gretchenmist fabric

designing fabric is something that i had been contemplating for a long time. there is a side of my art~making that seems to lend itself to the concept of repetition! a lot of my sketches/doodles are of flowers and plants which seem to drift/float/move across the page, almost without my planning! i have tried painting some of these drawings and digitally colouring them to make prints, but felt that those mediums were not quite right. so the combination of minimalism, repetition and the desire to embrace and continue with this kind of work led me to the medium of fabric.



i invested in a great book: 'digital textile design' by melanie bowles and ceri isaac which has tutorials on making repeats in photoshop and illustrator, and a monitor calibrator. i spent some time educating myself about the technicalities of colour and reproduction. it was really important for me to be able to have my designs made with the actual colours that i worked with on screen. i had heard from other designers that this could be a a challenge with digital printing of fabric. i'm really happy with the results colourwise!


the other part of the process involved following my instincts and experimenting.

now i'm addicted and eager to make more!

you can see the new fabric designs here.

AGTeam Mother's Day Gift Guide

 

MOM Little House Ceramic Village by TheLittleRedDoor

With spring blossoming in the Northern Hemisphere, one of the season's most wonderful holidays, Mother's Day, is just a few weeks away.  You don't need to look any further than the beautiful shops of the Artisans Gallery Team members to find lovely handmade gifts for every mom.  Whether you are shopping for jewelry, home decor or artwork, you are bound to spot something wonderful for the special people you would like to treat to an artisanal gift this Mother's Day.  Here are just a few suggestions to get things started. For more ideas, please browse the international Artisans Gallery Team shop categories on the right or search for keywords "agteam mother day" or just "agteam" on Etsy.

Single Flower Earrings in Sapphire, Rose Quartz and Mandarin Garnet

by FussJewelry (Connecticut, USA)

 

Blue Bells 8x10 Fine Art Flower Nature Photography Print

by TheEye (British Columbia, Canada)

Little Nut Necklace
by PoleStar (North Carolina, USA) 

Tea Time original watercolor painting

by TheJoyOfColor (Tel Aviv, Israel)

Hand Textured Porcelain Vase

by NewMoonStudio (Rhode Island, USA)

Handpainted Scarf

by Birribe (Stockholm, Sweden)

 

Reef bracelet

by JibbyAndJuna (Pennsylvania, USA)

 

Pie Plate Footed Cutting Board

by GrayWorksDesign (New York, USA)

 

Wool felt Kangaroo Mom and Joey 

by EvesLittleEarthlings (Ontario, Canada)

Noodle stoneware Serving Bowl

by OneClayBead (North Carolina, USA) 

Lavender Hand Pulled Linocut

by PeaseBlossomStudio (Texas, USA)

Pear Small Funky Vase

by RomyAndClare (Indiana, USA) 

 

Children's Names Necklace Personalized

by moonovermaize (Virginia, USA)

fine art giclee print

by gretchenmist (Melbourne, Australia)

Bel Fiore Ring

by BeyondTheRockz (Connecticut, USA)

 

2 Crocheted Macarons

by Beliz82 (Paris, France)

Dandelion wish necklace in silver

by LuluBugJewelry (California, USA)

LOVE Languages - LongSleeve T-Shirt

by BuckToothedBunny (Massachussetts, USA)

Honeysuckle Baby Alpaca & Silk Knit Scarf

by TickledPinkKnits (New York, USA)

Selling Wholesale: Make a Successful Presentation

necklace by Anakim

You’ve made an appointment with a gallery buyer to show your work. Now it’s time to make a face to face presentation. Here are 6 tips that will make it successful:

1) First impressions count! Wear clean business casual clothing, with a bit of artisan boho jewelry, and closed toe shoes. Dress the way that you would if you were interviewing for a job at that gallery.  Solids are better than prints, and a color palette that goes with the pieces you are showing works. When in doubt, black always works.

2) Have several copies of your wholesale price list and hand them to everyone attending your meeting. Then unwrap your pieces, telling them where to find that item on your list.

3) Pay attention to what is said about your work and answer all questions. Never argue or rebut anything! If you don’t agree, say something like “That’s an interesting observation.” Be very gracious when complimented.

print by GretchenMist

4) Make a pitch for your work but don’t be an infomercial. Less is more.  Make sure that you include these 2 points- “I’d like to be in your gallery because….” and “I think that my work could offer your buyers…” This makes your presentation personal.

5) Offer clear and flexible terms. Most gallery sales are net 30, meaning that payment is due 30 days after delivery. I sometimes offer net 30/60, which means that half is due in 30 days and the remainder in 60 days. If you want more immediate payment, you can also offer 2/10/net 30, which means that you will offer a 2% discount if the bill is paid within 10 days, or they may pay in full in 30 days. I also offer a trade back policy, which means that they can trade back unsold pieces for other ones with each new purchase. That lets buyers try new things without feeling like they will get stuck with them. All of my terms are printed on my wholesale price list.

