For June Gumbel, business begins beyond the easel.
She is an archetype of the modern artist marked by both appreciation for, and hesitancy of, all the digital age brings.
“I”™m not here every day,” Gumbel said of her lavender-hued studio nestled on the grounds of an 1885 Victorian estate in Waccabuc. “There is such a business component of what I do. For instance, to set up for my show, I have to finish painting, get it to the framer, create a price list, update my bio, update my artist statement, go on the Internet, shoot all my work that I”™m putting in my show, make sure everything current is on film or digital, get the invitations out, respond to emails and physically get the paintings over there.”
As she prepared an exhibit of 42 still life, landscape and portrait paintings on display at 121 Restaurant in North Salem through Jan. 12, Gumbel shared how the industry has shifted.
“The Internet has made it possible to reach so many people in many different ways,” said the soft-spoken Louisiana native. “I”™m learning that having a website is not enough. You have to have a community. You have to be on Facebook and Twitter to get people to your website. It can get very complicated and technical ”¦ but I understand that the market is great if you know how to work it.”
Most of her paintings are bought “from people who see my work, like it and buy it.”
That work ranges from commissioned portraits to note cards sold online.
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A representational painter, Gumbel got her start in an unconventional sort of way.
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“Do you remember when you used to find matchbooks and they”™d say, ”˜Draw me?”™” she asked. “You”™d call in and somebody would come to your house and try to sell you an art program. I showed such an interest at an early age, my parents allowed me to call ”¦ I got a great validation with that.”
Gumbel earned a degree in fine arts from Louisiana State University and joined Delta Air Lines immediately following graduation; she soon married (former husband Bryant Gumbel) and moved to New York.
Her confidence as an artist grew from workshop study with renowned artist Daniel Greene.
“I saw his show at the Hammond Museum (in North Salem) one day and was stunned,” she said. “It did something to me. It spoke to me.”
She learned of the intricacies involved in creating a likeness in portraits.
Now, she draws inspiration from something as simple as sitting under a peach tree in her orchard.
“Every artist wants to be successful and sell their work and be recognized in the art community,” she said. “I”™d like to say that I”™m great at the business part, but I”™m learning it ”¦ my real joy is to paint.”
Her website is junegumbel.com.
