The small pieces are finished!

As a follow up to my last post, I wanted to share with you the finished pieces.  I really love they came out.  Enjoy!

#25 matted and ready to go!

#6 matted and ready to go

My My

Pretty in Peach

#25

Starting large, Ending small

paint and handmade papers

I have been having the best time lately working on large sheets of watercolor paper that that I will use to create small 5" x 5" pieces.  I start by painting the base coat  randomly.  Then I add more paint, some handmade paper, some photographs, some magazine papers, and tape to create the next layer.  More paint detailing is next.

4-5 layers in

I  use a cut up piece of cardboard to create a 5" x 5" opening so I can pick the areas I want to work with to create my final small pieces. I love working large and then not really knowing how the small pieces will look.  I love the randomness of it all.

I draw the squares in pencil, cut them out and end up with quite a few small pieces that I will matte and possibly frame.  I will add a few more layers to these small pieces and then they will be ready for my show in Manayunk http://manayunk.com/signature-events/manayunk-arts-festival/ at the end of June.

PainterPaige hard at work

I thought you all would be interested in seeing all of the hard work that goes into my booth set-up each and every time I sell at a local show.  First we have to pack up the car with everything, drive to our location, figure out where exactly our spot is, then unload everything.  Then we have pop up the tent, put together all of the display panels, hang all of the artwork in the best spots possible and set up the table that holds my smaller pieces along with marketing materials and the ever important sign-up sheet.  But I love the way my booth looks when its all done.

My assistant hard at work

Early in the set-up stage

Have to get it just right

Ready for business!

The story of how I became PainterPaige

I think I was an abstract artist as a child.  As long as I can remember  I have always loved drawing and doodling.  As a kid I would sit for hours with a box or crayons and a pad of paper.  I will fill pad after pad with scribbles and doodles that I  would then spend time filling in with different color crayons from my box of 64.  I would do this endlessly.  My father used to be able to copy pictures he saw and I was in such awe of him being able to draw so well.  I think this was when I realized that people could actually draw things that actually looked like the real thing.  It seemed impossible to me.

Me about 10

 

The first time I knew I had some talent was in 3rd grade.  All of the 3rd graders in my city were asked to create “Be Friends With Animals” posters.  My teacher pulled me aside and asked me to stay after school to keep working on mine.  I didn’t really think much of it.  That is until the principal interrupted our class one day and I was called to stand in front of the room.  My first thought that I was in trouble, but no she told everyone that I won 3rd place and she presented me with a certificate and $3. My poster hung in city hall for a month.  It was a huge deal for me back in elementary school.

My elementary school in Allentown, PA

 

But art for me became a thing of the past when I started to get self-conscious and intimidated by my peers.  No way was I going to put any art out there for their review  or possible ridicule so I stuffed down my love of art for many years.  Even when I wasn’t creating art all of those years, I always knew that I wanted to be an artist.  How to become one, I wasn’t so sure.  Since I didn’t create anything while in high school  I had nothing to submit to art school.  Plus my parents were way too practical to let their daughter study something like art.  So I majored in communications where I knew I would at least have a chance to take some art classes as part of the curriculum.  

Fast forward 10 years later, I am married with two small children.  I still desired to be an artist or something in a creative field so I went back to college to get my interior design degree.  I was obsessed with decorating my home and thought I had some real talent.  But after two years of study I dropped out when I had no more money to invest in the program.

My family back in the day

 

A few years later I took  a floorcloth painting class  and that class changed everything for me.  I fell in love painting with acrylics and loved the entire process of taking my ideas and seeing them actually take shape.  I put a few floorcloths around my house and starting getting a lot of compliments and was encouraged to start selling them.  It went well right away and the response was really positive.  I sold  floorcloths for about 4 years until the economy took a turn for the worst and trying to sell anything became extremely difficult.   Many of my customers and admirers kept asking why I didn’t paint canvases but I honestly still felt so intimidated.  Painting floorcloths were one thing because I didn’t consider them “real” art.  

One of my favorite floorcloths

Another fun one!

 I don’t know what exactly made me paint that first canvas but I know I haven’t looked back since.   My love of painting has grown with each and every painting I create.  And slowly the intimidation has worn off.  People say my paintings make them feel happy.  I can’t think of a better compliment.  I’m living my dream.  And I guess I can finally call myself an artist.  

At a recent indoor art show

Art Business 2015

I have been working hard the last couple of months concentrating on how to build up my client/follower base in order to sell more paintings on-line.  I am happy with my in-person sales but I have been researching other sites that would be a good fit for PainterPaige paintings.  ImageKind was recommended to me so I have been working furiously for the last week to upload my pieces to this site.  It is a place to go where you can purchase prints or canvas prints of your favorite art for a very reasonable price. I feel very positive that this will a new revenue stream for my business.  I'll keep you posted on how its going.  My address is painterpaige.imagekind.com.

painterpaige/imagekind.com

My Society6 shop

The artwork on Society6 is created by hundreds of thousands of artists from around the world.

When you buy a product from Society6, we produce it using only the highest quality materials, and ship it to you on behalf of the artist.

 I just opened up a Society6 shop with items made with my artwork.  They make it so easy to do.  Just upload your jpg in the right size and have your designs turned into all kinds of products without losing the rights to your artwork.  

I now have a shop full of tote bags, pillows, coffee mugs, skins and prints.   I just got my computer skin last week and it looks fantastic.

Here are some more samples of products available in my store.  http://society6.com/PaigeSchillerHirsch

My mission statement

I am currently reading Tara Gentile's ebook "52 weeks of blogging your passion" http://www.taragentile.com/tell-your-story/52-weeks/ and one of the first things she has us do is create a mission statement for our blogs.  I really hadn't thought about what my mission for the blog was.  I just blogged occasionally because everything I read about starting a successful creative business urges you to have a blog.  So I had a blog.  But every time I went to write a post, I kept thinking "who the hell cares?" and it would stop me from continuing and there would be large gaps of time between each post.  Unless I had something special to write about I backed off blogging.  But creating this mission statement has really made me see what I want my blog to be about and what I want reader's to get from it.  Here it is:
"PainterPaige is the place to go to learn how a self-taught abstract artist can build an art business that is growing and thriving.  You can learn along with Paige as she struggles to make sense out of the confusing and often difficult world of owning a successful creative business."
I think that's it.  The only thing I have to offer is myself.  My life, my business and my processes.
My successes and my failures.