Vacation!

Ah...vacation :) Indigo and I woke up in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and flew to Denver, where I grew up. It has been quite the whirlwind trip since them, running around with my mom and Oma (grandma), and my aunt who is also visiting. Tomorrow we're driving up to the mountains to visit my dad for a few days, and we're also squeezing in some extra time with my brother, his girlfriend, and my niece, as well as my ex-stepmom. Somehow between all of this family I am also managing to keep my business afloat, checking emails and even shipping supplies, PLUS catching up with old friends!

It all sounds a bit crazy, but I have also managed to sneak in some naps (something I can only seem to do on vacation--normally I can't fall asleep in the afternoon even if I'm tired) and lots of time reading. Now I'm at a local coffee house, about a block away from one of the gazillions of apartments I lived in before I jumped ship for Portland almost 12 years ago.

It is strange, coming back to the place where I grew up. Even though I've been back to visit many times, it feels less like home every time I come here. I am in touch with less people, old businesses have disappeared, the face of the city is constantly changing. More so, my memory has distorted itself. I can't remember names of streets or where they are located, but I give directions to my mom to a post office that I maybe used 5 times in my whole life. I feel odd, comfortable and out of place at the same time. Still, it is good to be back.

Yay! New Phone!

Hoooooooray! My new cell phone came in the mail yesterday, and today, after it had charged for 24 hours, I promptly moved all of my contact info onto it (pain in the booty!). Then, about 5 minutes later, my friend Melissa called me so I got to use it for the 1st time :) I promised I'd post photos of my ghetto 3-year-old phone for her to see, so here they are! I can't believe that the old one lasted for that long, or that I slacked on getting the new one. Yeesh!
Yes, that is scotch tape on the corner of that dinosaur!
Here is the reason for the scotch tape:

Hahaha! I am such a dork. I didn't even have to pay for the new one since I've had the same phone company for almost 7 years (Working Assets--they are so awesome! They donate 1% of every bill to charity). There was really no reason for me to wait.

Get offline and sell your art locally!

I must admit that in the past I have had a very hard time selling my work in person--that is, sales make me gut-wrenchingly nervous. Just the idea of approaching galleries or local shops to show my work makes my stomach hide somewhere in my throat, so I've never done it before. I have shown in coffee shops and a couple of small galleries that felt more approachable, but it has been a long time even for that. Until this week.

Heidi Steeves is a mom at Buckman Elementary, where my daughter goes to school, as well as co-owner of Union Rose, a cool boutique on MLK that sells hand-crafted goods made by local artisans. I was introduced to her during the last school year and she asked me to come in to the shop with some of my things, but I was still very nervous and didn't feel like I had a good selection at the time. After stocking up for the summer's craft shows, however, and running into her several times over the past few months, I finally felt comfortable enough to go in. Heidi was so friendly, as usual, and took a number of my pendants, magnet sets, greeting cards, and bobby pin/ring sets on consignment. Yay!

I am definitely not over my fear of sales. Not even close. But as time goes on I am getting better and better. If you have a hard time with it as well, read on for a few things that have helped me:

1. Get all of your ducks in a row. Warning--do NOT use this as a procrastination technique (*guilty!*)!!! However, if you have a few things ready before you get out there it can help you feel more comfortable. For me, it was having my website in presentable condition because I am constantly being asked if I am online and I didn't want to send people to my crappy old site.
I also put together a simple portfolio involving about 15 images of my work, a printable slide list, a link to a blog interview, my resume and my artist statement. I burned it onto several cd's so that I have something to give to local venues--that way all they have to do is slip the disk into their computer rather than handing them a business card and hoping that they will get around to looking at my website. Of course, you should also have business cards. If you are well-prepared you will come off as being professional, even if you don't really feel like you are.

2. Think about everyone you know--do any of them own or know someone who owns a local gallery or shop? Chances are you do if you are active in your art community. Approaching people you know is a heck of a lot easier than approaching strangers! I know it can still be scary, but as I've learned two times this week, it can really pay off! In addition to getting some of my crafty items in Union Rose, I also approached a friend earlier in the week about showing my work in her gallery and I have a show there next month.

3. If you are not connected, get connected! When I first opened my etsy shop, it had been several years since I had graduated from Portland State, and as a single mom working a lot of crap jobs to make ends meet I had distanced myself from the local art & craft communities. I joined the PDX Etsy Street Team and met a lot of great crafty ladies, talked to other parents at Buckman (it is an Arts Magnet school so a lot of the parents are artists), made coffee dates with some old friends from my art classes, and started going to local art walks. Other things you could do are take art or craft classes, go onto craigslist to find art events, and contact your local arts council online and see what they have to offer.

