No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on March 22, 2012

Rather busy the past couple of days but I thought I would get this one in before the end of the week.

I had two new pieces in the Art Show at LunaCon this year.

One was a griffin and the other a Calot.

The griffin was at Caroline’s request. She wanted a griffin baby based on the Skylanders’ character Sonic Boom’s babies. After drafting the patterns, I decided to make another one for sale. It took me a bit to get the legs the way I wanted them so that the critter would stand up without help or plushie flop.

(For the Visually Impaired: This is a griffin. It is blue with a yellow beak. The tail has a little black fur tuft to give it a lion-like look. The wings are blue as well. The eyes are green with large pupils. It has long triangular ears on top of its head.)

The calot (which is from John Carter/Barsoom) was put together pretty fast but I used what I have learned from other stuff animals, I was able to make the pattern in good time. The skin was a lucky find at the fabric store. I thought about adding fangs but I am still of two minds about that. It has 6 six legs rather than 10 because I tried 10 and it was way too crowded so I understand why Disney used 6. I think the purple tongue makes it work.

(For the Visually Impaired: This is a calot. Its skin is a brown sandy color with some slightly darker splotches at random places. He is “sitting” up on a plexiglass stand. He has 6 legs and a horseshoe nose. He has a purple tongue sticking out of his mouth)

So those are the new characters to the group.

This week was regroup week before I start on the next set of projects.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 19, 2012

And I see a few more of these in my future as well.

The trip to LunaCon was pretty uneventful. My GPS got me around some nasty traffic along the way so I made it pretty much about the time it takes to get from here to there. My friend Mary Aileen got there about 20 minutes ahead of me so she checked into the room and got that sorted out.

We went to the Art Show and put our works in there. I didn’t sell anything but I know I amused a number of people with my baby Calot. Sales were down pretty much across the board. Some people did better than others.

I did a puppetry demo next. I took various things to make this a demo that had information that the audience needed. I didn’t have ton of people but the folks I did have were enthusiastic and I gave some teachers some ideas of how to integrate puppets into their lesson plans which is something I always enjoy doing. I went to the meets the pros and caught up with various folks I have known for years. I had a Doctor Who panel that was all about coming up with your wackiest replacement for Matt Smith as the Doctor. I said if I were to cast a film for the US audience, I’d cast James McAvoy. After that went to the bar and caught up with friends on a variety of topics.

Saturday I had one panel early on doll and plushie making and one late on Graphic Novels What’s Hot. I suggested “Return of the Dapper Men” to the group. Some had read it and others hadn’t. I judged the Performance section of the Masquerade. My fellow judges were great and we came to decisions at a pretty rapid pace. My friend Mary Aileen won a Sick Pups award for most macabre humor along with most humorous and a workmanship award for her costume of Cruella DeVilles younger sister Felina showing off her latest fashion in cat wear. It was a wonderful cat-centric outfit that had the audience meowing in appreciating.

Sunday I packed up early and came home to get ready for the last Broadway Bears auction. It was a happy/sad show. It was nice seeing people I hadn’t seen in a while and catching up on news and the like. Caroline looked very grown-up. She had her hair curled and then wore it up with bobby pins until it was time to go to the show.

Caroline ready for the Bear Auction. She was proud to wear Mommy’s pearls.
(for the VI: this is Caroline with her brown hair hanging down in curls. She is wearing a dark pink dress with black lace over the pink. She is wearing a pearl necklace and has a Lion King charm bracelet on her right list. Her hands are clasped at her waist. She has a shy smile on her face.)

It was my weekend for happy/sad. I enjoyed myself at LunaCon but there was a pallor over the proceedings because, as stated on the back of all the badges, that it might be very well the last LunaCon. It is still fun but there was a time that you could go and find editors for the major houses and art directors wandering through the art show. Many a deal started at a LunaCon. Now I think I saw a grand total of two editors and three agents. The Art Show was fun but there was less of it to walk through. The panels were fun but not that well attended. The Masquerade was well attended and had 15 entries which is much better than last year which had 6. So there were more people there than last year but still it was pretty quiet. It’s going out with a whimper rather than a bang.

The Broadway Bears auction is over for a variety of reasons including that they can’t get the bear skins anymore. We had fun and reminisced with people about past auctions and past bears. We gave Scott a standing ovation for all his hard work in this project. It went a bit later than we thought it would but they had a lot of bears to auction. The goal was achieved plus some which is a nice feeling. It is going to be weird not going to a Bear Auction but we’ll catch up with folks at the Broadway Flea Market or on stage.

This morning I am feeling rather drained. It has been a long weekend which I enjoyed. I hope to go to another LunaCon and I will miss going to the Bear Auction. So onto recovery and the next project.

I am grateful to everyone this weekend that I got to talk to. It reminded me why I do the things that I do and what I do does matter.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 15, 2012

So today is about getting ready for LunaCon. I have to gather my materials for my demo(s). Finish a griffin and a calot for the Art Show. Get my art show paperwork in order. Stock the larder for the house. Pack and get ready to go tomorrow.

So it is going to be a full day.

LunaCon should be fun. I have some interesting panels to be on and some fun stuff to do. However I will be leaving as soon as I can on Sunday since I need to get back home so we can go to the last Broadway Bear Auction which makes me a little sad.

Caroline has a full weekend planned with Daddy while Mommy is away.

So onto the next thing I need to get done.

I am grateful for patterns that work.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 13, 2012

By professionalism, I am talking about client/artist interactions which needs professionalism on both sides even if it is your bestest bud.

I am a former moderator in a community on Live Journal called Artist Beware which states the purpose of the community as a place to voice positive or difficult experiences with commissioners or artists. This includes both paid transactions and art trades. Customer and artist reviews, lost contacts, and reports of art theft (as long as there are commissions/trades involved!) are welcome. Positive reviews are in a monthly format; a moderator posts and members then comment regarding their positive experiences. Separate positive review posts will not be allowed.

This community is also open to discussions and questions on how to conduct business between artists and their customers. (copyright the owner of Arist Beware 2012).

There were a lot of problems that could have been solved or not even occurred if there had been even a modicum professionalism on one if not both parties parts.

When I have a client, I have a contract as to what is expected of me and of them. There are due dates for various things including approvals from the client and also points that there are no more changes allowed unless agreed to by both parties. There is also a schedule of payment(s) for the project. I expect a certain amount of professionalism be it a company or a person who is commissioning me to make something for them. Honestly I have had more problems with companies than people in terms of this but I have had some clients who were never going to be happy no matter what I did.

Recently I have seen a trend that I find a little troubling. People who are OK to decent at something that decide that they are going to do it professionally. They have all this energy going into it and more power to them but they quickly discover that moving a hobby to work is not easy. For one thing they find out that their window for getting their project completed is probably a much shorter window than the leisurely way that they have made things in the past. Work is work and it is great if one enjoys doing it but it is still work. One is being paid for product they are to create. And, much to these people’s amazement, their clients would like to be (or insist upon) being informed where their project is and what is going on. They have invest money in you and expect results.

And throwing up one’s hands and having a temper tantrum on the Internet is not going to endear one to new clients. Also constantly complaining about not being able to sell one’s wares while person X, whose work is not as good, just sells and sells and sells. Well person X is getting product out to their clients in a timely fashion in a professional manner.

How one presents one self on the internet is important especially if one is considering making their hobby a business. I would suggest researching who is doing what you want to do. See what the market is for what you do. Is there something that you bring to the table that is totally different/unique that is a sellable point to clients? And you do need to think of your customers as customers no matter if they are your best friend. And develop a thick skin especially if you succeed because there are others out there who are going to pick you apart because you succeeded. Act professionally and you will find yourself in a stronger position when things do go wrong because you did.

I am grateful for the lessons I learned early about professionalism which have served me well.

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Posted By Kathleen David on March 12, 2012

And the Myth has been busted.

(For the Visually Impaired: This is a photo of Caroline ‘s Science Project. It is white cardboard that is folded so that the exhibit can stand. On the left board is a graph on the top, three pieces of bread with fake butter on top, a graph under that and her data sheets on the bottom. On the right are a series of photographs showing the experiment in motion. In the middle there is a stuffed cat with the butter bread harness on it. The title “Busting the Butter Bread Myth” is across the top in various colors. To the right of the cat are pictures of the cat part of the experiment. To the left of the cat are photos of the materials used. Underneath is her write up and conclusions for the experiment.)

So onto the rest of LunaCon. I got my schedule and it fits what I was hoping. I still need to find out whether I am doing something for the Masquerade. This week will be about getting ready for this next weekend. Which will be a bit of a race.

The Ides of March is this week along with St. Patrick’s Day.

OK off to take care of the next thing that MUST BE DONE.

I am grateful for whatever I get done this week.

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