Big Changes

Hello Folks!  As you know I'm living a billion miles from my studio.  It's been fun coming down once a month to visit and show new art but when the baby comes in June I'm not going to be able to commit to that schedule anymore.  Since I have to live in lumberjack country, MN for the next three years I'm going to let the lease go on studio 314 after Art-A-Whirl this year.  Mostly because opening a studio once a month will mean trucking an infant and 3 year-old 200 miles and I don't want to do that on my own.

You will be able to buy my art from my etsy shop laurenstrom.com and make custom orders by emailing me laurenshelley.strom@gmail.com.  While I won't be able to work in Minneapolis I will most definitely continue to work. You can always find out what I'm up to by checking my events page.  I will be upping my craft show game as well so I'm sure we'll be visiting soon over tables of my new brightly colored art to make you, and me, happy.

I will continue to have my art available at local shops which currently includes:

Minneapolis:

The Goddess of Glass

St. Paul:

Artist Mercantile

AZ Gallery Gift Shop

Three Sisters Eclectic Arts

If your up in my neck of the woods you can shop Shannon's Art & Soul in Bemidji too!

Love you all! Thank you for following and supporting me all!

xoxo, Lauren

How To: Work Around a Toddler

I'm not an expert.

I just do it everyday.

For me, the key to working around a toddler is to make him as tired as possible so that he takes the longest nap possible.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays my guy goes to preschool for 2.5 hours each morning.

For the last 6 weeks on Tuesday afternoons he has taken a swimming class.

Still, this winter has almost killed us.

It's too cold and school is canceled and we can't go outside (and I don't WANT to go outside) or today, almost immediately he got sent home from school because of a rash on his face.  I mean, how stupid.  The rash has been there for a week.  I've thought about it and considered it and researched it online.  It healed in one area and spread to another which according to online research (yikes) meant it would eventually clear up and could last 2 weeks to a month.  I could have taken him yesterday which would have interfered with nothing.  But of course I didn't.

When a teacher says take him to the doc you go.

And we didn't have a doc in lumberjack country, so I didn't even know WHERE to go.

But I asked.

And we went.

And we saw a medical professional.

And she said he needed anti-biotics.

SO we fill the prescription, which took FOREVER since he hadn't needed meds since we moved to lumberjack country.

And Sweets fell asleep on the way home which always ruins nap time.  So not only did I miss work since he wasn't in school, my laptop punched me in the forehead as I was exiting the car and everything was falling apart...

AND THEN...

Morgan Walsh tweeted at me and said she loved the painting I created with her quote on it

And she wants to BUY IT.

And she wants me to make cards with the image on them.

She's seriously amazing.  I was inspired by her when she appeared on the podcast Totally Mommy.

If you're an artist mama you could get some serious support from the Totally Mommy podcast.

I laugh with them, and cry with them, and feel fulfilled by the moms.

Most of the moms are artists, as in actors or comedians, but there are so many things that cross over to my life.

And now, as I sit and type, sweets IS napping, I posted four new things on etsy and two of them (custom orders) already sold.  No matter what, the best feeling as an artist is for someone to buy your work.

Thank you Morgan Walsh for turning my day around.

And as for working around a toddler, when all goes into chaos and your laptop punches you in the head while you're getting out of the car, hold on.  Your sunshine is just behind a cloud.  Also write to me (@dancingfork) and I'll send you some love.

How to prepare for an art/craft show.

This isn't your average How-To.
I'm not even sure it's the best way to go about preparing.
But I always prepare.
So now I'll share my process:

1. Decide what art I'd like to pack in the car and haul across the country/city/what-have-you.  This is generally decided at the point that I apply for the show since I have to submit a description of the art I plan to sell.  Make a list.

2. Draw up a booth containing all the elements necessary to display the art you'd like to show/sell.  This will include tables and displays that I already own as well as things that I don't currently own but that I might need to acquire in order to participate.  In the upcoming show there are prizes for best booth.  So I'm going to go above and beyond in booth decoration.  If I can create something amazing.  I'm having trouble brainstorming amazing.

3.  If there's a display option that makes maximum sense and I therefore cannot live/show without it I will acquire this piece.  For my show in two weeks I've decided I need a 4 foot folding table.  Before I buy one I'm going to check around to see if I can borrow one.

