Featured Artist Sign-Ups
It's time to search the depths of Etsy and find a new featured artist-as always this will be an amazingly hard search, since every single shop I stumble upon has something that completely rocks my mind. With a little help from you all, I'm sure we can get some ridiculously talented people to sign up-so spread the word and post those comments. As always, please take a moment to read and share your reactions to our previous winners (just scroll down) and post a comment or two.Rules: Post a comment in this blog entry and with it leave a link to the site you wish to enter into the contest (make sure to post the link including http://...) You are allowed to post one picture in the blog if you wish but please do not post more, as it slows the site from loading. While we will pick from week to week, do not be afraid to voice your opinion and even vote for yourself. We take all and everything under consideration. Please scroll down and visit/comment on previous artists-we all need support. Also you get extra points for checking out our etsy site.... www.mod3rnart.etsy.com
Sign-Ups end Sunday the 31st of may - Sign-ups now have ended and the artists will be picked and featured within days. Etsy item of the Day-Feature
How does that old saying go? "Features come in 3's!" Wait....no....that's something completely different. Have you checked out www.etsyitemoftheday.com-not yet you say, well get on over there! EIOTD-as I like to call it for short is a nifty little blog that features artists from etsy and their items....yes the name says it all. Jackie, the rad gal that runs the blog was nice enough to feature us and this is how it turned out:
Two of our favorite items got featured-one you can see above but the other one you will have to explore to find out. Go on over and support www.etsyitemoftheday.com as it was built to support you-so go on over and who knows, Jackie might feature you!
Spanish Feature
We got a kool Spanish feature today from a close friend that makes ridiculously amazing jewelry-you need to check out Naventin. The feature dealt with our on going-super-kool art project....iStudio and while my spanish is not perfect (or not good at all) it was still a beautiful feature. Take a peek...
Naventin's blog and etsy shop are perfect examples of the power of a clean-mod3rn-gorgious site, that emphasises the art and not the framing site. Websites are great but they should not take from the art by being over-powering. Have a look at the feature and enjoy Naventin's blog....you can also practice your spanish-there will be a quiz, so study hard.
FAOTW-Featured Artist of the Week
Last weeks sign-ups for Featured Artist was overpowering-so much so that I could not for the life of me pick two people.....so I picked four. FrenchPressKnits and Harold and Jane were featured first and it has been great. Both artists create amazing work and the best part was that they both worked in different mediums-thus we were able to experience dos (that's all the spanish I know) art forms. Well, this week is no different-so get your fingers ready to start clicking and say hello to Benconservato and BloomStudios.
Benconservato: "I'm an Australian artist, illustrator, printmaker, photographer who spends most of my time creating things." I wish I could spend most of my time creating things-most of my time is spent destroying things
One realizes right away from looking at the art work, that Benconservato spends some of the time in our world and a lot of time in a world I wish I could get a passport to!! Words like Fantasy-Tim Burton-Dreams-Mystery-Darkness-Playfullness come to mind when I look at the work above. It isn't art work filled with fear or death as some might think from a quick glance but rather a childlike imagination that has grown with an adult body. Check out more of Benconservato work in our gallery.
BloomStudios: Balance::Strength::Elegance this is at the heart of every BloomStudios creation and even the untrained eye (me) can see this foundation. Bloom's collection is made from a wide variety of materials consisting of many different types of precious/semi precious stones and precious metals like Silver and gold. It is obvious that care is taken in matching not only the stone but also the color of each stone to the specific metal. This aesthetic eye and the classical style that we see above, is key to the great success that BloomStudios has had. Feast your eyes on the rest of the collection in our gallery and please remember to support these artists by commenting and visiting their sites.
iStudio Feature
iSudio took another major step into society today with a feature done by etsy artist and blogger Snou. The post can be found here and please take the time to read it because Snou does an amazing job of really looking into the meaning of our work spaces. "When you see a workshop you see more clearly that what comes out of this place
was made by a person, lovingly sitting in front of a worktable, making decisions
with eye and heart."
This is the path I see for istudio-exposure through blogging and features but also through personal analysis by the people participating or viewing. Art is always a two way road-it is never eye with no heart. There needs to be emotion on the part of the person and the art-without this, there is no point. Go check it out.....
Lovely Package
You know how you always here the phrase, "Location, Location, Location" in terms of physical store location and how to increase traffic to that specific business-well here is one I just made up, "Packaging, Packaging, Packaging." I know it doesn't flow the same way but it is super important, especially to artists that work from home but want that professional touch. Imagine this: You just created this wonderful item and someone buys it as soon as you placed it on etsy or any other site you use-so you get it ready and go to ship it. Here is the problem!!! If your packaging is not as unique as the item inside, your customer starts off with the wrong impression even before opening to see what's inside. It's hard for us artists to agree with this because we believe in the item (the art) but in todays market (especially etsy) you need to be unique and one important aspect of this uniqueness is the packaging.
"Packaging is a very important marketing strategy to glamorize your product in order to attract the consumer’s attention. Sometimes packaging is so important that it cost more than the product itself in order to lure the consumers to buy it. Packaging should definitely be included in the 4 major P’s of marketing (product, place, promotion and price)."
