Tale of Two Chickadees

I've finally come down off my little high from last night. You see, last night I had an auction end for a watercolor painting of a bluebird on handmade paper. Since I had a little bidding war, it went for more than I had expected. Since eBay has been so slow lately, I figured maybe $20, but it went for twice that! Yippeee!!!

Now, I just need to not expect this from every auction. And I also need to try not to dulplicate the painting. (Each painting needs to be done in and for itself -- not as something like this other one.) Neither thing is easy to do, but I'll try.

Anyway, before the bluebird sold, I had started on a chickadee because I like chickadees. Well, I did one and wasn't totally happy with it, so I did another. Both are on handmade paper, but one is waterleaf and the other is sized. (Probably need to explain that.) Here's the two paintings:

This chickadee was done on handmade paper that a local lady makes for me. The paper is unsized, or waterleaf, as it doesn't have any sizing. Sizing prevents the watercolor from soaking into the paper. Since this is unsized, the watercolor soaks in and the paper buckles considerably. It will need to be flattened before I can sell it. The watercolor has a soft look as hard edges are almost impossible. Hence, the soft breast feathers are easy, but the edges on the tail are tricky to do.

This chickadee, on the other hand, was done on handmade paper which had been sized. The paper is from India and is definitely handmade as the texture is uneven and the edges are deckled. The watercolor sits on top of the paper -- doesn't soak in -- so edges are crisp. In fact, I had a difficult time getting the breast to look soft like a puffy chickadee. The pine needles were a snap, however. The other problem was to get the black to be black (or any darks very dark). The sizing prevents the paint from soaking in so a damp brush can be used to 'erase' minor mistakes, but this also means that putting a new layer over another layer can 'erase' the bottom layer too.

Anyway, this was an interesting experiment. I tend to adapt my working habits to the characteristics of the paper I use, but I didn't realize how different these two papers were until I did two similar paintings one after another. Personally, I like the unsized paper better, because of the softness.

As a footnote, I took the plunge and added some blue sky to the first chickadee painting. And then added the tiny branch. And suddenly it looked a whole lot better! Now I just have to figure out which one to list on eBay, because I don't want to list both at once. I don't want to flood the chickadee painting market!

It's a Holiday?!

Yes, today is Memorial Day. For most people that means a day off, maybe a picnic, and a time to relax. For many working artists (as opposed to the wannabe artists), this is not a day off and may actual be a big work day.

Concerning this latter point, since a holiday weekend means that many are off work and are looking for something to do, there's often art shows on these weekends. Promoters figure that people will come and wander around and buy art. In my experience, it doesn't really work like that. Sure there will be a lot of people walking thru an art show, especially if it's free, but that doesn't mean they will buy art. They may buy a few cards, or pick up a business card, but buy a $400 painting? Usually not. The under $20 impulse buy, yes. The over $100 nice art, no. While a holiday weekend show looks good on paper, it's dubious in return, especially for a fine artist.

Also holiday weekends create a 'problem' with eBay. The big question is do you list items that either end or begin on a holiday or holiday weekend. One camp says no because there are less people looking -- they are out with the family, etc. The other camp says yes because there are a lot of people not going anywhere who will have more time on their hans and so will shop on eBay. I'm not sure which is right, although I did move my auctions back a day so that none would end yesterday. I do have one ending today, but I have specific buyers in mind, who check my auctions regularly, so they knew from last week it would end today. (Translation: a botanical watercolor probably will not be a impulse buy even on eBay!)

As for me, on this holiday, I'll be doing my normal thing. I had contemplated driving into LA to a show I want to see, but with gas at $3.39/gal, I'll skip it. So, I'll be working. I have 2 pet sketches to finish and a rose to paint, plus I really need to update my website. The only difference will be no checks in the mail today! (I'd prefer them to be incoming rather than outgoing.)

A Return to Sculpture

Oops, it's been a few days since I last wrote. While I have blogging scheduled for the morning, before I get to work, I just don't seem to have time for it then. Okay, so part of the problem is that I haven't been getting up early so that I can get everything done and still have time to write this. The other problem is that I've been a bit whiny and I have to whine all the time in my blog.

So, since I last wrote, I finished 2 small paintings, started work on a large portrait commission, and ordered some wood.

Wood?! Yep, I got looking around on eBay and noticed there were hardly any realistic wood sculpture. I don't know if there's a market for it or not, or if the market doesn't pay very well, but I'm giving it a try. I'm not going to quit doing paintings and drawings, but the sculpting will be in addition to everything else. I'll probably only finish 3-5 pieces a year.

The other reason I'm returning to sculpting is that I like doing it. I stopped doing it because I never was able to sell it in local art shows. And I know this isn't a great excuse, but there is a limit on hom many pieces I can store! But everytime I walked by my carving tools, or had to move a chunk of marble to get to something else, something inside me cried. I miss the challenge of working in 3-D.

So, I'll be spending my weekends, and maybe an hour here and there during the week, working on a sculpture. Most of them will be small -- because the wood I have is small and because shipping large pieces is a nightmare. I have a number of interesting ideas and can hardly wait for the wood to arrive.

This may be the thing I need to pick up my spirits some. While I'm selling things okay on eBay, and have a few commissions waiting for me, I've felt somewhere between an art-prostitute and a waster of supplies. My recent bouquet series -- such as the roses in a vase -- have really left me feeling like I want to put more expression and meaning into my work. The problem with both botanical watercolors and portraits is that neither should have the artist's expression in them. Their whole point is an accurate rendering of what is there -- not what I want to be there. The bouquets have allowed me more expression. I'm hoping the sculptures will really be a great way to express my ideas and feelings.

