In the spirit of sharing great art and promoting good people, I've long wanted to take advantage of my quirky title by sharing the work of other great Artist friends - who too, can paint!
So as 'My friend can paint' reaches its' 4th Birthday next month, I've decided to celebrate by launching something new. Throughout this year my blog will be featuring interviews with different Artists. With the aim of sharing their amazing work, a little about their practice, their artistic journey and their wonderful selves.
To start off (a little closer to home…and because it's my Birthday) I wanted to recap on the history of 'My friend can paint' to fill in all of my new likers, clients, as well as my ever supportive family and friends on the wonderful events and opportunities that have come to me since I started this life changing page 4 years ago.
I often get asked where 'My friend can paint' came from and what exactly I intended it to mean. Back in 2010 when I rediscovered my paints and brushes (in a box under our house), my sister in law suggested I start a Facebook page devoted to my paintings for my family and friends to share and promote. Erin (my sister in law) sent me a link to a local jewellery designer that had done just that, and so after taking a little look through the page I decided to give it a go.
As always my approach towards most things in life is very much based on an 'all or nothing' attitude. If I was going to put myself out there, I was going to do it thoroughly and efficiently. So I pulled out all of my old photo albums and school portfolios and scanned old photographs of artworks from years gone by and then started cataloguing albums to load and showcase on Facebook. I wanted people to see the journey my work had taken, my evolving style and let's be honest I wanted to show off my skills.
So as 'My friend can paint' reaches its' 4th Birthday next month, I've decided to celebrate by launching something new. Throughout this year my blog will be featuring interviews with different Artists. With the aim of sharing their amazing work, a little about their practice, their artistic journey and their wonderful selves.
To start off (a little closer to home…and because it's my Birthday) I wanted to recap on the history of 'My friend can paint' to fill in all of my new likers, clients, as well as my ever supportive family and friends on the wonderful events and opportunities that have come to me since I started this life changing page 4 years ago.
I often get asked where 'My friend can paint' came from and what exactly I intended it to mean. Back in 2010 when I rediscovered my paints and brushes (in a box under our house), my sister in law suggested I start a Facebook page devoted to my paintings for my family and friends to share and promote. Erin (my sister in law) sent me a link to a local jewellery designer that had done just that, and so after taking a little look through the page I decided to give it a go.
As always my approach towards most things in life is very much based on an 'all or nothing' attitude. If I was going to put myself out there, I was going to do it thoroughly and efficiently. So I pulled out all of my old photo albums and school portfolios and scanned old photographs of artworks from years gone by and then started cataloguing albums to load and showcase on Facebook. I wanted people to see the journey my work had taken, my evolving style and let's be honest I wanted to show off my skills.
A high school work from my University entrance portfolio.
A work from my flower phase…yes I had a hard core serious flower phase as embarrassing as that is, I did gain a lot of practice from mindlessly painting them though.
The hardest part of the initial process was coming up with a name for the page. I had considered just using my name 'Tamara Armstrong' followed by 'Artist' as I had seen many other Artists doing BUT I wanted something catchy, easier to remember and I wanted it to be reflective of what I essentially saw the page as being…something to be shared and appreciated by my friends. I wrote down a few ideas that best represented this and then entered them into the search tool to see if they had been used already. I narrowed it down to 'My friend the Artist' and 'My friend can paint'. I decided the second one was less pretentious and also lent itself to future growth if I decided to share other things that I could do.
The process of putting this page together, with the ultimate intention of sharing it…with the world, was both exciting and motivational. Once I hit the 'publish' button and shared the link on my Facebook profile I didn't know exactly what to expect but at best I was hopeful it would get me a few artwork sales and maybe even a commission.
What I didn't expect was the huge gain in confidence I was to receive. Friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances and friends of friends were liking my page, sharing it and leaving incredibly kind feedback about my artwork. It gave me this huge surge of pride and so my desire to keep on painting was further fuelled.
The process of putting this page together, with the ultimate intention of sharing it…with the world, was both exciting and motivational. Once I hit the 'publish' button and shared the link on my Facebook profile I didn't know exactly what to expect but at best I was hopeful it would get me a few artwork sales and maybe even a commission.
What I didn't expect was the huge gain in confidence I was to receive. Friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances and friends of friends were liking my page, sharing it and leaving incredibly kind feedback about my artwork. It gave me this huge surge of pride and so my desire to keep on painting was further fuelled.
Discovering the Afro Bubble Beauty. My first EVER Afro beauty painting. Purchased by some beautiful friends of mine. It just got bigger and better from here.
More evolution of the bubble fro. This work made me feel like I had finally found my style. It was purchased from my very first market outing here at the local Tamborine School Markets.
