Lise Winne, adventures as a musician and artist

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

replacing my banner, going for another

2012-01-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

This was my last banner for this blog (and first)...

NOW RETIRED

It didn't fit with the new widened design I adopted -- it shifted to the left and was too small. I thought the colors were a bit off too. We'll see how long I'll keep the new banner.

I had a bit of trouble uploading the new banner (it was uploading blurry). I had to go to google to find out why -- I guess it is a common blogger problem, so if you are having trouble, go here to find some answers.

Bunny and Moon

2012-01-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

"Bunny and Moon"
made from my original drawing

large tags to be used as bookmoarks for a paperback book
or for wedding favors, bridal showers, gift tags

(or anything else that suits your fancy!)

Available on-line through these shops:
Etsy listing here
Artfire listing here

also available through some local shops in my area (e-mail me at sales(((att)))lisewinne.com if interested)

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

our Renaissance music (myspace site)

Victorian Christmas music hall and library concerts

2011-12-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

our most recent concert at the East Greenbush Library concert series

(note: in the poster we are wearing Renaissance attire, but we do have Victorian attire)

here is the press for the event:

Last year, we performed a Christmas concert for the Troy Music Hall with our whole band (4 of us) to a crowd of about 800 - 1,000:

that's half the stage with a big grand piano on it with organ pipes above it (the side boxes go up 3 stories and there is a big balcony in the rear)

we have been told by many respected performers that it has the best acoustics in the country!

And we've been performing for years for the Victorian Streetwalk in Saratoga Springs, NY. I used to also perform for the Troy Victorian Stroll through the 1990s (before meeting Jim, my music partner) and I performed at a sold out Christmas concert at the North Pointe Concert Hall in Kinderhook, NY years ago.

For the Kinderhook concert, we performed a couple of songs on the radio before hand and it was broadcast all the way to Amherst, MA - Woodstock, NY - the Adirondacks - Utica. People contacted us to buy CDs from that live performance. It was wonderful to get such a positive response.

For library and art center concert series, we make the experience educational and come dressed in appropriate Victorian attire. We talk about the style of dress during the era, about the instruments that were used at the time, the origin of the songs and the hammered dulcimer (the musical instrument that Jim plays for many of the carols as it has a bell-like quality and is perfect for this style of music). Since we also perform a wide variety of Renaissance songs and instrumentals and we are known for this music (through concert series, Renaissance faires and my CD of Renaissance songs, Wing'd With Hopes), we often incorporate this music and its carols into the program and repertoire.

We would love to perform more concerts in this genre!

If you are reading this and you know someone who might be interested in featuring us, contact us through this e-mail address: SaratogaFaire (-(att)-) yahoo.com. (Note: what is in the parentheses should obviously have an @ symbol, but we didn't want anyone to spam us!).

You can check out our music through the following sites:

our Celtic folk band (myspace site)

some of my own originals music plus some Renaissance pieces (myspace site)

performing and experiencing the 2011 Saratoga Springs Victorian Streetwalk

2011-12-15T06:34:00.000-08:00

"Victorian Christmas" sketch

available from my on-line Artfire shop through this link

In the usual tradition (originally started on my website in 2005), I'm recapping this year's Victorian Streetwalk.

This was the first year in about three years where I wasn't getting over a cold, infection or some other malady. And because of that, it was a joy to perform (note to the uninitiated: performing isn't all roses and clapping; at this level, the level of the every day average non-star performer, it sometimes means hefting heavy sound equipment in a nice dress and shoes often in terrible weather, children trying to strum your instrument while you are performing, and a myriad of other situations -- some outright comical -- that I originally planned to use as the focus of this blog, and perhaps will in the future).

In fact the only distraction happened just before leaving for the gig. A childhood sweetheart (the first one, a brief dating experience in eighth grade -- and someone I hadn't seen since I was a freshman in highschool) friended me on facebook. So, as I'm leaving the house, memories from childhood come rushing back. I hadn't really thought about this part of my life at all since leaving it behind so many years ago and all of a sudden the memories became overwhelming. Mind you, these weren't exactly happy childhood years for a myriad of reasons: let's just say they were riddled with a lot of anxiety because my brother who went to the same school came home beaten with shredded clothes repeatedly only because he had long hair -- I had been punched a few times too because a certain crowd at the school took it upon themselves to study their classmates and were suspicious that I wasn't who they thought I was, i.e. possibly not part of acceptable mainstream junior high society (what if they really knew us! shudder!).

When you perform, you can't give into any overwhelming feelings no matter what is going on in your life because the job entails a great deal of focus for everything to come out right. My job entails two instruments (vocals and a stringed instrument) and I also have to keep track of what everyone else in the band is doing. While the Victorian Streetwalk is just two of us and isn't a high pressure gig like the Troy Music Hall, it is always packed and a group is always standing in front of us watching what we are doing. So, the childhood memories were squelched.

I love performing in this environment once a year -- the main street is totally devoid of cars; it is totally packed with marching bands, jugglers, carollers, horses, wagons, food vendors and townspeople, many dressed in Victorian attire. The wonderful thing about this festival is that all of the performers are local. And the costume element is something I've always loved and brings me back to the days when I used to perform at Renaissance faires with the Spirites Consort.

Jim, my music partner at this event, is just starting to assemble a Victorian outfit. I already have one, but I was trying to sew a long red skirt (didn't quite finish it, but used it for the Victorian Christmas concert we put on at the East Greenbush Library the following Sunday).

We love playing at Dawgdom! We love the fact that we are helping to support a small business and helping the "buy local scene" in our own hometown. The happy dogs -- even the little toy dogs that put on the ferocious act like they are going to rip a great dane's head off -- are a plus.

After we packed up, the streetwalk was still in full swing and we went to listen to John Kribs and Doug Moody playing across the street. They looked so classy, dapper and handsome in their Victorian garb. I have so much admiration for John as a human being -- a true being of light -- and it comes across in the Sam fund which he started for musicians with health issues. He is a great musician too and he has made music his life despite lots of hardships that musicians are faced with these days and the scarcity of venues.

Then we headed over to Celtic Treasures where I show my greeting cards and where our Sartatoga Faire CD, Saratoga Romance has a place to be seen in our community. We visited Paul (the store owner), John Cromie and Tommy Wadsworth. They were already busy packing up, but they invited us with them for some post Streetwalk revery. Paul treated me to some Irish Sweet Potato fries (so nice!) and Jim to a Guinness Stout.

It is so wonderful to be part of this community and I feel proud of my community when I'm part of an event like this!

weblinks:

MY WEBSITE

It looks like MYSPACE is up and running again (yippie!) which is the best way to hear soundclips of our music:

MINE

MY BAND'S

MY RENAISSANCE BAND'S (this myspace site seems to be the most loved)

sketch available through:
MY ARTFIRE SHOP
(note: the reason I refer to the accompanying illustration as a sketch instead of a drawing is because it was done quickly and does not have the thoughtfulness and proper perspective that a finished drawing would have, despite its details and embellishments).

Extra Long Handmade Pepper and Salt Scarf for him and her

2011-12-09T07:17:00.000-08:00

Here's the newest in 100 percent natural colored wool:

These are available in my Artfire shop.