And now, off to sharpen some gouges!

A New Routine

Well, I've decided that I need a new daily routine because too many non-art-making things have crept into my art-making time. Lately I've noticed that I have been doing tasks like the dishes or answering emails during the day. Since it is hard to produce art under artificial light, I need to do my art while there is daylight. So, I need to move these non-art tasks to either earlier or later in the day.

Here's my new schedule:

• 6-8am: get up, do tai chi, feed the cats and birds, eat breakfast, drink my coffee, write blog
• 8-11am: do art, working mainly on portraits
• 11am-1pm: eat lunch, make phone calls, errands into town
• 1-5pm: do more art, working mainly on eBay items and show pieces
• 5-7pm: fix supper, feed cats, do dishes, answer emails, clean up yard
• 7-8 or 9pm: review math
• 8/9-11pm: relax by watching tv, reading, or quilting

This looks do-able, unlike many schedules I tend to make. I have a tendency to believe I'm SuperWoman and can do a incredible amount of stuff all at once. I usually can do it for about 3 or 4 days and then I crash and take 4 or 5 days off, trying to recover. But I'm hoping that this one is more realistic.

Now the problem is 'surprises'. For example, some weeks ago, my web site was down so I transferred many of my auction photos over to a photo site. Then yesterday, I noticed that many of my auction and store items didn't have photos because this alternative site was down. Well, since it makes no sense to run art auctions without pictures, I had to revise a number of auctions by changing the sources for my photos back to my web site. So, when things like this happen, my entire schedule is thrown out the window!

Well, I'll see how this schedule works for a couple of weeks, if it makes it that long. I really want to get more art done, both for eBay and for shows, yet I don't want to give up things like playing with my cats. I'm hoping this new plan will give me both.

And now I see that I need to get moving since I still have to have breakfast and coffee, feed the cat herd, and answer a couple of emails. Only 43 minutes to go before I'm late on the first day of my new schedule!!!

Fences and the Law

Just when I thought I had complained about everything my neighbors do, something new pops up which led to 'interesting' discussions with the county. The one neighbor, which is a lady with two adult sons living at home, hasn't caused much problems at all, until 2 days ago.

Here's what happened. I went to get the mail and noticed 4 deep motorcycle tracks across my driveway and property. I tracked them (not difficult in sand) to the neighbors. Their grandmother, who was passing by, told me it was friends of the two boys who road across my land, but she would have a word with the mother to ask their friends not ride on my land. I don't know if this will do the trick or not.

So, I called the sheriff's office to ask what I can legally do or what I need to do to have these bikers arrested for trespassing. I need either still photos of them on my land or a video tape. Well, since this isn't a daily occurance, I don't know how I could get either. My eyewitness account won't be accepted. (Remember that if you as a pedestrian are involved in a hit-and-run -- you need photos!!!) The sheriff's clerk suggested I talk to code enforcement about increased patrols. (And what are the chances of a sheriff being around when they ride across my land? Besides, I haven't seen a patrol for at least 2 years!)

If the law won't help, then building a fence may be my only option. Okay, I toyed with the ideas of homemade spike strips or concealed barbed wire, but hubby said something about liability and prison. (I protect my property from trespassers and I go to jail -- why doesn't this make sense to me?!) So, a fence. A simple split rail fence will keep the bikers out and let the bunnies come and go. It's also cheap and something I can do myself.

Then I made a fatal error -- I called the county to ask how far from the road I had to place this theoretical fence. The first lady told me I could put it on my property line, which made sense for the north and south sides (there's other land parcels there), but since there are roads on the east and west side and I presume my property line is in the center of the road, well it didn't make sense. She then transferred me to her supervisor, who was rude, snippy, and "not nice". The final answer is, I can put a 4 foot high fence 44 feet from the east property line and a 6 foot high fence 33 feet from the north, west, and south property lines.

Now, let's think about this. There's a road on the east and west, so why is the east side shorter and further away? And what the is this 33' or 44' stuff? Are they planning on putting a boulevard with turn lanes in? I live in the desert, in the middle of nothing. (The home owners association here does a yard sale every six months so they can pay someone to grade our roads, since the county doesn't.) Besides, we are talking about a fence, not a house or permanent structure. If they widen the dirty road, I'll move the fence, as will most of the homes owners on this road.

And what about all those 6' high chain-link fences that are 6' from the road? And where their neighbor's fence ties into the fence post, so there's no 66' wide space between the fences? Aren't these illegal?

Well, I was told that I could apply for a variance if I wanted a fence closer to the property lines, but to do that I would need my property surveyed. So, since I was all upset already, I called a surveying office. To get my 5 acres surveyed, it would cost about $2000-3000.

The bottomline is this: I can either build a legal fence for about $3500, or I can do what everyone else does and build a fence on my property line for about $500. Right now, I'm hoping the grandmother solved the problem because I'm not in any mood to dig fence post holes when it's 100 degrees outside!!!

The New Neighbors

About a week or so ago, new people moved into the house behind mine. Since this area has become a real estate hotspot -- prices are still affordable by California standards -- in the last 2 years, I have had 5 other new neighbors. Now since this is the desert and California, people will wave when they are in their cars but that's it. I have not met any of these new neighbors and with at least one, I'd rather not meet them. (I'll get back to them later.)

