Lisa Call

Structures #104
©2008
6"x 6" – Mounted on stretched canvas
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Confession

Time for a confession. When I listed the textile paintings for sale on my small art for sale webpage a few weeks ago I said 6 of the pieces (Lines #1-#5 and Structures #104) were mounted on painted canvas. Truth was I had painted the canvases and I was pretty sure I could figure out how to attach them, but I didn’t think they would sell right away and I was going to take them with me to North Carolina to figure it out.

Er – nope – Lines #1, #3, #4 and #5 sold via twitter within a few minutes of tweeting about it. I hadn’t even announced the sale on my blog. I was leaving town in a couple days and had to figure out how to do this asap so I could get the work in the mail.

Turns out the little 3" square textile paintings are easy as the stretcher bars are small and I can stitch from the backside of the canvas and it went fairly quickly. And looked really nice. Like this:

Lines #2
3" x 3" – mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

I had a few minutes before leaving on my trip to tackle Structures #104 and wasn’t quite as successful. The stretcher bars are much larger on these larger 6" canvases and stitching next to them is not an option. The stitching has to go under the bars to hold the textile painting correctly and I was having a really really hard time figuring out how to do it. Oops!

Success

I ran out of the 3" canvases and wanted to make some more work this week so I decided to go for the 4" canvases and I bought and made a few new textile paintings in that size: Home #6, Home #7 and Lines #7.

Today was the day to tackle attaching these things on to canvases with 1 1/2" wide stretchers. Turned out that it isn’t all that hard. It’s not exactly easy but other than the one I got on upside down (never sign the back of the canvas before getting the textile painting in place) it went pretty smoothly. The trick is to sew from the front – in between textile painting and canvas. It’s a bit funky but works out great.

Here are my results:

Home #7 and #6
4" x 4" each – mounted on stretched canvas
Home #6 – Sold
Home #7 – Sold

 

Lines #7
4" x 4" – mounted on stretched canvas
Sold

Even Bigger

That accomplished I went back to Structures #104 and it’s 6" canvas, shown at the top of the post and mastered it. It’s just more stitching than the 4" canvases but same size stretcher bars.

Structures #104 and Structures #103 (not on canvas but also a small work for sale) were informed by Structures #45. I had it on the wall in my studio because it recently came back from an art consultant so it became the object of inspiration.

Here’s a quick look at these (it’s picture day on the blog tonight):

Structures #103
©2008
6"x 17.5"
Sold

 
 

Structures #45
©2005
28" x 28"
$4000

For Sale

Yes – I know – as I talk about affordable art the subject of sales seems to be brought up a lot. Probably because that is the point. I’ll finish this up soon and be back to my normal posts, but I have a few more things to say.

I’m working on a post for Christine Kane’s blog about my word of the year, courage. Talking about my artwork being for sale on my blog requires courage. Art and money are a bit weird sometimes and commerce on a blog is also a bit touchy, but forge ahead I am, knowing that my art does add much value to the world and unless I make it clear it is for sale it tends to just hang out at my place with me.

So, all the pieces in this post are available for sale on the Small Art for Sale webpage, except Lines #2, which sold in the middle of preparing for this post.

Most of these shown today are new so I did a bit of clean up and moved the sold pieces off that page and onto a sold page. In addition to the work shown here there are a few other new Lines piece (#6 and #8) and a couple of new ACEOs (#28 and #29).

I also did this because rumor has it a blogger with a huge readership is going to mention the 2 group artists websites I’m a part of so we might be getting a lot of traffic tomorrow. That would be great! (A reminder they are Fine Art Department and Small Art Showcase – I will get these into my sidebar soon so I don’t mention them so much in the blog).

And one last photo of all these guys on canvas at more of an angle so you can see how cool they look on there. I ordered some 2.5" x 3.5" canvases and will be putting some of my ACEOs on them cause I’m loving how this looks.

Home #5
©2008
10.5" x 8"
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The Paradox

I read an interesting article the other day:

In a survey of attitudes toward artists in the US a vast majority of Americans, 96%, said they were greatly inspired by various kinds of art and highly value art in their lives and communities. But the data suggests a strange paradox.

While Americans value art, the end product, they do not value what artists do. Only 27% of respondents believe that artists contribute “a lot” to the good of society.

Further interview data from the study reflects a strong sentiment in the cultural community that society does not value art making as legitimate work worthy of compensation. Many perceive the making of art as a frivolous or recreational pursuit.

