Owl Collection

I think I may have an owl collection forming! Check out my recent acquisition ... I bought this lovely ceramic owl rattle from Tori Webb Pendergrass the other day when I went over to Pigment School of the Arts to sketch. I love this little fellow, he feels perfect in the hand and his colors are wonderful.

© Tori Webb Pendergrass

I will post a few more shots of other owls I own ...

This is my mantle at home ... the works on the wall do not change out much, but the 3-d objects on the ledge are always moving around as new treasures are acquired and squeezed in. The artists you see here are from top left:
Rebecca Collins, Susan Giller, Katrina Doran, Kim Wozniak, Tori Pendergrass, Jeff Soto, me again, Linda Stover, Theresa Douglas, Dave Stover,  Lola Cash.

© Linda Stover
ATC Mosaic 2.5x3.5

© Rebecca Collins
"Bubo"

© Theresa Douglas
ATC Mosaic 2.5x3.5

Ok, so instead of just a post about "my shameful art hoarding habits" I want to throw out a radical idea for other artists: no subject is too popular for you not to try ... nothing is too trendy to avoid like the plague, and you are not so very special as an artist that you can not tackle a theme or subject that has been done, and then done again.  When I was admiring the owl at Tori's school she softly said, " I know owls are hot right now, but I love them".... or she said something to that effect. I then admitted my own unashamed love for the subject of owls in art and we went on to share our personal stories of having rescued a couple of injured owls. 

 Often serious fine artists will see a popular trend in the gift industry, or on Etsy, or at craft fairs and decide that they need to stay far away from that subject to avoid being seen as producing work that is derivative or trendy. If that sort of snobbish approach in art was taken by all artists then we would have certainly abandoned the nude after Michelangelo was done with the subject because after all, what is the point? I know an artist ( Cherie Bosela), that is currently creating a clown of all things in Mosaic and it is going to be one hell of a stunning clown because everything this Mosaicist touches turns into magic.  If you are an artist reading this and you think you are too good for hearts, clowns, unicorns or owls then I say you have a very limited imagination and the world is waiting for your spin on it all so go ahead and do something really hard ...  tackle a subject that has been covered a lot and then take it to a brand new place.

Working with Your Artist By Phone

Color me your color, baby.
Color me your car
Color me your color, darling.
I know who you are
Come up off your color chart
I know where you're coming from
Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, any anytime
Call me(call me) I'll arrive
You can call me any day or night
Call me! 

– Blondie

"Come up off your color chart
I know where your coming from" ... 

                  well not always, I do not always know where you are coming from.

Today's post is about the importance of communication when working with a designer or artist. 
I hope other artists will read it and find some valuable tips here, I also hope my clients will read it and understand why I am so picky about needing a phone call on design revisions.

Why a phone call for design change requests?

#1 Accuracy: E-mails are usually jotted off quickly and I skim them even more quickly which means I can miss something important. With a phone call I can ask very specific questions about the needed changes and it is really important when those changes concern color ... your kiwi green may be my olive green, and they may be two totally different shades.

#2 Respect and Relationship building: When I have worked hard on  a project and changes are needed that project becomes a collaboration. It is important to me that my clients understand that I am a person, an artist, and not simply a nameless service provider that is pushing buttons on the other end of some internet thread. By speaking with my clients by phone I enjoy the process a lot more and do not feel like I am just doing cart wheels, crossing fingers and hoping to please. I can explain to them the different possible design solutions to the issue they are wanting changed and I can get their feedback so I better understand their vision. With a phone call I can give my clients the respect they deserve and they can in turn respect my input and ideas about their project and where we can take it with new design time.

Policies and Procedures:

At Art Paw I try to always send a terms sheet to new clients that states my revision policy and the need to call with change requests. I also put that within the body of my proofing letter so people get the information twice. Still, clients often choose to shoot me their change ideas by e-mail. We have become a society that only wants to text and e-mail. It seems that people just do not like using the phone. If you are an artist reading this, keep in mind that it is your job to manage your business and sometimes that means managing your clients. Not in a negative way like they are cats that you are trying to herd or subordinates that need to be kept in line ... you need to manage them in a very positive way that manages "the process" so they do not become frustrated with you and you do not become frustrated with them.

