Cripple Creek Ice Festival 2018~ pt.3

The second weekend of the Ice Festival saw record crowds fill the streets of Cripple Creek. And the additional sculptures added to the magic. 

The sculptures stay up for an additional week for visitors and residents to enjoy. Can't wait to see what's in store for next year!

Cripple Creek Ice Festival 2018 ~ pt.2

While the first day of the event brought a snowstorm to the area, the second day was gorgeous! The beautiful sunshine allowed people to fully enjoy the frosty creations.

In Cripple Creek, no event is complete unless there are DONKEYS!

The City had another shipment of ice brought in before the second weekend because in the past, the ice has melted in the warm temperatures, causing the sculptures to look a bit sad. But this year was different. The cold stuck around all week and the new ice allowed the sculpting teams to create more beautiful-ness. 

Next time we'll take a look at the second batch of sculptures and some night-time views.

Cripple Creek Ice Festival 2018 ~ pt. 1

The Cripple Creek Ice Festival takes place every February for two weekends. What a great way to break up the winter doldrums. Only thing is, it really hasn't been much like winter around here. We have had such extreme temperature swings! Almost Spring-like for a few days, then a storm blows in and brings us a small amount of snow and some frigid temperatures. The last couple years has seen warm temperatures for the Ice Fest and the ice begins melting not long after the first day. But this year was a little different. We had snow arrive on the first day and moderately chilly temperatures continued throughout the first weekend.

The Ice Festival is an interactive ice sculpture event with a different theme every year. The public is encouraged to touch, sit, and enjoy the sculptures carved by the sculpting teams. This year's theme was Renaissance in Ice with five professional ice sculpting teams who turned the downtown area into a medieval wonderland complete with an ice castle, dragon ice slide, carnival games in ice and for the adults a martini ice luge.

The ice was brought in on two semi-trailers over the course of two days- about 180,000 pounds of ice from the Great Lake region of Ohio. That would be 600 blocks of ice each weighing 300 pounds. It was fun watching the process. 

The ice is shrink wrapped for its protection

All manner of items were used to sculpt the ice - axes, chainsaws, blow dryers, kitchen utensils. Whatever gave the carvers the ability to shape the ice.

Next time, we'll take a walk down the street as another storm moves in and we'll view the finished sculptures. 

Marketing 101

Over the summer I attended a seminar about Marketing for the artist. It was sponsored by Cottonwood Center for the Arts.

The panel of experts consisted of the heads of two local tv stations and two local newspapers, along with reps of an advertising agency and a local gallery. They were all knowledgeable, friendly and very willing to share their experience and expetise with those in attendance. And I wanted to share what I found out with you.

Marketing is a necessary part of selling anything - books, artwork, tangible or intangible items. Marketing oneself can be hard. But who knows you and your product better than YOU! So YOU are the best one equipped to market yourself and your goods.

The biggest part of marketing something is getting the public to know about you and your item. The more interesting you are (life experiences, places lived, etc.), then it is more likely that the public will take notice of you and/or your work. 

Blogging was, and still is, a great way for the public to learn about you and whatever you create.  Social media is also another almost imperative publicity outlet in today's marketplace.  

Here are some pointers when writing a press release or a notice for a media outlet.

• ·         Cater your story to the media outlet - A write-up for a social media source may be shorter and more personal than one for a newspaper
• ·         Create a human interest story – go behind the scenes of the person (YOU!) written about in the press release
• ·         Write the press release with people in mind – create a hook to draw them in
• ·        Press releases or articles should only be one page – short and concise, important info at the top, do not stray from topic, boiler plate info at bottom
• ·         Press release should be one paragraph for tv coverage
• ·         Add pictures or video to online press releases - use metatags (labels) to increase visibility, online press releases (via Facebook, Twitter, or online media calendars) receive approx. 3x the views as printed matter (newspapers, magazines)
• ·         Create an ongoing relationship with media or business organizations
• ·         Collaboration with others increases visibility
• ·         Provide quality material to leave a quality impression

Steel Fairies

The art of  Robin Wright

Stepping Out of the Painting

The art of Nathan Cartwright

Wanna Sucker?

The art of Shinri Tezuka

Night Photos

The art of Mikko Lagerstedt