Diane Clancy’s Art Blog

Recently were Part I,  Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V in this art marketing series – this is all in response to Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) who recently wrote me “i am curious to know out of all the ways you sell your art, which is the most profitable for you and which is the most enjoyable?” I have been getting some good feedback from various people that this is being helpful to them.

What a great question, Sue!!  I know some other artists sometimes read my blog – I hope everyone will chime in – this could be very helpful to us all!  I am really looking forward to hearing from others too!  We have already done an overview of offline selling (much more to be said about that!), online selling from a shop where you the seller ship directly to your customer, online selling from a shop where the site produces the merchandise and ships directly to the customer and an overviews of Etsy and 1000 Markets.

Today we will focus on one online shop (CafePress) where you the artist upload your images onto the shop site and then put those images onto merchandise that you choose. Then the shop itself (not you the artist) is the one who prints the item up and ships it directly to the customer.  Check back in Part III to refresh your memory of some of the pluses and minuses of this method of online selling if you like. I have 4 online shops currently where I put my paintings onto merchandise and then sell it right there from that site.  I will give you details about my 2 current favorites and tell you why I like them.  They are CafePress and Zazzle.  These are links directly to my shops – it is easy to go to the main pages from there. Some artists have other favorites and I hope you (they) will post about them in the comments!  Today we look at CafePress and the next time at Zazzle.

This journal from my CafePress Shop showcases my vibrant, colorful painting of Underground.   You can see that they also have room for the description to capture interest, details of what one is selling, and also the various views of your item. (Refer to earlier posts if you want more on this.)

Underground Journal © Diane Clancy

I love CafePress – it is the first place that I put my paintings onto merchandise – and this has been a dream of mine for over a decade!  I can’t tell you how magical it was the first time I saw MY painting on a mug!! WOW!!  I was (and still am) thrilled!  So this idea really works for me.  I want to make my work accessible and affordable to a wide range of people – this has always been part of my plan to make this happen.

This is not a one step process though … so bear with me.  You can open a shop.  A free shop is where you can have one of each different item that CafePress has.  So that is quite a lot!  They have tons of different shirts and you can have one of each type.  Last I looked there were 3 different types of mugs and you can have one of each type.  See Susan Elkin’s shop as an example of a free (basic) shop. You can use one image on all items or a different one on each.  The limit of a free shop is only one item of each kind.

Given that I want you to be able to choose from lots of my mugs, I chose to do a premium (paid) shop.  You can easily start with a free shop and then upgrade if you like.  I did that myself. So get your shop and shop name and you are ready to start.  You can have unlimited basic (free) shops – but I like the idea of various paintings all together.

You need to download their templates for the items you want to put your images on.  This is one of the trickier parts of CafePress – one needs to prep the image different ways for different items.  It can get a bit challenging – but doable.  Choose an item – put it in your shop – then upload the image you want to put on this item. Go ahead and put the image onto the merchandise …. after you put the image, you can write a description (as in Etsy and 1000 Markets) and also put in tags.

Tags are important – tags are what allow someone to find your work out of all the 100,000’s of pieces that are there.  There is a limit on the amount of tags (as most shops have a limit) and a limit on the number of characters (including spaces) that you can put in your description.  You can name this particular item – I use the name of the painting with the name of the type of merchandise.

Then you can set your price.  These kinds of PRINT ON DEMAND shops generally have a base price that you would pay if you bought your own work.  Then you set a price increase (by percentage or dollar amount) to add to the price so that you make something when someone buys your work.   This is where you make your money from this type of online selling.  Of course, you will want to strike a balance … more profit per item vs more affordable so PERHAPS more people will buy it.  There is a new situation at CafePress that I do NOT like at all.  It is my understanding that they cap your price increase to 10% when people find your work by searching by tag.  I personally think this cheapens the work and makes it too cheap and is unfair to the artist.  I spend quite a lot of time preparing the work and then …. but as for now, those are the new rules.

When you have a premium (paid) shop, you can work on the shop template and make quite a few changes to make the shop look how you want.  My own way of marketing is that I strive to give some consistency and a similar feel to all my online marketing – it is not identical at all … but hopefully someone would recognize that it is me!

The variety of merchandise is fantastic and they keep adding more.  I love, love, love seeing my work on all the various items!  You can have sections of your (paid) shop so that I have one section with all mugs and another with tiles.  There is a community where you can interact with other people – I have not explored this at all.  I am sure (as everywhere else) that the more you connect with others, the more sales you make.

