May Last Thursday art clearance sale

This coming Thursday, May 27, 2010, I will be offering nearly all available original art for sale in order to clean out the storage space and stale creative energy, and also to raise funds to replace my bicycle that was stolen a few days ago.

I will also be offering (weather permitting) a quick portrait sketch (for a suggested donation of $5).

All items will be under $25 between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., then will be "pay what you can and will" thereafter until closing around 9:45 p.m.  This is a good opportunity to add affordable works of art to your home or office.  All items must go by the end of the day, so no reasonable offer will be declined -- in fact, even a small amount will help me at this point immensely.  The recent theft of the bicycle has caused some unexpected financial strains and loss of productivity.

This will be at the parking lot of Radio Room, 1101 N.E. Alberta St. in Portland, Oregon.  As the Last Thursday is expected to be busy, I recommend using the public transit (it is hard to find a place to park even for a bicycle). TriMet lines 8 and 75 serve the area, and so does the 6 (on MLK at Alberta, about 7 blocks away).

IrisCat Designs news updates for April 2010

I am posting this on March 31 so no one would think it's April Fools! ;-)

This blog has been quiet for some time, but in my little world it's teeming with many activities.  First of all, I would like to express my belated thanks to all who came to my first solo show in February at the Secret Hideout Studio in Portland.  This was a very well attended show.

I will not be showing at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral this year during the first weekend of May. The costs of producing the work to the event's specification, limited audience exposure and potential low sales simply do not make it possible for me at this time.

I will, however, be showing one new and original painting at the upcoming group theme show at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church (NE 16th Avenue & NE Weidler Street) starting this Sunday through end of May.  There will be a little reception and artists' talk on one of the Sundays, but that would not be this coming Sunday (which is Easter in the Western church calendar).  Stay tuned here, on Facebook (look for IrisCat Designs) or on Twitter @sarahmorrigan.

This spring I have become a graduate student -- and I am taking 9 credits -- so I will be doing a lot more things with my life.  This requires some adjustments and modifications.  While I will not scale down my artist activities (in fact I am looking to increase in this area) I will be making a number of changes to the IrisCat Design's commercial client services beginning April 1:

• Window painting services: I will no longer be supplying paints during off-peak seasons due to the inventory and cash-flow issues.  Paints will be the responsibility of the clients (I will bring other tools and materials).  To reflect this change, the service rates will be lowered (exact figures TBA).  Also, my service area will be limited to central parts of Portland, Oregon and select urban cores of surrounding cities, such as downtown Lake Oswego, downtown Milwaukie, Clackamas Town Center (Harmony/Sunnyside), downtown Beaverton, Washington Square (Nimbus/Progress) and downtown Gresham.  I will no longer be servicing outlying suburbs due to time requirements.


• Graphic design and branding development services: I will be offering these services at a much lower rate starting April 1.  Now it will be $55 minimum charge (and first hour) and $40 per hour thereafter.


• Commissioned fine arts: No changes.

Heraldry and ecclesiastical seals: where high-tech contemporary designs meet time-steeped tradition

One of my specialty areas of practice is designs of traditional ecclesiastical (church) seals that both follow the centuries-old traditions of heraldry that are rich in metaphorical and spiritual symbolism, and at the same time stylish and visually pleasing to the contemporary sensibility.



Read the stories behind these seals, including their heraldic symbolism and meanings.

Short updates

Iridia Creative Production is now IrisCat Designs. I was not able to log in to this blog's dashboard for a few months for some unknown reasons, so this hadn't been updated as much as it should have been.

In the mean time, I have started another blog on iriscat.myartplot.com, the downside of it being there is no RSS or permalink. So eventually I will mirror the same contents here as well.

Also now IrisCat Designs has a Facebook fan page. Many updates are done there.

Rebranding: Iridia Creative will soon become IrisCat Designs!

This is a short heads-up that I will soon be rebranding this business to IrisCat Designs -- with hope that the new name will be more memorable, sticky, easier to say, and more evocative of what I do.

IrisCat Designs

Madison, NJ chamber, art council and schools bring community together with holiday window painting

 

“[Window paintings] will not compete with your window display, but help to enhance it... The window painting will help tie in all the stores and create a beautiful and festive atmosphere throughout our business district for the holidays."

-- James Burnet, executive director, Main Street, Madison, NJ.

I am looking for a similar project in which several stores on a same stretch of a street would have a thematically coordinated, serialized window paintings. If anyone know of a neighborhood community and business organizer who can spearhead an effort like this, please contact Sarah Morrigan.

Iridia Creative launches StoreCats.info

[caption id="attachment_221" align="aligncenter" width="230" caption="directory and resources on felines in retail and business environments"][/caption]

Today the new website StoreCats.info officially went online. While focused primarily on Portland, Oregon at the moment, StoreCats.info aims to bring resources for business operators who would like to build a sense of community and attract more business through having a "store cat" in a retail or other business environment.

Simultaneously, the site seeks contribution of information, cat stories and pictures from the general public, allow public comments and ratings of cats.

StoreCats.info. Get your kitty fix. Support your local shops.