Lost Aussie on the loose

Dumbo Colour

Today we braved the torrential rains along the LIE in order to meet up with my friend Aggie and check out the Winter Pop-Up Market in Brooklyn.  There was plenty of eye candy in the way of old and retro clothing, some horrendously over-priced ephemera and antiques, but nothing much in the way of the usual funky designers that I have come to expect when visiting their Summer Market.

Nevertheless, we spent a fun hour chatting and browsing - whilst the boys hid away in Starbucks, thoroughly disgusted at being dragged out in the dreadful weather - teenagers, what can I say?

We may have to try and check out the "Gifted" market in Manhattan at some stage before the Holiday Season ends

- that could be fun!

xoxox

Postcards from New York

The boys and I tripped into the City yesterday - bundled in gloves, hats, coats and scarves as it was darned chilly! 

We had a great time  - David got a fancy haircut from my 'cute' stylist "Kike"(pronounced Ki Kay).  We cruised around the shops, checked out the Christmas windows at Tinsel Traders, headed downtown a bit to a great Bar-be-que joint - Blue Smoke - for lunch, caught the 6 Train Uptown to browse around the Apple Store and fulfilled a few Christmas wishes. Next we nipped into FAO Schwartz to buy a few gifts for 'the cousins' in the UK.  After that we rounded out the day by cruising down Madison Avenue, buying the odd, trendy must have item for #1son, snapped pics along the way and finally stopped at Rockefeller Plaza to see "the Tree"  - which to me seems lovelier and lovelier each year!
Last but not least we grabbed DH from his office on Park Ave and headed to TAO for dinner - which was totally scrumptious, as always!

And you would be right if you guessed that we snoozed all the way home!  Anyway, here are a few pics from the day out!  I loved Tinsel Trader's gorgeous white peace display!

xoxox

One For The Birds

It's snowing outside and cold enough that I daresay there will be a blanket of white when I wake up in the morning.  Just the sort of inspiration needed for creating a picture of chilly little birds huddled on a winter branch. 

Ive experimenting tonight with some of the techniques that I have been learning in Misty's class and even though I am still most comfortable sketching and painting with pixels rather than charcoal or paint, I have garnered quite a bit of useful learning in the class.

I guess it does not really matter what your preferred medium is, there are some art 'rules' that are applicable across the board!

And I apologise if I owe you an email (or two), I'm a little behind in that department - Mom chores are front and center for the moment :-)

xoxo

A Christmas'y Looking Card

 Well the Otero 2009 Christmas Card is finally unveiled.  I teetered between artsy, ethereal designs, and various other compositions and in the end decided that this year I wanted something "Merry, Red and Bright".

I combined some Christmassy background material with a few other vector graphics that I cooked up, clipped them all to some Holly Jolly text and shaped the words into a tree - added a few other bits and pieces that I had handy in the digital toolbox and Voila - there you have it!

If you would like one to appear in a mailbox near you, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email with your snaily address and I'll be happy to oblige!

On another BRIGHT note, I have my men, small and large back home, safe and sound.  They've been sleeping (and eating) copious amounts but its wonderful to be back in the kitchen baking and cooking up a storm as well as getting all the hugs and long conversations that we need to catch up on.

I have to laugh, as they are probably the only two boys in the New York playing cricket in the middle of winter on a Tennis Court!  Gotta love thinking 'outside' the box (or net - as the case may be)!

Nearly here...

Can I tell you how much I love flightstats.com?  I'm watching my boys ALL the way and they are NEARLY here!!!! Yipee!

Leaves and Trees

We've had wild and wooly days of late - lots of wind and rain.  The trees are almost bare and although it was 67f today, it's supposed to get a lot colder in the next few days.  A far cry from the 37C it's supposed to be in Perth today!

In between getting the house ready for the 'large' and 'small' men's arrival I've found some time to fiddle away in Photoshop, creating some custom layers and masks for my students to use in my Art and Soul Workshop next year. One of the workshops is already sold out, so don't wait too long before taking the 'digital' leap!

