Town Hall Meeting

Went to the Artists Network town hall meeting today and am totally PUMPED! There are so many resources that are part of the association that I didn’t know about and what a great resource for new artists. I met a few people who were very open to sharing information with me – established artists who have succeeded in making a living from their paintings – very inspiring.

The first person I met was Dan Ryan. Small world – we both grew up in Sarnia, he knew the sister of my best friend, we live a few blocks apart and our kids are in the same acting classes. Dan was an illustrator for many years and had his own marketing firm before deciding to paint full time. His work in really beautiful and he has been successful in making that transition to full time artist. He spends at least 5 hours a day painting; certainly a goal for me to aspire to. Check out his website.


Also had great conversations with Gary Smith – he is on the board of the Artist’s Network and is also a teacher in addition to being an artist. I posted one of his painting here that I really love – The Real Jerk. A great restaurant that I have not been to in years. His website has more samples of his work. He explained the difference between RAW and AN - the Artist's Network is the association that runs the Riverdale Art Walk - this was not that clear to me previously. I am looking forward to being more involved in the Artist's Network




Christopher Hayes has very interesting work – contemporary mixed media. I am not sure you get the full impression on the web – I am looking forward to seeing his work in real life. He had some great advice. Basically if you are a deadline driven person (which I am) you need to sign up for multiple shows since that will force you to paint on a regular basis. He directed me to Akimbo where tons of shows are listed, with open submissions. At his recommendation, I am going to apply to the Queen West Art Crawl and see what happens. He also said “you can’t sell your paintings if they are in your house”. In other words, you need to get your paintings on the walls of galleries.

All great things to aspire to!