Win free art!

Wausau CupcakeThat’s right! WIN FREE ART! 

Click here to sign up for my mostly monthly newsletter (I’m not that organized) and be entered into a drawing to win one of the 10″ x 12.5″ limited edition and signed canvas prints shown below. Your choice.

New winner every month.

One or two newsletters per month with updates on upcoming events, promotions and new art. Provide your city and state and I will let you know specifically when I will be in your area.

No purchase necessary. Opt out anytime.

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!

My sepia painting "Working the Fields".

“Working the Fields”.

Everything has a story.

For Christmas, I’d like to paint yours.

Repeatedly, I’m asked where I get the ideas for my paintings. The truth is my ideas come from you.

The source material from all of my paintings come to me as commission work, personal genealogy research or are donated to me. As such, I know the family and history of almost all of my paintings. I may paint them as impressionism with, or without, a flair of contemporary pop-art or in a realism style but at the end of the day what I paint is based on what I know about the people, the place, the mood and my personal style.

I paint using oil and canvas in a master’s style – no computers, no tracing. Only old school technology.

Find a favorite vintage photo from your family and let me turn it into an original sepia painting!

Order a two figure, sepia painting in my impressionism style before October 31 and have the original painting before Christmas.

20″ x 24″ $600 unframed + $65 S&H = $665 (Normally, $900)
16″ x 20″ $400 unframed + $55 S&H = $455 (Normally, $600)

Lady with Horse Original: Sold.  No prints available.

Lady with Horse Original: Sold. No prints available.

Canvas and paper prints available for an extra charge. Framing available. 50% down due at time of order with the balance due at delivery. 

Because of time constraints only 8 are available at this price. Below are some samples. Cannot be combined with other offers.

…or…

Donate a favorite vintage family photo and if I use it as source material for a painting I will give you a free canvas print of the painting.

Click here for more details. 

What is special about the holidays?

Art Elves CMK Working 1Hi Everyone,

The short answer is everything.

Just a quick update.

My partner and I – and about seven other artists and craftsmen opened a little pop-up seasonal gallery in downtown Minneapolis. We are in Gaviidae Commons II on the corner southeast corner of S 6th Street and Nicollet Mall. You can find on the street level in front of the elevator and between D’Amico and Sons and the RBC Plaza. Below is the map.

We have so wonderful painters, sculptors, woodworkers, metal artists and jewelers.

2012-11-22_21-04-13_314Please spread the word. Because we are open seven days a week we haven’t had much time to do many other things so some of us are working in the gallery. Come see us. We will sleep in January.

In the meantime feel free to go to The Art Elves website to learn more about our art and the artist.

Some Holiday Eye Candy in Madison Wisconsin

Click on the image to be taken to the MMoCA website for more details.

See something delicious.

This weekend from Friday at 2:30 pm until Sunday at 3:00 pm I – along with 50 other artists – will be exhibiting in Madison, Wisconsin at the Madison Museum of Contemporary ArtsHoliday Art Fair.

Come out and meet great artists and feast on great art.

Click here for more details and learn more about my work by clicking here.

I will be in Booth RST108.

SHOW SPECIAL

Bring a copy of this little blog post with you and receive a 10% discount on any original or giclee purchase.

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I am Nivens McTwisp

Nivens McTwisp. Bet you didn’t know he had a name.

I’m late / I’m late / For a very important date. / No time to say “Hello, Goodbye”. / I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.

Nivens McTwisp
White Rabbit
Alice in Wonderland

I have a whole lot of social and a whole lot of media. What I don’t always have is a whole lot of time.

For example, my partner and I have been juggling my website, WordPress blogs, Facebook, Google Plus, FineArtAmerica, Zatista, Twitter, art show schedules, gallery correspondence and events, inventory management, travel management, marketing, promotion, sales and two well-loved eight year old twins.

A whole other kind of White Rabbit in Indianapolis, IN. Hasenpfeffer anyone?

Plus we are working on the Art Elves project.

Oh, and life. Did I mention life?

Phew…

To make things easier we have decided to use Constant Contact to streamline out social media outreach. An electronic newsletter, with information about events, specials, new work and the life and times of a mother, painter and art show carnie emailed on a regular schedule.

Hopefully, this will make it easier to keep in touch.

To sign up for the newsletter click here or follow the link below.

Art Elves: Looking for artists

Looking into one the store front windows from the atrium.

The Art Elves – where Santa goes for fine art – is looking for regional Wisconsin, Iowan, and Minnesota artists to participate in a seasonal artists show at the Gaviidae Commons in the heart of downtown Minneapolis.

