Do You Know the Secret?

To Etsy, that is.

Periodically I will think to myself, “I should try to sell some smaller works with my own Etsy shop.” And then if I take it one step further and actually log onto Etsy to check it out and try to navigate my way around the site I break into a cold sweat and immediately want to run.

Far away.

And fast.

Is this unique to me? Or have you experienced that too?

And I also wonder, do you buy or sell on Etsy?

If yes, maybe you have some secrets to share on how to do it well?

Please, do tell.  I could use your help.

Show and Tell Sundays

Sundays are a great day for me.

I try to review the previous week and in doing so I am also readying for the one to come. As the Sundays of 2010 dwindle down, I thought I’d do a little thinking out loud and start sharing my Sundays with you. Hopefully this will help me to be more focused and productive too. We’ll have to wait and see on that front.

And this makes me wonder:

Do You Run or Plod?

Neither is better, me thinks, just another way to honor our own quirks.

I have a tendency to do both depending on the situation. Though this week I’ve been plodding along in a BIG way.

I won’t be too hard on myself for doing so with all the holiday obligations, I’ll just let the work roll off my fingers when they are ready to be complete.

I am happy to report that I have finished a few of the 8 x 8’s and some have even found a new home of their own. Always a good thing! But most are still in the works.

Here is a sneak peek of the current works in progress.

Group shot, Kim Radatz©



Good Friends, Kim Radatz©



His and Hers, Kim Radatz©

Carefree, Kim Radatz©

Now it is your turn, do tell about you.
 
And stay warm and creative as you work this week!

Works In Progress

The works are still in progress, most a long way from finished, but I’m plugging along nonetheless.

I’ve had interruptions so I don’t feel I have given these little works their due. But tomorrow is another day and I’ll be back in my studio before the sun rises.

Until then, I hope you have an enjoyable evening!



Group in progress, Kim Radatz©



Good Luck, Kim Radatz©

Two of a Kind, Kim Radatz©

Cover Me, Kim Radatz©

I Wonder What Tomorrow Will Bring

Woo Hoo!  I received my order from Dick Blick today.  Full of possibilities for tomorrow, me thinks.  I’ll keep you posted on how they unfold.

May both of our Wednesdays be warm and productive!

Music to my Ears

I am a water person. More specifically I am a salt water person.

I know I am not alone in this preference and there are songs out there to prove it.

The albatross and the whales they are my brothers...White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean...Sailing.

A few songs among many.  They are all music to my ears.

I imagine my preference for salt water is because I have lived by the ocean most of my life.

Which might explain why salt has been showing up in my work as of late. First with Wishful Thinking, and now with Driftless. There are more salt works in the works, but for now, these two are set up in my studio for me to ponder.

Driftless©, Kim Radatz

Wishful Thinking's salty footprint, Kim Radatz

I’ll keep you posted as the old pieces make way for the new.

Until then, may your day been a warm and creative one.

Revisiting Old Friends

I’ve been blogging.


And that process reminds me of the papers upon papers I had to write while I was in undergrad and grad school. I can hear a collective groan from some of you out there. But not from me. Nope, I loved doing each and every one of those papers. I could have research day and night.

My two favorite books then and now are the Thesaurus and the Dictionary. When I shared that information with a friend a few years ago, she exclaimed, “You really are a geek!”

A geek!?

Me?

I hadn’t considered that. It doesn’t bother me though; I wear my geek title proudly.

Sooooo, this whole blogging process has reminded me that life is cyclical.

I graduated from grad school in 1998, yet here I am these many years later thinking deeply about stuff from then. What I studied, what I made, what I liked and didn’t like, and the reasons why for each.

And it is having an effect on my work.

I’ll remember something, and think “I should use/try/repeat/recycle that idea/subject/concept again.”

Sometimes it will happen without a conscious thought on my part. I’ll be working and there it (fill in the “it” blank) will be.

Interesting. I’m rather enjoying revisiting those old friends again.

And the reoccurring “it” this week has been texture. Rich, juicy texture. Which reminds me of the endless texture and glaze samples that I did while in school. You see, I started life as a potter.

But more on that later.

For now, I’d like to share some texture from then and now. Some are clay, some are mixed media. All are yummy to me. I hope you enjoy them too.

Have a warm and creative day.

Artists Are Not Lemmings

A while back an acquaintance asked how I would describe being an artist. Without any preconceived thought I exclaimed, “artists are visionaries.”

“Hmm, where the heck did that come from?” I thought.

If a gun had been held to my head in the moments prior I don’t think I could have answered the question in the same way.

In hindsight, I feel it was, and still is, the perfect answer.

We artists look at things in a different way. We keep striving to find our own voices. We are not lemmings.

And that explains why watching this clip from The Dead Poets Society still gives me chills. Robin Williams’ character was a true visionary and a great teacher.

Happy December to you. And may it be lemming free!