Keep in mind these are extra long and we (the models) are tall people (I am 5'10" and Jim is 6'1"), so on a smaller person they might come to ankle length (?). You can always wrap it around and around. These are made from one hundred percent pure wool with lanolin, my favorite kind of yarn for a scarf. Lanolin (a natural sheep oil) makes the wool much more durable, more waterproof and even warmer. Of course, it also means you shouldn't wash it in soap unless you have to as soap will strip the oil.

Jim's outfit details:

Jim's scarf is made by me and available through Artfire.com through this link

Jacket by Calvin Klein

Shoes by Wolverine

Lise's outfit details:

the scarf is made by me and available through Artfire.com through this link

Vintage White Coat by ILGWU (made in the USA)

Purple Eggplant Velour shirt by L.L. Bean (made in the USA)

Boots by Timberland

links:
website

Jim is a member of the same band I perform with, Saratoga Faire
here is Saratoga Faire's CD on CD Baby

purchasing my art and clothing:
Artfire on-line store

fuschia scarf to wear with a jacket

2011-11-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the second edition to my handmade clothing line on Artfire.com. If you haven't been reading along, I started out with an extra long mulberry scarf. As I said in that previous blog post, I have made my own clothes for years and wanted to offer the kinds of clothes I make for myself to the general public.

These photos were taken about a week ago on a windy day. This is how the scarf looks with a black wool blazer jacket:

I decided I'd also try it with a casual Acadia National Park fleece jacket:

Here is what the stitching looks like close up:

Here is a closeup picture of me in the Acadia National Park fleece jacket and the scarf:

outfit details:

the handmade scarf is available on Artfire.com through this link

Black wool blazer by Spitalnick

grey Acadia National Park jacket by Green Brand Sensegal (made in the USA)

Earrings by Cheryl Gutmaker (made in the USA)

Shirt by International I.N.C. Concepts (made in the USA)

Boots by L.L. Bean

my links:

website

on-line stores:

Artfire (largest selection)

Etsy

2011-11-27T20:25:00.000-08:00

You saw it!

I'm running Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions:

on some holiday art and cards there is free shipping, free gifts, coupons and other goodies...

Just stop by my Artfire shop.

Enjoy the season!

Angel Bliss of Music from the Ethereal Realms

2011-11-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

Angel Bliss of Music

from the Ethereal Realms

(you may have to click on the image to see all of the details)

This piece is again inspired by Bliss McIntosh's corn husk and milkweed winged angels. Bliss's work is viewable HERE.

I am on a roll. I made Angel Penelope of the Grain first (which you can view from this blog post). This is the second in the series.

I will have her available as a print and as greeting cards in my Artfire and Etsy shops as well as at a number of galleries and gift shops in my area (and, yes, she will be available at the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Center's 2011 holiday show). Look for her in the next couple of days.

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:
Artfire (widest selection)
Etsy

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:
CD Baby
Amazon
InandOut Records (Europe)
My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Valley Artisans Market open house, ad design

2011-11-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

the ad design I created for our gallery's open house

more about our gallery through this link

specs: it had to be a black and white ad, it had to be long and skinny to fit into Hubbard Hall's program book (Hubbard Hall is a non-profit performance opera house in Cambridge, NY), it had to announce our 30th year anniversary, gift bag and open house.

mulberry scarf, extra long

2011-11-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

Mulberry Scarf, extra long

part of the new handmade clothing line I'll be offering

I have made my own clothing for years, so I thought I'd make some of it available to the public (first time ever). Working in so many mediums is a result of having to teach a lot of mediums to art students in the public schools (yes, I have a masters degree in art education).

All of the details on length, etc, are available in my online Artfire shop (my online shop of choice as I can have a lot of categories, a lot of mediums and unlimited listings and where artists are treated respectfully).

Two of these are presently available.

Here are smore photos of the extra long mulberry scarf:

And, yes, I am the model, but I hope to have another model for the new line eventually.

MY ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE (art, CDs, clothing)

MY CDs AT CD BABY

The Tree (a christmas tree where I got a little wild with the border!)

2011-10-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

The Tree

As a greeting card it looks like this:

Is the tree a little overwhelmed by the border design (which I admit was a lot more fun than painting the tree!)? Or is this a nice change from the usual holiday cards? Would love to hear your comments.

The cards are available in my Artfire shop (and perhaps in my Etsy shop around the holidays). Also available this season in a number of holiday art shows in my area.

Artfire (widest selection, you do not need to be a member of Artfire to buy)

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Angel Penelope of the Grain

2011-10-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Angel Penelope of the Grain
(after Bliss McIntosh's corn husk and milkweed winged angels)

Available on-line HERE. She may also be available as a print soon and via my ETSY SHOP during the holidays.

Here is a blurry photo of my inspiration:

Corn Husk and Milkweed Winged Angel holding a trumpet by Bliss McIntosh

(find more of her work HERE)

As it turns out, we are sharing space in a gallery (Valley Artisans Market) for the holiday season and probably beyond (perhaps until next summer). Thus began the inspiration to do some work based on her pieces.

And as it turns out (to my delightful discovery upon finishing this piece) the face of the angel looks a lot like Lisa Lynne! Check it out:

face of Angel Penelope

Lisa plays the harp (as well as a variety of exotic instruments) and she has produced many, many CDs of enchanting music. The horn that the angel plays might just fit in with the rest of her collection. Check out Lisa Lynne's website HERE.

I have been inspired by Bliss before. Here is a piece from 2004:

Angels of the Seed Celebrate New Life

When I was zooming in on the grain part while designing "Angel Penelope of the Grain", I was struck by how many bugs were clinging to it (hope you'll be able to detect them in the pictures on this blog). All the bugs are captured in the final piece, though it is harder to see them than in these photos. Anyway, here they are:

bugs in the grain

(part of the job!)

FUN!

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

distractions

2011-10-16T18:20:00.000-07:00

sneak peak

I have been very distracted by house issues, but I hope to be blogging again soon. The above photo is representative of some pieces I have been working on since January. I just have to find time to photograph it all.

Just wanted to let my readers that I am still here and hope to be back at my regular routines of making art soon.

In the meantime (in my spare time when I just needed to relax), I put together these Etsy treasuries:

feeling a little spooky and gothic?

Millefleur means Many Flowers

jump into the autumn leaves

Like textures? Get texturized!

And here are my own links:

WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Maple Witch

2011-09-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

Maple Witch

If you've been following me from my previous post, my intention is to produce more statement-oriented work in the future.

But in the meantime, I have "Maple Witch" to show you which is in my usual line of art work. She is part of a series of witches that fly through the sky with the autumn leaves. (The last one I made was "Oak Witch" which can be found on this blog post).

She is for sale in my Artfire shop year round as a greeting card (and possibly as a print in the near future) and in my Etsy shop during the Autumn months and in all of the usual brick and mortar stores listed on my website.

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

devastation from Hurricane Irene and how it has touched my life

2011-09-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

what Hurricane Irene did to a road less than a mile from where I spent many of my childhood years
(you may have to click to get a bigger picture)

For a change, this post isn't about art. Frankly, the devastation that Irene has caused to my childhood heart and home from that time has made it hard to create the usual kind of fantasy, Renaissance and holiday art and music I am known for. In fact, it is an event like this that makes me do a double-take, wondering what I am doing with my art (and life in general). I feel so sad about what has happened as I still know many people from the area.

