blog carnival - touching art

A blog carnival is formed by putting together thoughts on one issue from several different bloggers in one blog post. Each blogger has individually made an entire post on the subject in their personal blogs. I have gathered together the best of each for some fantastic views and opinions. Please visit the participants blogs to read their full thoughts (photos have links to etsy shops as well). This is my first blog carnival, but am planning on making it a regular event. Please let me know if you would ever be interested in joining the party in the future!


"Eyes wide. Jaw clenched. Absolutely can’t blink. Arms a quiver as you transfer that precious little piece of yourself into the eager hands of another…" Chloe of Little Green Shoot says it so well. When an art form of any kind is made, it becomes a very special part of the artist. As a child is precious to his mother, so an art piece is precious to the artist. This leaves us with an interesting question; how do artists feel when their artwork is handled, stroked, explored, felt, or touched by another individual?

Personally, I am a big fan of having my pieces touched by people because it has a very strong focus on texture. Each painting has special layers of painted texture that bring the piece to life. Unfortunately, physical texture is often difficult to portray in photos. This can be true with several different mediums including Audrey's of The Audzipan Anthology. Her specialty is screen printing fantastic designs on clothing and accessories. She shares, "My Cherry Branch Messenger Bag, for instance, is actually a piece of fabric with the cherry branch design printed onto it and appliqued onto the bag, instead of a two-color print that it can look like in far-away shots." If someone were to hold her bag, they would know right away how it was constructed and feel more comfortable with the purchase.


Susan of Blackbirds & Bumble Bees has several benefits to having individuals handle her artwork. She explains, "I work in a medium that is multi-sensory and rather sensual, encaustic beeswax painting. When melting the beeswax, there is a faint honey fragrance." So not only does the wax include physical texture that is wonderful for touching, the smell brings the sensory connection to a higher level.

Someone who is always happy to hand her work over is Kim of Vilt a la Kim because it shows the quality of her product. She does wonderful things in the world of felting and explains that "by feeling how my work is felted, you can feel the differences with other felt. Industrial made felt is mostly not 100% wool....and there are so many breeds of sheep. Not every wool feels the same." Feeling her product lets an individual know the true value of her art.


Although Chloe (who works with leather as a medium) describes the anxiety that goes along with handing your artwork over, she also knows how important it is for a potential customer to have that experience. She explains, "Seller psychology 101: Once your art is in the hands of a browser, they automatically feel as though they own it & are 90% more likely to buy as a result!" A physical connection to the product can often turn a "maybe" into a "yes." Thus the struggle with selling online ;)

It seems as though the vote is unanimous - art is for touching. Now, if only the Louvre felt the same way....

Thanks to all my guest bloggers!

treasury

Thank you to Art by Amarose for including me in their treasury! Isn't it beautiful? The colors are so warm and inviting. I especially love those metal earrings by Eva666. Visit the treasury while it lasts :)



Click photo for link.

a favorite

I don't usually post on this blog simply to share a new listing in my shop, but today, I just have to. I love this painting so much. Of course it's one of those that looks 1000 times better in person, but the photos aren't as bad as I worried they would be. There is a lot of color and texture under the beautiful navy blue color. The colors just peek out when the texture caused gaps in the blue. I also love the crisp juxtaposition of the white against the blue. This one truly is one of my babies. Click on the photos to see it in my shop.

efforts in custom paintings

I have always stated clearly and frequently that I am happy to do custom paintings for my customers. Whether it is a special size, color, or subject matter, I'm pleased to do it! This policy has resulted in a few "commissioned" pieces that are based on some of my previous works, but generally are done in a new size. These were very fun to do, but pretty much felt like many of my other paintings.

Before Christmas came around, I was asked to do a more custom and personal piece. A friend requested that I create a work that showcased a special lighthouse her boyfriend's family visits every year. This place is close to their hearts for many reasons and the painting was to be given as a gift to his parents. Needless to say I was happy to do it, but completely intimidated by the importance of the subject.

