Open an Instagram Art Shop for FREE!

How much would you love to be able to have your customers purchase right from your art page on Instagram?! And how about a free, easy to set up website that goes along with it?? Score!!

If you aren't already selling your art online then this video is a total necessity. You only need three things to get started: an Instagram business page for your artwork, an email address, and a laptop (because I think this process would be a bit tricky to do on a phone screen).

Check my brand new Instagram page and website below for a little inspo on how to set up shoppable posts and make an easy website for your artwork too. You can even get a little deeper with your website by adding 'About', 'Home' and 'Contact' pages!

https://www.instagram.com/sockmonsterposse/

https://www.sockmonsterposse.com

Here are the websites I reference in the video:

Happy selling!

https://squareup.com/signup/us?lang_code=en-US

https://www.godaddy.com/domains

9.5.2021

Sock Monster Posse Finally Getting Their Own Space

Hopefully you’re not totally bewildered seeing these little guys on my blog.. you may have even noticed them here before…

The Sock Monster Posse is a gaggle of goofballs I’ve been sewing and adopting out for years (because you don’t buy a Sock Monster, you adopt one) both online and at craft shows and festies. Each lil one-of-a-kind critter is made of one new knee high sock, polyfil guts, and hand embroidered love. They used to have a dedicated website but I shut it down when I went to grad school.

Luckily for the universe though, I’ve just cranked up a whole new online presence for these lil fellas both on Instagram as well as a small website. I’ve been working really really hard on this whole process, which I’m actually documenting for this week’s YouTube video to show you how to make shoppable Instagram posts and a simple website for FREE for your own artwork. Score!!

But I digress..

Pop over here if you’re on your mobile to see the IG page and my fancy new shoppable posts.

Or pop over here if you’re on a computer to see the Sock Monster Posse website!

I’ve already adopted out two Monsters from this batch, but there’s a good handful left in case you need a new bestie who up for cuddling and goofing around! Yay!

Been pumping up the Monsters on Instagram and they are already getting adopted. Pop over to the shop before your own bestie gets adopted by someone else! @sockmonsterposse

They really do make for the most exciting adventure buddies!

9.3.2021

Shortie Process Vids

Lots of people have jumped on the TikTok bandwagon, which they seem to love, but I just can’t quite bear to sign up for yet another social media app when I don’t even post on the ones I have as often as I like. So rather than guilt trip my way around another time-suck, I’ve been having fun making shortie vids for Instagram and YouTube.

Here’s a few fun little ditties of my art making process, and you can subscribe to me on YouTube here (and make sure to ding the bell!) to see my future Shorts too!

I try to find cute music to accompany my drawing or painting so make sure you’re not watching them on mute!

These two (above and below) are processes if my current painting, which you can imagine has been quite time consuming! But in the end is very satisfying to have accomplished. I’ll be sharing the finished painting first on my Birds of a Feather monthly letter, which you can sign up for here if you haven’t already.

Last but not least, here’s a small alla prima pitcher plant mini painting from a photo I took at a botanical garden on O’ahu. These little plants are so mysterious and full of personality!

8.26.2021

Getting Google Certified to Help My Clients

Ahh doesn’t it feel so good to finally start checking some of those “Hopefully One Day…” items off your To Do list? Well I am marinating in that feeling over the last week or so and hoping it keeps me motivated for the rest of this task…

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I’m psyched to share that I’m finally on my way to becoming certified in Google SEO practices to not only help my website and workshops gain a bit more traction, but to help teach my clients how to make their websites more search-result friendly as well.

I’m not a total newb when it comes to Analytics and SEO, but it has been a few years since I’ve taken the time to learn anything new. I wanted to make sure I was getting the most relevant, updated, and effective information on being found online, so I decided to go right to the source and do my training directly through Google.

I just got my first official badge for a beginners Analytics course last week and now I’m about 30% through an SEO course. It definitely takes a little bit of time to not only understand the info, but then going back through and updating a website with some of these new tips and practices is not a fast process. Even having one’s website optimized for SEO is not an overnight guarantee that traffic will increase, but it’s all part of the larger picture of creating a space that consistently grows in popularity along with your artwork.

I definitely am learning a lot already and will be excited to share this knowledge with my Mentoring clients soon!

8.18.2021

Get Your Art + Products in Shops!

How exciting would it be to see your art or art products on the shelves or walls of local boutiques and restaurants?!? To be able to walk around town showing your friends which businesses to pop into to see your work in person??

Not only is it so satisfying, but it can become a great way to generate another source of income within your many small art biz channels.

This question comes from one of my long-time YouTube subscribers Shona Renae Savage, who has definitely been an active and positive part in this Bird’s community. Thank you, Shona!❤️ She writes…

“What are the step-by-steps of how to approach a local business with your art/merchandise such as stickers, T-shirts, mugs etc? Do you call ahead, email, snail mail a sample of your merchandise, or simply show-up with a business card and merchandise? Should there be contracts; how does that all work? Is it a different approach for a restaurant or dental office vs. a gift shop? Not quite there yet but I have goals. Art takes time.”