6) This is most important: be yourself. Be natural and authentic. Most buyers are also artisans, or have studied art. They love art and are interested in you, so don’t be afraid!

bowls by PaulandKateStudio

Also keep in mind that the buyer will make a business decision for that gallery, and that it is just one person’s judgment call. If that isn’t the right place to sell your work, it doesn’t mean that your Aunt Millie was right when she said that you can’t make a living doing THAT and should go to beautician school. It just means that this 1 gallery out of a gazillion galleries isn’t going to buy your work right now. You have to be willing to hear some no’s if you want to get to yes!

by Lee Wolfe/ OneClaybead

Should I Sell my Work Wholesale?

 

bracelet by jibbyandjuna

Selling wholesale to galleries, boutiques, and gift stores is beneficial if, and only if, that outlet increases the demand for, and value of , your work. If it is merely an opportunity to cut your price, don’t do it! A good wholesale outlet will promote your work as part of its branding and image. The gallery’s  buyer and sales staff will become familiar with your whole body of work, your studio process, the materials you use, and your individual story. They will take pride in carrying your work; they will act as a your representative to their clientele.  As their sales create greater demand for your work, the price that you charge can be increased.

Any time the demand for your work exceeds the supply (what you can make in a year), you can raise your prices.

fine art print by Gretchen Mist

It is very important to understand this! The single most common mistake that artisans make is lowering price in order to sell more volume. It is almost always better to sell less, at a greater price, than to sell more with a smaller profit margin. So you must make sure that your wholesale opportunities are beneficial to you in order to justify the discount you give them.

If you want to sell wholesale, scout out markets that would add prestige to your work. Look for outlets that have an established reputation, that ask for exclusive representation of your work within a specified territory, and that have a median price of what they carry that matches the average retail price of your work. You don’t want to be the cheapest thing they sell, nor the most expensive. Look for outlets that take pride in selling artisan work or art. Make sure that their marketing makes a distinction between manufactured goods and handmade work if they carry both.

felted elephants mobile by Sewn Natural

Future posts will cover what galleries and exclusive boutiques are most likely to buy, how to make sure that you have that, and how to successfully pitch your work to wholesale buyers. Please let me know if there are other topics that you would like me to cover. I have sold my own work wholesale for over 30 years, owned, managed, and worked as a consultant for, American Craft and Fine Art galleries. I’m happy to help you get started and succeed in selling to galleries.

by Lee Wolfe/ OneClayBead

What are you working on now?

When I saw Donauluft's blog post today I felt thrilled by the mere fact that what she had been working on wasn't what she sells in her shop; rather, she had been working on a way to present what she sells.  The creativity and ingenuity excited me and I asked if I could her include her project here.

This is what it means to be an artist.  You find ways to overcome barriers and that includes the presentation of your work.  I never really gave much thought to the how's of taking pictures for jewelry, I think too I take it for granted that on etsy many jewelry artists take amazing photos of their work by laying it this way and that way or having a model wear it so I never think about how challenging it must be.  What I loved about Viktoria's project was she doesn't have a model and was wanting another way to show her work.  How unique is this, she made her own model!  Rather than buy a mannequin head she set out to make her own.

Her description:
This is an experiment I never did before. I really would like to have a model to take one picture of all my earrings to show the relations of size. Not a perfect, flawless, but a funny one, with big ears,...a striking character. So I bought modeling clay and started to shape a head. Clay would have been better than this "modeling clay" which is smelling awful and not very smooth.  

 ..of course it has to be sanded and finished after drying complete, and maybe some hair would look nice.............to be continued.

You can read more description on her blog.  Click the above image to go there and be sure to look out for her new model in her etsy shop! thank you for letting me post this Viktoria!

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Next is Gretchenmist. Her love of art combined with a background in graphic design and publishing sets the stage for her works in progress, a 2011 calendar. She also blogged about these calendars which you can read here.  This isn't her first time making calendars either and this year she has a few changes.  She writes:  there was a method to the image~month matchup this year: I chose an image for each of my family members! I've had this habit from childhood ~ checking to see if my favorite happens to be on my birthday month and was so happy when my oldest son made a request for the November image! Hope you like your month!

Above are some original collages made with mixed media on paper. I scanned the originals then colour corrected in photoshop. I designed and layed out the pages using indesign.

I print and trim each page to size and get a neat hole drilled at the top. lastly: thread the blue lacy yarn through the hole to hang.

and the finished product:

The 2011 calendar is here! To celebrate I'm including a 13th image** for free with all pre-orders placed up until September 27th. {i'll be posting pre-ordered calendars on September 27th}.
The calendar has 12 pages featuring a brand new mixed media collage on each page and hangs from a beautiful lacy ribbon/yarn loop {which can be removed}.