Sales – this brings us to a part some people don’t like.  When you sell your work at Etsy or 1000 Markets, you get paid directly, right away (usually), by the buyer.  Besides developing a relationship, you also get the money.  When selling from CafePress (or other on demand shops) you get paid either once a year or when a certain amount of money accumulates.  So you don’t see the money quickly unless you are a very high volume seller.  This doesn’t bother me because I feel like it is money in the bank – but some people do not like this.  It is part of the package though.

Needing to prepare the images so differently for the various items, is one reason many people are not thrilled with CafePress.  Given that I had a system set up before I know about other shops, means that it bothers me less than it bothers some people.  Also there are a lot of steps for uploading, putting the image on, adding a description, adding tags … there are some short cuts to make some changes … but some people find it a little complicated.  My main issue is that they have cut my profit arbitrarily if someone finds me through tags.  I think that is a bad decision and a wrong one.  But I love my shop and will continue with it.

As with ALL these different types of shops … one needs to market your own shop – and I need to do a lot more of that!

I have a shop at Imagekind – they sell prints of my paintings, framed and unframed, and also cards.  They are a very good, respected shop with an extensive selection of papers, canvas and frames.  I also have a shop at Redbubble – Redbubble sells paintings on paper, canvas and posters with different finishing for the prints.  They also sell t-shirts. Many people love both of there shops.

So I recommend both CafePress and Zazzle as the best for me so far.  I welcome hearing from others what your experiences and thoughts are!!  We may differ for sure!  I hope that we can help each other know the strengths of each shop.  Please feel free to ask questions to get more information – I am glad to share what I can and so are others! … thanks for coming by!!

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting,   Underground, Etsy, 1000 Markets, Sacred Circle Mandalas, Sue O’Kieffe, marketing, CafePress, Zazzle, Redbubble, Imagekind, merchandise, Susan Elkin

Every week Illustration Friday has a challenge for a specific word. It is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! Anyone can join in with their entry to Illustration Friday. I so much enjoy doing this challenge. This week is Worn. This vibrant, colorful painting of Worn shows this bubble at a young and tender age and then again when the bubble is very Worn out.  I bet you can tell which is which!  I encourage you to check Illustration Friday out! Lots of fun people and paintings!  Thank you for stopping by!!

Worn, Digital  © Diane Clancy

Today I am working on security issues.  Hopefully tomorrow we can go back to talking about Art Marketing – CafePress will the topic.  How are you doing? Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Illustration Friday, Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, worn

Recently were Part I,  Part II, Part III, and Part IV in this art marketing series – this is all in response to Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) who recently wrote me “i am curious to know out of all the ways you sell your art, which is the most profitable for you and which is the most enjoyable?” I have been getting some good feedback from various people that this is being helpful to them.

What a great question, Sue!!  I know some other artists sometimes read my blog – I hope everyone will chime in – this could be very helpful to us all!  I am really looking forward to hearing from others too!  We have already done an overview of offline selling (much more to be said about that!), online selling from a shop where you the seller ship directly to your customer, online selling from a shop where the site produces the merchandise and ships directly to the customer and an overview of Etsy.

Today we will focus on one online shop (1000 Markets) where you the artist (and seller) ship directly to the customer.  Check back in Part II to refresh your memory of some of the pluses and minuses of this method of online selling if you like. I have several online shops where I ship directly to the buyer – there are LOTS to chose from.  I will give you details about my 2 current favorites and tell you why I like them.  They are Etsy and 1000 Markets.  These are links directly to my shops – it is easy to go to the main pages from there. Some artists have other favorites and I hope you (they) will post about them in the comments!  Yesterday we looked at Etsy and today will be 1000 Markets.

This Art Card, ACEO from my 1000 Markets Shop showcases my vibrant, colorful painting of Reflections in Blue III.  1000 Markets is my other favorite online place to sell where I ship directly to the buyer.  You can see that they also have room for the description to capture interest, details of what one is selling, and also the various views of your item. (Refer to yesterday’s post if you want more on this.)

Reflections in Blue III-ACEO © Diane Clancy

1000 Markets has a similar concept to teams – but these are called Markets.  Each Market is focused on a theme – whether it be ACEOs, Photography, Hats, the 60’s …. here is where you can see them all – there are tons of Markets!! Like Etsy, you have your own shop … then you can join (or apply) to Markets to team up with others to promote and market together.  Again, like Etsy, anyone can join 1000 Markets – you don’t have to sell to join this site. One does have to have their shop approved once it is set up – before it can go public.  But that is probably a good thing to make sure things are a reasonable quality and to make sure it is not an shop that is selling illegal copies of paintings.

