New Places

Today I stopped in two galleries I had never been in before. First was Sirani Gallery:

The paintings/works were all very high quality, many of them quite large, impressive and pricey (talking thousands of dollars here). I remember a large wooden bench (natural/organic-looking, beautiful)... it was priced at around $13,000. A portion of the gallery had these large, tall, vertical drawers that could be pulled out to reveal hanging paintings.

And secondly I went to Gallery Christine Frechard (accent mark above the e in Frechard). It's just two doors down from Sirani Gallery (the store Occasions is in between):

Inside, a variety of work was on display. Mixed media, some 3D pieces, some abstract pieces; I recognized a few mixed media works that I saw at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. The art here was considerably smaller (and probably less expensive) than in Sirani Gallery. Her gallery opened earlier this month and is not just an art gallery, but also a place for learning about culture via language, dance, music and art? classes. Pretty cool.

One other new place I stopped at today was the store Zipper Blues. It is a brand new women's clothing boutique and I am not sure if they are really officially open just yet (were still setting up when I went in... door was open). They have some pretty neat clothes in there, including some Pittsburgh sports team apparel.

art update

I splatter painted the jeans yesterday. Didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but I'm not that dissatisfied. Need to put them through the wash to make sure the paint doesn't come out (it shouldn't but just in case...).

Front:

Closeup:

Back:

Need to start gathering more pairs, in different colors if possible and sizes. Will probably experiment with various paint colors/combinations too, dilution/thickness, masking. Fun! May need to lay out more garbage bags (or better yet a large tarp?) next time... I got some paint on the paved lot behind our house and while I tried to wash, scrub as much away as I could, I didn't get all of it off... :/

Also just made these adorable earrings:

Hope I can sell the jeans and earrings at Handmade Arcade. If not, then I guess I'll start selling on Art Fire soon.

Three Rivers Arts Festival call for artists

The Three Rivers Arts Festival will be from June 4 - June 13, 2010 next year. Deadline for entries is February 10, 2010. See here for more info!

artsy goings on and Handmade Arcade

Yesterday I was putting away my laundry, moving and organizing my clothes, when I came across a pair of pants that I hadn't worn in some time because they are a little too tight. They are jeans and have very light yellow green stitching at parts of the pockets, belt loops, button hole and fly. The idea of splattering them with paint popped into my head (maybe it's because of all the [clothes] swapping I've been doing). Here's how they look now:

And now... a bad Paint version of how they may look after:

The end result will hopefully be good enough that someone may want to purchase them. There should be someone out there who would appreciate artsy, one of a kind pants!

Have also been thinking about ways to dye/paint/alter a white zip up I have, but no longer wear. Maybe I'll tie a few places, dye it, then tie a few more, dye again... and paint a little over the whole thing when I'm done with the dye-ing. I'll post a picture after it's done; if it turns out well, I will seek out more white or light-colored clothes that I can alter.

What else is going on... oh I just made two cards:

...and took the above photo to submit with my Handmade Arcade application. Handmade Arcade is an indie arts/crafts fair held in Pittsburgh, PA. This year it is going to be on Saturday, December 12 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Hunt Armory in Shadyside. I'm pretty excited; last year was my first time attending and it was so awesome! I hope I can be part of it (as an insider) this year.

If I am selected to be a vendor, it would make my year (and be the official start of my career as an artist!). There are a ton of things that I'd love to sell, including, but not limited to: original mixed media art, beaded jewelry, handmade cards, various altered/painted things (ornaments, I have a few napkin rings...), magnets, photography (on magnetic photo paper so you can put them on your fridge/filing cabinent/etc.), bowls made from LP records, possibly more. Quite a variety! I've never been one to be so focused on any one particular thing art-wise (or for hobbies/interests too)... I love dabbling in all sorts of things, trying new things out. Hopefully Handmade Arcade will allow me to show off my work this December!

I leave you with one last picture of an original mixed media work by me (didn't include this one with my application):

May you all be successful in your artsy endeavors! :)

Creatively,

Patty

Buying/Selling Arts and Crafts

Being an artsy/craftsy person as well as someone who enjoys pretty and unique things, it's no surprise that I adore the website Etsy. It is "Your place to buy and sell all things handmade"... how awesome. There are some very talented artisans and an amazing selection of items. Do you like Jimi Hendrix? Or fancy pocket watches? If you need supplies, look no further. People are selling fabric, beads, all sorts of things. There are even vintage items, like this cardigan.

Well... you may have heard of Etsy, especially if you are reading this blog. Something else worth mentioning though is that a few months ago I stumbled upon another artsy-craftsy website called ArtFire. According to the site, a basic account is free (up to 12 active listings); a "verified" account is $12/month, you get unlimited listings and twice as many (better) perks as the basic account. The drawbacks would be that it probably doesn't get quite the amount of traffic that Etsy does, but I'm really attracted to the fact that as a potential new seller (yes I would love to sell my arts/crafts/things online!) I won't be losing money to various fees by listing just a few items. Nice!

And then there's eCrater (discovered within the past few days). 100% free!

I'll have to do a little more research and prep work before I begin selling i.e. upping my inventory, designing a store banner, taking pictures, acquiring more shipping supplies, etc.

Have you bought anything from Etsy, ArtFire or eCRATER? Or sold? Do you know of any other sites that are similar? If you do, I'd love to hear about them!

Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District :: Throughout the Cultural District, Pittsburgh

Sorry for the short notice, but there's a gallery crawl tomorrow evening (5:30-9:00) downtown! Fun!

It's been a while since I've been to one of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's gallery crawls. They're held quarterly I believe. It's free, a good thing to do with friends or as a cheap date, you get to see awesome art... what's not to like?

Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District :: Throughout the Cultural District, Pittsburgh

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