More Computer Graphics

Here's a business logo I designed a few years ago.

I used Superpaint to draw the hen, do the lettering and encircle the design.

So, the placement wasn't good. The hen is looking like she's going out of the frame--too forward. Nice relationship between the curve of the tail feathers and the back of the circle. So, I moved her back and gave her 'beak room.'

I began to play with the image. Putting an apron on the hen.  And what could be more appropriate for a hen than to change the circle to an egg shape?

Maybe the glasses is a bit too much.......

I always liked the story of the Little Red Hen. "I'll do it myself" as in the story was sort of my motto as a child.

 I once read that by knowing people's favorite children's story, you could gain some insight into their psyche. I've pretty well stuck to The Little Red Hen for sure. 

 The title, "The Little Red" Hen may be under copyright, so I probably can's use The Little part. 

Maybe I'll make labels for my elderberry jelly and sell it at the Farmer's Market....... 

More drawer rifling. Obviously, I'm on a cleaning jag.

From time to time, I've designed business cards using computer programs.

One beloved program which is sadly no more was SuperPaint, a simple design program that worked on (now) ancient Macintosh. It ceased to exist after 1992.

 I loved it.

 I made this using Super Paint:

And this:

(Yes, I have been in the antique business too. For several years, my husband and I did shows and had spaces in antique malls.)

When a few promo cards for a clay show came back because of a few  bad addresses, I cropped photos and stuck them in an envelope. Later,  I scanned one into my images program.

With a bit of tweeking, it might be handy later on a future card.

Art Sales

According to the latest edition of Crafts Reports, American crafts is taking an upturn.

Shows are coming back and artists are seeing an slight increase in sales. The reason given is that consumers are searching for American-made items to buy.

Just last week, I was talking to a neighbor who is planning on revamping her kitchen and she was complaining that it was difficult to find replacement appliances that are totally made in America. I think she has her work cut out for her, although I admire her idea of supporting American business.

As far as shows go, I'm a bit dubious about that. I haven't seen the entry fees going down. And, according to the article, jewelry and photography are still doing well.* Finding a good gallery for your work might be the better solution for now.

*And I always thought the food booths were the ones who made the killing. But is it art?

Shows

Sometimes, when you're doing a show and you've set up your booth, when the doos open and the customers come in, the cosmos come into alignment.

The right work is sitting in your booth and the right customer appears and snaps it up.

Hallelujah!

This is exactly what happened with this salt and pepper.

You can almost see them coming. They zero right in on the item, scoop it up, don't quibble about the price.

This is a golden moment.

Don't let that customer escape. Talk to them while you wrap up and bag the item. Don't hurry.

You want to know this person. Find out why they like what they bought. How they plan to use it. Try to establish a rapport; a relationship. This is someone who 'gets' you and your work.

Gently suggest they join your mailing list. Let them know about your next show. Make sure they get your card and contact information. Invite them to your studio, if it's feasible

Maybe slip a little "Thank You" into the bag in the form of a small spoon rest, a coupon for 10% off, any little something that will be a surprise when they get home and open the bag. You want them to tell their friends about the piece they bought and the wonderful potter who made it.

Add them to your customer list when you get home.

Put a star by their name.

You want to see that person again.

Artisan's Market Show

Last weekend was the Tucson Museum of Art 's Artisan's Market. It was a nice show. The Southern Arizona Clay Association's area was a good one--right at the entrance courtyard.

Outside of set-up and take-down, I was there for my work shift on Saturday morning only, but we were busy the entire time.
This is good. There's nothing worse than sitting around at a show with only a trickle of patrons coming through.











The over-all quality of the show was really quite high with a good mix of choices from two-dimensional work, fibers, sculpture, jewelry,etc.

I was hoping to be able to take a good turn around and spend some time looking at other booths, but didn't even have time to take a break; we were that busy.

There were 17 potters participating in the Southern Arizona Clay Association booth and the variety and range of work was, as it usually is, wide and varied.

My general observation is that the brighter, more colorful work sold best. And as usual, things in the lower range did well--$20.00 to $40.00 or thereabouts.

The customers were a good mix of young and older, men and women. Usually women buy the most pottery pieces.

Some of my best customers have historically been people of Asian heritage and other artists. This time it was a bit different. I usually sell some of my teapots, but didn't at this show, although I did well as far as sales go.

I really enjoy the contact with customers and like to meet people and talk. I got over being shy about my work a long time ago.

CeramicArtsDaily.com

This new site looks like a good resource. I joined and elected to receive the glaze book, (what a stunner of a cover!) but if you go further into the site, there are two other choices--I'm assuming these are alternates and that all the books are not offered at once; only the choice of one download-able per subscription. The cover of the 33 Tried and True Glaze Recipes (pictured) is enough to make any potter salivate.

(Except that my printer went "BIORK" when it got to page 17 and kept wanting to reprint everything from the start all over again. Oh, you infernal machine of little brain capacity!) Had to resort to printing every page individually, but it was worth it.

I think they're ahead of the game here; much more of our interaction in the future will be through electronic networking and we're only seeing the beginnings of it. CLAYART, the email ceramic discussion group, is/was a pioneer in the establishment of a professional network. After all, artists are the ultimate cultural hunter/gatherers. We are sensitive to influences of our time; many times much more so than the general public. We are usually either at the front of the wave, 'way ahead of it or the creators of the wave in the first place.

From all I read about marketing in Europe and the U.S., social and commercial networking will become a huge part of our lives. With accessibility becoming more portable through hand-helds and future devices, we will become connected in many new ways. I already do a good bit of my shopping and almost all of my correspondence electronically. For the past 6 months I've been reading blogs pretty heavily and although there's a lot of stuff out there I'm not interested in, there's a heck of a lot more out there I would have never have had access to and people I wouldn't have ever, ever found.

It now makes a whole lot more sense to have my own web page to market & sell work. I've already gotten my electronic toes wet (zzzzttt Bad metaphor) selling to a niche of buyers. It has been surprisingly successful. The future may be a combined blog and selling site.

It's not a matter of Either/Or. It's AND. The electronic connection is just another enhancement and opportunity.