Sausalito Report

Sausalito is over and I am back home, now.  This was my best year to date, even given the worst economy.  I had to work twice as hard, and "show up to market," which means I had to have the right mix of works to offer.


I will be returning to the Bay Area in early November to teach a workshop.  More on that soon.


One popular event in my booth was a "Flat File Sale."  That is, I sold loose and unframed artworks, both pastels and drawings, at set prices and at make-a-bid prices.  Would you like to participate in that here at The Colorist?  Maybe I can film the file drawers and contents and the bidding can begin.  Just an idea for now, but you could own a Casey Klahn for less if you don't mind doing the framing later.

Illumination at Sausalito

Orchard Illumination

25" x 39.5"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Some of the rewards of exhibiting are unexpected and very dear.


Here is one of the notes I received on Facebook, today:  

Hi Casey, my friend and I just got back from the Sausalito show. We agreed that your work was some of the most beautiful/interesting/professional work there. I'm so glad I got to see these stunning pastels in person, thanks so much!

A City by the Bay. Sausalito.

Sausalito Art Festival 2011.

Sausalito Art Festival

Fluid Corner

19.5" x 13.75"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Booth # 302

Sausalito

Sausalito!!

My friend, Seattle artist Teresa Saia, did the artwork for this year's Sausalito Art Festival Commemorative poster.  It is the best one I've seen.


Sausalito Art Festival.
Commemorative Posters.
Sausalito Art Festival app.


If you don't happen to get the app., you can find me in Booth 302.  The art will be real, not virtual, like here on the blog.


59th Sausalito Art Festival
September 3-5, 2011
Marinship Park, Sausalito, CA

Sausalito - A Photo Report

A special welcome to my new readers from the Sausalito and Bay areas. The past four days at the famous Sausalito Art Festival have been both fun and rewarding for me. Thanks to the artist awards committee, the event staff and volunteers, and the patrons who come from far and wide to see this premier event. Fifteen original pastels are in new homes, and not a few new readers (my highest stats ever were reported for today) have found The Colorist.

Sausalito Picture Update

Casey Klahn, Goin' Uptown
Friday Gala Opening Sausalito Art Festival




Sunday, Klahn Receives First Place Award in the Drawing Category, Sausalito

There's Good News, and There's Bad News

Road Trip

Not about the show! That news is all good - I had a wonderful day in sunny Sausalito. The art festival had great "gate" today, and I expect the same for the next couple of days.

The good news/bad news is about the camera issues I have been having. I forgot my cable for downloading images, so today I was trying to borrow one from some neighboring artists and a 10 year-old kid overheard my dilemma, and suggested that I just stick the SD card from my camera directly into my laptop. Tonight I looked, and there is the SD port right in front. Doh. No, double-doh!! Now I have forgotten my camera at the booth! I promise pics tomorrow, since I should have the technology, and the parts, all together by then.

Organization skills are a critical issue when you are doing an outdoor fair. I do fairly well, but something will always slip through the cracks.

Gala Opening at the Sausalito Art Festival

Tonight's gala opening was an event to behold. Locals come to see the art and stay to party the night away with live bands and fine cuisine. I did sell a small work, which is better than last year's Friday opening, so there you have it. Perhaps the flood gates are opening, and if not, we are all having fun.

Rumor has it that there is a guy in a turban who annually visits the fair, and picks one artist's booth to buy completely out. Urban myths, art fair style.

My booth looks nice, and the tux wore wonderfully. I did get the pictures, but somehow cannot find the download cable! You'll have to wait until I get home to see the evidence. I guess you'll have to trust my word pictures for the time being. If you must know now, consider me in a tux as somewhere between the fellow in the first video and the guy in the second.

I Suppose You'd Like To Know About Set-Up Day at Sausalito?

I Woke up at 5:15 AM today, because I couldn't sleep any longer. Too keyed up, I guess. My appointment to load in at the venue was at 8:30, and all you need to know about the experience can be inferred from the following video clip.

Except, it wasn't all that bad. I did enjoy seeing my pastel chums, including Victoria Ryan, whose help with my hanging problems is much appreciated. And late in the day I saw Susan Ogilvie and Teresa Saia - both from Washington. Together with Sheila M. Evans, we constitute the Washington State cabal of pastel artists at the Sausalito. Mess with one, and you got us all.

Tomorrow: the final set-up and the Gala opening. Yes, I will be wearing my tuxedo.

Road Trip - An Artist's Reality Blog

Celeste Bergin and Casey Klahn
Photo Credit: David Burbach

The open road part of my road trip is over for now, and I am in Marin County. If you've never been to Marin, I will tell you that it is just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Fransisco, and one of the beautiful places in California. I am glad to be here.

