It's FRIDAY I'm in love

How are you today my dear readers? After this previous post, inspired on The Cure music I decided to start a new weekly blog column around the theme of love.

Love is so important, for love we are able to move mountains.

This week I choose a print of an original watercolor painting called "France Love" from Poppyandpinecone. After all France is know for its romanticism.

If you have a gorgeous item related to love share it with me.

Featured artist: PapercutsByJoe

Today I'm featuring something completely different. I discovered Joe's work on Etsy FP a few months ago & I have to be honest his artwork is so real that i wasn't sure what I was looking at.

Joe lives & works on Boston, he's an archaeologist with a paper artist soul.

PapercutsByJoe is open since October 2007 & it's full of amazing original hand-cut silhouettes.

Let's find out a bit more about Joe & his creative life

1. Is it easy to be creative everyday? 
No! I just finished Craftboston where I created 9 pieces just for the show. I spent over 6 months designing and cutting them and I now feel completely out of ideas. It's pretty scary, actually!  What I really need to do is get out and walk around Boston (where I live) and get inspired again. Constantly working, never leaving my apartment, and the winter are all conspiring to a glut of new ideas.

{I'm sure that spring will be like a re-birth for your creativity :-) }

2. What's the best part of your day?
Whenever I'm drinking coffee! I also enjoy the last 30 minutes of the day before my wife needs to be picked up at work, where I suddenly feel the challenge to get a TON done in a short amount of time. I honestly feel I get just about as much done in that 30 minutes as I do the rest of the day.

{I'm also a bit like that, if I stay at home working that last 30 minutes are essential}

3. The first time you sold something to someone who was not a friend or a relative what did you feel?Terrified. I was convinced that once they received it they would realize it really was just paper and wouldn't like it.  It reminds me of the episode of Seinfeld when Jerry's dad returns from seeing Cats on Broadway. His disappointed and confused review "It's really just about cats..." kind of sums up my worries back then.

{I'm still affraid that people won't like my pieces when they arrive to their mail boxes}

4. Is there anything else you can imagine yourself doing for a living?I would love to be a park ranger. Wandering outdoors all day and seeing those things that nobody gets to see.

5. Is there anything in particular that fuels your creativity as an artist?
I want to be remembered, and having my work in peoples homes, spread online, and talked about makes me feel like I get a tiny slice of immortality. It keeps me striving to make better and better pieces to continue to catch peoples eye.

{I think you're in the right track, your work is AMAZING!!!}

6. What was the best strategy (in case you tried any) to increase your sales?I sell on Etsy, and I see a direct correlation to relisting items and getting them on the top of search results.  I also find that taking funky photos that are then passed around online has led to a ton of sales. My photos always have me working at my desk with piles of scrap in the background. I can technically take much better photos, but this has become my signature style, and I think people appreciate how real everything looks and it definitely gets across that they are hand-cut paper

{I really like the photos with the self-healing matress, the perfect light that creates great shadows in your artwork & make them seem so real}

7. Tell us something random or quirky about yourself.I'm an archaeologist too! I have a BA in archaeology and will be starting a Master's program this fall in Boston. I study Native American cultures in New England and go on several professional digs a year.

{Do your Master's but please don't stop cuting paper}

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I hope you enjoyed Joe's interview & shop. A visit to PapercutsByJoe shop is really worth it. I personally would love to buy this one for myself.

{ Thank you so much Joe for this great interview }

Daily inspiration: photographic silhouettes in the fog

{Whitetail Silhouettes /\ Vader en kind met kerstboom from Nationaal Archief}

Featured artist: MicheleMaule

My day at work it was crazy again but finally I have the time to publish my weekly interview. For this week I choose an artist from Portland, Oregon. Her name is Michele, she lives a simple & quiet life with her boyfriend & Chloe, her Boston Terrier. She has a degree in Drawing, Painting, and Print Making & dreams one day to become a full time artist.

MicheleMaule is up & runing since 2007, it's quite a successful shop with almost 1500 sales. At Michele's shop you can find paintings, illustrations & reproduction prints. Art for every budget I might say.

Let's find out a bit more about Michele & her creative life

1. Is it easy to be creative everyday?
No. Not for me. I wish I could be creative everyday, and I suppose in some ways I am, but to be able to make art everyday is hard for me. Some days it is easier than others, but I think that to be true for most things in life.

2. What's the best part of your day?
The best part of my day is waking up to my Boston Terrier, Chloe and my boyfriend, Nate. Without them both in my life I would be one unhappy camper.
{I had a Great Dane a few years back & I also loved to come home & go for a walk with her :-)}

3. The first time you sold something to someone who was not a friend or a relative what did you feel?
It was so exciting! Whoa! Especially the first time I sold something to someone I didn't know on Etsy. That was really amazing!

4. Is there anything else you can imagine yourself doing for a living?
I watched this video about making croissants on YouTube a few weeks ago. It looked like so much fun. There was this really involved process that goes into making croissants and it was very intriguing to me. So, if I wasn't an artist I think I might be a croissant maker.
{I've to search on YouTube, but I'm guessing it's not an easy thing to make perfect croissants}

5. Is there anything in particular that fuels your creativity as an artist?
I think being alone really fuels my creativity. I love the people and animals in my life but it's not until I find myself alone that I can really get into it.
{I know what you mean, for example I only take pictures when nobody's at home}

6. What was the best strategy (in case you tried any) to increase your sales?
I wish I could tell you. There really isn't one. When I first started on Etsy things were a bit slow and then sales started to really increase. Things were going really great for me in 2008 and 2009. I was blogging, Facebooking, Tweeting, you name it, I was doing it. Then in the summer of 2009 things kind of came to a halt. My sales really started to slow and they've continued that way for 2010 and so far 2011.

I don't know what I was doing right and I don't know what I am doing wrong now. I think it all comes down to being in the right place at the right time most of the time.
{Maybe it's the economy, art is not food, you might love it but when you have to opt between having a beautiful painting on your wall or feed your kids the answers is simple, right!}

7. Tell us something random or quirky about yourself.
I make my bed everyday. My grandmother told me, when I was very little, I'll always get a good night sleep if my bed is properly made. So I've done it ever since. also, soggy, wet, bread products make me gag a bit.

I hope you enjoyed Michele's interview & shop. You really should spend a few minutes on her shop, I'm sure you'll fall inlove by the colors & drawing lines.

{ Thank you so much Michele for this lovely interview & hope your dream comes true because your art is amazing }