That doesn’t sound very promising does it. Making art is not worthy of compensation? So which came first – artists/curators/etc thinking that art is for art and not commerce? Or society thinking artists don’t deserve to be paid for what they do? I have no answers – just interesting things to think about.

The entire (and short) article is on the United States Artists website: An American Paradox.

Part of the Solution?

The mission of this organization, United States Artists, is to invest in America’s finest artists and illuminate the value of artists to society. Closing the gap between perceived value of art and artists will take work on many fronts.

In my mind, the making of smaller accessible art for everyone has a place in that effort. I think many Americans feel they can not afford art and so they never think about buying it so the idea that one might want to pay someone for it doesn’t really sink in.

If they could own the art themselves and see it each day in their home, the value of the artist’s creative effort might become more obvious. Or at least that’s my current theory.

What do you think?

Home #5

The newest of my textile paintings inspired by the building of the new studio. I was working on this piece as they were putting on the roof last Wednesday and finished it yesterday (along with several other small pieces that still need to be photographed). As with all the new small art, it’s available for purchase on my Update: It’s sold – but there is more small artwork available here: small art for sale webpage.

This piece is not mounted on canvas as it’s very hard for me to predict how large the houses are going to turn out. I haven’t mastered the diagonals quite enough for that. So it came out to be a bit too large for the 6″ canvases. So this piece is designed to be hung directly on the wall and comes ready to hang with a board in the back for hanging it on the wall with 2 small nails.

I’ll be doing a post about how to hang textile art sometime in the next few weeks with photos, as I think it’s probably not so obvious unless you’ve seen it before.

Pencil Holders
By Paula McCullough

Pencil Holders

One of my goals when I decluttered my house earlier this year was to only keep things that I loved. I believe things definitely have an energy and keeping things about that drain that energy is not something I want to do anymore.

I am working on this down to the smallest detail. I used to keep my pencils in old coffee mugs that I never really liked but someone gave them to me. They were functional but ugly. Definitely not things I wanted to keep around but my pencils needed to go somewhere.

So along came Paula McCullough thinking she also should make some smaller affordable art and she made pencil holders from an old piece of gutter (details here). I immediately fell in love with them and bought two. I smile every time I see them sitting on my desk.

Yesterday I decided I wanted more so I bought the remaining 9 in the limited edition to use in my house and maybe give as gifts (if I can bare to part with them).

My original plan was to blog about them so others could share in their beauty and buy one also – er – oops. Guess you will have to purchase one of her amazing clocks instead since these are sold out. Check them out at Paula’s Etsy Store. Some day I’ll own some of these also because the white plastic cheap things from Target aren’t the energy I want in my house.

Pint Sized Mugs
By Cynthia Guajardo

Mugs

So I just mentioned the ugly coffee mugs. They had to get out of the kitchen also. I don’t drink coffee but I do drink peppermint tea and it tastes much better out of my brand new mugs by Cynthia. I stopped by her potters guild sale a few weeks back and bought these and a few other items that are currently packed away until the builders are out.

I keep one at the office and one at home and when my house is complete Cynthia and I are going to work out a trade so I can get more in exchange for one of my small textile paintings. Yay!

Cynthia also has an etsy store and I hear she will soon be stocking it with new work. Cynthia’s Etsy Store.

More Affordable Art

Art doesn’t have to be large to make a home beautiful. I think small details like these pieces of functional art can have a big impact on the energy of a home.

I also buy small art that has no purpose than to make my house beautiful, such as the ACEO I bought from Tina Mammoser a while back. It’s currently sitting in front of my modems on my desk top and adds touch of color to my world. She also sells her work online: Tina’s Etsy Store.

I’ve got a small but growing collection of this small art (most of it in storage awaiting the house to be completed) and am looking forward to adding to it. Buying art is always my favorite purchase.

Black Friday

Here in the US it’s Black Friday, the day everyone heads to the stores to start their christmas shopping. If you are like me and don’t feel like fighting the crowds you buy art as gifts online instead. Check out these artists that came together to provide you with a variety of art to choose from:

Small Art Showcase
Fine Art Department

And, of course, you are always welcome to purchase some of my artwork – see my page of small art for sale.

