How Do You Do It All? (part 2)

My artistic focus right now is on exposure not sales. I want to get out there so when I am ready to focus on sales my works will be made with  highest quality possible.  I would like to have the experience with different techniques, and a finish that is professional.

With technology the great medium it is any artist would be severely limiting their market share by not exposing themselves online in some shape or form.

Here are my tops for How I Do It All

Blogging- for me is something that I have been very committed to in the last 6 months. It is a great way for me to use my writing skills and really I am enjoying it a lot. It also is a great way for me to work through whatever is going on that needs working through and a great inspiration for me. My blog is me……and what I am going through art wise or life wise. I use word press and have only had technical issues a few times which were resolved within 24 hours. With the I phone app I can access my blog while on the go which is a wonderful tool. Still learning the ins and outs of the app but it looks very promising.

Flickr- for me is a great site that I can showcase some of my artwork. I have two set up one is for professional work

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluedamselflyjewelry/

and the other for clay experiments and things ..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82656386@N00/

With Flickr you can get photos of your art out there for all to see. There is no fee and this is a very popular way for you to see what people like and do not like from their comments.

Flickr also has an app for the I phone so you can stay connected while on the go. Another feature that is appealing is anywhere you are you can show some one your pictures on Flickr with a couple of touches.

Facebook is another great tool you can use. You can hook up with your real friends and your cyber ones. It is a great way to let others know what IS going on with you and your art. The one drawback is the games and all the silly notifications you get by playing them. It took me a while to realize that my friends were posting and I did not see what they were saying because of all the notifications from what ever ville game it was they were playing. I now have it set up so that when someone says something it comes directly to my phone and I can be a part of what I joined Facebook for in the first place. Keeping track of my friends and claymates and not the games they are playing.

Twitter is one of the great ways to keep track as well but I chose not to participate in this wonderful wave of life. I have enough to keep up with and I feel adding this would only hinder my creative abilities. I have been wrong a couple of times in life and this could be one of them.

Web Sales is something we need to consider and I have done that. I have established the same business name at several sales sites.  Etsy, Ebay, and Artfire….. now the question is have I posted my items for sale? No not yet but hey I have started and established something so that is a step in the right direction I think. I just do not have the time to keep track of the things that can and will come from online sales. At this point in my career I also am not ready to commit to a website for sales. I did that years ago with general merchandise from our family business at the time and had intended to donate all the profits to an infertility charity. I now know the idea  didn’t work and know that people were hesitant as to why anyone would want to donate 100% of their profits to any charity?? Those were my true intentions and  why  I do have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to setting up a website. You don’t even want to know how much money was lost with not even a single sale.

Groups and guilds are very important I think. You have to have support somehow someway no matter what art is your medium. It is great to have support and the ability to reach out to someone who is going through or has already been through what you are dealing with. I found a great Yahoo group called City O Clay. It is an online clay group and  I have formed friendships there and it feels like home. Since I do not have a lot of time to keep track of many groups I chose City O Clay as my clay home on the internet. It is amazing what topics of discussion come up sometimes. One of the latest OMG headlines was the topic of boiling Barbie dolls. *disclaimer no Barbies were hurt in the name of art they were merely boiled so they could hold their new pose more effectively. Find some type of online group and you will get so much out of it if you choose to participate. I guarantee it.

I recently joined the Central Ma Polymer Clay Guild and have been lucky enough to attend one meeting. It is a great way to be with people who share your same interest and can be a wonderful inspiration as well.

Volunteer opportunities are out there if you choose to find them. I am the swap mistress at City O Clay. It has been a wonderful experience for me and a wonderful motivational tool for me. I am so proud of the individuals of all skill sets that participate in the clay swaps. I truly believe that the open hand is the full hand. Translated you have to give and when you do be it time, money, or your talents you will get more than you give in return. 

So those are the things that I have committed myself to for my art. Now I just need to find some time to actually sit down and create. One of the drawbacks of all the technology is the time that is required to maintain the connections you make. You must prioritize and then of course act on those priorities. Also you must consider the time your job and family take in everyday life. Many days it does not seem like there are ever enough hours, but I try to stay as motivated and focused as I can.

I hope this may have helped you some in your journey. We are all at different stages in our art, as well we all have different amounts of time we are able to dedicate to our art each and every day. Then there is the biggest demon of all to face. That inner voice that says I am not good enough, so why try. If that is the voice you are listening to in life you don’t have a chance. Sit down with yourself and have an honest conversation. Then the next time any negativity that is self-directed comes out turn it around and make it positive which will give you strength and motivation.

Whatever it is that helps you do it all please share I would love to know your strategy!

IMPORTANT UPDATE

You can create a Facebook Fan page and this tutorial makes it super easy!

Enjoy!

http://studio.faculte.com/bp/MzA0ODc0MzE2NQ

How Do You Do It All?

