White Rock East Garden Tour 2014 / Birds, Dogs, Cats & Robots

Last weekend I participated in our local neighborhood garden tour here in East Dallas. Every year they invite a few artists to set up in the yards of the homes that are on the garden tour, making it a very well rounded event. I had a great time!

"Analog Crow" 4 x 4 Mixed Media Mosaic Sold •
© rebecca collins

"Robot Mosaic Trading Card" Sold •
© rebecca collins

When I first started Art Paw way back in 1998 my main form of advertising was local outdoor events, everything from Art Fairs to Spca rescue events. I stopped doing as many of these in 2005 when the demand for my custom pet portraiture was way exceeding my free time.  With that said, I do absolutely love the Garden tour because it allows me to meet new neighbors, see old friends and connect with a few of my mosaic collectors.  I did very well this year and sold everything from clay robot heads to dog and cat bookmarks.  I sold a lot of mosaic work as well this year.

I always feel a bit schizophrenic when I put out my art wares and people see everything from digital art to ceramics.  Sometimes I think I should bring either the traditional media work or the digital work, but the reality is I sell both and different people respond to different work. Some folks like the dogs, some like the robots. If I continue to do a few of these sales I need to work on my signage and my display. I need better fabric coverings for larger tables. I also need to get organized with my work and keep it ready to go in plastic tubs ... after I shoot it well and offer it on Etsy all year long.

Art Paw On TV in Atlanta!

Did you know that Atlanta is #3 on the national list for cities with the most pampered pets? Yep, very cool and this morning we were featured on the morning show there at CBS46! Check out our 15 seconds of fame ...  Gift Ideas to Pamper Your Pet!

Cooper below  is the star pup that I created both a Warhol and a painterly style project for that you will see in the clip.

Mosaic Monday: Sama Conference

Sama Conference Recap Part 1:

Wow, way too much to pack into one blog post so look for more next Monday. I just returned from Sama 2014 in Houston. Every year the Society of American Mosaic Artists puts on a huge conference that is jammed packed with classes and speakers.  This year I went with a couple of my favorite mosaic buddies and we all had a blast. Today I will post just a few pictures of some of the people and the hotel. Next week I will try and post a more thoughtful summary of what I learned at the conference along with some videos I am working on that will include some actual mosaics.

Connie Marks, Rebecca Collins, Rebecca Morgan
Elevator Selfie

The best part of the conference was of course the people that all share the same passion for mosaic. I was fortunate to get to connect with a few cyber pals that live in other states, some I was meeting for the very first time in person.

Christine Brallier and Barbara Keith were there selling their lovely books! I was meeting Barbara for the first time. I got a great big hug from her.  It is always fun when you tell someone that you have been following their work for years and then they say the same thing right back to you... that happened a lot last week.

I really enjoyed getting to meet Cherie Bosela.  We have been web buddies for years. Cherie joined the Sama Board of directors and will be serving this next year.  She is fun and just a little bit goofy ( in a very good way), I wish I could spend an entire week with her. She has a light and healthy sense of humor that makes you feel good. 

The hotel was large and lovely, so was the downtown area. I played around a bit with an ap on my phone called paper artist. As a professional photoshop artist I generally roll my eyes at easy-cheesy phone aps, but you know what ... I have decided that they are fun and have their place.

Hyatt Entrance
The hotel was very nice

The hotel had a zillion floors, we were on 26 ... we were lower at first but had to move up due to a non functioning air conditioner.  I liked being up high.

Elevators

Downtown Houston ... getting out of the hotel was much needed.

Phone sketch of stranger in the bar.

Ok and the last share today ... everywhere I travel I shoot patterns and textures to bring home to create colorful background templates for Art Paw. The pattern below was created using the wacom tablet and the smudge tool. There were some huge metal doors at the hotel that I shot and played with this morning to create a background I have already used on a dog portrait of Bingo. 

Abstract Background art 

Metal doors