Nigel Fox Artworks

It is the start of a very busy week tomorrow as we are continuing to work on our alder spoons, preparing for the Terrace Art Gallery exhibit, and meeting to hear Bill McLennan present on his Museum of Anthropology exhibit: Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw

On a side note, I also am working to complete a business plan for the aboriginal BEST entrepreneurship program that is due this week.

Busy, busy, busy…

Beautiful Sunrise in Terrace this Morning

I am in the car on the way back to Topley with Amy as I am writing this right now. The skies are sighing a mellow hum of purple in the distance as the mountains salute the dying remnance of a glorious day that the Lord has made. The week is now past and with two exhibits in the next two weeks, I have work awaiting me at home where I need to finish a painting that I have been working on. I think that this painting is a milestone in my studies and I look forward to exhibiting it. In fact, there are numerous works that are going to be on display that are quite impressive. I saw a painting by Kelly Robertson that I never thought existed; it is a Nuxhalk style painting in typical Kelly flavor–totally crisp, well designed and professionally executed–that appears to tell of a story about a lesson. I will have to ask him what it is about.

As those who have been following already know, we started on spoons this week and most of us are almost done our first spoon; some of us are on to our second spoon. Just like my first spoon, my second spoon is off to a bad start as I seemed to have misjudged the grain on this spoon. When carving in wood, grain is everything. Carving with the grain makes carving wood a breeze, but carving against the grain makes a person want to cry–it can be wrought with frustration and disappointment.  Anyways, my first spoon is turning out much better than I thought that it would and it started on a bad note as well, so we will see how this second spoon turns out.

My second Spoon

We had a survey teleconference at noon today in the main building at school. The survey was part of a three year periodic interview of post secondary first nations students asking them the difficulties of college education. Many opinions and concerns came forth in the groups. There were three groups in total, one from Hazelton, one from Terrace and one from Rupert. The main concern that came out in the survey was funding and being able to afford college, even for those who are single, in fact I heard very little from those who may have been single parents in the group. Other than this, a main issue was the sense of belonging and this is something that I struggle with myself sometimes, but I usually get over it by realising that others around me are going through something similar. I find inspiration in the book of proverbs in the Bible that “to have friends, you must be a friend”. This is a paraphrase, but the idea is what matters, that to have friends, you need to take the initiative and be a friend.

Next week, we are expecting a presentation by author Bill McLennan. The plan is that Bill is going to do a presentation on the Charles and Elizabeth Edenshaw exhibit that he is directing at the UBC museum of anthropology. Two people at Freda Diesing School have gone to see this exhibit so far, Dean Heron and Nathan Wilson; both have recommended it to the other students. I hope to see it when I am down in vancouver.

Also, next Friday, February 4th, is the opening night of the Terrace Art Gallery exhibit. See my page entitled Terrace Art Gallery Exhibit for more details and directions.

My Paddle at the Studio, FDS 2011

I was talking with Marty at Community Futures today and we went over what I have for my business plan today. He had a number of pointers for how to market. Marty asked me in the middle of the review, “do you contact customers on a quarterly basis?” I said no. And he looked at me with a surprised look on his face, almost incredulous. He went on to tell me that past customers are the most important market to reach. He said that I should be sending out quarterly letters or fliers or some sort of token that I still exist and appreciate their business. And you know what? Marty was right.

Stan Bevan has confirmed that Bill McLennan will be at the longhouse at the college on Wednesday, February 1st. Bill is a renowned speaker and author who co-wrote one of the textbooks that we use in class: The Transforming Image. The Transforming Image project was formed when Bill used infrared film to capture previously unseen images on native artifacts, often covered in patina. Bill is very knowledgeable in the history of the west coast native peoples in BC. This promises to be a very good lecture.

Geo McKay is an aboriginal artist from the Nisga’a nation, who resides in Terrace. Geo has been at this game for a whole lot longer than I–40 years in fact–and has a lot to offer the native art market and the local community of artists.

I invited Geo McKay out for a coffee tonight with the intentions of gleaning some of his wisdom and maybe a good story or two. Geo, not wanting to miss a beat went into telling stories right away. Geo told me about his childhood and difficulties with school and how he dropped out to help out his family at home. Geo later came back to school and graduated within a short period of time. In drafting and architecture classes, Geo excelled with an A+ average.