One great thing about the Markets as opposed to teams (Etsy) is that each Market has its own marketplace you can go.  At Etsy, VAST (Visual Artists Street Team) does not have a place where buyers can go to see what different team members sell.  1000 Markets gives each Market a marketplace.  Here is the marketplace for ACEOs – Art Cards, Editions and Originals.  This is a team I belong to and they are wonderful and active.

The Markets have another level of visibility and promotability that I don’t think the teams at Etsy have. This is part of why I like them so much.  And the Market structure and the set-up of the marketplace for each Market give another level of interaction with the customer.  Even my own shop at 1000 Markets has more built-in tools for promoting myself as an artist.  One’s shop cannot go public until you have a good amount of information there – it also protects the customer to make sure things are interesting.

People seem to feel that 1000 Markets has incredible potential.  It is fairly new and supposedly they are going to promote it well.  Perhaps it is more art-friendly than Etsy.  I enjoy it quite a bit!!  I like that the Markets I belong to have a real marketplace where we are promoting our work through the Market directly (unlike Etsy) …  I like how the team can discuss things together right there … in structured forums and not just through email.

Now I have not made a sale there yet … but I like how it works a lot.  I need to get going on marketing my shops again … so hopefully my sales in general will pick up again.  I have not spent as much time on 1000 Markets as I have on Etsy – I don’t know its potential as well.   I like the look and feel of 1000 Markets. I enjoy it a lot!  (Sue, your second criteria.)

I also have a shop at ArtFire – I have a free shop so I can have only 10 items.  Also, they do not promite my shop like they promote the paid shops.  I would love to hear how some others like ArtFire … I know a lot of people have started shops there … the jury seems to be out on whether ArtFire is good to be at. I have sold one item there – from someone that I know from other parts of the internet.   I have a shop at iCraft.ca – Creativity without Borders.  I have sold one item there – to someone that I never met before iCraft.

So I recommend both Etsy and 1000 Markets as the best for me so far.  I welcome hearing from others what your experiences and thoughts are!!  We may differ for sure!  I hope that we can help each other know the strengths of each shop.  Please feel free to ask questions to get more information … thanks for coming by!!

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting,   Reflections in Blue III, Etsy, 1000 Markets, Sacred Circle Mandalas, Sue O’Kieffe, marketing, iCraft, ArtFire, Market

Recently were Part I,  Part II and Part III in this art marketing series – this is all in response to Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) who recently wrote me “i am curious to know out of all the ways you sell your art, which is the most profitable for you and which is the most enjoyable?” I have been getting some good feedback from various people that this is being helpful to them.

What a great question, Sue!!  I know some other artists sometimes read my blog – I hope everyone will chime in – this could be very helpful to us all!  I am really looking forward to hearing from others too!  We have already done an overview of offline selling (much more to be said about that!), online selling from a shop where you the seller ship directly to your customer, and online selling from a shop where the site produces the merchandise and ships directly to the customer.

Today we will focus on one online shop (Etsy) where you the artist (and seller) ship directly to the customer.  Check back in Part II to refresh your memory of some of the pluses and minuses of this method of online selling if you like. I have several online shops where I ship directly to the buyer – there are LOTS to chose from.  I will give you details about my 2 current favorites and tell you why I like them.  They are Etsy and 1000 Markets.  These are links directly to my shops – it is easy to go to the main pages from there. Some artists have other favorites and I hope you (they) will post about them in the comments!  I have decided to break this post into 2 parts … the length is way too long to read I think … so tomorrow will be 1000 Markets.

This is a framed print from my Etsy shop that showcases my vibrant, colorful painting of Conundrum I.  If you check out this link, you will see that I have different views of this collage.  Most of the shops allow you to have several images of your art.  I have the image itself, the print matted and the print framed.

Inner Flow II Framed Tile © Diane Clancy

If you notice, I also have a short story or description of the painting.  This gives one a way, a hook,  to bring the customer into the image … it helps draw someone into the picture and perhaps enhances their experience of our artwork.  Given that our collectors are collecting us, “the artist,” besides the painting … it is useful to reflect to them our way of looking at this image.  Of course, people can always have their own relationship with our painting … but this can be useful.  Most if not all of the shops allow you to entice the collector in this way.  Of course, one would also put other details about the item to inform the buyer.

But what makes Etsy different?  The question some of you are waiting to hear answered.  One of the best things about Etsy is the teams that are there.  You can join (or apply) to teams that interest you.  Some of the teams really work together to market and support each other.  Teams can be based on various interests – where one lives, what kind of work one sells, one’s age, one’s special interests … the list goes on and on.  Take a peek here to look at the teams (there are over 450).  I started to sell at Etsy once I got active on a couple of teams.