Structures #46
©2005
45" x 61"
Sold

Thank You

It’s the day for giving thanks here in the US as we all celebrate Thanksgiving (generally by eating too much). I am so fortunate to be surounded by many wonderful people and am grateful for all of your support and love. Thanks to all of them for being a part of my life

A few in particular I want to mention:

• My Collectors: Thank you to each of you that have purchased my art this year. It was a big leap for me to decided to start selling my textile paintings seriously and I am thrilled with the response. Each of you has my profound gratitude
• The Builders: Jim, Carl, Eric, Colin and all the guys that have worked on my new studio and home. You’ve all been wonderful and I couldn’t be more happy with the project. Thank you!
• My Blog Readers: I mostly write my blog to work out my own thoughts about my art, yet it’s wonderful to have such a supportive community out there listening and participating. You all are awesome – extra pumpkin pie to everyone.
• My kids: You are the best. I love you both!

This has been an amazing year for me. So many wonderful things have happened I sometimes find it amazing how perfect it all turns out. Then I realize much of this is about my attitude change as things have generally gone well for me. Each night before I go to bed I write a list 5 things I’m grateful for and it seems there is a never ending supply of wonderment to appreciate.

Giving Back

Earlier this fall I sold 2 additional large textile paintings to the University Hospitals in Cleveland (previously they purchased Structures #35). They purchased Structures #46 and #36, both pictured in this post.

As I mentioned before, I donate and gift 10% of my art income to causes and people that I learn from, are inspired by or who I feel are doing amazing things for the world. Borrowing a term from Christine Kane, I call this expansive giving

Although I write checks each month, this sale gave me the opportunity to write some nice checks to some organizations I support. FINCA, an organization that provides financial services to the world’s lowest-income entrepreneurs, was again top of my list. In addition I sent checks to the American Cancer Society, Volunteers of America (they do meals on wheels), World Wild Life Fund and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.

You can read more about what I consider expansive giving on my previous blog post on the subject: Expansive Giving.

Now that I do this giving as a matter of course, I didn’t have any qualms with sending this money out into the universe, even as I am spending more than planned on a new studio and watching my investments shrink. It simply feels right.

What I find fascinating is that as this money was headed out the door to help others someone purchased almost the same $ amount of art from my Small Art For Sale webpage. Now I can give back more in December.
 

Construction Update

Huge progress on my studio! The roof sheathing is done. The space is now well defined and I’m absolutely thrilled. This weeks photos:

Construction Photos – November 24 and 25
Construction Photos – November 26

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
 

 
Structures #36
©2005
69" x 50"
Sold

Markings #20
©2008
14"x 14"
Sold

New Paradigms

It seems an unwritten rule of the art world is that if you want to be taken seriously you do not sell your work cheaply and you certainly don’t worry about affordable art. I used to buy into this story, thinking that if I wanted to show my work in museums I needed to only make large, serious artwork.

I think the art world is changing with the advent of the internet and old patterns of thinking are no longer necessarily valid. And even if they are, I’ve decided they don’t apply to me.

I’ve decided to take full responsibility for my art career and in doing so have decided I get to come up with my own rules, if I ever feel a need for rules.

Who says I can not make ACEOs and sell them for $25 while at the same time having 6 large pieces in a museum show and also sell my larger work for thousands of dollars? Apparently no one because I’m doing just that.

Quality

I do not think my $3000-$10,000 artwork is devalued by making smaller textile paintings. The main reason for this belief is the quality. I know that I put extreme care into every aspect of my art, from the largest pieces down to the smallest. I also believe my art is really, well, good.

I’m consistently told by collectors that they are impressed with the level of detail and precision in all of my artwork. Every color, each line, each shape is created with care. Even in my small work I am pushing myself to make the best art I possibly can by trying new things and pushing limits on what I think might work.

All of my art is priced about the same amount per square foot. Actually the smaller pieces end up being more per square foot because it takes longer to work on such a scale. My line of affordable art is not a lower quality, but is instead simply smaller so it takes less time and materials to create, so it can be sold at a lower price point.

I’ve considered doing larger affordable pieces but haven’t yet worked out the details. I’d have to do some type of limited edition where I could create the work quicker in quantity, but still with the same quality.

By keeping my quality consistently high I believe the value of the work, no matter the size, will always be evident.

Art for Sale

Markings #20 is another small piece inspired by Markings #19, one of my favorite of the Markings series. I know coming up with $350 to purchase a piece of art is not always possible. I’ve sold a few of my larger pieces in a series of payments and it worked out well for everyone involved so if you are interested in any of my artwork, no matter the cost, and would like to work out a payment plan please contact me and we can figure out something that will work for both of us.

