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Sep 19, 2013

Fountain Square Art Fair

Come visit my booth at Fountain Square this weekend.





Fountain Square Art Squared - Saturday September 21st, 11AM to 5PM

Art Squared is all about three events all in one day. There will be an art fair, masterpiece in a day, and an art parade.  I will be participating in the art fair from 11AM to 5PM. This year the fair will be taking over the streets of Fountain Square. My booth will be on Virginia Avenue by the Murphy Building.  This will be my last art fair for the year so it will be your last chance to grab that piece you've been eyeing for a long time now.

Aug 28, 2013

Gateway Fest


Gateway Fest
Saturday, August 31st 11-6PM

2831 South Madison Ave.
Indianapolis, IN



We had a great time earlier this month at WAMMFest in Greenwood.  This weekend, I will be participating in the Gateway Fest Art Fair at  2831 South Madison Ave. in Indianapolis from 11AM-6PM.  Thier will be food, music, and of corse, artwork.  There is alao a parade that starts at 1PM. For more information visit http://www.miraclemileparade.com/index.html

Aug 11, 2013

WAMMFest

WAMMFest

If you want to see my latest pieces you'll have to come visit me at my booth this weekend at WAMMFest.






WAMMFest - Wine Art Music Micro brew
Saturday September 17th, 11AM to 8PM



Come visit me and all my wonderful new artwork at booth #52 at WAMMFest this Saturday. The WAMM stands for wine, art, music, and micro brew.   The festival runs from 11AM to 8PM at Craig park in Greenwood, IN.  Along with over 70 artists,there will also be music and performances on several stages, food vendors, and of course wine and micro brewed beverages.

Tickets are available in advance online for $10 or at the gate for $15. For advance tickets or for more information please visit www.wammfest.com.

Jul 31, 2013

Pythia

Pythia


Pythia Study
Charcoal on Paper
9x6 Inches
Pythia was  famous oracles of Delphi. Kings and men traveled from all over the Mediterranean to hear her prophesies.  These prophesies were often cryptic.  One of her famous ones during the Persian invasion of 480BC she said that Athens would be safe behind the wall of wood.  Some thought this meant the walls around Athens and some thought this meant Athens' navy.  The Greeks believed that the oracle talked directly to the god Apollo.  She was able to communicate with him by breathing in toxic fumes from a cave.

Jul 24, 2013

Cynane

Cynane


Cynane in the Gise of Alexander
6x9 Inches
Watercolor and Ink on Paper
$50
Cynane was the older sister of Alexander the Great.  Growing up, Cynane would ride into battle with her father Phillip II. In battle she would not only fight male soldiers but would battle other queens and princesses as well.

Jul 17, 2013

Lilith: The World's First Feminist

Lilith: The World's First Feminist


Lilith
9x6 Inches
Watercolor and Ink on Paper
$50
Lilith was Adam's first wife.  She refused to be submissive to Adam, she wanted to be his equal.  She was cast out of Eden and was believed to be the mother of all sorts of demons and steal children in the middle of the night.  She may not be real, but there is part of Lilith in every woman.

Jul 10, 2013

Hydna

Hydna

Hydna
Watercolor on Paper
9x6 Inches
$50
Hydna was a woman who cut the mooring lines from the Persian ships at the Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C.  The Battle of Salamis is a naval battle that went along with the battle of Thermopylae  (the 300).  That night, a storm came by and because the ships were no longer anchored,  the Persians lost a great deal of their ships.  This helped the Greeks claim a  victory and save their homes from a Persian invasion.

Jul 3, 2013

Ahotep

Ahotep


Ahotep Study
Watercolor and Ink on paper
9x6 Inches
2013

Ahotep was a queen of ancient Egypt.  She either rallied the troops or even fought along with them to defend Thebes.  Either way, she was buried with a golden axe and three Orderss of the Golden Fly which were high military honors

Jun 30, 2013

Mt. Vesuvius II Start to Finish

I decided to revisit a piece I did a year ago.  I created these with layers of charcoal sprayed with matte medium. Last time I did this I just used a coarse spay with my fixative, so I did a few tests first to see if this would work.


