Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Book or portfolio?



Inside the images are a good size and
the printer did a great job reproducing them.
The stock is high quality and has a nice feel to it.




The cover -- just my name
on heavy semi-gloss stock

Sometimes a leap forward in how you present
yourself can happen almost by accident. I
was rushing to get ready to go to the Florence
Biennale, working from a huge checklist
propped up in the kitchen that I'll show you
sometime when I overheard the word book.
A friend of mine had printed a book for the show.
Yikes! This was Monday, I was leaving Wednesday
night. How could I get a book?

The answer was my wonderful local printer,
who I just adore. I phoned and asked if he
could make me a book on Monday afternoon.
He said bring me a disk. I did, and by Tuesday
evening I had the "books" in hand. They are
just over 8 1/2 x 11 inches, and there are
32 images inside. I did not title my work,
or print sizes, because there wasn't time.
I did include my artist's statement and blurb
in English and Italian, plus all of my contact
information. On the front cover I used my
name, on the back my blog address.

Pow! That book (and I've had more copies
made since I returned) impresses people
in a way no portfolio ever did. They believe
in me because I'm in a book. Which is a
bit crazy, but hey -- it's also true.

By the way Liza Hirst has just put out her
second volume of her paintings. I own the
first one, and fully intend to get the second.
I treasure her little book, which has 100
fantastic paintings in it.

I guess that's next.

Have an aren't-you-worth-a-book day.

11 comments:

Janie B said...

What a great idea! Congratulations. The photos look great.

Zina Chmielowski said...

Hi Barbara,
I love that idea!
Congratulations.
P.S. Who is your printer?
Zina

Gwen Bell said...

Terrific idea and what a unique way to showcase your work! That would really stand out in someone's mind when compared to the endless portfolios they see. Are you going to be selling them? I would love to buy one!

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Janie,

Thank you so much! So glad you like the idea.

Take care,

Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Zina,

I go to St. Clair Copy. They are
super.

Take care,

Barbara

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Gwen,

I had not planned to sell them. Let's talk on email.

But of course I could. Yes. They do stand out. Actually many people produced hard cover bound books for the Biennale, and people loved those too.

xoxoxoxoBarbara

Karen Bruson said...

Wow, great idea on the book. Yours looks beautiful.

Barbara Muir said...

Hi Karen,

I met an artist in January from France who had a small 5 x 5 inch book of drawings and it was such a cool idea. So I'm thinking of making another book just of drawings.

Take care,

Barbara

Liza Hirst said...

Oh wow, this is great!!!!
I would like to buy one of your books - let me know how to do so and so on...
And thank you very much for mentioning my little book, Barbara!
I appreciate that so much! Thank you.

Melinda said...

This is a good idea! I like how your work looks. Yes, authoritative in presentation...established. I hope you'll make more and perhaps add text. Very interesting as it breaks the old portfolio construct.

Laurel Daniel said...

this is great - you are wowing the people... always! XOXOX

Portrait Artist

My photo
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
I paint and draw on commission and for shows. To commission a portrait, or purchase one of my paintings please contact me at: barbara.muir@sympatico.ca
A major highlight in my career? Drawing Oprah Winfrey live via Skype for her show "Where in the Skype are you? Galleries: Studio Vogue Gallery, Toronto, Canada. The Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, New York City. Gallery at the Porch Door, Kingston, Canada. Your positive comments on this blog mean the world to me. I'd love to hear from you!