Where have I been?

It's been a while since I've blogged here at ShirleyTwofeathers - or anywhere else for that matter. And no - I didn't drop off the face of the earth - I'm never that lucky - but what I did fall into was a pandora's box called Cafe Press. 

My daughter and I have been busy making a little store filled with all kinds of cool stuff made from my mandala art. Naturally, I can't do just a few things and be happy with that. No. I had to make a gagillion different designs. Of course we got excited and made a bunch of stuff with those designs, only to realize that we'd jumped the gun and needed to get organized first, and then I totally over thought how to organize the shop (imagine that - me over thinking something), and finally, after redoing it 3 times - we now have a cute little store with about 1% of our stuff uploaded and saleable.

We called it "Cool Mandala Art" so go check it out. I did all my christmas shopping at our store - and they were all really cool. My favorite thing is the tile boxes, but the mugs were a big hit too...

Don't want to go visit the store? Ok... that's fine... I'll show you my designs anyway. Here's sampling of what's at the store as of today:

NAMASTE

NAMASTE
Originally uploaded by Shirley Two Feathers

Here's something really cool! See this mandala? I made that!

And now someone is contemplating actually buying it. I just need to find the CD and look at the resolution and see if it can be printed larger than 16 x 16, upload it to Finer Works, and then... voila!

Wouldn't it be cool if I actually sold it?

And here's something interesting and dumb... I've always been kind of "ho hum" about it until now suddenly when someone else wants it, I'm seeing how beautiful it is...

Frying Your Phish

Hey guys! I made art today! This is the second in my "Fire in the Belly" series. The original actually looks quite a bit better than this quick scan.

I Crucify Myself

I crucify myself
a thousand times every day
I keep thinking
that
I'll cut it out
but I don't
there is all this extra baggage
and unfinished business
and this nebulous thing about
"being nice"
even when
I'm trying to be pointed and honest
strings are attached
I forgive them and then
forget to forgive
myself
this is my crown of thorns
my Crown Royal
and this is where
I stab myself
in the back
driving the point home
just literally pounding it in
is this really me
or do I still have my blinders
on shattering self images
counting down the years
time is running out
burning the candle
at both ends i'm trying to get a
handle on it
I want to be "good"
I want to get all my shit
into one small bag
I want that last piece
of the puzzle to slide
easily into place
and is that once in a blue moon
pie in the sky happily ever after
magical thinking
did i make my bed and now
i have to lie in it
feels deeply rooted
am I still a girl fragile
easily shattered
or just an old hag
with a bunch of screws loose
this is my slippery slope
the not so soft place
where I land
the quick sand I thrash around in
every day

-Barbie

Like it?
See the slide show at Green Dolphin Studio or visit a complete set of photos at Flickr.
This piece, by the way, has been sold.

My Etsy Store

I was on a website today, and I noticed that they had this really cool widget with their Etsy stuff in it. So, I dashed over to Etsy... spent an inordinantly long time trying to remember my user name and password. Finally got that figured out, and went in and looked at my store.

I hadn't been there in a really long time, and was surprised to see how nice it looked. I think I was expecting cobwebs and dust and stuff... Anyway, I then uploaded 2 new mandalas, and found the script for this cool little widget. I'm going to put it in the sidebar over at Mandala Madness.

So, what do you think? Is it cute or what? Doesn't it just make you want to BUY one?

Middle of the Night Art prints for sale

And then I had to make a decision about my "Middle of the Night Art" series. My plan is to eventually get it published as a book. I have an idea of creating an art book using the original art, cool leather bindings, doing it all by hand, and then auctioning it on eBay and making a gazillion dollars. Stay tuned to see how that works out. LOL.

For now, I have decided to sell prints of the Middle of the Night art. Just prints. Nothing spectacular, nothing limited edition. I may change my mind later, and there is still time to do that since I haven't yet put them up anywhere. At any rate, here are the Middle of the Night Art pictures that I pulled out to print and sell.

Driving my car off the road into nowhere.This picture is an all time favorite, and really defines my approach to life.

-oOo-


Melting PotI just love this one. For me, the little witchdoctor represents the "master of the universe", and the idea for this picture came from a Rumi poem about being cooked in a pot. I'll upload a copy of the poem here in a few days, and put a link to it here, so you can read it and see what I'm talking about.

