If art sales are coming back, is the economy better?

I have heard, from many different artists, that art sales seem to be coming back. The Southeastern Wildlife Exhibit in Charleston, SC had some good sales, and several galleries I am familiar with have had some recent success. I sold two small paintings today myself, and I see the ability of people to buy things other than necessities as a good indicator of comfort with the economy. People are seeming to not be so concerned with buying things that truly are optional purchases.
As I sell real estate in a resort market, (buying a second home really means you have confidence in your ability to pay for it!) I am glad to see it. I also love the fact that perhaps the many artists I know that are self supporting, will be able to eat something other than rice and beans or Ramen noodles!
Are the rest of you seeing the same thing in your area? Hopefully it is a national trend.

Getting ready to go to New Zealand

This painting sold this week....yaay! It seems that art sales are picking up again. I have heard good things from a lot of different artists.

I have been too long delayed in posting something new, but I haven't had much time to paint. My sister Adele and I leave in two weeks for New Zealand and I have been on full speed trying to get everything done before I go. We are doing our scouting trip for the watercolor holiday that she and Joe Garcia will be conducting a year from now, in February/March 2012. I get to go along as chief cook and bottlewasher :)

The trip this year is to make sure that we like the cabins we have selected for our lodging and want to be certain we have alternative places to paint if (or when) it rains. We also want to check out the restaurants and bakeries that we are planning on using, to make sure that they are still in business and still serving good food. Yum! We have to check on transportation as we think that we will hire a small bus rather than driving two vans ourselves when we do our daily trips. That is undetermined until we talk to the bus company. It seems that New Zealand businesses just haven't got the hang of doing business on the internet. They are bad at answering emails and websites often are pretty sketchy. But that is ok, I don't mind checking it out in person!

We will have 18 to 20 people on the holiday; just over half being painters and the rest spouses and partners wanting to also see New Zealand. Deposits are due in by the end of the month and we have a waiting list, so if some drop off, it looks like it will still be full. We will probably do another workshop the following year, in 2013, and may bring in guest instructors too, so we can cover both oil and watercolor. New Zealand is a fabulous country, and so paintable!