Yesterday was a great day to go to the south-side of town to grab a beer at Midnight Sun Brewing and Turnagain Brewing. My art show is up at MSBC for the month of January, and yesterday the brewery busted out dusty bottles of Sloth Belgian-style Imperial Stout from 2017! For those in the know, Sloth is one of the best beers MSBC has ever made. A Russian imperial stout that was originally brewed as part of the Seven Deadly Sins series in 2007. The brewery hasn’t brewed it since 2017! Sloth has a rating of 95 on Beer Advocate and is rated as the 90th best Russian Imperial Stout in the United States! It is big, bold, dark, black, and has a nice Belgian yeast note to it. If there is any left on draft today, I would get on down there and get a glass. If not, you can always find something noteworthy from the big offerings from MSBC. I made this painting of Sloth in 2016 and it immediately sold. Limited edition prints are available at my Etsy shop. If you prefer an original oil painting, rather than a print, I can paint a custom one for you.
A 6oz pour of Sloth Belgian-style Imperial Stout
Meanwhile, right down the street, an amazing sour beer called Solera Eclipse was released today at Turnagain Brewing! Since Maria and I are in the Mug Club at Turnagain, we had the opportunity to stop by to get first dibs on this amazing beer yesterday. It is a pineapple and blueberry sour that originally was brewed in summer 2021 and was released in early November 2021. Every year there is a contest called the Turnagain Tartside Challenge, and Anchorage home-brewers come by Turnagain Brewing to get a gallon of mostly fermented sour wort from the Solera. The idea is to flavor, finish, and package the wort to make a delicious beer. In 2021 I was the winner of this contest with the concept behind Solera Eclipse. Ted Rosenzweig (owner and brewer at Turnagain Brewing) and I conferred, and I designed a label, and Ted packaged the beer for individual bottle sales. It has to be one of the tastiest sour beers I have ever had, and today it is released again. At $7 for a 12oz pour or $7 for 12oz bottles to go, it is a good deal. My original recipe called for a whole pineapple and 1lb of blueberries per gallon! Little to say, the fruit in this beer is very expensive, and I am unsure how much profit can be made when using so much fruit here in Alaska! I have included a picture of Ted stealing a sample from the barrel on Halloween in 2021. I wanted to show off my original label and bottle design, because the packaging is different this year. The pineapple brings the flavor, and the blueberries bring some aroma, and a great color!
Anchorage is a great beer drinking town and I hope you brave the cold to get out to one of our lovely brewery destinations to revere our beer! Cheers to beers brewed in the North!
December is here, and it is now officially crunch time to get your holiday shopping completed. As an artist, I have mixed feelings about the holiday season. On one side I make more money at this time of year than any other time. On the other side, I have to work almost every weekend at in-person vending events, such as pop-ups. We sell art primarily through these channels: in person at pop-ups/craft fairs, at galleries, art shows at venues around town, and online.
Vending in person at pop-ups and craft fairs is an interesting opportunity for both the buyer and artist. I get to meet my clients, and can help them find the art they are looking for, or let them know about art pieces I may not have brought with me, but are available on my Etsy shop. In which case, they can pick up the artwork when it is ready a few days later at the studio (if you are lucky, you might get invited in for a home-brew ;). It is a lot of work setting up and taking down the booth, and has to be calculated in to our work day. Most of the time, there is no fee for us to sell at pop-up events, except credit card processing fees, and the cost of a couple beers, if the event is at a brewery. Sometimes breweries waive my tab, which always makes me very happy! Craft fairs charge a few hundred dollars for a booth. By the way, I’ll be selling my art at a pop-up at Anchorage Brewing Co. along with several other local makers on Saturday, December 3, starting at 2pm.
Selling my art at a pop-up at Anchorage Brewing Co.
