Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #70, April 28, 2016

I’m calling this painting Light Struck.  A glass full of beer looks so amazing in direct sunlight, but unfortunately the UV light causes catastrophic changes to your beer.  Have you ever opened a green, or clear glass bottle of beer that stank like a skunk?  Of course, your beer is past its prime, but how did it get like that?  Sunlight caused it, and don’t think that beer packaged in brown glass is immune.  It’s just a little better than the complete lack of protection from green, or clear glass vessels.  In just one minute of direct sunlight, in a few minutes through a window, or in a few days under a fluorescent lightbulb the flavor is changed chemically.  Hop molecules called isohumulones start to break down, bonding with sulfur molecules, and creating a chemical similar to the spray from a skunk.  Even one part per trillion of this chemical will ruin a beer.  Germans invented the beer stein, an opaque, clay drinking vessel with a metal lid.  This vessel, although originally designed to keep black-plague-carrying flies out of beer, also protects from light contamination.  If you are planning on sipping your suds in a direct sun environment, a steel pint glass with a coaster on top should work as well.  Maybe drinking that IPA directly from the can is a good idea.  Better keep it cool too, add a koozie!   Cheers to the beauty of beer!

This original oil painting, and 52 limited-edition prints are for sale at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #70 by Scott Clendaniel. Light-Struck. April 28, 2016. 14″x11″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #69, April 21, 2016

Shepard Fairey is a street artist, graphic designer, and legendary political artist who is most famous for his iconic Obama Hope poster.  He is also well known for a piece of Andre the Giant with the text “Obey”.  His newest famous piece is an eight-story-tall image of Nelson Mandela.

I painted this beer parody of the Obama Hope poster not to show my affiliation with the Democratic Party, but to poke fun at the fact that, as beer lovers, we are all hoping for a beautiful pint in our future.  I am also hoping Shepard Fairey does not send me a “cease and desist” letter like he ironically did to an artist named Baxter Orr who used his image of Andre the Giant to create a poster that said “Protect” with a SARS mask over Andre’s face.  Fairey called Orr a parasite.  Turns out that Fairey himself had been using others’ art to create his pieces in the first place.  This landed him in a load of trouble for using Mannie Garcia’s Associate Press image of Obama to make his Hope poster.  He ended up paying $25,000 in fines and had to do 300 hours of community service.  It’s a good thing parodies are protected under the fair use freedom of trademark laws in the US, or I might be in the same boat.  Raise your pints and hope for a beer, not a lawsuit!

The original oil painting sold, but I released 52 limited-edition prints. You can purchase prints, or order a custom beer painting at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #69 by Scott Clendaniel. Inspired by Shepard Fairey. April 21, 2016. 14″x11″, oil on panel.

The Cost of Running an Art Business

~ by Maria Benner

A few months ago I wrote a blog post about sources of income from our art business, and today I’m going to let you know how much we spend to keep the business going.  Here’s a list of our business expenses from the last 30 days.

Advertising $29.98

Business Insurance $32.25

Commissions & Fees $289.4

Federal Tax $988

Health Insurance Premium $211

Materials & Supplies $1,279.95

Office Expenses $193.02

Other Business Expenses (this includes shipping costs, software fees, and the cost of custom stickers that we order from a manufacturer) $2,108.87

Parking $5.05

Studio Lease $550

Utilities $56.43

TOTAL $5,743.95

One of the major reasons we are able to live off of our income from the art business is because we try to keep our overhead low.  This last month was more expensive than normal due to taxes, several sticker orders, and stocking up on supplies before the summer rush.  Hopefully next month we’ll manage to keep our costs down.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #68, April 14, 2016

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) painted the Luncheon of the Boating Party in 1880-81, when he was 40 years old.  It is a large canvas, 51 x 68 inches.  My beer-infused version is only 11 x 14 inches, but I feel it still captures the essence of the original composition.  I call this piece the Tasting of the Beer Party!  The guests are sampling some sought-after beers: Spotted Cow, Heady Topper, Pliny the Elder, The Abyss, Bourbon County Stout, and 120 Minute IPA.

