Feedback and feed forward

I've had some really lovely feedback regarding the Fantasy Fannies, since I did the Erotica exhibition last week ....... "Wow! A celebration of women and sexuality done in such style. Well done!" .... "The single most amazing and unique thing I've seen - what a gift! Best of luck" ....."Fantastic and a lot of fun. Never seen something so weird look so beautiful!!" ...."Superb, subtle, sexy!" ..."These paintings are amazing!"....."Beautiful flowers!".......

.......its always good to get feedback, to know that others appreciate the work too... So thank you to those who told me that my stand was the best thing at Erotica, its very much appreciated!!!

And whilst we're hurtling along towards Christmas, I'll mention that I still have the ideal Christmas gift for erotic art lovers - the newly published Guild of Erotic Artists Book Volume 2 at £22.99 plus packaging and transport costs. And as well as that I have the Guild of Erotic Artists Book Volume 1 at £10 plus packaging and transport costs. Or £30 for the two - what a bargain! - (plus packaging and transport costs). I featured Volume 2 the other week and the details are here. Volume 1 is pictured here and is equally as lovely and has 160 full colour pages of 25 featured artists/photographers/sculptors (but not of me, it was printed before I joined the Guild). It measures 11 x 8 1/2 inches. Both books are soft back and are ideal Christmas gifts, individually or together......... email me if you're interested.......

Erotica'd !!!!

Phew, well I'm back, I did it, and BOY was it FUN!!!!!! and also bloody hard work - I'm not used to standing on my feet for twelve hours non stop, and trying to sell at the same time!

Right, to start at the beginning..........

When I arrived on my stand, I was firstly struck by how small it was, and secondly by how badly lit it was. I hadn't ordered lighting for the stand as I had been told that it was light enough up on the gallery where I was situated. Well, that was true, to a degree, and in some places it was light enough, but not where I was! So, off to pay for some lighting and even though it added to the overall costs by a large amount, it was well worth every penny of it! Because my stand "shone" with the lighting on the vibrant fannies! It took me five hours to dress the tiny stand (including hanging around for the electricians to do the lights). But at the end I was happy I had done the best with what I had. Then, back to the hotel for an early night, and then..........

The first day, and I had been told by someone who has exhibited there many times, to watch the body language of the people passing, and I learnt during that day what that meant. Because some people walked past my stand without even a glimmer of interest at it, me, or anything. Of course that may have had something to do with the fact that on the next stand were two gorgeous virtually topless girls (except for their tasselled nipple cups and very little else). But also, I know that not everyone likes art, regardless of the subject matter (and I thought it was reasonably interesting.......................... ) :)

Anyway....... I learnt during that first day to watch the people, and their reactions. Some smiled at the "Fantasy Fannies" title, some smiled at the art. A lot of them loved the bright vivid colours, and a few of them went a REAL WOOOWWWWWW over my paintings, and the concept they convey. One woman got really very emotional over the beauty of them, which deeply touched me. The fannies are everything I love in art - a unique personalised portrait of a part of your body that normally isn't painted, they are bright and vibrant, they are a private joke, and the most interesting of conversation pieces - how good is that!!!?? and certainly those who understood the concept, loved it!!!!! A success then! Well, yes, it was for the effect the fannies had on the viewing public. But not on the other artwork I'd taken with me. There wasn't a vast amount of interest in it at all, but that may have been partly due to the smallness of the stand and not being able to display it properly. It was certainly worth taking though, so people could see what I was capable of. One of the highlights of the show was when a complete stranger said to me "You're a clever girl aren't you?" and one woman said that my "fannies" were the best thing at Erotica! Wow! Really???

I certainly had a lot of interest in them. Women really related to them, and some men did too. I'm happy to paint "cocks" as well as fannies, but this project is so new, I haven't had chance yet. I was asked if I'd paint one of the fannies for an erotic museum, and if I'd like to exhibit them at swinging events in clubs in London, New York and San Francisco. I also discussed the possibility of the fannies being in an article for a raunchy women's magazine, so I think that the promotion of them has started now, and that will open other doors.

And as you would expect, there were some interesting visitors there. Most people were dressed quite ordinarily, and then there were the more, er, interesting ones - the man in the auburn wig and the "fat suit" dressed as an exotic female dancer, complete with sagging pointy boobs in a red pvc peephole bra, and matching thong hanging down at the back, with a wodge of black public hair at the front, was a scream. The girl as the "dog" on all fours being led around on a collar and lead was cute, the various slaves in collars and leads was to be expected, the girls in corsets looked luscious, the men in dresses, the transvestites, and the cross dressers, all added to the fun of the show. And that's what I love about it so much, the dressing up aspect, and "playtime for adults" aspect of it.

And of course, the friends who visited, some travelling quite some distances to go to the show. It was really really great to see them, and catch up with their news. And best of all, was the bloggers who went - six that I know 0f, and some of them had their fannies on the wall for the world to see. And of those who made themselves known, it was great for me to put faces and names to their fannies.