In the end, the project was fun and turned out well. I even heard there were a few tears when the gift was given. If that isn't success....I don't know what is!

Here's the inspiration photo


Their main request is to make it look bright and lively...and make it look like there is a lot of movement, especially in the grass. Here's what I came up with.

what i got

Today is a very exciting day because I was able to pick up the Christmas gift my husband got for me. The gift was delayed because I actually got to design it! One day at work, he stole me from work for about 45 minutes to walk down to 1154 Lill Studio - Custom Handbags. It is a company based out of Chicago that let's you pick the design and fabric of your own bag. Once you pick your pieces....they make it! Here's mine:

chic bag for the walk home

ain't she a beauty?


four fabrics total - body, trim, inside, inside pocket


happy


so stylish

Thanks to the hubby!

stormy steeple inspiration

Late summer, early fall of 2009 my husband and I took a day time excursion to one of our favorite spots in Boston. If I were planning on living in the city long term, I would live in Charlestown. The quaint area is filled with gorgeous row houses painted with beautiful colors in true colonial spirit. It is also home to Bunker Hill where a famous battle of the Revolutionary War took place. The day was a perfect blend of warmth from the summer with a hint of crispness coming from fall. On our walk back home we crossed the Charles river and I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by one of the most beautiful views I've ever witnessed.

I am always struck by the sky in any weather and this day brought the most daring grey sky of a looming storm. The sun was still on the other side of the sky to illuminate the buildings and trees on the ground. Luckily I had brought our trusty camera to snap these shots.





Fantastic, right? So of course they inspired me to do a painting with a similar feel. The grey sky produced the best arena to showcase the pristine white steeple. With that as my tool, I came up with a painting that actually didn't impress me. While I was in love with the bright steeple against the background and juxtaposed to the red and green trees, it just didn't feel "right."



So I went back once again to give it some new life a few days ago. The body of the church was not making me happy....so I hid it with trees. I liked the green color, but it didn't mix well with extra trees, so it was eliminated. This is my happy final product.



And of course, you can find it in my shop :)

new friend - lien baert

I am happy to introduce you today to my new friend Lien Baert of Creative Services. I stumbled upon her wonderful shop several weeks ago and quickly fell in love with her outstanding style and products. The children's book pictured is really what did me in! Her shop is comprised mostly of paper products such as stationary, birth announcements, wedding invites, and the like. You will find many shops like this on Etsy, but you will not find many with her striking designs. Lien showcases her goods with bold colors and simple, streamlined styles. While the designs are strong, they are still friendly and approachable.

A little about Lien:

Lien lives with her husband and 2 year old son in Roeselare, Belgium. They used to live in the larger city of Antwerp, but moved back to her birthplace with the wonderful opportunity to renovate a beautiful home in the heart of town. She was kind enough to share photos of their home.....and I fell in love. The inside is just what I would expect from what I know of her product designs and the outside is full of old world charm. Of course she completely adores her beautiful son, Bastiaan, even though there are moments she wants to "glue him between the paper and the wall." When asked what he does that makes her laugh, she said it is when he tries to mimic his parents....even when he has no idea what he it all means, or when he has long conversations with himself....in his own language.


Her father had an advertising company that she learned a lot from in her growing up years. He worked in a very commercial field, but Lien loves interacting with the smaller companies and individuals for a more personal feel. She studied graphic art and developed her style from personal preference and a love of 60's graphic design. Although she worked in the video world early in her career, it was always print that she loved and that she truly designs for. Lien fits her graphic business into her busy life as loving mom and devoted wife. Her work is done while Bastiaan is at daycare three days a week and then squeezed in between naps. What a woman!

Please visit her shop and fall in love along with me!

Visit here:

Etsy Shop
Website
Facebook Page

photographing artwork

One of the biggest challenges of selling artwork online is getting great photographs to show the buyer what the painting truly looks like in person. I am not a photographer in any way except that I own a camera and enjoying snapping shots that look cool. Because of this, I have gone through many pains to improve my skills in photographing my artwork. My particular type of artwork is especially difficult to show in photographs because it is all about texture. Thank goodness for the "macro" feature on my camera! It gives me great close up shots like this:

Sailing - entire painting

Close up

Close up

When I first started my shop, I looked up some information on photographing artwork as opposed to other objects. I stumbled across this fantastic website that walks you step by step through all the difficulties you may encounter. There are other sites out there that are good, but I found this one to be the most user friendly. Very clearly worded with great instructions and photos. For example, this diagram shows how you should set up your lighting to avoid those pesky glare spots:



I have found the best lighting to use is either in my apartment or outside in natural light. This was fine until I moved to my dark dingy studio....and it is consistently about 10 degrees below freezing. Now I have to prop up a silly clip on lamp to my easel and get photos with light spots. Ugh. My new heart's desire is this on Amazon ($80):




I think it is actually a good deal for what you get. And if good photos are what I will get....it is totally worth it!

Does anyone have good tips on photographing specific objects or artwork?

PS - Thank you so much to everyone that gave me suggestions for my Unfinished Idea. Now I have a new ordeal to handle....too many ideas!

unfinished idea

Calling all creative people!

A few weeks back I started a painting that so far is pretty cool. However, I haven't been able to come up with the perfect way to complete it. Coming from my urban life, I gave a background of brick that I think is very effective. I would love to hear what you all think would be good with the brick. At first I was thinking some sort of graffiti, but am not sure it would come out that way I had hoped. Now I'm just a little stumped.





Can't wait to hear your fantastic ideas!


And here is another Reason to Buy Artwork:

5. It's your dad's birthday - you know he's impossible to buy for

button

I could use your advice on a custom button being made for me. I have purchased some ad space on the wonderful blog Shrimp Salad Circus and Lindsay is helping me make a button for my shop. We have come up with some wonderful options, but I cannot decide what to choose from the last two.

The main question I have now is whether or not to include a "tag line" that explains what my shop is, or just keep it simple and have the shop name. I am usually all about simplicity, but really want to get the most bang for my buck by getting all the information I can out there. I'm torn. So, here are the options.

My idea is to have some sort of tag line that says "my art is good, but not crazy expensive...it's art for everyone." If you have any better ideas than "accessible artwork" I would be happy to hear them. Or would you just go without the tag line at all?

Thanks for your input!

what i bought - men

Back for round two of what I bought this Christmas from Etsy.com. You can see what I bought for women on my post here.

I think we can all agree that men are difficult. I have to think twice as hard about what I will purchase for the men in my life than for the women. I felt pretty great about the finds I pulled together for the holidays.

For our Dirksen family gift exchange this year I pulled the name of my husband's grandfather. He is a pretty big collector of many things "old." Luckily Etsy has a wonderful selection of vintage shops as well as handmade. I found this great map from 1952 of Oregon (where Grandpa lives) at this wonderful shop Holcroft. I think I will be going back to this shop frequently because of all the great man things they have!



Along with the wonderful map, I included this vintage brass belt buckle from Vintage Twenty. As a retired Navy man and avid belt buckle collector.....I don't think this gift could have been better!

My brother-in-law (he likes to be referred to as BIL) is in his senior year of high school and recently received his first laptop, so I thought I would find a cool case for him to carry it around in. This was purchased from the same shop as that sweet bird sling bag from the girl gifts post. Can we say enough about Two Tree Designs?!


Rob Sand of Bull Frog Laserworks is pretty much my hero. As a Portland, OR native I was already excited to work with him...but to make things even better, he makes AMAZING pieces. I had two items custom engraved for really special gifts. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the ones he did for me, but these are just like them with different words.

This letter holder was done for my Father-in-law with the word "Dirksen" on the front in a great medieval font. On the sides he did the German Coat of Arms symbol (we've got some German heritage that many are proud of). I honestly couldn't believe how amazing it turned out.


This small box was engraved with the word "His" as a spot for my husband to throw his keys, wallet, phone, etc. when he comes into the house. The phone was the big gift this year, so this box was a perfect compliment!