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And lastly, Jill of GlazedOver.  She is sharing her Salt and Pepper Shakers. Her profile description says a lot about the unique personality that wafts off of each piece she creates.  "I've been hand throwing and slab building clay forms for over 15 years. Most of my work is functional and tends toward earthy design vocabulary with an occasional inclination toward the eccentric or anthropomorphic. I am partial to earth tones and warm hues but can also find inspiration in a bold, splashy palette." 

Her above description:  Seeing the trees for the forest - these are freshly pugged logs of clay ready for use. Makes a potter drool!

Salt and pepper shakers and mugs in process. The salt and pepper shakers in the foreground are complete, those to the right are not. The tub on the right margin is filled with slip which is the "glue" that is used to connect pieces of clay together. Finally, in the back are some mugs (the handles are what are looking so neat in the middle of the shot) and at the very top margin is a stack of more slabs waiting to be shaped into mug starters.

On the drying rack - scroll handle mugs and S&P shakers (plus an oddball bowl made from a coconut shell mold and some buttons)

Above, the end results!  Lime Popsicle S&P Shakers and Lime Popsicle Ginormous Stoneware Coffee Mugs w/ Curly Handle (set of two).

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Thank you so much everyone for sharing what you do!  If you are a team member and want to share your works in progress visit our flickr forum for details.

Tuesday tools of trade

This week i'm jumping into a rather large canoe to paddle across the Tasman sea to meet up with Belinda from gretchenmist who resides in Melbourne, Australia. She's sharing with us the tools she uses to create her incredible original artwork. For those of you on the other side of the world, make sure your seatbelts are fastened as the jumbo is about to take off ...

black leaves . original acrylic painting on linen

Belinda, would you take us through the tools you use in your creative process?

I like to work with a variety of mediums ~ partly because I like to try out new materials and also sometimes I have an idea which will only feel right with a particular medium or combination of materials.

I primarily paint with golden acrylics ~ they are so beautiful to use. They have a super high pigment content and lovely texture. I used to paint with oils rather than acrylics, until I discovered these acrylics. They behave a little like oils (without the long drying times) and are just like no other acrylic paints. I've previously found acrylics to be kind of 'clunky' ~ thick and plasticy!

Golden acrylics

I also paint with watercolour and gouache (opaque watercolour). I choose the paints depending on the kind of work i'm doing. If I think I will want to include a top layer of drawing and i'm working on paper, I often use watercolour or gouache as the texture is different and takes the top layers a little better.

Gouache and pencils

I choose between hot-pressed 100% cotton acid-free paper, stretched linen and wood panels. The different surfaces offer specific qualities that I like or need for a piece.

Hot-pressed paper has a smooth surface which I prefer. I like the feel of heavy (300gsm) paper. Paper is also a great medium for adding stitching and pin holes to drawings. I feel like cotton paper and embroidery cotton make a perfect match. The stretched linen that I choose has a rich, smooth texture and is great for painting small, fine detail as the paint glides on. Wood panels have a matted feeling and offer a beautiful natural texture with the grain, that can mostly be seen through the layers of paint. The grain is like working with a bonus element and usually really adds to a landscape piece.

Stretched linen and wood panels

My brush collection is mainly made up of super fine brushes. I go through these pretty frequently. I have a set of drawing pencils which are a new favourite brand. They work really well with my drawing style which involves rubbing back and adding layers to build up richer and softer lines.

I use takeaway food container lids to mix paint. To me they are perfect, especially the clear ones. I can see what colours will look like together by holding the palette next to the work ~ this saves time and paint!

Palettes and brushes

Palettes

I collect a lot of magazines, which I use for making collages.

The final step in my creative process is the mac ~ set up with adobe software which I use to make prints of my work.

Can you give us some sort of indication on the monetary outlay you've had in setting yourself up with the equipment that you have?

I spent around $600 setting up my space: with two desks (one for cutting and another for working), shelves and drawers. The initial outlay for my acrylics and gouache paints was around $300. Things like paper, wood panels, stretched linen, pencils, brushes, printing paper and inks are all ongoing costs and things that I love to shop for!

Is there much care and/or cleaning required to keep your tools in optimal order?

My work space is pretty low maintenance ~ the main things are making sure I clean my brushes before paint dries in them and storing paper properly.

Is it necessary to wear any kind of safety equipment when creating your items?

No, the only real safety concern is keeping the acrylic paints off my skin. A lot of the bottles have cancer warnings on them. I guess i'm lucky that at the moment my work is small and kind of contained ~ I'm not splashing much paint around or sanding back and creating dust.

I guess this is the 'wishing' question really and it's always kind of fun to ask it .. If you could own any kind of tools that aren't related to your own craft what would they be?

I'd love to have a dedicated sewing room with an overlocker ~ I often wish I had more clothes-making skills.

perspective . fine art print