Monday Mosaic - Industrial

1. Robots 11 x 14 Matted Photograph by Kerry Hawkins Photo
2. Susan's Star in Silver and Diamond by Cristina Hurley
3. Black Diamond Pocket Notebook with Lined Paper by White Sparrow Bindery
4. Industrial Series Necklace in Silver and Black by Lush Beads
5. Dogtag Keychain or Necklace by Stitchy McYarnpants
6. Spun Cotton Vintage Inspired Robot Figure by Vintage By Crystal

Clay workshop, Mudflat Studios

By Kerry from Khawkinsphoto

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending Arthur Halvorson's clay workshop along with Boston Handmaders Lucie, Allison, Diane and Leah. When the workshop came up I jumped at the chance to work with clay.

When we arrived, Arthur gave us a tour of the Mudflat Studios, including the kilns and individual artist studios. There were shelve after shelve of completed and soon to be completed work. It was fun to see all the different styles, shapes and sizes of the pieces, some simple and others very elaborate.

Arthur taught us how to work with the clay to shape it the piece we wanted to make. We were able to choose from many of his own molds (top photo) to make our dishes or plates. He has made these molds from everyday plates and dishes. Some of the Arthur's molds are of his own design, too. I choose a small mold that was made from a paper plate. I thought better to start off small. We were taught how roll out the clay to form bases to put a on the bottom our pieces. Arthur has a whole set of fun homemade tools and methods to make the bases original and interesting.

After forming the pieces, it was time to decorate our pieces with glaze and maybe, even add texture with liquid clay. I choose blue and green glaze and added a bit of texture. It will be interesting to see how my piece turns out. Arthur will be firing our pieces in the next few weeks. It was fun to see everyone's designs and color choices. I can't wait to see all the work when they are fired and done.

Arthur was a great teacher and teaches all ages the art of working with clay. These was fun to spend the afternoon learning something new but also, learning his process. He has beautiful work and it is nice to see all the work behind the finished pieces.

Food, Fuel, and Crafts?

by Sharon of Stray Notions

On a recent trip on the Maine Turnpike ... I stopped at the West Gardiner service plaza to check out the Maine Center for Crafts ...yes you read that right. The Center is a retail operation and Gallery operated by the Maine Crafts Association and features the juried work of Maine artisans in a large retail setting with a smaller space dedicated to curated exhibitions (currently jewelry artists). On a previous trip I listened as the cashier surveyed each customer who made a purchase as to how they heard about the Center --- the majority (unlike myself) indicated that they'd come in to use the rest rooms. (Gosh --- if I had a nickel (or a sale) for everyone that had to go to the bathroom :) ).

New Work...

By Marla of Sea Glass Things

Here are two more additions that will be sent to Eco 1st Art! Eco 1st Art carries upscale earth friendly items. I haven't heard yet if there has been an official launch - however, there are now many items for sale - check them out!

Live/Work

by Jen Paulousky of Blue Alvarez Designs

At the beginning of this month we moved into a new home. What's remarkable about that is that it's in a place we always wanted to be and never thought we'd be able to - an artist-only live/work building.

The miracle of being given this space started with a "let's just put our names on the waiting list" in June and unexpectedly shortly thereafter someone had to leave and we were given an opportunity to interview to buy their space.

Yes, interview. There aren't many Co-ops in Boston, but with a cooperative building, especially one that only allows artists, it's imperative that as a potential tenant you meet their requirements. In this case we both had to be working artists (though not full time), able to afford to purchase quickly, and willing to participate in the community. In short, we had to make stuff, not be broke (the price is very reasonable to make it affordable for artists to stay in Boston), and they had to like us.

To say we love our new neighbors is a bit of an understatement. Aside from jut being all around great people, it's also so inspiring to be surrounded by productive artists and their work all the time. Each one of us has an open space that we split according to our needs as artists. For Jonathan and I that meant using the majority of the space as a studio and making creative use of alcoves and lofts for the bedroom, kitchen, and hang out space.

As you can see above, the new space really allows us to get a lot of work done! Jonathan is preparing for a new show that will run through November 28th at The Hallway Gallery in Jamaica Plain. Please come to the opening on Thursday November 4th 6-9 PM if you can make it, and we'll be happy to tell you more about our building and our work.

To Print or Not to Print: What I know About Selling Art Online

by Julie Beck of Julie Beck: Original Paintings

I've been selling my art online for about 3 years. I believe October of 2007 was the month I opened my Etsy shop. Recently I got to thinking about hows my process (both painting and selling) has changed as well as the things I've learned along the way. I know I have a lot more to learn but I figured for those just starting out, this would be a good informative post.

The first topic I'll discuss is this: A lot of fine artists at one point or another wonder if they should offer prints. And for each artist, the answer to that is a different one. My experience was as follows:

What I started out thinking: Being significantly cheaper than originals, I expected them to sell like hot-cakes. I went gung ho with a couple of my images that everyone seemed to like. I had them professionally scanned and color corrected, printed on archival German Etching paper. I figured if I'm going to do this, I'm going to go all out with it... so people take me seriously as an artist. I even printed out Certificates of Authenticity and signed and numbered each one.

What I have learned: To my surprise, on Etsy and at shows, they did not sell well at all. And the ones that did sell, people were buying because they liked the image, not because they cared if it was #17/100.

People wanted originals... well, MY people wanted originals. And the market is what made the difference. They want the original because of the nature of the artwork... with photorealism, people don't want a print, because then it's like a photo of a painting that looks like a photo. And no matter how professionally done, there's something different about when the original is sitting in front of you. Something that can't be captured with the best scanning and color correcting in the world... and that, my friends, is the nature of art.

