Big Plans & Updates for 2013

Let's see if I can get this cranked out before the little pink thing wakes up.  

Do you want the good new or the bad first?  The bad?  Okay.

The Bad News

Okay, it's really not that bad, unless your cheap, in which case you probably never buy any of my cards anyway.   Effective February 15th, I will be raising the prices of all single cards in my shop by fifty cents, from $3.50 per card to an even $4.00.  Prices of all sets will be raised accordingly, though I have not determined exact pricing yet.  That said, sets will still be the most cost effective way to buy more than one card.  I already readjusted my shipping prices to reflect the USPS' recent postage increases, so my shipping rates will not be changing.  A little good news, though:  I will be reducing the cost of all my 8x10 block prints to $17.50.  Not a huge price drop, but hey, it's something, right?  

The Good News

I'm going to be focusing less on block printing and starting to move back toward illustration more.  My recent posting of my latest series of Art-O-mat illustrations on my Facebook page was met with much more response than I have gotten in a long time.  It has shown me where I need to be putting my efforts and I thank you all for the support I received for all those tiny little drawings.  

So what's the plan?  I am going to see how feasible it is to have some of my older illustrations printed from digital images I have (hopefully with the help of my lovely husband, color corrector extraordinaire and owner/operator over at Nightowl Pictures).  If successful, I will get some prints done and put them up for sale in my shop.  In the meantime, I will also be working on new illustrations and some new version of old ideas.  

And of course, I have an ultimate goal in mind.  If the sales of said prints go well, I intend to invest in a high quality printer and start doing them myself, hopefully making illustration my full time job, while producing art that's still affordable to you guys.  And this way, I can actually hold onto some of the originals.  I know there are certainly some paintings I regretted giving away over the years.  

If you'd like to be of assistance, I would love to hear which of my old artworks you loved the best and would like to own a print of.  Where to start?  Try right here and here.  Easiest way to let me know?  Comment on the pictures you like.  Thanks again!

An Artist's Bucket List

Yup, I have a bucket list specifically for all things art-related.  Sure, I want to skydive and ride a horse down the beach like everyone else, but there are a few things the artist side of me has always wanted to do that are a little more specific.

1.  Visit the Met Costume Institute.
Actually, I've never even been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, let alone New York, but if I could only visit one part of the Met, the Costume Institute would be it.  One of my favorite things to draw, strangely enough, has always been ladies in old-fashioned gowns, so I would love to see a few of those in person for some inspiration.  I stumbled across this House of Worth gown online, once upon a time, and it's been the catalyst of a few drawings in and of itself.   Anyone who says fashion isn't an art form is lying to themselves.

2.  Have more than a few completed works in my possession.
I love to draw, but I have--in the past-- had a bad habit of giving away paintings and illustrations almost as soon as I complete them.  I think I have never had more than four of five works lying around at one time.  Why?  Well, this leads into number three....

3.  Participate in a gallery show.
I draw because I love it, but have never truly pursued it as a career the way most artists do.  I would love, just once, to have a few pieces in a show. A group show is fine since, with my bad habit of giving art away, I'll probably never amass enough for a solo show.  Even better if the pieces sell, preferably to people I don't already know.

4. Take a pottery class.
Simple, I know, but I never seem to get around to it, find the time, or have the money.  Being a stay-at-home mom who doesn't drive doesn't really help.  Pottery has always looked like something that would be relaxing, sitting at that wheel, hands deep in cool clay.  I might end up being terrible at it, but I'd still like to try.

5.  Get a bachelor's degree in art.
I never went to college.  When I was younger, I always thought, if I went, the only things I would want to major in were art or English, and I had heard (and stupidly believed) both were useless degrees.  Here I am, a decade later, just discovering things like block printing and how to work in pastels, and I think about how much sooner I would have made these discoveries if I had went to college and majored in art, worthless degree or not.  And of course,  a decade later, I am finally smart enough to realize any degree is better than no degree.  So one of these days, when the kid is a little older, I think I'll go back to school.

And while I'm there, maybe I'll take a pottery class.