Geo was mentored for a time by Freda Diesing, a Haida artist whom Dempsey Bob described as “the only teacher [of traditional northwest coast art] around at the time.” Also, one thing that Geo noticed about Terrace when he started carving, was that there was no native representation in the tourist markets around Terrace. Geo was determined to change this and worked hard over many years to develop his skills.

Over the years, Geo would come to sell to the museum in Prince Rupert–where a friend told him that people were buying. Geo lived for 15 years in Prince Rupert. Geo also sold to certain galleries in Vancouver, developing relations with the Spirit Wrestler Gallery and the Royal BC Museum.

Geo related to me a story about how he had three masks that he had carved that he was hoping to sell to the Royal BC Museum. He said that one of the masks he was selling for $800, another for $1200 and another for $1500. When asked why the difference in price, Geo referred to the fact that the first mask had one face, the second two and the third three faces. So, the buyer purchased the first two masks, but told Geo that she couldn’t afford the third mask. Not wanting to let Geo get away with the mask, she made a counter offer; she would take the mask on a 40% commission. Geo got a fraction of what he was hoping for, but he was still happy because it was more than what he would have had otherwise.  I think that the moral of the story was that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Geo also went on to say that when an artist sells to galleries in Vancouver “it doesn’t matter how many emails or photos that an artist sends to the galleries down there, the artist has to actually meet with the gallery owners that he wants to do business with, because the artist is selling himself.”

Geo went on to share his knowledge on pricing, mentoring, artist representation, target markets, relevant market factors, sponsorship, business partnership, and why some art businesses fail.

Tomorrow we start learning to carve spoons from alder wood. Alder is a semi-hard wood that grows in recently disturbed soil on the west coast. It literally grows like a weed and yet it makes very beautiful carvings. Most of the birch that we are using this year at Freda Diesing came from trees that were blown down during a one-in-200-year storm over the thanksgiving weekend and taken from CN land near Kitsumkalum.

We are coming up to the month of February, when we will be exhibiting as a class in the Terrace Art Gallery. We will be showing numerous paintings from first year students at Freda Diesing School. Opening night is Friday, February 4th at 7pm to 9pm. I will be sending out reminders between now and then, so please be patient if you hear this message a few times. Below is a photo of one of the paintings that I am submitting to the Terrace Art Gallery.

This painting is a reflection a rather strange experience that once happened to me in Topley, BC.

The story behind the painting shown above was from when I was walking with my cat in Topley, yes she’s a strange cat that follows me around wherever I go.  Anyways, I was sitting on the bridge over the Bulkley River, letting my cat catch up with me when all of the sudden I felt these claws on the top of my head.  Startled, I quickly shooed what I assumed was a bird of prey after my cat, off of my head and as the bird flew away, I realized that it was a raven.  It was yet another strange but true story from Topley.

On a more subdued note, I am currently working on a business plan for my art business. There are a few things to consider with a business plan, but it all basically comes down to two things: cash flow and write up. The cash flow is the bones of your business, and is basically what you expect to make and spend based upon historical data from your own and other similar businesses. The write up is the flesh of your business, including a description of all the different aspects of your business: products, services, suppliers, employees, vision, competitors, competitive advantage, marketing plan and any other information that may be relevant.

One item to include in your write up is your competitors. In fact, during the small business workshop that I recently attended, they recommended that we keep a book on our competitors with as much relevant information as possible. They said to “keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” This is a theme that I have seen covered a few times by different speakers in the art world, including Greg Shaaf, director of the Center for Indigenous Arts and Cultures (CIAC), who recommended taking “competitors” out for lunch. He said that while they are enjoying their “creme brulee” (that you paid for) ask them some questions and hopefully they will tell you something in return for your courtesy, and if not, then they will still be thankful because you bought them lunch. It seems like a good idea either way.

With Amy in Rupert for the week, I have been busy at my art for most of my spare time. I am currently working on about four different projects, with my paddle taking precedence. Here is a photo of the paddle in its current state.

We had a surprise visit from Geo McKay and Ron Jackson today. They stopped in to see what we were up to.