A month to go!

It's done, the entries are in and juried and we just finished sending the acceptance emails out. Now we just need to get the art here and on a wall... and get the catalogs finished and printed, though I have to admit I'm enjoying designing the catalog wayyy more than I enjoy hanging shows...


Anyway, in the meanwhile I want to pass along news from Tyler Darden about an awesome talk that AIGA is hosting

COMMUNICATION ARTS Tuesday, May 12, 2009 6:30 p.m. VCU Commons Theater 907 Floyd Ave. Richmond, Virginia See the website for complete details. Patrick Coyne, Communication Arts Patrick Coyne will discuss the history and philosophy of the magazine, how CA's competitions work and how creatives are chosen for profiles in the magazine. He will also present a selection of award-winning design and advertising projects produced on limited budgets and discuss the future of creativity in the post-information age. Patrick Coyne Patrick Coyne is editor and designer of Communication Arts. In addition to determining the layout and content of the magazine, Mr. Coyne writes feature stories and the editor's column. He has also guest lectured at numerous creative clubs and universities. The recipient of numerous awards for his design and art direction (including a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators), Coyne received the 2004 Design Leadership Award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Prior to joining CA in 1986, Coyne studied at the California College of the Arts, worked for Michael Mabry Design and SBG Partners and established the multi-discipline, San Francisco-based design firm of Patrick Coyne Stephanie Steyer Design Office. Communication Arts is the leading professional journal for designers, art directors, design firms, agencies and corporate communications departments. Current circulation is 60,000 paid. Through editorials, feature articles and annual competitions it sponsors, CA provides new ideas and information, while promoting the highest professional standards for the field.

AIGA Richmond | P.O. Box 18492 | Richmond, VA 23226

It's almost time!!!

10 days left!

This is somewhere between a continued reminded (harangue?) for anyone and everyone to enter the show, and a reminder to myself that now is when the work really starts. Promoting the Call for Entries is one thing - the internet is like magic - but getting all of the work here and organized and on a wall and the opening sufficiently promoted - plus some sort of catalog - that is a true time management nightmare.
So yes,

A#1.) Enter the show. Get your work seen by the ever fascinating Marshall Arisman. If he likes it, get it up on the wall at Ghostprint where inevitably, well over 1,000 people will see it. Many of them gallery owners, art directors etc.

B#2.) If you are involved in the club in any way, get ready to help distribute postcards, contact media outlets, hang art work and set out hors d'oeuvres (more or less in that order).

Feels like a city

First Friday last night was one of the better ones in months, I'm going to imagine in large part due to the fact that it was neither a.) raining or b.) miserably cold. If you are from the Pacific Northwest, Chicago or anywhere north of the 45th you can mock me mercilessly for my pathetic inability to withstand weather.

To be fair though, 4 club members, myself included, stood outside of Ghostprint at December First Friday to sell prints, cards, jewelry and other illustrated gifts for the holiday. This year was the first time (since I've been a member) that the club had done something like that, and while we could have sold more it was a good experience and one I think we'd really like to repeat. Holly's greeting cards sold the best, and she's since had them sold through both Quirk gallery and Mongrel in Carytown, as well as at the holiday Bizarre Market above Chop Suey Tuey and on Etsy.com.




I totally agree with what Dwayne said the other night, that he wishes Richmond would feel like a real city more than just once a month on Friday. It really is just about the only time when there is volumous foot traffic all over town, businesses stay open later and Broad Street doesn't look abandoned. It is nice in some respect that it's art that makes this town feel like a city. In an economy where any sort of luxury item is regarded with sudden scorn, it's refreshing to see that original art, which has always seemed to me to be viewed as a luxury, is bringing people out - and some of them are even buying it. A few of the skatebirds by Klutch at Ghostprint sold last night, and they were amazingly cool. They were also really reasonably priced, and it struck me as a real win-win situation.


The other particularly awesome thing last night was when numerous patrons at Quirk picked up and shook Thea's handmade snowless snowglobes, only to get really disappointed and frustrated to discover that there wasn't any snow in them.

Edit - I am totally remiss in not mentioning this earlier - I'll claim a dog emergency that pulled me away from the computer before I could add it and beg forgiveness.

Last but clearly not least, another fabulous opening on April's First Friday was our members show! We have done this show at the library for god knows how long - it had been going on for a while when I joined the club in 04, and at this point we have a standing show in the Gellman room of the main public library on Franklin St. every April. Somehow this show seems to come out of thin air every year. There is a great group of people showing work this year - Forrest Young, Andy Parrish, Jolinda Smithson, Eric Collins, Tin Salamunic, Dwayne Carpenter and Katie McBride (me!). This show is a great perk of club membership (plug plug) b/c it is so low key, and you can show anything. If you have some experimental pieces and you want to get them out there and get a reaction? Great. Got some traditional figurative work you've done at Ghostprint's drawing night? That works too. Plus Lynn Vandeness at the Library is incredibly sweet and so enthusiastic, so that helps too. I definitely encourage everyone to go down and check out the show. It's a great range of work, from high intensity graphic Transformers (seriously), to meticulous line drawings of Richmond, to expressive ink and mixed media portraits.

