‘Uncoloured’ Exhibition in Kyneton

Kyneton is a pretty, regional town in Central Victoria, an old gold mining area. It is also the home of the Old Auction House, which is hosting a group exhibition I am involved in. It is called ‘Uncoloured’, and you will not be surprised to know that the works are all black and white.

There will be 7 of us exhibiting.

I love the little glimpses of art on this flier, little teasers!

I will show you the seven feathers I am exhibiting. You will have already seen them if you get the letter from my studio. And if you don’t get the letter, why don’t you sign up, so that you can hear about the things happening in my artistic world?

I decided that pairs of feathers would be a good idea. So two guinea fowl feathers from my latest playing with ink and masking fluid.

Two tatty feathers, created with ink pens.

Two feathers with the fine lines drawn in ink. (They are created on the same type of  paper, despite one looking grey. That’s my photographic skills!)

And a single, realistic feather, created in pencil.

All works will be for sale. I hope to sell some, of course, but I am happy to be part of this. It has been just far enough outside my comfort zone to be doable, but to push me into something different for my art. I had to give myself a little nudge, not a huge shove!

I dropped the drawings into the gallery today and received further good news from the curator ~ I have been accepted into another group exhibition in May. This one is called ‘Not your usual canvas’, and my sewing on paper art works fit the bill!

So, if you are able to visit Central Victoria, check out the exhibition. Lots of lovely places for lunch too!

[Don’t forget to keep up-to-date with my work, sign up for my fortnightly letter.]

New Look Etsy ~ and discount offer

Etsy is getting a make over. If you have a shop there you will know this and have been to see what your shop will look like. If you, don’t then it is to be rolled out this week. More on the look in a little…..

To celebrate the new look, which I like, I am giving my wonderful blog readers an exclusive coupon code. Using the code will give you 10% off my drawings and paintings. It’s simple to use:

1. Head over to my shop AnneLawsonArt and buy a painting. You can buy more than one, and only pay shipping on the first.
2. When you go through the checkout you can add the coupon code APRIL16 for a 10% discount.
3. Wait for the drawing to come your way.

Too easy! The coupon will be active for April and it is only available to blog readers.

As for the new look, it is designed to be more mobile friendly. My front page used to look like this (and it still does if you check it out today)

After Tuesday it will look like this (minus all the editing tools, of course!)

You navigate by scrolling, and information should be easier to find. I have been astounded by the hysteria generated by the changes. The common reaction seems to be “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”. Then sellers sometimes go on to say “That’s it! I’m leaving!”, which is, of course, their choice. However, just this week I read wise advice that said, “Never make a business decision based on fear.” Make the decision based on reality ~ dropping sales, decreased views, hard statistics.

Apparently overall sales and views have been dropping anyway, so it will be interesting to see the impact the new look has.

I like the clearer, more minimalist look. I have always found Etsy easy to use, and with one exception, I think this will continue. The exception is the ability to rearrange my shop. This is the way to move items around the pages of the shop. The old way wasn’t perfect as it involved a lot of clicking. However there are no pages in the new way and so is harder to navigate. But after time I am sure I will work it out. (But I do feel for those sellers who have hundreds of items in their shop to rearrange.)

Pragmatically, just like the changes to Instagram, these Etsy changes are happening. I have no control over that. I can only control what I do and how I do it.

Remember, the coupon code APRIL16 is there for you to use until the end of April. The link to the shop is AnneLawsonArt

A new project

In October a customer, Nikki, bought one of my feather drawings through Etsy. A little while later she approached me about an order for her new online store! And today I sent off the drawings…..How fantastic is that?!

I have created a series of ink feathers for exclusively for her; they will not be available on Etsy. I used a fountain pen and water soluble ink to draw them. Because the ink smudges with water I was able to make the downy part of the feather much softer and fluffier than I have been able to get with non-soluble ink pens.

Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015

Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015

Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015

Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015

Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015

Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015

Ink feather. (Image copyright: Anne Lawson 2015)

[The purple stripes are sticky strips that allowed me to number them to allow Nikki to make a selection.]

Working with Nikki was the spur to changing my Etsy shop name.

The shop is Thirteen and Market. It is going to be opened in January, and I will certainly let you know when it does. But there is also Facebook and Instagram pages, where Nikki is showcasing items in the shop. I have to say, I thought my feather drawing looked very handsome in its gold frame on Facebook.

Interesting to see how one interaction, in this case on Etsy, can lead to something wider.

And speaking of interactions…..remember you can show us what is happening in your creative world by leaving a comment on my previous post In My Studio.

 

Creating for someone else

As well as painting larger scale botanic art works, like the Cullen pallidum that was recently shown in the exhibition, I love to create smaller drawings and paintings. These are usually of things I am fascinated by, objects from the natural world. I have told you about my shells, some painted in watercolour, some in soluble graphite.

Usually I potter around with my materials, letting my creativity flow as much as possible. If I am happy, I will put them up for sale in my Etsy shop.

Sometimes though I am asked to create something specific and I love working on these commissions. I enjoy the challenge of creating an art work that meets the image in someone else’s mind. There may be a specific photo they would like me to use. They may like something already in the shop but with different colours. For the latest commission my client had the frames so my images had to be a precise size.

I am usually quite relaxed about commissions, because I always make it clear that there is no obligation to buy. My image may not match up with the one in the client’s mind. That’s fine. I can pop it into the shop, and it may appeal to someone else. However, it hasn’t happened often, because I try to keep them abreast of what I am doing, sending images of what I am creating. Also I like to give them options, and this gives me a chance to play with different effects. Like these bats.

Art work and photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2012

I had never drawn bats before, but I was happy to try. I love gently working with graphite and that was my first choice. Then I thought about having a go with ink stippling — little ink dots that build up to create the tone. The customer couldn’t choose and bought both! I was especially delighted as he was a bat researcher 🙂

Another customer asked me to create a drawing of a black cockatoo feather. Isn’t this just the most stunning feather?

Art work and photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2013

 

And another wanted a feather for a tattoo. I would love to know if she ever used it.

Art work and photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2013

As I mentioned, occasionally the person doesn’t buy. I was asked to create some watercolour oyster shells, like the ones already in my shop , but bigger and with less purple. I don’t know why she didn’t buy them, but I am quite happy to have them in my shop. Someone else may just desire an oyster shell painting with a little less purple!

Art work and photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2014

Art work and photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2014

What fun!

This might will sound rather nerdy, but I love exploring new things to do on this blog. I recently found out that I could make galleries of photos. Has that always been available and I had never noticed, or is it a new feature? What else don’t I know? (Don’t answer that one ~ you will be here for ever!) I have often looked in awe at the way you clever bloggers arranged your photos, wondering how you did it. Now I know some of your secrets, the main one being to look at my editing pages a little more closely! 🙂

So, I have updated my gallery page. Drum roll for the unveiling…….

My gallery of my work!

Feathers, for sale

I thought that you might to look at these two feather drawings that I have just listed in my Etsy shop. Just click on the picture if you are interested in more details.

I also wanted to let you know that this month I am donating half of my sales to BirdLife Australia. Their current campaign is to protect wetland habitats that are facing threats such as reclamation projects and over-extraction of water. Wetlands are vital for birds such as the Great Knot that breed in Siberia and migrate to Australia, as well as many more species.

Feather drawings and paintings are a big part of my shop, and I like to give back to the birds that help support me. I hope to make this a nice, fat donation for the birds.

Ink feather (Photo and image copyright: Anne Lawson 2014)

Original feather drawing, done in pencil (Photo and artwork copyright: Anne Lawson, 2014)