My Art Situation

Holy cow, has it really been a year since I last posted? I've been giving all of my love to Instagram. Sorry Blogger. It's summer and I am up in our home in Northern New York recharging my batteries.

I am getting a studio together. The small step ladder above was retrieved from a trash pile and has  become my new easel. As I sit painting the sound of song birds waft through the windows. Rabbits bound across the lawn stopping to nibble on green grass and sometimes the little doe who lives in the trees just beyond visits. We throw her apples, and who new deer love marshmallows so much?

Teaching can be mentally exhausting. This time of year is all about refilling my tank. We leave for London  in a few days and I already have my museum and gallery visits planned.

The moral of the story is to remember you can't give on an empty tank. If you can't remember the last time you did something for you, what are you waiting for? Make something, do something. And make sure it's delightfully decadent.

Art Dolls

 I am still working on clay cloth combinations. Who knows, perhaps this is where the universe wants me to be.

 These girls are now on my Etsy store. I call them Forest Fairies (Bird and Fauna) I drew and painted on their little bodies. Soft colors, which is a departure from my electrifying circus colors.

Today I am cleaning my studio. It was such a mess I couldn't focus. Do you get like that too? Seriously... a friend commented to me "OCD much" uh, yes I guess so. Honestly, I couldn't set a cup of coffee on the table. Sorry I haven't written here much, will be better now that I have ditched Facebook.

Don't forget to look for me on Instagram @Vixterina and you will see more posts. You can always say hi!

Beep Beep

Here's a little something I just brought down to Artisan's on the Ave.Women are on a roll and this little sculpture let's you know all about it. When I was younger I didn't give women's rights much thought, but I am thankful for women who blazed trails that allowed me to attend college, vote, and work and perhaps one day the wage gap will go away. And it might be easy to forget but there are places on this planet where women can't attend school. Educated women can be hard to control.

 The resistance, the calls to Congress are being made by women. So throwing it back old school: you go girl. And to the young girls live your life for you. Have a child when you want one, buy yourself a diamond (don't wait for or settle for a boy). Be good to you.

Smooth Sailing!

“hark, now hear the sailors cry,
smell the sea, and feel the sky
let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic...”
Van Morrison

 

 It feels like the world has gone absolutely mad and I just want smooth water. My little fingers are crossed because think I found a summer get-away in my hometown. The inspection is tomorrow.

 There are visions of summers along the St. Lawrence River. Summer days in my studio in New York. That sounds so nice to me.

The property has a garage with a large loft, that looks like a perfect space for a studio. Hoping for good news on the inspection. But as Ricky Scaggs sings, “I can't control the wind but I can adjust the sail.”

 So we wait

And these little ceramic girls have sails they never need to adjust.

Boat Sculpture

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” 

 H. Jackson Brown Jr., PS I love You.
   

The subject of boats seem to raise their head every now and then in my art. My dad worked on and restored boats and it turns out I had ancestors who were Admirals in the Royal Navy way back in the day. So boats mean a lot to me symbolically. And I think the quote above speaks why a lot of us connect to them.

 Going to keep the colors very soft. Watercolor is my favorite paint medium. By far. Making my own masts from bits of wood.

 You can even see my finger prints in this face detail. How I love seeing the presence of the human hand in a work of art.

So today throw off the bowlines and sail.

Sea Babies

I've been painting away over the weekend and finally got time to post some new sea babies. I shot these after work today. One of my students said "where's all those dolls you posted on Facebook?" So here they are.

 This is by far my favorite. Calling her Cheyenne.

 

These are Scarlett and Cowrie. 

 

And this is Jetty. I think I am going to braid Scarlett and Cowrie's hair too. I am not sure if most people will care for their hair. I brush it with a fork. Hope you enjoy them.

Say Hello to New Old Friends...

If you know my work you will remember a few years ago I was making pieces similar to these. Let's call them "house Martins". And if you know me, you'll know I go in cycles. I run through something and always come back. Knocked these two out last  night and anxious to see where they go.

Like they say the only thing constant is change. The first change is these two are slightly larger. They look to be about 6-8 inches tall . Making art is always a fun exploration and I always enjoy the journey.

March Calendar Page

It's that time of the month again. Please feel free to use this calendar page for personal use. The warm light might have you dreaming of spring.

Ethereal New Work in 2015

For a lot of reasons lately I've been doing a lot of soul searching with regards to my art. Long ago I made clothes for my figures but talked myself out of doing it because I didn't have a degree in fashion design. But I love to sew, and bead, and embroider, and paint, and make jewelry, (and, and and). So I got really pissed at myself and here's what I have been up to in the past few months. A lot more labor and materials go into these so the price point will be higher than my older work. Hoping to list them in the next week or two. Do you like?

Happy New Year

I told myself I was done with this calendar page business in 2015 and then I used my laptop and realized that I really missed it. Horribly. And with the new year will come new pieces. Lately there have been a few set backs, glazes shivering off the work. But I've got a new load ready to fire and setbacks won't keep me down. Here's the lovely Londiva as January's pin up. Happy New Year!

November Calendar Page

Halloween is tomorrow and I saw a Christmas ad on television today. Zoiks.
Please enjoy the November 2014 calendar page. This month features Dot and her Hippo friend all painted up. Feel free to use as your desktop image. Personal use only please. Happy Thanksgiving!

More Dogs for Bark Show

Unloaded a kiln this morning and happy birthday to me, more dogs for the Bark show.

 Frisbee Fred is going to be a lamp.

 And Vicious Vic will be a lamp too. Going to wire them up. Fingers crossed.

Bark Exhibition: To benefit animal shelters

I've been busy making dogs.

 Having a lot of fun.