Anyway, as usual, here's a plug to enter the Juried Show - deadline April 24 - and as always, check back here and our facebook page for updates on all sorts of Richmond Illustration things.

All the kids are doing it these days...

... blogging that is - so you know, I figured we should get back on board.

They are all also submitting to the Richmond Illustrators Club 3rd Annual Juried Show! (deadline April 24th)

We are getting ready for our Third Annual Juried Show - hard to believe it's that time already.
It's going to open at Ghostprint Gallery again this year, which is really fantastic. The space is beautiful and Geraldine and Thea are incredibly helpful and generous, not to mention having created quite the reputation for having impeccable taste in art. The crowds last year were amazing and we have serious high hopes for this year.

Having only one juror will be a little different, but the fact that it's Marshall Arisman tends to make up (in my mind) for any drawbacks that having only one juror could create.

We are also in the throes of getting a new website up - www.richmondillustratorsclub.com - which will be lovely, as we will finally be able to have member galleries and a central location for all of the events, news and resources we would like to be pointing the illustration community towards.
Right now you can download the entry form for the 3rd annual juried show there, and pay for your entries through Paypal.

We are also simplifying this year by accepting all entries through email, either to the richmond.illustrators@gmail.com address, or to our new email - info@richmondillustratorsclub.com. Use "entries" in the subject line.

You can find all sorts of useful info about the last two shows below, incuding pictures from the opening, previous winners and a map with the location.

The deadline for this year is April 24th, which is really soon, and I know everyone (myself included) waits till the last few days to enter everything... but really, no extension this year - so enter now!

Looking forward to seeing all of the amazing entries this year and seeing which 35 Marshall picks!

Back in the Saddle

Hey, we're back! After a much needed rest, post show we're getting ready to get things moving with the club again. Check back for updates on the next meeting and some excellent events that will be coming up in July as well. For the time being however, please enjoy some photos from the opening. More to come as well....

Outside looking in

We were packed...

Paintings by Neal Iwan (bronze medal winner "Swampdogg" on left)

Apparently Ghostprint was the busiest gallery all evening...

More lovely work (paintings by Shaun Yu - first 3 on the left)

It's almost time! Juried Show opening info and winners

Hey all,

It's been quite a while since we posted, and as you might imagine, that has everything to do with the Juried Show. Though truly a labor of love, it is indeed, quite laborious. What with having to do such inconvenient things such as go to work, we have spent a whole lot of free time planning this thing.

On that note however, I do want to say that there are three people that we never could have done this without, and they are our jurors: Anita Kunz, Greg Swearingen and Josh George. They were so incredibly helpful and fast to boot. I also have a feeling that they may have helped us attract entrants.... Also in that camp are Elizabeth and Libby Meggs, daughter and wife of the late Phillip B. Meggs and our jurors for the Phillip B. Meggs award for excellence in design.

The hardest process for the jurors was choosing the winners, but they narrowed it down to some pieces that completely floor us.

Gold - Barry Bruner (again!?)




Silver - Brooke Olivares




Bronze - Neal Iwan




Phillip B. Meggs award for excellence in Design - Thea Duskin




Congratulations to all of our award winners!

Be sure to join us for the show opening, June 6th (First Friday) from 7pm-10pm at Ghostprint Gallery, 220 w. Broad St. ,Richmond VA 23220.

Directions to Ghostprint
From the North (D.C., Md, etc.)
- 95 S
- Exit 76 B towards Belvidere st./US 301/US 1
- Turn Left onto Leigh st. (get into the right lane)
- Turn Right onto Belvidere st. (the first light)
- Turn Left onto Broad st.
- Ghostprint Gallery is on the left side of the street between Madison and Jefferson streets.

From the South
- 95 N
- Exit 76 A Chamberlayne Ave.
- Left on Chamberlayne Ave.
- Chamberlayne turns onto Adams at the light at Leigh st. (stay straight)
- Right onto Broad st.
- Ghostprint Gallery is on the right side of the street between Madison and Jefferson streets.

From the West
- 64 E
- Merge onto 95 S (Richmond/Petersburg Turnpike)
- Exit 76 B towards Belvidere st./US 301/US 1
- Turn Left onto Leigh st. (get into the right lane)
- Turn Right onto Belvidere st. (the first light)
- Turn Left onto Broad st.
- Ghostprint Gallery is on the left side of the street between Madison and Jefferson streets.

From the East
- 64 W
- Exit 76 A Chamberlayne Ave.
- Left on Chamberlayne Ave.
- Chamberlayne turns onto Adams at the light at Leigh st. (stay straight)
- Right onto Broad st.
- Ghostprint Gallery is on the right side of the street between Madison and Jefferson streets.


View Larger Map

In the coming weeks look for an article about the show in RVA magazine.
I also realized we never posted a link to the article in Brick about the club, so here it is.