Open Studio Recap

It's been two weeks since I held my first annual open studio/open house. I blogged about this event a few weeks back, regarding my nervousness about it's success. All in all, my nervousness was for nothing.

The turnout was fabulous with about 23 people attending. Though I was hoping for 100 -- I had 23 wonderful people show up to see my work and to buy! It was my absolute best day ever for sales of all of the gallery and art shows I've ever done. There are many things I can attribute this to:

• the art hung on a home wall giving people a sense of how it would look in their home
• 20% of all proceeds went to support Kaleidoscope of Hope Foundation
• I was there; most of my sales of my art have been facilitated by me.
• I published a press release in the local paper.

One of the best parts of the day was that my mom's best friend's husband purchased my painting, Town and Country, a piece many collectors have been interested in. His wife, Barbara, passed away from ovarian cancer last year. They both always wanted to travel to Italy, but unfortunately never had the opportunity. I am so thrilled that he owns this painting because I know it is that much more meaningful to him.

This is definitely an event I would hold again in the future and need to plan further in advance to get a larger turnout. Two of my friends planned the food and catered the event for me; the food was fabulous! To get a glimpse of the work in my house see the photos below, courtesy of my mom.