Follow through:
My final step after a phone call conversation is to type up my notes that I took and e-mail them to my client asking them to review. I do this in the form of a bullet list. That way they see what we talked about and if I missed anything or misunderstood anything they have one last opportunity to correct me or remind me of any issues I did not write down. Then I print it out and use this list when I go back to the project to make changes. This way I have a very complete and formal process for doing design changes and there are no surprises. Everybody can be on the same page and know what to expect.

Tutorial Thursday/ Finding Copyright Free Images

Today I want to talk about finding copyright free photographs. I have a handful of private Photoshop students right now and recently the question has come up about how to find attractive photographs on the web to use that are copyright free. My students usually start with photos of their own pets and then move on to their neighbors and friend's pets. At some point they run out of images or they want to try their hand at something besides dogs and cats.

I have 3 image resources to share today:
Flickr.com : look for the "advanced search feature" and choose creative commons at the bottom of the advanced search page. People that upload using the creative commons attribution are allowing others to build upon and adapt their photos under certain conditions.

Morguefile.com: This site has gotten better and better over the years. When I first discovered this free image archive years ago I found the image quality was pretty bad. Today you can find some very lovely photos there to play with. They also will show you some results from stock sites that you have the option of purchasing.

Wikipedia.org:  I used this site just this week. I have a client that wanted me to create a painting of a Monk Seal. She had found a random image on the web that she thought maybe I could use, however I explained to her that I had to search for an image that would be copyright free. Wikipedia was the answer in this case.

These types of sites are terrific for finding both critter subjects to work on and also background elements such as clouds, textures, and patterns.

It is almost weekend! Have fun creating in your spare time ... that is what I plan to do.

Art Paw Etsy Sale

SAVE 15% this week in our Art Paw Etsy shop

USE PROMO CODE : dogdays

Well we are going into the last very hot "dog days" of summer here in Texas. If you want to try out Art Paw's portrait services with a smaller size than what we offer on our main website you can do that at Etsy and save 15% on our special 8 x 8 stretched canvas custom pet portrait. I only offer that size at Etsy because, well I just do not make much money on it. Etsy typically has a younger audience and it is very much a community of artists selling to other artists often.  With that in mind I created a tiny print size at a budget price. I only offer the 8 x 8 prints occasionally so buy now if you want to take advantage of this great sale.

Everything in our Art Paw Etsy shop is 15% off from now until next Friday ...

just use promo code: dogdays

Fun Friday on Etsy

Today I posted some fun sketches to my Snobby Robot Shop. I am going to try hard to get into the practice of posting something fun on Friday to one of my Etsy shops. The goal is for it to be recent original work. Thursday night I played around doing a few robot drawings that I created based off of some of my ceramic work. 

"Neon Robot"purchase at Etsy $23

work table

"Robot Drawing sketch"
purchase at Etsy $23

This is the clay robot sculpture that I based the drawings on

Art Paw Studio News

Lola & Ajax

Well it is with a heavy heart that I have to announce we will be losing Lola this next month. She is leaving Texas to go back to Kansas City where she got her degree. She will be doing some work on a film and after that I don't think she knows what will come next, but she is young and I know she will figure it out. We will all miss her so much. Our terriers adore her and of course I depend on her a lot for her terrific skills and attention to detail. I am sure she has great things ahead of her and I only want the best for her.  We just all really love her around here.

And so now ... Getting a Jump on the Holidays!
Well I counted this morning and I have 50 working days until November. That means 50 days to get organized and do everything I can to make sure the holidays go smoothly here at Art Paw.

So what do I need to work on ... I have broken it down into 4 categories and I am making a long to-do-list and placing an initial next to each item to indicate which category it falls into.  The things that need my attention are: Technology issues, Web site updates, Organization, and Marketing.

