Jo M. Orise Art Update – June 2019

Jo’s New Event

Group art opening this week.

WHERE: River Arts Gallery, Route 1, Damariscotta, ME.
On the North side of route 1. Can’t miss it.
WHEN: Friday, June 7, 2019
TIME: 5-7 p.m.

The opening will have hors d’oeuvres, refreshments and wine.

riverartsbuilding — River Arts Gallery, Damariscotta, ME

Regular Gallery Hours:

Tuesdays – Saturdays 10-4, Sundays 11-3

207-563-1507

This is my sixth year with the group. Shouldn’t there be a celbration here for me? 😉

Join us. Have fun. Chat with the artists and art lovers. Look at the artwork. Bring one or more home.

orise_return_to_port_by_rockland-light-72dpi — *Return to Port by Rockland Light –* by: Jo M. Orise

Return to Port by Rockland Light, an oil painting, took several weeks to complete. I love schooners and actually live near Rockland Light, visible from my studio.

It is 12×16″ oil on canvas, framed.

There are mountains beyond from this view. Seagulls roam from Rockland Light to our home, searching for another serving of whatever they can swallow, all the while crying out, “Mine! Mine!”

Or are they saying “Maine?”

If you are interested in this artwork or any other works from my studio https://www.jomorise.com, send me a message at jo@jomorise.com.

Like and post a comment.

Thanks,

“Smile in your mirror every day.” JM Orise

Jo M. Orise Art Update – May – June 2019

We returned from our winter sojourn and my studio needed to be reorganized. Again.

We moved in after finally selling our NH home. That was three years ago? Time does fly. Maybe it was two. No matter, I dreaded cleaning it out.

Emptied a pile of packed boxes marked Jo’s Studio. I should have given them to Good Will or a school teacher.

Yes, the studio is now clear of the clutter. It just so happens the kitchen is just outside my studio doors. Can you guess where my clutter of boxes marked Jo’s Studio are? You got it—in the kitchen.

WHO CARES about my boxes? I do.

THING ONE:
Because I am opening my studio for the 2019 Scene About season. Tomorrow!

THING TWO:
I will be participating in the 17th Annual Festival of Art May 30 – June 2. See poster below.

THING THREE:

May 31, 12:30 – 4 p.m., I am hosting an Art 2019 Scene About Opening at my Orise Studio-Gallery here: 312 North Shore Drive, Owls Head, ME.

Come visit, bring a friend. I will have a few refreshments and a guest book sign in. Hope to see you here. I will most likely be nervous…since it is my very first official opening.

Should I invite the governor? Don’t laugh. When I belonged to the Artist Guild of the Kennebunks, our first art opening in Kennebunkport, Maine included an invitation to the President and the First Lady. Mrs. Barbara Bush arrived with several Secret Service men and her secretary. The First Lady was so gracious. She admired every painting on display. I will never forget that experience.

“Smile in your mirror every day.” JM Orise

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. – Is That a Good Sign?

I did some major maintenance work on my websites:

www.jomorise.com

Is your sign distinctive?

orisedesigns

All that behind the scene techie stuff.

NOTE: www.jomorise.com to be updated soon with new work.
Keep on the lookout.

__________________________
A little history about my websites:
Orise Designs originated in 1988.
I purchased the http://www.OriseDesigns.com domain and created the website around 1996.

The hosting site was and still is DirectNic.com.
NO advertising, ever! A clean site for just me.

Years later, I decided I needed a http://www.JoMOrise.com domain because I signed my artwork that way. Luckily, the domain name was available! Yes!

Signage is important.

Choose a domain name – carefully.

Cutsie does not work…get over it.

Simplicity is clarity.

If you have a business or hobby, and sign your work, keep it simple. Purchase a domain name that is YOU.

Purchase the domain http://www.janedoe.com if that is your name.

If janedoe.com is already floating out on the Internet, how about http://www.janedoe.artist.com?

More complicated than that discourages clients from seeking you out on the Internet.

If you sign your work differently, use that same signature. Perhaps your initials and last name, or just your last name, etc. Be creative.

For a professional appearance, you need:

1. a logo – an easily recognized graphic or a photo

2. a font – fancy, easy to read (careful on the fancy…don’t forget the cutsie advice)

3. NO all-caps – There are many beautiful fonts today. Use that for your name. A serif or fancy font. Use simple blocky, sans serif, for the rest of your wording.

4. especially NO Gothic-all-caps

5. a nice layout with white space (empty areas) for easy reading.

Place logo and layout with fonts on all communication media. Stick to your design. Constant change confuses and discourages potential clients.

Where will you hang your sign? Does it “blend in” and disappear? Or is it distinctive? If so, how much space between it and another sign of distinction?

Does your signage blend in. . .too much?

Look at the whole display and where displayed. What clientele do you want to attract?

Seek out examples in your area. Compare your signage with theirs. That includes the building sign, business cards, postcards, statements, receipts, banners, letterheads, packaging, and more.

If you are stuck, talk to a business owner. Compliment them on their choice of signage and ask how or who designed it for them. Who created the finished product. If you are computer and software savvy, you can do it yourself. A great many of us who are artistic can do a terrific job in creating our product, and stink at designing signage. Simplicity, clarity, easy to read.
That is the aim.

Good luck.

Readable drive-by? Keep it simple big and bold.

When I drive by, I hope to see your sign and be able to read it at 35 mph or more. Size and simplicity will do that for you.

Be recognized.

Communicate you are serious about your work, time, presentation, and your product. That is communicated by your sign.

“Smile in your mirror every day.” J.M. Orise :-)

Does anybody know?

Does anyone know where and how to reach the man who makes these wooden, left over oil paint boxes for artists?