So, all in all, a good success. I just hope I've "sold" the idea enough for others to want to participate.

Oh, and most amusing moments - were .......

When I was asked why I called myself "Fantasy Fannies" - and I replied " I don't!!!"

When I asked a woman if she had ever considered having her fanny painted and her reply was "No, I haven't, I'm not very happy with it at the moment" (that left me non-plussed!)

When I asked two women swingers if they wanted their fannies painting, and one replied "If I ever want it painted I send you a photo of me flange!"

So, picture of an exhibition. A fanny exhbition. Well, that's different, isn't it???

Queynte 12

Phew, I've done it! Got 12 fannies to take with me to Erotica. I was hoping i'd get it done in time, burning the midnight oil. And here it is....

Coming ready or not

Right then! What's happening this week.....? Oh yes, I remember! EROTICA!!!! :)

I haven't stopped since I decided five weeks ago that I was going to do it. I knew it would be a huge learning curve and it certainly as been!! There's been so much preparation to do - find and buy various items like a browser, all the hanging equipment, picture mounts, decide which images I'm going to sell as prints, write an explanation of the Queyntes, and what to do if you want your own painting commissioned. Design my flyers, design a banner, get all the information to the printer, print some of it myself to keep the costs down, and even so, the printers bill alone would feed an African village for a year. And then pick up all the stuff from the printer, and insert the prints in the mounts, bag them all up in protective sleeves, sort out what original artwork I'm going to sell, and bag and price that. My lunch over the weekend was all of two minutes, standing by the fridge eating leftovers from the day before, before returning to work again. Because I want it all to be right. I want to be the best I can be in the time I've had to prepare, to show the visitors what I have and what I am. I know I've got something in everyones price range, from small items to large, presuming they like the images, and some other different artwork images from the fannies. I don't know what the response is going to be to the Fantasy Fannies but so far its all been promising.

When I collected the flyers from the printer on Friday, I quickly ascertained he'd printed a quarter of the flyers I'd asked for. So it was a good job I hadn't left it all to the last minute! I waited an hour or so whilst he printed off the other three thousand. He's a nice lad, and we happily chatted whilst he fed the copier with reams of paper and guillotined them afterwards. He told me that other customers of his had been in this week and seen my brightly coloured flyers depicting Queynte 2 with my details printed over the top, and the words "Fantasy Fannies" being very prominent, and had noticed them with great interest. One couple had been in, and the guy had seen the flyers and started sniggering to himself. His wife couldn't see what was funny, as he sniggered and mumbled about "fantasy fannies". He pointed it out to her, and she caught on straight away what she was looking at and said "Oh, yes, I see!!!!" and her man looked non-plussed and said "What?". The printer tactfully pointed out that he was looking at what it said it was! And still, the guy didn't get it! His wife had done by then, and was laughing, but he'd totally missed it! And I think, that's part of the fun of these paintings - its the ones in the know, enjoying a joke against those who aren't!!!

In the pub on Friday night, I went to say hi to a friend of mine, he was chatting to a mate of his who I didn't know, and introduced us by saying "Jackie paints fannies!" which quite understandable was a good conversation starter!!!! I spent the next five minutes explaining how and why exactly I paint fannies - to the great interest of my new acquaintance. He asked if I did willies too - and I said I certainly would! He was certainly interested in the idea!!!

Another friend of mine in the pub, who is very interested in art in general and this latest project, asked why I did erotic art. I said it was the most difficult art I could think of, and that was part of the appeal. But I like people, and this is just part of what makes an adult, the erotic side to us.

Right, on with the last few things I need to do - and I'm looking forward to meeting the bloggers who are planning on coming to meet me - Wow, meeting them in real life!!! Very exciting :)

The pull of art is great, and its one of the things I love so much about it.........

Taking the abstraction a little further

Since I started doing the abstracts of the fannies, I've wondered if I could use abstracts for general erotic art, and have been following those ideas through with the three paintings I have here. One of the reasons I decided to do them, was to take the paintings with me to Erotica to see what sort of general response they get. I know the visitors to Erotica are used to seeing erotic art there, and some people may go with a view to buying a new painting for their wall, so I stand a reasonable chance of selling some, I hope.

The first one is called "Out and proud" and is a blue green and orange torso. I enjoyed painting the various shapes within the shadows and form of the body. The title relates to the state of her nipples!

The second is called "Black as night" and is a bit surreal with the lines on the body but it seems to work somehow - someone said that it looked like the bones in the body, which is an interesting concept!

