time slipping away. . .

Wow it's been a while since I posted. 😏  I've been a tad busy and had a vacation in between. 😉  I have managed to get a dozen of the fridge magnets listed and thanks to Etsy's new "link variations to photos" thing I am really happy with the new listings. 

Now that we can link individual photos to variations I really need to rethink, re-do, re-photograph a bunch of stuff for a bunch of older listings.  😌  It's a great feature but it will take a lot of work to update things, as most of my listings have variations, like all the bracelets come in multiple colors.  ~sigh~

So aside from adding lots of art I am also working on the R&D of the rubber stretchy-maille.  I've had my Mom test wearing some for a while now and I've checked other's listings to see pricing and keywords and which patterns are already being sold.  I think I have actually created a new pattern as I have not found any listings or even google images of one of the styles I am making but now I have to name the new thing I created and I don't know what to call it.  Plus I know from experience once I start selling it it will only be a matter of time before every one starts copying it, 😕  so I'm holding it back for a while.  

Anyone who thinks having, stocking, and maintaining an Etsy shop is not work is not doing it right. 😄

mini art and fridge magnets . . .

Ok, so keeping in line with my "art for all" concept from my previous post I have started painting mini art, more specifically fridge magnets. 😊  

I found magnetic mini canvases at the craft store and they are so fun to paint. These are really great for apartment people or people with limited wall space as they are magnetic so just pop it on the fridge, no hanging, no framing, no extra expense, no wall damage.

Just fabulous little pops of colorful art at low price points. 😇

I have not started listing them for sale on Etsy yet but I will eventually, once I have many more finished to choose from. 😉

Art for ALL !!!

For many years I thought of "Art" as some lofty, expensive, only for the rich, only produced by famous "Art-ist" types, something unattainable for most. A bit of a sad thought really. 😟

When I started playing with paint I refused to call myself an artist at all and it's still hard for me to believe that I've only been painting about 18 months.  Last week I sold my 5th painting and I suppose I shall have to relent on being called an artists, although most days I still don't feel like one. 😕 Yes, it is self-doubt and impostor syndrome I suppose, but in truth aside from the paintings I've sold almost 100 wire tree sculptures and at least 50 pieces of chainmaille in the last 4 years, so. . . I guess I just need to "own it".

So I've been thinking about an "Art for ALL" approach, lowering my prices and doing miniatures and trying to make "art" more accessible for those that don't have a mansion to hold a 12 foot painting or thousands of dollars to pay for frivolous things.  For those that want something special and unique not the same $20 print from which ever store that thousands of people already have, but something one of a kind and handmade but still affordable, still attainable. 

I know this is a crazy approach to art, it's a crazy approach to business, but I'm not in it for the money.  😇  I like making things and I like it when other people appreciate the things I make, it really is that simple. 

new style, new art. . .

I have been busy for weeks, creating, making, listing lots of stuff. 😉  I made a batch of small wire trees because I realized my binder was down to only a couple of full pages. 

I've been painting regularly and still trying new styles and techniques and ideas.

I've even made some new chainmaille. I had a message question about a necklace in the infinity knot pattern, it didn't turn into a custom order as there was no follow through but it did get me thinking of all of the patterns of chain I can make that is one that there is no necklace sample of. 😏  So I sat down and got busy with the rings and made 2. ~LOL~ The infinity knot pattern can be done in different ways so I made one with "8-ring" knots and one with "10-ring" knots, they also have slightly different colors. 😎

All this busy busy work means that I have finally broken the 200 listing mark, which at one time I never thought would happen. That's the good news, the bad news is I have 20 new paintings to photograph and get listed, so busy busy back to work. 😇

slow going. . .

The adding art listings to the etsy shop is a slow process for me and rather frustrating if I'm honest. 😕  Photography is not among my strongest skills, and some of these paintings are particularly challenging. 

Oh don't get me wrong, I love painting and I generally love the art I create (with a few exceptions) but between the metallic paints, the iridescent mixer and the gloss varnish finishes it is VERY hard to get clear, color accurate, good photos to make listings. 😣

I like to use all 10 photo slots when creating a listing and often in order to get 10 good use-able photos I end up taking dozens of each painting.  Yesterday I photographed 3 paintings, took over 80 photos and by the time I deleted the fuzzy, mis-focused, off colored, badly shadowed, etc. I only ended up creating 2 listings this morning.  This is a recurring thing for me sadly. 

I just keep trying and if I take enough photos eventually I end up with use-able photos or at least passable photos. 😏

Listing art on Etsy . . .

Since I started painting again I have not listed any of the new art on my etsy shop RainbowMaille I need to, I want to but I have been limited by a computer issue.  However, my laptop is now fixed ~yay~ and I do plan to start the process of photographing and listing, although, not today as it's rainy and grey and the lighting sucks. 😔  I am not sure if I will actually list all of the new art as I don't even like all of them myself, but you never know maybe someone else will really like the ones I don't.  😏  

In the meantime I still have to continue to make and list wire trees and fresh chainmaille too. I'm feeling a bit scattered and unfocused.

Mental. . .yes I am

To me a blank canvas is both exciting and frightening. I guess exhilarating would be a good word, as one never knows what will appear.  I know many artists that have a set style, they have formal training and there is a certain similarity, continuity to their works. I have no formal training and I have noticed that the more I try to plan what a piece will look like the less I like the finished product. 😕  I cannot make two things alike and the harder I try the worse the result.

 So setting a blank new canvas on the easel is always a bit scary.😨  Will I like what I make? Will I f*ck it all up?  Will anyone else like it when it's done?  Honestly, I never know these answers going in. I paint mostly on instinct and emotion, I think that's why when I try to plan or achieve a certain thing I overthink and it just ruins it.  It's so weird. ~LOL~  

After not painting for 9 months I started again and I decided to try something I have never done before. The very first piece was striking and amazing and actually caused me tears of joy. Then I started overthinking and didn't like the second attempt, the third has a nice look but it is nothing like the first of the series. 😫 As a matter of fact it was 8 canvases later before I hit one that is truly similar to the first of the series, there is no continuity it is a progressive series.  Looking at them I can see the thought process from the first one to the ones that followed, and I think that thinking is my downfall. 😵

The more I "try" the less I like them.  So I guess I have to just go back to not thinking and work from instinct and emotion. 😉