Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Power Outage
What do you do when you have a whole day of work planned, work-work, artwork, not to mention laundry, a hot shower......and the power suddenly goes out? I was just about to apply a new technique to all of my pendants, requiring my ELECTRIC oven, which was warming up, and BLIP, bye-bye power! Poo. Maybe I'll just...no, hot water heater is electric...okay, well then maybe I can make some lunch....damnit!...I give up. I packed up my laptop and high-tailed it to Stumptown, where the wi-fi signal is strong and the latte's are so cute you hardly want to stir your sugar into them (my latte had 3 little milk-foam hearts on top), and so yummy you can't possibly resist. Now I sit blogging before getting to work :)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The explosion I was talking about...
I think it may be coming right now.....My head exploding, that is....
I had a fabulous Mother's Day. I slept in with my sweetie after a late night out last night. He made me breakfast, then I drove over to pick my daughter up from her dad's. They had bought me flowers and a gift basket, and she made me the *sweetest* drawing :) She and I went to the Spaghetti Factory for a late lunch, and I let her order whatever she wanted, which turned out to be a Shirley Temple, bread and butter, and vanilla ice cream. Haha! Every 7 year old's dream lunch!
After lunch, we came home and spent the whole rest of the day making art!! Yay!!! It is always so much fun when Indigo is working next to me--she is so sweet and creative, my little muse. Truly, she must be my muse, because I came up with two fantastic ideas and tried a new (for me) technique with my pendants. The pendants are made with shrinkable plastic, and today I experimented with fusing pieces of plastic together. It was really scary because I spend so much time drawing them, and to fuse them you basically put them in a really hot oven and wait for them to melt together. Yikes! But it turned out great, and I think I'm going to start doing it to all of my pendants whether or not I am fusing them, because it gives the edges a nice, rounded look.
As for the head-explody part, well, I am just bursting with ideas and creative energy, but I need to be working on my pay-the-bills job, and it is soooo frustrating. So what is my answer, well waste time on the etsy forums (not always a waste of time, but in this case it equals hard-core avoidance of necessary use of time) and writing this blog, apparently. I am bursting at the seams, I have so much to do, I have to be careful because I can feel myself slipping into that awful mode that I call, "overwhelm." As in, "I am in overwhelm." This is a dangerous place for me to be, because I usually find myself frozen in indecision, until finally I block out all of my creative energy and feel like a total artistic failure.
I am posting this blog now, closing all unnecessary windows, and getting some work done so I can go to sleep before my head explodes.
I had a fabulous Mother's Day. I slept in with my sweetie after a late night out last night. He made me breakfast, then I drove over to pick my daughter up from her dad's. They had bought me flowers and a gift basket, and she made me the *sweetest* drawing :) She and I went to the Spaghetti Factory for a late lunch, and I let her order whatever she wanted, which turned out to be a Shirley Temple, bread and butter, and vanilla ice cream. Haha! Every 7 year old's dream lunch!
After lunch, we came home and spent the whole rest of the day making art!! Yay!!! It is always so much fun when Indigo is working next to me--she is so sweet and creative, my little muse. Truly, she must be my muse, because I came up with two fantastic ideas and tried a new (for me) technique with my pendants. The pendants are made with shrinkable plastic, and today I experimented with fusing pieces of plastic together. It was really scary because I spend so much time drawing them, and to fuse them you basically put them in a really hot oven and wait for them to melt together. Yikes! But it turned out great, and I think I'm going to start doing it to all of my pendants whether or not I am fusing them, because it gives the edges a nice, rounded look.
As for the head-explody part, well, I am just bursting with ideas and creative energy, but I need to be working on my pay-the-bills job, and it is soooo frustrating. So what is my answer, well waste time on the etsy forums (not always a waste of time, but in this case it equals hard-core avoidance of necessary use of time) and writing this blog, apparently. I am bursting at the seams, I have so much to do, I have to be careful because I can feel myself slipping into that awful mode that I call, "overwhelm." As in, "I am in overwhelm." This is a dangerous place for me to be, because I usually find myself frozen in indecision, until finally I block out all of my creative energy and feel like a total artistic failure.
I am posting this blog now, closing all unnecessary windows, and getting some work done so I can go to sleep before my head explodes.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
My head might just explode
Today I met some of the Portland etsy-ers at a little tea hosted by Leah Pelligrini of Aquila Glass Studios, and it was FAB-ulous.
When I was in college, finishing up my art degree, I remember many afternoons spent in the painting studio with my classmates, chatting away. On one hand it felt like we were screwing around, wasting time, but in hindsight my work would never have been what it was without those sessions. Sure, we touched on a lot of non-art related subjects; these conversations were like pressure-valves, releasing some of the stress we encountered in our daily lives. Even better was the art-talk. I had some friends that were amazing sounding boards, people who were (still are) amazingly creative, inspirational to talk to, with opinions that I respected. People that I could take a critique from without getting offended because I knew exactly where they were coming from--a place of honesty, integrity, and genuine desire to help me grow. I hope that I was the same thing to them--I believe that I was.
Since graduating, however, most of these people have moved far away, or lost touch, and while I still love them dearly we can no longer offer each other the same type of support that we once did. Today I realized that it has been several years since I have had that sense of community support, and I miss it even more than I knew.
Today, meeting a handful of fantastic local artists that are trying and even succeeding at selling and even living off of their art, I got a little taste of that feeling I had in the painting studio at Portland State. It felt so good to talk to people that are going through what I am going through, working towards similar goals, all of them with inspiringly creative ideas and critiques, as well as some just plain old good chatting.
I have thought for so long that I am too busy, I can't afford the time it takes to network, to meet other artists, to build and be a part of an art community. I have thought that I could go at it alone somehow. But it turns out that I have been long overwhelmed by trying to do too much all by myself. I needed this support far more than I knew--I can't afford NOT to be part of an art community.
When I was in college, finishing up my art degree, I remember many afternoons spent in the painting studio with my classmates, chatting away. On one hand it felt like we were screwing around, wasting time, but in hindsight my work would never have been what it was without those sessions. Sure, we touched on a lot of non-art related subjects; these conversations were like pressure-valves, releasing some of the stress we encountered in our daily lives. Even better was the art-talk. I had some friends that were amazing sounding boards, people who were (still are) amazingly creative, inspirational to talk to, with opinions that I respected. People that I could take a critique from without getting offended because I knew exactly where they were coming from--a place of honesty, integrity, and genuine desire to help me grow. I hope that I was the same thing to them--I believe that I was.
Since graduating, however, most of these people have moved far away, or lost touch, and while I still love them dearly we can no longer offer each other the same type of support that we once did. Today I realized that it has been several years since I have had that sense of community support, and I miss it even more than I knew.
Today, meeting a handful of fantastic local artists that are trying and even succeeding at selling and even living off of their art, I got a little taste of that feeling I had in the painting studio at Portland State. It felt so good to talk to people that are going through what I am going through, working towards similar goals, all of them with inspiringly creative ideas and critiques, as well as some just plain old good chatting.
I have thought for so long that I am too busy, I can't afford the time it takes to network, to meet other artists, to build and be a part of an art community. I have thought that I could go at it alone somehow. But it turns out that I have been long overwhelmed by trying to do too much all by myself. I needed this support far more than I knew--I can't afford NOT to be part of an art community.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
leakarts.etsy.com
Lately my eBay business has been slowing down, so I have had a lot of time to do the research that I have long put off for Etsy. I've also had a couple of Etsy sales this week--yay!!!! It is so exiting, even to make a $5-10 sale. I get a huge rush from it!
I've spent a lot of time this week looking around Etsy at other people's shops and items for sale, reading forums, picking up tips, and getting SO INSPIRED!! I want to make a hundred thousand things right this very second! Of course that is impossible, but I am incredibly exited :)
I have read about some people who have turned their Etsy business into a living, and that exites me the most. I have come to this reaization: I had the guts, about a year ago, to give up my J-O-B and go into business with my good friend, and we have been successful! It is a lot of fun to work for myself, and I've learned a lot about myself, also learned how to structure my time better and how much freedom I really do have right now. But something has been gnawing at me. Just like all of my past jobs, I am not passionate about what I do. What I am passionate about is the little bits and pieces of time that I have to create art. If I can make it anywhere in life, I can make it selling art, I know it. I just have to DO it.
