Art By Tali Landsman

We have packed the van with the art and all that we need for the show. I have spent the last two days getting ready, gathering business cards, greeting cards, mailing list forms, bios, statements I made a "Collector's Package" which I plan to give to each person that buys my art. I feel very well organized and ready, excited and thrilled to go on this adventure. We also packed healthy snacks for the road, gallons of mineral water, fresh fruit and music. I only have nine large paintings for this show and about twenty small cube paintings. This will be my first show with only large art. I am not sure how well it will go. Large art has its limitations as most people living in the city usually have smaller living spaces. Another thing is that most art lovers have collected art through the years and have less wall space. But I am the eternal optimist. People do get tired of art and shift things to make room for something new that they love. New people get interested in art all

We are back in Colorado, but not for long. On Monday we are starting our drive to do an art show in Chicago. We decided to start the drive a bit early so we can take our time and get to Chicago without needing to drive eight or ten ours a day. Jules plans to work in the mornings in our hotels and I like to stop for stretches, food, fuel etc. I will try to blog about the journey, about the show and people comments to my Sketchbook series.

We are flying back to the USA. I have just arranged for a neighbor to ship my boxed art to the art shows that I will participate in over the winter in NZ. I am getting ready to a great summer that is starting with an art show in Chicago. (the 57 Street Art Show).

We are on our last week of our stay in NZ. Early next week we will be flying back to Colorado. It feels like a good time to leave as the rain is getting heavier here in NZ, while in sunny Colorado it is 80 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny every day. I am packing art to send to shows and to collectors. Upon our return to the USA, we have to pack the van and drive to Chicago to do an art show in the city. It will be my first art show with my "Artist's Sketchbook Series". I have sold painting in this series both in NZ and the USA, but I have not done a show personally and had an opportunity to listen to the public. I am excited.

We have just returned from a weekend in Auckland. We drove to Auckland to see the Auckland Art Fair which started in 2005 and have grown to a lovely event. Although a smaller event than most global art fairs, with only 38 galleries present, still it was a wonderful event. It was so well organized and very elegant. Located on the Viaduct Harbor, it had two main exhibition halls, two cafes a sculpture / installation garden and of course a lot of beautiful contemporary art. We attended an evening lecture on Friday evening which was well attended and came back to stroll and look at the art on Saturday. We were delighted to see how well attended the event was and many of the galleries has a red dot sold sticker on many pieces of art. We also took the opportunity to eat in our favorite Japanese restaurants. One of them is "Soto" which offers a vegetarian tasting menu which is an art piece to look at and a feast to the taste buds, and the other is named " Tanuki Cave". I