>Bead International Update

>

Thanks for all your comments on my beaded White House! This weekend, I have a few important updates for you.

1) When I was accepted in the Cambridge Art Association's North East Prize Show this spring, I was also offered membership into the organization. Since the CAA juries their members, I thought I should take advantage of this opportunity! I finally became a member last month, and now I am listed on their website! One of the membership requirements is to volunteer at the galleries a few times per year. It is a small tradeoff considering there will be a number of opportunities to show my beadwork throughout the year! :)

This week, the Cambridge Art Association began hosting their summer Art Fair at University Place Gallery in Cambridge, MA. The gallery is located at 124 Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, MA - just a short walk from the Harvard Square T stop! If you're in the neighborhood, stop by to view & purchase original works of art in all mediums priced $300 or less, including 2 of my beaded paintings! The Art Fair will hang at University Place now - Sept 1st. Please see my Facebook or Myspace pages for more information! :)

2) In addition to selling my beadwork on Etsy and other cool merchandise on Cafepress, I have decided to try offering of few of my works per month on Ebay. Most Etsy sellers have shyed away from this since Ebay's fees have sky-rocketed in the past couple of years. I have always sold rock-n-roll memorabilia there, and it has done well regardless of the fees. But, recently Ebay changed their fee schedule, so now it is finally worth it to try selling some of my original works of art.

So far, this is just an experiment, but one thing I have noticed on Ebay is that people are more willing to purchase high end art and antiques there, when it seems like most people on Etsy are shopping for very inexpensive handmade items that include free shipping. Sure, the final value fees are higher on Ebay, but as they say, you have to spend money to make money! So, if you are an Ebay shopper, please add me to your favourite sellers list. So far, I have only listed two paintings there, but I do plan to offer a few beaded items there per month! :)

3) And, now for the last update. Yesterday, I was surfing around and ended up visiting the Dairy Barn Art Center's website. They have stated that there will not be a Bead International 2010 exhibit. "This decision was made due to lower artist entry in 2008, lack of attendance in 2008, lack of interest in the Bead International & Beyond Basketry '08 tour and catalog, and lack of sponsorships and/or funding."

This makes me sad because it is just another sign of how the current economic situation has effected the arts. I posted this news on Twitter yesterday, and Dulcey Heller responded with a blog post which asks those who are upset with this decision to contact Jill Smalley (exhibit director) at jill@dairybarn.org. Please let her know how much you appreciate the Bead International exhibit, and that you feel that it is important for contemporary artists to have the opportunity to show beadwork which really pushes the boundaries of this ancient craft. If you would like to see pics of last year's exhibit, please visit my Flickr. To help support the Dairy Barn and encourage them to continue with Bead International, please consider purchasing a copy of the Bead International 2008 & Beyond Basketry book. Get 20% off by using the SAVE20 discount code on the Dairy Barn's website. :)

That's the news for now. Have a great weekend!