This question came up this week on a group I am a member of. How do you do it all?

Remember this IS from the art angle but life creeps in sometimes no matter who you are.

When asked this question on the list there were many different responses. Some replied they had a system that worked well for them most of the time. Most being the operative word, the system in place they admitted did not work all the time. Some  struggled with doing it all and freely admitted that fact. There were also those that had not even started thinking of how to do any of it much less ALL of it.

The one thing that all of the responses had in common was that life often was the thing that distracted or deterred them every time. How do you deal with life I mean who can plan for the illness or loss of a family member, loved one, or close friend. What about the furry friends in our lives? Loosing one of them can some times be worse than a family member ….depends on the family member lol. I digress……

In this economy you also have to factor in your hours being cut, or even loosing your job or the company closing without notice.

How do you do it all?

First you have to decide what is important to you. I asked my 14-year-old to name the 5 most important things in his life,  I wanted a young perspective. After he tried and failed with his best reasons for not answering the question here are his answers:

1. Laughter

2. Happiness

3. Friends

4. Mom not asking me questions like this and forcing me to answer them! (Okay I did get 3 good ones out of him so at this point I was prepared to take anything for number 5).

5. lightbulbs / girls

Number 5 light bulbs was to escape by completing the task. He left the room and then came right back in and requested I cross out lightbulbs and change it to girls. Okay so I got 4 out of him he did great!

My Turn

1. Health

2. Family/ friends

3. Happiness

4. Money (we are getting close to retirement and this is a big concern especially in this economy)

5. To be successful as an artist

Numbers 1,2,and 3 were easy. Number four took a while for me and 5 I am not so sure how much of me is talking and how much of that is me realizing I am doing a blog about art and it should be there somewhere.

Hubby only came up with two. He says health, and happiness are all one needs. I think he didn’t want to answer my questions any more than my son did.

I was surprised at how similar our answers were given the age gap. You have to have friends and happiness!

I urge you to do the same and see what you come up with for your top 5. Then choose what parts of the five directly relate to your art and how you can become better at it. Remember what YOU want to achieve with your art is going to be different from where I am right now. Honestly where my focus is right now can and probably will change in a short time. Most of the changes I will have to deal with are directly related to how technology is affecting us at such a rapid pace, and the sales aspect of it all.

So what are your top 5?

How do you do it all?

Art and Musings

         

Last week I chose to focus on family instead of rushing to post and entry. Right Choice? Wrong Choice? Still wrestling with this one but I wanted to let you know it bothered me I focused on what was important to me at the time and life is good which in the end is more important than a blog post anyway.

So this week we will be inspired and focus on being an artist and you can laugh at me a little if you want. I however have a feeling many (yea I am talking to you) of you will be or have already been in the exact same situation for your art!

 

I don’t read a lot since it seems like I just do not have the time but found a title last year Art & Fear Observations on the perils (and rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles &Ted Orland.I will be focusing the blog on the book and its chapters in the coming weeks so hopefully that is something you would like to think about as well. I am looking forward to your input. 

 

The introduction focused on the fact that art is made with two mindsets. That of the artist and that of the person viewing the art. Honestly I have never thought about how art is viewed and what it means, I mean I didn’t go to college and study art. They either like it or they do not right? That is true but I never really thought about how I felt about my art. I DO Feel my art? When I am looking at a piece I remember so many things that the purchaser or viewer probably does not even care about. They want to know how it looks around THEIR neck or THEIR ears etc. They don’t necessarily care that that piece was made in the nights after the death of a dear family friend when I could not sleep.My art is what kept me going in those days. They don’t care about how long it took me to learn how to learn how to make really nicely formed round beads, or lentils. They want something that speaks to them because of style, shape, color whatever it is that speaks to them. They do not care about the process, and for me as the artist it is all about just that the process of learning or perfecting a technique.        

I really look forward to the journey I am about to take with this book.  

        

Now on to my  clay table  :)   

I love the faux turquoise technique from the book Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay it was written by Irene Semanchuk Dean. The technique uses dirt mixed with liquid clay and then it is put in the gaps that come from the clay when processed. Tried it early last year on some practice pieces and I don’t know if I got a good spoonful of dirt or what but it looked amazing. Here are the very unclear pictures of some of the practice pieces. Kind of hard to see a difference but I wanted to show you something.  

    

 I had a specific project in mind and this technique the way I am doing it takes a really long time to complete. So I waited until life gave me a window to do it in and made it late last year. Two things happened one I tumbled with a new tumbler and did not think it would matter too much not to line the tumbler, second I got bad dirt. Today I will focus on the dirt aspect of the whole thing.   

 

This project started last year mind you and I want to finish it so bad if for no one else than for me. But honestly as spectacular as this will look everyone is going to want one! The finished sexy piece process started two weeks ago. Made the necklace, took pictures, wrote tut, tumbled in tumbler this time with a liner and it is now ready for the dirt part. Do you think I could find clean dirt?    

