Lisa Call

ACEO #12
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
sold

 
A few unrelated topics…
 

Twitter

A series of articles I’ve read related to social media:

1) In a recent post, titled A Spectacular Way to Avoid Doing What Really Matters, Clint Watson definitively states:

Unfortunately, I keep seeing artists who seem to think that Twitter is some sort of revolutionary marketing tool that will help them sell art. It won’t.
…
Why ANY artist would think that sending a “Twit” is a better use of their time than creating art is totally beyond me.

 
2) A recent post by Seth Godin titled The small-minded vision of the technology elite:

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
—Ken Olsen, ceo of DEC,

Only 31 years ago. DEC was one of the leading computer companies of the day, but not for long.

Take a look at the geek discussion boards and you’ll see an endless list of sharp-tongued critics, each angling to shoot down one idea or another.
…
PS the marketing elite have precisely the same problem.

 
3) An interesting point of view by Bill Weaver is presented in an article on his new blog The Artists Center: What’s up with social media.

I recommend the entire article and here’s a small bit:

So last year when I found out about Twitter I joined but really didn’t get it until the last few months. Coupled with my Facebook toolbar for Firefox I now get regular little blurbs that pop up on the bottom of my screen whenever one of the people I am connected with has something to say. That very action has allowed me to get to know what used to be pretty close to complete strangers. As a result, I have several potential partners for workshops or seminars each having a strong skill I am lacking in. I hinted above about communities, again this is one of the things social scientists have found occuring more and more as a result of staying connected with each other.

 
4) My twitter profile: twitter.com/lisacall (guess that makes it clear where I fall in the conversation).
 

PFD Fabric For Sale

As I’ve mentioned before I purchase the PFD (Prepared For Dye) fabric directly from Kaufman. I love this tight weave, high quality, 100% cotton pimatex fabric. It’s very dense and in my opinion some of the best fabric out there for making quilts (definitely a matter of opinion). I wrote a post about this fabric here: Kaufman PFD Pimatex Fabric

Kaufman has changed their rules for keeping my account active and I need to purchase more fabric than I can use each year. Would anyone be interested in purchasing some of this fabric from me? The cost would be around $5 a yard (including shipping). Unfortunately I don’t have the time to investigate shipping out of the US so currently this offer is for US residents only.

If you’d be interested in purchasing some fabric please send me email and I’ll see if there is enough interest to pursue this. I sure hope so cause I LOVE this fabric and don’t want to lose my account.

ACEO #12

Last night I didn’t get to my studio until about 9:00pm. I finished construction of Structures #99 before work so the next step was to piece the back and baste the quilt. I was in no mood for that so instead I decided to make an ACEO. This artist trading card is a combination of the bright colors from Structures #98 and the more somber dark gray/browns from Structures #99 as they were jumbled together on my cutting table.

If you are interested in purchasing ACEO #12 please send me email. It is $21 US and includes shipping to anywhere (I accept payment via paypal or check). It’s sold.

ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ - the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

Backside:

Fall in Colorado

The weather is Colorado is beautiful this time of year. Warm days, cool clear nights (well except for the recent rain). It’s beautiful. This is the view from Jim’s deck up in the mountains. Visiting my boyfriend is better than going on vacation. I love living in this state (I know I said this same thing just the other day - I’m very grateful for my life!).

ACEO #7
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
sold

ACEO #10
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
sold

 

ACEO #11
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
$21

Motivation Revisited

I wrote an article about motivation in my latest studio newsletter outlining 5 steps I take to stay motivated and on task to complete large projects (you can read it here - it’s the 3rd article: studio newsletter).

Another thing I do to keep motivated is to give myself rewards along the way and when the goal is reached. Nothing like getting something I really want to keep me moving forward. Sometimes it’s a simple as a container of expensive decadent ice cream or new art book to keep me plowing through a task. The best reward for doing household chores is a few hours in my studio.