The sadness has intermingled with another sadness over the death of a childhood friend from the same area around the time as the hurricane, someone who put his life out for other people, someone who gave selflessly to those less fortunate.

This next picture is a road (that hurricane Irene turned into a river). It is the road my parents drove on a lot. I drove on it too when I got my license, in fact I barreled down it with abandon because it had so little traffic. You can see the remnants of the road where the dog is standing:

I have heard from a number of sources that the municipality in which it dwells will probably never rebuild it: they will just consider it a "lost road".

The next picture is a road going into the nearby town, only a few miles down the road:

Many people in the area have lost their homes permanently because insurance doesn't pay for flooding.

I have a bit of that "innocence lost" kind of feeling at this time. This was a wonderfully idyllic place to live as a child. It was rural, mountainous and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen anywhere. And the community! ... let's just say it was a childhood of peace, beauty, deep conversations and purpose in world-wide causes. Think "underground railroad" with lots of like-minded people.

It was such a stark contrast to the life I have now where community is tenuous and often baffling, where I seem to have stepped "down a rabbit hole" and haven't come out yet, for lack of a better metaphor. Where do I find the child I once was who was part of causes, fighting for rights, helping others struck by prejudice and injustice and speaking out fearlessly?

I am not finding it in my recent art. And that is a part of me that is missing that I suddenly wanted back in the wake of this recent turn of events. In fact, life as a child was sometimes so intense (and sometimes dangerous) that I used art as an escape. Obviously I am still escaping and not using art to engage. This is what struck me about the hurricane. It blew into my mind and woke me up about that. Perhaps I need a new path.

When I look at the piece I did just before the hurricane ("Hurricane of Doves and Hearts" on this page), it began to have a new poignancy for me. Indeed, as in the painting, my childhood home of love and peace was disrupted by a hurricane. I hope the doves and hearts are just merely displaced, not missing.

maple leaves in autumn, gift tags

2011-09-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

maple leaves gift tags

(hand-cut)

From my original artwork:

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Oak Witch

2011-09-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Oak Witch
greeting card design

This was inspired somewhat by a member of our gallery in Cambridge, NY who makes figures out of leaves and plants. I decided I'd like to try my own version, using drawing techniques with plants instead of pure collage.

The original is a whopping 10.35" x 15.75" because the oak leaf was so big (I believe it is the leaf from a red oak). I found it on the Skidmore campus.

The wonders of making art so big is that details can be refined and can later be shrunk. She in my Artfire shop and will be for sale during the autumn season in my Etsy shop. I'll also have her for sale in the next couple of weeks in select brick and mortar shops in my area (check website for gallery and shop listings).

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

frustration with leaving comments on blogs

2011-09-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

I was wondering why it was so hard for folks to leave comments on my blog! I had noticed that when I was designing the gallery tote bag, no one left me comments, but e-mailed me instead (I got over 20 e-mails from members of the gallery as well as some graphic designers I know).

Then when Karen Anne Brady left me a comment on my latest entry, I discovered I couldn't leave a comment back on my own blog!

I found out that Bloggers default settings only allowed certain accounts (ones which require additional passwords, profiles, personal information and agreements of TOUs). It used to be that Blogger automatically allowed comments, because it is a google account which you have to sign up to use, after all. But this is not the case any more. Even the open ID does not work (at least when I have tried to use it -- when you try to leave a comment, it erases the comment instead -- and I usually have to e-mail the artists my comments instead). Previous to the new settings, I used to leave comments on other people's blogs and my Blogger picture (the one to the right where I am wearing Celtic green and holding a guitar) would show up, but that isn't allowed any more either.
Anyway, having learned a lesson, I tried to figure out how to change the comments section of this blog to allow anonymous comments again. I succeeded after nearly ten minutes looking for the settings (it isn't intuitive at all). Even leaving comments on my own blog, I am relegated to being an anonymous user (so weird).

If any of the artists I follow wonder why I don't leave comments any more it is because of these default settings (most of you have the default settings "on" like I did).

pin oak leaf in heart

2011-08-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

Leaf in a Heart

greeting cards or prints
original artwork is 11" x 15.5"

Okay, back to greeting card designs! I've been designing many of them for Halloween and Autumn and will be listing the others soon.

This was the first design after coming off of pure painting fun in August (whatever painting I could fit in around the busy schedule of keeping shops stocked, a seconds sale, going to Celtic music sessions, home improvements and making a tote bag design, etc.).

I have this one available in my Artfire shop. I will also have it for sale in Autumn in my Etsy shop. And of course, I'll have it available at my usual brick and mortar shops in my area in the next couple of weeks.

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Hurricane of Doves and Hearts

2011-08-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hurricane of Doves and Hearts
© 2011

inks on Arches watercolor paper

(copyright watermark does not appear in actual painting)

I was originally going to name this piece Windswept Doves and Hearts V (to be part of the series), but it seemed to have a lot more energy than all of the other previous paintings. Since Hurricane Irene is on its way, I thought this title was also more appropriate.

Painting with inks almost makes this psychedelic. The others had watercolor or acrylic.

I look at these paintings as diversions. I seem to be drawn to the subject matter when I can't have full concentration powers. They are my version of meditation paintings, I suppose.

I don't have this one for sale anywhere yet because I've been having trouble uploading images (computer problems and file corruption). I will edit this page as it becomes available to buy.

Here is the simple line drawing before adding color:

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

the busy-work aspects of selling art

2011-08-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

This is the new banner I had to make for my Artfire shop because they made the avatar huge

and moved it from the left to the right. I didn't feel like I had a lot of time, and don't know how many banners I'll have to make in the future, so I rushed through it.

I wonder if they'll move the avatar to another place again.

This is the banner I originally had. I like it more, especially because I could fit in my artwork, but it didn't work with Artfire's new studio design. I put a lot more time and effort into it and it shows. You can see that I still had to push part of the design to the right
(where the avatar used to be -- a smaller avatar than the one in use now):

This next design was my first try before settling on the design at the top of the page. It still kept some of the ideas of my old design. Unfortunately, I had to scrap this because the avatar covered up half
of my unicorn relief sculpture and all of the shamrock (sniff, sniff):

At the same time all of this needed attention, Etsy (my other on-line shop), enacted some changes to the listing process. Hitherto, listing items was mostly about timing because the default search was always recency. The reason why timing is critical in a recency situation is that you had to guess when people might be on Etsy shopping and get your listings on then (as recently listed items were always on the first pages of search). It meant people in England were listing at midnight or later to be seen. In Australia they were often listing at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning. This was crazy-making (as a lot of things on Etsy have been -- they seem to be trying to clean up their act lately) and a lot of sellers just renewed unsold items throughout the day, every day, to give them a boost in the rankings rather than risk the chance that their items wouldn't be first in the category search pages. I'm glad Etsy changed the listing procedure from recency to relevancy, but it meant that yesterday and today was about changing my tags (tagging is much more critical in a relevancy structure than a recency structure -- it is how buyers find items using keywords for a specific type of search).