 

 The guys at Home Depot god bless them but when they see me coming in the store they should just throw their hands up in the air and walk away. Honestly I would not blame them if I saw them running away from me when I walk in I kind of deserve it by now. The question from me I though was a simple one    

 

” Do you have any clean dirt?”   

      

“Excuse me mam did you say clean dirt?” 

 

“Yes I need some dirt with none of the white things or sand in it please? Do you have any?”      

    

He looks over at the guy driving the forklift they are trying to get more salt for the foot of snow we just got the day before.      

“Mike do you know if we have any dirt with no peat moss or _______ (sorry I forgot already what the white things are) and no sand?”     

 

Mike says “She needs topsoil and we don’t have any of that.”     

 

I say “Okay so I need topsoil? Do you know where I can find any now?”      

 

Mike says “Maam you are not going to be able to find any topsoil this time of year you will have to wait until Spring. How much do you need? You know it is going to be expensive right?”    

 

I say ” Oh I only need about a quarter of a cup. How EXPENSIVE do you think it will be?”      

 

Mike says, “Oh that stuff if you can find it will be expensive.”      

    

I say “Thanks guys at least I know what I will need now! Have a great day!”       

And I left knowing what I need is topsoil and boy is it going to be expensive. I went to every store I could think of over the weekend looking for some good clean dirt. Would you believe none of the landscaping or farms are open this time of the year? Just a sign in the parking lot of every one I tried saying if you need firewood please call insert their number here . 

Flash to Monday morning at the dry cleaners when I am dropping off hubby’s cleaning. The guy behind the counter comments on the necklace I am wearing.          

“Oh I am a jewelry designer thank you!”        

He says, ” I have never seen a woman wearing something like that before.”       

  

I say ” Thank you and if you think this is good you should see the next piece I am working on. It is amazing it is Faux turquoise and all I need to complete it is some good clean dirt you know with no sand or anything in it just some good clean dirt.”       

He says “Oh you need worm dirt.”        

I say “What? Worm Dirt? What the heck is that.”         

He says “It is the dirt that bait shops use to put their worms in. It is a very clean dirt.”     

I say “Okay thanks I will go and try to find some worm dirt.”  There was someone behind me in line and I remembered buying worms and the dirt being real black and not having a drop of sand in it.       

Last night when I asked hubby if he knew where a tackle shop is so I can  buy some worms he gave me a look. Before giving me directions, he asked me what in the heck I needed worms for? I had to explain the whole scenario from the beginning because he has no idea I am looking for clean dirt, or that I have tried to find dirt and could not so now I am on to finding worm dirt in the hopes that it will help. My son who was present for this conversation and was with me when I bought the food processor for clay not food, rolled his eyes at me when I tried to stick clay under him while he was on the couch so he could warm it up etc. they have both seen a lot of crazy things for my art. He without blinking an eye said         

“Mom you want worm poop in your jewelry? EWWWW?”         

Okay so I had not thought through the whole worm poop dirt thingie but I do know where a tackle shop is and hope that they can help me find some poopless worm dirt.         

I will keep you updated! I also now have a few plastic bags and a spoon in my purse. Why? To get different dirt samples of course. I was just at the ski lodge and my son was snowboarding and while on my way to the car I saw some really dark-colored dirt on the side of the parking lot. I actually went to the car to get the bags but halfway there realized that first it was dark outside and if I saw the dirt in the daylight I probably would not like it BECAUSE it is on the side of a parking lot with a ton of snow around it hence it will be filled with sand. We already know I do not want sand and so in a way I have become a kind of dirt conisour?         

Which brings me full circle to the book and what the introduction says. The person who buys whatever piece I may make from the turquoise technique will never know what I have gone through to get this clean dirt. Two different mindsets. One of the artist who is attempting to perfect a technique and the other of the person who is looking at the art and relating to it from their life perspective.         

Enjoy your art!         

    

Polymer Clay Bead Swap

This week it is not about me, what is on my work table, or on my to do list. (#1 is still there laughing at me BTW)

This week it is all about my bead swappers! Omg their beads floored me. They were all so different and special. All the swappers have been so happy to get their boxes it is like Christmas all over again.

So without any further delay here are the City O Clay Bead Swap Participants for Jan 2010!

Linda

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4307354829/

Jim

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4308095464/

Tirza

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4308095446/

Beth

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4257764755/

Andi

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4257764737/

Luny

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4257764723/

Elaine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4257764713/

Mwezi

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4257764697/

Julia

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4258523534/

Edie

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4258523488/

Tabitha

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4258523482/

Elly

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4258523444/

Grace

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4258523426/

Shirley

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4258523410/

Astrid

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityoclayswaps/4257764547/

Next Swap due March 3! Participant updates occur about 10 days AFTER mailing so the swap participants open the box and see what is inside before pics posted on the internet!