SCAPE Newsletter - December 2023

Message from our PRESIDENT

By Linda Faye Collins

Hello All,

As the last year of my presidency ends, I want to express my gratitude to all of our SCAPE artists for participating in this special organization, now going into its 21^st year.  I especially want to thank those of our board members and committee volunteers who have made it possible for SCAPE to continue to fulfill its mission for so long, especially through the tough Covid years.  And, of course, we couldn’t exist without our talented artists who enter their paintings in our shows.  I hope we can continue to produce high quality shows to do justice to your paintings.

Looking forward, I want to thank Kathy McGill for stepping up as your new president to bring her own brand of leadership and fresh energy, and, perhaps, new direction to the group.  It is my desire that her example will encourage others to fill SCAPE’s volunteer roles some of which have remained empty too long, and upon which the success of this organization depends.

And now, here’s Kathy!

Message from our PRESIDENT Elect

By Kathy McGill

Dear SCAPE Members,

Happy Holidays! I hope you are all doing a better job than I am of finding time for painting during this very busy season!

After what seems like way too short a “breaking in” time, my upcoming term as SCAPE President is rapidly approaching. Reflecting on what this means to me, I am proud to be part of an organization with such a long and influential history, and one that continues to have the enthusiastic support and participation of so many wonderful artists. I have met and gotten to know many of you, and I hope to meet many more as the year progresses.

Linda asked me to write a few words about my vision for SCAPE going forward. That’s really quite simple, and is encapsulated in our Mission Statement: I hope to serve our membership by working with all of you to provide our community of artists opportunities for learning and
growth, camaraderie, and opportunities to show and sell our work. Equally, I hope SCAPE can continue its long tradition of contributing to important environmental causes: “Saving the environment one painting at a time.”

As you all know, SCAPE is a completely volunteer organization that relies on active participation from members throughout the year. SCAPE has a number of Board members and committee chairs who have been doing multiple jobs, some for many years. SCAPE is fortunate for their past and current contributions, but expansion of the volunteer “gene pool” is critical for SCAPE’s vitality and continuity. Early in the new year, a few new committees are planned to cover necessary tasks. Those committee members will reach out for additional volunteers. The goal is to spread out the workload as much as possible in order to make 2024 a successful year for SCAPE members and our environmental beneficiaries.

Going forward, my goal is to see SCAPE continue as a thriving organization that members are excited to be a part of. To that end, I am very interested in your feedback about SCAPE: what activities are you most interested in? Is there anything we aren’t doing now that you would be interested in (and can help with)? Anything that we should be doing differently? If you want to provide written feedback, the best way is to use the “Contact us” link on our website. But, being old-fashioned, I also appreciate and would welcome a conversation

I look forward to hearing from you, working with you, and painting with you in the coming year!

Kathy

EXHIBIT NEWS

By Karen Glancy 

Happiest of Holidays season to all.

Our Fall show, Trails Parks and Open Spaces, was a beautiful show but also not as well attended and with fewer sales than our online show.  We will be looking into another venue for our next show. We would like to hear input from all about that show, both positive and negative, to better serve our membership. Send your comments about the show to scapeartists@yahoo.com, please.

One of the things that our juror thought our artists should consider is effective pricing guidelines. Several of the paintings, he said, were priced so low that after commissions and materials some artists would be virtually paying a price to sell their paintings.

Here are some guidelines he suggested when pricing your paintings:

●     How much is the show commission%

●     What is the cost of entries

●     How much did you spend on your materials, canvas, paper, and panels.

●     Figure in a proportion of your paints used about 1/5% of a tube for a 11x14… for some paints a tube can run from $12 - $160 (It depends on the brand and the type of hue-colors.)

●     How much did the framing cost you

●     How much is shipping or going to pick it up (gas is still about $5 per gallon.)

After you have figured in all your costs, decide on your minimum price.

If your price does not cover your costs and the commission, your painting is way under priced.

You should at least earn enough to make another beautiful painting.

In a Juried show, most paintings should start at least around $400 for the smaller sized paintings. Here is a simple example of the costs for an 11x14 oil or acrylic painting using medium-versus higher-priced artists brand paints and materials:

            commission    $200

                     paint    $10 - 30

                     panel    $10 - 30

                     glass     $25 - 50

                     frame    $75 -150

                entry fee    $30 - 50

                   ————————-  

                             $350 - 510

As you can see, if you use the cheapest materials, you make $50;

if you use better materials, you paid almost $200 to sell your painting.

Hope this helps.