It sure does, Shona! And patience is one of the best things we can have as artists!

Tips for Landing Your First Spot in a Local Business

• Make sure you are a good fit for the business you’re looking into. Make sure your work will elevate the atmosphere of the shop or office and be able to articulate how it will do so when you’re speaking to a manager or owner.

• Go into the business in person during a time they are not busy. If it’s a shop or restaurant, bring examples of your work or products that you can easily hold in your hand (but is bigger than a phone screen) and show it to the first employee you talk to as a way to get them on your side and interested in your work BEFORE going to find the manager for you. Be super friendly, big smiles, and if you notice they’re busy, don’t bother them and come back when they’re not.

• Realize that you will need to approach different businesses in different ways depending on if it’s a retail shop, a restaurant, or a medical or business office. Use tact, dress appropriately, and be super courteous to whoever you approach. Be professional (ie. likeable) and they’ll want to work with you! Watch the video for specific examples of how to handle different types of businesses, but no matter what, you should have a biz card and some kind of example, flier, or write-up you can leave.

• No matter where your work or products wind up, make sure to have a specific contact person or liaison to deal with and have set parameters for what’s expected. How much will the shop take as a cut? When will you get paid? (If it’s an office or restaurant, they probably won’t even sell for you. They’ll probably expect you to leave a biz card on the wall so the customer can buy from you directly.) How often should your art or merch be restocked or changed out? If it’s a retail shop, are they purchasing wholesale or are you consigning? How long is your work going to be featured in that business? These are a few examples of things you’ll want to have worked out beforehand, but there may be others. It’s not a bad idea to have even an informal contract written up so that both parties are on the same page.

• Be wary of shops that want you to pay them in order to sell there. I have had success volunteering 1-2 days a month at an artist co-op where I sold my Sock Monsters, but as a rule of thumb if you are paying the business to have your work, then they have far less motivation to actually sell your stuff because they have already gotten their slice of the pie.

• And the best advice I can give is to become part of the community of the local boutiques and restaurants where you want to sell. People like to help artists that are also invested in their own small businesses; it becomes a beautiful and uplifting cycle. Watch the vid to learn EXACTLY how to gain all the benefits of being a working artist in a local community (including gaining tons of new and inspiring friendships!)

  8.15.2021

My Students' Amazing Scenic Artwork

“Wow wow wow!” is what my students kept hearing me say all semester long. I’m literally so impressed with how skilled these kiddos are!!

Over the summer I’ve been teaching two classes at Nossi called Illustration Materials & Techniques 310, which is a bit of a broad term, but basically it’s an advanced class that teaches how to create enriched background settings. Think the ocean background of ‘Finding Nemo’ or the Wild West cowboy desert scenery in ‘Rango’ or ‘Fievel Goes West’.

It’s a great concept for a class considering how often our art focuses heavily on the foreground objects or characters and the background is simply put in as an afterthought. In this class, students must put forth all their effort in creating a consistent and believable setting atmosphere with no characters at all.

Some of their projects are done digitally and some are created with traditional materials like gouache, acrylic, or even marker and pen. Their final projects all had to be done both ways which made for some great compare-and-contrast class conversations. (The two below are done digitally in the top and with watercolor and marker on the bottom)

I just can’t get over how creative these kids are! Like when the assignment was to create a ‘Celestial’ setting, they’re coming up with spaceships and interstellar Victrola sessions. Just wow!

Some of these scenes really had such a mood! Like this one of the last tree in the universe or a tropical island formed from a shipwreck… I mean those details are incredible!

Two of my favorite aspects of this class though were the brainstorming sessions and the critiques where everyone got to discuss what they liked or struggled with in each assignment, and which materials they liked best. I just love having such small class sizes so we really can have spontaneous and enlightening class conversations. I hope I get to teach this class again in the future!

8.12.2021

What's Preventing Your Art Career?

Are you a career artist yet? Why not? Do you even know what questions to ask to get on the right track?

Today I'm inviting you to brainstorm a little bit with me. What's the one thing standing between you and the next level of showing and sharing your art successfully? What kind of roadblocks, or lack of information, is in the way of you reaching one more rung on the 'professional artist' ladder? There's no 'one way' to be an artist, and sometimes it can feel like a total crapshoot who succeeds and who doesn't... but I assure you, it's all about skill, knowledge and dedication.

So go ahead and toss a few of your most pressing questions in the comments either here or on the video comments on YouTube today for the opportunity to have an upcoming video dedicated to exactly where you need help the most.

Here are all the materials I used today. If you purchase anything thorough my special links it helps to support my channel at no extra cost to you. Thank you!!