Mt. Vesuvius II Studies II & I


The tests turned out very well and you can purchase them from my Etsy shop.


Mt Vesuvius Study I
Charcoal and Watercolor on Paper
2013



Mt. Vesuvius Study II
Charcoal and Watercolor on Paper
2013

This is the final piece.  

Mt. Vesuvius II
Charcoal and Watercolor on Paper
2013

Jun 26, 2013

Something New, Something Old, Something Purple

After listening to a recent podcast on artfiarinsiders.com about two different artists who each did a series of daily paintings for a time, I have decided to do my own painting challenge. With my schedule there is no way I could do one painting every day, however, I should be able to do one a week.

Every Wednesday I will post a new painting, finished and available to purchase. I have been working on a series of women throughout history.  So we are going to be calling this Women's History Wednesday, or something like that anyway.  Along with a new piece of my artwork will be some information about the women.

Instead of just checking here every Wednesday, you can subscribe to this blog and get the blog post sent directly to your inbox. The button is over here ~~~~~~>

I will also be including these in my e-newsletters but once a week may be too often for that.  I will most likely lump a few together and do a monthly re-cap in the e-newsletter.  You can sign up for my e-newsletter here.

Let's get started with Empress Theodora.

Theodora Study
9x6 Inches
Wtercolor, Gouache, and Ink on paper
2013
$50

Theodora started off as an actress, a dancer, and well basically a high end prostitute. Eventually she bumped into Justinian I, who ruled Constantinople.  After seeing one of her performances, he ended up changing the laws so he could marry this beautiful woman.  Turns out, she was also very intelligent. He ended up making her co-regent which meant that they shared the throne.

One day a riot broke out at a sporting event at the hippodrome.  Justinian was ready to leave town in hopes of exile instead of death.  At the docks Theodora put her royal foot down.  She had worked her way up from actress to empress, she wasn't going anywhere.  She told Justinian and his crew that "purple makes a fine funeral shroud" and that she wasn't going anywhere.  Her speech convinced her hubby and crew to stay.  Justinian and Theodora survived and put Constantinople on the map.  They built buildings that still stand today, the most famous being the Hagia Sophia.

Jun 24, 2013

10 Tips from your Friendly Neigborhood Framer

I have been working at a custom framing shop for about a year now and I thought I would share some tips (or pet peeves).


1. Do not hang original artwork in your bathroom.  In fact,  do not hang anything in there that you do not mind throwing in the trash.  Here's the problem: humidity.  Heat and steam from your showers makes the bathroom high in humidity. Framing is not air tight, even if there is paper covering the back.  Moisture WILL get in there and ruin your artwork. If you really want to hang something in your bathroom, make a copy of it and hang that in there, hang the original somewhere else.  This goes for pieces wrapped around a canvas stretcher too.  Those stretchers are made out of wood, and they are not sealed with anything.

2. Use UV protective glass, always. I don't know how many times a week I hear people come into the frame shop with their old glass wanting to reuse it.  I explain that glass from a few years ago does not have the UV filter on it and will fade, badly and quickly.  Their response is always "Well we are going to hang it somewhere where it does not get much light".  If you can see the piece in the daytime with the lights off, it is getting sunlight, and being damaged.  UV protective glass is not expensive, a 8x10 piece costs around $3. Those frames that you buy from Walmart, Target, Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and so on, do not come with UV protective glass.  Unless it says that the glass has a UV filter, it doesn't.  Think of it like sunscreen.  You wouldn't go out into the sun without it, don't frame your artwork without it. Anywhere that does framing can cut you a piece of UV filtering glass on the spot.