Dell Studio 17

My big reward for getting my house sold and moving to my new home was to buy myself a new laptop. My old computer was 7 years old and not in the best shape. I upgraded the memory last year and that helped but it really needed to be put to sleep. In addition, having the big thing in my bedroom/studio/office was heating up the room and it was taking up way too much space.

So I ordered myself a "desktop replacement" laptop, which means it is big and heavy. It’s a Dell Studio 17 (17″ screen) with a fast processor, 4 gig of memory, beautiful high resolution screen and even a finger print scanner for security (okay - so it came installed - it’s kinda silly and I have no time to set it up right now but it’s still a fun toy). And best of all it’s orange.

I also bought my kids new laptops, also with 17″ screens, but theirs’ were Dell Inspiron 1720s and instead of an ATI video card they had nVIDIA. A few weeks after the computers arrived I found out that these graphic cards are probably faulty. HP has been offering extended warranties for effect computers but Dell is still dragging their feet. It looked like a situation I didn’t want any part of so I shipped the kids’ laptops back this morning and will replace them with Studio 17s with the ATI video cards.

Their laptops aren’t quite as nice as mine, but still way nicer than any kid might need. They were a big help during the move and deserve a reward also. I’ve also told them these laptops are their birthday presents, xmas presents and bribery for helping me move out and back in for the remodel. They grumble a bit with that comment but they are happy to have such nice computers they aren’t really complaining.

Markings #21 In Progress   ©2008

ACEOs For Sale

There are still 3 ACEO’s available for sale that I made last month to include with my newsletter. If you are interested in purchasing one (shown above) please send me email and let me know which one you’d like. They are $21 US and include shipping to anywhere. These 3 Art Trading Cards were all inspired by Markings #21,.

ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ - the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

Unpacked - For Now

The studio/bedroom/computer room

My studio is set up! I even have an 8 foot by 8 foot flannel covered design wall with Markings #21 ready to go (it was folded up with lots of pins in a box until yesterday).

The entire house is pretty much unpacked. At least for now. In about a month I will be taking everything back down and moving to an apartment as the builder I hired adds the addition (on top - decided going back would hurt my tree). I hope to be back in the completed house, with a nice big studio, by christmas. It’s definitely an exciting, action packed year around here.

The studio/bedroom/computer room

Good thing I don’t have many clothes or there’d be no room for art.

Making Art

And even more exciting - I’m making art! It feels great. It’s been months since I spent any serious time in my studio and I’m loving it. I feel like a real person again. Or maybe I just feel like an artist again.

Yesterday I sat down and was ready to get to sewing when I realized I didn’t have some very important things - like rotary cutters, scissors, seam ripper, etc. The simple basic things I used every day. It took me 2 hours of hunting in my garage to find the box with these items. It was all in a slide projector box, labeled on every side as "Easter". Clever of me to hide it like that to make unpacking more fun.

Here’s what I’m working on:

Markings #21 In Progress

After a few hours of sewing today this is the result:

Markings #21 With Some Progress (the left 2 panels have been sewn together)

The Newsletter Will Happen

I think I will make 3 or 4 ACEOs with my scraps from this piece to offer in my studio newsletter, which I plan to email by this weekend. That’s a bit later than I hoped but I’m still working on it. Last week I got a bit side tracked with life but I’m back to really focusing on the art this week and am making some great progress.

ACEO #6    ©2008    2.5"x3.5"
This card was inspired by Markings #3

Breaking Down the Work

For the next 4 weeks, throughout the Artist Breakthrough Program, I’m going to post my weekly goals. Both to hold me accountable to all of my readers and also to write some about how I get things done. Nothing like doing this in public to inspire me to actually do the work.

I break my larger goals down into small tasks. The more overwhelming the goal feels the smaller I break down the tasks. Sometimes down to 5 minute jobs that are super easy. Doing these simple tasks gives me a sense of accomplishment and the momentum to start tackling some of the larger tasks. Once I get going I get on a roll and can "do things" for hours.