We have secured 1,400 square feet on the street level of the Gaviidae Commons II and are situated between the Italian restaurant D’Amico & Sons, the retailer Talbots and Neiman Marcus, the coffee shop Caribou Coffee, the Westin Hotel Minneapolis and the RBC Plaza.

Atrium View

All of these businesses open up into the atrium.

The Target Holidazzle Parade passes the store every Thursday through Sunday until December 18 bringing in additional foot traffic and interest.

The store will be open from Black Friday (November 23) through January 4, 2o13 (Yes. I know. 2013 already?!) and through a lottery system every artist will rotate through the storefront windows and have access to the street window.

Store View.

We have space for ten artists. Each artist will have approximately 100 square feet depending on the type of art and how it needs to be displayed. Although the store has excellent track lighting and display space you may need to provide your own booth panels, displays and lighting.

You must provide your own insurance.

Let’s get the money questions out of the way: $800.00 Participation Fee + 10% commission + 3% for credit card transactions.  Art Elves will collect and pay all applicable sales taxes.

Did I mention that is a total of six weekends and five weeks over the holidays in downtown Minneapolis? On the parade route? In a high-end, high traffic location? Alongside other heavily promoted retailers? Over the holidays?

With fresh coffee nearby? And you don’t even have to work in the store unless you want too.

Participating artists will be mailed a check on Monday, December 17 for sales registered between November 23 to Friday December 14 and on Friday, January 11 for all sales registered between Saturday, December 15 and Friday, January, 4th. Checks will include a statement reflecting all sales.

All credit card transactions in the store will be taken via a Square.

Artists are responsible for delivering, setting up, replenishing inventory and picking-up their own work during strict hours.

Artists may opt into sales and promotional opportunities that may include Groupon, Living Social, Google Offers, Facebook promotions, Google+ promotions, Linkedin promotions, SMS text marketing and in-store promotions.

More details to follow.

The space is limited to ten artists and is first come, first served and until the spaces are filled. To the best of our ability we will not have competing artists.

Did I mention? This is first come.

Call or email Chrissy Mount (Kapp) or Sean Kinney for details. Chrissy@vintagepainter.com or Sean@vintagepainter.com or visit www.vintagepainter.com.

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Looking for a partner gallery in New Mexico and Colorado

I need your help.

I’m looking for an art gallery in New Mexico and/or Colorado that would be interested in exclusively representing my work in their markets. I can meet with them between 10/8 and 10/11.

I will be at the 24th Annual Rio Grande Arts and Crafts Festival and Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 10/5 – 10/7 and 10/12 – 10/14.

Any referrals would be appreciated. Email me directly please.

More info at:

G+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cos6bq8n7pu2o6hkh1c10ok2f9c

HELP! Name the streets! Win a Prize!

My son modeling for Brains and Donuts.

HELP!

I just about finished a new painting entitled Brains and Donuts.

However, I need a good name for the cross streets. Suggest a couple of good names and win a signed, numbered and limited edition giclee from my collection.

You can see what other people have suggested at Facebook and G+. Feel free to make your suggestions there or in the comments below!

I’ll let you know the winner on Thursday.

Help! Name the cross streets!

WOW. Simply WOW.

Gwen presenting my First Place Prize for painting!

What a GREAT weekend.

At the Spring Green Art and Crafts Fair I took FIRST place in the Painting Category. The prize included a Blue Ribbon (…and good prize money)! That makes two prize ribbons in 5 shows!

I sold my favorite original signature painting to private collectors. My painting is hanging 50 feet from an ORIGINAL Renoir and dozens of other beautiful works.

The kids were delivered to a new home on Monday. Thank you B & C for the love and support.

…AND I sold two original paintings and two giclees to a corporate buyer and my art is hanging in their new 11,000 seat auditorium or one of their new farm scene themed corporate buildings. Hundreds of their 5,500 employees and thousands of their clients will see my work every year.

One of my paintings is going to be featured on the cover of an INTERNATIONALLY known literary magazine and there will be a two page spread about me inside (I can’t tell you the details yet – hush-hush).

I was contacted by a very nice gallery in Benton Harbor, MI that wants to carry my originals and prints.

St. Luke’s Cemetery in Plains, WI.

And I spent two days visiting cemeteries, churches and talking to people to do some genealogy research on my German Catholic roots.

WOW. Simply WOW.

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RADIO INTERVIEW on Thursday April 19th – Juried Art Shows, Fairs & Galleries with Chrissy Mount Kapp

41st Stevens Point's Festival of the Arts

On Thursday, April 19 from 10 pm CST to 11 pm CST Annette Coleman will be hosting me on her radio show to discuss my experience with juried art shows – the how to’s and the how nots.

I hope you will join us either online or call in to (646) 915-9294.

Visit my Upcoming Events calendar or Annette’s page for more details!

Talk to you Thursday!