New Interview

I just did an interview with theillustratorsmarketBlogSpot.com.  It's been a while since doing an interview and it was quite fun taking some time to think over the questions. Talking bout your art and your journey that got you to your current spot really helps you to see how much you've learned and helps to narrow in on what's important to consider when moving forward.
http://theillustratorsmarket.blogspot.com/2014/04/matthew-gauvin.html


    I also spent the day going to a couple of art galleries in nearby towns. One gallery acted like they could care less about my art and didn't feel my art was a match for them but the other accepted four pieces!!! It has given me the encouragement I needed to keep moving foreward with more landscapes throughout the upcoming summer.

East Burke Vermont Winter Landscape Painting of Bure Mountain

I've been busy with a lot of different projects lately but was happy to be able to work in some time for an ala prima landscape painting this past week. It's the first acrylic painting I've done in a looong time but I tried to paint it like I would an oil, trying to lose the edges in some areas and having lots of colors worked into each  section. The painting is now available on my etsy store.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/186935865/original-east-burke-vermont-burke?ref=shop_home_active_1

Landscape Art Quilt

This month for my Vermont Etsy Team I would like to share the work of a fellow Vermonter who makes landscapes with fabric. I saw here work and was inspired by what Carol McDowell Is able to do by combining various fabric prints. This is one of my favorites. She sells patterns and a few original quilts.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/157269317/easy-landscape-art-quilt-pattern?ref=pr_shop

Illustrator of the Month on childrenillustrators.com

       

 I promise this isn't another April Fools joke, even though I thought it was when I found out last night. While checking e-mails I discovered that www.childrensillustrators.com actually made me their Illustrator of the month!!!!! That means for the month of April they will have a link to my page on the front page of their site! What an awesome early birthday present! I've been on the site for less than a month and I'm pretty excited to see if this might possibly get some business coming my way. I kept putting it off for years and years because of the cost to join but finally bit the bullet knowing I need to do something different. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again while expecting different results. Barb has pushed me out of my insanity and encouraged me to get myself and my art out there a bit more than I would on my own.

 

       I'm sure I'll make another post at the end of the month to say whether I got any work out of it or not. This will be the ultimate test for this site in my mind because If I can't get any work or offers from publishers after being on the front page of a major children's illustrator site like that, then either the site isn't as great as they claim or my art isn't as good as I hope! I've worked for more than seven years as a full time illustrator trying to figure out how to get noticed by brick and mortar publishers.  Hoping for the best.

Vermoosin' Hard Cider!!!!

Vermonters will probably remember last year when The Vermont based company "Woodchuck Hard Cider" was in a dispute with the "WoodChuck Coffee Roasters" Company over their name and Logo.

http://www.schwimmerlegal.com/2013/05/woodchuck-cider-v-woodchuck-coffee.html

Well that dispute worked out to my favor in a LARGE way as I'm now happy to present their new labeling and Identy will be branded around Barbs and My "Vermoosin" Concept!  They are calling it "Whacky Antler Hard Cider" and will be working with me to create a whole line of Kirby the Moose Illustrations to fit each of their products. Below is a mock up they sent of their "Amber" product.  Not only will I be getting a whole lot of free hard Cider but I managed to work out a really amazing advance and royalty with them!!!!  Here's a link to  my original Vermoosin' products on zazzle for those interested in purchasing them.   http://www.zazzle.com/sneezingleopard* 

EDIT:   Sorry to have to report this is actually just a bad April Fool's Joke. I posted it to FB as well and I started to feel pretty bad when everyone was showing such kind support. I have to say I even surprised myself when I dropped that moose into place in photoshop and saw how cool he looked. Maybe I should contact "Woodchuck" and see if they have plans to launch another line of products anytime soon!