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When you hear 'Maine' you think of - by Taesolieroy
Bit of a query for you folks as a kind of research into a project that I'm hoping will take off, and possibly net in some extra funds from the local shops in good old tourist-trap coastal Maine.
I was wondering what comes to mind for you guys when you think about Maine, whether you've been here before, or just know of it from media and such.
I have a list somewhat started of possible subjects, but I wanted to do a water test to see what ones jump out the most for people as the likeliest candidates for being sold to locals/tourists. Reason being is the shops around here are surprisingly elitist MAINE-ONLY in themes, and a huge pain in the backside for an artist who specializes in fantasy and sci-fi art like myself.
The project I'm working on is one I've hardly ever seen during my time in Maine, though I've not attended craft fairs (yet) so it may be different in that particular avenue.
Anyways, comment below and I'll check them out when I get back on later tonight (if I'm still alive from putting in another 12 hour work day around the house!)
When you hear 'Maine' you think of -
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Lighthouses and Lobster are rather popular in tourist-bought artworks, so you wouldn't be far off! Coastline images I've usually seen in the form of watercolor and oil prints.
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Stephen King and his silly stories. They all seem to take place in Maine... For context, I'm a finn and never visited the States. x)
And don't over-work yourself. D:-
I've been hearing a lot about Stephen King with this survey o.o and Maine Coon cats....
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I think of home as this is where I was born, raised and continue to live.
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I agree there! Though I'm a 'transplant' (Virginia-Texas-Georgia-Maine-Georgia-Maine) I still feel like Maine is my real home, as it's where I spent the most time of my life in any given place. Even the people down south give me funny looks because of the hybrid new england/canadian accent with a slight touch of georgian.
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I use to tease my folks when I'd call them from Graduate School in West Hell...er...Texas. "Y'all have a wicked good time now, ya-heeya!" :)
Yeah, I'm sure my original comment doesn't help you much. Yes, the coastal galleries are rather conservative/stereo-typical Maine in what they think the tourists want to see/buy. Maybe you could go the clipper ship route...being attacked by a sea serpent. (chuckle)
Best of luck.
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XD Niiiice!
Hmm, I don't really see many of that kind of art in the Midcoast area, especially in Bath, where things really are keen on the conservative 'natural' Maine stuff like seabirds, whales, seals, bouys, town senics, etc etc XP
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Well, don't know what to say/suggest. I knew it was uber conservative down that way. Then again, you never know what will catch some gallery owner's fancy. About 7 years back my wife and I had gone to some combo art gallery/supply shop in Damariscotta. The owner was showing an email to just about anyone who was willing to look which contained photos of painted peacock feathers, but with no credit to the original artist. I recognized it right off as the work of Julie Thompson aka The Feather Lady, as I had commissioned one from said artist, who I met online through scouting. Many of the images in the email that went around back then included Northwest Native American folk lore imagery. I guess what I'm trying to get at, is yes, what is displayed/offered for sale is uber-conservative/stereo-typical Maine, but who knows what might catch the fancy of some of the gallery owners/operators. Best of luck to you.
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Huh, never heard of her, but I may have seen her work and others who've done similar through the Deviantart community. Kinda low-handed of the owner to pull that kind of stunt though. When I was younger I did try to sell some dragon sculptures that I used to mass-produce, but only a couple shops really had any kind of interest in stocking them. I was flat out refused and rather dumped on my butt from one of the more renouned stores in the town, even when I attempted to 'fit in' by making starfish, sea horses, and lobster ornaments. Since then I haven't been able to pass by their store without some form of nasty lump in the gut with their behavior. In the end though they hardly sold, so I can't really fault them for being careful about what stock they take on from their 'lottery' drawing of local artists each year.
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Feather art email: I probably didn't describe that clearly. The gallery owner was trying to get more info on who was the artist, which is why she was showing it around. The email had gone viral much like some photos do on social media these days and she had received it from a friend, who had received it from a friend and so on. Whoever originally created the email didn't give the artist credit. There's a whole article about it linked from "Feather Lady's" website.
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Oh! Ok that makes a lot more sense! I'm not surprised about the article, with the internet being a perpetual game of 'telephone' in regards to information transfer.
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Just thought of something else. My wife dabbles in art for fun (mostly abstract). She use to be a member of the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell. (She keeps forgetting to go renew her membership.) I know the Harlow does a few shows a year of member-created art that is put up for sale. Is there a similar member-owned gallery down your way? It might be another route for you to look into. Again, best of luck.
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Hmm, I know there's /a/ gallery in the Bath area, but it's more like a single artist showcase-rent room, and really 'high class' at that. Dunno about others in the Bath and Brunswick areas.
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I've never been to Maine,(and for some context I'm from Texas) but when I think of Maine it's usually lighthouses, cold rocky coastlines, and lobster maybe?
I have to admit most of what I know about Maine is from TV so, lol I'm probably off or too vague, I hope this helped :3