Downtown Rochester Gallery Stroll - Recap

On Friday, June 3, I participated in the Paint Creek Center for the Arts Gallery Stroll in downtown Rochester, MI. It was a lot of fun displaying my colored pencil drawings, acrylic paintings, and watercolors in Smith Jeweler's downtown, and talking a bit to the people who came out.

I even had a few people express interest in purchasing - some who I directed toward my Etsy shop to see my larger watercolor paintings that I did not bring, or what downloadable coloring pages I had available, and one who even set up a time to come over to my studio to see all my work in person. If you're ever in the area and want to stop by to see my artwork, don't hesitate to let me know! I love inviting people to my home studio to look at what I'm working on or what I have available for sale.

Here are some photographs I took of my countertop displays from the Gallery Stroll event. Some were put up on Instagram and got a great response there!

Two of my 11x15" watercolors on display near the wine & snacks table: "Waterlilies" on top; "Splattered Dahlias" on the bottom

5"x7" colored pencil drawings were propped up on tabletop easels around the store. This one is "Radiant Dahlia."

Three recent 5"x7" colored pencil drawings - "Purple Rose Trio," "Norfolk Succulents" and "Pink Impatiens"

I also put several stacks of business cards around for anyone interested. This colored pencil drawing is "Detroit Riverwalk Petunias"

Some colored pencil drawings on display were on black paper; others, like these, were on tan or gray paper. Here we have "Rose with a Hint of Aqua" and "Roses with a Hint of Orange & Yellow"

"More Roses with a Hint of Orange & Yellow"

My 8"x10" colored pencil drawing "Rainbow Crassula"

Patterned watercolor paintings took up another table display. These were 8"x10" and 5"x7" in size.

More patterned watercolors

My recently finished six acrylic paintings (look for an upcoming blog post about those!) as well as a couple watercolor/colored pencil mixed media pieces with stamped leaves

A table of colored pencil drawings, as posted on Instagram

My recent "magic pencil" architecture drawings, with a floral watercolor painting ("When Fear Gets in the Way") in the background

Me posing with my artwork

As always, check out my Etsy shop to see more of my work! :)

Small Business Saturday

It's "Small Business Saturday"! Might I make a couple quick suggestions?

1) If you live in the Metro-Detroit area, visit the Paint Creek Center for the Arts Holiday Art Market, which is open on Saturdays from 9 AM - 4 PM and is located at 407 Pine Street in downtown Rochester, Michigan.

I have several original Michigan watercolors (not prints!) for sale there at the moment - 8"x10" size with a white 11"x14" mat included for only $49. There are also lots of other holiday gift ideas - paintings, ceramic tiles, notebooks, blown glass ornaments, jewelry, scarves, etc. If you can't make it today, they're open every day (except Sunday) and the Holiday Art Market will be up until December 23. It's a great way to support local Michigan artists AND a local arts center.

2) If visiting the Holiday Art Market isn't an option, look to Etsy! Etsy itself may not qualify as a "small business" (I don't know what the cutoff is) but most of the money you spend on that site goes to the artists. You can even narrow your search and look for artists in your state or city specifically if you want to support local artists. And of course, I'd love it if you'd check out my Etsy store while you're there - etsy.com/shop/ArtworkbyAndreaArbit. I know I'll be searching for gifts for other people from other artists there - there are some amazing projects!

A quick sampling of some of my artwork:

"White Rose" 5x7 colored pencil drawing with 8x10 white mat ($39)

"Pattern Flora in Blue-Green" 5x7 watercolor painting with 8x10 white mat ($39)

"Debris" 22x30 watercolor painting ($399)

"Rainbow Crassula" 8x10 colored pencil drawing with 11x14 white mat ($59)

"Splattered Dahlia" 11x15 watercolor painting ($199)

"Flowering Herb" 5x7 colored pencil drawing with 8x10 white mat ($39)

Best of luck with all of your holiday shopping!