4. This one is a jump-in-head-first tip: Do some local craft fairs. I know that this can seem extraordinarily daunting, but I cannot even tell you how much it has helped me. Having a booth-partner helped calm my nerves when I was brand-new to it. Being approached by one person after the next all day long made me realize that it's just people, and they are fun to watch as well as talk to. It also has given me some much-needed practice in talking about my work in a more casual setting than a gallery.

5. If you are a fine artist, go to some local coffee shops and talk to the owners about showing your work. They are usually FAR more approachable than galleries, rarely take a commission (and if they do it's usually small), and are usually grateful to find some work to spruce up their shop for a month or two. Obviously go in during a slower time of day when they are almost always up for a chat.

6. Take several deep breaths, make some goofy faces at yourself in the mirror, and get your butt out the door! Someone once gave me a great piece of advice when it comes to motivation. When do you feel motivated--before you do something, or when you are actually doing it? Not until you are actually doing it, and once you are knee-deep in it you are building momentum until suddenly, it's done.

If you have more tips or advice for either the uninitiated and/or terrible anxious, leave a comment! I'd love to hear them.

Christmas in July!!!

As part of the VAST (Visual Artist's Street Team) Christmas in July sale, I am offering great deals on select paintings, as well as a huge sale on all of my giclee prints! Check out the "Christmas in July" section in my shop to see the deals through the 25th of this month! To see all of the other fantastic artists participating in this sale, check the VAST blog. Have fun looking and treat yourself to some beautiful artwork!

Letting Go

"Difficult Departure," by Lea Keohane, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes letting go can be hard, especially when whatever it was that you once had was so good you thought it would last forever, you never even questioned the possibility of losing it. I usually do not plan my drawings before I sit down to do them, but this one was a little different. I was walking through the park, taking in the trees and whatever music was playing on my iPod at the time, trying to feel connected to the world, when this image came to me, or something like it. My original idea included both of the figures having wings, but I thought that had a different connotation than what I intended, so I dropped the wings and got on with the drawing. "Difficult Departure" is approximately 9.5" x 9", drawn with Pantone Tria markers and a Sharpie on paper.

Mississippi Street Fair!

It was a long day on Mississippi yesterday, but it was fun! Temperatures got into the 90's so it was really hot, but luckily our booth was snug against some bushes on the East side of the street so we were in the shade for most of the day. Here's a shot of our booth!

My friend and booth-mate, Danielle, organizing her earrings and stitch markers. At the end of the day I bought a stunning pair of her earrings--they are very dramatic, I can't wait to wear them! She has two great etsy shops--MissPurl and PoeticPurl.

Here's my half of the booth, with Nancy of Karma's Kreations sitting to the side. It is always fun to see her--I was happy to find that she was our neighbor for the day.

Here is a shot of Mississippi Ave. all the way down the street! The crowd is stunning. That lady doesn't look too happy that she's in my picture, though :) Across the street from us was the fabulous Fresh Pot coffeehouse, with a Starbucks under construction in the same building right next door!! Appalling. Apparently I'm not the only one to think so, as there was a group of people doing anti-Starbucks performance art in front all day long. I am sorry that I didn't get a photo of it. I'm also sorry that I didn't take a photo of my amazing sandwich--grilled portabello mushroom with pesto, basil, and feta cheese.....drool.... It was just too yummy to stop and take a picture.

Portland Goodness!

If you live in Portland, DIY Alert is THE place to get all of your crafty resources! It is a fantastic website with a calendar of crafty events around town, profiles on Portland artists (this week the feature is me!!), and loads of information about classes, creative hot spots and more. Run by the awesome and fabulously sweet Sister Diane of the Church of Craft, who also does a regular podcast. The best thing for me about DIY Alert is that you can subscribe to it, so all of this yummy craft comes weekly to your email. Perfect for those of us who tend to be distracted and forget about awesome websites unless reminded regularly :)

Sorry for all of the Portland-specific news (really, you all should just move here already), but for those of you that live here, you absolutely MUST come see me this Saturday at the Mississippi Street Fair! It will be hard for you to miss me with my new banner, which I just painted yesterday to match my LeaKarts websites (please pardon my couch in the background):

The event is all day Saturday, July 12th, from 10am to 7pm, with art, live music & entertainment, food, beer and margarita gardens (bring me one???), and more!

Maybe I'm just grumpy

"Awareness," by Lea Keohane, 2008. All Rights Reserved.