Galleries are a way to work with sales people and meet a larger audience. However, galleries take 40% – 50% commission, which makes sense, since they have brick-and-mortar overhead. After dropping off art to a gallery, the artist doesn’t have to do any work except keep track of what the gallery has and what they will need when something sells. Unfortunately, the gallery only has a certain amount of space, so artists are limited to sell only what the gallery is willing to put on its walls. Galleries have sales people that work to sell the art. This is a major benefit, especially since artists are not always good at selling their own art. I’m very happy to have my art at Dos Manos Gallery!
Art shows at venues like breweries, restaurants, and coffee shops are another way for an artist to reach an audience. This is a bit more than a pop-up, but less than complete gallery representation. It is super fun as an artist to have a reception at your art show. Everyone is there to see the artwork, and that is really rewarding. The artist often has to handle all the sales, if the venue doesn’t want to process art sales, which is a hurdle for the buyer, and leads to fewer sales. Art shows last about a month, so you are committed to that venue for a longer bit of time than a pop-up. Most art show venues don’t care if they sell anything, or not, so you often don’t get a sales person, like yourself at a pop-up, or an employee of a gallery. Sometimes nothing sells at all at an art show venue. Most of the time people go to the venue for the real reason it exists: food at a restaurant, or a haircut at a stylist, or beer at a brewery. Or they go to see your artwork. Most likely, if they are already on an artist’s mailing list, they already have artwork from the artist and may be there to support the artist personally and not to purchase art. My next art show will be at Midnight Sun Brewing Co. in January.
Online selling is a good way to sell art. It is also very challenging, but if done correctly, can be quite profitable. You can sell direct from your website, this requires expensive web hosting, and secure checkout. SEO is a problem with that. There are a few other online venues: Etsy is one of the best, but there is also Fine Art America, iCanvas, Redbubble, and Deviantart. The listings are time consuming and require a keen eye for detail. Art purchasers don’t like to see typos in a listing — it makes them feel that the artist is careless. There is often a lot of communication before a sale is made, and if it isn’t handled correctly, the sale is lost. It is tedious to manage an online site for art sales. Some of these websites require the artist to make and mail all the art, like Etsy. Other sites, like RedBubble, or Fine Art America print all the merchandise, and mail it. But these sites take a much bigger cut for those services. Buying art online is really easy, you can do it from your phone, however, it is hard to tell what you will receive. This is fine when ordering a t-shirt from Redbubble, but a bit disconcerting to the purchaser when buying expensive originals, or fragile pieces. We just sold an original painting to a client in France, and I was really proud of the Real Art Is Better team, that my artwork was being shipped all the way to the cultural center of Europe. We’re offering a 20% discount, and free domestic shipping right now at our Etsy shop for a limited time.
We use all of these methods to sell art. And I find pop-ups to be the most work, but also the most profitable, especially when I am at a brewery. Not so much when I am vending at a craft fair, because there’s more competition from other vendors, and beer art is not everyone’s cup of tea. Galleries are good because they get the word out to art collectors, and help with establishing your brand, and the gallery does all the work. Art shows are fun, especially at the reception when the artist is honored, but most often you only sell a small percentage of what has been hung, and it is a lot of work moving artwork around and taking it back down. Online is a lot of setup and a ton of work when it comes to packing and mailing, or requires faith in the offsite production of reproduced items. We find that all these methods are working to keep our business running. All have their pros and cons. It’s a matter of getting it all out there, whatever the method.
Happy Fall Equinox! During our five-mile run this morning we marveled at the gorgeous termination dust on the Chugach mountains that arrived overnight. For those of you who are not up on Alaskan lingo, “termination dust” refers to the first dusting of snow on mountain tops, signaling the termination of summer. This means something to the beer drinking crowd of Anchorage. When we see that first snow, we know that Midnight Sun Brewing is about to release Termination Dust Belgian Style Barley Wine. It is only released when Lee Ellis, President of the brewery, sees snow on Flattop mountain. Well, I looked up at Flattop today, and the snow stopped right above Flattop mountain. So, I assumed the brewery would hold out, but to my surprise, I saw on social media that the release is happening today! I have a bottle of this beer in my beer fridge from two years ago, so maybe it is time to drink that one as well, since it is Equinox, and I feel celebration in the air.