Material List:

Titanium White

Lemon Yellow

Cadmium Yellow

Cadmium Green Light

Chromium Oxide Green

Sap Green

Magenta

Ultramarine Blue

Raw Sienna

Raw Umber

Gamsol

Odorless Mineral Spirits

Princeton Size 1 Round Brush

Da Vinci Size 2 Filbert Brush

Bristlon Size 4 Flat Brush

Kneaded Eraser

Map Eraser

Mono Zero Eraser

9x12 White Sketchbook

Carbon Paper

*I couldn't find the exact painting panel I used online (I bought mine at a local art store) but here are gesso panels that I think are close.

8.1.2021

Even More Framed Ferns & Flora

I have come to realize that I can literally stare at ferns for hours on end, which is something I feel like I have been doing since creating this last batch of framed plant compositions. I have them all set up in a row in my living room so I can admire them until they find new homes, and I keep catching myself pausing in mid-step to unconsciously stare at their beautiful contours.

And how about the frames on these ones too?! This thrift session scored some beautiful inlaid and hand crafted wood frames, as well as this super svelte (and surprisingly sturdy!) glass and metal minimalist design.

I’m so psyched to be making these for another upcoming three day music festival! There is truly nothing like spending a long weekend camping, dancing, and meeting other creative and adventurous folks. I feel so grateful to be able to share my art in such a fun and exuberant setting with people that seem so interested in learning about my processes and inspiration.

This festival should be an especially enlightening one since it’s a solar powered event focusing heavily on sustainability and making responsible energy use decisions for the future. I know I’m looking forward to learning some new things, and being among a conscientious and nature-loving crowd.

So if you’re in the Tennessee area, consider coming out to Get Off the Grid Fest in Chattanooga August 20-22 and come find my booth to say hi! Tickets are super reasonably priced and the line-up looks great. Here’s all the info. See you there!

7.22.2021

3 Ways to Add Some "WOW!" to Your Art

Making your artwork really stand out can be a difficult task these days considering just how many incredible artists there are currently working in the world today… but it’s totally essential if you ever want to gain some real traction!

Now there are an infinite number of ways to create notable artwork, and today I’m super psyched to share three fantastic ideas to add a real ‘WoW’ factor to artwork that pretty much any artist can implement within the work they are already creating. I have personally used all three of these methods within my own work, and have gotten wonderful feedback each time.

How to Wow!…

1. Play with proportion

   Making something unusually small or large can be a really unexpected, surreal, or memorable treat for your audience, especially if they are able to experience it in person. This also make for great selfie-with-your-art moments with the added bonus of people wanting to publicly post their interactions with your artwork (so make it easy for them to tag you!!)

2. Make people laugh

   Bringing out emotions like sadness, longing, or even hope or nostalgia can be a very powerful tool for connecting deeply with your audience, but in this case, laughter truly is the best medicine. It takes a certain skill to create quality art that also makes folks literally want to laugh out loud, and because it’s so rare, your art will stand head and shoulders above similar artists. This is another way to make your art super-shareable as folks genuinely love cracking a smile with their friends and followers.

3. Use familiar materials in a new or unusual ways

   People love feeling inspired to try new things, see objects in new ways, and interact with the world around them in unusual ways so sparking some imagination within your audience by doing or creating something they have never seen before will make you a favorite artist your audience will keep coming back to out of pure curiosity if nothing else. And yep, you guessed it… folks love sharing jaw-dropping or just plain old weird content too… so give them something unusual to impress their followers with!

Featured Artists:

Claes Oldenburg

Salavat Fidai

Bry Marie

Sarah Ann Sweeney

Zeezytat

Dorielle Cami

Callen Schaub

Ai Weiwei

Erika Iris

7.18.2021

Another Riotous Charleston Hometown Visit

Oh boy, oh boy every time I get to go back to the cutest and most personality-filled city of them all, I get reminded once more how lucky I am to have grown up in Charleston, and to have known her very personally before she got overrun with waaaay too many transplants. Ha!

Except for Bill Murray, that is. We’ve loved having him as a local for over 15 years now! And wouldn’t you know it, but my lil sock monster Venkman finally got a chance to get a pic with his namesake - how exciting!!

One of my fave Charleston foods two ways: chilled raw oysters on the creek, and raw oyster shots on East Bay St right next to my old job at the coffee shop. Cheers!

I actually got to see a remarkable amount of wildlife too, from this big healthy aligator up close, to dozens of massive night herons nesting in Battery Park, to a huge pod of dolphins surrounding our boat and coming up for air within10 feet of us for over 20 minutes while cruising in Cape Romain wildlife refuge. It was like one National Geographic experience after another!

I was able to make to two of my favorite haunts twice each; two Dead shows at the Pour House and got real silly at the best dive in town, The Rec Room.

And I’m forever grateful how years can go by in time, yet not a single day will pass in a true friendship. I swear I’m the luckiest Bird around:):):)

Oh Charleston, as old as you are, being with you never is…

And to make an amazing visit that much better, I even got a campout in at my parent’s cabins with some wonderful and hilarious folks I’ve been close with every since our days working at Cinnebarre well over a decade ago now. Yay for friendships that truly last through thick and thin!!

Bye bye Charleston! I love you and I’ll see you soon!

7.14.2021