So, this weekend, the bulldozer arrived at my newest neighbors' house. Even before they got everything unpacked (boxes still in front of the house), they hired a bulldozer for the weekend to scrape allthe vegetation off their 5 acres. For 2 days, they scraped and dozed their land. With the exception of 3 or 4 Joshua trees, which are a protected species, they removed all plant life. Large clumps of yuccas. Magnificient clumps of cactus. Interesting desert wildflowers. All gone. Piled into large mounds of debris. Nothing left but dirt.

This is enough to make me cry. I love this desert. There are literally hundreds of plant species here, over 10 lizard/reptile species, dozens of bird species, plus an occassional bobcat. Except right around the houses, basically the desert was in pristine condition.

See, I moved here from Iowa. In Iowa, there was less than 1/2 of 1% of the native prairies still intact. A number of conservation groups were spending thousands of dollars to maintain and restore these little islands of nature land. Here, there's intact ecosystems right outside my front door. All one has to do is not intentionally destroy it and it will remain a functioning ecosystem.

Unless of course, everyone scrapes their land. Of the 5 new neighbors, 3 have scraped their yards. I really would like to know why. Are they afraid of the wildlife? Of wildfires? Do they understand how dusty it will be when the winds blow? Or muddy when it rains? Why not move into town if you want dirt? Why buy a house in the country only to destroy the nature habitat?

I actually know why one neighbor scraped his land -- his personal dirt track for his offroad vehicles. It's just so wonderful to try to relax on my patio with the dust and noise of his 4-wheel drive truck zooming around. I would like to point out to him that if he drove it 10 miles from here, he would have literally 100s of acres to race around. Ooops, I guess he can't because his truck, his motorcycle, and his jeep have no license plates. I must admit, he hasn't done much zooming around lately -- ever since another neighbor called the sheriff on him. (The law does frown on loud vehicles zooming around at 1am!)

Anyway, back to my newest neighbors, after they were done scraping, I went outside to water trees. Then I heard gun shots. I looked around and say a young kid shooting a rifle on my property. I approached him and told him to stop shooting on my land. He explained he was only hunting rabbits and apologized. Hey, people, if you didn't scrape your property bare, your son wouldn't have to trespass on my land to shoot rabbits!

I try to be understanding -- not everyone shares my love of wildlife and plants -- but it still makes me sad. I had planned on working on an alpaca portrait this weekend, but I couldn't concentrate with the sound of the destruction next door. I just hope I don't get any more new neighbors for a long time!

A Lazy Saturday

Well, I just got back from a trip into town. I went in to see a cat show and to check out if I could sell cat art at cat shows. The answer is no. Just like horse and alpaca shows, most of the people who go to animal shows are there to show there animals and aren't interested in buying non-show stuff. Since this was a small show, there was much traffic from the general public, so there'd be little chance of selling to the public either. Maybe at a larger show, there'd be enough of a general public to make it worth while, but then the booth fee would be a lot higher. So, just for the record, animal shows really aren't a good venue to sell art.

Before going into town today, I did manage to scan in a couple of recently finished pieces. This first one is the boxer dog in watercolor on handmade paper. I think he looks cute!

I really don't know how many more of these works on handmade paper I'll be doing. I seem to have annoyed the lady that makes the paper for me. I told her that I needed off-white, as in oatmeal colored paper, and also paper about the color of brown paper bags. I also told her that the colors didn't need to be exact and that I need a fairly smooth surface. For a couple of batches, this worked fine. Now lately, she demanding that I do swatches of exactly the color I need, and that she thought I wanted a rough surface, and that I need to do this or that, etc. So, it's looking like I may be teaching myself to make paper. It's not hard -- I just need another blender -- but it's one of those things I'd rather pay someone else to do for me.

Anyway, the other piece is another watercolor/pastel bouquet, this one of sunflowers in an old red coffee pot. I really like the combination of watercolor and pastel as the watercolor has transparent areas and the pastel is clearly opaque. (You really can't see that in the picture, so you'll have to take my word for it.)

Well, I suppose I should get to work. I have one large alpaca portrait, 2 pencil portraits, 3 oil portraits, and 3 small sketches to do, plus what I want to do for eBay and shows. One of these days I would like to be caught up!

Getting Back in the Swing

I'm trying hard to get back into the swing of things. Between the physical strain of the Montrose show, the emotional strain of Frankie's egglaying, and the mental strain of trying to get the alpaca commission done, I've been exhausted. Also, I know I haven't been eating too well. While I would like to take a week off, I really need to get to work and do stuff.

One thing I need to do is work on a portrait of another alpaca. This one is a champion and the highest priced alpaca ever, so I really need to get this done and done well. At least there is no deadline, like on this other one, so it won't be as stressful.

And speaking of this other alpaca portrait, the owner received it today. She loves it! While I thought it was good, sometimes the client has a specific idea in their mind and the finished portrait doesn't match it. This is when there are problems. But Kathy loves it as does her husband and the frame shop, so it was worth the strain to get it done in time. And now it will be on display at the National Alpaca Show! (Hopefully, I will get some more commissions from it!)

I did manage to get a watercolor of a boxer dog done today, despite my tiredness. I don't know why I've been doing watercolor animals, but it probably has to do with speed. Yes, pastel is fast, but it's not good for small works. Watercolor is fairly fast and can be done on a small scale, so it should work well for eBay items. (Trying to do things for $10-40 requires speed!) Besides, I haven't ever done much with watercolor other than the botanicals, so it's fun. And since I did it on handmade paper, it's even more fun. The paper acts like a sponge since it's not sized. It also buckles a lot, so I'd share a photo of the boxer but it's being flattened over night.