The weeks before all of this, I had to deal with designing, making and buying display units for some of my brick and mortar shops, designing a tote bag, printing my images on teeshirts, packaging cards and writing a letter to a perspective buyer, shopping for art supplies and latex paint, creating signs and flyers and cleaning my studio.

All of this is work I don't get paid for (except the teeshirts) and it took up the good part of three weeks. It is part of what running an art business is all about, though.

I do miss creating my own art. I'm lucky if I even get in a half hour day these days. I see the light at the end of the tunnel however (doing a preliminary dance!).

Valley Artisans Market Website

MY ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY ETSY ON-LINE STORE

Windswept Doves and Hearts IV

2011-08-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Windswept Doves and Hearts IV

Finally, back to my own art!

This is fourth in the series of winswept doves and hearts. You can see version one HERE, version two HERE and version three HERE.

I don't have it for sale anywhere yet because I have to find a frame for it. If you are interested, e-mail me (or check back here for the edit on this page to see if I do have it for sale anywhere) or look in my online shops (Etsy shop or Artfire shop) to see if it is listed.

links:

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire (widest selection)

Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

tote bag design for gallery phase two

2011-08-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

If you want to see phase one of this tote bag design, you can click here to be taken there.

So, here is version two (the version that the Valley Artisans Market Business committee chose) with "Cambridge, NY" underneath the Valley Artisans Market logo.

I did four versions of colors for you to choose. Please keep in mind that various monitors will display colors differently.

Here is the first:

Valley Artisans Market tote bag design

in dark maroon
(click on image to see a less blurry version)

Here is the second:

Valley Artisans Market tote bag design

in medium maroon

(click on image to see a less blurry version)

Here is the third:

Valley Artisans Market tote bag design

in red maroon

(click on image to see a less blurry version)

Here is the fourth:

Valley Artisans Market tote bag design

in red

(click on image to see a less blurry version)

Keep in mind that the fourth version probably most resembles Valley Artisans Market's business card (art work by unknown):

Valley Artisans Market business card

My preference is for either the second or third version. I just don't think that the red (4th version) works as well in this case.

COMMENTS WELCOME!

My Website

tote bag design for art gallery

2011-07-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT!

ALSO, CLICK ON PICTURES TO GET A LARGER VIEW

This is long, but I wanted to show you my entire process, please bear with me.

I'm writing (and showing the transformation of a design for a tote bag for a co-operative gallery/market). I chose to show you via this blog for the purpose of showing my fellow art co-op members and also to get comments from my blog readers if you would like to contribute to the conversation and let me know of your preferences. You can comment via this blog in the comment section or e-mail your preference. If you do comment in this blog, make sure your comment goes through! You can check to see if your comment went through by clicking on the headline after leaving your comment: you should find your comment underneath the story.

At a meeting at our co-op, someone suggested that I use the graphic from the current business card (some suggested I could transform it in some way). By the way, I have no idea who did the graphics for the card. I hope I don't step on any toes in my commentary! Here is the current business card:

Note: none of the actual biz card graphics have a copyright watermark : this is for on-line display only!

Valley Artisans Market business card

As a business card, the graphics are fine because they are very small. I'm not crazy about the dots in the sky for a larger tote bag graphic. To some of our artists, it looks like sewing dots and the graphic in general has that quilt-like feeling. I like the quilt-like aspects, but not the sky. I come at it with a different perspective: to me it is a bit of a cheap fast trick that graphic designers use to make the sky less stark (i.e. filling it in). You put in an invisible grid, put in some dots -- presto, it looks like it is daytime, done.

But I tried to make it work any way.

Here it is with just the writing underneath:

Valley Artisans Market business card with just the artwork and type

Up closer, the sky is really looking like it has too much bubbly. It is not square enough for a tote bag design and the writing is a bit hard to decipher.

So, then I stretch it to make it square:

Valley Artisans Market business card with artwork and type, stretched to a square

You can read it better, but boy those champagne bubbles are getting to me. Looks like they are in a synchronized take-off.

But, I like the writing because it isn't a type-face (you can tell in this stretched version by looking at the "T"s, especially the crossed part of them: they aren't alike: cool!). I'm just wondering if I should make the artwork square and put the lettering inside it in white. So I square up the picture:

Ooops, too mottled! So I dump in some solid red:

Before I go any further with this, I'm still not crazy about where this is going. The artwork is not entirely square, for one thing (you can see it in the left edge). The hills look less like hills and more like steep waterfalls. The trees are too bunched together. I'll have to get rid of those dots and replace them with something (and whatever I replace them with will probably not look right because it is someone else's art: they have their style; I have mine).

Okay, this is going to be more labor intensive than I thought.

I attempt to keep the same general idea, but make it my own. I replace the dots with birds (I know, I know, it looks like everything else I do... but, since it is one color and red is for the background, I can't put a white sky or clouds behind those trees without the trees getting lost... and besides, birds go with trees, yes?).

You'll have to vote on one of these designs (there are also variables to consider, so I encourage reading through). All of these designs can have a thin border around the outside, like our business cards. Just let me know.

So, here are my first attempts in two colors (again, please note that the copyright watermark that runs diagonally is only for on-line purposes and will not appear in the design):

Valley Artisans Market tote bag #1 design in blue
(click on image to see a better, less blurry version)

Valley Artisans Market tote bag #1 design in red

(click on image to see a better, less blurry version)

You'll notice that the second one in red does not have the "celebrating 30 years" bit. I didn't know which way to go with it: without it, it is just about us, in any year, whereas with it, we are saying that we are a gallery co-operative that has been around a long time. Any message can be applied to either color bag.

I did use typeface even though I thought the biz card was pretty nice in a hand script (my hand script is not nearly so even and it also tends to lean over to the right, i.e. does not square up). Unlike our business card, the design also looks more like night time than day time. I also made the trees a little more transparent through the leaves and branches. Don't forget about what I mentioned just a moment ago: that I can also put a thin border around it like our business cards have on them.

So those were the first attempts.

For the second attempts, I wanted to put the type on the outside of the design. It probably looks closest to our business cards.

Here they are:

Valley Artisans Market tote bag #2 design in blue

(click on image to see a better, less blurry version)

Valley Artisans Market tote bag #2 design in red

(click on image to see a better, less blurry version)

The third attempt is not print-ready, but I wanted to show it just in case. I'm pretty busy, but could probably get it print-ready in a week or so if you are all crazy about it.

You'll notice that in the third attempts, I abandoned putting the type in the box with the art. I also eliminated the rows in front (opting for grass and flowers instead) and cut back on the birds:

Valley Artisans Market tote bag #3 design in blue

(click on image to see a better, less blurry version)

Valley Artisans Market tote bag #3 design in red

(click on image to see a better, less blurry version)

They aren't masterpieces and I tried to keep to the original idea as the market/gallery is associated with the original business card graphic. I hope I have done it justice.

All of them are similar, so it is just a question of which one: #1, 2 or 3 in red or blue? I'll do what the majority wants. Again, leave a comment in the comments section of the blog or leave me an e-mail if you know it (or through my website by clicking here).