When Alaskans see termination dust, some take a big sigh of relief, and others start feeling depressed, depending on how one feels about the impending winter. I personally like winter more than summer, so I get very excited about longer nights, cozy evenings around a fire, movie nights without FOMO, football season, fat-biking, and most importantly, alpine ski season. I love skiing, and I especially love skiing at Arctic Valley Ski Area! I am a lifetime member of the Anchorage Ski club. Maria and I already bought our season passes, so seeing termination dust on the front range on Equinox makes me feel hopeful for a great upcoming ski season! I am certainly glad to live in Alaska! Now, I’m off to Midnight Sun Brewing to sample this year’s Termination Dust. Cheers!
Prints of this beer portrait are available at my Etsy shop
My wife, Maria, who is the Business Manager for our art business, was traveling in August for 17 days out of the last 25, which made me realize that I really rely on her for basically everything. When she is gone I have to do double the work I normally am expected to do. She also does the stuff that I don’t do as well on my own. She was supposed to be back on Thursday last week, but my brother has been very ill and Maria volunteered to take my niece to Princeton, NJ to start college, so she was gone for most of this weekend too.
While Maria was at Princeton, I was scheduled to set up my vending tent at the fabulous Chugachfest at my favorite ski area, Arctic Valley, on Friday and Saturday. Maria had one day in town between trips, and had spent it helping me get set up for vending at the festival. I was concerned, since there was a weather advisory for the weekend, because my merchandise is made from wood, canvas, and paper. It’s not that delicate, but wind and rain is not necessarily good for art. I decided not to bring my vending stuff up the bumpy Arctic Valley road, just to hurry back down with a billowing tarp and huge risk of damaged equipment and merchandise.
I drove up there on Saturday to see my favorite musician Michael Kirkpatrick play a short set, and saw the carnage from overnight. The Mountain Manager told me that every E-Z Up tent had flipped over and a few were halfway up the valley. The wind was still blowing, but we still had an awesome time listening to music. The sound guy was doing a great job making the musicians sound their best! So, I was really glad I made the decision not to set up my booth, eventhough Maria and I had spent so much time getting it ready. After Maria got back from Princeton, we went to Seward to catch Michael play at the Yukon Bar, and then followed him to Hope, like a couple of groupies, to see him play at the Seaview Cafe. So much fun! I love his new song Wrangell Mountain Rendezvous.
Not a good day to be a vendor at Arctic Valley!
This Saturday we have another opportunity to set up our vending tent — at the Alaska Craft Brew Festival! This is an event not to be missed! The Delaney Park Strip comes alive with live music, and a huge amount of Alaskan craft beer, and some from the Lower 48, as well. I love this event, because I never have to explain why I paint beer to the people there. This is my crew! And most of the people already know who I am from Alaska Beer Nerds. I have a good feeling about this weekend. The weather is wonderful out right now, and historically this is the one weekend of August that has a break from the rain. I know, because Maria and I got married 19 years ago this weekend. It didn’t rain then, and over the last 18 years, normally doesn’t. So let’s hope for good luck, and at least a lack of wind! Cheers to the upcoming Fest, I hope to see you there!
Have you ever watched Tim Allen’s Galaxy Quest? You know how they are sitting at the Comic Con, signing photographs, before they leave the planet with the aliens? I wonder what it would be like to be the aliens who took off with famous actors. I never thought I would attend a Comic Con, but always thought they kinda looked like fun. This weekend was my first ever, and I was lucky enough to go to Arctic Comic Con as a vendor. I knew that Tom Arnold was going to be there, but I didn’t expect to see Bai Ling, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Michael Biehn, Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, Wallis Day, and Keith Coogan. The event was postponed a couple times due to the pandemic, and a lot of people had been waiting for it, and had extra time to work on their costumes.
