Hi to all.
I hope you are all doing well. I would like to thank you all for being so very patient as I try to sort things out. After discussion with a few artists about possible ways of handling the show as it is currently, and weighing a few different scenarios, I have decided on a course of action.

I am going to refund everyone who has submitted, whether they were successful or not. If you have paid cash, I will have your cash at the studio and it can be picked up Tues to Sat – just send me a note, and I will make sure it is there for you. If you have paid cheque, the same goes, or you can ask me to tear it up. If you paid via paypal, I have refunded all those today, so expect an email from paypal. If you do not get your email, by all means, send me a note, okay?

I have not found a suitable place for this year’s Erotic Show just yet, and for the next week and a half must must must get work finished for Gallery Odin. I feel that the energies surrounding our erotic show as it stands now, are not conducive to a successful venture. I feel that by ending this chapter of the Erotic Show, new doors will open and the show will be much better off in the long run. Hopefully that makes sense to you all. Please understand this will be a priority for me once my own stuff is taken care of. When I have a confirmed venue, I will be opening up the show once again to all artists for the same theme, and maybe I will be able to use the posters, cards etc that have been purchased already.

Regarding the Fantasy Sex Show, all I can say is that it was an interesting adventure. I believe it was the right thing to do, and the interest in that event indicated that it could have been very very successful. When I found out there was no venue early April, I could think of nothing else for almost the entire month and in to early May. Since the Erotic Show pulled out of the event mid April, contact with the vendors who have paid $$ to N.L. was daily and many more times than once daily in some cases. The RCMP are involved but please understand that I am not being investigated! LOL far from it! If you would like to read the stories of people who have been involved in this, then by all means click on the title “Update for Vendors”. The most positive thing is that I have met some really nice people, and made new friends.

So thank you again so very much to you all for your patience. Any questions are most welcome.

All the best and talk to you very soon!
Julia

The jury is undergoing the process of selecting the artworks for the 2010 Okanagan Erotic Art Show. This year I can tell you that the artworks submitted were across the spectrum from drawing to painting to photography to digital to sculpture to tattoos and installation and more! Quite exciting, and the artists themselves range from across Canada, from Ontario to the majority of artists in the Okanagan. I think this is a good thing, a good move, having works from across the country. The show will be bringing some of the outside world to the Okanagan, and hopefully, these artists will also get to know each other – who knows where these connections might lead! There may be some thought to taking the show out of the Okanagan eventually as well, but more on that later as plans and ideas develop and gel. I will be continuing this trend for next year, (opening the show to Canada and the US) so if you want to get on the email list, send me a note.

This year, we had more artists submitting who were new to the show.  I am always glad and excited to see people get involved and push their boundaries…. little by little boundaries grow, and we all benefit from both creating and view. This year’s show incorporates more of an edginess, more imagination, more thought and more play with the idea of what is erotic. I think we are going in the right direction for this to happen.

While I am waiting for the entire jury to come back, I am going to pursue some other avenues for our Okanagan Erotic Show – you know me, I don’t sleep (well I do actually, but shhhh don’t tell anyone, it’ll ruin my image). Always on the go for bigger and better – I am all for empowerment of the artist, and the artist self. While we live “here”, we are in the age where we really live in the the “world”, and anything is possible.

Thank you to all the artists who were courageous in creating and submitting their work. This has not gone unnoticed and I hope you will continue to push again next year. Art is the expression of self, and by that expression, we claim our birthright and our entitlement to be who we are.

I will see you all soon in the blog!

Julia Trops

I met with Natasha this week to finalize some things about the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show and the Okanagan Erotic Art Show. I can tell you that the space we are given is very generous – our art gallery will be in a 16′x48′ and it will be near the back right hand side of the curling rink. The whole show itself  will be in the curling rink portion of the Curling Club, and I really like how she has it set up. Depending on how things go, we may have the drawing session nearby, or if our space expands a small amount, the drawing sessions will be part of the gallery space. Either way, the works will be presented in a cohesive way.

For those of you who are not familiar with what will be happening that weekend, there will be a main stage which will feature performers, such as Poi and Belly Dancing, as well as fashion shows, and I hope a demo on pole dancing. I would love to see that, and even learn how to do it. Apparently that is a killer workout and tones muscles like nothing else! Walking around the show will be themed masquerade type entertainers, masks, some stilt walkers, lingerie vendors, toy vendors, I wish I could put everything in this post, but suffice to say, I think it will keep things very interesting. There will be tattoo artists, hopefully henna artists, photographers, and I think Natasha is still looking for a yoga practitioner, and a few other presenter type people. A list of vendors is being updated fairly consistently on the Xtream Events Facebook page, so please check that out, and join the group. If you haven’t joined the Facebook Okanagan Erotic Art Show group, please do that too, while you are over that way.