One of my many favorite things about Portland is that it is split in two by the Williamette River, and because of that we have great pedestrian paths on both sides of the river, and lots of great bridges. Most years on the 4th of July Indigo and I go to the Hawthorne Bridge where we perch until 10pm when the display starts. A huge barge comes in and anchors just South of the bridge, so it's a fantastic spot to watch.

Last night as usual, we got there around 8:30 and found the perfect spot. We spent about an hour hanging out on the bridge, watching all of the people and the boats, wondering at the sunset and the huge crowd gathered at the Blues Fest across the river. Then a police officer walks by and informs us that this year there will be a barge on BOTH sides of the Hawthorne bridge, putting on a massive coordinated display. Due to this and the wind conditions, they were closing down the bridge for our safety. Okay, fine, we herded out with the rest of the crowd and found a new place to perch just below the bridge. We chatted with some nice people as we continued to wait.

Before I continue, let me reminisce for a moment about watching fireworks when I was a kid. I was born in 1976, so most of the July 4ths that I remember were in the 1980's. Those of you who are older than I am may laugh at me for saying this, but it really was still a slower time than now. My family and I would have some kind of picnic in a huge park, then lay on a blanket to watch the display. It would start slow, huge fireworks a couple at a time, with little pauses for the crowd to "ooh" and "ah," slowly building up over maybe an hour to a stunning grand finale.

Now, back to last night. It felt like a really long wait as usual, especially with the crowds under the bridge getting restless. There were a lot of people who really didn't care about the fact that they were amidst other people and were setting off a lot of fireworks right in the middle of the crowd, even shooting some up and hitting the underside of the bridge. Scary! But finally the official show got started. Compared to the displays of my own childhood, it started off with the finale! So many fireworks at one, there was no time to ooh or ah at any of them.

Not that anyone would have heard us. Being under the bridge, the sound from 2 displays at one time was so loud that I could literally feel my heart jumping around in my chest with each BOOM. I felt more like I was in the trenches in Baghdad than at a fun & safe gathering of families in Portland. I looked down and Indigo, who was wearing earplugs AND covering her ears was crying that she wanted to go home. This was all about 30 seconds in to the show. I wrapped my sweater around her ears but that only bought us a couple more minutes. It was just too much to handle. We left.

As we began walking the eight or so blocks to our car, the air thickened with smoke. We had gone about 3 blocks when the noise behind us got even louder and faster so we turned to look. Apparently they had already reached the grand finale, but the air was so thick with smoke you couldn't even see most of the fireworks. Ridiculous.

Maybe I am just grumpy, or disgruntled with the political situation under the current president, or perhaps I am getting a little crotchety. While I am not overly patriotic, I do think this is a fantastic country to live in, and a lot of the time we are luckier than we know to be here. I just feel like every show every year doesn't have to bigger and badder than the last. I would like to slow it down a little, add some dramatic pauses, make people really think about why they are sitting there at all, give them a bit of time to breath. And, certainly, sit farther away :)

Tiny Fig & Baby Hoot!

I must be one lucky girl, because in June I won 2 blog drawings!!! The first to arrive was about the cutest pair of earrings & stickers I've ever seen in my life from The Tiny Fig. Those little apples on the earrings are made completely out of polymer clay! I've already been getting so many great comments on them, I just love showing them off :)

Just yesterday my 2nd wonderful prize showed up, this adorable sushi bib from BabyHoot:
Isn't it the sweetest? My own baby is 8 years old now, thankfully way beyond bibs, so I am sending it along as a gift to my godson Ashton in Baltimore. I hope he gets it really messy! (love you Alisha!)

Be sure to check out both of these wonderful etsy shops the next time you need some extra cuteness in your life!

Before I sign off for the day, I am taking a note from my good friend Melissa and writing my goals for July here. Every month she writes her goals on her blog, and at the end of the month she compares notes with how the month actually went. What a great idea! So here goes, for July, starting with my artwork and my LeaKarts shop:
*finish updating my website, which still needs a page showing off my custom work
*make 10 sales in my etsy shop
*create and list at least 5 new original works of art
*have really successful sales at the Mississippi Street Fair & PDX Etsy shows! I would like to make at LEAST $200 at each of them!

And for SupplyRiot:
*Find 10 new items to list in my shop. My eventual goal is to consistently have 100 items in my shop at all times. Right now there are between 60 and 70.
*increase my sales by an average of $10/day
*make it through vacation at the end of the month without stressing out about shipping! :D

Happy 4th of July everyone!