😊

Please leave comments below.

Thank you for your time.

My Muse Drinks Coffee

Promoting yourself with words is a creative process as is art. Your goal: people will find, read and remember you.

Important too: the writer remembers what was written!

A couple visited my studio early this morning. After reviewing some of my work and chatting with the woman, also an artist, about her art work and what she hoped to learn and master, she and her partner then smiled, both acknowledging a quote,

“My muse drinks coffee.” They nodded as if that is truly what was part of my creative process.

“Where did you read that?”

“On your blog.”

“Really. Are you sure?”

They looked a little confused. “Yes.”

“Oh. Perhaps.
I write so many things, I may have forgotten.”

After the couple left, I went to my art blog and queried: “My muse drinks coffee.”

Nothing.

Hmm.

Shorten the query.

Nothing.

Examine the site more closely.

Ahh! Here it is. Part of a description of Jo M. Orise, the artist, on my blogger’s home page: Painterly Comments.

What about Jo?

How would I forget that? That is who I am. And I do drink coffee which obviously now affects my muse more than it affects me.

I sit down to one more cup. Black. As usual. Hopefully, enough to stir up those sleepy, little grey cells.

Jo M. Orise – Art Update – August 2018 – 2 Awards!

71st Maine Lobster Festival Open Juried Art Show.

Sponsored by Camden National Bank, Rockland, ME

Woo Hoo! August 2, 2018 I was awarded two ribbons for my entries at the art show.

3rd Place ribbon

“Entering Deep Cove on the Maine Coast” by Jo M. Orise

18×24″ oil on canvas, framed

Honorable Mention ribbon

“The Grace Bailey Anchored at Curtis Light” by Jo M. Orise

24×18″ oil on canvas, framed

I’ve come close, so I have been told, earlier in my art career. So this is great to be recognized for two painting in one show. Thank you jurors. It feels great!

View the paintings at my virtual studio jomorise.com

visit Orise Studio-Gallery here in Owls Head, Maine.

Leave a comment.

Jo M. Orise – Art Update – August – 2018

71st Maine Lobster Festival Open Juried Art Show.

Sponsored by Camden National Bank, Rockland, ME.

Tuesday, July 31 to Friday, August 3, 2018.
Maine Lobster Festival Open Juried Art Show Opens
Friday, August 8, 2018 Winners are contacted.

July 31, I submitted two oil paintings. Keeping my fingers crossed. Have not been rejected yet. :-)

Theme being the lobster festival and the Maine Coast, I decided to submit these two paintings.
I know it is late notice, but as you know I am ‘always busy’ and me keeping up with me is sometimes hard to do.

Oil, 18×24″. “Entering Deep Cove”, Maine Coast.

I just love water and reflection

Oil, 24″. “Grace Bailey Anchored at Curtis Light”

Oh, my photography skills are not great. The original painting looks brilliant and the colors are fantastic.

See the artwork at my website: jomorise.com

We sailed the Grace Bailey. This was the view I got when we rowed back to the boat after lunch.

If you have time, come to the Lobster Festival, look up Camden National at 300 Main Street, Rockland—located on the corner of Maine and Park Streets. Parking in the back.

See ya.

Jo M. Orise – Art Update, June 7 – June 10, 2018

You are invited!
I am displaying my work at the Annual Festival of Art.
Location: Senior College-Belfast at the University of ME, Hutchinson Center

See you there!

Thursday, June 7, 6:00 – 8:00 PM Opening Night Reception and First Viewing (see below).

Meet the artists, join us for the refreshments, enjoy the entertainment.

Afterwards, visit me at my Orise Studio/Gallery, Owls Head, ME to view my latest work. Contact me for appointment. Open most weekends. Hours: Appointment or Perchance.

🎨 Jo

Jo M. Orise – Art Update, Saturday August 12, 2017

You are invited my friend.

Click the link for more info on FaceBook about my next upcoming art show.

Aldermere Art Show and Sale Aldermere Farm, Rockport, Maine

Saturday August 12, 9 – 4 PM

Enjoy the display of over 200 framed, hanging paintings plus hundreds of prints of the belted galloways, and the scenic Maine coast by local artists.

I will be one of the participants.

Hope to see you there.

PS: I am Chair of the Art Hanging Committee and with the help of two other members, we managed to hang all the artwork in two days.
Beats last year when I hung over 200 paintings by myself for three days. Finding a couple of dedicated and great working volunteers who also happen to be artists paid off. And fine artists they are indeed. Thanks guys. 😊

A Cake-Walk With No Shelf To Spare

Sharpened the old hammer and nails and built a bunch of shelves.

We finally moved out of NH.

Our Maine home has huge closets, but shelving is very limited.

Why 24″ between closet shelves? At the left, you see big gaps between shelves.

Where there were three, now there are five!

At the right, I widened the single 10″ clothes closet shelf and added a second story.

This other closet’s bottom shelf is now over 22 inches deep and the top shelf is 12.

Now a stack of clothes won’t teeter and fall to the floor. Big improvement!

Next I’ll finish a closet started two years ago. It had been a huge, empty closet meant for a washer and dryer. I moved the back wall inward, creating more space in the kitchen located behind the closet. This freed up space allowed me to install a fireproof wall and a kitchen, wood-cook stove directly behind the new, smaller closet.

Next I plan to enlarge the walk-in closet upstairs. Big bedroom and the closet doesn’t have enough… you got it… shelves!

You do what you gotta do.

I’m off to make a building materials list.

That Shelter Institute course my son and I took years ago has really paid off more than once.

After building my Post and Beam home in the 90’s, this is a cake-walk.

Any projects in your neck of the woods?

Please leave a comment and share.