Before the event picked up, there was a VIP time period and very few people were there. I decided I would go and say hi to the stars. I didn’t talk to everyone, but I did talk about hockey with Tom Arnold and told Keith Coogan I have been quoting his most famous line from Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter is Dead, “The dishes are done, man!” every time I finish doing the dishes. I asked what their plans were for getting out and seeing Alaska. I was surprised to find out they had not made any plans, they didn’t have a car rented, and they were flying out right after the convention. One of my patrons, Sig Larsen, was in attendance. He said he was rallying the troops to go to Whittier, but didn’t have a car. I made a lot more sales than I expected, so I had to make more prints, pack cards and frame pieces for my booth, so I couldn’t offer to take anyone anywhere, but I bet Keith Coogan and Wallis Day would have gone with me to Girdwood and back, if I had offered.
What was awesome about Comic Con, other than bringing my product direct to market, was the welcoming attitude and friendly atmosphere that this particular culture presents. You could tell a complete stranger you liked their costume, shirt, shoes, or whatever bling they were toting, and get an enthusiastic “thank you!”. I talked to people until my voice was worn out and then I had a beer and kept on going. I was amazed at the creativity of the costumes, but I didn’t recognize about 40% of the anime references. If you can tell me what comic character looks like Princess Jasmine on the top and Aladdin on the bottom, with a samurai sword, I would be very happy to know.
By the end of the second day my brain had turned to mush, and my inventory was low. I traded a print of Mando drinking a beer with baby Yoda (yes I know his name is Grogu) for a copy of Richard Griffith’s, Bubba Ship 1 A Redneck Adventure. Then, Keith Coogan came over and brought me a free signed plate and took a selfie with us. I was thinking of buying one, but I just didn’t know what I would do with a signed plate. Well, it looks great in my glass display case that I just got for the studio, and I will always remember that he is a good guy. Maria gave them a print of Pac-Man drinking beer, because Keith’s wife was wearing a Pac-Man dress and shoes. She said it would look great in their arcade room.
Cheers to doing something different, meeting new friends, and getting product to market! I’ll go to Comic Con again next time.
Turnagain Brewing graciously hosts a contest each year for members of the Great Northern Brewers Club called the Tart Side Challenge. Ted and Mary Rosenzweig, owners of the brewery, give each club member one gallon of wort containing the brewery’s proprietary sour culture from the solera tank we all affectionately call Big Bertha. Our task is to flavor the wort any way we wish, and to ferment it into beer. The entries get judged at the GNBC annual summer campout, and then Turnagain Brewing brews the winning recipe. Last year, Maria won the contest. When I created the recipe for my entry this year, I referred to my experience making small batch beers. I had been mixing beer and fruit for a couple of years now, and I know how much fruit to add to make a beer explode with flavor. I wanted to bottle-condition this beer, since oxidation is one of the easiest and worst things that can happen to a beer at this stage. I also know that people generally tend to like slightly stronger beers over weaker ones. Since this was a beer tasting committee I was aiming to please, I added a 1/2 cup of malt extract to not only slightly increase ABV, but also to restart fermentation. I also added some of my own yeast from my yeast ranching project, since bottle-conditioning doesn’t work without yeast present.
I was unsure what fruit I wanted to put into the beer. Last year Maria won with a blueberry recipe, so I knew blueberries were a crowd pleaser. I also love the Piña Colada beer Ted has been making for Serrano’s Mexican Grill. It all became clear to me when I was making my morning smoothie with a healthy dosage of sour yogurt, pineapple, and blueberries. Blueberries and pineapple would play the starring roles in my beer.
Ted didn’t have enough space to ferment my beer, so he used a French oak barrel, which added Brett to the equation. Ted and I were sipping on the finished beer at the brewery and I suggested that he bottle my beer, so we could cellar it to allow the Brett to develop. Since I’m the local beer artist, I also offered to make a label design for my beer.
