Accessories

Here's some recent custom accessories I've been working on...fun stuff! Don't worry - the little green parakeet is going to perch in a metal birdcage, so he'll be safe from that kitty! My interpretation of a Tiffany lamp.

My Lovely List!

Yay for MarthaLand, I have been featured on Where the Lovely Things Are, a wonderful spot dedicated to, well, you guessed it! All things lovely! Mallory, the mistress of lovely herself, has just started this new feature on her blog and my Lovely List is the first one! Stop on over for my long list of all the things I think are lovely and take a check out at all the amazingly lovely things that Mallory hearts! You can send her your own lovely list as well. I highly recommend it. It was such a fun thing to put together and once you get going, you just don't want to stop! And as an added bonus, when you are finished you'll have that warm fuzzy feeling inside from thinking about all the lovely things in life!

Oh, and I almost forgot! My slugs were also featured at Cuteable.com early this week! Another great site for all things cute!

Be Inspired

I've been a fan of Meredith Dittmar for a long time, in fact her artwork inspired me to get back into working with clay again. She has unbelieveable precision but what's more inspiring are the concepts behind her magical works. Check them out here. Her flickr page has more pictures as well of her newer pieces for an upcoming show in Istanbul. Once again she has inspired me to try out some new forms with clay! Here's a little peek at a digital sketch I did for a new project I'm working on. Who knows if it will ever transform into clay...it's fun to imagine all the wonderful landscapes I can build! It's almost perfect just by itself as a postcard just the way it is.

13 Custom Minis

Snails are coming!

Here's a sneak peek at a totally new project I am working on. It's absolutely a work in progress, lots of kinks to work out, but I'm excited and I hope it will expand my market a bit. I toyed with making snails before but could never get the shell just right out of clay. Plus is requires a lot of clay and makes the sculpture really heavy meaning more shipping costs. I also had the idea to use fabric, I love to sew but haven't in such a long time. My mom recently gave me an old sewing machine a friend was just throwing away, so I thought I'd give it a try. The plan is to use old t-shirts in bright colors of course for the shells and stuff them with polyfil. The first one I made wasn't really salvagable! But I liked this one a lot. Because my slugs are unconventional in design, I decided my little snail shells would have to be a bit different as well.

This one has a little elastic strap on it making each slug a convertable snail, if you will! How fun! But I don't like that you can see it so I think I may just attached the soft shells to the slugs permantly. I haven't figured that out yet, but I'll be sure to post lots more photos as I test out new designs and ideas!

Custom Orders in Progress

Just some pics today, of the many custom orders I am hurrying to fill before Monday! You can see more pics in my shop!

More Color Inspiration

I've been really addicted to colourlovers.com lately. Here's my current favorite color palette and some inspired digital doodling using it.
Color by COLOURlovers BTW, has anyone seen the previews on SPIKE for the new movie called Zombie Strippers? Seriously? That's just gross and wrong on sooooo many levels and yet, sadly there probably is a market for it!

MarthaLand Turns 1 Today!

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my Etsy shop! I didn't even realize or I would have planned a huge sale or something fun. I do have a handful of left over mini slugs, so for the rest of today and all of tomorrow (4-14 5:30pm to 4-15 midnight) if you purchase anything from my shop, I will throw in one of these little mini slugs for free! (while supplies last of course) Just be sure to enter MarthaLand Turns 1 in the notes to seller so I know you saw this post.

And for anyone who is curious, in this first year of selling on Etsy I've made $1648 in sales! I was surprised! I didn't think it was that much. My biggest month for sales so far has been this month actually! I have about 10-15 custom orders I am working on right now. Thanks to everyone who is supporting me! My goal is to get organized with all my paperwork and such and make a go at this full time.

I Like Turquoise

1. Alight Necklace :: smashing 2. Oh So Faux Gemstone :: treasurefield 3. Tea 5x7 Print :: michelemaule 4. Akingtoo the Bird :: hatchin 5. CUBE - Echino Classic Animals :: Yunisacs 6. Miniature Girl :: ashleyg 7. Cherry Blossom Dessert Plate :: whitneysmith 8. Butterfly Hair Clip :: bluesugarbridal 9. Blue Bear with Jewels :: ememem 10. Shark :: mraaronmorris 11. Blue Bird Nest Soap Set :: loveleesoaps 12. Floople Plush Monster :: mintconspiracy 13. Mini Ruffle Discs :: blueseraphim 14. Oceanic Pop Ring :: PsychoticReaction 15. The Shell Must Break :: IngridDijkers

