Just because an artist paints surreal images doesn't mean their lives are surreal.  This is the case with Riva Sweetrocket, www.rivasweetrocket.com, a Denver pastel artist whose large scale works draw you into a world of fantasy while keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground.  Her work is often vibrant and has an evocative quality on the psychological and spiritual level.

I'm an artist who like to work big and that's the case with Riva.  She shared in an artist talk this past weekend that the bigger the better.  As a result of working big she's expanded her artistic nature into problem solving because she needed to find a way to frame her work, but works that large can be costly....so she did what any sensible entrepreneur would do, she began building her own frames.  Riva's explanation was practical in the financial arena, but personally it gave her an excuse to purchase and play with power tools.  The frames are clean lines that don't detract from the piece, but give it a defined space to play.

I've heard Riva speak a few times and one of the things I'm grateful for is her emphasis on personal safety.  Working with pastels creates lots of dust and she explains that she wears a respirator, latex gloves and wears clothing that covers her body so she won't ingest any of the particles or be covered with these small irritants.  It's important that artists take this into consideration for themselves, but also, if you're teaching it's something you need to share with your students...it's that serious.

The other part of the entrepreneurial puzzle that Riva addressed was multiple streams of income.  Along with her paintings, she had packs of notecards for sale that were an inexpensive say to have one of her pieces (so it's not an original, but the images themselves can add beauty to your day.  She also used the opportunity to promote her open studio in October along with her solo show in March 2008 at Plus Gallery (where she's represented by Ivar Zeile). 

The talk was a great balance between her sharing her own thoughts, ideas and inspirations.  In fact, she shared with the audience one of the story boards she creates to design her pieces.  She shared her process and that makes the final product even more amazing.  Riva, with a background in graphic arts, designs her pieces on the computer before laying pastel to paper.  She's willing to share herself, her art and her enthusiasm for her work and that's "the law of attraction" at work.

Lost in the image...
Greg

coaching artists to success