Identical but Unique - The Great Challenge

A few months ago a new customer requested 8 feeders, all made utilizing the same inverted globe that used to be a citronella candle in a previous life. We have several of these candles in two color schemes and he wanted 4 in one color and 4 in another color. I thought I had reached my creativity level when I managed to make 8 of these feeders, idential but unique.
I was wrong. My creativity was to be challenged yet again. Last week we were contacted by a customer who wanted 14 identical but unique feeders. Because each is to be a gift for a family member, he wanted me to use the same bottle. My art is one-of-a-kind; I use no jigs or preconceived concepts of how a feeder will look. I think I met this challenge. Making identical unique feeders is challenging and fun for a while. But I much prefer just picking up a piece of glass and letting my creativity take me where it will.

Hummingbird fact for today: Feeding stations in warm areas, including the Gulf and Pacific Coasts and desert Southwest, may have a year-round hummingbird clientele, but in most parts of North America, hummingbird season is all too short.

The Holiday Show Season is Getting Started

We head off this week to a new area for us. We were juried into the Metro Arts Two Rivers Expo in Des Moines, IA. This will be our first Iowa show and we're excited! This will kick off the holiday shows. Handmade gifts are always welcome because of the quality of the items. Handcrafted quality lives on long after the price is forgotten! So take your holiday shopping list to arts and crafts shows in your area. You can be certain that your gift recipient will NOT have anything else exactly like what you find for them.

I had a birthday this week. I'm not sure how I feel about it either. On the bright side, it's better than the alternative. I just never thought I'd ever be this old...................... Birthdays are a chance to pause and take stock of our lives, decide if we should be doing anything differently. And after doing that, I've got to say that I'm absolutely delighted with my art and the fun we are having.

Hummingbird fact for today: If you should find a baby hummer, the best advice is to leave it alone. The mother will either get it back to the nest or Nature will take its course. Hand-raising a baby hummingbird is very, very difficult even for professionals and is best left to those who know what they are doing AND keeping the bird is probably illegal.

ArtSmart 2008 - An Artists' Conference

The Missouri Artisan Association, dba The Best of Missouri Hands , held their annual conference this past weekend. The conference is called ArtSmart and the theme for 2008 was Stayin' Alive. It was held here at the Lake this year and as a newly-juried artist, I decided to go and hopefully learn a lot more about this crazy business called art and doing well enough to "stay alive" in the art business.

One tremendous advantage at the Conference is being able to get quality, professional pictures taken of your art at a greatly reduced rate. With so many artists applying for the shows now, professional pictures are a must if you want a shot at getting juried in. So Terrie and I took four of my best pieces and lo and behold, we sold one of them at the show! We also learned a lot about the jurying process at one of the break-out sessions.

We would like to expand the wholesale side of our business, and we learned a lot about about wholesale shows, wholesale pricing, and a lot of other great tips at the break-out session covering this topic. Another session I attended gave great advice on writing and distributing press releases and how to develop a good ad. And there was a session, facilitated by an art show promoter, on what promoters look for when considering artists for their shows. We probably would have learned a lot more on the second day, but unfortunately we couldn't be there on Sunday.

I also learned that as a Juried Artist of BOMH, I have my own page on their website. Check it out!

All in all it was time and money well spent and I wish I could have taken advantage of both days!

Hummingbird fact for today: Because of their small size and daring acrobatics, hummingbirds are rarely caught by predator birds.

Talented Glass Artists

I use repurposed glass in my art. Glass is such an amazing medium. I admire those who can actually create glass. There is an Etsy group of these wonderfully talented artists and I encourage you to explore their wide range of skills. Visit http://www.cgge.org/ when you have some time to explore. Their glass is not churned out in a factory - it is handcrafted art.

Hummingbird fact for today: The Ruby-throated hummingbird, most common in the US, weighs about 1/10 of an ounce (just over 3 grams), about the weight of a dime.

Old Stuff, New Stuff

Remember George Carlin's bit on "stuff"? I always think of that bit this time of year when my wife has new "stuff". She goes through her old stuff to make room for the new stuff. Usually it's a major upheaval in the house. This year has been no exception. However, this year her old stuff ended up in my new stuff. She's a margarita drinker. She even keeps a bucket-o-margarita in the freezer. So naturally this year she received some new margarita glasses (mainly because I have managed to drop and break all her old ones). In order to get the new glasses in the cabinet, she had to clean out some old stuff. Part of that cleaning out process included four champagne flutes that are so seldom used I didn't even know we had them. I've utilized flutes before in my feeders but this was the motherload - four identical matching flutes. First we made sure that we could fit each with a stopper and feeding tube. Then I disappeared into the studio for several hours while my creative side took over. Those four flutes are now one amazing (if I do say so myself) multi-station hummingbird feeder. Sometimes cleaning out stuff has its rewards.

Hummingbird fact for today: Rufous hummingbirds migrate from Central America as far as Alaska – a 12,000 mile round trip, longer than any migrating goose.

The Eve of a New Year

I must confess that I'm a Discovery channel junkie. I've seen every Deadliest Catch show several times over, and I watched them again yesterday when Discovery did their marathon. It was a pleasant diversion as I cut out and crimped a few hundred copper leaves in anticipation of making my copper and glass art items. My wife worked on applications for art shows we'd like to do in 2008. Our family doesn't seem to understand that we can't plan our schedule because it is dependent on our acceptance into the shows we apply to. It's such an iffy business, this arts and crafts thing. But it's great fun! Thanks for stopping by. Here's the hummingbird fact for today:

Hummingbird legs are very short and nearly useless. They cannot walk in the common sense and most often will become airborne even to turn around on a perch.