4. Inventory what I have and what I need to paint or print.  I make lots of lists because I can't keep track of everything in my head.  Lists calm me.  Also checking things off of lists is extremely rewarding in a career where no one checks your work or gives you raises.

5. Paint.  It's a simple step and I use as much art that I already have as I can.  However, I always like to present something new and I usually need new mini canvas paintings.  This show is no different.  I'm planning to paint 40 new mini canvases.

6. Touch-up existing paintings.  Travel has wear-and-tear on canvases.  Before each show it's important to make sure each painting looks as good as the day I finished it.  Then I carefully re-wrap and package them to keep them safe until the show.

7. Pack art and display in carry-friendly packages.  Ikea bags are a HUGE asset.

8. When all the lists have been checked and everything is ready it's time to pack the car like a Tetris game.  Especially when you drive a Prius, like I do.

Etsy Shop Sample - Free Art until Friday MIDNIGHT - HURRY

Spend $50 get one piece of free art from my NEW YEAR NEW ART SALE section.  I'm clearing space for new art inventory and the old stuff needs YOU!  For every $50 you get to choose another piece of art.  If you spend $150 you may choose 4 piece FREE.  Go!  Sale ends January 31 at MIDNIGHT.

Fine Art as a Small Business

We fine artists are walking a fine line.  (So fine!)  A line between being taken seriously by the art community and making money from the general public.  It's so tricky and here's why: Artists make art because it's our passion.  We create what we were meant to create to add to the thought process and conversation of our public.  It is our job to comment and reflect the society we live in; not to pander or grovel or change based on criticism.  We are who we are and we need not apologize.  The more authentic we are the more respect we generate.

Respect is all we can hope for in the art community.  It's the highest honor.  Respect.  It's simple and beautiful like great art.

The key is you have to be out in the public.  Visible.  Coffee shops, then art shows, then local galleries, then represented by galleries, then national shows.  If that's your path.  If that's your passion.  If you're serious and real.  Right?  This is my gut feeling.

Crafters, and I mean ABSOLUTELY no disrespect, have a job to generate business, traffic, and money.  They sell the products that you find in the big box stores with the added benefit of buying it from the person who makes it.  They are my number one favorite category of business.  I LOVE to buy from the person who made the goods.  And I love to buy from artists.  But while almost every person has very limited wall space, one can buy unlimited amounts of clothing, jewelry, knitted wears, kids toys, and such.  In fact some of these items wear out and you HAVE to buy more.  Guess what happens if art wears out - TROUBLE.  It really, really shouldn't wear out.

As a small business I'm failing.  I make a small profit every year but I'm hardly supporting my family.  I'd like to create what the crafters have - steady, reliable income in quantities that make a difference in my monthly budget.  But how?  HOW?  I want to reach people via social media but I don't want to give away my work.  I feel it devalues it.  How much are "likes" worth anyway?  While at the same time I can only create and store so much product.  Over the past 5 years I've learned a lot.  The larger the painting the slower it sells to the point that I can't paint large scale.  And yet, the galleries need large scale.  The money is in the large scale work.  But the sales are in the small scale.  What to do?

It's a trap.  I'm in my head too much.  I create art because I'm drawn to make my thoughts visible.  There's no other way for me.  This is it.  I must be authentically me and make the art only I can make.
My path is this:
1. Studio
2. Create babies and create art around their lives:
     a. sell at craft shows and art crawls and local boutiques
     b. occasional gallery shows
     c. sell online through etsy, society6, and eventually my personal website.
     d. build my brand slowly through social media using my art, process, and personality.  Not gimmicks.
3. Back to Studio
4. Major Gallery Shows after babies are not babies and are in school

If you have any not-gimmicky ways to generate income from the art you already make I'd love to hear them.  I know artists who are killing it on commissions each month.  They do well because they stick to what they do best and people are drawn to their authenticity.  My love to you.  Please share your secrets.  We are all in this together.

Lastly, I can't help but speak my truth that in then end, as it was in the beginning, it is not my job to make money but rather to create a social commentary.  I make the world a little better one tiny, happy painting at a time.  Really that's not so bad.  It just doesn't buy groceries.