John Leben's Page

I've been doing art fairs for many years exhibiting my digital paintings (prints). A couple of years ago my wife, Marcia, and I opened an art gallery in the resort town of Douglas, Michigan, right across the river from Saugatuck. This area is billed as "The Art Coast of Michigan" and boasts 30-plus art galleries. We opened the gallery because we're getting old. After many years we finally figured out how to make money at art fairs, but they are so much work! More work every year. We thought,…

The Peoria Art Fair took place in a riverfront park in Peoria September 28-30. I had the pleasure of being the featured artist for this show, including the use of my images on posters, billboards, programs and a delightful mural-sized mosaic depiction of one of my paintings created by patrons of the art fair. In return for the show using my images, I was given a free booth in a great…

I'm from Saugatuck, Michigan. Needless to say, there is not a lot of opportunity to exhibit and sell in the cold North country during the winter months. Since we make our living selling art, and we can't make it through the winter without some sales, Marcia and I have been traveling to Florida every winter to exhibit and to reinforce the bank account. OK... it's not only the bank account, it's also a nice perk to get out of the cold and the snow. 

Some artists from the Midwest, who I…

I've been accepted to the Old Island Days Art Festival in Key West on February 24-25. Any opinions out there about the wisdom of doing this show? Of all the venues for art fairs around Florida, Key West (and the Keys in general) seemed to be the hardest hit by hurricanes. I just wonder if vacationers and visitors are even going down there yet. I've got Images in New Smyrna, then Fort Myers, then Jupiter before Key West comers up