Our jurors have been picked, and the jurying will take place around the beginning of April, with artists notified around April 5th. I will be sending you all emails with the results. This year, with the focus on wholistic sensuality, I have chosen two people with backgrounds in art, yes, but they also are specialists in other fields to do with our human form. Daneen is a nutritionist, and she feels very strongly that the food we put in our body not only impacts on our physical form, but also on our mental and emotional bodies. Sharon has recently come to Kelowna from Winnipeg, where she served on the Arts Council, and she has a strong connection to the spiritual aspect of our human existence. I have decided this year that I will not submit any artwork, but will serve as jury member insteadl.  I am sure most of you know my credentials so I don’t need to go on and on. If you don’t know about me, then feel free to visit my webpage and explore it.

At the Fantasy show, there will be specialty events which will be draped off from direct public view – and will require a conscious choice to enter to visit. Some of these specialty events are not expected in the mainstream but they are valid parts of some people’s personal sensual expression. The one thing that I can say about this Xtream Fantasy Sex Show is that, for many, they will have the opportunity to view or ask questions about activities that they would not otherwise have. The show itself is in a safe environment, with open minded people presenting, and I hope, open minded people visiting and learning.

There will be a focus on advertising the show on the radio (K96.3, Power 104, Q103, and Sun FM), for the first few weeks will be for any vendors who have not yet heard about the show and the remainder of the time will be the actual show itself. I am told the Erotic Art Show will also be specifically mentioned, which I think is very generous of Natasha. Since the beginning, I’ve been working with Natasha when and where I could to try to help make the Fantasy show a success, and as you all know, I’m a big believer that the more we all work together, the better our events will be. If you feel the same, and have connections that you think would be interested in being at the Fantasy Show, please have them contact Natasha at xtreamevents@shaw.ca.  Tickets are available at the door $15. Listen to the radio stations to find out how to win two free tickets.

The Okanagan Erotic Art Show will definitely push the boundaries this year – I have not looked at the submissions so far, but it is not even the deadline yet, and they are coming in steadily. Because the show is open to all across Canada and the US, I hope that the diversity will make for some interesting viewpoints and conversation. The deadline is March 30th, but you can do the entire submission online if you wish, I have tried to make it as artist friendly as possible. If you have any questions about the show this year, please do not hesitate to contact me either through the “info” email address, or using the contact form on the website.

I just received a really nice email from a fellow artist here in town – Angela Bonten. Some of you may know Anjy from the Arts Council, or as the Artscape Director. If you don’t know her personally, visit her website (will open a new window). She is one of the most amazing personalities I have met here in Kelowna, and I always listen to what she has to say – the reason is she speaks from a space of impartiality and objectiveness. I appreciate that tremendously.

We were talking about the erotic show the other day about how there are artists who are super interested in showing and who “get” where I am going with the show, and then there are the others who are nervous or afraid of having their name associated or concerned that the venue is the wrong one. Without further comment, I’m going to copy and paste her email.

I got a question today about whether giclees, prints and such can be shown at the Erotic Art Show. All original works of art are welcome to be shown. This means that giclees or hand embellished giclees or other such mechanical prints will not be considered. Original prints such as lithos, intaglio etc and small limited edition photographs are more than welcome. Original drawings, paintings, sculpture, all of this is acceptable. Installation art is welcome, as is media. Presentation is important, though, so work must be framed, not just matted, or pasted to a board.  Anything not listed here, contact me, and we’ll clear it up.

For those artists juried in, cards are welcome to be sold, they must be individually priced. Space will be limited for cards so please let me know if you are thinking of submitting these. Please ensure you have business cards or other marketing materials for giveaway.

For those artists who have work they just want shown, but not sold, that is perfectly acceptable. Work submitted does not have to be for sale.

Please ensure your artwork is priced with all taxes included. I have the capability to process visa and mastercard transactions, but there is a 5% commission on these methods that is payable by the artist to me to cover costs. If the artist decides to take cheques, the cheques will be made directly to the artist, and the artist takes all responsibility on these.

If you are interested in staffing the show, please send me a note.

Every year, the Erotic Art Show has been in a different location. The original goal was that every year it would be in a different place, from the North to the South Okanagan. The first year was at the Rotary Centre for the Arts, a public venue, and the second year was a commercial gallery, A Woodside Design Gallery, and this year, the Erotic Show is taking place as a separate art show within the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show. The Xtream Fantasy Sex Show is being put on by an events organizer from Calgary, Natasha Lacourse, and she has been planning her event since 2009. In 2011, she plans on taking this event, the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show, on the road throughout BC. She tells me the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show is the first of its kind in the interior of BC.

Is it all about sex?

The word “Sex” in the title of an event brings to mind the idea of lubes, and toys, and strippers and all that sort of stuff – but whether you wear lingerie, use sex toys, have or have not learned to pole dance, the word “Sex” does not necessarily imply “pornographic”.