-Taken from marketingdeviant.com- Read the article here
Lovely package is this amazing site that displays beautiful packaging from all over the world and for every type of product you can think of. Think of it as a blog for packaging as FFFFound or Dropular are for images-wait......I don't know if that last sentence made any sense. Anyway, the important thing for us to remember is that selling incorporates many things and one of the most important is packaging. Check out Lovely package and let me know what you all think....
iStudio-Update 2
iStudio has turned from a crazy-whimzical art project idea to something of substance and I love it!!! Etsy artists from all over have submitted pictures of their studios/workshops/work-areas/work tables/place of creation and it is quickly turning into so much more than I imagined. If you don't know what iStudio is, here is the info: "iStudio was born from the idea that, "where artists work is sometimes just as interesting as the work itself." After seeing several workshops/studios we quickly came to the conclusion that this was also an art form; more of an anthropological artform."Here is what I see for istudio: I want it to keep expanding-for more and more people to submit pictures and for it to grow into a full blown etsy canvas. I have great hope in this but I will need your help, so let's start letting people know about this project!!! Invite the artists you love, hate, admire, distain to the party because as iStudio grows, it will look like a.......(I have a secret not yet revealed).
Interested in joining, E-MAIL me a picture-
WOW-Featured
We got featured and I don't mean, "In a mug-shot." Oceanside Creations was nice enough to feature a couple of our jewelry pieces and a cute little interview (the part about my constant drug use as a youth is all lies) on their blog, so please go on over and check it out. Here are the pieces that were featured and "Girl with the Pearl Ring" is still my favorite.
Oceanside's blog is an etsy-packed powerhouse, with artists from all over etsy's vast universe pictured and featured. Oceanside has put together a perfect example of the kind of talent etsy finds and creates (not a shameless promo comment regarding me). If you are interested in getting more info on the pieces featured, you can find them in our gallery or in our etsy shop, plus check out Oceanside's etsy shop.
FrenchPressKnit's Giveaway-Ended 17/5
If you've read the comments below, in our latest "Featured Artist" post, you know by now that everyone is going crazy for FrenchPressKnit's knitting. Well, she has offered to add this Orange Spring Cowl to our giveaway contest, so let's show our support and visit her site now. If you want to find out more info on either the Cowl or FrenchPressKnits, just click here and please show your support by commenting. To enter the contest, please leave a comment in this post and a link (add the full link address, including http) to your favorite Etsy artist, explaining why they are your favorite. In the spirit of promotion, you can't be your own favorite artist....
If we pick the shop you linked, you win the prize!! Post an image if you would like, but please only post one. The contest will last until Sunday 17th of May and feel free to tell as many people as possible about it.-Update and the Winner Is.............
The winning post is by user "Benny and the Jet" for picking to promote Jessica Doyle's art. Congrats for exposing us to Jessica's shop but here is the problem....you didn't leave an email or your etsy shop name! How am I going to find you? Hope you are a returning blog reader or I might have to give the cowl to another poster-hurry!!!
Paper N Stitch
"The Paper N Stitch blog is a design and style blog that features artists, makers, crafters, and indie labels. In addition to these features, Paper N Stitch also features DIY projects and tutorials, fashion and home decor." So, without further ado.....ladies and gents, I present the Swiss Army Knife of blogs. P&S may not be Swiss but their blog/Exhibition site/Shops/Products and so on resemble that MacGyver like tool in so many ways. The blog is updated 3-5 times a day, so you can return often to find fresh/ new/infomative/ posts that will get your fingers clicking. The layout is very warm, icon based but not ultra modern, so you almost get the feeling it has a country style to it. If you're looking for featured artists, they got tons and the best part for me: tutorials!!! That's right, a whole section dedicated to teaching us how to make different kool items. Check it out.....
FAOTW-Featured Artist of the Week
Every week I tell myself that I'm going to make a new system for picking the "Featured Artists," thus making it easier on myself and every week it gets harder and harder. Our site has been up for a little over a month now and the one striking revelation I have come up with is, "There is a ton of ridiculously talented people on etsy!" This week is no different by any means, as we have two wonderful artists, in two very different fields. Oh, by the way..... one massively bad aspect of FAOTW... you're all making me look bad ;(
Haroldandjane is our first artist this week (pieces seen above) and she comes to us from Seattle WA. I've known H&J for some time now and her personality is so much more than just artistic; she is a combination of humor-passion-drive-life-love and these attributes can be seen in her work. The jewelry is alive with color, with spirit. Each piece pops out at you, as if to say, "Wear me...we'd look great together." Koolest little tidbit of info about H&J's jewelry....each piece is named after a song lyric, so check them out in our gallery and try to guess the songs.
FrenchPressKnits: Is our second featured artist this week (pieces seen above) and from the moment I saw her beautifully-fuzzy creations, I wished for winter to arrive early. Aesthetically gorgeous and functionally perfect, FPK's pieces make us all wish we had the patience to knit (or at least lie and say we can.) From slippers to scarves-mary janes to pillow cases, each one of FrenchPressKnit's designs is original in thought and construction, with a massive emphasis on professionalism. Check out her collection in our gallery and beg winter to come early.
Let's go and support these great artists by visiting their shops (HaroldandJane and FrenchPressKnits) or our gallery. Remember, the hand made revolution begins with our support and passion, so leave some comments and spread the word......who knows what great giveaway might happen....