Be Inspired

I don't know why I've never shared this before, but color is the best kind of inspiration there is! For me anyway...I've been doing a lot of color studying lately, because its my most favorite thing and I'm always cooking up good ideas when I have no way to record them. Then when I need to remember, it's gone and I waste my time trying to replicate something nearly impossible to recall. I happened upon ColourLovers a while ago and got trapped for hours looking at pretty colors palettes. It's an amazing place for anyone and everyone to create, share and explore with color in it's most simpliest forms. You don't have to be an artist to have fun here! You make your palettes consisting of up to five colors right on the site, publish them and play around with translating them into different patterns. If one of your colors is new, you get to name it too! (This is like my dream job!) Plus for all intensive purposes, you can download the palettes for all sorts of applications: wedding theme colors, interior decorating, fashion and graphic design. The list is endless. Then I kind of forgot about the site. I've been having so many brainstorming ideas lately and I while working on a color palette study of my own yesterday when I remembered the site again! So, I got to work creating a bunch of fun color palettes to share with the world! I have to admit I was up way toooooo late doing it too. At least now I will have a place to store all those eye candy goodies for later, and also find some other inspiration as well. Here's my first one. Be sure to stop by and check out all my other lovely palettes, find me under the username ChromaPop. I'm already starting to rethink the Etsy shop! After all, it's sole purpose is to bring color into your life, so why not do just that! Besides, the graphic design is not going so well....If you come up with any nifty palettes, send them my way! I'll try to post new color inspiration weekly for those of you who just like to look!

Invincible and Cute: An Interview with Water Bears

When it comes to imagination and a dash of crazy (in a good way of course) this artist has what it takes to crank out awesomeness with each swish of his paintbrush. I discovered Water Bears very early after first discovering Etsy and I always find myself coming back to this shop. Tim, the man behind the puzzling name, is super friendly and was first featured on my blog in the alphabet series I did many moons ago. He also graciously agreed to do an interview for me way back then, and I am just getting around to it now. So sit back, read the interview or don't, but I'm betting once you look at the pretty pictures you'll be just curious enough to need to know a little more and end up reading it anyway! I have to know, what’s the story behind the name of your Etsy shop, Water Bears?

Waterbears are awesome. They are some of the cutest most invincible creatures on earth. I thought it summed up the critters I paint pretty well. Check out this link.

Thanks for clearing that up. I'm not completely lazy, I did look it up myself, but it was too weird to be true. I stand corrected! So, tell us a little bit about Tim Boyd, the man behind Water Bears. Is art a full time gig for you?

My family and I own a landscaping business. It keeps me pretty busy especially in the spring. I'm kind of like Batman except I paint at night rather than fight crime. I have a beautiful wife, a gorgeous little girl and two Border Collies. They get every bit of me that is left over at the end of the day.

Give me three words that describe your shop, the paintings and prints you sell.

Funny, Evolving, Wonky

Haha, wonky. Good one! How did you first get started on the track of becoming a successful painter and how long have you been painting?

I have been painting for almost 4 years now but I have been drawing since I was 4. I always wanted to be a cartoonist. I actually did a comic strip in college for a while and published a few zines that only my wife read. One of my professors in college said one of the most important things to me on the first day in class. He looked at all of us eager students and said " So you all want to be illustrators?"...... "Well guess what...you already are. Now you just have to find someone to pay you to do it." I started showing my work shortly after that.

I’m always intrigued by other artist’s work spaces, describe your studio or workspace and what’s your favorite thing about it?

I try to fill my studio with images that will keep my creativity flowing. I hang up doodles, sketches, calendars, photos, patterns, old paintings, etc. My favorite part, however, is the toys. I have a lot of toys in there. Every wall is covered, in some part, with toys. I am inspired by the color and imagination that goes into them.

Your paintings are very graphic and comical in illustration but also evoke a feeling of gritty street art. Where does your style come from? What are some of the influences of your work and other artists or things that inspire you?

I think the hard, clean edges in my work come from my affinity with the Sunday morning cartoons. I am, after all, a cartoonist at heart. I like to tow a certain line in most of my pieces. I like building characters and then putting them in unexpected situations. I like the strangeness of seeing a cute little bunny rabbit in the middle of the woods with toaster oven. I really love listening to kids try to explain what they see in some of my images. They usually have a better grasp than I do. I could list artists that inspire me all day long so I'll give you the short list: Mark Ryden, Jeff Soto, Scott Musgrove, Sergio Arigones, Bret Blevins, Bill Watterson

What is your creative process like from start to finish on a painting? Where do you come up with ideas like a piggy breakfast fairy?

There is nothing better than painting talking food. I don't know why that entertains me so much. Most of my drawings start off as doodles. I have a ton of sketch pads that I am always working in and referring to. But, I'll draw on anything..styrofoam cups, tables, dashboards, other pens. I try to never stop.

How has Etsy influenced your exposure and success? Where else do you sell your prints and paintings besides Etsy?

My wife pushed me to get on Etsy. She is very crafty and has a great eye for talent. She loved the people on Etsy and was always showing me what these people were doing out of their homes. It really is amazing. Etsy has been great for me. There is no better way to be seen by so many like minded people around the world. Its just a cool community. I sell most of my originals at Donna Van Gogh's in Atlanta and Art festivals and galleries around town all year long. Beep Beep and Young Blood carry my prints along with Helix in Athens.

Who are some of your favorite Etsy artists and why do you like their shops?

RustyRoosterMetal just cool stuff

cyberhadji right up my alley

falldowntree whimsical and grungy

hine seriously, who would have thought to make these. So cool.

laurageorge very creative and unexpected

berkleyillustration just pure talent..and also bizarre.

yellena I don't know why exactly but this stuff is beautiful.

What’s your favorite painting that you have ever made?

I made a painting once of two super hero critters standing on a building looking over a sunset. It felt like the end of a good day or the beginning of a long night depending on whatever your mood was. Anyway, I put a high gloss varnish on it before I scanned it in and was unable to keep a quality image for myself. So there has never been a print produced from it. It is the one that got away.

Thanks Tim for the interview and your seemingly never ending collection of funny, evolving and wonky paintings! I never get bored of looking at them, even the ones I've already looked at for hours on end! How do you do that!? Visit the Water Bears shop and grab your favorite bacon-themed, flying toaster and angrily cute critter prints today!

P.S. It's nice to see someone's studio is just as messy as mine! *wink*

Haha, This is Great!

I made it on the front page of Etsy today, racked up a bunch of sales, so I posted a few new slugs. Then I got a convo from a blog called zombie-pirate-ninjas about this. Go ahead, click on it, I promise you'll laugh. I did!

New Project

Here's a little side project I've been working on. I want to start making dioramas with hopes of trying to get a gallery show. This is probably just a pipe dream and I will never follow through, but it's fun to experiment and try new things. One of my top five favorite artists of all time Meredith Dittmar was the inspiration behind this project. If you have never seen her work, you MUST check it out at her website. She also has an Etsy shop, but there are no clay figures for sale right now. You can always check out her sold items. This creation I call Feather Girl. She's a crude attempt, but over all I'm happy with the way she came out. I've never made something this big out of clay before. It was a real challenge. A lot of the smaller detailed pieces broke and she is quite deformed. I had fun putting together the feather skirt. Maybe I'll try incorporating other materials on my second attempt.

Around The World

This is stuck in my head. I love it. Around the World by Daft Punk. Kinda crappy quality, but still one of the coolest music videos ever made. Mainly because it was directed by none other than the super rad Michel Gondry (he's my fav)! And if you enjoyed that, check out Star Guitar, by the Chemical Brothers. This one is less eye candy, but if you listen to the beats and pay attention, it will make you smile! Further proof that Gondry is genius.

I Like Kitties

I've been missing my kitties lately, Maggie and Mason. When I moved to Florida I had to leave them behind in Vermont and New York. So here is a collection dedicated to all the kitties I know.

1. Gatito Azul :: geninne

2. Monique Felt Art Toy :: fing

3. The Stalker :: alisapaints

4. Cashew's Hand Crocheted Cat Bed :: angelcatbeds

5. Ballerina Pink Kitty Top :: boygirlparty

6. Misha FatCat Focal Bead :: TeriPersing

7. Set of 4 Kitten Notecards :: rodeomau

8. CoCo Dream Cat :: marjji

9. Organic Catnip Slugs :: TrilliumArtisans

10. Sunbeam Print :: nutandbee

11. Kitty Cat Plush :: prettylilthings

12. Kitty One Photo Print :: BACLORI

Disney Eggs?

This disturbs me. I live in Orlando, so of course I am constantly being bombarded with Disney-related media at all times. Since moving here a year and a half ago I've even been to the Disney parks or related areas more than a few times. I've had fun on each visit going on the rides but one thing has always disturbed me and that was an eerie feeling that the Disney Corporation is slowly taking over the world. Every souvenir shop is crammed full of overpriced stuffed animals and Disney-fied everything imaginable from candy to shot glasses. There are even high end Disney art galleries! It's bad enough that eating in the parks cost an arm and a leg but naming it after everyone's favorite character doesn't make it taste any better, it freaks me out more! For some reason I always envision huge looming food factories behind the scenes, just cranking out fake, amusement park food on a long conveyor belt that stretches as far as the eye can see. Alright, maybe my overactive imagination has gotten the better of me. Since early February I've been seeing these commercials and now I know I'm not insane. This is ridiculous. This is obscene. Disney should stick to what it's good at, amusement and entertainment. And as Myke cleverly pointed out, "it's not like you get the mickey shaped egg mold or anything" so what is the point of buying these eggs! I don't know how much they cost, but you can bet your life the price of having Mickey and all his friend's faces stamped on your eggs is just as overpriced and disappointing as every other consumer product with the Disney name on it!