Some New Things

New Water Tower Painting.

It's been months since I posted some new originals in my shop, but I finally did just that today. There are two new pieces in my shop right now.

Inspired by a Dog Mountain Hike

I was looking through my Flikr page yesterday, trying to come up with a couple of images to draw and paint. I forget how many photos I have over there. I found these two images and I knew I wanted to recreate them with pencil and paint.

While I was looking through those photos I came across a number of pictures that I took while I lived in Michigan. They brought back a lot of memories. This photo in particular reminded me how much I used to love selling on Etsy and getting so many orders everyday.

So many!

 It's hard to believe that I used to send out a stack of orders like that almost everyday! I don't get that many orders in a month these days. I'm okay with though. My wholesale/consignment business has been growing steadily and I feel like it's just going to keep growing. I'm going to surpass the sales I made last year, and the two years before that!

It's hard not to miss those days sometimes. It was such an immediate transaction and it made me feel so validated. I also really loved packing all those orders. Really!

Ah well. I'm going to mention television again because I remember this clip, from The Office, whenever I start to think about "The Good Ol' Days."



 Oh Andy, you really summed that one up nicely.

Hello Tuesday!

I have to say, I'm rocking this Tuesday.

My to-do list in nearly finished, I've got some new prints hanging out in my Etsy shop and my show is up and running at Crafty Wonderland! Here's a little blog post where you can read about it and see it!

http://craftywonderland.com/2013/08/august-artist-of-the-month-michele-maule/

Cathy Pitters and Torie Nguyen, who run the shop, did an amazing job setting it up! I love how it looks. If you're in downtown Portland this month, go see it!

Pygmy Rabbit

I've got some prints of some of those painting in my Etsy shop right now, and I'm slowly adding more this week. I'm realizing that now that this series is over, I need a new series to work on. I was thinking about maybe focusing on people for the next round... Or I could finish the series I started working on last year that I never finished. So many ideas and so very little time to get them all done.

Sasquatch!

It's been a great Tuesday so far, hope your Tuesday is going well too! Also, tomorrow is my birthday! So hooray to that!

American Pika

My, What a Busy Week

Good news! I finished my Crafty Wonderland show on time with very little setbacks...

Stacks of cards going out to Powell's, New Seasons and Collector Gallery in Berkeley.

I did realize at the last minute that not only do I have a small wall to fill, but there is also a little space for other items like prints, cards and whatnot's. So, at the last minute, I was trying to get as much of these items together. I totally ran out of plastic sleeve for cards. I don't normally use plastic sleeves for my cards, it saves on costs and the environment, but I thought it would be a good idea for display purposes.

Anyway, it all got done, and then I moved onto filling card/consignment orders that I've been lacking on. I really love how much work I've gotten lately. I feel grateful and it's pretty awesome to be doing so well. Especially since last year was so dismal.

I wonder if it's like this for most Etsy sellers/tiny business owners? Some years are just better than others? I know this year has been much better because of my wholesale card business. I've been toying with the idea of just focusing on cards, but I really love making art so much. I just don't think I could just make cards...

I don't know. I suppose it's just something to think about. Especially if I really want to leave my day job.

Well, Hello There

Hi!
It's been awhile. I've been dealing with some personal things that I didn't think were pertinent to this blog. Nothing serious. Just everyday things. Also, summer happened. I've been trying to get outside as much as I can. Which, has been a bit difficult with so many shows in the works.

Since I last wrote a blog post I did Crafty Wonderland, a group show in Chicago, a show and a show at Salt and Straw in Portland. Right now I'm getting ready for a show at Crafty Wonderland shop in August. Oh, I'm also working at the ole day job. Busy things.

I've been making a ton of new work. If you follow me on Etsy I'm sure you've seen some of it. I'll post some here but if you'd like to see more head over to my Etsy shop!

I'm hoping to do some more blogging. Hopefully going back to almost everyday, or at least once a week.



Hope the summer is treating you well!

I took a bit of a break from blogging. I've been doing a lot of thinking.
I'm not really sure where I want to go with this blog and I don't really want to just keep writing about myself.

One of the first paintings I ever sold on Etsy was this one.

I still don't really know what, or where, I'm going with this. That's okay. I feel like I'm hashing some things right now, and that's okay too. That's a good thing.

I have been feeling like I've been in hibernation mode for the past few months. I don't want to go anywhere, or do anything. I started to feel like maybe I was coming out of it last week, but then today happened and I just want to hole up inside my house. Today has been non-stop rain and it's cold. I have no motivation to do anything but nap and drink tea.

