Lisa Call

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.

Sign by the Front Door

 

View from the front entrance

Lux Center For the Arts

My trip to Nebraska for the opening of the shows at the Lux Art Center was short but fun. I arrived in Lincoln not long after 3:30pm on friday and left the next day around noon. I had to get back to Colorado to take my daughter to dinner for her birthday last night.

The opening was well attended and I enjoyed giving another gallery talk. I’ll post more pictures of the show tomorrow and talk about my trip. Today I had a few odds and ends I wanted to write about.

Etsy

I’ve decided to try Etsy again. I was deciding between shutting down the shop or using it to sell some of my older work. Because the fees are so low I decided to give it a try. If this doesn’t work out well or feel right I think the next plan is to try putting something on my website, which is in the process of being redesigned. I’m moving the entire thing to wordpress so it’s easier to maintain.

I’d Rather Be In The Studio

As I mentioned last tuesday, I’m giving away a copy of Alyson Stanfield’s wonderful book I’d Rather Be in the The Studio.

I used an online random number generator to select the winner – and that winner is Patty O’Rourke. Thanks to everyone for playing along and creating the links. Patty – congrats! Contact me with your address and I’ll get the book in the mail to you.

What’s Next

I spent some time on the 7 hour drive home from Nebraska thinking about what’s next for me. On January 1st I posted the following goals for my art career:

1. I complete the new Markings pieces that I need for my solo show at the Macky Gallery in February by February 14th.
2. I frame my plains drawings by February 14th so they can be included in my solo show.
3. I create new Structures pieces for my solo show at Lux art center by March 15th.
4. I complete all paperwork and provide requested materials for both solo shows and the show I am curating at the Lux on time.
5. I ship all artwork for upcoming juried shows on time (Materials Hard and Soft, Art Quilt Elements, Artist as Quiltmaker XIII at Firelands Association for the Visual Arts).
6. I determine with crystal clarity my definition of success for my art career.
7. I write goals for the remainder of the year that will lead me to the success I define.

I’ve now completed 1-5 with some minor exceptions. Like deciding to skip #2 so I could hang more of my textile paintings and I won’t be shipping the work to FAVA until the end of the month.

That leaves me with 6 & 7. My goal is to complete #6 (my definition of success) by April 13th and post it on my blog. Then I’ll move on to #7.

What’s Happening in the Studio

Honestly – not much. I completed the work for my 2 shows and haven’t done much since. I put a total of 3 or 4 hours of work into my studio in March. I was sick for longer than I’d like to admit. I had an infection that resulted in a very unpleasant lower back ache and I had no motivation to make art. Now that I’m healthy I can’t wait to get back to my studio.

Time to head there now.

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: