The Importance of Produce . . . (or producing.)

"Produce" by Susan M. Hinckley, Small Works in Wool

"Action is the foundational key 

to all success."

--Pablo Picasso

And Picasso should have known, having completed an estimated 50,000 works of art during his prolific career. It stands to reason that you can't produce great art without producing a lot of art.  And producing art requires much more than just ideas, it requires action.

Time spent making the mark, erasing the mistake, and making the mark again.
Lather, rinse, repeat (emphasis on the repeat . . .)

An idea is a seed that you grow in your head.

You can change it and grow something different instead.

You can let it go wild or keep it quite small,

If you want, you can keep it from growing at all . . .

--smh

And the best way to keep your idea seeds from growing?  Not spending time in the garden (or studio).  You've got to get your hands dirty if you want to see results.  

That's one of the secrets 

Picasso obviously knew.

Susan M. Hinckley

"When October Goes . . ." Music Translated Into Fabric by Diane Evans

"Aspenglow"  © 2009 Diane Evans  14" x 20"

Music is a powerful influence in my life; some of my most treasured memories involve a favorite song, a musical performance, a special concert. Music often serves as my creative muse.  Cherished songs will float into my mind as a new art quilt takes shape; as a result, many of the pieces are named after these songs.  Even the seasons themselves bring to mind melodies and lyrics of the past, written by masterful composers and performed by talented singers, and I marvel at the way a beautiful song can mirror the images that surround me.

Around this time every year, I find myself remembering a haunting ballad titled “When October Goes.”  Its origin was a set of unfinished lyrics written by renowned lyricist Johnny Mercer and given to Barry Manilow after Mercer’s death.  Mercer’s widow hoped that Manilow could develop these lyrics into a complete song, and he did so in 1984:

            And when October goes,

            The snow begins to fly

            Above the smoky roofs;

            I watch the planes go by,

           

            The children running home

            Beneath a twilight sky –

            Oh, for the fun of them

            When I was one of them . . .

            And when October goes

            The same old dream appears . . .

           

            I should be over it now, I know –

            It doesn’t matter much

            How old I grow –

            I hate to see October go.

Every year, I promise myself that I will make the quilt inspired by this song.  The colors are there in my mind, and I imagine the feeling that the finished piece will elicit: memories of autumn leaves in shades of crimson and bright orange and deep gold against a sky so blue that it takes my breath away.  The image is warm and comforting, even as I watch October go.

View My Member Profile

A Pageful of Craftgawker Submissions

Maybe I have a future in product photography! I now have a full page of photos in Craftgawker. Here is the link to my photo gallery Dharmakarmaarts Gallery. As you know, Craftgawker is a highly curated craft photography site and it is a challenge to take photos that are CG worthy. I take a lot of photos of my art ad craft items and whenever I find something that looks good I submit to Craftgawker. It is always a thrill when my photos get accepted. As of yesterday, I have a full page of accepted submisisons. Hopefully, the streak will continue.

with a little help from my friends

ETSY URBANBOUTIQUE BY JEAN CARTE

I know I am a friendly type of person. I befriend easily and I do not feel like some people who claim that after a certain age people have no new friends. What are they talking about?

Since I have started my ETSY experience and joined TAFA group I found so many new and valuable friends. It might again be the question of sharing.  I always believed that sharing ones feelings, knowledge, experience and ideas bring back openness, inspiration, tools and warmness I would have never dreamed of. It is like having wings and fly rather than being glued to the earth.

One of my amazing friends who is not only very gifted but also wishes to share her experience and knowledge with other is Jean Carte of ETSY URBANBOTIQUE.

She has recently posted a list on her blog -The hand made life style I thought might be useful to each and every one of us titled Artists Invented ....Marketing in the Neighborhood!

http://thehandmadelifestyleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/artists-invented-marketing-in.html

Jean's posts are great fun to read, full of enthusiasm and contain her amazing life experience in marketing her handmade crafts. Don't miss it!!!

New finds of TAFA ETSY members in a new treasury

You may have a look, leave a comment and visit our shops

And look what I have found

Something not selling on Etsy? Maybe it's the photo...

"Happy Bag" by Rayela Art

I made several variations of the bag above a couple of years ago.  Most of them sold over time, but this one has been stuck in my Etsy shop.  Why?  Well, the photo I had there was pretty crappy:

 The same "Happy Bag" by Rayela Art

The other bags in the same series were photographed in the same way, so forgiving buyers must be thanked!  Almost everything sells in my Etsy shop, over time, but I have quite a few things that have been stuck there for at least two years.  In looking at them, I admit that all of the photos need improvement.  So, I started to work on it, and although the new photos are not perfect, they certainly beat the old ones!  Here is another before and after shot:

"Alien Bag" by Rayela Art

I've seen worse photos, but had also saved it in a rectangular size so that Etsy cropped it and it looked weird.  I just never bothered to fix it.  The new photo was saved as a square and has more dimension:

 

 

 

Again, not a fantastic photo, but definitely an improvement over the other one.  Can you see a difference in quality?  That comes from having a new camera.  I now use a 35 mm digital Pentax K110.  I bought it used on eBay and am still learning to use the functions.  I haven't found my comfort zone with it yet and am not in love with it, but it was the best camera I could get within my budget.  The seller got rid of it because it was too much camera for her.  The functions are a bit confusing, but I am definitely pleased with the improvement.  So, getting a decent camera is a definite consideration if you do a lot of product shots.

 

Another consideration is adding a prop.  I have a hat that has been sitting in my shop forever.  It's a simple, but attractive reversible cotton hat:

 

 

I actually did use a prop with that listing:

 

 

 

Both of those shots are with the old camera.  Here is the new image:

 

 

 

A big improvement, wouldn't you say?  Busy backgrounds do not help at all!

 

One last example:  This is a cuff I made last Fall.  

 

 Rayela Art Cuff

The photo in itself is not bad.  Nice, clear image, but it doesn't really give the viewer an idea of what it looks like when it is worn.  So, I used a prop and added it to the listing:

 

 

The prop is a plaster cast of my hand that I used to use at henna events.  I don't think the photo of the cuff is any better than the top one, in fact, it is worse.  The top one shows the details much more clearly.  But, because the hand and the rust background are so eye catching, I know the photo will end up in all kinds of treasuries and get much more attention than the first photo.  And, that should lead to a sale.  (!!!)  

 

However, ugly props can turn off a buyer just as quickly, so make sure that your prop really enhances your item.  One of my most hated props is this foam head that so many sellers use in their listings.  I just think it is the ugliest thing and automatically makes whatever is on it look cheap.  If that's what you use, cover it with paper machie and give it a face lift.

 

Etsy gives us five photos to sell our stuff.  The first one should invite the buyer in to learn more about the piece.  Whether it is a straightforward product shot or an artsy one, it should be beautiful.  

 

Photo Tips:

• Invest in a decent camera
• Get rid of busy backgrounds
• Save images as squares
• Use interesting props

What works for you?  What camera do you use and are you happy with it?  Are you having photo dilemmas?  I am not an expert, but we have several members on our Etsy Team who do a beautiful job with their images.  Perhaps I can get them to chime in on problem solving, too.  

 

Shooting and editing product photos takes patience and perseverance to master.  I have shot thousands of photos and spend a lot of time editing them and I am still learning.  I cannot emphasize how important it is to have good photos in order to do well with online selling.  So, if you are a seller, and especially if you are a member of our TAFA Team, stick with it.  I would love to see all of our shops be the best they can be!

October 31, 2010 TAFA Team Open Discussion for Fiber and Textile Artists

Our weekly TAFA team thread for Oct 31 on Etsy is now open. Click here to share your activities, opinions, treasuries, blogs posts etc.

In case you are wondering, this is a thread I, as Etsy liaison,  start every week for our TAFA team on Etsy Team and Events Forum. The purpose of this thread is to provide visibility to TAFA Etsy team and its members. It is also an excellent tool to be visible to any potential buyers of fabric and textile products. Lots of Etsy buyers lurk around the forum reading threads, clicking on treasuries and many a buying decisions are made based on what they read and hear around the forums.

You may post anything that is related to your art, shop, tips, techniques or anything else that the members might be interested in. This is your thread.

Posted by Indira of Dharmakarmaarts

Puppy Love

 

 "Dog Pick-up Lines," Susan M. Hinckley

The other day my husband and I stumbled upon a pet rescue group holding adoptions.  There were stacks of crates, each containing a dog with a brief description of how they came to end up as they were:  cramped in a cage, looking quite forlorn and hoping for some attention from a potential best friend.

There were two dogs in particular that tugged at our heart strings, and we found ourselves talking about them on and off over the course of the next few days.  But we had to keep reminding ourselves of all the reasons we couldn't bring one home.  The biggest reason being this:

Cooper.

