How I revived my blog in 2017

It is not easy to keep a blog, especially if you don’t particularly like talking about yourself. And, we, artists and crafters, are all guilty. We prefer to get on with our work and not ramble about our lives. Who would be interested? What would I write about? How will I come up with new ideas? What else should I write about apart from my art/craft? These are just a few questions that the majority of us don’t have answers to so we either don’t start a blog at all or if we do start one, we shortly abandon it for lack of ideas. I know, I have been there too.

Framing Your Paintings & Prints

Although many artists paint on canvases that don’t require framing, sometimes those canvases might look better with a frame. When the edges are too narrow or when the wooden support underneath is a bit warped, framing your painting can add a nice touch to it, prolonging its life at the same time.

Coming Home by Teodora Totorean

How to prepare for arts & crafts fairs

As I've booked seven arts & crafts fairs for this year, I thought it would be useful to write a post on how to prepare for such an event. I am not an expert in this matter as I only did one (proper) arts & crafts  fair before, yet I still remember a few little things that went wrong along the other things that went really well. This is a checklist that helped me to get organized in the past and hopefully will help me and others for future events.

How to Solve the “Small Studio” Problem

My working room is smaller than a campervan, my walls are cream, magnolia to be more precise, and my easel occupies nearly half the space when I put a canvas on it. Yes, I am an (aspiring) artist and no, I haven't made it onto the property ladder yet. What is the relevance of the latest you may ask? I am currently renting the house I live in which means that I can’t stain the walls and the carpet as I wish.  Between trying out new carpet cleaning techniques and covering the stains on my walls with the brush of a paint sample pot, my art is suffering. Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those misunderstood artists suffering quietly, but due to all of the above inconveniences, I can’t do what I want with my art.

Recycling your art?

Decorative poppies series - SOLD

I know from my writing experience that, when I have an article rejected or I don’t get any answer at all when I send it to a publication, I try to re-think and re-write the whole idea and pitch it to a different magazine. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes I only take a fragment and I incorporate it into a completely different article. This is what I call recycling my writings and I know for sure that many writers do exactly the same. What about paintings? Can I do that, I wondered a few months ago when I had too many paintings of the same subject (well, I do get carried away  J ) and I didn't know what to do with them all.