I had to design the label quickly, and I think best when I am out running on the trail. The next morning I figured it all out when doing my five mile loop. I came up with the name, “Solera Eclipse” and decided upon a design inspired by the yin yang of T&C Surf Designs. Ted’s solera is where the wort originated, and an eclipse is a noteworthy astronomical event. The yin yang showed off the the contrast of the blueberries and pineapple perfectly. Since it was fermented in Ted’s favorite old wine barrel, I included some barrel parts in the design making a sun.
I am very excited to try the commercial version, I have one bottle left of my homemade version, and I look forward to sampling them back to back! The beer will be released at my art opening at Turnagain Brewing tomorrow (12/03/2021)! I’ll be there 5-8pm, and hope you’ll stop by to try my beer, check out my art, and buy a couple bottles to cellar.
Cheers to Turnagain Brewing for doing this fun contest for GNBC!
Ted taking a small sample of my beer from the barrel to see if the Brett flavor had sufficiently developed.My design for the bottle label.Solera Eclipse sour ale with blueberries and pineapple.
The first real snowfall of the year covers the grass and leaves, and provides winter light during the long, dark nights. Last night I was excited to see the tips of the stalks of grass obscured from view. The entire city illuminates from the reflective properties of the falling snow. This morning I was surprised to see eleven inches on our back porch. We went for a lovely 3-mile walk to the Helen L. McDowell Sanctuary, breaking trail the whole way! Upon our return, Maria and I spent a little over half an hour shoveling our driveway and walkways. There was about a foot of light and fluffy snow, so it wasn’t that hard. It’s still snowing as I write this, and all the clearing we did is now under another two inches.
I get really excited about the first day of snow, because I love winter! Skiing, fat-biking, ice skating and winter walks are all things I enjoy in winter. Don’t get me wrong, I also love summer. The hectic pace that ensues with all the daylight, the out-of-state visitors, and the insidious mosquitos that come along with the warmer weather make it a second best to me. Third, comes late fall when it is cold, dark, and there is usually freezing rain. Last, is early spring, when the meltdown makes everything ugly, and going outside is difficult due to half-frozen swampiness.
Winter is my favorite. There is a special quality to winter, especially in Alaska. I mentioned the light from the snow. I can easily navigate at night without a headlamp, if a blanket of snow is reflecting any bit of moon or starlight. My favorite thing about winter though, is semi-hibernating. Nobody expects you to answer your phone after 9pm, and if you say you can’t make it because the roads seem too dangerous, people completely understand. In the summer people want you to go to work for 10 hours, then expect you to climb a mountain. In the winter, if you spend 4 hours riding a chairlift, people might expect you to fall asleep while watching a movie afterwards.
Snow is great! It makes winter real! Let it snow! I will shovel the driveway again this evening, right before I climb into bed at 9:15pm.
Moving everything from the studio to the new house, including large paintings. Good thing it wasn’t raining!
When we moved into my studio space at the 4th Avenue Marketplace, we were ecstatic to be downtown, and to have extra work space! I loved the view, and I loved working there. Having people come by for open studio events during First Fridays, Fur Rondy, and the Iditarod was always a great experience, and we usually made enough money during those events to cover our lease payments. Making the move to 4th Ave really cemented that I am a professional artist. However, I missed working at home. Packing a lunch was a drag, the bicycle commute across downtown was annoying (especially in winter), and the local street people seemed to always be present to greet me at the door to the building (when they were awake). I always seemed to have left this tool here, or that tool there, right when I needed it, and I was making another traffic-heavy bike trip back to one of the two locations.
I am happy to say that last weekend we moved out of the studio, and I am setting up my new studio on the first floor of our new house! It is a huge mess right now! I need permanent storage for tools, supplies, and paintings. I hope to be back to work by Monday, taking a week to move the condo and studio to our new house, and to get the condo ready for sale! The house is “not perfect,” as my father told me, but to us it is so amazing! It is quiet at night, there is more space for living and for the studio, and best of all, it has an oversized two car garage! No more carrying the table saw down stairs to work in blizzards for me! I can park my truck inside when it is cold out! Not to mention, the obvious home-brewing improvement! I brought my big smoker grill home from my parents’ house, and I’m going to smoke a brisket when I have everything set up. When brew day rolls around in the new garage, I’ll brew a big batch for a big housewarming celebration.
