Friday Spotlight: Juliette Crane

Hi everyone,
   I hope you are enjoying this week and I'm pretty sure you are busy preparing everything for this coming halloween.
  I'm so happy because today I'll interview Julliette Crane, a great artist. I love all her unique paintings but specially her owls. All her work is full of magical touch and a special  creativity.
So enjoy it!!!

Name: Juliette Crane

Location: Madison,  WI

websites: http://juliettecrane.com

blog: http://juliettecrane.blogspot.com

etsy shop: http://juliettecrane.etsy.com

twitter: http://twitter.com/juliettecrane

facebook: http://facebook.com/juliettetcrane

Tell us about your crafts and how you came to make them

I’m a Mixed Media Painter and I just love anything full of imagination and color!

My sister-in-law gave me some vintage wallpaper books last summer (2009), and I fell in love with the patterns and colors! I knew I had to use the beautiful paper for something, and it totally sparked this thing in me to go back to doing what I loved as a kid—designing and cutting out outfits for paper dolls. I just wanted to have fun with art again.

Now I paint mostly on small blocks of wood or 10x10 inch canvases, using acrylics, glitter, pastels, ink, pencil, and paper-usually book pages, origami paper, wallpaper, or sheet music.

What do you enjoy most of being an artist?

I love painting in my backyard and just making a mess of everything. All of my clothes are covered in paint and it’s always under my nails and all over everything. It’s just so fun to take all of these art supplies and create something that resembles what I’m feeling. I also love that I’ve met so many wonderful people through exhibiting my artwork and am really hoping to teach sometime in the future.

How did you get started selling and How long have you been crafting?

I've always been crafting something, trying to find my niche, whether it was with clothes, writing, painting, furniture, floral design, whatever. But painting was the thing i thought i would never have a chance with professionally, so I stopped painting after college.

I opened my etsy shop after someone said i should sell these feather hair clips i was making. First, I posted the feathers and some beaded earrings, but I didn’t sell very much because I never promoted my shop. Then when I started painting again last Fall, friends started seeing my paintings and finally convinced me to exhibit them, which gave me the confidence to post them on etsy too. That’s when I got serious about making it a creative business.

 What does selling on Etsy mean for you?

Selling on etsy is a great way to get noticed by people that normally wouldn’t find my artwork on facebook or through my blog.

Which is your favorite color and which colors do you use most in your work?

My work is really colorful, so I go through a lot of paints. But most, I find myself using my favorites-primary colors-red, blue and yellow.

How you promote your work?

I run my blog and post 3-4 times a week, post on Facebook and Twitter, and am always involved in local art shows. Then I also talk about what I do to everyone I know and everyone I meet. I’m always handing out business cards.

Can you share your #1 tip for success?

From a business point of view, promoting what you do is so important. People can’t love and support your work unless they know what you do and where to find your work.

List 5 of your favorites blogs or etsy stores

http://www.etsy.com/shop/timssally
http://www.mistymawn.typepad.com/
http://alabamachanin.com/journal/
http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/
http://www.coridantinimakes.blogspot.com/

Thanks Juliette for sharing!

Wednesday Mexican Colors updates: Touch of an angel

Turning my back to the world down below,for infinite heavens I go.
Flying high with freedom in my soul.The Angel and I,all alone in the sky,
my spirit is leaving tonight.All I leave behind's my mortal shell.

Take me to the sky. Wings of freedom take me to the home of Angels,realm of heaven.
Teach me how to fly,let me feel the touch of an Angels hand.
Take me far away.Wings of freedom take me to where souls of Gods,and men will gather.
Help me to escape,let me feel the touch of an Angel.
I am learning to fly.

Touch of an angel by mexicancolors

Halloween sale SO SPOOKY!!!

From today October 24 until Ocotber 31 ALL my prints are $10 (orig. $12) and original paintings 10% off with Halloween theme, so you can decorate with this great art works your walls.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mexicancolors?section_id=7139005

Friday Spotlight: PbsArtStudio

Is so exciting when I receive the answer of my interview questions, every single person is just a treasure and all the amazing things I've learnt through this interviews is huge.
It is not only about posting something in your blog, it is about creating friendship and camaraderie.
And for my dear readers to get closer to their favorites artists and meet new ones.

