Getting antsy

As the year begins to wind down, my plans and ideas begin to wind up. I start to look back over the year and see what have been successes and what have been failures and how I can change things for next year because next year is a clean slate. It is especially "bad" (and I put that in quotes because it's not necessarily a bad thing, but bad meaning the ability to ignore has been significantly reduced) recently because I've gotten it into my head that I need to take off the training wheels that is my part time job and start to kick my business into high gear. Not exactly the smartest of decisions since the country seems to be heading into some major financial downturns, but I've never been one for completely rational thought. All I see are the possibilities and they are encouraging. 

I have been obsessed with viewing my lack of being an independent (read: free from part time job) artist as being because I haven't put all the pieces of the puzzle together, or I'm missing a key piece, like one of those jaggedy edged pieces that you really can't put it in place until pretty much the entire puzzle is put together.

However, while being rational may not be my strong point, I am still sane, and sanity tells me I need to not walk away from a sure thing until the other thing is a sure thing. (Ya got all that?) Meaning that the part time job stays because it has to. This is not the kind of situation where it's a sink or swim thing. I wouldn't work any harder if I didn't have the other job (because I already work hard enough) and casting off the regular paycheck isn't going to guarantee that the other ones will start flying in. 

I had more to go with that but I'm starting to fall asleep. Obsessing is exhausting!

Saint Paul Art Crawl and new work

Once again it's time for the Saint Paul Art Crawl, fall edition. :)

The best type of art fair, one where I don't have to leave my home, but I do have to clean and prepare. As always, all of my artwork will be available for sale, and I will have some snacks and refreshments as well!

The hours of the Art Crawl are:

Friday October 10, 6-10pm

Saturday October 11, 2-10pm

Sunday October 12, 12-5

Also, I have some new artwork that I just completed but have yet to print. It's my largest piece of art in dimension at approximately 18 x 24. It combines hand drawn elements, found items as well as some of my own photography. I'm really enjoying the new direction I am going with my fine art collages by painting a background and then converting it into a digital format and layering over it with digital elements. I am also adding more original work to my portfolio of collages as well, as I find the more that I mix traditional collage with digital collage the harder it is to reproduce the outcome, especially if I add traditional elements such as stenciling, painting, stamping, etc. after the collage is printed.

This collage is currently untitled. It is based on a quote that I saw on a t-shirt, "Sometimes what the heart sees is invisible to the eye."

uw-madison.....COMPLETE!

After working on it every day for almost a week, I finally finished the UW-Madison collage. This one gave me a lot of trouble. It was like trying to put together a puzzle and having pieces missing. I had plenty of photos, actually I had WAY MORE than I needed, but it was just getting them all to fit in an eye pleasing manner that was the difficulty. It's hard to explain, but I just know it when it's done. I always tell people that I have no preconceived notion of what it's going to look like, I'll just know it when I see it. And this one just didn't want to appear!!

At 60 layers, this is the most complex collage I've done so far. I'm happy with the result, and I'll be putting it up for purchase on my website soon, and I will be sending out an email notification to those on my email mailing list ASAP!

things happen

I just wanted to post to say that unfortunately I won't be doing the 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer next weekend. I completely underestimated the difficulty in raising such a large sum of money and I was so very busy that I couldn't put my all into it. I thought the artwork would be a larger success than it was and with art fairs almost every weekend, I missed all of the training meetings. I also didn't have the time to organize any fundraising events. The event that I did try to organize fell through. I feel horribly over the whole thing and will know in the future to stick to smaller events. I did do the Race for the Cure in the spring with a friend and that was a fantastic event and I plan on doing that again next year. 

Thanks to all of you who purchased artwork and who donated on the website. I appreciate your donation greatly, thank you for giving to such a wonderful cause!! All of the money that was raised by the artwork and the 5% that I collected from each of the art fair totals will still be donated to the event. Total amount raised was $335.

I intend to continue to display the original print at all art fairs in the future and shall it ever sell, will give half of the total price, $300, to the Susan G. Koman Foundation.

iphone notes

Anyone who sees me fairly regularly knows I'm addicted to my iPhone. It's like super glued to my hand. I'm either texting or checking an application like Facebook or I just like to hold it. But I've come to rely on the Notes application more and more. Today I was in Borders and came across a book of photographs called Suburban World. It was the photos of a local photographer who wasn't in the business to take an artistic or even particularly beautiful photographs. He took them to document the world around him, the world outside his door. Which made my mind wander, which made me write this commentary on my art:

It's not about art. It's about documenting the places that make people laugh, think, remember. It's about seeing things I'd never see through the eyes of someone who loves their town or school. Learning the history of a place I've walked past a million times or discovering somewhere I've never been. It's hearing the stories that we attach to a place and don't realize. It's about discovering my world through someone else's eyes and in turn learning more about myself. Tossing away all pretense about what I know about certain places (a dive, a high class place, expensive, cheap) and just learning. Knowing that it's not how the photo is taken that makes it perfect, it's what someone remembers about that place. It's loving to hear what comes next after "I remember when...". Everyone has their story. I just try to capture it.

cleaning up the mind clutter

My understanding was that business blogs were supposed to be just about business...new products, new shows, explanations of process, etc. You're not supposed to really get into how you feel about your business, right?

Well, I figured maybe if I wrote more about how I feel about my business it would make me feel better. Right now I feel like I'm starting over, when really I'm just beginning. Business has gone very well, so much so that I think it's time for me to really start figuring out what's going right, what's going wrong and how I can make the necessary changes so finally I can see things going down some sort of track, or rather so I can go down the track I want with more velocity rather than chugging along at snail speed.

So, back to business.

On that front, I will be going out to Madison this weekend to get photos of the campus. The masses have spoken, your requests have been many, it's time for me to deliver! A Madison collage it is!!

time to start again

As you can tell, I haven't blogged since May. Generally the art fair season does this to me. I hit the ground running with the best intentions of doing all these wonderful things, and all that happens is I spend every weekend working and the days in between replenishing what I sell. Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for reflection, not to mention time to take a breath or create new work. As fall rolls in, I find myself starting to realize that I should've organized things better, taken more time to prepare when I had down time, etc. etc.

My hope is to remind myself that the only thing from keeping me from doing better is me, and that eventually I'll be able to have most of my plans actually work out if I work smarter, not harder. I have to take things in smaller bits and pieces, not huge chunks, as I usually tend to do.

As the signature on my iPhone email says, "the art of flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

in the beginning, part two...now what?

After the paperwork was completed, then I had to actually have things to sell and places to sell them. What do I sell? I like making things by hand. People like greeting cards. I like the cute greeting cards I see with glitter on them. I make things out of boxes. I take pictures. I have a little interest in bookmaking.

So....I threw everything I wanted to do together and came up with a big mess. I had zero focus and just wanted to make anything and everything I could that I thought was cute and that could maybe sell. I did a lot of things that were ridiculously time consuming that I completely undercut myself on when I came up with prices. All in all, I spent a lot of time manufacturing which is fun for maybe the first 10. Then you want to scream something to the effect of "if I ever see another one of these things.....(insert various expletives here)".

Don't get me wrong, I still get compliments to this day on all those handcrafted things I made. It was an incredible experience and I've always loved making things by hand, I still do. I just have a way of making little things into huge projects and you can't ask $300 for a little hanging plaque. You just can't.

So I had a product. I had SEVERAL products. I needed a place to sell them. Because it was April by the time I got started and finished all the paperwork, most art fair deadlines were past. I applied to 2, both of which my mom had done for several years and had a fair amount of success at. I got into both, and then I promptly freaked out.

I needed a display. I needed more stuff. How much stuff? I have no frame of reference. What if my booth looks empty? What if it looks too full? How do I want it to look? What am I going to use for displays? One of the shows is outside, one is inside. I have to be flexible. I have to take a nap.

And it flowed from there. Well, except the flowing was more like a jagged line of rocks and glass, but I'd like to paint a prettier picture. In the art fair process, you have to start off making a lot of mistakes, forgetting a lot of stuff, screwing up, being too hot, too cold and too tired. I'm in my 6th year and I still panic before a show, but it's getting to be teeny panic, and that's mostly because I'm a bit of procrastinator when it comes to preparing. I'm getting better, but I don't think it's something that you can entirely make go away. It's like butterflies before going on stage. I'd like to believe even the most veteran actors still get a little nervous.

Next time.....how did I get started doing collages?

in the beginning, part one

While still trying to hone this whole blogging thing and make it interesting yet not be totally goofballish, a good question was brought up.

How do I do what I do?

Not how do I create what I create...that's a whole other story, but how do I have a business?

I get questions similar to this at art fairs all the time....how long have I been in business, how many art fairs do I do a year, that kind of thing. I guess it's kind of drilled into me that the artist statement is very important, which doesn't say squat about how to make a business. It usually goes something like, "I have a very important degree in some form of art, I combine some fancy art terms together to create the fantastic amazing thing that is my art."

Magic happens....la la la.....I'm in business selling my art.

Not. Quite.

So I think I'll divide this into a few portions to A) not bore you to tears with a 500 word essay and B) to get a series of blogs going to give me practice blogging and to get you to come back to read more!

It all started in 2001....

After spending 4 years chasing after an Interior Design degree from the U of M and then failing portfolio review (I used too much color....seriously....that's what they told me), I wanted to switch to Graphic Design and 1) missed the transfer date and 2) there was a waiting list to get into the program. 

I had taken a couple foundations Graphic Design classes and was severely disappointed. One of them was taught by a grad school student who referred us to our books when we had a software question. Yes, I know I paid $300 for books, but you should still be teaching the class and not letting the books do the teaching. If I wanted that, I would teach myself. (Which I had done a lot of up to that point anyway.) I didn't want to be in school for 8 years, so I went after an associate's degree rather than a bachelor's. I transferred out of the U and went to Globe College, now Globe University. I graduated in June 2001. Then September 2001 happened. And you had a better chance of getting hit by a bus than finding a graphic design job. Not only was the job field saturated with prospective designers, the design firms were laying off more than they were hiring. I was working at tile company as a "design consultant" which meant I helped customers choose the right beige tile for their unbuilt homes. If someone came in looking for something snazzy for their backsplash, I nearly had a heart attack.

Anyhoo....I went on a interview for this great place, Hot Dish Advertising. As a Christmas call back kind of thing, I sent this gift box greeting card. A little hard to explain, but short explanation is I handmade something. A co-worker at the tile place told me that I should really go into business for myself making things. In March of 2002 I filed my DBA papers with the state, and Inkblots was born.

So....step one. After you've pounded your head against every solid surface trying to decide if you want to create a business and finally come to the conclusion that yes, I'm a glutton for punishment (kidding....), your first step is to do homework! There are some awesome websites out there that give great tips and steps for starting a business. While most of them are not geared towards art business, the basics are there and you can pick out the relevant pieces.

Having a State Tax ID number (MN)

Small Business Q & A

Registering a business

The hardest part is to remember that though you are making art, in the eyes of the people that take all of your money (the IRS), it's a business just like any other. You have to treat it like one!

Next time....what did I do when the paperwork was done?

3 Day Artwork

As I previously posted, I'll be walking in the 

Breast Cancer 3 Day in September. I wanted to create a special piece of artwork to not only help me raise money for the walk, but also to bring about awareness of it. Sure there are lots of commercials and ads, but what does the walk really mean? Having never done it before, I could only go by what my friends and other people had told me about it. The result is a piece that focuses on the strength and beauty of women and their ability to pull together with a near unstoppable power. The collage is called "Strength in Numbers".

You can find information about purchase at my website. Simply go to the main page and there is a link at the bottom of the page. If you would like to make a donation without purchase, you can go to my donation page.

a new addition

I am amazed by the legions of artist bloggers who can write their blogs consistently. I need to hone my business blogging skills! A couple of times a month just doesn't make the grade. I guess it's one of those things like exercise that you have to train yourself to do on a regular basis and schedule it in if necessary. I would probably do well to write it down somewhere so at least I can have the reminder. Things slip out of my brain so easily when there's so much to do!!

And now I have even more to do in addition to a new reason to reach for success in my business! (Success being self-sufficiency from my art without having a part-time job)

Meet Beatrix!

She'll be hanging out during the Saint Paul Art Crawl coming up at the end of April (check my website for details), so if she's good, you might be able to say hi. She's still a puppy so it might be a little overwhelming for her, but we'll play it by ear.

my journey

I can't believe I haven't written about this yet!! I'm very excited to be taking on something so huge, but my mind must've been elsewhere until now.

In September, I'll be doing the Breast Cancer 3 Day. I'll be walking 60 miles and raising $2200 for breast cancer research. I've had some family members and friends fight the breast cancer battle and luckily they're still here to fight another day. The money doesn't raise itself though, so I need YOUR help!!

Very soon I will be completing a limited edition collage in honor of the strength of women and will be donating 5% of each sale to my walk. I will also be donating 5% of the total sales from each art fair from now until September.

So, a purchase from you is a donation towards ending breast cancer. If you'd like to make a donation directly to the walk, you can do so by visiting my walk page.

Thank you in advance!!!

decidedly too small

I would like my blog to be accessible to all viewers, so I've decided to put the kibosh on the teeny tiny type. Though adorably cute (in my opinion, anyway), I know it's got to be ticking off someone of my customers, which is not the point.

So here.....in a slightly larger font, and a serif font to boot (I love the sans-serif, but I think I'll keep with serif for now), is the new(ish) blog.

Nothing excitedly new to report, just feverishly getting applications together and meeting deadlines for all the upcoming art fairs, and doing more of that crossing fingers and toes business.

Let me know if you like the font better!

getting close.....

The art fair season is inching its way nearer! I can't believe it's almost March already. In just 28 short days I'll be...*gasp*....30. But that's neither here nor there. 

Some quick website notes.....

I've learned that people with AOL have been having a hard time viewing my website. This is an AOL issue and unfortunately I can't think of a way around it. If you view it in Internet Explorer (or Safari on a Mac) and not AOL, hopefully you shouldn't have a problem.

You will need Flash to view it! Because of the slideshow that I've put up on the site, you will need to have a new version of Flash Player installed. It's free....no worries!

Down to business!

I've ordered the Nordeast Nocturne posters, so if you have been following my completely erratic blog posting, you're the first to know! I should receiving them in about a week and a half, just in time for the Arts at the Oval show that's listed on my schedule page. YAY!

For all of you who haven't signed up for my email newsletter and already received the news, I'm very sad to announce the closing of Studio 10 in Har Mar Mall. They are unsure whether they will be closing in April or May, but I will post more information as I find out. They have been wonderful to me and I'm very sad to lose one of my best retailers.

With warmer weather (crossing my fingers AND toe for that!!) comes my ability to get out and get some photos! As I said earlier in the year, I'll be working on a new Nightlife Minneapolis piece and also a Riverfront Minneapolis piece. I'm going to try to get up to Duluth as well to FINALLY get that piece started!

Back to work!

adventures in googling

At work a woman who created a new business asked me what makes your site show up in searches. The truth was I used to know but it slipped my mind, so I did a quick Google search. The answer was metadata tags. Which made me think, well, I don't have metadata tags on my site. That may be why when you do a search for inkblots you get nada.

Upon further inspection, I learned that metadata tags are now almost irrelevant and it's titles that get you up there on the search.

So....I tried a few things.

Google my name, Giesla Hoelscher, and there I am, all over the place. Pretty neat.

Google Inkblots and I'm 7 pages in.

Google inkblots art, and there I am, right at the top! Weird. Same thing with inkblots collage and inkblots digital.

So here I was thinking that people couldn't find me unless they knew how to spell my name (not an easy task), but the truth is, there are just too many Inkblots titled website that it buries mine 7 pages deep. If those people that couldn't remember my website address had typed inkblots art, I would've popped up right away! Now to just get people to remember that.....ah, yet another marketing task.

on the horizon

I'm not very good at coming up with titles for these things....you'd think something creative would just pop in, but as the day goes by, I'd rather take a nap than be creative!

So what this title refers to is all the new things that have either already happened or are in the works!

I just got my copy of the latest issue of  The Knot Minnesota, a local bridal magazine, that I have an advertisement for my custom work in. After all this time not doing much graphic design, I'm very proud of how professional it looks! Thanks a ton to Judy Bialka for allowing me to use the collage I did for her to give to Dwayne and Joyce Archuleta as a wedding gift in the ad. It's truly one of the best examples of what a wedding collage can be and I hope it brings me more custom business! I truly love doing the custom work, each piece is so different and a complete surprise when it's done!

I'm currently working on completing an order of collage cards for Prairie Stone Pharmacy, a part of Lunds in Northeast in Minneapolis. They are interested in possibly carrying a riverfront collage should I ever do one. I have had several requests over the past couple of years, so I think it's time to do it. Of course -4 degrees is no temperature to go out to take pictures, so it might be a couple of months before it gets done, but it gives me time to gather together a list of what I want to photograph.

I also have plans to start work on my second night Minneapolis collage soon as well. I already have several pictures taken, but the neon on Bunkers was out last time it was decent weather before Christmas (40 degrees!!) and so I'm waiting for that to get fixed!

Last but not least, I'm considering applying for Art in the Market, an art fair that is happening every 2nd Saturday at the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. I'm not 100% sure just yet, but I will make my decision soon! Check out my schedule page on my website to find out if I get juried in.

whew!

FINALLY! the website is finished. 11 days after my goal. I guess it could have been worse. When you go to it you can see it's dramatically differently and finally easy for me to update. No more waiting weeks for me to update the site with new pieces! When it's done, it goes up on the site. Very exciting. And I FINALLY (lots of finallys....finallies? here) added my freelance graphic design work and my photography. After a year of a half finished website, I now have something that works great!

Now to tackle the rest of my list....