Speaking of eBay, yesterday was a 10-cent listing day (list anything for 10 cents), so I put up 4 items -- 2 botanical watercolors, a new woodblock print, and a 5x7 portrait commission. I did the latter as a fixed price listing with the idea that it would draw people to my store where they would buy more expensive portraits. That was my plan. This morning, however, only 15 hours after I listed it, someone bought it. So much for my plan!

Montrose Report

Well, I survived the one-day show at Montrose this last weekend. Yes, survived. For people who have never done an art show, 'survived' is the correct term because your body hurts for at least a day or two afterwards.

Anyway, the show had it's good points and it's bad.

First the good. There was a pretty good crowd. The area has a very knowledgeable public when it comes to the arts. I got a lot of compliments. And the artists next to me were nice and friendly.

The bad parts now. I only sold a couple of small items (which is better than not selling anything). I got a rude surprise because there was a flower garden where I was suppose to set up my display.

Perhaps the most annoying part of the weekend was one artist's work. As you may have picked up on from reading this blog, I hate lying. This artist was displaying "original oil paintings" according to her sign along with some giclees (reproductions) of her work. Well, I took one look at her painting and just about laughed outloud -- at least until I noticed her prices. A 18x24 was listed at $4500! What she was doing was taking a nice photo of a scene, having the photo printed onto canvas which she then stretched, and then adding a few highlights here and there. How do I know this? Every single leaf in a tree was clearly "painted" as was every single tiny twig. Every single on in sharp detail. EVERY single one. Also, there is a look to photography which can't be reproduced by painting, no matter the skill of the artist. Yesterday, I looked up her website and she has some portraits which weren't done with a photograph 'underpainting' and they didn't look anything like her landscapes. But perhaps the most telling thing is that she has a BFA with an emphasis in photography and has worked for years doing advertising layouts. Now, I will admit that her work is nice and very impressive to the uninitiated, but her calling these "original oil paintings" is nothing more than a bold-faced lie. They are mixed media, or embellished photos, but not an oil painting. And she had no problem lying to potential buyers. It's disgusting!!!

Ah, that felt good. (I've been muttering about this yesterday and today, so it's nice to have it off my chest.)

Yep -- Still Alive

To those who have emailed me, yes, I'm still alive. I've been in one of my blue moods and I've also been doing a number of things all at once. Here's what I've been up to:

First, my website has been done as the host lost a server. It took a few days for the host to get things partially up and working. I had to upload my website (800+ files), and that restored the photos I was using for auctions and the pages themselves, but because I use FrontPage to create my site, I had to wait a few more days for the navigation structure to come online. In the meantime, one could navigate my site, but one had to use the back button on the browser to go back. Finally, the FrontPage extensions were installed and I had to upload part of my site again, but then the navigation bars were there. While there was no real harm done, it was a bit annoying since I was running auctions and I had contacted some decorators about my botanicals!

Second, I knit part-time for a lady and she has now come up with a hundred different things for me to do -- NOW!!! Nothing from her for months -- since last August -- and now a whole lot of things to do. I've also been negotiating with another lady for custom knitting but despite all her "I'll call you soon", nothing from her so far.

Third, Frankie, my Indian ringneck parakeet, has been ''off" lately. His poops were strange, with a bit of blood. He was sitting around fluffy. He didn't seem himself. Nasty ideas of kidney infections popped into my head. The other day, I noticed a bulge in his bottom and then things fell into place. Frankie was having an egg! (I now have to relearn tosay 'she' when referring to Frankie.) Immediately I got worried about him-now-her being egg-bound. Unfortunately, Frankie is one of my rescue birds and the stress of taking her out of her cage and taking her to a vet over an hour away, probably would kill her. Not to mention the moment one walks into an avian vet office it's $65. (Eggbinding treatment can easily top $1000!) So, I've been fretting and stewing about all this. Well, Wednesday, from 4:30-5:00 pm, we had an egg! She's resting now, and she seems to be having huge poops, so I'm wondering is egg #2 is on it's way. I hope not as egg laying can be very demanding on a bird (and owner). But she's eating, screaming a bit, and seems a whole lot happier to have that huge thing out of her!!!

Fourth, I'm trying to finish up a commission by this coming Monday. I'm about 3/4ths done with it and it's coming out fine, but now with the next item, I'm really cutting it close.

Fifth, tomorrow, Saturday, I do a show in Montrose. It's a one-day show, so I have to drive 2 hours, set up, sit there and demonstrate something from 9-4, pack up, and then drive home. It makes for a long day. Luckily hubby will be home and go with me so that helps some. (Unfortunately, the d-o-g will also be going with us, so I'm not sure how helpful hubby will be.) I did a show in Montrose last year and it was a pretty nice little show. So, I'm trying it again. And this time, I sent out postcard invitations to local decorators, so maybe they will come and make my trip worth it.

And finally, I have been looking into either substitute teaching or getting my teaching certificate and teach fulltime. I'm not happy with my sales this year and thanks to some bad luck with hubby's truck (a new week, a new alternator), we are having some cash flow problems. So, I'm thinking of getting a part-time job and the substitute teaching seems pretty ideal. It pays well, I only have to pass a background check (no classes to take), and I can work as little or as much as I want. Admittedly, I will be the 'sub' and I do remember how i tormented them when I was in junior high. Anyway, just thinking of giving up part of my art time has really upset. I like my life as a full-time artist, and getting even a part-time job feels like I'm giving up. BUT I'm not giving up on doing art and I still believe that I have the skills and vision it takes to make a living at art. Sometimes reality just isn't nice!

