The Altered Bottle

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 by Alyice

Remember when I told you that I made a gorgeous vase for my 13 year old daughter from an old root beer bottle that she saved? Well, I know I promised a nicer shot, as per a colleague’s request, but my right eye (the picture taking eye) is so fuzzy from the Bell’s Palsy that I just can’t seem to do it justice. Plus, I still can’t get the lighting right in the livingroom–where it has currently found a home–and I don’t own studio lights for photography, yet.

So…I’m just going to show you what I did, okay?

I can’t tell you how much I L-O-V-E this vase and I can’t wait to find more bottles like this (or drink more sodas) so that we can make more.

What do you think? I’m thinking it might even look better without the hearts, but I like them. And it was a Valentine’s gift so they were appropriate at the time.

Keep Creating

Posted in The Art Jars | Comments Off

Selling Your Art

Monday, February 25th, 2008 by Alyice

I’ve got a ways to go before I’m good enough for gallery showings, but I’m not so bad that I couldn’t sell a few things on my own. I’ve actually been doing a little research and discovered that there are several ways to sell arts and crafts these days and none of them require leaving the house—which for an introvert like me is great news!

I’d always thought I’d have to lug a bunch of supplies and projects from one craft show to another and I just couldn’t see myself doing it. First, it would feel completely uncomfortable and second, I always feel so bad for the ones who don’t seem to sell their products. (Not saying I’d never do it, because I think it could be a great way to make friends in the industry and a few contacts along the way.)

Then I met up with Justin Clayton and learned that one could make a nice living selling paintings online by creating a following through daily blog posts, a regularly updated website, media coverage, and an eBay store. Now that sounded like my cup of tea!

For almost eight years I’ve been working the Internet to sell my e-books and gain exposure for my free online magazine, surely I could use the same techniques for developing a following with my art and photography projects! But what made Justin so successful I wondered?

After interviewing Justin I discovered that his success didn’t come over night. First, he had to fine-tune his creative talent through daily study and painting. Second, he had to get a better understanding of how the Internet worked and what was needed to succeed as a business. Third, he had to set up his business website and his blog and open up an eBay shop. Fourth, he had to find a way to get the word out about all three. And finally, he had to commit to painting and blogging every single day. Of course this is an oversimplification of the process, but you get the idea.

As I thought long and hard about his tips for success, I realized that there’s two areas I need to work on before I could even consider promoting my art and photography and that’s fine-tuning my skills and creating something every single day.

Justin paints for three hours every single day. With my full load, I’m lucky if I get an hour in to paint or create photographic images. Yes, if I want to succeed in art and photography, I am going to have to make some changes. In the meantime, I think I’ll check out the eBay listings, Esty, Yessy, and a few online shops to see what’s really selling out there.

Posted in Artist's Life | Comments Off

Practice Makes Perfect

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 by Alyice

To be quite truthful, I know that practice makes perfect because I’ve seen the improvement in my own writing as I’ve taken the time each day to hone my skills as a writer. And I know that the more I practice, the better I’ll get. So I get that in order to improve in both photography and art, I must do something to improve those skills every single day—read a tutorial, practice a method, watch a professional in action, something. But I must shamefully admit, before God and you, that I have not made the time to learn, to practice, to improve.

It hasn’t been easy to find the time between my home business and my duties as both a wife and mother to tackle this new venture. In fact, putting off my training has become such second nature to me for so many years that even though I vowed this would be the year I made an effort to at least try I am now two months into the year and I can honestly say that I’ve only put about 16 hours into learning and practicing.

But that’s all about to change thanks to an interview I did with artist and gallery owner Shelley Grund. In 2005 Shelley decided to paint one small painting a day—something she could tackle in under an hour and complete in one day—in order to improve her skills and create better art. Well, it paid off in more ways than she ever imagined.

Not only did she create better art, but she learned to create intuitively. In other words, she stopped worrying about how something was going to look, if she was using the right colors, or if she had the technique down correctly and just began to enjoy the process of painting. And before she knew it, she had a better understanding of how her paints worked together, which brushes worked better for a particular technique or area of the painting, and how far she could push her raw materials.

But what stood out the most during her interview was her closing statement, “You are no longer a student learning how to use the materials, you are a ‘master’ painter creating something with the materials.”

And isn’t that what all artists strive to be—a master of their craft? Whether it’s writing, photography, painting, sculpting, or even crocheting, the only way to be good at what we do is to get to a point where we aren’t always second-guessing why we’re doing what we are doing and begin to simply do it because it feels right. And that’s really where I’d like to be one day—at a place where I can confidently say, “this feels right” and have the outcome turn out just as good as it felt during the creative process.

I can’t promise a piece of art a day or even a photograph a day, but I can at least promise that I’ll spend 30 minutes to an hour every day devoted to learning and improving upon my craft—whether it be reading a how-to book, watching a video tutorial, or actually putting something into practice. After all, if I continue with the excuses of time being against me, I’ll forever live with the “what ifs” and dreams of “what could have been” and I am so not a “what if” girl!

Posted in Artist's Life | 1 Comment »

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