1000 Markets

Not too long ago I signed up as a seller at 1000Markets. It's a new online market that is still in "sneak preview" slated to go "public" in April. In my humble opinion it's one of the nicest selling venues to date. While I haven't sold anything yet, I don't always judge the sites based on sales. Eventually the sites must have good sales, but in the beginning it's about so much more.

One of the features of 1000Markets is the site is juried for quality product, strong photos, etc. The other feature I really love is that you have the opportunity to join "markets", many of them invitational.

I have been invited to join two of the markets at this point.

One is Modern Heirlooms - Fine handcrafted items, reminiscent of your grandmother's attic, with a touch of modern vision. I will be featuring only my quilting and fiber art in this market.


"Sunset" Fiber Art Wallhanging 5" x 5"

The other is Old Town - Friendly Old Time Atmosphere ~ Where Imagination Runs Free. The market will feature my fine art and fiber art. It's really a lovely market with some wonderful artisans..potters, painters, jewelry artists, woodworkers, and so much more. I have already made my first purchase from Good Dirt Jewelry! It was shipped today!


"Crazy Horse" 18" x 21" Art Quilt Wallhanging

You can also check out the Old Town blog. The blog author will be doing features on the artisans that belong to Old Town.

The markets are featured on the 1000Markets home page randomly. The hierarchy of Market, Shop/Artist, Product Collections and Products really helps that dreaded "search" capability that so many shops stumble on.

My Etsy shops are still my favorites due to sales and site name recognition, but 1000Markets is right up there and as soon as it comes out of "sneak preview" and buyers find this delightful site....it has a very good chance to beat my feelings for Etsy!

For those of you who are fine artists you may want to check out 1000markets.com. There are several art markets that are up and running (invitational and I haven't been invited :-p)and one for emerging artists that is in the works. There is also an ACEO market!

Partly because of this new marketing venue, 1000markets, I have decided to combine my fiber art blog "In Stitches!" and my fine art blog "Color On!' into this blog renamed "Littleton Studio - Fine Art and Fiber Art from the Front Range of the Rockies".

The other reason for the combination is just plain old time! Multiple shops and multiple blogs take time, and nothing is forever ;-) Cheers!

It's not paint drying...but might as well be!

I have made some good progress on this colored pencil piece, but it may not be apparent. I've started adding some dark shapes on the teapot shadow side that will not be detailed.

In the light and shadow concept either the light or the shadow is detailed but not both. So my detail will be in the light. This means that you need to push the shadow shapes darker and the light shapes lighter to have that contrast between the two. This will hold the value structure together.

All that sounds really nice, but it's when you put your pencil to the paper your understanding all goes out the window ;-)
Vintage Teapot 9 x 12" colored pencil on sanded paper

New Project in Pastel Class

This project is going to be about using glass in a still life based on the light and shadow concept.

The studio setup (which I'm actually working from)looks like the photo but the point of view in the studio is a bit higher...I can see inside the blue vase. The photo at this point just helps me with re-setting up my still life when I go next week. I also like to study the color a bit in Photoshop during the week.

My initial setup had several pieces of glass instead of the vase and onion and it was way too complicated to view as a light and structure design, so I chose the cobalt blue perfume bottle as the only piece of glass.

The cobalt blue glass perfume bottle has a light side and a shadow side, but Deb told me to structure the first layer with it as part of the dark value. I'm trusting her ;-)
This is the initial drawing with the light and shadow structure blocked in. The painting will be 12" x 16" on Wallis paper.

Finally....finished "Peppers"

"Peppers" 12 x 16 pastel on Wallis paper

I decided I wanted to make the background darker, but now I have 2 corners dark and 2 corners light. It's better to have 3 of one kind, 1 different. But it's something to think of for the next piece.

I also finished the shadows on the right side. I was cautioned to not get too much detail in the darks, and to keep the detail in the light. So it was a little back and forth to get those just right.

This will be uploaded to Imagekind for prints and note cards, and to Etsy, Yessy, and 1000Markets. 1KM is my new favorite site...I haven't sold anything there yet but I love the look and feel of it.

Next in my pastel journey I will be working with glass....at least it won't die!

Peppers Update 2-6-09

Peppers 12" x 16" Pastels on Wallis

I'm getting nearer the end on this. Worked on it today and have some more things to do in class tomorrow. But I took a photo of this setup last Saturday, and then studied some of the colors in Photoshop. It's so amazing when you can isolate a color with the eyedropper tool you can see so clearly what the hue should be.....but you're standing in a dark studio for a couple of hours and you can't for the life of you get a handle on the darned color. ;-)

I'm also a little happier with the light and shadow structure than I was after last's week class.

Working on the hard and soft edges tomorrow should help with leading the eye through the painting.

Vintage Teapot Update 2-5-09

Vintage Teapot 9" x 12" colored pencil on Colorfix sanded paper

Working on getting the paper covered, and not belaboring one area...which is so tempting for me.

The important thing here is to NOT lose my value structure so picking the right value is almost more important than the color right now although I need to pay attention to temperature as well.

OMG....so much to think about. The more I learn, the more I know I don't know...isn't that always the way???

LAC President's Blog

I don't know if anyone has had a chance to check out the blog I have for Lakewood Arts Council, but in the last week I have posted some of the artwork from the two exhibits we have running, Creature Feature at Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, CO, and Passageways at the Art Center.

The posts feature an interview with our jurors, Dan Oakleaf (Creature Feature) and Peggy Stenmark (Passageways). The award winners for Creature Feature are also posted. Just a smidge of the talented folks you find in our neck of the woods!

Vintage Teapot Update

This is not much of an update, but what I have done is to add the darks to the bottom of the painting. I used Black and a Dark Brown. Then I took the stencil brush (I have a whole bag of inexpensive ones) and did some "pushing and pulling".

This is a term we use in our pastel class..where you lighten/darken, soften/harden, give some shape to... One area where you might be able to see this is in the left hand pear. I have used the stencil brush to pull some of the dark color to vaguely create the shape of the pear and push the color on the dark side of the teapot.

This should give me some color harmony, and I can control the softness of the darks that are going on the teapot. I don't want any hard edges where the teapot rolls into the light. So I'm going to try to do it with the stencil brush.

Pastel class on 1-31-09

Working to try to finish this one up...I discovered that my peppers were on their last legs yesteday with some little fuzzy spots of mold :-( I took some photos of the setup and will try to finish this at home.

But I did make some progress in getting the colors right on the peppers. I've got to clean up some edges, sharpening some and softening others.

While I'm somewhat happy with how this piece is coming along and the light, I'm not as happy with the light and shadow structure of this one. Peppers 12 x 16" pastel on Wallis paper