Week One Goals

These are my tasks for this week, based on my longer term monthly goals from my previous post. These are to be completed by Sunday, April 20.

1. I work in my studio 5 hours this week
2. I do 3 blog posts
3. I upgrade my 2 wordpress installs for my website to 2.5
4. I complete the template for my website/blog. This is a multi step task - 4.1) I break this down into steps for what is still needed to complete the template and 4.2)I complete the identified tasks from 4.1
5. I define the structure of my website (which pages I will have, what will be on the pages, the menu structure to access the pages)
6. I identify 5 potential galleries for representation (at this point I’m just building a list with contact info)

The First 24 Hours

Yesterday I completed #3 and my wordpress installs are now ready to go. I love wordpress, I’m less enamored with having to manually update my install. I’m looking forward to the day they have a single click upgrade feature.

Today I worked on item 4.1 and have the list of changes needed in my template fairly well settled. I also started in on 5 and defining the pages I want in my new website.

And best of all, this morning I worked in my studio for half an hour before heading to work. The last 6 weeks my studio has been fairly well neglected. I’m looking forward to returning to a routine of making art on a near daily basis.

Oh and blog post #1 for the week is now completed. I know I said it would be about newsletters. I promise - I will get to that this week.

Update on Moving

Much of my motivation for doing this program is to keep me on track with my art while also keeping motivated with getting my house on the market. I spent most of the last week removing a very large amount of stuff from my house. Throwing out a lot, giving away tons and packing up things we can live without until we’ve moved.

I’m very picky about what gets put into a box labeled "I don’t need this for many months". I’m looking to eliminate the majority of these types of things from my life. So far most of these boxes are filled with either 1) my kids stuff (they aren’t as enamored with tossing things as I am) or 2) photo albums and scrapbooking supplies. This is one project I’m sure I will get to some day so I packed it all up and will move it. If I don’t do something with this stuff before the next move I think most of it will end up in the donate pile.

The unfortunate news is the contractor, general fix-it guy that was going to do much of the fix-it type work around my house bailed out on me. Had better offers so I’m left with noone to do the work. I spent much of monday being stressed out, pissed off and generally unhappy with the situation. I decided I needed some time to feel bad but gave myself a deadline of 9pm to just get over it and move on. Great way to experience the emotions but not let them take over my life. I’ve now processed the experience and am getting back on track.

Moving is a lot of work but I’m focusing on enjoying the process, keeping the tasks small and manageable so I don’t get overwhelmed. My morning yoga is a big help in keeping calm.

ACEO #5    ©2008    2.5"x3.5"
This card was inspired by Markings #12

Staying Focused

Tomorrow is the start of ABP - Alyson Stanfield’s Artist Breakthrough Program. When I originally signed up for this class I had no plans on putting my house on the market and had big plans for getting a lot done for my art business.

I thought about not doing the class then decided it was perfect timing. What better way to not lose focus on my art, during a rather hectic time in my life, than to have a group of people holding me accountable.

I’ve scaled back my goals for the 28 day program from my original plan and I’m confident I can complete my new goals, as long as I stayed focused. I’m still several weeks away from getting my house on the market and one of my #1 goals for that process is for it to be effortless and fun. Making sure I’m still thinking about my art will definitely help along those lines.

My ABP Goals

My specific goals for the next 28 days:

1. I work 5 or more hours a week in my studio making art.
2. I complete the rewrite of my website and blog and go live with them by May 12, 2008.
3. I update my resume to include jurors for all juried shows.
4. I create a complete resume for my personal use with every show in my career listed. This list also includes a list of which pieces were included in each of these shows.
5. I design a portfolio package to send to galleries (the package does not have to be complete but I identify all the parts and the format of the package)
6. I start a list of potential galleries to contact for representation. The list has 30 or more galleries listed.