And with prints... today if there is high enough demand for a specific painting before the original sells, I will put out a call to see if anyone else is interested and put in 1 order for that number of prints plus 1 more. This way I don't ever spend more overhead than I need to and ensure I will make my money back.

Like I said before, this is different for every artist. Some people sell amazingly well with prints... but take a look at your market. Are you willing to upfront the overhead cost of having them done professionally or if you want to try and invest in the equipment to print them yourself? Maybe poll your current/past customers and see if it would be worth it.

Stitchy McYarnpants Introductory Q&A

by Debbie of Stitchy McYarnpants

BH: Tell us a bit about yourself (name, location, affiliations, personal stuff).
McYarnpants: My name is Debbie Brisson, but I also answer to Stitchy McYarnpants. Seriously, you can call me Stitchy and it won’t be weird. I have 4 cats and way too much yarn and fabric. And probably too many cats. I’m an avid knitter, crocheter, sewist, embroiderer and general crafty gal. I blog at yarnpants.com, where I curate The Museum of Kitschy Stitches. It’s a collection of the best of the worst in handmade vintage fashion.

BH: Apart from creating things, what do you do?
McYarnpants: I’m a programmer at a financial software company in Framingham. I spend most of my days creating financial reports, so I really need all the creative outlets I can get. Also, my second book, Knitting it Old School, was just released. It’s chock full of knitting and crochet patterns based on vintage fashion (both kitschy and classic).

BH: What is the first thing you can remember making by hand?
McYarnpants: My brother and I were always crafty kids, my brother has always been the artist in the family and has been drawing since he was little. I always tried to keep up with him, but my pictures never did look like his.

My friend, Kim, and I were always making things, gluing stuff to other stuff, putting googly eyes on acorns and the like. But the first thing I remember making all on my own and that I was truly proud of was a series of uber-cute embroidered animals when I was about 8.

BH: Please describe your creative process (how, when, materials, etc).
McYarnpants: I make two kinds of items that require entirely different frames of mind. When I’m sewing bags and snap wallets, I like to set up the iPod to the “Deb’s Afternoon” mix and spend the entire day cutting and sewing. Once I start, I don’t want to stop, so I can rarely just pop in and sew one thing. I always need to make sure I stop before I get tired, because that’s when I start making mistakes. Staying focused is key when I’m sewing.

When I’m making mirrors, keychains and other items using vintage images, it’s much more relaxed and I can do it while watching TV. I watched the first two seasons of Veronica Mars during my last craft explosion. (I was warned that the 3rd season would ruin it for me.) I sit on the sofa surrounded by piles of vintage books and magazines looking for the best images. I love flipping through the pages, reading insanely outdated articles and seeing what kinds of products were available back when lead paint was a revolutionary new idea.

BH: What do you love most about what you make?
McYarnpants: I use a lot of vintage fabric scraps and damaged old books and magazines that may otherwise be thrown away. I enjoy breathing new life into old things and can’t get enough of the amazing graphics from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

BH: What is your biggest obstacle with it?
McYarnpants: It took me a long time to be able to cut into the magazines and books, but they’re usually damaged or musty and will just go right back into a yard sale when I shuffle off this mortal coil. I finally decided that I may as well send them out into the world to be enjoyed rather than letting them get moldy in a box. I often set stuff aside that’s too good to use, so I do have some standards.



BH: Are there other mediums you’re not working in that interest you?
McYarnpants: Every time I see something handmade, I immediately want to learn how to do it! Pottery, bookbinding, jewelry, digital photography, glass blowing, anything short of taxidermy and I really want to try it. I find it hard not be interested in all kinds of mediums. Staying focused is always an issue and I do so love buying notions associated with any crafty endeavor.

BH: How do you promote your work?
McYarnpants: This is always a sore spot for me. I’m naturally very shy and have a hard time doing promotion. I’ve found ads on Raverly (for knitting-related items) and Facebook to be easy and occasionally helpful. I can make the ads and just send them out to do the work for me. I also re-list pretty regularly on Etsy to keep things fresh.

BH: Why should people buy handmade?
McYarnpants: Besides the fact that it’s awesome? I think there really is something to cutting out the middle man and handing money directly to the person who created something. There’s only so much love one can impart to a figurine as it’s whizzing past on a conveyor belt in a factory.

BH: What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
McYarnpants: The one piece of advice I always give people is not to expect Etsy to bring you sales. It has great community, but you have to look at it as an online shopping cart and drive people to your shop yourself by advertising, joining groups, and getting the word out however you can.

BH: Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites
McYarnpants: this week, it looks something like this:

What I watch over and over

Galaxy Quest
30 Rock
Dr. Who
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Firefly

What I listen to over and over

Tom Waits
Elvis Costello
Andrew Bird
Dolly Parton
David Bowie

BH: Is there anything about you that would surprise people to know?
McYarnpants: People are surprised to hear that I’m really shy. I worked hard to teach myself how to pretend I wasn’t, and it looks like it worked! I was at a family reunion last year and one of my cousins said “Do you realize that I’ve hear you talk more in the last half hour that I did during your entire childhood?”

BH: In ten years I'd like to be...
McYarnpants: Living a productive, crafty life. I really love writing and making books and hope to be doing that more and more. So in the next 10 years, I would love to figure out how to actually make a living at it.

Monday Mosaic - Topaz

1. Pocket Mirror by Stitchy McYarnpants
2. Raging Sun Bracelet by Lush Beads
3. Singer Circles Print by Thirteenth Story
4. 190 Yards of Hand Dyed and Spun Yarn - Tumeric by Lady Dye
5. Organic Vegan Shoulder Bag in Butternut and Charcoal by Pansy Maiden
6. Sterling Silver Sunburst Necklace with Gold Accents and Topaz Beads by Christina Hurley