New artist discoveries

One of the things I do that makes my life as a traveling artist so fun and rewarding is that I am constantly meeting new (at least to me) and exciting artists. Each weekend during the "season" set up my booth amongst hundreds of other artists some my friends, others are artists that I have not had the pleasure of meeting and exploring their art yet.

Because 95% of the time I travel to these shows solo, leaving my wife to act as the sole caregiver to our horses, goats, cats and dog back at home, I don't often get a chance to stroll the isles of the festival I'm selling at during actual show hours. Sometimes I get the rare opportunity to have a "booth sitter" spell me for 10 or 15 minutes during the day for a quick trip to the restroom or to grab a bite to eat. These breaks are never long enough to allow me to browse booth to booth checking out other artists works.

So, the majority of the new art I'm exposed to are the artists that are set up in the near proximity to my own booth. Depending on how busy the show is will determine how much time can be spent examining these new found work.

A habit that I've gotten into for the last few years is when I discover a new artist that I would like to check out further, I grab one of their business cards and "surf" their website either later that evening after the show is done for the day or once I return home. It's becoming more rare to find an artist I like that DOESN'T have their own website. By the time these artists I meet get to the level of shows that we're doing together (normally the top 600 US shows) they have discovered many different way to succeed in their art careers and a variety of ways to promote their work and their own website is high on the list.

That said, while checking out some of these artist's sites, I've often find links to still others art sites that I was previously unaware existed. I love that. Some of the most creative artists showing today, I've discovered this way. I've decided to share some of these "finds" with you here on my blog. Some will be links to their websites but others might be videos I've embedded here for you to watch. Either way, I hope to turn you on to other cool artists that you otherwise might not have had the opportunity to see.