Every morning I will wake up and ask myself what can I do today to help get ready for the holiday rush? If nothing comes to mind quickly then I will grab the list and see what needs to be worked on. I love making physical handwritten lists, something about pen to paper makes it a commitment for me. I also enjoy finding those lists and notebook years from now, and going oh, yes I did that and that and that ... hmmmm still need to do X Y and Z.

Making my list and checking it twice
Yes the Diet Coke helps me think

Many new Pet Portraits

So what is the best way to create new business and make sure that portrait orders slam in to your in-box? Go on a 2 week vacation. I had a lot of orders come in while we were in Alaska. I use to freak out that business can stack up just a tiny little bit when I am not around and now I realize that a watched pot never boils and it is ok to actually step away and let a few orders slip in while I am gone.  Lola was out last week so I had all week to myself so I could focus on new projects and today she is back and we are shipping out around 7 projects. Life is very good and I am getting back into the swing of things. I have not had any time to work on any non-commissioned art projects just for myself lately, but that is ok. I am really enjoying my day job these days, and I am eager to work on more pet portraits. The holidays are just around the corner, time to gear up.
Here are my most recent projects ....

"Bennett"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Panda"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Allie & Sophie"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Jake"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Rocky"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Zeke"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Norman"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

Mosaic Monday/ Alaska

I have been on vacation in Alaska for 14 days ... the longest vacation I have ever taken in my entire life. It went really fast though, and we had tons of fun. It was very hard to be away from  my business for that long. I had a handful of orders come in while I was away and I am jumping on organizing those today. I am taking 2 entire days to just get caught up with communication and then I will start working on Pet Portraits this Wednesday. I am full of inspiration and ideas for new art.

Alaska ... wow, it was just as beautiful as everyone says. I searched high and low for mosaics to shoot and only found a few. I will post those here today along with a few other shots of cool art.  I have tons of scenic shots that need to be edited and sorted. Going to try and compile those into a brief movie. This was a trip of a lifetime.

Mosaic Octopus
Ketchikan Alaska

Owl Mosaic
Anchorage Museum of Art

Owl Mosaic Detail
Anchorage Museum of Art

Seattle Airport
Mosaic of light and Plastic

Seattle Airport
Mosaic of light and Plastic Detail

Ketchikan Alaska

Totem Pole
Ketchikan Alaska

Seattle Mural

If you have sent me an e-mail in the last 2 weeks, I will be getting in touch with you soon. You can also reach me by phone this week M-F 10:30 - 5:30 p.m.  (214-321-1150).

More Doggy Portraits

"Lucy the Cow Dog"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

The pup above is Lucy. This project is for a terrific repeat client from Australia. I love this girl's sweet smile in her original photo and those pretty eyes. I enjoy doing work for this client, she always gives me great pics to play with. She also orders rolled, which is really convenient when shipping overseas.

"Wiggle & Izzy"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Wiggle & Izzy"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

 

I adore bulldogs and so I was very excited to get to create a large 34 x 54 inch canvas of these two big headed pups. I am still in the proofing stage on this project and will be tweaking the first round of proofs with a few minor changes. If you notice the image above this one you will see a mock up of this proof in the client's living room. When folks send me a shot of the wall where the art will hang I can easily do a quick photoshop mock up of the work in home ... it is never 100% to scale, but close enough to get the general idea.

...................

Lola is coming in today and we are shipping out all approved projects. It is going to be a busy ship day. On Saturday I will be leaving for an Alaskan cruise. I have 2 different sets of pet sitters staying at the house, and Lola will be coming in on her regular days to hold down the fort her at Art Paw. E-mail may be spotty so I will be setting up an auto-responder, and trusting that if there are any pet portrait emergencies, Lola will be able to handle it.

More Custom Pet Portraits

I have had a busy couple of weeks. Lots of kitties and pups to work on this month. I will post a few recent projects below. Summer time is the best time to order a pet portrait for Christmas gift giving. If you order a portrait in the summer you know you are getting my very best unhurried creative energy.

