Feeling a little crabby

When I started the journey into outdoor art shows, I had no idea how far I would have come in a few short years. This will be a series of 3 paintings of crabs. 

I started the sepia series in 2009 to the remark of my oldest saying, 

"Mom I don't know if I like that so much." she continued,

 "I mean it's not bad, but I'm so used to your color." 

They were also framed in simple wooden frames that I got from Michaels in raw wood. 

I had to paint each one twice, once in black, then a dark brown, quickly wiping them back to slightly distress them. They took the 12 x 12 canvases that are shallow depth and sometimes they actually fit into the frames easily! Other times, it was a battle to find a canvas that would fit a frame. I resorted to a numbering system for the canvas and matching frame. I also had to mark the tops, because the canvases only fit a certain way. You get the gist, a LOT of effort.

I told her lets see how they go over at the Arts and Crafts in Fairhope. 

That spring I presented a total of 6 pieces 3 turtles, 3 shells, and sold them all within 3 months.

Hmmmmm....

Maybe something here.

That summer I frantically tried to find as many of the frames as I could to no avail. 

I painted what I had and took them to the National Shrimp Festival in Gulf Shores. We had great success with them at that show. 

I knew though that I had Peter Anderson coming up in a few weeks and wanted more. 

I was in a pickle because I knew they would do well in Mississippi.

I finally contacted a great manager at Michaels and explained my dilemma. 

She attempted to locate them, and found a scant few. 

She was diligent however and located 34 more of them in California. 

I said please ship them all!

I was a little taken aback when confronted by the rather large boxes that contained my frames.

Now, not only did I need to paint them all, but I needed to fill them with artworks.

After several weeks of hard work and effort, I had them all finished. 

What I did not realize was the amount of room these frames took up in the vehicle we were using. They measure about 16 x 16 finished and 2 inches deep. We put them in stacks of 8. At the time, I was driving a 2001 PT Cruiser. After you load the tent, framework, sides, chairs, luggage, card rack, print rack, and other various items there is scant room to sit! The frames are not indestructable and easy to dent as well. We once ran over one with a car as they were drying in the driveway!

The long and the short of it was they were a smashing success at the show. 

I covered an entire wall with nothing but the shadowbox frames and their corresponding canvases. This was one of the shows my mother was at as a helper. 

We had no less than 3 people come back for the same painting in a space of 15 minutes! 

My mom and I were almost in disbelief. 

The shadowboxes made it to a couple more years of shows before I just could not keep up with the demand and the amount of time and space they took. It was also at that time I decided to stop framing anything altogether and went to deep edge canvases instead, giving me a cleaner look.

I happened to have 3 of these frames left from that period in my art career. 

They hung in my dining area with a delta scene split into them. 

They were usurped last year by my dachshund collection that now hangs in the space.

I will finish these and probably put them at the gallery downtown here in Fairhope.

Feeling a little Crabby, 12x12 canvas in shadowbox frame. Acrylic

Day 21 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2018