And Suddenly It Was Spring!

Background Photo © Studiobarcelona | Dreamstime.com

Last time I updated this blog, it was January & I was setting some goals for myself for the New Year... and here it is April! How did THAT happen???... Apparently, I should have added a goal to blog more regularly too!

Greetings From A Corn Field

While visiting our family farm this past June, I began to wonder whether it might be wisest for me to focus more of my attention on growing my Zazzle shop during this season in our family life. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Etsy! (I really do!)... and I plan to continue to list my art there as much as I'm able to. But my husband & I are finding we need to be at the farm more often these days. It's not as easy keeping in touch with buyers when I'm out in the middle of a corn field, away from the internet!... and mailing art while I'm on the road has proven to be a pretty big challenge too!

Now, admittedly, I am not the best at making changes. But, with all the back-and-forth we've been doing between our home in North Carolina & the family farm in Virginia, I finally decided that moving to "Plan B" just might be the best option for me right now.

And so, I've started to design t-shirts for infants, toddlers & elementary-aged kids. It's really been lots of fun!... something I've always wanted to do, in fact. Maybe I just needed a gentle nudge from the Lord to move out in a brand new arty direction. The t-shirts join my growing selection of prints, cards & stamps that I offer in my Zazzle shop, PholkartStudio.

I'd sure LOVE to have your help in brainstorming new design ideas for baby & kids' tees! My sons are all grown up now, so it feels like a lifetime ago since I needed to be "in tune" with what little guys like to wear! Leave me a comment!... I'd love to hear from you!! :)

Hi, My Name Is Patti And I'm A Pur-fek-shun-ist!

I've been working away at my Zazzle shop for a while now... having lots of fun creating cards, prints, & more from my original artwork. Finally, I decided the time had come for me to order some of my designs so I could see the final products...

The day the mailman delivered my Zazzle Mail I was sooooo excited to see what was inside! And there it was!... a glossy postcard of my "Pumpkins For Sale" illustration. The printing was crisp & clear, the paper was top-notch... I was thrilled with my arty mail!

That is, 'til I realized one thing!... The colors were not an exact match to my original art.

Uh-Oh!!... Enter Patti's Perfectionism! 

For the next two days I plunged myself into research & study, trying my best to understand the language of sRGB & CMYK. Now, as a self-taught artist, most of what I've learned art-wise has been through research, plus LOTS of trial & error!... So at first, my quest for new art knowledge felt like another challenging adventure.

However, that feeling of adventure was soon replaced by the cross-eyed, head-throbbing feeling of bumping my head against something I just couldn't figure out or change, no matter how hard I tried!

Well, to make a very loooooong story short... I decided to "back away from the edge" of my "unreconcilable problem" & get a fresh perspective. I placed the postcard on a tiny easel & took this picture in my sunny kitchen... and then I walked away.

The next day, I felt like the Lord had given me a whole new outlook on my problem...

I realized (once again!) that some things are just plain out of my control. The printing process Zazzle uses allows me to offer my artwork on products in a print-on-demand way. Other printing methods might allow more exact color matching... but the process would be much slower & the products would need to be purchased in bulk at a higher cost.

... Basically, that just wouldn't work for me.

And as I looked with fresh eyes at the photo I'd taken the day before... and at the postcard still propped up on its' easel... I realized it was OK. I could like this version of my artwork just the way it was.

Perfectionists really don't like to settle for less than perfect... But today I'm feeling thankful for learning one more lesson on the road toward embracing "good enough."

Welcome Spring!!

Photo Courtesy Big Stock Photos

I don't know about you... but SPRING could not come quickly enough for me this year!!

Now, I know as a "North Carolina Gal" I really have no room to complain! While the Northeast was being covered repeatedly by snow this winter, we were mostly just cold & soggy, with day after day of gray skies... Nothing multiple layers of warm clothes & an extra pair of wooly socks couldn't cure! Oh!... and LOTS of hot coffee!!   ;)

Truth be told, Wintertime is always challenging for me. Like so many other artists, I struggle with depression... and there's nothing like soaking up some early spring sunshine to lift my spirits! My studio is on the south side of our home... definitely the best place to be year 'round to catch Mother Nature's warm glow when the sun does peek out!

"Kite Flying Lessons"

Back one gray day this past winter, when I was especially yearning for spring, I asked my arty friends on facebook if they could suggest some SPRING Ideas that I could illustrate. I really needed some help in pulling my imagination out of winter's chill & back to warmer weather. And they gifted me with a loooong list of inspiration!... as well as the encouragement that YES!, there would be spring again!

...And that's how "Kite Flying Lessons" was "born"... An itty-bitty piece of artwork that reminded me again of my need for the encouragement of creative friends and the hope of SPRING!