MY WEBSITE

VALLEY ARTISANS WEBSITE

Diamond Trump, an insect Faerie with card game symbols

2011-07-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

Diamond Trump, the Insect Faerie

detail:

another detail:

Did you notice the play on the name?

This is one of the more bizarre art pieces I've made (ever). It is certainly one of the most bizarre faeries I have made! But, occassionally I am inspired to create something weird.

I presently have it for sale though this link in my Artfire shop. I also put it up in my Etsy shop (for at least 4 months) -- thought it might be fitting for their Keep It Weird series.

links:

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire (widest selection)

Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Interview Alert: Artolution and the Troy Record Newspaper

2011-07-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

I was interviewed for the Troy Record Newspaper. The interview is also viewable on-line through the interviewers blog, Artolution:

http://artolution.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/artist-spotlight-lise-winne/

Windswept Doves and Hearts III

2011-06-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Windswept Doves and Hearts III

I am exhausted, but I wanted to post my newest painting before too much time went by.

I have done a lot of oil painting, but I do not have a lot of experience with acrylics aside from folk art paints. And I have a new found love! I have had my oil paints out in my studio for a whole year and as I was working on other projects, I just couldn't bring myself to pick them up and use them. I just didn't want to deal with turpentine. So, one day while I was out, I bought some artists' acrylics. Fast drying time. Yippie! Brilliant colors! Yippie! And most of all, no turpentine! Yippie!

This is part of a series. You can find the first Windswept Doves and Hearts HERE and Windswept Doves and Hearts II HERE.

I don't have it for sale on-line yet, but I may at some point. Look for the edit on this page for the listing on Etsy or Artfire or e-mail me in the meantime through my website if you are interested.

links:

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

wedding cake with celtic inspired knots and doves

2011-06-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

"Wedding Cake with Doves"
© 2011

It looks a little blurry on the page. You might have to click on the picture to see an unblurry rendition.

This is up as a greeting card in my Etsy store and my Artfire shop (for a change!). I've been favoring Artfire lately for most listings, but this goes with what I am doing at Etsy as well.

The original piece is a whopping 13" x 17" (that's the image area).

Here's a close-up:

"Wedding Cake with Doves" detail

This was one of those unfinished pieces hanging around since last June. Follow this link to a blog post from last June if you want proof (and you'll see plenty of other pieces waiting in the wings there too -- uh oh).

I can't say why I drop projects so readily only to finish them up at a much later date. I get inspired by new ideas and then can't seem to wait to finish pieces I am working on. So many other projects like this waiting in the wings! Ugh.

links:

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

treble cleff greeting cards

2011-06-13T14:33:00.000-07:00

Since I am a musician, I decided to do a series based on music. The treble cleff is widely used. I painted the design in 2010, but this is the first time I am offering it as a greeting card.

Look in my on-line shops for it or follow the link HERE to a direct listing in my Artfire shop.

I already made matching tags last year. Here they are again:

That's it for now!

links:

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire -- widest selection

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

more of Jim Manngard's digital art of me

2011-06-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

This reminds me of the dock I go swimming off of in Lake George. I wonder if the dog will jump in!

I'm a movie in this one.

Cool isn't it? I love both of these renditions!
This is the original photo that Jim Manngard used for his work:

If you want to see more of Jim Manngard's digital art of me (in a balloon!) go to this post.

As I mentioned in that previous blog post, Jim works on the sound team for Blackmores Night and also takes a lot of tour photos while he's at it (as well as doing a lot of fun digital art like this for the band when he is not on the road). You can see some of Jim's tour photos on the Blackmores Night website and the Candice Night website.

latest exotic bird with playing card symbols

2011-06-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

title: Go Fish, the Exotic Bird
© 2011

So happy to be doing something else besides making holiday greeting cards (although this one may turn into an art greeting card at some point). Always check through this link and through this link if you are interested to see whether I make it into a greeting card.

At the moment, however, I am selling these as prints through my Artfire on-line shop. Oh, yes, moon included with the bird!

MY WEBSITE

MY ART AND MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire (widest selection)

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

girl baby feet cards, boy baby feet cards

2011-06-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Girl Baby Feet cards
© 2009
newly available on-line through this link

used for congratulations or baby shower with your own insert

Boy Baby Feet cards

newly available through this link
used for congratulations or baby shower with your own insert

WEBSITE

MY ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

admiration for ArtdeJoie

2011-05-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

I can't resist telling you about this! Remember I had done a satire piece about Etsy called "Etsy Deluge" (complete with owl, cowl, mustache and the kinds of clouds that Etsy loves)? If not, here it is again (this was the blog post about it if you want to delve further):

Well, after I posted it, ArtdeJoie told me she was working on her own satire piece. It is called, Hipster Jury. Here it is:

Hipster Jury by ArtdeJoie

Copyright Joy Appenzeller Bauer, 2011
(click on the painting above to buy from ArtdeJoie-- if it has sold, she may have prints, so check the rest of her shop too)

It is modeled from the Henri Gervex painting, "Salon Jury".

In the 1800s in Paris during a time when Impressionism was in full swing, the all-powerful Paris Salon, which put on the premier exhibits of its day, rejected Impressionist works (the ones we so admire today) and tilted their curation unfairly towards certain kinds of painting styles, defined as Academic.

In ArtdeJoie's painting, the artists who get preferential treatment are not based on merit or formal fine art training, but upon subject matter: the owl, fox, mustache and cupcake. Further promotion is granted based on hearts, tweet frequency, popularity, networking circles and conformity to hipster tastes.

Indeed, in a recent Etsy Success Writing Workshop on Etsy's website, mtraub says, "Your MFA and press mentions are all well and good, but I'm far more persuaded to buy your resin sculpture because of your weekend zydeco band and passion for coleslaw."

Really?

Anyway, I admire ArtdeJoie and her "Hipster Jury" painting.

Joy in Spring

2011-05-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

Joy in Spring

Available through my Artfire on-line shop through this link as a greeting card. Made just after my Mother's Day card (which is similar in many ways). The word "joy" is written in small letters in the center of the design.

links:

WEBSITE

ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Our Renaissance band site on MYSPACE

Mother's Day card with Spring flowers

2011-04-30T16:45:00.000-07:00

"Spring Flowers and Mom"

card design for Mom or Mother's Day

This is the last card I will make for Mother's Day this year. Out just in time! I've been out putting these in a number of stores and just listed it on-line in my Artfire store. The card is available directly through this link.

I have one more greeting card design to finish and then I will be taking a short break from card designing since there aren't any more major holidays until Halloween. Whew!

I am making something special for my mother.

I do have a lot more cards to list on-line, though, and I'll also keep you informed here. And also coming up are one of a kind folk art pieces-- stay tuned! But for my art-making time, I feel that I can finally get back to subjects that really ignite my creative passions (one is almost finished and has been neglected-- from November of last year!).

WEBSITE
ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):
Music MYSPACE
My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE
My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:
CD Baby
Amazon
InandOutRecords (Europe)
My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Regretsy hits close to home!

2011-04-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Do you know the feeling when you don't get the joke because it is too close to home? Well, that kind of happened to me yesterday when I went to look at the recent items on Regretsy (which I have visited about 20 times now and always found to be either funny or appalling).