So, wish me luck tomorrow and go to my website and buy lots of portrait commissions!

Honesty, Artists, and the Buying Public

The other day, I spent some time looking around eBay at my 'competition'. I didn't learn much that would help me get out of the slow-sales on eBay slump I'm in, but I did see quite a number of listings that were misleading to one degree or another.

Here's several examples:

• The title said "original oil painting" but the description, in line 143(!) said it was a print.
• A 'hand painted' portrait which is actually done by printing a photo onto canvas and then adding a few details with a brush. (The lister forgot to remove the page number from the magazine that the photo was taken from.)
• A woodblock print which was available in several sizes, so what one was actually buying was a print of a print.
• An artist who listed California as his location, but then the artwork would be shipped from Singapore.
• The title said, "original, genuine marble sculpture", which wold imply a one of a kind piece, but you could buy up to 10 copies of it since it was actually made out of bonded marble dust which had been poured into a mold.

So why do artists do this? It comes down to money. One of the problems with eBay is that most buyers want everything for $19.95 or less. But think about it -- a canvas that's 16x20 will cost $12 wholesale in large lots, there's paints and brushes, and then the time to paint it. If the artist is to make any money, then the key is to do the work in the fastest amount of time. So, if he can do one good painting, take a photo of it, have the photo printed onto other canvases, he's cut his time for each saleable canvas in half or fourths or how ever many copies he has printed.

I don't have too much of an issue with this (okay, I do, but we'll talk about it some other day), but what really annoys me is these people try to hide what they are doing from their buyers. In the process, it ruins the whole thing for all artists. For example, if Sally buys a painting that was listed as an 'original' in the title and then discovers is a print-on-canvas, she will be upset. And she will probably never buy another piece of art online again. (I can't blame her!)

Call me old fashioned, but I believe that my word is my bond. I try to make my descriptions as clear as I can. I would rather have a buyer email me after they get the item and say how pleasantly surprised they were, rather than to complain I had misled them.

Honesty Among Artists

Sorry for not writing, but hubby was home for the week and we were having way too much fun working on his truck. He got all ready to go on Thursday, when he tried to start his truck and it wouldn't start. So, Friday we spent all day getting a new started (150+ miles to get it) and the 12-pt socket set to remove 2 bolts that held the starter on. (Yes, 12-pt sockets, not the normal hex head sockets.) We got it put on this morning and he's on his way. Overall, we saved about $200, but I'm not sure my fingernails will ever get clean.

Anyway, one of the things we were talking about while he was home has to do with honesty and artists. Basically one can't trust a lot of what artists say, especially when it comes to business. I know, most people like to feel successful and important, so there's a tendency for exaggeration. In artists, this is raised to an artform! And I'm sick of it!!!

Here's a typical example:

One artist writes on an artist message board that she is having problems with selling tasteful nudes on eBay. She's asking for advice on how to increase her sales. A few artists reply with some simple suggestions. And then Bill (not his real name) replies that he has no problem selling nudes on eBay, has sold 18 in the last 2 weeks, most of his sell for 4-5 times the initial listing price, and they normally get 3-5 bids each. Now this sounds fantastic and, since I have some nudes from years ago, I start looking at his listings to see what he is doing right. Then I look at his completed auctions for the last 30 days. In the last 3 weeks, he has sold 11 (not 18), most sold for $9.95 which was their initial bid price (not 4-5 times), and only 3 got more than 1 bid (none got more than 3). So, what he wrote to the first artist was not even close to the truth. And what is even more pathetic is that it was so easy to catch Bill in his lies!

While I could just brush this type of behaviour aside as typical of human nature, it really hurts me and all other artists. There are a lot of possible venues to sell my art or ways to advertise, and all these take time and money to do. I personally would like to be able to focus my time and money on those methods that others have found useful. But then the honesty problem pops up. Where can I turn for an honest answer to a serious question? If I ask a legitimate question, can I actually trust the answers I get? A few artists will tell another artist the honest truth (display ads in horse magazines is an expensive waste of money), but these are few and far between. And then one has to sort thru all the lies to find the one truthful reply.

And if one thinks this situation is bad or annoying, tomorrow I'll write about some of the cons artists use to mislead buyers.

Emily's Birthday!!!

(Be warned: This entry has nothing to do with art -- it's about one of my cats.)

Today, 15 April, is Emily's birthday. Yah!!!

Emily is one of my cats. She's a long-haired Persian cross and we adopted her from an animal shelter 16 years ago. And as somewhat fitting her age, she's also known as "The Cranky Old Lady" because she hates my other cats. Even when two of my cats were 5 weeks old, she hissed and spat and acted like they were an imminent threat to her life. So much for maternal instinct!

She and I have been thru a lot. She nearly died from FUS twice, while on special cat food from the vet. This was when she was 3 and 5 years old.

And then she used up a couple more lives when her liver shut down at age 7. She stopped eating and then became jaundiced. I took her to a vet who then said she had fatty liver disease and that I should put her down because it was hopeless. (The vet also suggested that if I didn't want to put her down that I should have her vacinated for several cat diseases.) I told the vet I wasn't going to accept that prognosis. So, I called and took her to 4 more vets -- all with the same diagnosis and prognosis. Finally, I took her to the local university vet hospital where they said there was about a 10% chance of her living, but it would be a good teaching case so they would go ahead and treat her. Treatment included putting a feeding tube in her stomach and instructing me to squirt this special food into it. At that time I had another cat who would eat anything. He absolutely refused to touch this special food, so I had my doubts about it. I tried following their plan, but it wasn't working. Emily continued to lose weight (got down to 4lb 8 oz) and seemed more lethargic. I was desperate. I found a magazine on natural cat care with an ad for a homeopathic vet who did phone consultations. I called him and we started to working together. He had me force feed her by mouth raw turkey and also sent me some homeopathic medicine. After a few days, I saw improvement. I then took her back to the vet school to have the stomach tube removed. At first they refused, but finally after a heated exchange with the director, the tube was removed. One vet said I just killed her. Well, I continued to force feed and after a while (about 2 weeks), she would eat it off my finger. Then off my hand. And finally after about a month, she would eat off a plate.