These are for a show at the Eissey Campus at Palm Beach State.

The show is a fundraiser for animal shelters. There are plenty more of these available for adoption.

Had a lot of fun with their names. Maggie the Mauler, Cindy Claws, Sunny the Scratcher to name a few.

The opening reception is September 16th from 5:30 - 8:00 PM. Runs through October 17th. All of these dogs and cats are available for adoption. See you there!

Ready for Summer?

Fresh out of the kiln. Three new sets of doubles with their little dollies. 

Two are off to Florida Craftsmen Gallery and one will be posted on Etsy or Artisans on the Ave in Lake Worth. Having fun making little toy cuddly toys for the kids. Hope you like them.

New Hobby Horse Sculptures

I have barely had time to be in the studio, barely. Why? Because we're redoing out kitchen. I've been told on average people do it twice in their lives, do you know why? BECAUSE IT SUCKS!
Despite the kitchen drama, here are my latest babies. Hobby Horse riding. I am exploring softer colors, and not as intense. What do you think?

Holiday Ornaments

It's beginning to look a lot like a zoo in my studio. Okay, the studio usually  resembles a barn but today there is a menagerie in there. Sorry the images are so bad, but these little babies are only about 4 - 5 inches tall and they're going to be ornaments. Or something sort of resembling ornaments. They'll hang from hooks or ribbons from their little muddy heads. You know I will be posting images once they're glazed and out of the kiln.

New Ceramic Sculptures

Another day another opened kiln. Here are a few new babies fresh out of the kiln. These busts are comparable to jumbo salt and peppers that I make. They're about 15-20 inches high. Going to make more with more torso to them today.

Copyright Infringement

Please visit my latest article on the Create Mixed Media Web Site, or read it here.

Seriously, can we talk about jerks? And you know whom I am talking about; it’s those people who want to relieve you of your hard earned money and artwork. I recall 3 times in my life when professionally I have dealt with totally dishonest people. The first experience happened way back when I was 18 years old.

A person asked me to create illustrations for a motorcycle-coloring book. Long story short, after I completed a series of drawings for them they told me they weren’t going to use my artwork. A year later I found a coloring book with my illustrations. It was my word against theirs. The second time an art gallery I dealt with was notifying artists that their art had been broken at the gallery and we were out our money. It so happened this gallery pulled this stunt on a very prestigious glass artist. When the prestigious glass artist’s dealer asked for the broken shards it was revealed that the gallery owner was selling work, and pocketing the money all for herself. The third time was when a gallery found me online and asked if they could sell my work. I thought I did my homework, Googling the gallery, the proprietor, and artists who were represented by the gallery. I even went so far as to contact artists who showed at the gallery to inquire if they were happy with their experience. Long story short,

getting money out of this person was on par with getting a root canal. I got a lot of run around and when I requested that my unsold art be returned, all of the sudden the work had just sold and they would send a check. Months pass, no check, I complained sent an invoice and finally a check was sent, which bounced. Another invoice was sent and threats were made, I received a money order for the amount due including bank fees for the bad check. In the scope of life it’s not a huge disaster but still a learning opportunity.

How does an artist protect himself or herself from dishonest people? Those rip off merchants who would rather rob you of your intellectual property than use their own. Here are some pointers:


1. If you do send work to a person you do not know you must be prepared for the possibility of not seeing money and consider it a donation. Do your homework. Do not be afraid to contact other artists who show at that space and ask if they would recommend that gallery. You could agree to send a couple of pieces which you are paid wholesale pricing (50% of the msrp) in advance and then go from there. Be reasonable, if you are selling paintings for $20,000 you’re gallery director is most likely going to say no to half up front. They’re in business to make money too.

2. Get everything in writing. Create contracts and or invoices send them to your clients. I love email because it creates a paper trail where I can embed and attach invoices. Even if you forget the fine details of a conversation you can easily reread an old email to jostle your memory. Volunteer Lawyers for the arts

3. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good. If you don’t put images on the internet how will anyone know who you are? On the other hand if you put crystal clear large-scale images on your blog, don’t be surprised if somebody uses them. If you don’t want to tempt thieves you might consider posting low-resolution images. Scale images down to approximately 800 pixels wide at 72 ppi (pixels per inch) and the fine detail will be lost. You should consider using a copyright symbol © on your website as a reminder that your artwork is protected. For more information on copyrighting artwork visit the U. S. Copyright website. US Copyright Office.

 4. You might consider joining a professional arts organization that offers assistance to artists who need legal help such as the Artists Rights Society or the Graphic Artists Guild or if you require legal advice check out the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and see if they can help. Artists Rights Society


5. And finally, your intellectual property is yours. Should you discover that a person has robbed your artwork send the offender an invoice for usage. Graphic Artist's Guild You might want to read the article Avoiding Copyright Infringement: When Has an Artist Infringed by Mark Monlux found at the Graphic Artists Guild’s website. Good and bad things happen to artists, sometimes we win best in show and then other times it may feel as if we’ve won the booby prize for bad decisions. Share your experiences on your blog, who knows your words may protect a fellow artist from going through the same hard lessons you’ve learned.

Helpful Links: Artists Rights Society: http://www.arsny.com/basics.html What is Intellectual Property: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/index.html

Graphic Artists Guild: An article by Mark Monlux that explains what to do if you find someone has infringed your rights: https://www.graphicartistsguild.org/tools_resources/artwork-infringement

(Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts) has a hotline staffed by law students and lawyers who can answer your legal questions. http://www.vlany.org/legalservices/artlawline.php -

See more at: http://www.createmixedmedia.com/blogs/copyright-infringement-a-guest-post-by-victoria-rose-martin#sthash.FR2IPIMd.dpuf