This was the item:

you can click on picture to be taken to the listing on Etsy.com

Okay, so this is the kind of attire our band wears (known to play Renaissance Faires and Celtic Festivals). The commentary after the picture was as follows:

you can click on picture to be taken to Regretsy's blog on the item

Ummm, definitely updating their MySpace band page! Please take note!

The listing also has this photoshopped version which very much reminds me of the photoshop artists on the Enchanted Folk social site (where I am a member):

you can click on picture to be taken to the listing on Etsy.com

Yup, and the Raven definitely goes with the genre.
And here I am with The Harper and the Minstrel at a Renaissance faire (no, not the same guy as in the pics above):

photo by Jim Lestrange

links:

Our Celtic band site on MYSPACE

Vermorlian's Etsy shop

The Harper and the Minstrel's band site on MYSPACE

Regretsy

POSTSCRIPT: I sold a Renaissance album today, so definitely NOT unemployed. So there!

Spring Maiden

2011-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Spring Maiden

In keeping with my last blog, I have uploaded another greeting card design from the old days, this one from 2000. I created this at the beginning of my greeting card-making days. Previously, my art-making was primarily about handthrown high fired pottery and large oil painting (though in my teaching days I had to teach a potpourri of arts from stained glass design to advertising design and everything inbetween).

In making this card (and the whole "season series"), I was still influenced by how I added drawings and designs to my pottery: I had no models or references and just created the image from my imagination (and remembrance for how things looked), in other words it was a spontaneous painting. I used classroom materials for the painting: drawing paper that wasn't acid-free (seriously yellowed now), markers, inexpensive non-archival student colored pencils, pilot pen, a bit of watercolor and student crayola crayons. The paper was 11 x 17, the typical size I gave students for their assignments. Luckily, I scanned the season ladies before the non-archival qualities of the materials started to degrade.

So, moral of the story is: use the best quality of materials. This particular series will never be anything other than greeting cards.

The card is available through this link through my Artfire on-line shop and through a number of local brick and mortar stores.

Here is a pic of the whole series:

the whole series

MY WEBSITE

ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

card for Mom

2011-04-25T14:38:00.000-07:00

Mom

Now that Easter is over, I'm busy listing and making Mother's Day items.

This is an older design, but it is the first time I am selling it on-line (it has been in brick and mortar stores since 2006). It is a 5" x 7" greeting card on CS2 cover stock with a satin finish on the outside and mat finish on the inside.

And you can get it directly through my Artfire on-line shop through this link.

MY WEBSITE

ARTIFE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Congratulations to Kelleyanne of Discord Threads for her NBC debut!

2011-04-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Kellyanne makes a lot of upcycled clothes and her skirt was featured in Kathie Lee and Hoda's show! Read about her experience through this link.

I first noticed Kellleyanne in the Etsy forums. Her avatar was a golden apple. Later she changed it to a duck holding a golden apple. We both moved to Artfire at the same time and when she moved to Artfire, her avatar was again the simple golden apple she had started out on Etsy with (no duck). She may or may not remember me from the forums, but that doesn't matter because I sure recognized her and was pleased to find out about her success (also guts and determination)!

Have a look at Kelleyanne's creations:

Kelleyanne, Discord Thread's Artfire Shop

It's All in the Partner!

2011-04-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

"Love Birds Dancing" greeting card

with "It's all in the partner!" written underneath

This is part of the exotic bird series I have been working on. Exotic birds were the first thing I thought of when I was looking around for subject matter last week for an anniversary (or wedding) card. I just can't get enough of exotic birds. I enjoy them most of all. This is certainly a very different approach from my tight, detailed Celtic style art or hand-thrown pottery (which I enjoy making too, but it isn't as though I can leap into this kind of art-making without lots of planning and preliminaries).

The original art piece is india ink and colored pencil. It is approximately 13.25" x 18" on 14" x 19" bristol. I am selling the greeting card right away through my Artfire on-line shop through this link and it will be out in that format in some brick and mortar stores in my area soon. I may add prints of this design at some point too.

If you absolutely love the original, you can e-mail me at sales(at t)LiseWinne.com.

I haven't decided on what to do with any of the originals. Pile them up and then have a gallery exhibit somewhere eventually?

WEBSITE

ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

oh yes, and here's a detail of the 2 birds:

Wow! Upsurge in blog followers!

2011-04-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

I just logged in today and found that I had gained 5 followers in one day (previously I had 14 followers). Thank you all. Of course, I'm wondering how you all discovered my blog (especially in one day)... will look at what interesting lives you are all leading from your blog posts as time permits!

new mother's and father's day greeting cards

2011-04-17T06:55:00.000-07:00

Heart Flower for Mom
© 2011

Dad, Light of My Life

These are my latest creations for Mother's Day and Father's Day (and probably the last for this year). They match (a bit) as I had symmetry in mind when designing them.

I have them for sale in my on-line Artfire shop. The mother's day card is through this link and the father's day card is through this link. I will also have them for sale in a number of brick and mortar stores in my area after the Easter holiday has passed.

WEBSITE

ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Easter gift tags, Bunny in Spring

2011-04-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

Bunny in Spring

gift tags

I love making gift tag designs, though I'm not entirely thrilled with having to cut them out and ribbon them. I designed these to go with how the tags are cut via the cutter. These are fairly large tags (4.5" x 2.75"). I have them in my Artfire shop through this link and they are also available through some of my brick and mortar stores in my area (find them through this link).

On another note, Kitty Ballistics featured one of my cards on her blog. Have a look at her blog through this link.

MY WEBSITE

ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

more jigsaw puzzles with original drawings

2011-04-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mermaids and Fishes III

This is the third Mermaid and Fishes in the series. To see my first attempts at original drawings on jigsaw puzzles, refer to my last blog through this link.

Here are two others I enjoyed making:

Stars and Doves II

Stars and Doves III

All of these are for sale in the co-operative gallery I belong to in Cambridge, NY, Valley Artisans Market.

There are also some new teeshirts on display in the store, 3 which are OOAK hand-painted and 10 which are printed with my original designs.

WEBSITE

VALLEY ARTISANS MARKET

ARTFIRE ON-LINE STORE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Etsy Deluge, the Etsy privacy issue

2011-04-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Etsy Deluge

watercolor, ink and a tad of colored pencil

painted in response to Etsy's latest buyer privacy issues

(note: only Etsians will get what this piece is about. But, to enlighten those not privvy to the joke, it has to do with Etsy's front page, which for years focused on owls, cowls, mustaches and certain kinds of rain clouds-- to the point of radically over-doing it, at least to many who sell on the site).

For the moment, if you want this piece, it is available as an original 11" x 14" watercolor through this link

or as a 5" x 7" print through this link from my Artfire on-line store. Other purchasing opportunities may avail themselves at some point, so check back for the edit on this page.

Anyway, the privacy debacle started out in the Penny Arcade forums where a buyer's name came up in a google search with the artisan dildo she bought on Etsy. Yup, all out there for her grandmother, co-workers and the world to see! It was placed in the google search under her name on the first page of the search, right after her on-line job resumes. Why? Because Etsy changed their privacy policy to make real names of buyers come up in searches. The only way for buyers to change their privacy settings was to log onto the site and change them manually.

