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| The only real signs of Autumn in my little back garden! |
When I started selling
my greeting cards online, a 'marketing guru' friend warned
me that I would spend 80% of my time promoting and only 20% creating.
She was just about right, except
for the fact that the 20% has turned out to necessarily include a lot
of other tedious tasks in order to get my designs on products for
sale! In recent months, this has been particularly true of Zazzle,
where my sales are greatest. There have been changes to the
'rules' and changes to the website that all entail hours of work for the designers. All part and parcel of selling online but
it means that time in my attic studio has been very limited again.
Thankfully though,
there is some creative work that I can carry on with in spite of
spending so much of my time on my laptop doing necessary
'house-keeping' jobs!
For instance, even in a 'painterly'
soft pastel like this one of Hereford Cathedral in the Autumn, I feel I am drawing rather than painting
throughout the whole process:
The most important thing I took from this very interesting book was the reminder
to draw something every day!
And because my drawing doesn't always consist of
trying to make an accurate representation, but often it's something more like
doodling, as long as I have plenty of paper and pencils to hand, that
is something I can happily catch up with while I'm watching tv -
especially if it's the World Cup Rugby as it helps to relieve the
tension!
Here's one of my recent 'doodles'!
Here's one of my recent 'doodles'!
Of course, if I'd set out to draw a village, I'd have gone about it totally differently.
For one thing, I wouldn't have started with the church. I'd have begun with the school in the foreground and built up everything else behind it. That would at least have helped me get the perspective right and avoid paths and roads that go nowhere! And what on earth is that bush doing, growing out over the pavement (top right) and into the road?!
But it's in the nature of a 'doodle' that it isn't planned, it kind of grows organically and takes on a life of its own, ignoring constraints of things like perspective and practicalities. That bush - or is it a pile of manure? - could become the starting point for a story about village life!
My 'village' will get filed away with all my other doodles and maybe one day it'll be the starting point for a design - maybe not! The main thing is that I enjoyed it - and it lowered my stress levels during a nail-biting rugby match on tv!
My 'village' will get filed away with all my other doodles and maybe one day it'll be the starting point for a design - maybe not! The main thing is that I enjoyed it - and it lowered my stress levels during a nail-biting rugby match on tv!
Meanwhile, it's still incredibly mild for the time of year and the trees are late changing their colours.
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| Trees across the road from my house changing colour at last |
We had a very wet August and September and now, in October, there's hardly been any frost so I expect that has something to do with it.
My walk to the shops through Bailey Park is lined with beech and oak trees and in other years, the oaks have begun to change in late August, the magnificent beeches in September.
This year they've only just got going!
One of the
very positive changes this year has been Zazzle's introduction of
'Collections'.
I tend to design patterns in 'collections' in any case. But it's great to be able to break down my collections even further, grouping them according to products or occasions! I still
haven't finished my 'Periwinkles' collection - greeting cards still
to be added - but here are all the coordinating periwinkle patterns on 'Periwinkle Gifts for a Bathroom and Bedroom' -
It's
impossible to walk through the shopping areas of Abergavenny this Autumn without
noticing that plaids and checks are still filling the windows of the
clothing shops and boutiques.
On a sunny day, it's hard to get a photo of a shop
window without reflections but here are a couple that didn't do too
badly -
Inspired by
this continuing trend, I've gathered together all my fashion products
with plaids and checks in this 'collection'. (Zazzle have just
introduced canvas shoes for us to decorate with our designs so I hope
to add some of them - as soon as I find the time!)
Although I haven't had time to create much new art this month, I have been busy creating 'Collections' and building up my other blog, now called 'Posh & Painterly' to avoid any confusion.
Each day, I'm posting a new Zazzle Collection in the hope that the blog can become a useful shopping resource for anyone who likes my style of Art and Design. Six days a week I'm hoping to provice a new 'Collection' to browse!
Each day, I'm posting a new Zazzle Collection in the hope that the blog can become a useful shopping resource for anyone who likes my style of Art and Design. Six days a week I'm hoping to provice a new 'Collection' to browse!
blog
- it's all about style!
So please pop
over and take a look - you might even find some ideas for Christmas
presents amongst them (even though the flowers in my back garden make it seem as if Christmas is still a long way off!).
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| Annual Godetias and Pot Marigolds, grown from seed - nearly November and still in bloom! |