And...I am hoping to get my "A" into gear and develop a few more photoshop tutorials soon and if all goes to plan will be posting some online classes in the near future!
So stay tuned!

Lady In Waiting

DH will be back with the boys on Saturday - and yes, I am waiting with baited breath!  It's only a scant six weeks since I saw them last and although I see them on Skype most days and run up humongous phone bills talking to them before they go to bed each night, nothing really takes the place of having them in my hot little Momma hands and being able to take care of them.

That place between being a 'little boy' and a 'big" one is strange. It's so easy to think that because they are 16 & 17 and over 6' tall that they don't need nurturing, love and gobs more understanding than usual - in fact it seems to me that it's quite the opposite.  When they become lean, gangly, shaving, almost men and at odds with everything - then that's when they need the most love and attention.

Knowing what they listen to on their Ipod, what cool (overpriced) Tshirt is the must have outerwear for parties, which friend is IN, which friend is out, how  many (dubious) groups they belong to on Facebook, being able to relate to them on at least 10 different levels on subjects that you have (almost) no clue about..and having the fortitude to grin and bear it when they tell you they have used $30 of phone credit in a week....

It's a complex time, but I am grateful for each and every moment and for the fact that there is enough trust and love for us to talk to each other and that DH and I are not only their parents but part of their world too....

I am very blessed!
Hurry home Boys (all 3 of you)!!!! xoxxo

 

I want to work here!!

Art and Money

I recently stumbled upon a thread on Facebook where an artist was bemoaning a plethora of non-paying customers on her Etsy store. One thing lead to another and there ensued a discussion about the pricing of artwork where one gal felt that $48 for a pair of handmade earrings was too steep - she felt that $28 was closer to the mark.

I thought about this for a while and although I appreciate a 'handmade' bargain as well as the rest of you. I put the episode into a current context for myself.

Yesterday I sold a print of artwork off my website.  I exchanged at least 5 emails from the prospective buyer before he eventually settled on the piece of work and size that he wanted.  30 mins work.

Today I printed the artwork - 10"x 13" , cropped, taped and matted it to 16x20" - 30 mins
Added custom notation and signature for the buyer's daughter - minutes
Constructed custom mail package, taped and addressed - 30 mins
Drove to the Post Office, stood in line and mailed package - 30 mins

Already I am at 2 hours of work for the cost of the print, which was $64 including packaging,shipping and insurance, which was $10.27
So I have $54 to justify 2 hours of work, nevermind the amount of time that it took to create the artwork in the beginning.

And while I appreciate that if I did this every day of the week and had a more streamlined system to produce prints then my time and overhead would be somewhat less...there is really not much change left out of $54.

I put this in the context of an artist in Chelsea who is selling 4"x6" reproduction prints for $800 (of grainy watercolor journal pages)

There is no reason that there can't be some sort of middle ground!  But I do get quite upset with people who think that "handmade" necessitates the label of "cheap" and for those people who think that lesser known artists are not as valuable as totally unknown artists of vague and beleaguered material - who just happen to have gallery representation as opposed to a spot on Etsy!....

So please, think a little about what your art is worth to you - nevermind others - and bear in mind that you can earn upwards of $7 an hour serving burgers AND if you are in the buyer's market, perhaps you can consider what value a unique and handmade object holds as well!

A Little Bead Magic

I picked up Ruth Rae's new book - Layered, tattered and stitched the other day.  A lovely little tome, particularly if you are a fabric junkie of any kind (which I am!)

Her book inspired me to make a start on some of my handmade holiday gifts - so the other day I got down to dyeing, painting and stamping some plain muslin, which I then cut into star shapes.  From there my adherence to the book's principles took a rapid left turn as I decided to machine felt and quilt some backgrounds for the stars, which I wanted to make into mini hanging Holiday Cards.

Not quite the ephemeral and whimsical pastel treasures that Ruth features in her book - but hey....I did use Beads!  Oh yeah, lots and lots of beads!