On the way, I enjoyed stopping in Hood River, Oregon, which I blogged about the other day. The "When Bloggers Meet" photo of Celeste Bergin and I is posted above. Her post about the meeting is here. Then, I continued down the 5 through the great Willamette Valley. I couldn't help thinking about an artist friend whose landscapes define the Willamette for me, Marla Baggetta. It just so happens that Loriann Signori is interviewing Marla at her blog.

How can I get through Oregon without thinking about two master pastel painters, Kitty Wallis and Richard McKinley?

Further south along the 5 one travels through northern California. I well remember my climb of Mt Shasta many years ago. Today, she frowns at me as I pass by. Speaking of California mountains, blogger artist Terry Miura is posting his series about his annual plein air back country trip to the Sierras.

Tomorrow I drive onto the venue early in the morning and set up my booth. I hope to have pictures of that process for you as I continue this art fair reality series.

On The Road Again - An Artist's Reality Blog

I Should Have Been a Country & Western Singer, Instead of a Painter...

To borrow the phrase from Willie Nelson, I am on the road again...to Sausalito. I intend to live blog the Sausalito Art Festival, which means I will try to write you a post a day. This year, the festival has cranked back the schedule, allowing me some breathing room to post. Artists sometimes spend 12 hours in their booths during event days, and that doesn't count the set-up day or days, which are brutal. Sounds like a reality show premise, huh?

Today I left home in eastern Washington, and traveled through the Columbia River Gorge. Since I follow Celeste Bergin's blog, I knew she would be at the Columbia Center in Hood River, Oregon and I made it a point to stop by. They are receiving paintings created en pein air - many during this week's plein air event in the gorge. I also got to meet Celeste's husband, David, who is the photographing this event. I enjoyed picking his brain about digital tasks. They will probably post the pictures taken of Celeste and I, to prove that bloggers do meet sometimes in real life.

The four or five oil paintings that Celeste will show make this exhibit well worth your visit. Her works are very uninhibited, and make me want to take up the oil medium.

I met an artist at the gallery of whom I am a big fan: Eric Bowman. He is humble, and I really admire his ease of expression in the landscape. He is very talented: Eric Bowman.

Cathleen Rehfeld is a friend of Celeste's. Her plein air oils of the gorge are inspiring, and they earned my "blue ribbon" rating. Judges take notice. She blogs here.

I am on the 5 in Oregon, and am taking a few days to get to the bay area and Sausalito. Stay tuned for more updates as I live blog on the road. Preview: you might get to see your author in his tuxedo on Friday. Woo hooo.

Need more country music for the road trip? I thought so. The Highwaymen Live.

I Have a New Card

My Card

Over the horizon, I am planning for a set of exhibits, in my coastal hometown of Hoquiam, Washington. Mayor Jack Durney wants me to hurry up and exhibit, and has named it "The Return of the Native." To sweeten the deal, he has offered me a Get Out of Jail Free Card. There's a first time for everything - thanks, Mr. Mayor!

Hoquiam River Bright

10" x 14.75"

Pastel & Charcoal

Casey Klahn

On the near horizon, I am exhibiting in a new show in Kirkland, Kirkland Uncorked. The hours are as follows: Kirkland Uncorked Promenade (Free Festival) WA, July 16 - 18. Hours: Friday 2pm-8pm • Saturday 11am-8pm • Sunday 11am-6pm

This coming Labor Day, I will be exhibiting in Sausalito. September 3 - 6. Last year, I received the First Place Award in Drawing at the Sausalito Art Festival. That was for my whole collection, rather than a single image. The pressure is on to be that good again, but if my wife is a fair critic, she has deemed this year's art as better. I hope that's true.

How about it, Sausalito? Will you offer me a Get Out of Jail free card, too?

Orange Field and News

Orange Field

8" x 17.5"

Soft Pastel & Charcoal

Casey Klahn

point&shoot

The Prairie Series (soon to be renamed "Edge of the Prairie") continues.  I hope that this series will be my main exhibition at my art fairs this summer.  I am working on three series' at once right now.   

Hoquiam River, Boulders and Prairie. 

Kirkland Uncorked is July 16-18, 2010.  I'll be there and hope to see you. 

Sausalito is September 4-6, 2010.  See you there! I am cooking up a new blog project, which should be ready to go live by the end of the week. Stay tuned.

Festival Preview

Simple preview of my art booth

See a thin preview of my art for Sausalito at my blog, Pastel. Someone asked the other day about my current framing, which is shown in these photos. Of course, my work will not be hung so thin, as I have about forty or forty-five originals for this show. Add lighting, signage and a vase of flowers and you get the idea. Simple, but focused on the art.

Secret Knowledge just for readers of The Colorist: I intend to hang only the River Series on the first full day of the festival. Thereafter, my other works will be shown, too.

Sausalito Art Festival

Labor Day Weekend 2009
Friday September 4th · 6:00pm · Preview Party
Saturday September 5th · 9:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday September 6th · 9:00am - 6:00pm
Monday September 7th · 9:00am - 5:00pm