Through the teams one becomes more 3-dimensional … and remember, people are buying the artist, not just the art.  Many, but not all, of my sales have come from relationships I have built by being active in the Etsy community.  To get back to Sue’s question – Etsy is where (by far!!!) I have made the most money from online sales where I directly ship to people.  I have a fair amount of sales.  Many of them are for smallish amounts, but for quite awhile I had a steady flow of sales.

Another wonderful thing about Etsy is treasuries!  Here is the link to the treasuries – they are called “Curated, Shopping Galleries.” Anyone who is registered at Etsy can create a treasury.  One chooses 12 items and makes a mini-gallery – often with a theme.  Most of my sales from people who didn’t know me at all have come from treasuries … they are a great marketing tool!

Downsides of Etsy – one has to be registered at Etsy to buy an item.  Many sellers have requested a method to allow buyers to just drop in and buy … freely!  There are so many different shops now that one needs to work to stand out.  Art is not the best seller at Etsy – in many ways crafts have tended to sell better there – though the artists are working to change that.  The other shop owners at Etsy (and the buyers too) are part of what is great at Etsy!!  I have a how-to get started at Etsy if you want me to write up that post here – I don’t think I have posted it yet – I wrote it for the Artists Resource site a couple of us had started. We can certainly talk more about Etsy on another day … and feel free to make comments and I will do my best to anser them.

So I recommend Etsy as a place to open a shop for sure.  It has gotten some good publicity.  I welcome hearing from others what your experiences and thoughts are!!  We may differ for sure!  I hope that we can help each other know the strengths of each shop.  Please feel free to ask questions to get more information … thanks for coming by!!  I will post the 1000 Markets in the morning – it is already written – I just broke this post into 2 to make it more readable.

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, Conundrum I,   Etsy,   Sacred Circle Mandalas, Sue O’Kieffe, marketing, treasury

Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) has a wonderful giveaway!!  Here is the post with the details.  It is very simple to enter and she creates FANTASTIC mandalas!!  Don’t know what they are?  Go check out her blog!

Sue’s Mandalas Giveaway

Sue has started selling her lovely mandalas!!  Check it out!! Sue has a great newsletter she just started too.  It is easy to sign up for it when you enter (if you like – no pressure).  Thank you for checking Sue’s giveway and mandala’s out!! How are you doing? Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Sue O’Kieffe,   Sacred Circle Mandalas, mandala, giveaway

Every week Illustration Friday has a challenge for a specific word. It is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! Anyone can join in with their entry to Illustration Friday. I so much enjoy doing this challenge. This week is Drifting. This vibrant, colorful painting of Drifting shows this bubble Drifting around into the stratosphere!!  I encourage you to check Illustration Friday out! Lots of fun people and paintings!  Thank you for stopping by!!

Drifting II, Digital  © Diane Clancy

How are you doing? Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Illustration Friday, Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, Drifting

Yesterday was Part II in this series and the day before was Part I – this is all in response to Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) who recently wrote me “i am curious to know out of all the ways you sell your art, which is the most profitable for you and which is the most enjoyable?”

What a great question, Sue!!  I know some other artists sometimes read my blog – I hope everyone will chime in – this could be very helpful to us all!  I am really looking forward to hearing from others too!  We have already done an overview of offline selling and online selling from a shop where you the seller ship directly to your customer.  Today we will talk about the other kind of online shop.  After that I will talk about specifics. This is a framed tile from CafePress that showcases my vibrant, colorful painting of Inner Flow II.

Inner Flow II Framed Tile © Diane Clancy

Yesterday we covered selling online when the customer orders directly from you the seller – whether from your own website or blog or from one of the numerous online shops where you can list your work.  You ship directly from the buyer and they pay you directly.

After selling for awhile from these types of shops, I discovered another type of online selling.  There are shops where I can upload my own images from my paintings onto the site of the shop.   They then can print their merchandise with my image when someone wants to purchase it.

WOW!  What a concept!! They print, they ship, they bill, they deal with breakage and replacement, they deal with bounced payments, they deal with returns.  Sounds like a good deal to me!

There are ways that this does work incredibly well … I prepare the image of my painting (which depending on the shop can take quite some effort), then upload it (some shops upload more quickly than others), I put in descriptions and tags (depending on the shop), decide which types of items I will be selling this painting on … and list this painting in the shop.

