First Day of Spring & Indulging in Art

Rose-O-Shannon Progression
Acrylic & Water Soluble Wax Pastel
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

With our part of the world being kept in an almost perpetual deep freeze this season, it's easy to let time get away from us. Dark days & cold, miserable temperatures can make one feel depressed, despite our not necessarily suffering from depression. 

It feels as if we've spent months just waiting. Waiting to be inspired, waiting to feel free. Free of layers of clothes & the subsequent piles of laundry. Free of the tedium of clearing & manuevering endless acres of snow. Free of the doldrums and hopeless feeling that spring may never arrive. 

And, while, in theory, this should be the perfect time to hibernate in the studio, it is difficult to do so. The thought of going beyond the radius of the fireplace was more taxing than joyful. 

But, today is astronomically the first day of spring. Over the last week, the snow pack has melted to show saturated greens & browns. Bunnies & deer have emerged, hungry. The birds have started to sing again. Flocks of geese have begun to return to the neighborhood, honking their way across the skyways. Yes, it is still snowing. Lightly & briefly, if the meteorologists are remotely correct. Soon it will stop.

Hibiscus, Rose-O-Shannon & Stella Doro Daylily Progression
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

The attempted arrival of spring has helped me to get some hustle going. I've been in the studio. I've taken account of the seemingly gazillion pieces & projects that have lain as dormant as the trees these last 4-5 months. It's overwhelming, in a good way. 

Base Acrylic Painting for Stella Doro Daylily
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

This particular project I'm sharing today is for a specific show. The details of the show preclude my sharing the purpose of the exhibit, but I still would like to share the experience with you.

There are 4 pieces started, each with acrylic paint to create a random pattern of greens & sunshine. From there, I sketched the flowers that I'm looking to paint as the subjects. I was excited to be working with acrylics again!

Tiger Lily Progression: Acrylics
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

BUT, as soon as I tried to paint the flowers with the acrylics, I remembered why I don't like using acrylics. I'm an alla prima painter which works wonderfully with oils & even watercolors. Not so much with acrylics! I know that you can mix some oil retardant with the acrylics, but, I need the pieces to be ready in a few weeks & that would defeat the purpose of using the actrylics!

Rose-O-Shannon Progression: Acrylic & Water Soluble Wax Pastels
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2015

So what to use? A-ha! Water soluble wax pastels! Great for blending & quick to dry, these beauties are just perfect for this project. I'll keep posting the progress as I go along.

What projects have you rediscovered lately?

And, mostly, Happy Spring, everyone!

Finding an Effective Platform

Silhouette in Field
6x8" Acrylic on Canvas Panel
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2010

As artists, the most difficult things are to get enough studio time in our everyday lives and finding a way to get our creations out to the rest of the world.

We can look at other artists' works and truly appreciate all the time, effort, and love that is applied to our artworks. We can realize the value of everything done by any other artist, and are grateful for the reciprocal realization.

But how do we find the audience beyond our (not-so-) little cloister that can also grasp the value of our passion? Especially an audience willing to compensate us for it.

Don't misunderstand me: I'd do this even if I never made a penny on it. I wouldn't trade the tranquility I experience in the studio for the proverbial million dollars. But, it would be nice to make a bit to supplement the income, or even enough to not have to work at the "day job". 

Cardinal
3.5x3.5" Water Soluble Paints on Canvas
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2014

There are the Etsys, the Fine Arts Americas, the Zazzles. And a few hundred thousand other artisans on the sites. What I've noticed is that the truly successful shops & sites have the investment of scads of time in both the marketing and the production of items. 

That, unfortunately, is not a commodity that most of us are able to lavish. I learned this the frantic way around the holiday season.

It was so exciting to receive my first orders from the Etsy shop! And, to boot, it was for note cards that would help Another Chance Pet Rescue! Then a couple of more orders followed for large & multiple pieces. Wow!

Kitty Minions
5x7 Watercolor on 140# Canson Paper
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2014

And, then reality hit hard: between full shifts at the "day job", I needed to print, assemble, and package the orders. And while I had done some prep work on the items, I just wasn't satisfied with the templates. So of course, I had to redo them. It took the full 3 days to get things done and shipped. And shipping packaging presented a challenge, too: do you have something to ship a flat 16x20" matted print right in your house or studio? I sure didn't! Never even crossed my mind. It's the little things that make you stumble at times. And stumbling can be exhausting.

Kayaks
Digital Photography
©Mike Deuel Bronson Hill Arts 2013

Throw all this together, job & art business, with the holiday season, and try not to feel very overwhelmed. 

Happy Holidays
Digital Drawing
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2014

I decided at that moment that it was time to go with a POD (print-on-demand) site. I just couldn't keep pace, especially since sites like Etsy are very demanding in regards to timelines. I also realized once the payments hit the bank, the money didn't come close to covering the costs involved. Etsy is in business, too, and knows how to make a profit. Being a newbie, I was naive in how I set things up. POD seemed so much easier since you only need to upload your images, add your margin & their cut to the base price, and they would do all the heavy-lifting. Yea... no. Not only would the cost to the customer be exorbitant for an "unknown" artist, the process of uploading the images would require reshooting all artwork and trying to guess what sizes your work would be printed based on the large number of required pixels. 

What exactly is an 8x5.73" print? Who will want that? I cropped it to a 7x5". And I can print a 7x5". Back to the starting point!

The odd thing is that of the orders I received, only 1 was through Etsy directly. The rest were from connections on Facebook (which is a whole other issue of late!).

So, why am I on Etsy, then? Why am I paying fees to them for minimal exposure & for me to do all the work? Yes, the name of Etsy is a "be-all/end-all" of online markets, but, it's a huge pond with a few large fish and a whole lot of little fish. Pretty sure that I'm just plankton right now.

After a good amount of reading, and contemplation, & consultation with my marketing cohort, I've come up with a plan on how to do this. Will it work any better? I don't know. But, it should create some extra time & money so that I can get back into the studio. 

Which was the whole point of all of this anyway!

What are your experiences with sites like Etsy and PODs? I'd be interested to hear about it.

Covered Bridge
4x6" Water Soluble Pencil on 140# Strathmore Paper
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts 2011