Today, 9 years after this episode, she's healthy and happy. (Okay, she'd be happier if I sent The Boys to North Dakota, but other than that,...) Her latest bloodwork was perfect. She has no arthritis, no bad teeth, and a magnificent coat. People can't believe she's 16!

But Emily taught me several important things:

1. Cats thrive on a raw meat diet. Since this liver stuff, Emily has had nothing but raw meat (mixed with vitamins and vegies). So much for the idea that raw meat will kill a cat.
2. Many vets are more interested in their ideas and income than in helping the pet. When I took Emily back to the vet school after 6 months, the vet couldn't believe it was Emily, but the moment I said anything about raw meat, she refused to listen to anything and said I was going to kill her. I would have thought the vet would have been interested in what I was feeding her. (Silly me!)
3. Homeopathic medicine does work. I know that it can't rationally work, but after seeing what it did for Emily (and later instances with my boys), I know it works. It's also a lot easier on the animal -- one doesn't need a drug to counteract another drug's side effects.
4. And most importantly, one needs to love those around you while they are still here.

So, today, she's gets a real treat for supper -- grilled salmon! (I'd feed it to her raw, but I'm planning on having the rest of the fish myself.)

From 3-4am

I know, I know -- it's been a few days since I've written an entry but I've been busy. Maybe it's the impending tax deadline (yes, we owe a bunch) or it's the fact that I'm doing more flowers (a comfort zone for me) or maybe it's all the commissions I now have (about 12!), but I've been working a lot more lately. And so, I haven't had a lot of extra time to do this blog, update my website, clean the house, or even read.

Working more does mean I'm getting stuff done. For example, I just finished up 2 nice alpaca and people portraits for a client.

This 11x14 pencil drawing was an interesting challenge to get the overall look right. The boy's jacket was so dark (dark navy blue) that it could dominate the entire drawing. The alpaca was pure white. And the photo was taken outside in bright sun, which is why the boy is squinting. I ended up lightening the jacket a touch and darkening the alpaca a bit. Overall I'm pleased with it, but I do wish the boy had had a more normal expression on his face.

Because of the size of this portrait (16x20), I took a temporary photo of it with my cell phone, so it's not the best photo. (I'll take a good photo of it with my camera before I send it. Now if someone wants to donate a digital camera to me, I'll be grateful!) The main challenge with this portrait was the composition -- all those little alpacas in the background! Not only did the alpacas need to be arranged in a natural manner, their colors had to not compete with the boy and cria he is holding. The other challenge was the size. While 16x20 is wonderful for a portrait which includes the shoulders and hands, it's a bit small for a portrait which includes the entire body. The head is only 3-4 inches high -- tiny details with large chunks of chalk are difficult to get right. As with the first portrait, I do wish the boy wasn't squinting in this one either.

Presently, I'm working on a pair of small portraits (one done, one to go), and then there's only be about 10 left. I really don't understand where all these commissions came from all of a sudden, but it's nice to have work to do.

The one problem is that I need to keep doing florals and botanicals for eBay and the Montrose Art Walk. And I also want to do some new relief prints. Maybe I could do them from 3-4 am? (Why waste that time just sleep?!)

Spring Flowers

Things are going well and not so well. A lot depends on what I'm talking about.

First the bad. I still haven't heard the bad news from the account about our taxes. Hubby has a cold and as a truck driver, this means he keeps driving, so I'm worried about him. Things are beyond slow on eBay -- nobody even looking! And we are suppose to get rain tomorrow and I haven't fixed the couple of shingles on my roof from the last round of storms.

On the other hand, the artwork is going well. I've been working on a portrait of a young boy and some alpacas and it's coming out well. I finished another pastel bouquet, like the roses, but of carnations. I made wonderful progress on a botanical watercolor of black-eyed susans. And tomorrow I start on an oil painting of a hummingbird.

Actually, my latest plan is working well. The plan is to start with botanical watercolors and then slowly spread out to other things, such as still lifes and animal art. (Botanical watercolors are my comfort paintings -- I know I can do them well, so they are what I revert to when I'm anxious about stuff.) The idea is to do sets of each, so right now I'm working on:

• a set of 12 botanical watercolors of garden perennials
• a set of 6 pastel/watercolor works of bouquets
• a set of 5 (or 6) small oil paintings of hummingbirds and flowers

As you will notice, they all involve flowers. The reasoning behind this is that people find my jumping from one thing to another upsetting, or so the theory goes. I have no idea whether this is true or not, but it's worth a shot. It does help me organize my thoughts and it's somewhat comforting for me to know exactly what I will be doing today, tomorrow, and even next week. Besides, all these sets will work just fine for my upcoming shows in Montrose. (Last year, they really liked the flowers, so ...)

Now, I just have to figure out how to get people to actually buy my artwork!

eBay Update

Well, yesterday was interesting. I'm not sure that's exactly the word, but it'll have to do since the coffee is still brewing.