I keep thinking, "well, I just have to get over my fear, then I'll be able to do it." Well, that is just not the way it works. That is a great big cop-out is what that is. As I learned with the eBay business, it is not dealing with the fear that comes first. First I need to do it (that is, make the art, get it sold), THEN I will most likely get over my fear. Or I won't get over it, but I'll keep doing it anyway.
The other thing that really inspires me on Etsy is the vast variety that people are selling there! It makes me want to really experiment with new materials, and I have gotten a lot of good ideas for improving the quality of the items that I am already making. Now, I don't want to confuse anyone, I am not interested in copying other people's work, just in trying out some of the same materials. I read a huge forum post the other day about copy-cats, and I agree with the other posters that yes, there are a lot of copy-cats and it is nearly impossible to distinguish the originals. Some mediums are conducive to the same looks, I think, and a lot of people purchase similar materials that give their work similar looks and feels as other people's work. So I think, as an artist, we all have a responsibility to take those same materials and find a way to imbue them with something of ourselves, something that makes us unique.
Some people get inspired to try to make the same type of work as another artist. Highest form of flattery my ass, that is just not respectful. If you like it so much, then buy it!!! To me, being inspired by someone else's work means that I feel driven to make the same caliber of work in my own hand. Perhaps I want to try a similar technique, and I am inspired to become competent enough in that technique that I can bring my own voice to it.
Anyway, that is enough blabbing for the moment. Here are some samples from my shop!
I've spent a lot of time this week looking around Etsy at other people's shops and items for sale, reading forums, picking up tips, and getting SO INSPIRED!! I want to make a hundred thousand things right this very second! Of course that is impossible, but I am incredibly exited :)
I have read about some people who have turned their Etsy business into a living, and that exites me the most. I have come to this reaization: I had the guts, about a year ago, to give up my J-O-B and go into business with my good friend, and we have been successful! It is a lot of fun to work for myself, and I've learned a lot about myself, also learned how to structure my time better and how much freedom I really do have right now. But something has been gnawing at me. Just like all of my past jobs, I am not passionate about what I do. What I am passionate about is the little bits and pieces of time that I have to create art. If I can make it anywhere in life, I can make it selling art, I know it. I just have to DO it.
I keep thinking, "well, I just have to get over my fear, then I'll be able to do it." Well, that is just not the way it works. That is a great big cop-out is what that is. As I learned with the eBay business, it is not dealing with the fear that comes first. First I need to do it (that is, make the art, get it sold), THEN I will most likely get over my fear. Or I won't get over it, but I'll keep doing it anyway.
The other thing that really inspires me on Etsy is the vast variety that people are selling there! It makes me want to really experiment with new materials, and I have gotten a lot of good ideas for improving the quality of the items that I am already making. Now, I don't want to confuse anyone, I am not interested in copying other people's work, just in trying out some of the same materials. I read a huge forum post the other day about copy-cats, and I agree with the other posters that yes, there are a lot of copy-cats and it is nearly impossible to distinguish the originals. Some mediums are conducive to the same looks, I think, and a lot of people purchase similar materials that give their work similar looks and feels as other people's work. So I think, as an artist, we all have a responsibility to take those same materials and find a way to imbue them with something of ourselves, something that makes us unique.
Some people get inspired to try to make the same type of work as another artist. Highest form of flattery my ass, that is just not respectful. If you like it so much, then buy it!!! To me, being inspired by someone else's work means that I feel driven to make the same caliber of work in my own hand. Perhaps I want to try a similar technique, and I am inspired to become competent enough in that technique that I can bring my own voice to it.
Anyway, that is enough blabbing for the moment. Here are some samples from my shop!
| Etsy Buy Handmade leakarts |
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