new work for sale CHEAP!!

I am in a local 100$ show.
643 Project Space is hosting this show and it is a space I have been interested in showing in.
www.643projectspace.com


A contemporary gallery, with new and exciting art on display. The show features work from several other artists from Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara.
The concept is simple, nothing over $100, you buy it that night, take it off the wall and home with you that night! Even better, 100% of the price goes to the artist!



I have entered 4 new images in hope that they will go home with someone else:

All the images come framed and are selling for $60 each.

Ahhhh it is that time of year.

A full day of art

I am exhibiting photography in both these shows!
Two Events One Day…A Full Day of Art
Take a trip to Beautiful Ventura!


**643 Project Space and Studios
643 N Ventura Ave, Ventura CA 93001

$100 Show and Holiday Open House
Sat Dec 20th 7pm

Hosts: Matt and Monica Furmanski, Christine Morla and Janet Neuwalder


Matt and Monica Furmanski, Christine Morla and Janet Neuwalder wanted to celebrate the holidays with family and friends while hosting their first $100 exhibition at 643 Project space, we’d love if you’d join us. This is a great opportunity to expand your art collection or purchase work for friends and family or just hang out and enjoy good conversation, food and drink. All work purchased must be paid for and taken home that night. All proceeds go to the artists! Please join us it will be fun!


**Seabreeze Art Gallery and Studios
255 S Laurel St, Ventura CA 93001

Holiday Open House: Saturday, Dec. 20, 12-8pm,in coordination with Art & Soul Studios, to benefit Food Share,Ventura County's Food Bank

Resident Artists: Todd Bertola, Vonder Gray, Lloyd Heslip, Gaye Lynne La Guire, Lynn Le Tourneau, Jeanne La Rocco, Stacie Logue, Sandra McCullough, Annette Matrisciano, Monteve Miller-Clay, Lisa Moore, Deslys Robinson, and The Inkspots of San Buenaventura Printers Guild: Karen L. Brown, Donna Carver, Virginia Furmanski, Judy Gibbs, Tiger Huang, Leslie Plimpton, Betsey Quinn, & Monica Wiesblott

Winter Salon Show

Annual Salon Exhibit of Resident Artists
DECEMBER 4th - 20th, 2008Reception: Sat. Dec. 6, 5-9pm

Holiday Open House: Saturday, Dec. 20, 12-8pm,
in coordination with Art & Soul Studios, to benefit Food Share,
Ventura County's Food Bank

“The Salon Exhibit”--- Resident Artists of Sea Breeze art Gallery
December 05, 2008 - December 20, 2008 Recurring weekly on Friday, Saturday
Downtown
Contact: Sea Breeze Art GalleryPhone: (805) 643-3973
For the last exhibit of the year, Sea Breeze Art Gallery, presents "The Salon Exhibit" - a group show of all the working studio artists at the gallery, located at 255 South Laurel Street, Ventura, CA.

Each artist will have a section of gallery wall space to display his or her many creations. The artists are: Todd Bertola, Vonder Gray, The Inkspots (Karen Brown, Donna Carver, Ginny Furmanski, Judy Gibbs, Tiger Huang, Leslie Plimpton, Betsey Quinn, and Monica Wiesblott), Gaye Lynne La Guire, Jeanne LaRocco, Lynn LeTourneau, Stacie Logue, Annette Matrisciano/Inanna, Sandra McCullough, Monteve Miller-Clay, Lisa Moore, and Deslys Robinson.

This exhibit is an excellent opportunity to purchase art for the holidays.
The Salon Exhibit shows December 4 - 20, 2008
First Friday: Friday, December 5, 5:00 - 8:00pm
Artist's Reception: Saturday, December 6, 2008, 5:00 - 8:00 pm Holiday Open House, Saturday, December 20, 12:00 - 8:00 pm

Artwork Sold

A local resident came into the gallery and bought the wonderful little retablo I made for this years, Day of the Dead show.

Home sweet home little lovely box!

Name in print....kind of

The little local paper had a write up of the upcoming Salon show at Sea Breeze. The article lists the names of exhibiting artists, including mine... sort of.
I got an initial.

Hopefully someday soon, I will get all 9 letters of my last name listed.

VC Friends of the Arts

Jesse is standing in front if my work...I use him as a pointer on gallery pictures!
Great opening and the group was able to hand out $5000 dollars in art awards!
Amazing and grand!
I am very glad to be a part of this group and give new opportunities to other artists.
Hopefully more work will sell and we can raise more money for next year.

Another Art Event

Ventura College Friends of the Arts, is a group of artists that donates a portion of the proceeds from sales of art works to an Arts Scholarship available to Ventura College students.

I will be submitting two pieces for this show, please come and support the cause:

Flashlight Theory

I devised a theory a while back after watching a jury pool decide who was going to be in an art exhibit and what wasn't.

I call my theory the "flashlight theory", it starts by thinking of the process as, a dark room filled with people. A bright light suddenly comes on and the people in the beam of light are the ones selected to exhibit/acknowledged as artists and the others are not even seen or considered.