I had one item on eBay end -- a botanical watercolor of an iris. It really was stunning. I listed it for $40 and guess what? One bid, so it went for $40. Now I understand botanical watercolors aren't a hot property (thanks to all the 'prints' out there), but still... What I don't understand is there 4 people watching it. The guy that won it wasn't one of the 4. So, what happened to the these 4 people who took the steps to add it to their watchlists? I don't understand it -- if I put something on my watchlist, I either bid on it or I remove it.

I have another botanical watercolor up, a daylily, and it's getting very few views. I did put it up for 10 days, so it's got time to attract viewers. Fingers crossed on this one.

And finally, I did put up the roses in a vase yesterday. I settled on $62.50 -- $10 per hour plus $2.50 for the paper and pastel. (Sure, I know exactly how much pastel I use on each piece. And the Easter bunny will be bringing me a BMW.) I thought about going higher, but I decided I would rather sell it than not. The good news is that someone is already watching it, but as with the iris, I'm not sure that's a positive sign or not. If anyone wants to bid on it, here's the link:

Roses in Vase Auction

Remember, bid early, bid often!

Pricing on eBay

And now, I'm facing one of my favorite dilemmas -- how to price artwork on eBay. I have enough of a problem to price it for shows and galleries, but eBay is a whole different problem. Put it too high, and I waste the listing fee. Put it too low, and I get mad because it went for so little. It's a real headache.

Maybe if I talk it out, I'll figure it out?! It's worth a shot.

Okay, here's the piece I want to list:



It's pastel and watercolor, 12x16 inches,on watercolor paper. There's lots of neat textures and I think it looks fine. (And it really should look terrific matted and framed.) It is a bit different from the traditional botanical watercolors I have on auction at the moment, but I plan on doing two series of paintings at once -- and this is the first of the second series.

Anyway, it took me 3 days of work, off and on, to do. I have no idea how many hours that would be, because I was working on other things as this one dried between layers, but I would guess 6 hours minimum. The paper is about $1.50 per sheet. In a gallery, I'd easily put a $300 price on it (and I'd get $150 of it), but we are talking eBay here.

So, one can price things on a per hour rate plus cost. 6 hours at $15 per hour plus the paper comes to $91.50. At $10/hr it's $61.50. (Hey, I can go pick lettuce in a field at that rate!) And an alternative way to price things would be to compared it to other sold pieces on eBay. First, there's few pastels on eBay. And second, the prices are all over the place -- $10 to $127.53.

Part of the problem is that eBay isn't a hot marketplace anymore. Maybe it's the economy or maybe it's everyone has all the stuff they need, but eBay is slow. It used to be that one could list something very cheap (like $24.95) and then rely on multiple bids to get it up in the $70's. Now only the big names on eBay can do this anymore as most auctions end with only one or two bids, if that. So, the opening price must be fairly realistic because one can't count on a bidding war to drive the prices up. (Or put it really cheap and hope that it goes high, but be willing to part with it for cheap.)

But if one puts the opening price at a realistic price, like $100, there's a good chance (about 90% I'd guess), that this piece wouldn't sell. People want a bargain. They don't seem to understand that artists have bills to pay too and we can't afford to give our work away. Anyway, at $100, I'd probably still have the piece and $2-3 worth of eBay fees. (And that's if I don't upgrade the listing to 'featured' for $20 more.)

Throw into this mix the problem I created for myself. I only list things once at auction and then it goes to my store. This is because I've seen artists list the same pieces over and over again, usually for less and less money, so if I was a bidder, I'd just wait until it was relisted for less. So, I have one shot at auction to sell this piece before it moves into my store. And while my store is doing okay, it's still 50-50 that this piece will be sold there as I'll probably offer it for $150-200 there.

So, what to price this piece at? Would it sell at $60? at $90? Or would it be better to list it at $45 and hope I get multiple bids? I still don't know!

And now I have a really bad headache!!!

A Cloudless Day

Finally, the sun is coming out and with a bit of luck, it'll stay out. For the last couple of days, it's been cloudy and (shock, horror) raining. I know for most areas of the US, this would be normal in spring, but here, in the Mojave Desert, it's normally cloudless with a deep blue sky. So, having a grey overcast day is really different. And not welcome in my book. Supposedly, the rain has moved on.

The reason that I've mentioned the weather is that it's a good analogy to my own mood. I have periods of cloudiness that last for days and then becomes clear and wonderful. (I'm not talking about deep, dark depressions -- just the blahs.) This is pretty normal, I've been told, for artists. Partly it's due to the creative process and partly it's due to the financial aspects of being an artist.

With the creative process, there are times when work comes easily and then there are the struggles. Sometimes paintings almost paint themselves and at others, well,... let's just say it's more productive to bake brownies than try to paint. The key is to try to remain in the middle and just work steadily. Lately with my new plan, I've done that and I've finished some fine botanical watercolors such as this daylily.



As to the financial situation, that is where my clouds are coming from. Like most artists, I don't have a steady income. I'll go to a show and maybe I'll sell nothing or maybe I'll come home with $1000. I have potential clients that talk and talk about commissions and then just disappear. Then out of the blue, I'll get 2 large commissions in one day. But the problem is bills come monthly and have specific due dates. While I've learned to save most of my income to cover my bills, it still gets scary. Like it is right now -- I have mainly bills and few sales, in part because I'm retooling my eBay store and in part because everyone is feeling a financial squeeze.

What's interesting is that the solution to both problems is just to get to work and try to forget the problems. If the problems are still important after a hard day's work, then I'll deal with them then. And now, there's a peony that needs to be painted!