-oOo-


Can the problem of bovine illiteracy be solved with prescription eye glasses?An excellent question, and as you can see, it is an important one as well. I too, often stand cow-like and dense, unable to read the signs.

-oOo-


Life in a nut shell. This pretty much sums up my views on life on earth as a human woman, and it also looks like a fairly accurate portrayal of my house.

:)

These are wax pastels and colored pencil on acid free black cardstock. The originals measure 8" x 8". So, here they are. Now all I need to do is figure out where to put them so people can buy them.

Mandala Art For Sale

The mandala art is all digital, so there are no issues in terms of packaging and shipping. I am planning to sell them as 16" by 16" limited edition fine art giclee prints on canvas. Here they are:

Abundance

This seemed an appropriate choice, since abundance is what I am wanting to achieve here. And also because this is the first mandala that I made.

-oOo-


NamasteI like the message, (Namaste means peace) almost as much as I like the image. Not only that, it really pops out on a web page, so I thought it would be a good choice for that reason as well.

-oOo-

Samadhi This one is so beautiful. I love the blue in it so much. It reminds me of water and stained glass together. Wouldn't it be cool to have a small reflecting pool with this image under the water? Maybe even with a few little orange koi swimming through it? Yummy!

-oOo-

MeditationI shared with a small demo print of this image with a coworker and she likes to keep it at her desk, it really pops out at you when you walk by. My sister, who is an incredibly gifted artist, made me a beautiful piece with an image similar to this, only she used colored glass and did a mosaic.

Abstract Art for Sale

My selection of the four abstract art pieces was based on how much I love them, how easy they would be to scan (for prints), and also for how easy they would be to pack and ship. This is what I came up with. If you want to see them bigger, click on an image and it will enlarge:

Blue Fish

This is pigmented india ink on 100% rag premium paper. I love the colors in it, and when ever I look at it, I just want to go there. It's small, only 8" x 10".

-oOo-

HalloweenThis one is one of my all time favorites. It's mixed media on watercolor paper. Another small painting, this one is only 9" x 12". The wonderfully creepy interesting textures and colors give it so much depth and flavor, don't you think?

-oOo-

Owl MoonI always see new things when I look at this painting. It's like a shamanic dream. Today it looks to me like there is someone sitting under the moon, hidden in the shadows. Cool huh? This one is a 9"x12" mixed media on watercolor paper.

-oOo-

Cosmic IrisThis is the largest one. I had to scan it four times and then merge the scans, but it was worth the effort. This one is ink and acrylic on rice paper, and is 9" x 13". It has a wonderful translucent quality.

Getting Started with Selling Art

I got some great feedback on my question over at Question of the Day, and it helped me to make up my mind which paintings to put out there first. I found it impossible to pick two of each one, and I have lots of favorites, so I chucked the idea of starting with six paintings, and decided to start with twelve - four of each. And because the styles are so different, I thought it might be a good idea to "market" them separately.

The abstract pieces chosen are: Blue Fish, Halloween, Owl Moon, and Cosmic Iris. You can take a look at them here.

The mandala art that I picked: Namaste, Abundance, Samadhi, and Meditation. You can take a look at those pictures here.

And from the Middle of the Night Art series, I chose: Driving my car off the road into no where, Melting Pot, Can the problem of bovine illiteracy be solved with prescription eye glasses, and Life in a nutshell. Take a look at them here.

So, there they are. The top twelve, armed and dangerous, ready to voyage into the cyberspace of "Art Online". The next thing to figure out is where to send them.

Selling Art Online

Ok, so I want to sell my art online. And this is my year. So I'm going to do it. Hmmm, what should I do first?

I guess first I need to have art to sell. Lets just take a look around the house... Well, let me see... there is art on the walls, art leaning up against the walls, art in the closet, art in front of the closet, art in the other closet, art in the computer, art on the computer, even some art under the computer. There is art on the dining room table, art on the art room table.. There's even art in the dresser drawers. There is so much art around here, I almost don't have room for me!

There is so much art, I don't even know where to start. I guess that's going to be step two. Figuring out what paintings to start with. So... should I start working at selling paintings in alphabetical order? Favorites first? Start with one series? Put forth a variety of styles and colors? Do a weekly pick 6? Run around the house blindfolded and just grab something?

I think I'll just bop on over to the "Question of the Day" and see if I can get any valuable insights or answers.