Etsy claims to have e-mailed everyone about the change, but the e-mail was buried in a newsletter about how to take great catalog worthy product photography. Also, many buyers only came to the site once to buy or discontinued their e-mail addresses, so many were not notified. I have strong spam filters on my web-mail address (if I didn't, I would get thousands of spam messages a day-- as it is, I get anywhere from 700 to 1,000 now). So, I never got the e-mail either.

From there, Ars Technica took up the story. In the Ars Technica comments section after the article, there was a "battle royal" going on in the forums between Etsy's CEO, Rob Kalin (along with some of his Etsy staffers) and the sellers and buyers of Etsy. What angered sellers and buyers most was that they had been complaining in the Etsy forums about the "opt out" (of having your name shown in searches unless you opted out)-- arguing that it should only be an "opt in" situation. Every forum that was brought up about the situation was immediately closed and some of the sellers were also "muted", i.e. not allowed to post in the forums any longer.

From the Ars Technica article, it went viral. The list was substantial in the end (click on each name to see each site's article on the matter): MSNBC, Washington Post, Consumerist, Huffington Post, Yahoo, BoingBoing, Forbes, Digital Trends, Help Net Security, NY Magazine, NY Convergence, Auctionbytes, The Business Insider, Gizmodo, The Village Voice, The Mary Sue, BuzzFeed, About, Reputation, Salon, Now Public and Geek Sugar.

This was preceeded with lots of other bad press including the rape card fiasco and the Glamour fiasco. Click on these preceeding links if you want to understand what it is about.

I was personally effected by the rape card fiasco. Two women customers, who saw the unflattering story break on CNN, came into a brick and mortar gallery where I was working and wanted me to sign the petition to force Etsy to take the rape cards down from its site. And then they looked at me and asked why I would want to sell on a site like that, not realizing that Etsy is not all about dildos, radical art and Regretsy type items. I do think the outside world mainly regards Etsy as an off-the-wall kind of marketplace filled to its brim primarily with Regretsy items and Keep it Weird items when actually the opposite is true: there are more artists making exceptionally unweird items than weird ones, they just never get much press.

It's not getting much better over at Etsy.com. The recent article in Inc Magazine portrays Etsy as a giant flea market and its CEO as crazy:

Inc Magazine, April 2011:
“Today, Kalin is socially awkward, reticent and given to eccentricities which seem downright crazy.”

Kalin speaks in the article too: (Inc Magazine, April 2011):
"I speak to people in the business world and the technology world, but I don't admire them", he says, pointing an 8-inch combat knife at me for emphasis.

There's more, but I won't go further.

I know a lot of sellers are having a difficult time selling, and many blame the latest happenings (if they are allowed to speak out-- you mostly have to look off of the Etsy site to find out how sellers are really taking it all).

Needless to say, I don't really fit in (in terms of what they like to promote). If I made owls, cowls, mustaches and certain kinds of watercolors and Regretsy types of items, I would. But I don't (normally!). I'm trying to figure out what to do about my own shop on Etsy and in the meantime primarily focusing on my Artfire shop and the brick and mortar gallery scene in my area, which is sober in comparison. I'm not recommending or actively advertising Etsy at all to my brick and mortar customers primarily because of the privacy issues. All I need is my brick and mortar customers coming into the store with "Why didn't you tell us that our names would be splashed all over google and that our e-mail boxes would be bombarded by spam!"

I still have a few things listed at Etsy. If you love Etsy, then make sure your privacy settings are the way you want them!

Here is a close-up of the owl's face, complete with mustache:

edited to add: more on this subject through this link.

links:

MY WEBSITE
SOME OF MY ART FOR SALE ON ARTFIRE

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE
My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE
My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:
CD Baby
Amazon
InandOutRecords (Europe)
My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

original drawings on small jigsaw puzzles

2011-03-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Mermaids and Fishes II

Mermaids and Fishes I

Stars and Doves I

Leddy, the Exotic Bird

Note: I was planning on this blog post being about the Etsy privacy disaster (as promised from the previous post), but I am putting it off until the next time I blog. It's more pleasant to share new work:

The puzzles (above) are pieces I made yesterday and today. They are original drawings using india ink and professional artist's markers on small blank jigsaw puzzles. Very liberating! I usually plan most of my artworks with preliminary drawings. This is the first time in years when I just took my pen and drew. In other words, I winged it!

I am putting them up for sale in my artist's co-operative gallery, Valley Artisans Market.

Valley Artisans Market celebrated their 30th anniversary this last Sunday with a potluck for members (past and present) and their families.

I usually don't post work that I take to galleries and shops, but perhaps I will start.

Valley Artisans Market is a combination gallery/artisan's market/gift shop. Everything in the shop is locally made. My own handmade items in this shop include framed giclee prints, small wheel thrown vessels and sculptures, greeting cards, gift tags, jig saw puzzles, painted and printed teeshirts and painted and printed tote bags. They also allow me to have my CDs for sale in the shop.

The shop is located in a town very close to where Grandma Moses lived and painted and is often filled with summer and autumn tourists who want a taste of an older America. The area hasn't changed too much since she lived there. The houses still look like the houses she painted. There are no big box stores except a small Cumberland Farms and an Agway. There are no condos, parking lots or apartment buildings. It is like stepping back in time.

The gallery is what you'd expect in an area where Grandma Moses lived: fairly conservative with lots of paintings of the rural landscape and farm animals. Perhaps my work is less conservative than most of the work in the gallery.

links:

MY WEBSITE

VALLEY ARTISAN MARKET

Simon Lovey, Exotic Bird

2011-03-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

part of the Exotic Bird Series I have been working on

7th in the series

This is listed as a giclee print through this link in my Artfire shop.

I tend to do work on my exotic bird series when I am stressed out or the weather is too hot to think straight. I can just make up what I want as I go along; I don't have to worry about being true to persective or color. I look at these pieces as simply joy.

Joy is a good juxtaposition to being stressed out (sounds so obvious, doesn't it?).

I don't mind telling my readers that my state of stress concerns Etsy's latest privacy breaches. I will go into a lot more detail about the matter in my next blog post, but to briefly keep you abreast, Etsy changed its privacy policies recently and disclosed all buyers' real names to the general public (buyers could opt out of having their real names disclosed-- but many buyers were not aware of any of Etsy's change of privacy policies because they never received Etsy's e-mails). To make a log story short, what people bought on the Etsy site was searchable through google. The story broke on all of the major media (MSNBC, Washington Post, Huffington Post, etc). This effected sellers too, as buyers were blaming sellers for recommending and advertising the site, a site they (the buyers) thought was secure.

At this point, I cannot in good conscience recommend Etsy until this has been worked out to my satisfaction, thus the warning after my Etsy link below:

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

(You do not need to be a member of this site to buy—secure site... and largest selection)

(You need to be a member of Etsy to buy--secure site... seasonal selection)

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Fuchsia Egg with Bunny

2011-03-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is probably the last Easter design of the year and is available through my Artfire on-line shop in packages of 3 cards each (it can be ordered in different quantities; just read the directions on the listing description).