Until then there is a lot of work… Anybody want a cute little apartment-style condo in West Fairview? It would make a great Airbnb rental!
Cheers to making life better! May your day be brighter today than yesterday, and tomorrow be even better than that!
Sad the downtown studio is closed? You can still meet me for a beer at Midnight Sun Brewing. My art is there until the end of June! I will be having more out-of-the studio shows, so keep following Real Art Is Better on this blog, or on social media and we will keep you informed where and when we will be having in-person events!
You can smell spring in the air! That means pollen, dust, dog poop, and lots of muddy puddles here in Anchorage, Alaska. This is the time of year when I start to really miss our cabin in McCarthy, and looking forward to escaping there. We’re planning to head out there the day after Mother’s Day. That’s right, you still have a little time to order a present for your mom, before May 9th! I’ve gone to MXY (the airport code for McCarthy) earlier in the year, but the driveway to our cabin gets really swampy during meltdown, so I’ve found it’s better to wait until the second week of May. This year will be especially swampy, considering the heavy amount of snow. I hope the wood shed is still standing! On big snow years, piles of snow are still sitting around through Memorial Day weekend!
I love the first trip in spring to the cabin, because we no longer have to do too much building, mostly just opening up the cabin, setting up the rain-catchment system, and seeing my MXY friends. I always bring my painting supplies with me, so I can keep working in my little studio out there, which was formerly our shelter while we worked on the cabin. This year I hope to go on a couple over-night backpacking trips into the National Park, and plant a big garden. My mother-in-law came to visit last year, and decided that we needed a garden, so she ripped out a lot of bushes, and cleared a nice spot for it. Then I cut down a few trees, tore out the stumps, and rototilled the dirt. We just need to build a fence to keep the critters out, and then we can plant the seed potatoes we’ve been saving all winter, and the little starts that are growing nicely in our condo right now.
Summer isn’t even here, and I’m already planning out the entire season. We all kind of go nuts here in Alaska in the summer with all this daylight. Here’s hoping for plenty of sunny days, but also enough rain to keep the forest fires at bay.
Brand new leaves on the aspen trees on our property.
I’m currently having my second art show during a pandemic! The first one was in June at Midnight Sun Brewing Co., right after the brewery was allowed to open for on-site, indoor dining/drinking following the first shutdown. Right after that show ended, the Mayor limited restaurants and breweries to outdoor on-site consumption only. So I got pretty lucky on my timing. The show was surprisingly successful given the circumstances!
Fast forward six months, and I’m doing another art show during this pandemic, this time at Turnagain Brewing Co. I didn’t get as lucky on my timing for this one, because during December, we’re only allowed to drink beer outside per the latest hunker down order. Despite this obstacle, we decided to go ahead with the art show, but scaled it down just to the downstairs wall of the taproom, because people can still see the art while they go inside to order their beers. I hung original, one-of-a-kind oil paintings on the wall, and brought limited-edition prints and Beer Art Coloring Books to sell at the brewery. So far, I’ve actually sold some books, and prints, which is more than I was expecting.
I could have used this new hunker down order as an excuse to cancel the show, but I decided to push through this thing, and keep doing what I do, because I still can. Drinking beer outside by a fire pit is nothing new for Alaskans. Most of the breweries adapted quickly to the new restrictions, and put several fire pits outside, in festive beer gardens. I’m about to have my third pandemic art show, back at Midnight Sun Brewing Co., but in January I expect everything to open back up at reduced capacity, so maybe everyone can admire my art while eating and drinking inside.
My pandemic art show at Turnagain Brewing Co.Oh look! You can see my paintings from the outdoor beer garden!
Real Art Is Better! 