So many fantastic opportunities presented themselves to me in the weeks that followed the page launch. The first was an offer from a Brisbane fashion boutique owner to display my work. 'City Dweller' was located in the Broadway mall off of Queen Street in Brisbane's CBD. I was totally blown away to have my work on show in such a great space, surrounded by many amazing creations by up and coming Australia fashion designers. I managed to sell a number of works and received a fair few commissions from City Dweller's customers. This was all possible because my friend Talia shared my page on FB at the exact moment her old school friend (Bec owner of 'City Dweller') had decided to start looking for local artists to support...CRAZY!!!
10 of my works hung in rotation at City Dweller in Broadway Mall of Brisbane's CBD.
The second notably exciting opportunity was a Mural painting commission from a hair salon owner in Stone's Corner 'Rhapsody Boheme Hair', who found me at the local markets on a Sunday morning. Again this was another unique, creative business and space that lead many new likers, clients and enquiries my way. It was also the first mural I had ever painted 100% on my own. The rewards continued to flow from these initial events.
A small section of the 7 metre long mural I painted for Rhapsody Boheme Hair.
The third opportunity (that to me seemed unbelievable, at the time) was receiving an email from one of the curators of an exciting new gallery space in Toowoomba 'MADE - Creative Space' . They had spotted my work on FB and wanted to know if I would be interested in having a solo exhibition in their space. This offer by far exceeded my initial hopes for my page and what it would grant me. I had always thought that to have a solo exhibition in an established Art Gallery was a goal that I was nowhere near achieving. I was teaching full time and so I was only able to paint at night and on weekends. If I was going to have a solo exhibition, I wanted to have created a polished and cohesive body of work in a style that I was truly happy with. I expressed my concerns with the curator and she offered me a show booking for October so that I would have enough time to get a quality collection together. And I did!
My first solo show 'Aesthetic Slave' at MADE - Creative Space in Toowoomba. Further evolution of the bubble fro.
My first ever solo show took place in October of 2011 at MADE and six of my paintings were purchased. Many of my amazing family and friends travelled from far and wide to celebrate with me at the opening night and the gallery reached record numbers of visitors with 200 people in attendance. It was truly one of the greatest nights of my life.
My Dad looking rather proud with some of my works.
What I soon learnt from this experience (promoting my work via social media), was that I didn't have to sit back and wait for the opportunities to find me. In fact, if these incredible few could find me, then what else was out there waiting to be found.
So I started looking…really looking. I kept my eyes open and my ears to the ground and even better than that, my ever supportive likers did too!
So I started looking…really looking. I kept my eyes open and my ears to the ground and even better than that, my ever supportive likers did too!
Further evolution of the bubble fro…becoming part blackboard signage for Nobby Beach hot spot 'Canvas Espresso' on the Gold Coast.
I painted this mural outside of 'Canvas Espresso' on Lavarack Rd in Nobby's Beach in september of 2011.
My artwork was featured at Canvas in 2011 & 2012.
I approached D'Bar Art Gallery in Coolangatta about show casing my work. They have displayed my work continually since 2012 and in May of 2013 I had my second solo show 'Insight'.
Pictured with my largest mural to date at the 'I Quit Sugar' head quarters in Surry Hills, Sydney. I responded to a call out for this job in May 2014 and was selected. It was by far my fave career highlight as I got to meet the amazing Sarah Wilson , who kindly wrote a blog post all about me. This friend was the best at sharing my work with a very large audience.
To read the blog post Sarah wrote 'Really know (and trust life from there)' click here.
Thanks to the help of my likers, friends and family I managed to land other wonderful feature artist gigs at various cafe's, retail spaces and fashion boutiques across Brisbane, Toowoomba, the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and Byron Bay. I'm happy to report that this continues to happen even now and so I'm eternally grateful to these people for always keeping me in mind and sending call out information my way, as it crosses their paths.
More of my work pictured among exciting Australian designers at 'Drobe' in Fortitude Valley.
A fashion loving friend forwarded me a call out for from fashion boutique 'Drobe' which featured my work in their prominent Fortitude Valley shop front from 2011-2012.
Thanks to my Dad for sniffing out this opportunity, my work was featured at Cafe Conti in Brisbane suburb Wilson, for two months in 2012. They sold a record number of works for the cafe. I received two commissions and gained many new followers from this opportunity.
I approached a popular local restaurant here at Tamborine Mountain in late 2012 about featuring my work. Deli Vino displayed 10 of my works from Dec 2012-Feb 2013 and sold 3 pieces. It was the first time my work was showcased this close to home.
So I'd like to continue this beautiful cycle of sharing, supporting and recommending others for the greater good of ART- and perhaps to connect any of you reading this with other opportunities and/or like minded individuals. If anything, I hope you find inspiration from each Artist's experience.
I've already got some incredibly talented Artists ready to roll out in the coming months, but if you would like to suggest a wonderful Artist you may know, please don't hesitate to email me their info. I will certainly do my best to include as many shout outs for genuinely deserving people as I can.
Tamara x
I've already got some incredibly talented Artists ready to roll out in the coming months, but if you would like to suggest a wonderful Artist you may know, please don't hesitate to email me their info. I will certainly do my best to include as many shout outs for genuinely deserving people as I can.
Tamara x
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