Well, I can honestly say that I am sad that the
Make Art that Sells class is over. In just a few short weeks I learned so much about myself as an artist and how to really stretch my work as a reflection of what I knew I could always do, but never took the time. I didn't learn any new skills per se, as I went into this wanting to hone my current skills, but from Bolt Fabric to illustrating Children's Books, from Home Decor to the Gift Market, I did learn that I do have something to offer! Such a wonderfully exciting and motivating feeling!
Here is my roundup of assignments (left to right):
1. Inspiration piece - excited to start Lilla's class!
2.Bolt Fabric - the theme was mushrooms and vintage dishes
3. Home Decor - plate design using organics
4. Children's Books - Illustrate Hans Christian Andersen's The Snail and The Rose Tree
5. Gift Market - Zipper Pouch (vintage again)
(I didn't do the Wall Art week, instead I focused on creating and releasing the new Monogram Florals in the Near & Dear shop. I'd been sitting on finalizing those designs for some time, and decided it was a better use of my energy to contribute new work to the Etsy shop that week)
Here are a few lessons I took away from the class:
Lesson 1 : A community or creative group is essential to sustaining ones creativity. The community of this classroom is one of the most talented, supportive and enthusiastic group of women (and a few good men!) that one could ever hope to have in your corner. The enthusiasm and support is unlike any group of artists (all working toward the same goal mind you!) I've ever had the joy and pleasure of working beside.
Lesson 2 : Slow down. I didn't know it until now, but I pretty much lived with the theory that if I couldn't make it to sell and if it couldn't be made in an hour or two, it wasn't worth making. Lilla's class taught me to really take my time with detail, let a piece evolve and create it for me. It's kind of an ironic lesson since we only had a few short days to complete each brief, but that's a few short days more than I had been giving to my personal work in the past. To push the irony one step further, the class is called Make Art that Sells, not Make Art for Yourself. :) However, that's the place in your heart Lilla brings you to. AND, the results are beyond what I truly thought was inside me! It makes me almost embarrassed to be associated with any work I've done up until now because I see all my work and capabilities in a whole new light!
Lesson 3 : Showing my work to other artists can be nerve wracking! It was hard to get over the "competition" thoughts even though it wasn't a competition. EVER. I found myself feeling really behind compared to other artists (jealous) and really ahead of others (confident). However, by the end of the first mini-assignment, it was clear that everyone has something to bring to the table and the journey is simply with ones self. Really. Truly. And that, my friends, is invaluable.
Lesson 4 : Listen to what others say about your work. One of the key things I received from the folks in class was another perspective. For some a new perspective might mean, color palette, layout, typography etc. For me, a new perspective came with the descriptive words people used when commenting on my work - nostalgic, special, magical etc. These are powerful and helpful words I now feel safe in using to describe my work going forward. They also give me a feeling to design to when creating new work. If I keep those words and that perspective in mind, my new work seems to fall right in.
Lesson 5 : The pie gets bigger! There's enough work for everyone, the more work we make, the more art that gets bought, the more products manufacturers produce because one thing is for sure, consumers love to buy great art!
Needless to say, I'm very much looking forward to keeping in touch over the next few months with my classmates AND I'm signed up for Part B in October! Overflowing in goodness, I tell you. Overflowing.