ACEO #5

The Artist Card shown above is one of the 3 new Art Cards/ACEOs I sold through my online newsletter a few weeks ago. With my studio being a bit in disarray over the next few weeks (I’m going to be replacing the carpet before I put the house on the market) it is very likely I’ll be making some more ACEOs over the next month - small quick projects might feel just right.

This week I’m planning on blogging about what I learned with the newsletter as I promised. I got a bit distracted last week with the house stuff but after a weekend of doing house stuff I’m back and focusing on art.

 
ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ - the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

ACEO #4    ©2008    2.5"x3.5"
This card was inspired by Markings #22

Made My Goal

Hurray! Today I emailed my first studio newsletter. I missed my deadline of March 31 by a few days because I couldn’t focus to finished the ACEOs (Art Cards Editions and Originals - aka Artist Trading Cards) that I wanted to include. No fun to be sick but I’m all better now. I figure today was close enough to my deadline so I left the newsletter dated March 2008.

I offered the 3 new ACEOs for sale to my subscribers and they all sold within a few hours. Woohoo. That was so cool. Thank you all for the support.

If you didn’t receive the newsletter but believe you have signed up please email me at lisa@lisacall.com and I can check on it. Also please let me know if you had any technical problems with the newsletter. In my tests I saw that yahoo was dumping it into the spam folder so check there if you didn’t get it and maybe add me (lisa@lisacall.com) to your whitelist.

If you missed it you can read it online here: Lisa Call Studio Newsletter - March 2008

The Making of a Studio Newsletter

I thought it might be interesting to recap what went into getting this newsletter out the door. It’s been quite a bit of work but the ground work is all in place and I anticipate no problems on keeping my intention of sending out a quarterly newsletter. Look for the next one in June.

As tempting as it is to recap it tonight I must start packing so that post (or 2) will have to wait until next week. I learned a lot over the past 14 months of getting this off the ground.

Lux Center Shows

I’m driving to Lincoln, Nebraska tomorrow for the opening of my solo show, Fencing In or Keeping Out, in conjunction with my curated show, Distinctive Directions. If you are in the area please stop by the Lux Center form 5-7pm and say hello. I’ll be giving a gallery talk at 6pm.

Art Quilt Elements

Structures #60    ©2006    33"x89"

In addition to the shows at the Lux Center, tomorrow is also the opening of Art Quilt Elements in Wayne, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia). My piece, Structures #60, will be in the show.

They are having a big conference and it’s fiber month in Philly so most quilt artists will be on the east coast. Three of the four Distinctive Directions artists will be. Although Pam RuBert will be joining me in Nebraska at the opening.

In addition to my large piece in the show I have 4 smaller works for sale in the gift shop so if you are joining the celebrations check it out to see my work in person. It’s very hard to get the texture across online.

Playing Favorites

Last but not least (I missed a lot of days posting in a week when I had a lot to say). Check out Seth Apter’s blog The Altered Page for the past week or 10 days. He’s done an thought provokingseries of posts on artists’ favorites works. It makes for interesting reading.

The post with some of my favorites is here. Check it out to see what I’ve picked.

PS - I’ll catch up with comments when I return.

ACEO #3    ©2007 Lisa Call    3.5" x 2.5"

 
Yesterday I completed all of the quillows for my daughter to sell. It was a full day in front of the sewing machine and it feels great to have that chore finished. I still need to construct 3 pillows for her store, which I’ll do first thing this morning and then finally I can get back to my work in the studio.

About a month ago I started a new large Markings piece and it’s been languishing on my design wall underneath quillows and small pieces for the Arvada Holiday Art Market. Today after a quick studio cleaning I plan to complete the construction of the design.

Finally back to making work because I want to make it, not because I have to for some deadline. This is the time in the studio I enjoy the most. No pressure. I make the art I want to and I don’t worry about what it’s for and if anyone (other than me) will like it. Too bad there is no money in such activities. Marketing….. I thought I’d get to some of that this week, didn’t happen. With my kids in town only 1 more week before their 3 month trip to Spain, hanging out with them is the highest priority for now.

