Serena Kovalosky

I love my photographer. He makes me look good. Of course, he’ll always say that the subject of the photograph is the most important ingredient, but I’ll tell you – it’s not an easy task to take great pictures of sculptural artwork.

Photographing paintings is a cinch by comparison. My painter friends just drop off their work, and their photographers hang them on the wall, adjust the lighting and they’re good to go.

But with sculpture, you have thousands of angles to work with. First, you have 360 degrees all around, plus all the angles depending on the height of the camera placement. You could easily drive yourself crazy and spend an insane amount of hours trying to get each shot just right.

Jim and I work together on my photo shoots. Sometimes I see my work differently from how he sees it and we might have to negotiate to decide on which side of a particular sculpture is the best. Jim’s been photographing my work since the beginning of my career, and it does get easier over time. Slightly.

But the time spent is well worth it and the results are always spectacular, as you can see by the images on this site.

And our work was recently featured in an excellent blog post by Kesha Bruce on the importance of artists using professional photographs of their work on their websites:

Is Your Art Website Killing Your Art Career?

I am so fortunate to have such a talented, amazing photographer. I’ll give him much of the credit for my successful art career, since more people see images of my work, rather than experiencing them in person. To me, it’s the best investment a serious artist can make.

Jim McLaughlin Photography
Queensbury, NY
518-792-5175

www.mclaughlinphoto.com

Check out my Artful Vagabond blog site – I’ll be chronicling a powerful, art-inspired, year-long
New Year’s Resolution, in celebrations of artists everywhere.

A Juicy New Year’s Resolution

Hurricane Irene is dancing her way up the East Coast., heading straight for us in upstate New York. It’s raining ferociously outside – the wind is picking up and sheets of rain are now falling at 30-degree angles.

Here’s what my studio cat is doing……..

Burdock doesn’t mind the rain one bit, and if he had anything to say about it, he’d much rather be outside. He’s always the last of the cats to come into the house during a storm, his fur drenched and sporting his “Tough Kitty” look. He didn’t get to go out today…….so he’s camped out by the window, sighing heavily.

Here’s what I’m doing…….

Gearing up for my next three shows and using the energy of the hurricane as a creative force in my work. There’s something cleansing about a major storm, with an electricity in the air that stirs up all sorts of natural creativity. As I hear the rain battering the roof and crashing against the windows, I’m soaking up the energy of wind and water and working with it.

I am lucky to be living in a valley protected by mountains. It’s going to be a good afternoon.

Three women artists.

Leslie Parke, Paintings

"Cascade" by Leslie Parke

Three completely different mediums…….

Brenda McMahon, Ceramics

"Green" by Brenda McMahon

…..and equally diverse selling techniques.

Serena Kovalosky, Organic Sculpture

"Woodland Temple" by Serena Kovalosky

Leslie Parke, Brenda McMahon and I got together last night in Shushan, New York for our annual Power Dinner. We all met in 2005  to collaborate on launching the Open Studios of Washington County, New York biennial. As we got to know each other, we realized that there was an extraordinary synergy as we worked together, enhanced by our equally strong work ethic and marketing strategy, which combined to make the tour a success.

But once Brenda had moved to Ohio, we found that we missed that energizing collaboration, so now Brenda returns to the area once a year for our annual Power Dinner.

Sitting in Leslie’s apartment, surrounded by the Bonnard-inspired murals she painted on all her walls, it feels like I’m in the middle of a painting as we savor local cheese, spaghetti Bolognese, homemade cannoli and bottles of wine.

Sharing marketing techniques and ideas for alternative selling venues in the context of a rapidly shifting art market, we talked about our challenges and concerns, interspersed with our own inspirational success stories.

In the face of all the gloomy economic predictions, gallery closings, shrinking art market and artists complaining that “people aren’t buying art anymore”, here we were – the three of us planning on how we were going to not just survive but thrive.

Why do we keep creating? Because we are artists and that’s what we do. Artists have continued to produce artwork for thousands of years, despite war, famine, stock market crashes, natural disasters, economic downturns, depression, recession, and oppression. Artists don’t just create in good times. Or because the market is right. We create because we have to.

And despite what the naysayers would like us to believe, people are still buying art.

So I raise my glass not only to the artists who are still out there creating no matter what, but also to each of you who appreciates art and who makes room in your budget to allow extraordinary artwork to enhance your life.

Although many people believe that creating art is like taking a vacation, professional artists throughout the centuries regularly take vacations away from their art, especially after finishing an intense body of work or following a major exhibition.

I have my favorite personal retreat as well…..read more