My Guitar and Foreign Languages?

Hi ya'll,

As you can see I am holding a guitar. It's not mine. It is an electric and I like the look and size of it. My guitar is a Cordoba classical guitar. I love the flamenco sound of my guitar. It does not have a shoulder strap, nor do I plan to get one. I play sitting down and use a foot step to raise my leg for holding the guitar in it's higher up than electric guitar position.  I was chatting with my guitar teacher and asked him about foreign languages, I asked my BF about languages too. I made consultation appointments with various USC staff members in the research dept and in fellowships and asked all them, the same question.

 "What is the best language for an artist to take?"

At first, I thought I would just go to summer school and take Spanish. I had signed up for both classes. Then I got thinking about it. What countries have requested my art for shows? What countries do I have customers in, already? Where are my non USA followers mostly located? After thinking this through, I realized I didn't really have a "Spanish" following. Of course, I do want to go to Costa Rica and I have been to Mexico, but it is really not necessary to speak much Spanish in either country.

Photo by Julie Cooper, Columbia, SC USA

I remembered my art was requested for a show in San Paulo, Brazil, and they speak Portuguese there. That is a language they teach at USC. Galleries in Berlin, Germany have made several offers to show my work and represent me in their galleries. I have never been there and would like to see these places before I choose who to put my art with for the best selling venue possibilities. I would definitely need to speak the language according to friends that have been there, if I wanted to attend art shows and have an art workshop while there. I hadn't really looked at my stats in a while, last I remembered my biggest followings were in Canada and England with a few German and Italians in the mix. They teach German at USC. Germany is very cultural and I have been considering going to Berlin as my study abroad and to do research on artists and galleries.

                                                Silk Collage by Jean Bourque

My guitar teacher thought German would be good. I do not personally know anyone that can speak German, other than the German professor at USC. I don't actually know her, so I am hoping someone I know does speak German as I am seriously considering signing up for it this fall. It would be great to have someone to practice with besides class.  Since the other students are a lot younger even though I reach out, it's rare that any have studied with me or worked on a project.  

I did go thru all my profiles and found of course English speaking countries are my highest number of fans, followed by French, Italian and then German. India and Portuguese speaking countries where next, after them there was a big tie with Russian, Uganda, Pakistan and Ukraine. Much to my surprise, I had a few from Egypt, Turkey, Taiwan and S Korea but none from China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand or Japan. I had thought about learning Chinese so I could learn the alphabet and use it in art, but now I have decided besides my English speaking fans in Australia, Bermuda, The Netherlands, England, Ireland and Canada; I need to focus on learning a language that will benefit me in my art career. After all that is why I am back in college. German it is. Do any of you speak German? If you do, please let me know. You may also contact me regarding Private Painting Lessons in the privacy of your home for you or your child(ren). Reasonable rates. See email link below signature. Thank you!

Yours Truly,
Jeanee
. Contact Jeanee via email by clicking here!
Thank you!!

The Fun of a Live Art Auction at USC Columbia SC

Coffee Series II

by 

Jean Bourque

USC held it's first art auction as 

The School of Visual Arts and Design

last night at the 

McMaster Gallery

Although, it was the first for the newly titled School of Visual Arts and Design, it was the 60th art auction held at USC's McMaster Gallery. Approximately 60 pieces were up for auction and all were sold by 930 pm. There were pieces from renowned artists such as Mana Hewitt, Virginia Scotchie, Mary Robinson, Steven Hewitt and Shannon Lindsey as well as pieces from alumni like Tommie Toner and students like myself and many others. I volunteered for the auction and had a great time. I saw people that I hadn't seen in a while like the wonderful Sylvia Ady Potts, with whom I had been in art shows with in the past. 

Three auctioneers took their turn at the microphone and you could feel the excitement in the air. There were many lovely works of pottery, ceramic, lots of paintings and a few wood works. 

It was fun seeing how the bidding would go from one person to another and back again, and every now and then some one would suddenly bid out of no where. It kept it very interesting.

I was fortunate enough to meet the buyers of my artwork and they were genuinely pleased with their purchase. That is what it's all about, knowing someone loves your art. Plus, since this was a fundraiser for USC's gallery and for the scholarship fund, it was a fun way to give back to the school that I have been enjoying all year and plan to enjoy for many years to come. It was also very educational as I got to see work by many faculty members and get a feel for what they do. 

Robert Lyon submitted Last Vessel at USC #1 and #2 both created in a wood turning process. The titles given reflect that Mr Lyon will be leaving USC after 18 years. He will truly be missed. I was looking forward to having one of his classes. Had I know he would be leaving, I would have taken the class this year!

The highest selling pieces were by Mana Hewitt and another high seller was by Rob Shaw. 

Mana's piece was a landscape so smooth and shiny and perfectly presented; it felt real. Rob's piece was an impressionistic landscape of the Gervais St bridge, beautifully rendered, in lively colors and thick impasto style paint. 

It was fun. I look forward to volunteering next year and perhaps even making a purchase. 

Yours Truly,

Jeanee