The original design is 10.5" x 15" and I have saved it in this size just in case someone wants a full print of it.

I have a lot of easter designs in stock where rabbits have full features, so I decided that this one could be featureless, like a flash of lightening leaping across the suspended egg.

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Is that my face in that balloon?

2011-03-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Jim Manngard: digital artwork
from a photo of me by Jim Lestrange

I thought this was pretty darned cool when Jim Manngard sent this to me, so I'm posting it here. Jim does a lot of fun digital work for his friends including photos with art (and special meanings) around the frames as well as funny self portraits (including himself as Matryoshka dolls!). Not too much of it out there on the web to see, which is too bad, but it is why I'm posting this one here.

He started his balloon series with the Blackmores Night Band. It is a balloon with a picture of the band with the caption "Blackmore's Night Minstrel Band flying high and reaching for the stars". Days later he made Ritchie and Candice (the married leaders of that band) balloons shaped like hearts flying over a lake. I had told him that I liked these pieces, so he sent me this version. Jim works for Blackmores Night as part of the sound team and takes a lot of tour pictures, some of which he converts to digital art when he is home.

You can see a few of Jim's photos on the Blackmores Night website and the Candice Night website.

My own website

newest 2011 Easter designs, this one is called: Purple Egg with Mustard Border

2011-02-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

This my latest Easter design. I finished it last night and it is already up in my Artfire shop through this link.

I may also have it in my Etsy shop closer to the Easter holiday. It will also available at some brick and mortar stores.

I had fun doing this one! Off to create more! Have a great day!

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Egg with Two Bunnies

2011-02-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

Egg with Two Bunnies

(copyright watermarks do not appear on actual greeting cards)

As a greeting card designer, I am always at least one holiday ahead. I have finished shamrocks for the year and this is the first in a series of new Easter designs (for this year).

Here is a close-up of one of the rabbits:

close-up

This design is actually a whopping 11" x 16" which I shrunk to greeting card size. But I retained the full size just in case anyone loves it as a print.

I have the greeting cards available in my Artfire shop through this link. I may also have it available through my Etsy shop in March or April (note: greeting cards in my Etsy shop are seasonal, so if you want a wide variety of cards to choose from, it is best to get them through my Artfire shop for the time being).

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Shamrock with Leaves

2011-02-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

My newest design! Available as greeting cards here in my Artfire store. I will also have them available in my on-line Etsy store in March of this year.

links:

MY WEBSITE

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

Shamrock with Faerie

2011-02-17T06:40:00.000-08:00

My newest design! This one is up in My Artfire shop as greeting cards here and will also be available as prints shortly.

It will also be in my Etsy shop in March (a little closer to St. Patrick's Day-- not good to list them there now).

This is a closeup of the faerie:

links:

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):
Music MYSPACE

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

new heart designs for love (or Valentines Day), 2011

2011-01-24T09:51:00.000-08:00

I have a pretty extensive catalog of heart designs which goes back to 1999. I usually do well with these designs on cards in brick and mortar stores around Valentines Day. Perhaps some people like them because they aren't corny & they aren't what the usual fare is in greeting card shops or grocery stores.

So, I couldn't resist making some new designs for this season (note: copyright watermarks only appear on-line; they do not appear in actual products):

also presently available in my on-line Artfire shop

Heart, Renaissance Inspired

also presently available in my on-line Artfire shop

Heart, Gothic Inspired

also presently available in my on-line Artfire shop

I also made some square gift tags which I will have to post at another time.

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Ice Storm with Bouquet

2011-01-18T17:42:00.000-08:00

Ice Storm with Bouquet
(you may have to click on the image to get the full effect)

This latest piece of mine, "Ice Storm with Bouquet" (above), is being shown at an invitational art exhibit at Hubbard Hall Projects in Cambridge, NY for a show called Winter Garden. It was made in 2011, is 14.4 inches x 9.6 inches (a bit of an odd size) and is in a limited edition run of 320 of various sizes.

I may have it available in one of my on-line shops if you are interested (on-line shops are listed below or contact me through my website).

This is a new turn for me in terms of style and subject matter, but it is one I am pursuing more and more in this new year.

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire

Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

on the drawing table and holiday concert at Troy Music Hall

2010-11-19T17:26:00.000-08:00

Work in progress:

one corner of the piece

in sepia ink

still has pencil guides in it

finished piece will have color

I thought I'd post this now since I have no idea when I will be able to finish it. I was hoping to finish it before the holidays to hang it in one of my holiday art shows, but it doesn't appear that I will be able to do that (and I do want to do it justice by thinking out all of the compositional elements).

The reason why? Our band is in rehearsals for holiday concerts, one at Troy Music Hall (which requires the most concentration, since the last time we performed there, it was a packed house-- about 1,000 in the audience) and a small one at a Victorian Streetwalk.

The concerts take precedence.

I was wondering if I should have done any holiday art shows this year since they are all-involving and take me away from my music and practicing for at least two weeks (sometimes more). When I get back to my instruments, the callouses on my fingertips has softened or peeled off (making playing more painful) and my instruments feel foreign.

But now that I am into the swing of it, I feel much more like a musician than a visual artist. It can and does go the other way around too. Funny how that happens.

The fact that I can be a musician at all (and especially to be able to perform at such a great venue as the Troy Music Hall) is always amazing to me since I had severe asthma until I was 28 years old. Being able to sing was comparable to being able to fly... and not just sing, but professionally sing. How did this happen? I am so blessed!

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:
Artfire
Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):
Music MYSPACE
My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE
My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:
CD Baby
Amazon
InandOutRecords (Europe)
My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Holiday Art Show at Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council in Lapham Gallery

2010-11-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is the postcard for the event (you might have to click on the image to see all of the pertinent information).

I was juried into this show again this year. This is the website for the Art Center if you want to check it out. I will have prints (framed and unframed), cards and gifty art tags for sale. It runs from November 12 - December 24.

I was also in the previous juried group art show at the same center. The show was called "Black and White". I discovered a picture of my entry in their latest newsletter:

You might have to click on this picture too. This one is a pretty tall handthrown porcelain bottle: 2 feet high.

I have some new art pieces I'm racing to finish up. I will post those soon.

And I am trying to fill up my Artfire Shop as much as I can possibly handle (the brick and mortar shops are taking precedence at the moment).

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

Artfire

Etsy

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

Music MYSPACE

My band, Saratoga Faire’s MYSPACE

My Renaissance band MYSPACE: The Spirites Consort

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES:

CD Baby

Amazon

InandOutRecords (Europe)

My band, Saratoga Faire, on CD Baby

Twin Hearts in Turquoise and Purple, new art print

2010-10-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Twin Hearts in Turquoise and Purple

original is 10.5" x 13.5"

print is 5" x 7" (image size is approximately 4" x 6")

I made the original in 2006 and then altered it in 2009, but never used the alteration until now.

The 5" x 7" print is available in my Artfire On-line Shop.

I am busy with a particularly intricate piece and preparing for holiday shows (both music and art), so I thought I'd show you this one since it will take me some time to show you my present design.

My Website

MY ART IN ON-LINE STORES:

MY MUSIC LINKS (hear clips):

MY MUSIC IN ON-LINE STORES: