Old books and vinils turned into pieces of art

Audrey Ruby is a great artist that turns old books and vinils into unique pieces of art and sell them on RetroGrandma Etsy shop.
I talked to her and she told me how she does it:

Handmade objects always have a story. They have a real character and charm over mass-produced items.

I've been crafting for years and loved every minute of it - it's my relaxation time. Some of the crafting I've done in the past involves sewing, ceramics, crocheting, knitting, plastic canvas.....and now I love to make unique items out of books and records:  book purses, IPhone docking stations, hollow book shelves, invisible bookshelves, book lamps, record clocks, book tablet device covers, record handbags, record bowls and containers, and record bookends. 

My favorite are the book purses.  I have made a large number of them over the years and never got tired of making them, as each one is unique.  How cool is it to walk down the street with one of these and see heads turn in amazement! 

I love searching for treasures at garage sales and thrift stores and this is where I pick up all my gently used records and books.

All of my unique items will spark conversation!  I’ve been creating these items for 8 years now and have had an Etsy store to share my creations since then.  I’ve done many custom orders for customers as they send me their special books to create one of my items for them – mainly book purses.   

My shop name tells you I'm a Grandma and I also love retro. I have a vintage shop also on Etsy:  http://www.retroclassics.etsy.com - which is a Blast From the Past!

Cakes you wouldn't want to eat

Presentation is very important when it comes to food. This is why they say: before you have a taste, you eat with your eyes. These cakes says it all when it comes to art, design and food.

Snake Cake

Polo Shirt Cake

 

Nikon Cake

 

James Bond Cake

 

Anti Gravity Maltesers And M&M’s Cake

Rose Aurora

 

Alien-facehugger Cake

Turkey Cake

Beer Bucket Cake

See more on Artfido.com

How to...Hold onto the joy of your art when it becomes your business

A great "How to" tutorial from Jamie D'Errico (NeoFauv shop)

Integrating the divergent skills needed to turn your art into a business is the ultimate exercise in left brain/right brain collaboration. The left brain being the center for logical, practical thinking and words; the right brain dealing in things like feelings, intuition, and aesthetics.  Both are necessary and both have their place...But the left brain can get a little too controlling and (if left to run rampant) is a killer of joyful art.

Let me explain. I believe we create art because it feels good to do so.  That is exactly why we are interested in make our living with our art!  We want to be in that creative space which produces joy, rather than being wrapped up in a left brain-focused job market, which can result in feeling tired and out of place.  Art is a creative process, mysterious and beautiful – a right brain activity. 

When we start down the path of turning that compulsion to make art into a business, we call upon the services of our left brain.  Money doesn't just fall into our laps if we are good artists (unfortunately). We need to identify our markets, where and how to sell, keep track of expenses and revenue, advertize our products – left brain activity. “Keep your audience in mind,” is a message that you will encounter countless times along the path to turning your art into income.  It is a good, practical message to be sure, and I think we all need to hear it.  I certainly did.

That said, I believe there is an equally important message that can sometimes get lost.  While you are engaged in the creation of your art, remember how to FORGET about your audience.  I challenge you to put left brain thoughts away and just enjoy being an artist while you are making art. You will never create this piece of art again, so savor it. Your left brain can jump in and dissect it's money making potential soon enough!  Your artistic inspiration does not need a back seat driver.

I know from experience that those calculating thoughts will continue to pop up during your creative process.  There is no easy way to stop that from happening.  For me, the best I could do was put those thoughts away every single time they appeared, refocusing on my process and my artistic experience in the moment.  Eventually those thoughts backed off and my creative space was my own again. Ironically, enforcing this internal space for right brain creativity actually increased my mental discipline and energy in left brain, business minded activities.  Maybe the same will be true for you.

Let's be an artists.  Let's be business people.  Let's be both!  But I know that we want to be mindful as we do so.  Being in a business mind set while in the middle of artistic creation is at best a distraction and at worst a mistake that will steal your joy and ruin your art.  What is the point of successfully making a living with your art if you end up losing the joy that drew you to art in the first place?  I asked myself this question and I'm sure you can guess my answer.  Am a I millionaire now?  Well, no, but I have managed to hold onto something precious and priceless.  That to me, is success.

A Meticulously Chaotic Approach to Art - Jamie D'Errico

Art helps us to better understand ourselves, each other, and the world around us.  It is a language we can use to contemplate and communicate when words fall short. Emerging Maine artist, Jaime Marie D'Errico, explores a reality of dreams and emotions with raw, vibratory compositions.  While the colors in her art are often wildly exultant, the lines and forms weaving them together are precise and controlled.  A captivating juxtaposition of order and chaos. 

Jaime has been told that she must be very patient to produce such meticulously woven images, but she maintains that patience has nothing to do with it. "I'm compelled to do this.  It's almost an obsession.  Sometimes I swear I can even see the lines before I put them down...It's so interesting and fun for me.”

 

Where did you get the idea for your business and when did you get started?

I opened an online store on January 17^th 2014 and am pleased to say that I've already sold two pieces of original artwork.  I've been making and selling art since I was in junior high, but it was always the result of someone approaching me first.  It never really occurred to me that I could actively try to make a living doing this until last year.  I was moving, to be closer to my family, and while packing and preparing, I saw how many pieces of art I had been quietly amassing over the years.  I made a decision that I would make art an even bigger part of my life by getting organized by marketing and selling what I have created.  Selling online is an important part of this plan, as it allows me to reach such a wide audience from my location in rural Maine.  

 How did you come up with your brand name?

