E Komo Mai! Welcome to my blog.

I'm delighted that you dropped in! E Komo Mai: WELCOME! This blog is basically an online visual journal is modeled after a concept I learned of in psychology 101... waaaaaaay back in college. That concept was somewhere in the chapter on The Significance of Dreams, where it mentioned someone's theory on dreaming about a house usually means that the house represents you. So I have used my actual house (Mauna Lea Manor) to structure my blog. In different rooms you will find different aspects of my life; different interests I like to blog about. This is a way to bring a little organization into my life and thoughts for myself... (dreams are in The Bedroom, Family updates are in The Living room, etc.)
This also, I would imagine, make reading this blog more convenient for you as well. If you are a grandparent interested in seeing photos and hearing stories about my boys, but maybe not so interested in my bellydancing obsession: you can just read what goes on in The Playground. But if you are an Art Collector more interested in my latest work and information on collecting, but not especially interested in my personal life: you'd enjoy The Office. Mauna Lea Manor is sort of the foyer to all the other rooms. If you would like to tour my online portfolio, please visit: www.stephaniebolton.com.
I hope you enjoy your time here ;) & continue to stop by!



Friday, November 13, 2009

Second Place!


At the Coffeefest Art Exhibit I was excited to hear when the announcers took the podium, that Luana Farms won second place for the coffee label competition...
not only because I love Tim & Karen's beautiful family & top notch products
but because
I designed their coffee label!!!!
This was the first time that anyone has entered any of my working designs into that contest so it was really thrilling to place amongst the huge sea of incredibly cool local coffee labels.

Also, cause for great excitement
(not that it hasn't happened before but all the same)
The Kona Coffee & Tea Company (my family's farms)
won FIRST PLACE in the coffee cupping competition!
Malia Ohana (my cousin's personal organic farm) also received an
Honorable Mention.

And Rita Cowell asked if I would like to be in charge of running the Art Competition for next year. I was a little surprised but after a little thought realized that if I bring some of my experience working for Reynolds Gallery's Annual Angel Art Show in Montecito to this art contest I might actually be able to add some nice behind the scenes organization to the event.
At that show artist drop off their entries and the judges come select the winners before the show is even hung & without the artists around, so they get to take their time and not feel like the artists are watching them.
Also that way people coming to check out the show can see which work won, since most of the show-goers don't typically hang around to the very end when winners are announced.
I think it would nice too for the artists not to all have to come and find a place to hang their work, having to move things around as new artists show up with work that has to fit in somewhere... if the director sees it all prior and heads up the hanging- the artists can just come to the event and relax- enjoy the show.
More work for the director but certainly less headache for everyone else.
And for judges I was thinking it would nice to find

A well known Professional Artist
- who could apply a fellow artist's perspective

An Art Professor/Instructor
-who could offer an academic view

A Gallery Owner/Art Dealer
-who might give market-appeal opinion

Perhaps the artists could even be given the judges notes afterwards, so the event could offer some learning/growing advice for them. I know I always wonder if I was close to being on the winning side of things or if I totally bombed, so I can try to do better next time. It is hard to know where (or if) you went wrong when you aren't sure exactly what the judges' criteria had been.
Perhaps to help artists make appropriate submissions the judges criteria could be printed with the entry instructions.

I would also like to set the show where people are aware at entrance that they get to be a part of the judging and can grab a ballot, then after they have flowed through the show be able to spot the vote box easily upon exit.
And I say- let people choose their 1st, 2nd, 3rd favorite choices for 2D & 3D.
Because a lot of show goers are there specifically to see their artist's friend's work and want to be supportive- but if they get two more choices, we would likely see a more impartial list of who did the most audience-pleasing work.

I also think we ought ask for little artist bios & contact info to place beside their work instead of just a nameplate- so that if the artist isn't around, potential buyers can still contact them about purchasing a painting they liked very easily.

Anyhow- just thinking out loud now... but yeah, I think helping organize the show would be fun.


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