3. Do not use saw tooth hangers, ever. They will give way, your piece will fall, your glass will break, your matting and/or artwork will be ruined.  I do not know how many pieces people bring into the shop in a week because the glass broke because it just fell off the wall.  Hang your piece with wire or D-Rings.

4.  Yes, you do need a mat, or glass space. The point of the mat is to keep your artwork from touching the glass.  If you do not do this your artwork will become stuck to the glass, forever.



5. Do not frame to match your decor.  If you frame a piece right, so it matches the artwork, not your couch, you will never have to frame it again.  Your wall colors change, furniture gets replaced but if you frame your piece right, it will outlast you.

6. Yes, you need glass. Works on canvas aside, you need glass. Besides all the protection from #2 up there, your piece will get dirty, dusty, and damaged.  If you have an canvas piece, ask the artist if the piece has been varnished.  This layer of varnish will protect the piece from UV damage and will give extra protection when dusting.


7. Make sure your frame is wood or metal.  Most of, if not all of the frames that are sold in the big box stores are made out of some sort of plastic resin.  They are cheep, light weight and if they chip or break you are out of luck.  Wood and metal frames can be re-sized and repaired, those resin frames cannot. I am not use how these resin frames are made, or what they are made of exactly, but I am guessing they are not of good quality, most are manufactured in China, who knows what is in there.

8. Use all acid free materials.  Do not use cardboard for backing or tape your photograph or artwork in with masking or office tape.  Have you seen masking tape that is just a few years old?  It is gross.  I do not know how but it gets 10x sticky-er and those chemicals that make the tape sticky are not coming off.  Use acid free tape or even better those Mylar corners.  You can get those in the scrap booking department.  For backing use acid free foam core or core plastic. Those mats that they sell at Hobby Lobby and Michael's are not acid free either.  I had to re-cut mats for EVERYTHING.


9. Don't fix it yourself.   Unless you are an expert, do not fix it yourself.  Accidentally poked a hole in your canvas?  Take it to the artist or someone for proper repair. The artist is not going to yell at you, they will be thankful that you are wanting to take care of their piece.  Some may even fix it for free.  Do not just stick it back on there with a band aid.

10. Hang your artwork where it will not receive direct sunlight. Even after all that UV Protective glass, it only filters 99.9% of UV damage.  Do not hang artwork in your sun room, or in that path of sunlight that moves across the room during the day.

Bottom line, don't be cheep and do your framing right.  Making a bad choice because you are trying to save $5 now is just going to cause you more hassle, and money, later on or it could ruin your piece entirely.


Jun 21, 2013

New to the Website and on Etsy

New Feature on my Website and New Etsy Listings

New to the Website

www.bonniefillenwarth.com

You can now purchase limited edition reproductions of some of my most popular pieces directly from my website using PayPal.  All prints come already mated in a white bevel cut mat with all acid free materials and are ready to pop into a standard 8x10 frame.  Shipping is included for orders placed in the US. www.bonniefillenwarth.com
 

New to Etsy

I have been adding some smaller framed pieces to my Etsy shop.  Some are limited edition reproductions and some are originals.  All pieces have been framed by me with all acid free materials and UV protective glass.  I will also be adding a few brand new small pieces in the next few days.  Make sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter to be the first to know about my newest pieces.  To see works in progress and other studio adventures follow me on Instagram.

Apr 7, 2013

Stutz Open House

I wanted to thank everyone who made it out to the open house. Quite a few of my pieces found great homes.  For those of you who were unable to make it, I took some pictures of my clean and tidy studio turned into a gallery.  If you see a piece you would like to purchase please let me know.











2013 Raymond James Stutz Artists Open House April 26th and 27th


I would like to formally invite you to the Annual 2013 Raymond James Stutz Artists Open House.  Below are some questions and answers about this event. For more information please visit www.stutzartists.com.