The word “sex” is a big seller. It gets people’s attention, and brings them either on one side of “oh, I can hardly wait to go” or “no way, not going near it!” Either way, it gets talked about and that is good. All publicity is good publicity.

So let’s start out by saying that my understanding of this Xtream Fantasy Sex Show is that it is all about the wholistic view of the human sexual being. This sexual being includes the mind, the soul, and yes, indeed, the body. All women, and some men, know that to get to the actual sexual act requires a whole lot of jumping through hoops, otherwise known as foreplay. The word foreplay has the word “fore” in it for a reason – and it has “play” because that’s what it is. First, is the play, and in this play there are sensual things like perfume, visuals like lingerie, costumes, and activities like dance: pole, poi or belly – it all gets the juices flowing. There is an intimacy created with all this, depending on where your mind is at and how far along you are in terms of emotional growth – speaking of these two things, any woman will tell you that unless her mind is turned on first, there is no chance of any other adventures. For a man, well, they are more easygoing. Let’s just leave it at that.

Sensuality

Sensuality means of the senses – sound, sight, taste, touch, or hearing. Let’s look at one aspect of our sensuality, dance. If you look at any ancient culture, much of the dancing in the culture is a sexual or sensual nature. It is either celebrating the planting, celebrating the harvest, celebrating the coming of age, celebrating the marriage. Dances are expression of unions or hopeful unions of some kind, whether of man or of mother nature. Clothing is a very sensual item – it satisfies the sight, touch and sometimes sound. Clothing such as lingerie, costumes all of these are also of a sensual nature – we ARE sensual beings, sensual in all aspects of the word. Every single thing that we participate in has a sensual aspect – fabric, makeup, all of it! This Xtream Fantasy Sex Show is a show that will celebrate our sensual being.

What does this have to do with the Erotic Show?

Now what does that have to do with the Okanagan Erotic Art Show? Simply this. The first year we held the Erotic Show at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in 2008, we had the opening night in conjunction with the Wearable Art Gala at the Alternator Gallery. When I saw the interest and the attendance at our show, the first of its kind in a public forum, I had been looking for another venue that would give this same sort of attention and participation. The people who attended the WAG were open minded, interested in something a little different. When Natasha talked to me last year about her show, I waited to see how it would happen, and as time went on, she explained what her vision of the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show was, then I knew this was what I was waiting for.

You may decide not to participate, and that is fine, do what is comfortable for you. If you aren’t comfortable and still would like to participate, then I say Bravo to you! It is in going beyond our comfort zone that we grow into stronger human beings, more knowledgeable about ourselves and our boundaries extended. If you are worried about putting the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show on your resume, then I can reassure you that the entry would be the Okanagan Erotic Art Show, as we are a completely separate entity.

I took a risk

This year, I took a risk for this show, working to expand the Okanagan Erotic Art Show beyond just another figurative art show. I took a risk hoping that the other artists in the Okanagan communities would also be brave enough to push themselves too. Because the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show will promote self image, health and fitness for the mind, body and spirit, fashion, relaxation and education, all aspects our our sensual being, I have decided the theme of this year’s Okanagan Erotic Art Show is “Seduce Me”. The art of seduction is never lost, and anyone from any age can find it once again. Deadline for submissions is March 30th. I hope to see you there, whether as an artist in the show, or an attendee.

I welcome any and all comments or questions.

For 2010, I am pleased to announce that the 3rd annual Okanagan Erotic Art Show will be part of a three day sensually focused event called The Xtream Fantasy Sex Show April 30- May 2 2010, to be held at the Kelowna Curling Club. Artists, as always, are welcome to consider any part of the sensual part of the human psyche and being. Submissions now being accepted until March 30 2010. Artists in Canada and the US may enter.

The Xtream Fantasy Sex Show, the first of its kind in the Okanagan, will feature a Main Stage with around the clock entertainment including performing arts and fashion shows. Workshops will have around the clock presenters to educate the guests free of charge on various subjects on sexual health and well-being. This show will promote self image, health and fitness for the mind, body and spirit, fashion, relaxation and education including topics such as:

* health practioners
* yoga and dance instructors,
* weight loss and nutrition services,
* travel and adventure,
* tattoo and body piercing,
* spas and massage,
* fitness for the body,
* mind, and spirit,
* entertainment,
* art : Okanagan Erotic Art Show
* photography,
* lingerie,
* adult novelty retailers
* alternative life styles, and more!

The show will be an inviting environment for the Adult industry to come together with the interested and curious consumers in the Okanagan for some fun shopping, education and good times. We look forward to seeing you at the most talked about, most attended show in the Okanagan 2010!

For more information about the Okanagan Erotic Art Show, please contact Julia Trops 250-215-0079 or visit http://www.okanaganeroticartshow.com. For more information about the Xtream Fantasy Sex Show, or to find out how to get involved, contact Natasha Lacourse , Events Manager, 403-457-5005 or email xtreamevents@shaw.ca.