time in the studio, day after day.

Here are the four, click images for enlargement:

So I move on! I started an eBay store again (http://stores.ebay.com/1000woodcutsartbymariaarango), just to continue to empty the drawers from accumulating old inventory. The off season selling also seems to empty the mind from the old to make room for the new.

Other things accomplished this past month, finally ordered the wood for the Cairn project and I'm excited to start chopping it up next week and send it off with instructions to 79 participants from across the globe, wow...http://1000woodcuts.com/projects/cairn/index.html

And I started some large prints which, together, will make a nice collection. The subject: The Grand Canyon. I can't wait...I'm planning a couple of odd shapes, elongated like Chinese landscape scrolls, two vertical and two horizontal. Let's see how far I get on that!

Two prints and a project

maria@mariarango.com — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 18:30:15 -0800

July 1st

A few more prints finished, more importantly, back in the studio for the summer!

This summer I am in a bit of a "cleaning" mood, well, that and I think I get a little bored looking at the same pieces over and over when I'm in selling mode. Drawers are getting full, old editions need to be closed, and most of all, generous collectors must be rewarded even when I'm not "out there" in the elements. So! I am announcing the First Annual Summer Celebration!

Without further fanfare, either follow the link on the main page of the website or go directly to the goodies...at reduced prices and without the wind!:
http://stores.ebay.com/1000woodcutsartbymariaarango

Almost April 2006 web updates and a completed series

maria@mariarango.com — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 20:06:39 -0800

Finished uploading the Floating World series. Here is a link to the Woodpeople Gallery:

Here is a list of new and improved web updates:

This Diary will now be kept a bit more consistently since I am using it as a journal/diary/record of activities.

You can now take a Virtual Tour of my studio and see where I work, or nap...

A new Project is born! I wasn't exactly bored, but it was high time to get another mega-collaboration going.

There are a few more, read all about it. Enjoy the website and drop by a festival some time!

March 2006 Entry - Remodeling studio and website, upcoming festival...

Maria Arango — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:27:59 -0800

March 2006

Very busy February! I had a show every weekend and had to catch up on my usual end/beginning of season tasks such as repainting my weights, washing the canopy, and all such maintenance things. But I made it through and also enjoyed taking this month off.

As usual, what prompts this entry is that I am getting ready for an upcoming festival. This time is Tempe in Arizona, downtown, a festival known as a zoo (tons of people, tons of artists, usually pretty good money). After 6 years I am finally cutting down on the anxiousness that preceeds a festival. This year also has become the "Year of the Web"! I am getting orders consistently and seems my collectors are enjoying purchasing art they have seen before, usually in a festival.

I plan this year to be "better" at the diary entry thing and to continue to add pictures. My latest adventure was at the Grand Canyon, and if that doesn't inspire an artist, nothing will. So with a head full of ideas and a camera full of pictures, I set off into the studio, newly renovated. I spent the better part of the last two weeks renovating the website too, to make it easier to navigate and clean up the messy stuff. I am nearly done but ended up with a longer list of things-to-do than I started!

Let's get going...