Taxes

Sorry for not writing much lately, but last week hubby came home and we worked on the taxes. While most people have a dozen or so receipts, between his trucking expenses and my art income, we literally have a paper grocery bag full of receipts. When we sort them into a 12-month expanding file, it's totally full of his stuff and mine gets it's own expando-file. It took us 3 days of sorting and listing expenses, but we finally got all the totals for things like diesel fuel and postage.

And while I would love to say it's all done, now the 'fun' part comes. Since his truck involves depreciation and a home office, we send our receipt totals off to our accountant who actually does the form filling out. He also gives us the bad news.

Yes, we will owe taxes this year. We always owe taxes. We are both self-employed, so that means we pay about 30% of our income in taxes and social security taxes. I have a guess at what we owe, but I'll wait until the accountant calls with the results. And then we get to try to figure out how to pay them. (The $5000+ in repair bills ate up most of the money I set aside for taxes.)

Now that I have this headache taken care of, I need to get back to work to earn money to pay the taxes!

Where to Sell My Artwork

As I wrote yesterday, I have a new plan -- one that I hope leads to more financial reward. What I am doing now is working to some degree, but I would like to make double what I am making now. So the question comes down to where to sell my artwork so that I get maximum returns.

Artists have a number of options when it comes to selling artwork. Here's the main ones:

1. art galleries
2. art agents
3. art shows
4. online venues

Art Galleries: These have been the traditional venue for selling artwork for the last few centuries. The basic procedure is for an artist to send slides of her artwork to a gallery. The gallery looks at the slides and either rejects the artist or asks the artist to bring in actual samples. The lucky artist then takes some originals into the gallery and then the gallery determines if the art is acceptable. If it is, the gallery will usually ask for 4-10 framed pieces, which will be left on consignment. When a piece sells, the gallery sends the artist a check. The good points is that I don't have to take my artwork around -- just ship it to the gallery -- and normally a gallery will get a premium price for the artwork. (A piece I sell on eBay for $60 will become $240+ in a gallery.) Then there are the bad points:

• galleries take a 50% commission
• all framing and shipping are the artist's responsibility
• a good gallery receives 20-50 submissions per day, so it's hard to get into the gallery
• galleries are notorious for not paying in a timely manner, losing artwork, or just closing their doors leaving the artwork to the bankrupcy court to figure out
• many galleries want an exclusive arrangement, so I can't sell my art anywhere near the gallery
• a number of galleries are now charging to even look at slides
• many galleries no longer want to take on emerging artists, so they only accept established (semi-famous) artists
• quite a few galleries have closed or are in financial hot water these last 5 years
• galleries prefer for an artist to do one medium in one style so to have a "body of work"

Art Agents: Art agents work a lot like galleries, but instead of having a store/gallery, the agent takes the artist's portfolio to potential clients. Like a gallery, higher prices is one advantage, as is the fact the agent makes no money until he/she sells your artwork. Having someone who believes in your artwork show your work to serious art buyers can be profitable to both parties. Again there are bad points:

• the agent takes a commission of 20% or so
• finding an agent is difficult, finding a good agent is extremely difficult
• since agents usually are not local, one must trust the agent with several pieces with no way to check on the agent except by phone

Art Shows: These I think about as a do-it-yourself temporary art gallery. The procedure works like this. The artist gets an application and fills it out, sending in the slides/photos of the artwork and their booth along with a check for $25-45. If accepted into the show, the booth fee ($100-1200) must be mailed in. 2 days before the show, the artst begins packing. The day before the show, the artist travels to the venue and sets up. Then the artist sits at the show, being pleasent to the attendees. On the night of the last day, the artist packs up and drives home. The day after the show, the artist unpacks and recovers. The main advantage of art shows is the artist gets most of the money for each piece. It also is "interesting" to meet the public and see their reaction to one's artwork. And then there are the negative parts:

• shows do no refund the jurying fee (application fee), so applying to 5 shows and being rejected can cost $150 without anything to show for it
• why one's application is rejected may have to do with politics, the quality of the slides, the physical size of the paintings, etc, and the artist will never know why she was rejected
• booth fees range from $100 for a one day show to $1200 for a 3 day show with $300 being avaerge for a 2-day show and booth fees are going up
• many shows are now beginning to take a 10-20% commission
• weather can make or break an outdoor show
• in popular areas, such as Palm Springs, there are 1-2 art shows each weekend, so the public now suffers from art show fatigue
• one's fine oil paintings can be in a booth next to someone selling custom dog collars, because many shows are allowing more and more "fine crafts" into the mix, but they don't discriminate between "fine craft" and not-so-fine craft
• some promotes require certain types of displays and/or tents
• it's very tiring to sit and be friendly to everyone, especially when they make rude comments
• travelling to a show for 3-4 days can easily cost $1000 for hotels, food, booth fee, pet sitters, and gas and take 5-7 days from start to finish

Online Venues: The newest way to sell art is online. Whether it's a private website, an online art gallery, or an auction site, there's two main problems:

• before you can sell anything, one has to get people who are interested in buying art to visit the site
• both the artist and the buyer have to trust each other

So, there are the options. Is there one that is better than another? No, because each have significant problems as well as serious advantages. It comes down to figuring out what one is willing to risk and also what works for one's art. (How I sell my botanical watercolors has little relationship on how I can sell my sculptures.) Because I do a variety of art, my solution is to combine the last 3 options and sell each type of art by a specific method. It's not ideal, but no one ever said this was going to be easy!