What is the Stutz Open house?
The Stutz Open House is an annual event held every April. This year is extra special because it is the 20th anniversary.  The open house is a fundraiser for the Stutz Artist Association Residency Program.  The residency program gives free studios to a few emerging artists for an entire year.  The open house started out years ago with just a few artists inviting their friends and patrons over for a small party and has now grown into a two day event with around seven thousand people attending every year.  This year there will be over seventy artists participating as well as many businesses.

What are the dates and times for the open house?
This year the open house will be Friday April the 26th and Saturday the 27th.  The doors open Friday at 5:30PM and close at 10:30PM.  On Saturday doors open at 2:00PM and close at 7:00PM.

Where and what is the Stutz Building?
The historic Stutz Building is located in downtown Indianapolis at 1060 N. Capital Ave.   The building is so huge it takes up a whole city block.  It is between 10th and 11th Streets and Capital and Senate Avenues. 
The Stutz building is a historic car factory in downtown Indianapolis.  The Stutz Motor company produced many different types of cars including racing cars at could be seen during the Indianapolis 500.  Today, many businesses and artists call the building home.  However, there is quite the vintage car collection that fills up a room on the second floor as well as scattered throughout the building.

What all is there to see and do at the Open house?
There are over seventy artists who will have their studios all neat and tidy with artwork on display for purchase. There will also be musical entertainment throughout the building, including jazz musician Cynthia Lane, as well as many food vendors.  On Saturday there will also be children’s activities.
In the Stutz Art Gallery on the first floor of the building there will be “1st Look, 20th Anniversary” which is an art exhibition that features at least one piece of artwork from every artist participating in the open house. The “1st Look, 20th Anniversary” exhibition opens on April 5th from 5:00 to 9:00PM and runs through the end of the month. It will also be open during the open house.  This is a great way to preview which artists you would like to visit first.

What kind of artwork will there be?
The Stutz building houses the most artists in one location in the Midwest.  This means there will be lots of art and lots of different kinds of art.  There are painters, sculptors, photographers, jewelry makers, textile and fabric artists, artists who work with steel and other heavy duty metal, furniture makers, and many more.   Prices of artwork can range from $10 to $10,000.

Where is your studio?
My studio is E-340 on the third floor right in the middle of the E building.  Upon entry to the open house, you will receive a map of the entire building with the location of all the artists’ studios and businesses.  It is a very big building with lots to see and there will be many volunteers placed throughout the building to help you find what you are looking for. Many art lovers attend both days to make sure they don’t miss anything.

What will you have new this year?
I have been busy creating some smaller works on paper and on canvas this year. I also have some limited edition prints available this year. To get a preview of my work please visit my website www.bonniefillenwarth.com.  You can also see my works in progress on my blog bonniefillenwarth.blogspot.com.  And if that is not enough, you can follow me on Facebook, on twitter @BonnieStzE340, and on Istagram.
 If you would like to purchase artwork prior to the open house, I still have my Etsy shop up and running.  Etsy is an online marketplace for artisans selling handmade items.  This is a great way to make easy purchases through Paypal.  www.etsy.com/shop/bonniefillenwarth

How much does it Cost?
Tickets cost $15 the day of the event.  They are $10 in advance form Old National Banking Centers or the Stutz Business Center Office (317)488-7373. Children twelve and under will receive free admission with a paying adult.  Saturday re-entry is free with the previous day’s ticket stub.

Will there be parking?
There will be plenty of parking available.  There is street parking all the way around the building and parking in specially marked lots for this huge event, and best of all it is free.


                                                                                      Hope to see you this year


Mar 4, 2013

Uppity Women



Happy Women's History Month!


I've been very busy the last few months doing research for a new series celebrating women throughout history.  I thought I would share this series of books that are wonderful   Each book has a page or two on a different woman, about 200 women per book.  I first found out about these books when I scored at Half Price Books when I found "Uppity Women of Ancient Times" by Vicki Leon.  There are four books total, ancient times, medieval times, renaissance, and new world.    There is also a series that is made for younger readers called outrageous women of ancient, medieval, renaissance, and the new world.