Mexican Colors: 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.