Markings #19
copy;2008
56" x 58"
$17,000

Multiple Income Streams

If you do any reading about small businesses one of the top pieces of advice out there is about multiple streams of income. Not putting ones eggs all into 1 basket. I’m very serious about supporting myself through my artwork and quitting my day time job. I feel this is advice worth listening to. The smaller affordable art is just one of many ways for me to make a living.

I love making the larger pieces and while I am not yet selling a substantial number of them each year, they also provide part of my income. I do believe they will always make up the largest percent of my income but I don’t want to rely on this income exclusively.

I don’t make nearly the profit on these smaller textile paintings as I do on my larger work. They are quite labor and time intensive for the size and price. I figure I make about $5-$15 an hour on the pieces under $100. Not horrible but certainly not in line with what I make as a software engineer.

While I could probably scrape by selling only work under $500, if I really focused on this segment of the market, that is not my intention. I view this as one of many ways of sharing my art and passion with the world. When combined with my other streams of income I believe I can make this work.

Fine Art Department

Tracy Helgeson, one of my favorite oil painters, wrote a blog post about her art selling experiences and talked about why fine art makes for a really great gift this year.

To that end she started a new blog showcasing artist that are selling their art directly to the public called Fine Art Department. It’s a really wonderful looking group of artist so again, if you are thinking about buying art this is another possible avenue to find just the right gift this year.

I find it interesting, and maybe a sign of the times that 2 artists have started this type of online collection recently (yesterday’s mention of small art showcase is the other example). Seems like many of us are feeling that selling our work directly to the public is a good option right now.

Construction Update

As you can see in the photo above the excitement today is about the walls for my new studio. Woohoo – I’m absolutely thrilled with how the studio is looking. Ten foot high walls – a high ceiling. I’ve wanted this in a studio for years and now I’m just a few months away from having it.

Construction photos – Nov 21. Studio walls and a few new windows.

I got my house cleaned up and put back together after all of this work and am ready to head to the studio this morning. I might have a few interruptions while they move electrical lines but I’m excited to get to work on some new pieces. I’ve already selected the fabrics and and going to work on a new piece in the Home series this morning.

ACEO #23
©2008
2.5" x 3.5"
Sold

Because That’s What I Buy

It’s taken me several years to come around to the idea of making affordable art. My first love is to make big expansive artwork. Given the time and materials involved in that process I can’t afford to sell my large textile paintings for only a few hundred dollars, which prices me right out of most people’s budget, including my own.

I started seriously buying art a few years ago and find that most of the art I purchase is under $200. I see a lot of other people buying art in this price range also. While I have saved my money and bought a few pieces in the $500-$1000 range that it doesn’t happen very often yet.

When I made the decision this year to actively look to sell my artwork I decided that this was a market that I wanted to participate in. I know that I very much appreciate the artists that make work at price points that fit my budget and it feels right to be able to do this.

Small Art Showcase

The impetus for creating my small artwork for sale webpage was to participate in an online small art showcase my friend Jeanne Williamson organized. (Thank you Jeanne!)

The website is now live and in addition to my work you can find small art work by 11 other artists working in a variety of mediums. The work ranges from $25-$500. Check out the website Jeanne created and get some holiday shopping done: Small Art Showcase .

I here there might be more artists coming soon so check back often.

ACEOs

Until this month I was selling my ACEOs for $21 including shipping. They are now $26 with shipping as I realized I wasn’t making much of a profit on them, between paypal fees, postage, materials and my time (to both make the ACEO, then photograph iand list on my website). While I want to make small art that is affordable, I also want to make some money while doing it.

Each of my aceos is created the same way I create my larger artwork. Each piece is cut individually (I never strip piece – for those that know what this means). Each cut I make and each color change in the work was made with deliberately.

On a very rare occasion I will have scraps leftover from a piece and will use those to make my aceos (I think this has happened twice), otherwise the pieces are made with intention, just like my larger textile paintings. The result is these are rather time consuming and if I want to keep making them it needs to make financial sense.

ACEO #23, above, was inspired by Markings #3, as was my small piece Markings #25. It is available for purchasefor $25 on my small artwork for sale webpage (near the bottom of the page).

A Series of Posts

I have much to say on the topic of affordable art so I’ve decided to write a series of posts so look for more thought on the topic over the next week or so.

