New, New, New

It's been awhile. One resolution for this year is to be more on top of this blog! I'm still recovering from a busy holiday season. Things were slow on Etsy last week, but the downtime has been nice to get organized and plan for some new work.

So I'm starting the new year off with some new things. I went ahead and purchased a new mac computer and Epson giclee printer. I'll be able to work faster and do my printing in-house. Looking forward to be increasing my productivity and getting some of these new designs created in the new year. The main issue now is space. My kitchen is my studio and it was already crowded to begin with. The computer and printer will take up quite a bit of space, so we'll need to be creative with the setup.

In other new news, my wife has setup her Etsy shop, Fauna Studio (http://www.faunastudio.etsy.com ). Currently the shop carries here fused glass pendants with iron oxide graphics. The materials are really nice and I love the natural color palette. Her goal, like mine, is to offer affordable, well-crafted artwork. I think she'll have great success on Etsy! I'm looking forward to getting some of my images made into pendants using resin. Look for those in my shop soon!

The Physics of Snow

It's finals week at the school where I am an arts instructor. We do not have any exams in the arts, but are assigned to proctor other exams. I'm watching students take an Advanced Physics exam while a heavy snow falls outside the window. After today I'm done and can turn my attention to filling holiday orders and even putting some new work in my shop. It's amazing how time has flew since I opened my Etsy shop in July.

It's also amazing how tolerant my wife has been about the transformation of our kitchen into my studio. The island is now my work area and I've drilled many screws in the walls to hang pieces to dry. My previous work area was an unheated sunroom away from my computer and sketching area. It's nice to have everything in one place with easy access to the coffeemaker when my midnight stopping time ends up being 4am. I'm looking forward to creating some winter pieces and then focusing less on the seasonal work and making some of the illustrations that have now filled several sketchbooks.

December

Ugh! This blog has gotten away from me. I've been extremely busy as of late, which is great. I had a great November with my artwork on Etsy and looking forward to a busy December. I've basically hit a ceiling on the amount of work I can produce while still maintaining a day job. I had a couple of nights before Thanksgiving when I was up past 4AM. I used to be able to do that every night when I was in college. I'm not even 30 and it's painful now. The several days I was away from the studio for Thanksgiving put me further behind and has left me wishing I would have spent Thanksgiving at home. My wife and I had planned to travel over the holidays and how we're wondering if we'll be able to. I'm very glad to be busy with my work, but discouraged that I've had so little time to create new pieces. It makes me wish I had worked faster in the summer. I want to have my cake and eat it too. This is our final week of classes at the school where I teach. Looking forward to the long winter break we have an hoping to get ahead!

Hello Blog

I've been away for awhile. Not on vacation or anything like that--my studio has been so busy I almost forgot I even had a blog! October was an extremely busy month, thanks to, ironically, people who actually maintain their blogs. The more blogs that featured my work, the more people I had visiting my website and Etsy page, which, in turn, would include other bloggers who would include me on their blogs. It's interesting to see how the blogosphere is playing such an important role in helping independent artists get their work out into the world. I enjoy interacting with buyers, and not having a middleman allows me to keep my work affordable. That said, I think the galleries/stores are great to give people a chance to see the work in-person--I think that experience is important and I'm glad to support it.

Fire & Ice

Finally (almost) finished my leaf peeper print and hope to have it framed up before all the leaves are gone! Actually, it needs a few small tweaks and then it will be ready. If it were actually ready I'd have it as the photo above. Instead, due to the chilly weather, I posted my Constellations print.

I had a local fire department contact me Friday about shooting a bunch of portraits and group shots. Then tonight, I had a person contact me today about buying several of my fine art photographs. I almost forgot that I used to be a "photographer", if only because t I made photographs frequently. I've been focused on drawing since early in the summer and making and selling graphic art and illustrations has kept me busy. Would love to get back into making photographs on a regular basis.

That said, I have several drawings I'm excited about finishing up and it's my goal to have a series of kid's room/baby nursery illustrations ready for the holidays.

I had hoped to have some prints available in Stowe, but the gallery I was working with was not a great deal for me. Especially since my framed work is custom framed in Vermont using frames handmade by my father-in-law, I can't see giving 50% to a gallery right off the top. I love Etsy and using the internet and blogs to sell work. It allows me to keep my work affordable, and I like that I actually get to interact with those buying (or looking at) my work (if only via email). Did I mention my Etsy site? http://www.nativevermont.etsy.com.

Autumn, Front & Center

I was pleasantly surprised to see my Barnacle Whale illustration on the front page of Etsy this morning. It has sent a lot of visitors my way and I've received some nice messages from the Etsy community. Had a special request for a yellow dog version of my black dog swim, so you'll see the new version in my Etsy store soon. I think they'll look great as a pair.

It is getting chilly here and anyone who was in denial about summer being over must finally accept it! I love autumn, although I was hoping to get one more found of golf in before winter!

It looks like I may finally be able to finish up some autumn illustrations and make them available by next weekend. I've said it before, but I do miss having the entire summer off to work all day and have no other responsibilities to worry about!

Getting lots of requests for customized work as I write this. I better get to work!

Shipping Off

Just finished packaging up some prints. Got some news tonight that someone had purchased the old Frog Hollow building in Middlebury, Vermont. I'm going to go to sleep tonight dreaming about moving to Middlebury full-time, running a gallery/store, making work in a back studio, and having my wife teach and make her ceramic work in the basement studios. Goodnight...