 
The above photo is the last of the 3 Original Art Cards (ie ACEO) I made this summer. I first posted about Art Cards a few months ago. ACEO #3 was inspired by the Structures work that is composed of many blocks with this structure. I posted images of these pieces in this post.

I’m not sure if I’ll make any more small art cards at this point, I’m pondering my goals for 2008 in my head these days and so far I haven’t hit upon a desire to focus on this type of work. It was fun but I enjoy making larger work more. Maybe I’ll do 2 or 3 a year based on a few pieces made during the year. We’ll see how it goes.

This art card is available or $20 (includes shipping). If you are interested in purchasing the piece you can leave a comment here or send me email. Sold

 

Back Side of ACEO #3

 
ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ - the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

ACEO #2, Inspired by Structures #78    ©2007 Lisa Call    3.5" x 2.5"

 
Today I took my mom to the airport, my kids are at their dads for a week so it’s time to get things in order and get back to my studio. I stayed focused yesterday and got most of my day-job work done so I only have a few hours to put in, which I plan to put off until sunday evening. I paid bills and got my art finances up to date this morning so it’s time to head to my studio and get back to work.

I had hoped I would be getting on a plane today and heading out to NYC for the opening of The Blogger Show but my plan of waiting until the last minute weekend fares to snag a cheap flight didn’t work. There were no cheap flights to be had from Denver to anywhere near NY. So I will miss the event and will have to be content reading the reviews by the numerous bloggers participating.

 
The above photo is the second of the 3 Original Art Cards (ie ACEO) I made this summer. I first posted about Art Cards a month ago although it seems like just a few days. ACEO #2 was inspired by the small work I showed a few weeks back, Structures #78.

This art card is available or $20 (includes shipping). If you are interested in purchasing the piece you can leave a comment here or send me email. Update - the work has been sold and is no longer available.

 

Back Side of ACEO #2

 
ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ - the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

ACEO from Structures #48    ©2007 Lisa Call    3.5" x 2.5"

 
I made the above ACEO with a left over section from Structures #48, shown in the previous post.

 
ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ - the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

 
My original thought was to sell ACEOs on etsy but my enthusiasm for that project didn’t last long. I put quite a bit of time and energy into my etsy shop doing internal promotion and even joined a couple of etsy street teams. I made 2 sales from my shop, both from people that knew me from outside of etsy. Lots of nice comments about my work from within etsy but no sales. I think my prices don’t fit into the cheaper pricing structure of much of etsy. It was an interesting experiment but not one I will pursue once my listings expire.

Etsy just didn’t feel like the right fit for me. First problem is I really can’t get over the name of the place, it really bothers me for some reason. Second was I felt like I was selling my work at a craft fair and while there is nothing wrong with craft fairs, that is not the venue I envision for my work.

When I restructure my website I plan to include prices for my small works to sell directly from my website. I believe that etsy isn’t going to bring me buyers. They are just providing a store front so paying a fee to a 3rd party for a place to host my images doesn’t make sense for my needs, especially if I’m competing against a bunch of folks that seriously undercut my prices.
 

The above ACEO is available for $20 (includes shipping). Sold - thanks Kit!

I made 2 or 3 other ACEOs and I will get them photographed and on my blog over the next few weeks. They were fun to make but pretty time consuming so I’m not sure I’ll make many more. It’s a very small format and quite a challenge for me. I was thinking about trying something in the 5" x 7" size range but it’ll be a few months before I have time to experiment as I have some show deadlines coming up.

 
It was my post about pokemon cards the other day that prompted me to remember I made these little art trading cards. I spent hours and hours mailing out trading cards. Sadly many of those little pieces of cardboard were sold for much higher prices than my original art work. The most impressive profit we turned was to head to toysRus one day and stand in line for 20 minutes to get a much anticipated promotional Mew card. I turned around and sold mine that week on ebay for $50. Not bad pay for standing around.
 

ACEOs - the pokemon cards for artists!

Back Side of ACEO: