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back to basics.
i’m not really sure why, but i’ve been moved the past few weeks to pick up a paint brush and go back to my folk art roots. it’s been really therapeutic and also fun. i’ve been tweeting occasional pics of a wooden chair i’ve been in the process of painting, and though it’s not quite done yet, here’s what it’s looking like right now:
i’m really stuck on this purple/red/black/white color scheme right now for some reason, too. but it’s working pretty well on the chair, i think. i might go back and change a few things, and i still have some detail work to do on the legs and maybe the red horizontal parts of the back of the chair… not sure. but generally speaking, i’m really liking how it’s turning out. will let you know when it’s done.
i also have a few small canvases in process, also folk art in style. it feels really great to use a brush again, after so many years of doing mostly spray paint stencil work. not that i’m abandoning that technique or anything – it’s just nice to get back in touch with how i started, and that zen feeling i remember having when totally “in the zone” of applying dots and squiggly lines in repetetive patterns all over a piece of furniture. there’s something to that process that’s just magical and calming and puts my brainwaves in order like nothing else. so i’m doing it, and hope to keep doing a lot more of it.
stay tuned, too, for another upcoming sale. i feel it coming on. perhaps after my saturday appearance at the picayune street fair with miss malaprop. a girl’s gotta pay rent, after all.
spring has sprung.
oh i know. i have not been very good at keeping up with this blog, ever since i started the new one where i write about more varied and personal things other than my art/craft life.
it’s also been a fairly slow time for said art/craft life. post-holidays through mardi gras is always slow for me, since i don’t really make anything that is mardi gras-focused and the weather is usually crappy enough to keep me from any of the outdoor markets (and from wanting to work on making new stuff outdoors). i’ve had a slow-but-steady trickle of etsy orders, and did get a little bit of a boost from the publicity mentioned in the previous post. but it’s not been anything close to “normal” levels of business. it’s been beyond slow, really.
but here we are in mid-march (how did that happen?). mardi gras is over and st. patrick’s is tomorrow, with st. joseph’s day hot on its heels this weekend. the weather has been absolutely gorgeous for a few weeks; perfect new orleans springtime, with loads of sunshine and temps in the 60s and 70s. (apologies to all the northerners who have still been dealing with winter up until now.) i have been riding my scooter and bicycle a lot, and taking daily walks in city park for exercise, while enjoying the outdoors as much as possible.
i don’t, however, think i’ll be doing a lot of outdoor markets anytime soon. i’m just not making enough money at them to justify the ever-increasing booth fees. the only two i have on my calendar right now are on april 2nd, i’m helping miss malaprop out at the picayune street fair in picayune, mississippi… and then on april 16th i will be at tulane’s crawfest. the picayune street fair is actually a weekend-long event but i think i’m only going up on saturday, unless sales are just so good i can’t stay away on sunday. and crawfest is an annual treat for me; i’ve been doing it for years and it’s one of my favorites, due to the excellent music and all-you-can-eat crawfish!
i am starting to get back outside working on new stuff, though. and i’ll be stocking up for my friend jen’s annual funky lil’ art show in her home during jazzfest, which is just around the corner now. the opening for that will be april 22nd and i’ll have more info on that as it draws nearer. but you should put it on your calendar now to either come to the opening or remember to stop by her place on your way out of jazzfest any night so you can pick up some awesome, reasonably-priced local art and craft. she’s got an ecclectic array of creative friends and there’s always a party going on over there during jazzfest.
that’s about it for now. just a little hello to let you know i’m still here. still making stuff. still selling stuff. still available for custom commissions. and one-color t-shirt runs if it’s simple enough. and if you want to keep up with all my latest creations, bookmark my etsy shop and also my flickr page. i might not always think to make a blog post about things but i almost always take photos of anything i make and post it to flickr.
happy spring everyone!
publicity is always nice!
my nola heart clock made it into this week’s CUE magazine, in the gambit! yay!
if you’d like to purchase one, hop on over to my etsy shop, or feel free to email me and we can work it out. since there won’t be a march freret market due to mardi gras, i’m happy to arrange for local pickup-dropoff and i do also ship. (i also make them in different colors if blue is not to your liking.)
sale!
i decided to test out etsy’s new(ish) coupon codes features yesterday. the coupon is good for 20% off everything in my store through friday. some people have rent parties at the end/beginning of the month – i’m having a rent sale! (though, actually, the rent is covered, so now i’m working on the entergy bill! january was a sssslllooowwwww month, y’all!)
use the code: 20OFFSALE til midday friday, at which point i need to pack everything up for the freret market the next day. yes, i decided to go ahead and do it. thankfully, it looks like it will be sunny, though kinda cold. i’ll be wearing my long johns, for sure. i will hopefully have lots of new stuff (if it doesn’t all get bought up in the sale!). lots of funky handmade gifties for your valentine, and maybe even a few things to decorate for carnival. see you there!
putting it out there…
one day last week i got the sudden itch to make myself yet another website. i’ve been thinking for a while it might be nice to have a simple page for myself that was not about my art and craft, but all the other things i do and have done. sort of a calling card for all my side-gigs and other so-called professional life. (as it were.)
much to my surprise, i had a free domain registration with my hosting service, dreamhost, who i love. i’ve been using dreamhost for years and years and have never ever had any problems with them (knock on wood). i highly recommend them if you’re ever on the hunt for a hosting company.
anyways, half a day later, http://www.margaretcoble.com was born. catchy, isn’t it? i thought about trying to come up with some snappy business name or nickname but since i do so many different things and none of them are full-fledged businesses, it just seemed easier to make it a vanity site of sorts. it is, of course, all about me. 😉
you’ll notice a few things are missing now from this artbymags.com site. i moved the non-art/craft menu content over to the other site. this blog will still cover just about anything i want to talk about, but i am going to try to talk more about art, craft, my various creative projects, and my process here. and i guess if i end up having anything to say about, oh, dog-walking or digitizing vinyl records, i’ll say it over there.
for now, it’s just basically a business card site for me, very basic and not meant to garner loads of traffic. just a sign-post on the information highway. and now you know.
pretty pretty princess…
take two using this stencil. it’s not the best photo, as it was really overcast when i took the photo. the colors aren’t showing up all that well. but i like it, for the most part. i wish i had used smaller letters on the meow’s but since it’s the last layer, there’s no way to fix it without starting over basically. so i’m leaving it. i’ll fix that in the next take. (fae and i have always referred to our cat sticker as a pretty pretty princess.)
really have to get working on a stencil of the other cat, stencil, before he gets jealous!
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