"Ripley"
© Rebecca Collins / artpaw.com

"Howie and Flowie"
© Rebecca Collins / artpaw.com

"Owen"
© Rebecca Collins / artpaw.com

"Ruby"
© Rebecca Collins / artpaw.com

Mosaic Monday/ Robot Totems

"Purple Robot Totem ( detail)"
© Rebecca Collins

I am still working on a series of mosaic robot totems. I am having fun with these projects and I want to fill a room with them. I have a  long way to go. I worked up an artist statement for this series. I am lucky to have a writer for a husband and he tweaked my statement for me. I always create the main content and then he polishes it for me, making it stronger and often more confident. He understands my work and by the time I want to write about it we have usually had many conversations about what is going on with the work.  I will paste my statement below the images.

"Purple Robot Totem "
© Rebecca Collins
4.5"x8.25"

"Green Robot Totem"
© Rebecca Collins
5"x18"

"Green Robot Totem ( detail)"
© Rebecca Collins

"Pink Robot Totem "
© Rebecca Collins
5"x18"

"Pink Robot Totem ( detail)"
© Rebecca Collins

Rebecca Collins / Artist Statement:

Totem: a being, object, or symbol representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people such as a family, clan group, lineage, or tribe reminding them of their ancestry (or mythic past).”

Concept: This last year I have found myself exploring an evolving theme of Robot Totems. Robots today occupy a space between pop culture romance, emerging science, and economic powerhouse. To deny them artistic consideration is to be ignorant of their impact on our changing cultural identity. On one level, I’m just having a lot of fun carving out their little clay heads and combining them with found objects, and techniques such as Photoshop collage and mosaic. On another level, I think of “robot” as a larger metaphor for the growing intelligence of the machines in our lives. I am seriously considering the powerful implications that “robot” is bringing to the forefront of what it means to be a 21^st century human. In these works I define the idea of robot in many ways at once. I hope that the viewer sees them in archeological terms as well as recognizing their contemporary presence. To me they are at once religious, irreverent, post-apocalyptic and full of creative promise.

Process: Like most of my work, these pieces are about experimentation and the intersection of artistic technique. By working in series I am able to push my skills and my ability to combine a wide variety of disciplines. One day I may be carving clay robot heads and then the next day I may be shooting them so I can drag them into Photoshop to manipulate them on the computer. I am having a grand time combining my ceramic work with digital collage, hand drawing, painting and mosaic. I want the viewer to be drawn in by the rich materials and then hopefully crack a smile as they sort out the conceptual constructs. I also want them to create their own stories, thus adding new layers to the complexity of these works.

Photoshop Student Work

Last weekend I gave a 2 day workshop that was an intensive 12 hour intro to Photoshop and the Wacom drawing tablet. It was a small class, and I am glad because just 3 students really had me hopping with lots of questions. We had a really great time and everybody finished a pet portrait.

The first day I spent the morning with a little demo work and then after lunch everyone isolated their subject, erasing the background on their photos and then spent the afternoon smudging almost every pixel on their digital canvas using the smudge tool.

Pinky & Oscar
By Linda Clemens

Rascal
By Dallas Gorman

Buddy
By Dawn Oberst

On day two I did a little demo work in the morning using regular people photos to show what types of fun Photoshop fixes you can do on humans. I use Photoshop for painting, but I wanted my students to understand some of the great tools PS offers for enhancing our regular snapshots.  Then my students got busy finalizing their portraits by adding color with the finger painting tool and we played around a little with filters. Each student had different challenges and different approaches. Dallas seemed to struggle the most with understanding layers and yet her portrait of Rascal turned out so very cool and so very painterly.  She wanted a Van Gogh feeling with sunflowers and I think she totally achieved it. Linda was very good at the smudging and I think where she really excelled was in creating a very original and dynamic background for her painting that had little shapes representing kitty dreams. Everyone did great on their background choices, Dawn used a red leather texture she shot at home for Buddy's ground and Dallas had a great pic of Sunflowers she shot for Rascal.  Dawn seemed to pick up the tools the quickest and she was able to knock out a second portrait of her pup Lucy.

