Lefty Oracle Deck Originals at Riverside Art Museum

I just finished exhibiting all 52 originals from my soon-to-be-published Lefty Oracle Deck at Riverside Art Museum. Here's a bunch of fun photos of folks trying out non-dominant hand drawing, being brave and getting up on stage to pose as a lefty...you'll find collaborating couples, moms and daughters, best friends, solo artists and more. Click here to read about my show in the Valley News.

A 52 Week Artistic Journey at Riverside Art Museum

Pix from The 52 Project at the Riverside Art Museum. 

I'll be exhibiting all 52 originals from my Lefty Oracle Deck in August and I'll be on hand for the opening on Thursday, August 4th from 6-9 pm, Be prepared to receive handouts from my soon-to-be-published Lefty Oracle Guidebook with some intuitive journaling exercises, how to use the cards in a reading, body movement challenges and other fun stuff. Learn more + win a deck here.

The lovely Laura Ryan and her pear painting; part of The 52 Project group exhibit

Me and Sharon Zorn-Katz in front of her quilt of Mexico as viewed from an airplane

Chris Sanders swimming in the Carioca Soul Exhibit next door to The 52 Project exhibit

About The 52 Project:
I went on a 52-week artistic journey, with 147 other people, this past year. It was a program through the Riverside Art Museum called “The 52 Project” and it was designed to help us be more creative through setting goals, discovering our story, capturing ideas in a journal and learning about the “business” of art. This summer we will be sharing the results of this amazing experience with 33 mini 4-day exhibits and a Group Show.

The Riverside Art Museum has been very generous in supporting us so we have agreed, as a group, to help raise some funds to help underwrite the installation of the summer shows and bring in some seed money to insure the continuation of The 52 Project.

To keep this worthwhile Project going please click here to donate to the Riverside Art Museum.

How to create an art fair booth in 4 days

Leftys first booth EVER - Temecula 1st Friday Art Event Hey all!

This blog is going to be taking a different direction starting this Full Moon in Libra. Like I mentioned in my last post, it's taken me 15 years to work up the courage to create an entire art booth devoted solely to my Lefty art. But now that I have, I'm not gonna stop...my goal is to get into some of the shows I call 'millenial/GenX' shows which are sooo different from the 'boomer' shows I've been doing over the last 20 some years with my very popular LuLu in Laguna artwork (which I'm retiring by the way other than still selling LuLu cards wholesale to the mermaid stores that love them).

So, to sum up the Lefty's debut show of which I had no expectations whatsoever regarding sales because heck, it's Temecula and it's a brand new town that doesn't really have any art galleries that anyone knows about, so the crowd was sparse but the folks that were there were interested in talking about art which was a very good thing. This town has potential and it's changing fast so we're all hopeful.

Anyways, I met with lots of folks who are quite involved with what little art scene we do have here and got invited to show my work at several shows and events.

Mercy Me by Kathy Crabbe

I did notice that my Lefty cards and my small Lefty booth sign were not easily read (if at all) by older folks and I even had one man look quite disgusted when I trotted out my little spiel about painting my leftys using my non dominant left hand (perhaps he thought it was the work of the devil?  heck I dunno), but  I do KNOW that I'm NOT a salesperson. I don't have that special something required; never have, never will, but I do plan on hiring someone sparkly to sell for me at shows. I myself plan to be in the back of the booth giving Creative Soul Readings with my Lefty deck which is something else that these Millenial/Gen X shows (let's call them 'XY shows' from hereon out, okay?)  DO allow readings - kewl!  ...because I'm almost certain the Boomer shows would not like that at all!

Next up is a new online shop for my Leftys (Shopify platform), new banners for my blog and facebook to match my Storenvy banner - it's all got to be consistent, of course plus my first wholesale order from a shop in San Diego (just waiting for the owner to pick out her faves).  Then purchase some really cute envelopes for the Lefty Cards, perhaps in a fun pastel-ey color. I also need to hire a booth helper/salesperson for shows and then apply and actually get into said shows!  I may start an Instagram account and look into making Lefty resin necklaces and rings also.  The Artist's Circle which I'm starting this month in cahoots with 3 other kick ass artists will hopefully prove to be a wonderful support group for helping all of us keep it together whilst living out here in cowboy land!

So, stay tuned...I plan on adding more of this kind of writing to my blog plus update the pix I posted here once new ones come in (I had a nice group of photographers snap my booth). We all gotta start somewhere, right?

Lefty Display by Kathy Crabbe

Last, but not least, I created (and branded) this entire booth display and all the products in it in 4 days!  I went crazy at Michaels buying vintage, shabby chic props (in a record 10 minutes - they were closing) as well as absconding my husband's childhood desk (which belonged to his grandma before him), an antique caned chair and a really cool turquoise taboret from Ikea. I touched up my Lefty artwork scans using Photoshop and then printed them on Mohawk color copy card stock using an Epson 2200 printer and archival pigment inks. My prints (I only had 4) were printed on Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster which ended up suiting the Leftys better than the very expensive Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper. I only featured  Leftys I'd painted in the previous 2 years to keep things consistent design-wise plus I did bring some old copies of Lefty poetry zines and postcard zines that I had made in the mid 2000's.

First Friday Art Event Temecula

First Friday Art Event Temecula - Photo by Chad Woodward

Lefty Framed by Kathy Crabbe

FIRST EVER Artist's Circle meetup April 12 ~ Temecula

***Purchase Lefty Art Cards and Prints ***

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