He's 85 pounds of chocolate-laborador-fun, and he's a whole lot of pet.  And as much as we would have loved to be the answer for one of those sad little faces in the crates, he's all we can handle right now.


My pets have always found their way into my work as well as into my heart.

"Don't Be Fooled," Susan M. Hinckley

Anything that I love naturally seems to flow right out through my fingertips.  And no matter how aggravating, drooly, expensive, or hard on the carpets, it's just about impossible not to love Cooper.  

He positively demands it . . .

Susan M. Hinckley

Small Works in Wool

Choosing Backgrounds for Your Etsy Photos

Tribal Jewelry from Central Asia on Afghan Tribal Arts

Great photos are key to successful online sales.  And, that is one of the things that makes shopping on Etsy fun.  The majority of the sellers there take this challenge seriously and really work at displaying their goods beautifully.  Many other competing online markets fail dismally at this as products are displayed with boring, dull, dark, blurry and downright awful photos.  There have even been jokes about photos on eBay where embarrassing reflections are caught by the camera and not noticed by the seller.  The one that sticks in my mind is of a shiny, silver teapot reflecting the image of a fat white man with no shirt on looking through a camera.  Bleah!

Of course there are awful photos on Etsy, too.  Learning how to use lighting well and then edit photos is a time consuming process.  Indira of dharmakarmaarts, one of our TAFA Team members, mentioned that she shoots dozens of shots for every item that she lists in her shop.  Etsy only allows us to show five.  I don't have Indira's patience, so I try for five to seven per item and go with the best.  Over the years, I've photographed thousands of products.  You would think that by now I would be an expert.  I think I am about average.  Good, but not exceptional.  My goal is to give clear images of the product so that the potential buyer can see and "feel" what they are looking at.  Sometimes I think photos on Etsy can go too far to the creative side, so that the product is actually diminished by the photo effects.

In the last couple of days, I have been working on getting photos ready for new listings on one of the shops I manage on Etsy, Afghan Tribal Arts.  My friend, Abdul, imports from Afghanistan and we have textiles, beads and jewelry on his Etsy shop.  I had started working on these photos a couple of months ago and then got sidetracked by other things.  I normally shoot outside on overcast days and when I was setting up yesterday, my eye caught a rusty iron table that I have in my yard.  I normally have plants on it.  The surface has aged into some pretty cool looking textures, so I thought I would try re-shooting some things on it.  Here is an example:

Before:

After:

The same pendant looks completely different on the white and rust background.  The metals pick up reflections of the surface it is on.  What do you think?  Which do you like better?  I love the rusty texture, but wonder if it makes the overall image too dark, especially when it is a small thumbnail.  Here are some other examples:

I was also playing with placing the objects a bit off center...

I often get rid of the background completely which is more time consuming.  Here is a textile that I will list later today:

 Turkman Child's Ceremonial Vest

www.afghantribalarts.etsy.com

I think a white background is especially important for pieces that already have a lot of pattern or texture in them.  But, one could as easily choose a solid color instead of white as the background.  Part of the challenge is to try to create a signature with the photos so that when they show up in image searches, people start recognizing immediately what belongs to your shop.  I hesitate to do that because it might brand an object, limiting it to a certain type of decor or group of people.  This is always a challenge when photographing clothing.  Some shoppers prefer to see clothing on someone while others prefer a mannequin or hanger.

If you are a shopper, what turns you on or off to a photo?  What kinds of backgrounds do you prefer?

If you are a seller, what have you experimented with and what are your insights?

Art Hash, A Great Resource for Artists

Fabric Photo Box by Fairytale Incorporated

One of our TAFA Team members, Lesa Werme of Fairtytale Incorporated, was recently interviewed on Art Hash, an online resource for artists which uses a blog format.  She announced it and I took a look.  "Hmmm....", me thinks to me self....  "I want to be on there, too."

It turns out that it's a pretty easy process.  The only thing that they ask for is that you follow the blog and spread the word, a fair exchange in my book.  Once you follow them, you send an email asking for the questions they use, they send it to you, you fill it out and return it and then they post it.  And, spreading the word about Art Hash is a pleasure as it really does have a lot to offer to artists and I hope it keeps growing.  Aside from the interviews, they list "Calls to Artists" by state and have other posts with info for artists.  So, if you want some publicity, go knock on their door and let them know you would like to be interviewed, too.  And, if you are a TAFA member, don't forget to plug us!

My interview (Rachel Biel) 

Interview with Fairytale Incorporated