Actually, it makes sense to decide what you want to place the image on first – because preparing the file depends on what item it is going on.  Also sometimes there are issues with color and such, depending on the type of object on which you have them print your painting,

Some shops sell only prints of an image – that is, they print on paper (or canvas, etc) – a print that you could frame.  That is something that I sell myself from my own home.  But they are able to sell the print with many choices of printing surfaces and lots of different choices in framing.  They are also able to print more inexpensively than I am able due to economies of scale.

Other shops sell lots of different merchandise.  So I can have my paintings on mugs, tiles, cards, shirts, postage (real US postage), journals, shoes, caps … the list keep getting longer as these stores offer more choices in merchandise.  So this is a great way to keep my images on THINGS – something I have wanted to do for over a decade.

They do the printing … and they PRINT ON DEMAND.  That is, they print my painting on a mug, only when some orders one.  I don’t have to buy 500 mugs with 1 image, pay the printer, store them at my house, ship them when someone buys one, absorb the cost when one breaks … you get the idea.  They have all that hassle.

The trade-off?  I don’t see the mug unless I buy one … so I am not sure of the quality printing and not sure how my color looks on their mug.  They get the bulk of the money for the sale.  They will have a “Base Price” – that is the price I would pay for buying my own work – then I can set an amount higher than that.  That way, when someone buys a framed tile, then I will get a certain amount of money credited to my account.

Ah, money credited to my account … that raises another issue.  Usually with these kind of shops, you don’t get paid that often.  Many times it will take awhile for the money to accumulate – and you don’t see that money until … well, each shop has a different agreement on how they handle the money.  Some artists find this very aggravating.  Also the amount I make on each sale is fairly small – especially when you look at the time I put in preparing the product.

I LOVE that my paintings are on merchandise that you can buy and use every day at home.  I so wanted that to happen.  Some of the other downsides?  I haven’t developed a relationship with you … you may not remember who the artist is unless I put my name or website intp the painting – in a readable way.   One woman has bought 50 cards of my Conundrum I painting (in 3 different orders) – all I know is her first name, town and state.  I cannot fillow up with her as a potential customer.  Clearly, she seems a satisfied customer – but she is not really MY customer. That is part of the trade-off.

Next I will cover the specific shops and move toward Sue’s original question. It helps me think to have written all this down and I sure hope it helps you!!

Tomorrow will be Illustration Friday and then I will return to the marketing (or maybe Sue O’kieffe’s giveway and then marketing).  Today is my birthday and it is decade changing.  Thanks for all your good wishes!! Thank you for stopping by!!

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, framed tile, bubblescapes, Zazzle, Inner Flow II, Sacred Circle Mandalas, Sue O’Kieffe, print on demand

Yesterday was Part I in response to Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) who recently wrote me “i am curious to know out of all the ways you sell your art, which is the most profitable for you and which is the most enjoyable?”

What a great question, Sue!!  I know some other artists sometimes read my blog – I hope everyone will chime in – this could be very helpful to us all!  I am really looking forward to hearing from others too!  Yesterday I gave an overview of offline selling. Today is the overview of one type of online selling – the post got long enough to break the online selling into 2 days. After that I will talk about specifics. This real US postage from Zazzle showcases my vibrant, colorful Fanciful Animal Images painting of Freckles in Flowers II.

Freckles in Flowers II Postage © Diane Clancy

There are 2 basic ways I sell online. The way I originally started selling online was that I create the art and then sell the item to the customer directly (often through a store).  Once a customer chooses an item, they pay for that item and then I ship it directly to them.  Once they get the product, if they bought through a shop, often they will leave feedback (hopefully positive!) and I leave feedback too.

This is lovely to have the direct contact with the buyer.  They can contact or email me to ask questions beforehand.  They can ask if I can make a change if they want.  It is often very personal and friendly. This way I end up with their address and usually their email also.  If they don’t mind, I have a way to contact them when I do get around to creating my newsletter.

Depending on the shop, I can get paid in several different ways.  This could be another post sometime – there are multiple ways one can get paid – depending on the circumstances.  If people would like, I can write about that sometime soon. One benefit of getting paid this way is you get your money for the purchase relatively quickly.

If I sold the item through the shop, the store usually takes a percentage of the sale price.  In many shops there is also a listing fee.  Most of the different payment methods also charge a fee for the transaction.  These are some of the costs of doing business online.

One must also take the item to the post office (or know beforehand how much something costs to mail).  If something gets lost in the mail, it is your (the seller’s) problem.  Then you have to deal with the hassle and probably replace the item for free.  So you are also doing the customer service. BUT you are BUILDING a RELATIONSHIP with the customer – which everyone says is crucial to being a successful artist.

This is getting long enough that I am breaking this into 2 parts … I like reading shorter posts myself.  Tomorrow I will talk about the other way I do online selling. Thank you for stopping by!!

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, postage, Fanciful Animal Images, Zazzle, Freckles in Flowers II, Sacred Circle Mandalas, Sue O’Kieffe

Sue O’Kieffe of Sacred Circle Mandalas (http://sacred-circle-mandalas.blogspot.com) recently wrote me “i am curious to know out of all the ways you sell your art, which is the most profitable for you and which is the most enjoyable?”

What a great question, Sue!!  I know some other artists sometimes read my blog – I hope everyone will chime in – this could be very helpful to us all!  There is a handful of sites that I use regularly and really enjoy.  I am really looking forward to hearing from others too!  This is mug from CafePress showcases my vibrant, colorful bubblescape painting of Violet Mist.

Violet Mist Mug © Diane Clancy

Today I am going to give an overview of the ways I sell my work offline – and what works about these ways and what doesn’t.  Tomorrow I will give an overview of the online ways I sell my art. The next day I will talk about specific sites and venues and what I like. (This post was getting too long and I know I prefer to read shortish posts). But I will probably write them all today so they hang together.

There are 4 basic ways I sell – 2 offline and 2 online.  Locally I sell to stores or have items on consignment.  This is great because there is no running to the post office to send things off.  Consignment doesn’t work as well as an outright sale of course because there is no money paid to me upfront and I may get my merchandise back with stickers and such or other damage, which gives me more work to deal with.  I love selling my work locally and having people come up to me saying they have seen my work in a specific place and they like it.  I am a big supporter of the local economy.

Of course in a rural area, there are only so many appropriate stores to sell to … and the local market is smallish – our whole county is only 70,000 people.  I have gone to a bigger distance (I have sold in 3 states) but then the mileage eats up that much more profit.  So it is a wonderful piece of the mix – but not enough to sustain my business.

The other local, offline way I sell is at art or craft fairs.  I have not found my stride in this venue yet.  My work hasn’t sold all that well at the local, inexpensive craft fairs.  Art hasn’t tended to sell as well as functional items there.  People don’t seem to be too much in the market for art at these things.  The ones that are inexpensive represent low risk financially – yet they are also the ones that I am less likely to sell art at.

The expensive ones that cost a substantial amount (hundreds of dollars and up), I am leery of for me – I have never tried them.  Some people have made these kinds of fairs a cornerstone of their art or craft business.  I am concerned about such a big investment of time, energy and money. Also, many people say that market has changed substantially … yet I am sure that many artisans are still doing quite well.

For me personally, part of what doesn’t work well at art and craft fairs is the carrying things to the fair and the needing to be there to sell.  As many of you know, I have substantial health issues, and this type of event wipes me out for a good week.  That doesn’t seem like a good trade-off.

Yet last holiday season the Artists of Franklin County put on an Art Fair and it worked quite well for us.  There was no entrance fee and we were competing with other artists.  The networking was fabulous and we made more sales than we usually have.  Part of what I think needs to happen is figuring out how to get more repeat buyers … they love my work and buy something to support me – but sometimes I think then that is that.

So it is great to potentially know my customers locally and to support the local economy.  It is wonderful to meet the store owners and customers face to face and have that personal relationship potentially.  Delivery is local.  Those are big pluses.  Tomorrow I will give an overview on online selling. Thank you for stopping by!!

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, mug, bubblescape, CafePress, Artists of Franklin County, Sacred Circle Mandalas, Sue O’Kieffe

The local artists’ group, Artists of Franklin County, had our monthly meeting this month.  It was a pleasure that someone else chaired, prepared the agenda, sent out the reminder notice, set up the next date and will write the minutes.  This is great news for the viability of the group!

Your suggestions were very helpful!!  Susan Elkin helped me pull together the paintings, prints and merchandise – to have a good selection but not too many.  I wrote all your suggestions on a piece of paper and went through and looked at them to see how to include them.  Then I wrote a brief outline, starting as a child, and going through “where from here.”  Susan let me practice twice on her … both times it was different.  Today was yet another version of course – but still using the same (very brief) outline.

It was a small group but they said they really enjoyed it.  They let me talk for quite awhile and then started throwing lots of questions at me.  It was interesting – most of the people stayed for close to an hour after the meeting ended and kept talking about ourselves.  I think that was a good indication that it was helpful to the group.

For me it was useful to see I have a story and that it is interesting to hear. I could do it again with a lot more ease.  I can also see that places that I can work on to clarify what I might want to say.  Whew!  So now I feel more prepared to go talk … I think I need to think more about how to talk about my work in greater detail … the process and what it means to me.

This is one of my paintings on merchandise that I brought today to show as an example.  This vibrant, colorful painting of In the Garden is now on a tile in my CafePress Shop.   Here is the link for this lovely tile.  I think it is pretty cool – I hope you like it!   In the Garden is also available in many different sizes. Email me if you would like to get In the Garden as an Art Card, ACEO for $6.  Just ask!

In the Garden Tile © Diane Clancy

Thanks so much!!  Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, mug, bubblescape, CafePress, Art Cards – ACEOs, Etsy, Artists of Franklin County, AWE Project, presentation

Every week Illustration Friday has a challenge for a specific word. It is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! Anyone can join in with their entry to Illustration Friday. I so much enjoy doing this challenge. This week is Unfold. This vibrant, colorful painting of Unfold shows this blurb Unfolding into a star!!  I encourage you to check Illustration Friday out! Lots of fun people and paintings!  Thank you for stopping by!!

Unfold, Digital  © Diane Clancy

I still need to prepare for my presentation tomorrow – but all your suggestions have been VERY helpful!!  Thank you.  How are you doing? Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Illustration Friday, Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, unfold

Some of you know I have coordinated the local artists’ group, Artists of Franklin County, for 4 years.  I have been cheer leader, chair, coordinator, minutes taker of the group and coordinator of our AWE Project (Artists Window Exhibit).  The last meeting we had a great discussion about it being time to share the responsibility – at last there is a stable core group that is able and willing to step up and make the group run by ALL of us.

We had been taking turns making presentations of our work as artists and whatever we wanted.  One person in particular had never done this – ME.  Most other people had already.  Everyone in the group decided it was my turn to present.  Someone else is chairing the meeting and taking minutes.  Seemed reasonable to me.

But with the illness and death of my cousin … this totally dropped out of my mind.  The wonderful person who has volunteered to chair reminded me of the presentation.  I would just as soon postpone it .. but the meeting is built around it … so I think I should do it … but I sure am looking for suggestions!  Thanks!

This vibrant, colorful painting of Ocean Dreams is now on a mug in my CafePress Shop.   Here is the link for this lovely mug.  I think it is pretty cool – I hope you like it!  You can also get this at my Etsy Shop as a framed print or an Art Card, ACEO for $6.  Ocean Dreams is also available in many different sizes.  Just ask!

Ocean Dreams Mug © Diane Clancy

Any ideas are appreciated!!  Thanks so much!!  Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, mug, bubblescape, CafePress, Art Cards – ACEOs, Etsy, Artists of Franklin County, AWE Project, presentation

I WON the the Design Style Giveaway!! I am so excited!!  Here is the the Design Style Blog that showcases lovely work!  Karen Faulkner Art sponsors this first free giveaway that I won!!  Karen Faulkner is a fantastic artist and I encourage to look at her Etsy shop. Hopefully YOU will win next time!  I encourage you to enter the next giveaway – I will let you know when that happens … dancing with happiness! This is the painting that I have chosen – it was VERY hard to choose!

Pink Showers, © Karen Faulkner Art

The Design Style Guide is a wonderful place that is bringing together thousands of items that are appropriate for Home Decor. Their main purpose is to promote the team and its members to Interior Designers (and like-minded consumers) through various promotions and advertising techniques.   This is part of the move to promote handmade items instead of mass produced things. Their focus is on marketing and branding “Handmade Home Decor” to professional Interior Designers.

If you would like to join Design Style Guide, please click here:

I would love to hear how YOU are! Thanks for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Design Style Guide Giveaway, Karen Faulkner Art

This vibrant, colorful painting of Conundrum I is now on postage in my Zazzle Shop.   Here is the link for this real postage.  I think it is pretty cool – I hope you like it!  This is REAL US postage that you can send letters with!!  You can also get in in various postage rates.  You can also get this at my Etsy Shop as a Art Card, ACEO for $6.  Conundrum I is also available in many different sizes.  Just ask!

Conundrum I Postage © Diane Clancy

Since people are still buying functional items, I realized I can use some of my energy to create items in shops that you can use besides look at.  I think I might tackle shirts soon.  Any ideas?  What would you think was still worth buying with an image on it?  Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, postage, goddess, Zazzle, Art Cards – ACEOs, Etsy

Hi Everyone, thank you for all your support through my special cousin’s illness and death.  I feel blessed to receive so much support, caring and kindness from so many people.  It has also meant a lot to my family and to my cousin himself when he was still sick.  My cousin’s sister gave us some flowers to take home … here are a couple of photos of flowers we pulled out of arrangements and put into vases.

Vincent’s Rose, Photography © Diane Clancy

Susan Elkin helped me take better photos than I would have without her help.  That is a plus – I learned a little more about using a camera today!  Tomorrow I will go back to regular posting … I have slowly been taking care of some of the things that have piled up during this sad time.  We were lucky enough to spend a couple of hours with him shortly before he transitioned to the other side (yes I mean died to be clear for those who might be confused by English).  It was a very precious time to spend that quality time with him and those who were closest to him.  It helped me a LOT to be able to let him go – he was clearly ready, it was clearly time.  He lived a great life!

Vincent’s Yellow Flower, Photography © Diane Clancy

It is wonderous and sad to learn so much about someone after they die.  Great to hear so many lovely things … and sad that I didn’t know more of them when he was still alive.  What a reminder to cherish those precious relationships while people are still alive.  And I so value all the time we spent together and all the appreciation we had for each other.  Thank you for all your support!  Back to regular programming tomorrow.  Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, Susan Elkin, photography, life

Every week Illustration Friday has a challenge for a specific word. It is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! Anyone can join in with their entry to Illustration Friday. I so much enjoy doing this challenge. This week is Craving. This vibrant, colorful painting of Craving shows these bubbles totally Craving the large bubble!!  I encourage you to check Illustration Friday out! Lots of fun people and paintings!  Thank you for stopping by!!

Craving, Digital  © Diane Clancy

My special cousin has transitioned/died.  Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers – they helped a lot.  I will be very busy with family and funeral for a bit – but I will post as soon as I can.  It was definitely time – I am sad but ok.  How are you doing? Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Illustration Friday, Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, craving, bubblescape

I WON the the Design Style Giveaway!! I am so excited!! Here is the blog post that announces my winning prize!   Here is the the Design Style Blog that showcases lovely work!  I get to choose any work in Karen Faulkner’s shop – up to $20!!  (See below for one of her great images).  I encourage you to enter the next giveaway – I will let you know when that happens … dancing with happiness!

Design Style Guide Giveaway #1

The Design Style Guide is a wonderful place that is bringing together thousands of items that are appropriate for Home Decor. Their main purpose is to promote the team and its members to Interior Designers (and like-minded consumers) through various promotions and advertising techniques.   This is part of the move to promote handmade items instead of mass produced things. Their focus is on marketing and branding “Handmade Home Decor” to professional Interior Designers.

If you would like to join Design Style Guide, please click here:

Karen Faulkner Art sponsors this first free giveaway that I won!!  Karen Faulkner is a fantastic artist and I encourage to look at her Etsy shop. Hopefully YOU will win next time!  Here is one of Karen’s lovely art creations – this is the link where you can purchase the painting below!   I have not chosen my prize yet.

Bluest of Blue Flowers, © Karen Faulkner Art

I want to let you know that I am going to be busy with family the next couple of days – so I will be unable to write a blog post.  I hope you will come on by once I write again! Thanks for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Design Style Guide Giveaway, Karen Faulkner Art

This vibrant, colorful painting of Emma in Flowers I is now on a framed tile in my CafePress Shop.   Here is the link for Emma.  I think it is pretty cool – I hope you like it!  You can also get this at my Etsy Shop as a Fine Art Card for $4.  Emma is also available in butterflies and in many different sizes.  Just ask!

Emma in Flowers I Framed Tile © Diane Clancy

Since people are still buying functional items, I realized I can use some of my energy to create items in shops that you can use besides look at.  I think I might tackle shirts soon.  Any ideas?  Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, digital, framed tile, Fanciful Animal Images, CafePress, Etsy

Every week Illustration Friday has a challenge for a specific word. It is a great way to showcase your work and a wonderful opportunity to meet lots of wonderful people! Anyone can join in with their entry to Illustration Friday. I so much enjoy doing this challenge. This week is Adapt. This vibrant, colorful painting of Adapt shows these bubbles adapting from the water to the air!!  I encourage you to check Illustration Friday out! Lots of fun people and paintings!  Thank you for stopping by!!

Adapt, Digital  © Diane Clancy

My special cousin and I are also Adapting to the circumstances.  I would say he will be here (on earth) for awhile … no knowing how long, and I think we are all becoming more accepting of that. How are you doing? Thank you for stopping by!

~ Diane Clancy

Technorati Tags: Illustration Friday, Diane Clancy, vibrant colorful painting, adapt, bubblescape