Sunday Musings - Thoughts About My Art & Business

In the Distance

Feeling blessed...

A couple of weeks ago, I will have the honor of delivering this painting to the new home of my good friend, Ms. Potts! (Her name is Becky too, so we've reverted to her last name, which is super fun to say with a British accent! LOL)

And just before the Larkspur Harvest Fest "show," my other friend & one of my biggest supporters, Rebecca (another Becky!!) bought this painting for her home...

Beau Pavot (Beautiful Poppy)

to compliment the other poppy painting she commissioned me to do…

Crimson Tide

I feel truly honored to have my artwork hanging in a few friends' homes! It's a very humbling experience to have someone like your art enough to purchase it & hang it in their home!

Beyond

Fear of rejection...

Even though I put up a confident front about my art, like most artists, I fear rejection. Doing this first "show" has given me a little more confidence to try some more shows & to even look for a few juried shows, but it's scary!! (On Tuesday, 10/7, I will deliver the above painting, "Beyond," to The Phillip S. Miller Library in Castle Rock for The National Arts Program show! It's not a juried entry, but it is judged & I am hoping to receive at least an Honorable Mention from the judges!)  I am even considering approaching a couple local restaurants to see if they would hang a piece in their dining rooms! Now, THAT'S really scary to me! It's really hard to "sell" yourself!! It's hard to be near someone as they look at my work & chat with their companion because I know that not everything I create will appeal to everyone that looks at it. During the show, I tried to avoid hovering around as people looked at my work & I have to say, that in general, most of the comments were very kind. Thank you for that!

What's it worth?

Besides the criticism that comes about, there's the whole pricing your work issue. How much did I spend on materials? How long did it take me to finish? What is my time worth? What would I pay for that piece? What kind of client would I expect to hang this in their home, office or business?  I found a few formulas online before the show a couple of weeks ago on pricing in order to price myself fairly. My friend Michelle kindly spent an hour or two helping me adjust that pricing where we felt that the original price wasn't right. Then to be told by another artist that some of my pieces were too low! UGH! I feel funny pricing things higher as I am an "unknown" artist really just getting started & although I want to make money with my artwork, I also want it to sell & for people to have it hanging in their homes where they can enjoy it. But if I price it too low, am I devaluing my ability? When I chat with other artists, they have gone through the same struggle. I guess over time, I will get more comfortable with pricing.

The value for teaching...

Another area I struggle with is the cost & time for my classes. I was pricing my classes around the same amount that store-front Paint & Sips were charging - $35-45, but I found that I wasn't making much profit at that price point. So, I have raised them quite a bit & many people ask me why my classes are more expensive than the local Paint & Sips…well, in general my classes run longer (3-4 hours), we use more supplies (expensive paints, mediums, stencils & collage pieces) & I try to offer food as well as beverages. I like that my classes offer a relaxed, non-rushed atmosphere to create in & I believe my students enjoy it too! (Check out my last class HERE.)

As I learn & grow as an artist, I must try to learn & grow as a business person too. I have joined the local Chamber & have been researching ways to make my business grow & thrive in my small community! Wish me luck! It's a long road! LOL

Cheers!

Sharing my passion...

I can't begin to express the joy I feel when I am able to share my passion with others & teach them the techniques that I have come to love in creating my own canvases! The other night, I did just that by teaching a group of friends how to create this canvas during a "Mixed Media Mama's" night at my place:

It's so amazing to watch others take the techniques & create their own visions of the project! Even with a few glitches in tools, these ladies were amazing!

Deione & Charity having some fun!

Gabrielle thinking outside the box with a red background!

Working on the backgrounds

Rachel & Gabrielle at work

 (I am bummed to say I didn't get a final shot of Rachel's - she worked on 3 canvases simultaneously! I promise to get a pic from her when they are on her bedroom wall!)

Charity created a beautiful blended background for her trees!

Bev & Maria getting ready for the next step...

And Maria dives in!

Barb & her daughter Keri hard at work!

Michele & one other "student" ventured into different techniques.

It make she feel proud of my students & honestly, proud of myself when I see their pieces coming together! I think to myself, "I taught them that!" It's such an amazing feeling!!!

Bev's beautiful canvas!

Gabrielle, Barb, Keri & Charity's amazing works!

Rebecca, Michele & Maria's gorgeous pieces!

And of course, we had to get the kiddos into the act…no sitter? no problem! These two hung out on their own while we painted & didn't get into the act until later…

Bev's daughters playing along!

Don't you just love the colors & the freedom of their work? Their mom told me that they were inspired to pull some paint & canvases out at home the next morning as well.

I am blessed!

Cheers!

Happy Monday!

I don't think most of us think of Monday as "Happy" days.

After all, it's the day that most head back to work or school. But today was an exceptionally nice & happy Monday for me, especially after a busy weekend with in-laws in town!!

Nothing too out of the ordinary today, except that I (should say we, because mom & Kim were there too) made a new friend today. Her name is Nancy Glass & she is a fellow crafter (you can visit her website HERE)! She first bumped into mom & Kim a few weeks ago at Hobby Lobby. They got to talking about selling our crafty stuff & her crafty stuff & info was exchanged.

CardArtByNancy (this will be her Etsy name when she's up!)

Nancy is a super nice lady & feels like an old friend already! She makes wonderful cards & sells them in local shops, but is wanting to list them on Etsy. That's where I came in! You see, mom & Kim put way too much faith in my ability to run our little Etsy shop & talked up those abilities to Nancy. So, of course she wanted some pointers & I was happy to share what little knowledge I have of Etsy! We all spent a lovely breakfast getting to know each other at SNOOZE this morning & then I popped open my laptop to show her a few things about Etsy. I certainly hope that I didn't fill her head with too much from bouncing around the Etsy site & talking of all the social media sites & blogs out there!! In the end, we all agreed to get together soon to craft & talk some more!!

Afterward, I came home to catch up on some pix for my Creative Cuts & More post (I still haven't finished my Marie book, but I had to post what have done for tomorrow), as well as take some of the tin I did in our first Art Group meeting last Tuesday! Here's what I made during our day of crafting...

I'm calling it "Johnny's lost his head!"

We had such a blast pulling these little tins together! It was great to see all the different ideas come together! (I'll post a link to some other pix as soon as I get it from my fellow group member!) And, I believe some of us found a new obsession!! I have ideas for a ton more of these little tins!! I haven't decided whether I am going to sell this one or not.

Then as I was driving home, I got a nice little evite to a friends b-day breakfast in a couple of weeks! (You know who are!! Thanks!!)

That's all that made my Monday a happy one!

Tomorrow I am spending the day with my wonderful gal-pal Shirley at IKEA (she hasn't been yet!) & probably try to craft a little before Maggie comes home from school.

And, hopefully on Wednesday evening I will get to have dinner with one of my oldest friends (way back to Kindergarten!)! That's all that's planned so far, but who knows what life will bring this week!

TTFN!