Construction Progress

No post these days is complete without some construction progress. I think tomorrow I’ll have studio walls. Today they got one built:

Construction Photos – Wednesday – November 19
Construction Photos – Thursday – November 20

ACEO #25
©2008
2.5" x 3.5"
Sold

Great Big Dreams

I’m back home after my wonderful trip to North Carolina for the Great Big Dreams retreat with Christine Kane and 20 some other amazing women. It was an incredible time and one I won’t soon forget.

I didn’t take my camera with me this time because I wanted to just experience the beauty and not worry about capturing it. I think sometimes it’s harder to be still and enjoy nature if I’m also thinking I need to photograph it all. As usual the mountains around Asheville were spectacular.

Construction

I came home to much transformation at my house and even more the past couple days. I’ve got new walls up and old walls down – you can see the photos here:

Construction photos last week
Construction photos this week

Other than that not much going on around here. Just taking things easy cause the house is in need of a bit of clean up before I get back to work on things and I’m lacking the proper motivation to do that. So just extending the relaxation from the weekend into this week. Nice – really quite nice. I haven’t even twittered since I’ve been back.

In a day or 2 I’ll get back to being motivated and am planning a series of posts on affordable art and my thoughts on making the small works I recently completed, like the ACEO above, which was inspired by Markings #19:

Markings #19    ©2008    56" x 58"

Lines #1 – Lines #5

On Canvas

I am happy to report that I really like how these small 3" x 3" small textile paintings look on canvas. It gives them nice substance. I’m also very happy to report that 4 of them sold yesterday. Only Lines #2 is still available (my art for sale page).

I painted the canvases with acrylic paint to coordinate with the textile paintings then I stitched the paintings onto the canvas along the edge of the wood stretches of the canvas. I makes for a really nice flat surface. I only ordered 5 of these little 3" x 3" canvases from Dick Blick but will be buying more.

I bought some other sizes and have a 6" square piece also mounted on a canvas which I’ll show next week.

I put a label on the back of the textile painting itself, similar to the labels I attached to my aceos, but it doesn’t show. So I’ve also signed and labeled the back of the canvases. So if anyone every removes the little guys from their canvas they are complete works of art as is also.

Remodel Update

I now have a laundry room floor. See photos here: Nov 12 Construction Photos.

As I head out the door this morning for my retreat with Christine Kane my furniture is in the middle of all the rooms. They start demolition inside the house while I’m gone. I’m creating one big open room for my dining room/living room/kitchen so walls have to come down. Monday I should have some fun new photos to share.

Markings #25
©2006
8"x 10"
Sold

Selling Directly From My Website

I’m excited to introduce my page of (mostly) new small affordable artwork available for sale directly on my website with paypal "Buy Now" buttons: Affordable Art for Sale.

Paypal inventory control will ensure that if they let you buy it, it’s available for sale. So you don’t have to email first and ask if something is still available. I’m not super fond of the big yellow buttons but they have become some what of a standard on the web so for now I’m sticking with them for now.

If you have any problems with the system please let me know. You will be charged shipping when you check out (if it doesn’t seem right let me know and I can fix it). Also those in Colorado will be charged sales tax now. Woohoo – I’m official.

The Inspiration

Markings #25 above (along with ACEOs #23 and #24 and Lines #3 – Lines #5 on the art for sale page) were inspired by Markings #3. I love this color combination of minty greens and purple.

Markings #3    ©2006    74"x66"

Great Big Dreams

I have much to say about why I’m making small affordable art and how I feel about it and how it might effect the image of my larger artwork but no time to write about that today as I’m leaving tomorrow for another of Christine Kane’s Great Big Dreams Retreats and need to pack. I went last December and believe it was the start of a new path for me. I’m really looking forward to spending another weekend in North Carolina looking at where I’m going next.

Remodel Update

Things haven’t been all that exciting yet this week so not many pictures. I put up a few from monday and tuesday here: Construction Photos Nov 10 and 11.

The excitement in framing will start today and continue the 4 days I’ll be gone. In addition to starting the framing out back and putting in the new sewer they will be starting the work inside my house. I’m tearing down a few walls to create 1 big room for my livingroom/kitchen. They will also frame the location for the new door, which will be at the front of the house instead of the side.

I have to move all my furniture 4 feet away from the walls that are being removed and reframed before I leave. This could be a trick – there really isn’t room in here for all this stuff. Stay tuned for photos upon my return!