Probably my favorite artist is Henri Matisse, one of the great Fauve artists.  I absolutely love the unadulterated, unblended use of pure color.  Delicious to the eyes.  I like to describe my art as being created in the “bold spirit of Fauvism.”  But I also feel that my technique is very different from the more painterly style of the Fauves.  Sometimes people even think that my art is computer generated (it isn't)!  “Painterly,” it is not.  Considering all that, I settled on NeoFauv, a nod to my favorite artists, but with a new twist, I guess.

What goes into the creation of one piece of NeoFauv art?

The first step is always the inspiration.  Sometimes this will come to me in a dream. Sometimes I'll just see a vision of the finished piece in my head briefly, and then it's gone.  I grab some paper and make a sketch, and then I sketch a little more until I have the right feel that I'm looking for.  Next, I select all of the colors, separate them from the pile and build my “toolbox” for the piece.  Then the real fun begins!  I start laying down lovely pigments, weaving one into the other, and trying my best to keep track of all the patterns without messing them up!  I've actually opened up my process just recently on my Facebook page, so my friends can watch each piece of art emerge.  It's been really fun.

How do people get in touch with you?

Email: neofauv@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/neofauv

Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/NeoFauv/

I see a lot of people starting their business online. What do you think makes you stand out from the crowd?

I have never seen anyone making art that looks like mine.  My style is completely unique.  In addition, I feel like the intense emotions that I try to convey jump out and grab the viewer' s attention.  My art is meant to speak to people about the beauty that surrounds us.  That kind of imagery and intent is powerful, I believe.

 

 

Inspirational quotes through collages – Interview with Stanka Vukelic

The mix of philosophy and art, of dada movement and Marc Chagall’s style are all brought together in only one shop. Lady Art Talk is the magic of inspirational art that reminds you of who you are, it reminds you to live life, to love and to be free. What does it take to inspire people, to bring a little shade of hope in their homes? Stanka Vukelic from Slovenia, the owner and the artist of the shop told me how she does it.
 

„I always had a passion for changing things into something else, and collage opened up a new possibility to express this motion” – Stanka Vukelic 

 

Stanka wasn’t an artist all her life. She was a business owner who employed up to 12 people, selling jewelry. Two and a half years ago she decided to shift her life around and to start making collages.

„At one point, I decided that I needed to do something new in my life – which I eventually did. Today I work only with my husband which gives me a much greater freedom to do what I really love to do!”

Who is the person behind LadyArtTalk?
 

Design, the manufacturing of different things, the redesigning of clothes from old materials – this was always a part of my life. Since I can remember, I was always painting and coloring anything I could get into my hands.
Later, as a teen, I collected articles and images from various magazines, to use those ideas for revamping old furniture and clothes. However, university education and my profession brought me to entirely different areas like economy and sociology. A part of me was still waiting for the opportunity to create, and when I took the decision to do what I like most, everything became clear, and the next steps followed naturally.

Where did you get the idea for your business and when did you get started?
 

About 18 months ago, I decided to do something new. While surfing on the Internet, I discovered lots of videos related to the work I do now – instantaneously I knew that this is what I wanted to do. Etsy popped up as 'the' place for selling my work.

How did you come up with your brand name?
 

This wasn't easy at all! Of course I wanted to have something unique – but somehow most of the good names were taken. However, I understood that my main audiences are women, so I wanted to include the word 'lady'. The words 'art' and 'talk' describe my direction and philosophy. And after a couple of hours of brainstorming with my husband, I came down to this sequence, which I think reflects very well what I do.
 

How did you start this passion for collages?
 

I always had a passion for changing things into something else, and collage opened up a new possibility to express this motion. The fact that I could add 'objects' to my paintings was a complete new idea for me. Since until then, a painting was a painting, a collage was a collage, a drawing was a drawing, and so on. But now I have the opportunity to combine everything into one work. And it still excites me as much as on the first day!

What does it take to make one collage?

I never really know! It depends on how smooth everything goes. Sometimes I have an idea which materializes quickly, sometimes it emerges slowly. Quick means 'a few hours', slow means 'even weeks'. Sometimes I start with the background and I built the story on that basis; sometimes I start with a drawing and develop a collage around it. Another time, I have a quote which I want to use, so I take that as an inspiration for the rest of the painting. In fact, there is no fixed concept – which I like very much! It gives me my freedom to express myself differently every time. The materials vary from old book pages, musical sheets, paper or fabric lace, buttons, stamps, postcards to magazine pages and stencils. The colors are mostly acrylic, although I also use watersoluble ink pencils, and graphite pencils. All my work is made on canvas – some on wood panel.

How do people get in touch with you? 

The best way to find me is on Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/LadyArtTalk ; however, currently, I am working on two print shops for selling reproductions of my work; of which one is on Fine Art America: www.stanka-vukelic.artistwebsites.com , the other at Etsy’s. In addition to that, I’m having great fun publishing articles on me and my husband’s website www.organictalks.com , where I can go into topics which I usually don’t cover with my paintings like delicious food recipes and photography!

You can find me also on:
Twitter: twitter.com/StankaVukelic
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ladyarttalk/
Google plus: plus.google.com/u/1/+StankaVukeli%C4%87/posts

Are you participating or managing any other project you would like to talk about?
 

 Yes, I do have a project 'on the side' which is a website which I have great fun editing together with my husband. Every week I present a new recipe for raw food – vegan dishes, but also many other posts; covering creativity and art, health and food, alternative news & views, the perception of reality, permaculture, and, of course – photography (made by myself).

I see a lot of people starting their business online. What do you think makes you stand out from the crowd?

I'm convinced that everyone who has an urge to express oneself through arts, doesn't need to do anything, in particular, to stand out from the crowd. If you do what you 'gotta' do – you are expressing your uniqueness naturally without really doing anything. But of course, there is a practical side to it, like promoting yourself on social media or through smaller advertisement campaigns. Will I stand out eventually? Who knows – time will show!