What a difference a Year Rounder makes
Yesterday was the 2023 Provincetown and Outer Cape Year Rounder’s Festival. This annual event showcases Outer Cape Artisans of all kinds, town boards and committees, local non-profits, and more. Last year’s Festival was my first time displaying outside the gallery, and it led to a key milestone for me - my first sale of an original, mixed-media, acrylic painting.
Since my mixed media photographs were first displayed at Stewart Clifford Gallery in Spring 2021, I’ve gotten plenty of second-hand feedback, as Stewart regularly shares with me visitors’ comments and questions about my style and technique. For instance, in 2021 he was quick to point out the high levels of interest in my first window pane piece. This insight has led me to create and display several more window pane pieces over the past two years, most of which have gone home with buyers.
As 2022 began, I started to experiment with acrylic paint on canvas. Previously, I had worked only with printed photographs, applying acrylic paint sparingly to selected elements like window panes, boats, and trees. Starting from a blank canvas was new territory for me, and to be honest, I was uncertain about how my pieces would be received when displayed next to the gallery’s fantastic paintings.
Me at my table. Yes, a juggler is standing behind me.
Enter the Year Rounder’s Festival. This was my chance to collect feedback outside the gallery and to engage with other local artisans. I spent a day sitting at a table with my paintings and some business cards, meeting visitors and answering questions.
Here is what happened:
Greg Ayres. Rooftop Wheels. 2022
This acrylic painting is my interpretation of a story that a certain building in town was formerly a Ford dealership, and that in the 1920s and 1930s, the dealer parked new cars for sale on the roof. To highlight the cars’ spare wheels and bumpers, I applied wooden cut outs to the canvas.
Viewers thought it looked whimsical but unfinished. I decided return this one to my studio for more work.
Greg Ayres. Regal Light. 2022
This is an acrylic painting of one of my favorite vehicles, a 1970 Buick Regal GS coupe. The color was inspired by a 1:24 scale model replica I own. To paint the wheels and chrome trim, I used one of my favorite tools, an oil paint Sharpie pen, as well as a quarter dollar coin.
I received mixed feedback, with one woman telling me it reminded her of her first, beloved car, and others asking why I chose this subject. I decided to display this one in my home office.
Greg Ayres. Hatches Light. 2021
This beach scene was my first, completed, acrylic painting. It is inspired by white-line prints, but is not a print itself but rather an original painting. Instead of cutting grooves into wooden blocks, as is the traditional way to create a “Provincetown Print,” I used painter’s tape to create the white lines of the clouds, the surf, and the lighthouse. To give the piece a sense of life and movement, I also applied cabochons (small plastic birds) and wooden cut outs, all sold through Etsy.
By the end of this day in March 2022, Hatches Light had received the most positive feedback, with some calling it “beautiful.” I shared the feedback with Stewart, who displayed Hatches Light in the gallery, where it sold a short time later. After creating and selling only mixed-media photographs for a year, I was thrilled to see some success with my acrylic paintings. For this reason, I am grateful for the feedback I received at the 2022 Year Rounder’s Festival.
