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

New Prints!

Good grief, it's been forever since I last posted new items in my Etsy shop.

Grey Wolves.

This summer has been so busy for me, that I've been neglecting my little online store. I've added three new prints and I'm hoping to add a couple of new cards by the end of next week.

Grey Fox

The fox print and the wolf print are part of a native, Oregon, wildlife series I've been working on. The originals will be downtown at the Crafty Wonderland shop next month! I'm almost done with these pieces and I'm really excited to show them in person.

You can find the Grey fox here and the grey wolf here.


The crane print is part of a custom piece I did a couple of months ago. I liked it so much I thought I'd list it on Etsy.

Blue Crane

It's warm here. It's probably very warm where you are too. Stay cool, friends.

The warmest day of the year, so far, was today! 63 degrees and wonderful!

I went for a 6 mile run, worked on some new pieces and played with Chloe in the back yard. It was fantastic.

Our garden is starting to really take off too. The Euphorbia is getting ready to bloom and the Forsythia has already started. I plated some kale and some lettuce, and I planted some lupine seeds and some poppy seeds on Sunday. I'm afraid I might be too late/too early with the flowers, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Fingers are crossed.

I was lucky enough to get quite a few art related things started this morning. I don't really know where the fox is going but I like it so far. I love making all of those tiny marks, and there is something about this little fox that I can't let go of.

The butterfly and moth are new too. I've had these little collages hanging out in my studio for weeks not knowing what to do with them. I've always felt a connection with things that can fly, butterflies and moths included. The fact that they are free to flutter about, but at the same time have to be so careful with the outside world.

Sweets. Mixed Media Collage and Illustration.

 I'm currently reading Flight behavior by Barbara Kingsolver which is story about butterflies and climate change.

Also, have you ever seen a moth's face up close. They're scary, cute and amazing. You should Google it right now. Oh wait, I did it for you.

The butterfly piece is done and already listed in my Etsy shop! Look at me being productive. 

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 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.

Printing

I've been doing a lot of thinking about my Etsy shop, and about my art this past week. This summer has been a bit of a struggle as far as sales go.

I look back on past years and I'm amazed that I made so many sales. I truly wasn't greateful for all the business I was doing. I took it for granted. This has been my worst year on Etsy since I started. I've thought about just not doing it anymore. I've thought about giving up. I've thought that it's my work. That it's just not a good fit for Etsy. It's been discouraging to say the least.

In all that thinking I've thought that it is impossible for me to give up. This is what I want to do forever. I decided that a shop update is much needed. a total over haul. I need to change my thinking and I need to completely revamp things over here.

Working on a new plate.

Last week I was reunited with my etching press. I had it in a community studio that I used rent from. I left it for other artists in the building to use if they wished. Well, the artists were recently asked to vacate this studio space in order for the building owners to renovate and create better studio spaces for double the amount of money. It's a sad situation for many, and I'm afraid more of this is going to happen to artists in our lovely city...

It's hard to see now, but this is a little bird sitting on a branch. 

anyway, this also meant I needed to fetch my press before it was sold in a studio move out sale. So, now it's sitting my garage waiting for me to create art. I ordered ink, paper and copper plates today! I'm excited about this. I feel like it's all pat of the big picture of my revamping.

I feel like this is going to be a wonderful change for me artistically, financially and mentally. It's time for new. It's time for letting go. I'm excited.


also, I signed up for my first ever half marathon today. It's in San Diego and I'll be running with my good friend of 17 years. I've been afraid to do this forever, but it's too late now. I've paid and now I'm doing it and it feels good :)

Hello!

Let's Build a Boat

I thought I would share the two new pieces I was able to finish and get listed this week.

There is this original painting here  and this little watercolor painting here.

I was hoping to get 2 more listed, but I was really struggling this week. I started 3 illustrations and completely overworked all of them.

I'm ususally good at knowing when a piece is finished and I'm able to walk away and start something new. This week I just kept on working them until they really didn't make any sense.

It's okay, it happens. Not everything is going to turn out great all the time. However, it would be nice to get those hours back. 

Half awake (how I feel right now....)

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

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!

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!

I Have New art for You!

These are new!

I happily added them to my shop this morning, and over the past few days.

 Rainy, dreary, day this morning. I've got my coffee and some music, and I'm getting ready to head to my day job.

It's been a wonderful week of making art, seeing friends, and writing.

sold! :)

I'm excited how these came out. It feels nice to sit down and complete a piece in under an hour. I also love letting the water and paint do the work in some of the pieces. Looking forward to next week when I can get back to it.

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!

Tiny Pieces

We got quite a bit of snow last night around 9pm.

I tried to get a picture of it, but the light was just too low. It was so lovely. The whole neighborhood was quiet and still. It was beautiful.

This morning is a different story. It started raining at about 4am and now everything is a big sloppy mess.

So instead of playing outside in the snow, I opted for listing one of my newest in my Etsy shop. :)