carolynbruce

Art World Expo: Artists in Cars-Carolyn Bruce Designs

by Monika Blichar

Humble. Shy. Sweet. Thoughtful. Courteous. Generous. Hidden Gem.

When I think of Carolyn Bruce, these are the words that first come to my mind. She is not only a wonderful soul who beats to her own drum in the Vancouver arts scene, she is truly one of the nicest, most thoughtful and caring people you will meet. I remember when she first came to my old studio on Pemberton Avenue in North Vancouver in 2013 or so to show me her work to be juried for the Art World Expo. She lugged this big black trunk looking luggage case up the stairs and was so quiet and reserved. She was so still and her accent reminded me of a sweet aunt growing up-perhaps Mary Poppins kind of too. When she opened her case, I was stunned. (Literally, I think my jaw hit the floor with a thud as I set my gaze on her wondrous, magical and other-worldly creations.) I had to look back at her a few times because I couldn’t grasp that this sweet lady who was so polite and courteous could make these wild designs, over the top trinkets and fancy contraptions. It was like seeing the work of Mr. Hyde while Dr. Jekyll was presenting..not sure if that’s the right order for those guys, but I think you know what I mean!

Since then, I’ve grown fond of working with Carolyn. She is one of those rare people who is so generous with her time, resources and work it restores your faith back into humanity. Carolyn has participated in our event for four years now and each year, she supports our event by telling others to attend or participate, donating works to the auctions, baking cookies for volunteer meetings and even making dog treats for our dogs. She knows we are busy and doesn’t want to leave the dogs feeling unloved when we are crazy! It’s truly just amazing how much she thinks of others and making sure that everyone feels good in her presence.

One day Carolyn, I know you will be a big eclectic creative billionaire right up there with Louis Vuitton and Lady Gaga! You’re one person that I know truly deserves it not only because you’re ferociously creative (often lacking sleep making beautiful things for clients and shows) but also one genuine person in the Art World. Stay that way forever! XO

Enjoy our interview together in this Genesis Richmond G-80 Sport courtesy of Genesis Richmond’s Jennifer Friesen. Thank you Project Her Inc. for supporting our community of artists.

teainfuser carolynbruce DVPX4982

Art World Expo Tips-Gaining Recognition for Your Art

By Monika Blichar

Carolyn Bruce Designs at Art World Expo 2016

No matter what industry you are working in, the primary goal is to sell products and services that customers will keep returning for again and again. As artists, we must remember that this is our main goal-to sell art that people will want, again and again. As we near our annual Art World Expo in Vancouver, here are some vendor tips for gaining recognition for your brand as an exhibitor and well into the future of your art career.

1-BRANDING 101

Making sure that your exhibition looks good is crucial. No one wants to buy art or products from a shabby stall that is disorganized, lacking presentation, nor one that is ill managed. Some of the simplest things to be sure you have when you are displaying your work and business publicly include:

-business cards with your logo, contact information and website

-a banner behind or in front of your booth with your name

-links to social media accounts with the same logo and banners

-price tags, inventory sheet and receipt book

-a way to take payments

-a sales person working for you if you are not comfortable selling your own work

2-PRESS RELEASES & MEDIA

If you are doing the marketing for your brand, don’t forget that the media is your best friend! The more that you can gain media attention, the better! Draft a simple press release with your information, dates for an upcoming exhibition, and invite media such as newspaper journalists and bloggers in your industry to interview you in your studio prior to the event. There is a lot to be said about artists and businesses who are being talked about in the media and likely, they have sent their information to the press deliberately. A buzz from many websites is amazing, so be sure to send to many media outlets. After all, getting attention on varied sites and in publications just helps you get more visibility and brand awareness in new networks and social circles. Be creative too-consider creating good karma by helping raise money for local shelters, food banks or other worthy charities by donating proceeds of your sales.

3-MERCHANDISING

Many artists are shy or leery of merchandising their work. In my opinion, the best thing about being an artist is that you can work on something one time, and then sell it over and over. As an independent artist, this has been a very lucrative way to continually improve and add to my business model. You don’t have to go all out and purchase stock like you used to in the olden days either! There are many sites which help you design work and will even market it for you for a commission. Some of these sites include Zazzle.com and Society 6. I’ve heard mixed things about merchandising; some artists believe that selling prints or cards can be like selling out-while others make fortunes by selling prints, Iphone cases and home décor items. I tend to recommend that with more merchandise options, you are able to do more with your art and reach wider audiences: cards, books, ebooks, tshirts, IPhone cases, home décor throws and much more can get to the hands of people who normally couldn’t afford your work or perhaps are looking for unique designs on different items. Have a look at multi-million dollar artist Damien Hirst’s site and link to his online shop http://www.damienhirst.com/ A great site to start with if you haven’t yet is Society 6 https://society6.com/prints

As always, best of luck! If you found this useful, please share. If you have a comment to add, get in touch! artists@theartworldexpo.com

Art World Expo at the West Coast Women’s Show!