This process has helped me understand how impersonal this exhibit process really is. It makes it a little more understandable when artwork you personally thought was mind blowing gets left out of a show.

Art is really subjective and often what is loved by one is never even seen by another.

The process of picking up a work of art that you labored over and feel such a personal connection to is a painful one. Like someone doesn't love you or you are not really worthy of the title artist. It is at times like this that I find solace in my theory.

I often think of the Mona Lisa as a really great example.

Years ago the Louvre had her hung in a fairly small room (small by Louvre standards) and people flocked to see her. When I saw the crowd in front of this painting behind thick glass, poorly lit and overwhelmed I started looking at the paintings that were hung next to her and around the room. They were amazing works by Di Vinci and his peers, I would even go so far as to say, more interesting than Mona. No one was looking at this work...

It was the Flashlight theory at work in the middle of the day!

Here are my works that missed the light this weekend in a juried competition....

Google me

I was talking with a fellow artist at the studio last night and she mentioned that she "Googled" me.
It was a funny idea but I have worked really hard to make myself easy to find.
I came home and did the same thing, wondering what I would see , and what was out there on me.
I came across an article written about a show I was in. I was part of a very large exhibit that the Santa Barbara museum of art held; "A History Of Women in Photography".
I was personally selected as a contemporary example of women in photography, it was also my first real review, and I survived the critique, just barely:
http://articles.latimes.com/1997/jul/24/entertainment/ca-15622

It is amazing to think back on what I have done so far in my life.

Art Opening

I have just returned from a wonderful art opening!


Sea Breeze Art Gallery and Studios just hosted their fourth annual Dia De Los Muertos show.


I had submitted three pieces for consideration into their juried competition. Much to my surprise all three pieces were accepted.


Much more to my surprise, two of the three got front wall space at the show!

There is a lot of wonderful artwork on display and it has a warm and welcoming feeling.

Show is up until November 29th 2008

Sea breeze Art Gallery:

http://www.seabreezeartgallery.com/dynamicdata/Dia_de_los_Muertos.asp

Exploring new media

I have never made a woodcut before...the idea is a bit intimidating, so I went for the easy starter version of block printing.

Using my Pop's 20+ year old speedball set, I carved my first two blocks yesterday in the studio.

I used the easy carve blocks, they are essentially giant rubber erasers...so carving is a breeze!

I took a couple drawing with me, hoping to copy them onto the rubber blocks easily, but the carbon transfer paper does not work on them. So I re-drew the images and started carving.

After making this first block, I began to realize how to think of black and white and vary the lines and shapes...

the second block went a little better and made me realize that I want to make more of these.

New workspace and new work

Well it has been quite an exciting time for me, creatively speaking.

I have been accepted to a local printmaking group, Inkspots.

This exciting news allows me a place to print on a flatbed press and work with other printmakers in a creative and supportive environment.

Super exciting and a big personal step for me, as this now means I am an artist with a workspace! Aside from my kitchen table!

I took this photo of the work area yesterday when I signed the papers of rental agreement.

As for other news, I am currently working on some new images for solar plates; class has started again, giving me the ability to use the press in Santa Barbara as well as experiment in a classroom setting and not be afraid of "wasting" valuable art supplies.

Here I am working on one of my newest ideas:

One of my solar plates was even featured on a website!
Here is the link:
http://photographersofetsy.blogspot.com/2008/09/welcome-new-team-members_24.html

New images coming soon to the shop and some of my photographs will be for sale REAL soon.
Honest!

Thanks for stopping by

Artwork for sale

Artworks are for sale in my Etsy shop!

I am currently working on my Black & White work. Scanning my negatives and using the digital darkroom when needed.

I have contacted a professional lab to assist me in printing long life, archival prints.

My black & white work available soon.

In the meantime, take a look at my zenfolio site for images, and feel free to contact me if you see something you would like to own.

www.monicawiesblott.zenfolio.com

In the review of these thousands of images, I have found that my "in camera work" was quite successful in making images of great contrast and composition. This leaves very little need for further manipulation, much to my delight.

If I choose to alter these original images, then that is another path, but for now the reintroduction of the images to myself and others is pure bliss.

Art images are now up!

My Fine art site is now up and at'em!

Come check it out:http://www.monicawiesblott.com

Items will be posted into a shop soon!
Check back soon

First Post...of many, I hope

My long awaited Gocco Machine arrived and with as much anticipation as I fostered, I thought I would have blown open the box and printed all night....but self sabotage stuck again and I was paralyzed for two days unable to make a thing.

I finally got the guts, or balls, to create something....I made my first print and have been brainstorming again ever since. Struck with failure again....

The paper choice was harder than I thought and it didn't turn out as I had imagined. I am trying to continue to be open about it and not too hard on myself, about not creating a masterpiece out the door.

There will be much waste and frustration ahead of me I am sure.