This T-shirt was purchased from Happy Family for my other brother-in-law (does not like to be called BIL). He is an architect by trade, so can appreciate good design. I LOVE the design of this shirt and think he did too! Mine was done in a charcoal color instead of the light grey.


Last but not least, I purchased this beautiful clock from Natural Wood Forms for my father. It is truly exquisite. I thought it would be a great piece for him to use on his desk at work. The reason I love this design is because it shows off the wood beautifully, but doesn't look just like a chunk of wood that a clock was put into. It's so sleek and interesting.


Again, I cannot thank these shop owners enough for bringing us these beautiful products. It was a please to work with you all and so exciting to share you work with my family and friends! Remember to visit these shops...all shop names and pictures are links.

sneak peek

It has always been my goal with this blog to:

1. Not be boring
2. Include lots of pictures
3. Be diverse with subject topics while still revolving around the idea of art and creativity

but most importantly

4. Don't just talk about my own artwork and how people can buy it

I think those are pretty good goals and so far I think I have stuck to them. However, I realized a few days ago that in trying not to focus on the sale of my artwork, I have neglected to share much about it at all. You see....I really like my artwork and think it's interesting. I am hoping you do to. So I thought I would give you all a sneak peek of some pieces I will soon be listing in my shop.

After over two weeks of not stepping foot in my studio (read: trip to Oregon plus never ending cold) I was able to spend a few hours this weekend (read: Thursday and Friday - I work retail, weekends don't come on Saturday and Sunday). It was wonderful to get some pent up creative energy out. Here are a few of the pieces that resulted.







I've noticed a theme lately with the paintings I have actually sold. Birds. Trees. So here you have a nice selection of exactly that. See them soon at Dirksen Dabbles!


And here is Another Reason to Buy Artwork:

4. You are tired of the apartment looking like a college student's - say "sophistication"

what i bought - women

This year for Christmas I had a goal to buy every gift from Etsy.com. Since I am selling my own artwork on the website, I found it very important to support other people like me trying to do something on their own. It was so fun knowing that I was pretty much giving two gifts with each one....one to the person I was buying for, and one to the person I was buying from. Every time I have a sale, it makes my day. I hope it is the same for everyone I bought from.

The items I bought are all so wonderful that I couldn't help but show them off to you all. So here are the items I bought for the women in my life. I will do another post soon for the things I bought for the men in my life. All of the shop names and pictures are links - feel free to visit everyone's shops!


I bought two of these clutches Baffin Bags for only $8! So cute and perfect for a small, but special gift. One was given to a close friend of mine and the other was used in a big family gift exchange.


This beautiful tea towel was purchased from Brookish for $11. It's a wonderful shop that has all kinds of Jane Austen inspired products. I gave it to a friend that said it was the best present she got for Christmas!


This amazing locket was bought from Secret Jewellz for my mother-in-law. Absolutely stunning because of how big it is. Love it!



I searched high and low for a good calendar for my mother. I am very picky when it comes to these (hate the corny ones with the landscapes or sappy photos). I finally picked this one from Paint All Night Studios and absolutely love his artwork! Couldn't be happier.


I bought three pair of earrings from this wonderful shop called 2 Dollar Earrings. Do you see why? Every pair is $2! Amazing. And it's cool because they come from Estonia.



This bag was bought for my wonderful sister-in-law. It's HUGE and pretty much awesome. The bird is sewn on and the leaves are hand painted. Such good quality. It was purchased from Two Tree Designs.


This wonderful tea set was purchased from Johnny Vintage. I could not believe the deal I got. The whole set was only $22! I have been seeing the tulip bowls a lot lately and had fallen in love. This was given to my sister.

And finally this was bought for a new member to our family this year. My husband's uncle just got married and we were excited to welcome her to the family with this beautiful necklace from Starving Artists Designs. I can't get over the simplistic design and the sharp lines.

Aren't they all wonderful! I want to thank each and every artist and collector that brought these beautiful pieces to the world for us to enjoy!