I have always enjoyed Renoir’s paintings.  When I was 12 years old my grandmother gave me a picture book of his paintings and I have always worked to be as proficient a painter as Renoir, setting quite a high standard for myself.  You can always recognize a Renoir painting, because it is the ideal Impressionist work incorporating the human figure.  Monet painted in a very similar style, but rarely depicted as many people.  It is also very inspirational to see a painter who was not only successful, but painted party scenes for a long full life.  Renoir was nearly 80 years old when he passed.  He was lucky enough to walk through the Louvre in 1919 and see his paintings hanging on the same walls as ones of the old masters!  I hope you enjoy this parody of one of the best paintings of art history, and we should all hope we all live as long and full lives as Pierre-Auguste Renoir!

The original oil painting sold, but I released 52 limited-edition prints. You can purchase prints, or order a custom original oil painting at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #68 by Scott Clendaniel. Inspired by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. April 14, 2016. Tasting of the Beer Party. 14″x11″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #67, April 7, 2016

Happy Thirsty Thursday on National Beer Day!  And, today is also my birthday!  April 7 was a great day in 1933 when beer became legal again after 13 years. Home brewing didn’t become legal until 1978, which is ironic, because home brewing is essentially the way beer was invented some 7,000 years ago.

This week’s Thirsty Thursday beer painting is a parody of Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. This was the first of 36 paintings of Mt. Fuji that Hokusai produced from 1830-1833.  In my version I portrayed the boats as glasses of pilsner floating in a wave of dark beer I presume to be porter, or stout.  This wave of beer reminds me of a carboy incident I had while home brewing back in 2006.  Little to say, I have new bamboo flooring on the living room side of my kitchen counter as a result.  I call my version of this painting The Great Beer Wave.

I hope you spend National Beer Day home brewing, or at least pause from your busy schedule for a needed beer break!  In celebration of National Beer Day coinciding with Thirsty Thursday and my birthday I’m having a 15% sale at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.  Use coupon code BEER2016.  Valid today only!

The original oil painting sold. You can purchase limited-edition prints, or order a custom beer painting at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #67 by Scott Clendaniel. April 7, 2016. The Great Beer Wave. 14″x11″, oil on panel.

 

What Does an Artist’s Business Manager Do?

~ by Maria Benner (Scott Clendaniel’s wife and Business & Marketing Manager)

Last week I ran into two acquaintances who I haven’t seen in a couple years, and both of them asked me what I’m doing for a living these days.  So I told them that I’ve been working full time as Scott’s Business & Marketing Manager for the last four years.  Then I realized that some people don’t really know what I do.  I have an MBA, so Scott and I make a great team for operating an art business.  Here’s a sample of my task list:

Follow up with potential clients (or make sure that Scott does)

Reply to inquiries about Scott’s art, sometimes about licensing or merchandising

Manage the Etsy shop that accounts for 50% of our sales

Create and send out invoices, and keep track of unpaid ones

Photograph all paintings and edit the photos so we can make limited-edition fine art prints

Package and mail orders (Scott helps with this)

Handle custom stickers sales (Scott and I are distributors for a custom stickers manufacturer)

Order supplies

Negotiate contracts

Edit/write blog entries

Manage social media platforms

Compose and send e-mail blasts (click here to sign up 🙂

Seek out new opportunities for sales, a.k.a. business development

Maintain the website

Apply for grants and public art projects

Organize art shows and open studio events

Manage business finances

Learn about running an art business through blogs, podcasts, books, etc.

This is not a complete list, but should be enough to give people an idea of what I do.  There is no way one person can make art, and tackle the business end, which explains the “starving artist” myth.  Most creative souls just want to create, but not all are lucky to have business-minded individuals taking care of the business end.  I love my job, and am glad I finally let Scott talk me into being his Business Manager!