Fall of 2007

I really wanted to get some new work done today, and I was able to get a test print done, but that feel like the extent of my creativeness today.

In other news, it's my 6 year Etsy anniversary. I can't believe it's been six years since I opened my shop. So many things have happened. There have been numerous ups and downs. My work has changed and continues to change so much. I spent about an hour today looking through my old work, and come of the first things I listed on Etsy.

Winter of 2008

Wow.

Those first listings were so bad. It's a wonder I ever sold anything. Really.

Well, here I am 6 years later. Still listing (when I'm motivated), still blogging (sometimes) and still making art (the important thing).

I want to keep making art. Forever. That is the one thing about my life that I've always known, and never questioned. 

I am having a sale in my shop today through Thursday to celebrate my 6 years of sticking to one thing. 36% off everything in my shop until Friday at midnight :)

This will be my last sale until November, so be sure to scoop up some pretties for your house while you can!

Summer of 2008. One of my all time favorite typewriter paintings.

My shop can be found here: http://www.michelemaule.etsy.com

New Things!

Let's Stay the Night Here.

Hooray! I have new things in my shop. It always makes me feel so productive when I'm able to list new things in my Etsy shop.

Peek - A - Whoo

I listed several new 5x7" prints. I'll be listing some 8x10" prints of the same images later this week. I'm also going to be listing some more 5x7" prints as well.

Squirrely

 I'm also hoping to get my new Boston Terrier birthday card listed this week! I'm excited about that. It's my first birthday card and I hope it goes over well. How could a Boston Terrier with a cupcake not go over well? Right?

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend! Check back for more new prints this week!

Dancing Mountain Cat

2,000!!

Holy smokes I hit 2,000 sales on Wednesday!!

Dancing Mountain Cat knows we can achieve our dreams with a little hard work.

Wow! It's hard to imagine that I've done it. It's hard to imagine all those handwritten thank you notes! I really wasn't sure if I would make it there. It's taken me almost 6 years to get there and I really worked those last 1,000 sales.

 Things have become unbelievably slow the past year. I've enjoyed making all the new things I've been creating the past few months and I was so confident that others would enjoy it too. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, and my Etsy sales have been barely covering the cost of my supplies these day. It could always be worse, I know that, but it's been discouraging to say the least.

I've been brainstorming more wholesale opportunities and I'm really hoping to get into more stores this year. I've talked to two card reps that I've worked with at my day job for years. They've both offered to rep my cards for me and I feel like maybe I'm ready for that. They do take a percentage, but I'm thinking that maybe it might be worth it. I want to think about it a little longer before I make that decision...

I took this week off from work to work on some new card illustrations and just catch up a little. I've been able to focus on creating. This whole week I've been filled with that feeling of this is what I WANT to do with my life. That feeling of this is what I NEED to do with my life.

One day I know it will happen. I just know it! I just need to work a little harder and a little longer.

Downton

bates.

I'm kind of obsessed with the PBS show Downton Abbey. I love it. We watched the first season on Netflix and I think we finished it in two days. We watched the second season on television, and we're currently watching the third season. Nate thinks it should have ended with the second season and I hope it never ends.

Downton is filled with scandal, gossip, murder and it all takes place in a huge fancy house. I love it!

dowager countess

I think one of my favorite things about this show is knowing how much my grandmother would have loved to watch it. We would have definitely watched it together. I could totally see us both getting excited for Sunday evening to roll around.

When I was little I would spend a few weeks out of the summer with my grandparents. I remember us getting excited to watch The Lawrence Welk Show and Are You Being Served (even though I didn't get 95% of the jokes). I was a little old lady at 12 years old.

matthew

I came across this wonderful Etsy shop and artist, toad briar by Kim Parkhurst, the other day. I can't get over how much Kim's animal portraits compare to the real deal. They are so well executed and I feel like they convey the personality of the characters so well.

mrs. patmore

If you get a chance to watch Downton, I highly recommend it. It's not for everyone, but I like it a lot. Plus, there's no commercials and it's not a reality television show.

Product Photos

Let's Build a Boat

This week I've been trying to revamp my little shop. I feel like it needs a little styling, so yesterday, during sun breaks, I began the epic undertaking.

Imperial Red

So far I like the results. I'm using natural light, a frame with no glass and the little shelf in my office. I'm trying to keep it simple and clean. I need to add another angle or shift sides of the shelf, to change it up a little bit.

Along with some revamping I also added two new prints to my shop yesterday. Larkin Cat and Monday is My Sunday are now available in my shop.

Larkin Cat

My sales this month have been amazing. Far passing the sales from last year at this time. It's given me a little motivation to work harder on my shop. Funny how that works, sometimes.

Monday is My Sunday

Crafty Wonderland is next weekend and I still can't wrap my head around it. I have a lot of new work and a lot of new cards. I have a good feeling about it, but still a lot more work needs to be done.

Thinking

Well, that was a huge storm that hit the East Coast last night.

I hope all is well with people who have been affected. Natural Disasters always put my own life into perspective. It makes me feel grateful for what I have and how unprepared we are for something of that magnitude. The city of Portland freaks out, and shuts down, when we get less than a half inch of snow. I can't imagine what it would be like here if something disastrous happened. And unfortunately, something will happen. Hopefully, not soon...

Anyway, on a lighter note, I've been listing some new items in my shop.

Stay Where You Are

A new painting and some new holiday postcards. I know Christmas is still two months away, but I felt like I should get them listed soon. It's still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that Thanksgiving is 23 days away. Yikes.

New Portland Postcards

Well, my thoughts are with those affected by the storm. I hope everyone, and every pet, is safe.

New Work!

I'm trying to get some new things in my Etsy shop listed over the next few days.

Winter and Red

I have some paintings and some works on paper to list. I also have a new Holiday postcard that I'm excited to share.

Thanks for the Memories

So far I've been able to list two new paintings. They're both mixed media collage oil paintings. You can find the little fox here, and the deer here.

More to follow tomorrow and Friday!

New Things

I've been adding new things to my shop this week!
Hooray!

Let's Spend the Night

It's always so nice to update my Etsy shop with fresh new things.

Let's Discover New Things

 You can find Spend the Night  here, New Things here and owl cards here :)

I've got a few more little pieces of art in the works and I hope to have them done and listed next week. I've been working so much on paper I've forgotten that I have some small panels that I can paint on. I'm hoping to get around to working on those next week, and hopefully I can add some new paintings to my shop next month.

Owly card

Planning, planning. I seem to always be planning.

New

It's a beautiful September morning. I feel like September is the prettiest month in Portland. The weather is still warm, the sun shines and there is crisp feel to the air. It's the last hoorah before the rainy, grey, weather sets in.

I'm kind of looking forward to the rainy season. It's so hard for me to focus on gettting art made when the weather outside is perfect. The rain and cold forces me to hunker down and draw. 

Despite the beautiful weather we had yesterday, I managed to get a lot of work done. I listed not one, but two, new items in my Etsy shop! Go me! They're two new postcards.

I also made a curtain for my new office. I say curtain, singular, because it's just one long curtain that stretched across the window. There is something very satisfying for me about making curtains. I suppose that's true for just about any home improvements that I do.

I also bought a new lamp for my little office. It's bright and white and I love it. I'll share pictures soon. I want to get it a little more put together before I post pictures.

Friday!

New illustration in my Etsy shop :) "Come away with Me"

Friday is technically my Thursday, so I don't get that excited when it rolls around, but I do start thinking about what I'd like to do on my day off.

I'm not sure what our plans are for the weekend, but I'm sure it will involve digging in our year. We still have a lot of work to do and we didn't get anything done last weekend.

I also want to get some more work done on my commissioned piece. I'm looking forward to working on it!

also, I thought I would share a little sale that I'm having in my Etsy shop with you. It's buy two 8x10" prints for $30.00.

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Three Sisters

Three Sisters

I posted a new painting in my Etsy shop yesterday.

I finished this piece a few weeks ago, but I haven't had a chance to photograph it and list it until yesterday.
I like how this painting turned out. I love the collage peeking out of the white, and I am very happy with how soft the feathers look.

I started a commission piece yesterday. I was contacted by a woman with two friends who are getting married and who are also farmers. She requested a painting in the style of American Gothic by Grant Wood. I was very apprehensive about doing this piece. I've never done a commission with people, and it's also much larger than I am used to. The size is 18x20", making it a bit intimidating. It took me about 2 hours yesterday just drawing it out, and making sure the dimensions were correct. So far I'm pretty happy with the drawing. I'm going to start painting on Thursday, so hopefully I'll have something interesting to share.

I thought it was time to take a leap, to take a risk, and to take on a challenge. I hope it was the right choice! We shall see....

Workin it Today.

Workin it today.
Originally uploaded by michele_maule

I feel like with the nice weather we had this weekend, I am really falling behind on making things.