Art World is always looking at new and innovative ways to share creativity! Last weekend, for the first time we participated in the 15th Annual West Coast Women’s Show. The premise was to pull together local and independent aritsans, jewellers, writers and one of our sponsors, all women in business, into a group booth featuring just a small selection of some of the works we feature annually. What a great concept and what a fantastic show!

Big congrats to all of our participants who made great sales, got a ton of exposure and hopefully, made lots of new connections!

Art, Jewellery, Fashion, Accessories and even Booty Bras! We had it all at this event!

Big thanks to our sponsors at Jenny Craig for handing out guests healthy snacks at our booth all weekend!

Would you like to be featured at one of our community exhibitions? Learn about how you can participate in group exhibits at large shows with us by sending an email to artists@theartworldexpo.com or by calling 604 999 6177

THANK YOU FOR CELEBRATING OUR 5TH ANNIVERSARY!

Thank you to everyone who made Art World Expo’s 5th Anniversary possible!

Art World Expo Body Painting Competition and some of our Sponsor’s Walking Ads!

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Photos-Omnika in Motion, Carolyn Bruce Fashion Show, West Coast Fusion Art, Jan Kasparec, Hajni Yosivof

Jackie-Conradi Robertson painting live at the Painting Dreams France Trip Booth! We have one spot left to go to France this summer! Learn more at www.mabartstudio.com

As another Art World Expo passes, the rush and pixie dust of putting together an event of this magnitude are starting to settle. As with any large scale project, there are countless things, tasks and elements that need to be taken care of and done in order for something like this to happen. It is truly amazing how much our community comes together-from near and far, to create this event and the vision of an Art World here in Vancouver. For all of you who helped out and supported the show this year, we want to sincerely thank each and everyone of you for all your hard work, dedication, support and attendance in making Art World Expo’s 5th Anniversary a very memorable one!

Photos-Catalysis Dance, Coastal Storm Gallery, Roam Gallery

Some of our 5th Anniversary event highlights included a live performance by The Stangest Days, whose tunes were soulful but playful and certainly got our audience in the mood for celebrating. We also had two special dance performances by Omnika In Motion DANCE and Catalysis DANCE. Wow, were these guys ever amazing! This year also featured a crowd favorite, Carolyn Bruce Designs, jewellery show. Carolyn is a rising star, and with her ecclectic fashion accessories, we were very honored to have her showcase her collection at our event.

Another memorable moment was the auctioning off of Vicki Rae’s live painting of her fairy tale inspired Unicorn. A second bidder emerged from the crowd, offering to bid higher only if he could have a picture of our world famous body painting competition contestants. No one wanted to argue and with that, we saw an 88 year old art enthusiast take center stage and inspire all of us with his heartfelt dedication to the arts community in Vancouver. Our friend stayed until the wee hours of the night just to see the competition and we were so glad to hear of his plans to try to get onstage at the Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga show in Vancouver! What an inspiration!

Vicki Rae with her painting and her happpy 88 year old art patron!

Our body painting competition this year was a hot one; with the most competitors we have ever had, we had so much talent under one roof, it was incredible to see! Hosted by the lovely Denai Johnson and Coordinated by M3 Artistry’s Melissa Meretsky, the theme this year was “Fairy Tales” and these artists did not take the challenge lightly! Each one created an amazing piece of art and we are so proud of each artist for putting forward such exquisite creations. This year’s official winners are Marie-Helene Babin, Kathleen Fowlstone and Angela Ayre. Our People’s Choice Award goes to Kinsey Deakin.

Congratulations to our winners and a big hoorah for all the artists who were involved in such an incredible body painting competition this year.

1st- Marie-Helene Babin

2nd- Kathleen Fowlstone

3rd- Angela Ayre

People’s Choice- Kinsey Deakin

The last performance of the evening was a special surprise “FLASH MOB” put together by First Dance Vancouver. They managed to teach over two dozen enthusiastic dancers and guests the moves to “Don’t Stop Believing” to end a fabulous night of Art World Expo! What a way to end the night; a fabulous tribute to our theme and to our vision at Art World Expo; never stop believing in your dream.

Photos-Susan Galick Fine Art, Silent Auction and the Sokolovski’s sculptures with one of the fabulous models!

Guests Tara and Cori enjoying the flower petal walkway!

Art World Expo is not possible without the support of our family, friends, volunteers and sponsors. All year, we work day and night to make this event possible for over 100 artists each year! We are pleased to serve our arts and cultural community and are so proud of each artist that we have had the pleasure of working with. We hope you all enjoyed the show and look forward to producing this event for years to come as well as expanding our projects nationally and internationally!

A big warm thank you from our family to yours!