So here I go with another spectacular interview.
Today's spotlight is to: PbsArtStudio

Name: Patti

Location: Saint Cloud, Florida

websites:
 http://pbsartstudio.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/PbsArtstudio

http://www.facebook.com/PbsArtstudio1

http://www.zazzle.com/pbsartstudio

http://www.flickr.com//pbsartstudio

1. Tell us about your crafts and how you came to make them

I create mixed media collage paintings, mostly, but sometimes i will experiment with other mediums like clay sculptures, watercolors, jewelry, glass, resin. I love to keep experimenting and trying new techniques, themes and mediums. I doodle all the time, when I'm bored or on the phone, or have an idea thats brews in my head.

2. What do you enjoy most of being an artist?

I love being able to create whats in my mind, how I feel or something that conveys a sweet message to someone who needs a smile or just a lift of spirits.

3. How did you get started selling and How long have you been crafting?

I have been creating art since I was very young, as a child in school, I always got in trouble for doodling and drawing instead of doing my work in school. In college I had to figure out a way to make extra money to spend so I started drawing cute girls on cards for birthdays and holidays and started selling them to friends, family and their friends and family. later I started making jewelry and floral arrangements, cards and custom pencil portraits and selling at arts and crafts shows. So all in all I'd say I've been creating something my whole life. Late 2006 I started working for a company that makes art in national theme parks and learned pastel portraits and quick caricatures done in watercolor and later landed a job at Walt Disney World and Sea World making portraits and caricatures, later,I started putting my whimsical girls together from my college years and quick sketches using watercolors and then incorporated other mediums into it. I have basically taught myself all mediums and I am fascinated by paper which I later incorporated as collage into my art.

4. What does selling on Etsy mean for you?

Etsy has been an good venue, its something you have to work quite hard to be honest, lots of time, although i love scouring Etsy for new and unique products!! Buying on Etsy is lots of fun too!!;D5. Which is your favorite color and which colors do you use most in your work?My favorite color by far is light sky blue with a hint of turquoise, I use it so much in paintings, I sometimes think, they all start to look the same! I do love grungy greens, and terra cota too!

6. How you promote your work?
Thats probably the hardest thing to do.... I promote mostly on twitter and facebook, and handing out my business cards everywhere I go, especially art shows.Also making sure I have a large presence in as most places as possible. You can find me on:
http://pbsartstudio.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/PbsArtstudio
http://www.facebook.com/PbsArtstudio1
http://www.zazzle.com/pbsartstudio
http://www.flickr.com//pbsartstudio
and my new store which I'm liking alot .. http://www.artfire.com/pbsartstudio

7. Can you share your #1 tip for success?

I think the best is to always give the best customer service possible and try to meet expectations and always express your gratitude because people have many choices and its so flattering that they choose my art or to visit me or befriend me.

8. List 5 of your favorites blogs or etsy stores.

Oh my only 5???
- http://www.etsy.com/isabelsdoodles
- http://www.etsy.com/artsyorange
- http://pinkglitterfae.blogspot.com/
- http://juliekingart.blogspot.com/
- http://www.etsy.com/littleglimpses

Thanks Patti for sharing your art and love today!

Creativity is everywhere

"The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation, lasts."
~ Henry Moore

Hi everyone,
   The other day someone sent me an email about weird buildings around the world and I want to share we you my favorite ones. You will agree  with me that creativity is everywhere not just in paintings, art or crafts, the human beign expression has such huge varities and forms that sometimes is hard to imagine that this kind of creations exists in real life, it looks like a a science fiction movie.

Pic your favorite one and share with us WHY you choose it?

1. Mente (Barcelona, Spain)

 



2. The Crooked House (Sopot, Polonia)

 

3. Library of Kansas city (Missouri, EE.UU.)

4. House in the forest (Gales, Reino Unido)

5. Rotation Tower, Dubai, Emiratos Árabes Unidos

6. Casa Nautilus (Mexico city, México)

7. National Theater of Beijing (China)

8. Wonderworks (Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, EE.UU.)

Friday Spotlight: Woodwings

Hi everyone,
   Today is Friday!!! yeah!!!!
   So it is time for interview, this friday I interview Elizabeth an artist and creator of whimsical, cute and folky characters.
   I love her art, and I'm sure you will too.

Name: Elizabeth Barczynski

Location: Algonquin, Illinois

websites: http://www.woodwings.etsy.com/

http://www.wood-wings.blogspot.com/

1. Tell us about your crafts and how you came to make them

Once upon a time I was a children’s apparel designer here in Chicago for a manufacturer that produced garments for many of the department stores in the US. At that time I traveled Europe and the US and had a rockin time as a 20-something that thought life evolved around me! I moved on when I though that I was unstoppable. I tried my hand at fine art, I taught painting at a lovely little studio where I learned so much about friendship and generosity of the artistic spirit. When my daughter came along it didn’t seem like there would ever be time to paint again. And then I found Etsy. My friends and I would scour over all of the delightful jewelry, art and one of a kind items found at this glorious online store. With a little bit of a nudge from my good friends I thought I could give it a shot and Woodwings was born. I began working with materials I already had. Pieces of wood from projects or shelving were given a second life as small square canvasses that I gessoed and prepared for painting. Once the character was born I would pour over the jars and bottles of beads that I’ve collected over the years to create a charm to accessorize the painting, and there you have it. Now if you are curious as to who inspires the paintings….I have several muses. All lovely, all generous and gentle spirits who I wouldn’t be able to survive without.

2. What do you enjoy most of being an artist?

I love having that excuse to go on excursions to hunt for items to use in art. I’m not much of a shopper but I LOVE hunting for treasures and junk.

3. How did you get started selling and How long have you been crafting?

My friends Emily & Derek pushed me into it and I will be forever grateful. If they didn’t send me constant reminders I might not have had the momentum I needed to get the Etsy shop started. Gentle reminders and generous moral support from friends and family is a boost I thrive on because the sales are not instantaneous. One thing to think about is create art for etsy because you love to create art. Success is hard work and although it is more than possible it will not come over night. I have created since I was 4, but I’ve only been an Etsian for 1 year this month.

4. What does selling on Etsy mean for you?

It is freeing. It is the single most brilliant idea for artisans. Organized, hip, simple, creative. I love Etsy

5. Which is your favorite color and which colors do you use most in your work?

I love all colors. Orange is the best color on the planet and probably the most useful accent color in my little paintings. I love warm and festive colors I am naturally drawn to native Mexican art and I probably have been inspired most by folk art in Mexico and Poland

6. How you promote your work?

Promotion is most difficult for the shy, unassuming artist ;) Really I hate to be pushy. But you can gently expose your art with postcards of your work sent to local galleries and boutiques with links to your online web presense and blog. If you Facebook then a fan page is supposed to work well. I blog. I am slowly gathering friends on www.wood-wings.blogspot.com and send giveaway updates to promote art among the blog followers. I currently have a specially listed item discounted on Etsy for my blog followers. It is not only important to keep your blog fresh, but to communicate with other bloggers who become your friends and their friends may become your friends and so on and so on. It’s a wonderful medium

7. Can you share your #1 tip for success?

If Etsy is your online presence remember to refresh your items often. It will bring new folks to your shop. If you blog, write about the art and beautiful world that inspires you in a way that will inspire others. It is infinitely more interesting to read that than about how you woke up late and made toast for the kids before you got to work but were uninspired …blah blah blah. I think that a blog can validly be used as a diary or journal. But if you wish to bring interest to your art then inspire with your writing! Update your pages with great photographs (I am not a very good photographer – but if I take my pictures outdoors in the perfect sunlight I can’t go wrong. Take dozens of pictures of each item at first to experiment, you are bound to get one great shot.

8. List 5 of your favorites blogs or etsy stores.

I like different artists’ spaces for different reasons. And because I’m a Gemini my reasons for liking something change constantly. I love blogs that show glorious eye-candy. Exquisite photography of stunning vistas, outrageous fashions, clever and beautiful crafts, home decorating ideas. You name it! I love blogs for the style they’re written in. I love to escape into a blogger’s world. I love another type of blog because the character that owns and writes it inspires magic. The persona they create brings a bit of whimsy, abandon, color and charm to life and I dream that the world is filled with these creatures that love to dream, inspire and delight. On my blog I list “Some Delicious Places to Visit” I know of many more but a this is good place to start. I am crazy mad about these Etsy sellers currently: Caitlin Shearer, Geninne, JillMayberg,

http://www.etsy.com/shop/jillmayberg
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Geninne
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CaitlinShearer
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Minasmoke
http://www.etsy.com/shop/zaracarpenter
http://www.etsy.com/shop/fairyberry
http://www.etsy.com/shop/joutomaa

There are so MANY talented artist out there!!


I want to thank Elizabeth for a fun and interesting interview!




My little muses

Hi readers,
  I hope you are having a wonderful week, for me was just so busy but full of good things.
  Most of the time I spent nurturing my family, specially my little girls. They are just amazing!!!

  The other day my husband was telling me that all my paintings were inspired by my homeland (Mexico) and what about my family? Then he just suggested to be inspired by my little angels and I kept thinking about it.
  The next day we went to Solvang California, the cutest town you have ever imagine and all this cuteness make me feel is was time to take my art in the next level: Whimsy, pinkie and cute art.

And then my little painted girls were created, just inpired by my muses:

Miranda

Fernanda.

Here are my new paintings:

Sewing the sky

I'm taking sewing classes and inspired by my muse Miranda and with a surrealist touch, I created this cute painting 

The little mermaid

Fernanda loves the little mermaid, she asked to disguise with this cute character for Halloween.

So now you have met my little muses, they are laughing, playing and making my life joyful.

Why we celebrate Halloween?

They other day my daugther asked me: "Why we celebrate Halloween?". And my face was like uh??? I really don't know!. I came of a different culture and we have been celebrating halloween years ago but our creepy celebration is The day of the death, so I looked on internet just to learn more about this holiday and explain to my daughter why we celebrate halloween.


Halloween has its origins in a roman festivities of Pomona, the godess of fruits and seeds and in the Celtic festival of Samhain. The feast celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half".
The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through.

The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day.

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day.

Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States.

Little redhead witch



What sets Halloween costumes apart from costumes for other celebrations or days of dressing up is that they are often designed to imitate supernatural and scary beings. Costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as vampires, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils, or in more recent years such science fiction-inspired characters as aliens and superheroes

The bride of Frankie

Today I learnt something new, even if my little girls wear a costume I was ignorant about what we were celebrating.

Friday Spotlight: The Ruby Nest

Hi everyone,
   For me fridays are just great and I'm waiting this day to post this great interviews for my favorite artists.

   Today the spotlight is on The Ruby Nest.

Name: Julie Ippoliti

location: California

Websites: http://www.therubynest.blogspot.com/

 facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Julie-Ippoliti/1586520422

http://www.therubynest.etsy.com/

  flickr; http://www.flickr.com/photos/therubynest

  http://myworld.ebay.com/therubynest

Her art is just amazing, a love all the messages she transmits in every brushstroke.

She reminds me my favorite art type: surrealism, that whimsical touch.

I realized we have a lot in common and this interviews are just a way to create a community of friends and artists, to be more close to those who you admire.

Come and enjoy this! 

1. Tell us about your crafts and how you came to make them

I have always enjoyed painting and coloring since I was a very little child. I usually enjoy painting on large canvases or pieces of wood as my girls tend to need room to stretch out on the canvas. I really enjoy painting over paper as it creates added texture. My dolls are made when I have a lot of extra time….they can be quite tedious but I do love them. Since I work full time I mostly paint on the weekends and sell what I can but my big dream would be to stay home and keep painting!

 

 
2. How long have you been crafting?

I have been making crafts since I could pick up the scissors: paper dolls, bookmarks, storybooks, and cards for family when I was very little and I started painting using oils originally when I was about 13.

3. How did you get started selling?

I started selling on ebay in 2007 and then moved to etsy a year or so later although I try to list on both as much as I can. Both sites have different buyers so it is helpful to try to list continuously so you don’t lose buyers that like to follow your art.

4. What does selling on Etsy mean for you?

Etsy is really unique as it is filled with so many amazing and inspiring artists. I love the camaraderie of etsy although I have to be careful because I can spend as much money as I make buying other artists beautiful work there!

5. Which colors do you use most in your work?

MMmm…colors! Each artist has their own favorite palette don’t they? I really love colors from nature; greens, yellows, browns, reds and oranges. As I rule I don’t usually use cooler colors like blue or purple except for Indian turquoise blue which is my favorite.

6. How you promote your work?

I promote my art through my blog; http://www.therubynest.blogspot.com/ , through facebook; http://www.facebook.com/people/Julie-Ippoliti/1586520422 , through my etsy store; http://www.therubynest.etsy.com/ , on flickr; http://www.flickr.com/photos/therubynest/ , and on ebay; http://myworld.ebay.com/therubynest .

7. Can you share your #1 tip for success?

My number one tip for success is never ever give up! Anyone can be successful if they put their heart and soul into their art. And, also, list and relist. The more people see your art the more your art will crawl into their hearts! : )


 

 
8. How balance your life between your creative business and your work as mom?


Balance is pretty easy most of the time as being Mom and wife, sister, daughter and friend always come first, although sometimes I do get caught up in a project and I can’t even think about dinner or homework until it is complete!


Thanks so much to Julie for sharing her lovely art and life!