Crafty Wonderland is a couple of days away and my Etsy shop is a bit at a stand still. I find that when I list new items, my views and sales go up a bit. So I try to add new things weekly.

So, today I started, and completed, three new collages! If I can keep this momentum up I think I'll be just fine for Crafty Wonderland, and hopefully I'll be able to pick up some sales in my Etsy shop.

also, it's Tuesday, and I have to say, it's been a really great day. Two great Tuesdays in a row. I'm starting to feel like I've got this terrible Tuesday situation under control! woot!

Keep on keeping on

It's been awhile. 
I've been very busy. 

Project in the works.

Making art, gardening, reading, and working. So much working. It's been hard to keep up with everything these days.

 There's just so much to talk about that I don't know where to begin. So, I will begin with today.

Today has been so so. Cleaning, running, post office, and working on a new watercolor. I'm finding that this new style that I've been working on isn't so well received in the Etsy world, but I like it, so I'm going to keep doing it. 

Work in progress

Etsy is a whole new ball game that I haven't figured out. Sales are few and far between. I don't know if it's because I've been spending less time on the internet, or if it's the the site itself. Does anyone shop there anymore? I know that in order to get traffic you have to constantly be promoting yourself. You have to constantly update your shop. You have to be active on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and blogging. I have not been doing any of these things. 

Lovely clouds this afternoon

I'm kind of over these things right now. I'm kind of over constantly tweeting about my items. I feel like I'm yelling at people to come look at my goods for sale. "Hey! You! Over there! Look at this thing I made!" 

That's what I feel like I've been yelling for three years. Every day. 

I want to stop. I don't like yelling at people to look at my things. I supposed they have the option to click on the link, but I still feel like it's not doing anyone any good.

Chloe! I need to figure out what to do with the rest of this yard...

So, what am I to do? I don't know. Maybe I just need a break. a very long break. Maybe I'll feel like yelling at people some more about my work later. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll give up self promoting, stay quiet, make art, and see what happens...

Nasturium coming back from last year!

Until I figure it out, I'm going to keep gardening, riding my bike, and making art that I like. I do need to write more and I do need to list more things in my online shop. So those will be my goals.

    

5 Years!

One of the first paintings I listed!

Holy cow! Tomorrow is my 5 year Etsy anniversary! 5 years!

My friend Angie first introduced me to Etsy. She told me that it was this really site and that she thought my work would sell really well there. I checked it out but I didn't think I would be able to sell anything. I thought that maybe my work wasn't a good fit. I decided to set up shop there anyway, just to see what happened. It couldn't hurt right?

Well, she was right, and although the past couple of years have been a bit of a struggle,  I still enjoy being there. It's changed my life in many ways. Mostly it's introduced me to a great community of artists, jewelers, and crafters. It's also pushed me to make art. I make art almost daily and much of my motivation comes from selling on Etsy. Whether I like what I'm creating, or not, the important thing is is that I am making art. That is a very good thing.

Well, to celebrate my five years on Etsy I'm having a sale!
You can take 35% off your order tonight and tomorrow. You just use the coupon code 5YEARS when you checkout.  The sale ends tomorrow at night at 12am, so get your orders in!

On a Roll

Watercolor on paper - Three

I feel like I've been on a creative roll the past couple of days. I was able to get some panels all collaged and just about ready to paint, and I finished up this pretty feather watercolor painting yesterday. For some reason it looks pretty blurry here...but not in my Etsy shop. hm?

 We're in our final days of our vacation, but I'm trying hard not to think about it. Live in the moment!

I made a promise to myself to never wait as long as we did to take time off. I get so wrapped up in things that I forget to do it, but it really is SO important.

I'm already planning another one is august!

Well, happy weekend! We actually don't have to work Saturday so it will be a real weekend for us!

Vacation

Today is the last day in Portland for a few days.

We're leaving for Pittsburgh tomorrow and I'm excited about it! I've heard that there are some cool bridges, and lots of industrial areas. I'm hoping it helps jump start my creativity a little bit.

We decided to leave Chloe with some friends of ours. They have a little dog named Carly whom Chloe gets along very well with. This is the first time in a few years that I've been without my pup. It's going to be weird at first...I miss her already, but it's good. You don't realize how important they are to you until they're ill, or you have to leave them for awhile.

I tried to get as much work done as possible before our trip. I did manage to get quite a few things listed in my shop, and I added a lot of work to my sale section. I've been including some originals, so if you haven't checked it out in awhile, you should!

I doubt I'll be blogging while I'm away...so until next week!