The third one is lots of interplay between the shapes of the blues, reds, yellows and is called "Wishful thinking" and has a joke within the image, if you can see it??? :)

Insult to injury

After spending all week busily sorting out all the stuff I've got to do for Erotica, I managed a quick late night visit to my local pub the other night, and before I'd even walked through the door I was accosted by an acquaintance sitting outside with the smokers. The last time I'd seen him had been in the pub a couple of weeks ago, and I'd told him about the fanny paintings I've been working on, and at that time I hadn't found a venue to exhibit them, so had been discussing the options for that with him. Since every thing's moving incredibly fast at the moment, I'd forgotten he didn't know I've arranged to exhibit at Erotica in a couple of weeks. His opening comment to me was "Have you got a print of one of those fanny paintings, I really want one on my wall!" I stopped and had a chat with him, to ascertain which fanny he was referring to, when one of the girls sitting in the group he was with, started listening to the conversation and was obviously very interested in what I was talking about...... I didn't know her but we started chatting, and it turned out she was 19 years old, and most interested to know more about the subject. I sat and chatted with her (and hadn't even got my drink by then!) and explained about the fannies being the most delicious of private jokes, about them being a celebration of womanhood, about them being special for women, and that women really relate to them. Whilst we were chatting, there were a few ribald comments, as I would have expected, but one of the girls there was laughing about what we were talking about - and was coming out with various slang for the subject matter - one of which was "axe cut" - I've never heard that one before, and can't say I was enamoured with it. I wondered why the girl in question (who I know, and like) used the phrase - was she being amusing, or just drunken, or did she use the slang to cover her dislike about that part of her body? It made me wonder......... But her friend, was certainly interested in what I had to say about the fannies, and loved the idea, and took my business card so she could look at my website for herself....... And then I realised I hadn't answered the guy about whether I had prints of the fannies, I'll have to tell him next time I see him, and ask him more about the comment he made about his mother really liking them ..........

By then I was REALLY ready for a drink! So, to the bar, and started chatting with various friends old and new there. My big news is the fact I'd doing Erotica, its taking up so much of my time at the moment, and there was a lot of chat going on about other people who are going to Erotica too, as visitors. I hadn't realised it was so popular!! Various ribald comments again, and I had a chat with a guy I've seen there previously but not spoken to before, he was talking to his mates, and me, about pleasing a woman, and how different women are "down there" - I gather he's had many sexual partners - and listening to him speak, I can understand why men are so fascinated with this subject, and a lot of women keep quiet about it. We're all built differently, and none of us know what each other looks like. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why the Fantasy Fanny paintings are causing so much interest.......

And as an aside - I've been talking to the printers about the advertising leaflets that I'm having printed for Erotica, along with the other stuff I'm doing. We've been discussing fonts and colour schemes and wording for the leaflets. I know that there are some colours to avoid, particularly with erotic art, and some colours that are more beneficial, so I was trying to stick with those, when the printer made the comment about "menstrual red" not being a good colour to use for the fannies. I was amused with his comment, which was meant as helpful, and taken by me as such, I'd never considered that a colour on my artists palette......... And there was me thinking scarlet was a GOOD colour!!!!!! :)

Queyntes 9, 10, 11.....

Well I'm still working frantically getting everything ready for Erotica, there's so much to do for a show - get the display ready, sort out the printers, sort out what I'm selling, and how, write up biographies, sort out price lists, the handouts, the more detailed write ups, contact people who might be interested in going, decide what I'm going to wear! And talking to other people who've exhibited there before and listen to their advice as to what I should be doing, not doing, wearing, not wearing, be aware of, how to deal with people, what sort of people to expect, what interest to expect, and all the other fine tuning that is connected with a show! Phew!!!!!!

And inbetween all that - PAINT!!!!! Because I want the best possible artwork I can take with me to show to everyone..... So, here are the latest Queyntes - numbers 8, 10 and 11. Painted in the same way as the previous ones, but all so very different, and personal, and beautiful in themselves, I think........

Happiness and sorrow

My mind's full of the Erotica show I'm doing in a couple of weeks but as well as that I've had a recent commission to complete. Its nothing to do with Erotica, and isn't in the slightest bit erotic in any way. But its been very important to do. Because its of a dead person. She died recently, and I was asked by her widower to paint his favourite photo of her. I've never met her, and had only a handful of photos to work from to produce the watercolour he wanted. And watercolours are always so difficult, because the slightest error will show, and I'd have to start again with a fresh piece of paper. So I painted the picture and was happy that I'd got a good likeness to the woman in the photos, but they were just split seconds of time when a camera has captured her expression. Did they capture her essence and soul as well? I framed the painting and took it along to the chap who'd commissioned it. It was wrapped up as I arrived, for transportation. I unwrapped it, and stood holding it to show him, and looked at him as I did it. As soon as he saw it, his face crumpled, and he said her name outloud as he burst into tears. I felt sorry for him, and told him so, but I also said it was the best reaction he could have given me. Tears! It meant I'd captured her. And I came away feeling warm within myself. That I have a talent to create artwork that evokes happy emotion like that. I feel that I've served my purpose. I'm sure he will spend long quiet and poignant hours looking at that painting, and remembering the happy life they had together. Sad memories, but happy ones too.

So that was a bit of sadness, but also this week I've contacted the woman whose fanny is Queynte 10, and told her I'd finished her painting. And was delighted at her response - tears of happiness! Wow! I still find it humbling the reaction my art has on people.

So, now I've just got to crack the secret of appealing to the visitors to"Erotica" !!!! LOL