All of my students really did great work and I was reminded just how hard Photoshop is. We barley skimmed the surface of all that this program has to offer. I kept our focus very narrow and we learned about the paint brush tool, the smudge tool and the finger painting tool. We learned that "command Z" is our friend, and we learned that layers are tough at first, but the most powerful aspect to working in Photoshop.

Lucy
By Dawn Oberst

I really enjoyed teaching this class. My students were great and insisted on buying me lunch both days. That was really sweet. I brought bagels on Sunday and we snacked and played on the computers all weekend. If you are interested in taking a class with me you can follow me on my fine art portfolio site to learn about upcoming workshops. My next workshop is in October.

Summer Art Programs In Dallas

Every time I turn around I am discovering new and fun places for kids and adults to indulge their creativity.  A couple of weekends ago I played over at Pigment School of The Arts one Sunday with a drawing workshop and today I just went over and checked out Studio Arts Dallas.  Both locations are small and interesting and full of creativity. There is also Oil and Cotton over in Oak Cliff. Dallas is also home to The Creative Arts Center and The Craft Guild of Dallas. 

With so many choices how do you choose a summer art program for yourself or for your kiddos? Check out their websites and then visit in person. Then see which classes have openings.

I will go over my general  impressions and knowledge of each below....

The Creative Arts Center:  Well I have to start with the place I have been taking classes at since 2007 and have recently started teaching at. The CAC has been  cultivating creativity since 1965. It operates in a converted elementary school built by the WPA during the Great Depression.The CAC offers a laid back casual environment where adults can explore a really wide range of courses from Welding to Mosaics and everything in between. There really is something for everyone here.
I highly recommend it.

Craft Guild of Dallas :  I have not taken any classes at this school yet however I have visited and listened to a free lecture there.  The Guild's facilities are really lovely and new. The guild has a long history in Dallas and their new facility is in Addison.  It is a bit of a drive for me but I would love to eventually try out a class there. I believe the Craft Guild's main focus is on adults however I noticed on their site they are registering students right now for their Summer Camp For Young Artists.

Pigment School of The Arts: This charming school is in a sweet old house on West Lovers Lane. Tori Pendergrass is the director. Tori is a very creative artist herself and she exudes such a calm energy. I can imagine that she would be an ideal instructor for young artists. This little arts center has a very magical energy to it. I highly recommend it.

Studio Arts Dallas: This very cool school is in a converted Whataburger restaurant. I discovered today that my next door neighbor is a long time teacher there. I knew he taught art, but had no idea that he was at this fun and funky little school. One offering on their website that I really like is the portfolio class for young students wanting to apply for The Dallas Arts Magnet High school.  I went to the Dallas Arts Magnet when it was brand new and getting in was really a matter of signing up and maybe getting a school counselor to recommend you. Today the process is much tougher and performers audition and visual artists must have a winning portfolio.  This little school looks like a terrific place for young artists to grow into more serious artists.

Oil and Cotton: I have been to a few readings and video events in this fun and hip little location. I have never taken any classes here however if I had kiddos I am sure I would try and get them into a workshop or two, after all it is a great excuse to get over there and soak in the energy of a vibrant urban economy that is booming. Oak Cliff is just a really fun place to be. Check out Oil & Cottons' Calendar on-line.


Go Take a Class! Make some art!

June Pet Portraits

I have proofed a handful of clients this month, but have not been posting many to the blog. I will start correcting that today. Artists blogs are often nothing more than image posting or promotion. I am always trying to find the right balance between writing about process and inspiration and art image posting. I guess I need to go ahead and just rely on posting art when the writing muse is absent from my life because in reality people really do enjoy seeing pictures more than they enjoy reading.

"Jackie"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com

"Georgia"
© rebecca collins / artpaw.com