Studio Tour #32 - Visit with Sammie Flame of RawkMama.Etsy.com

Keeping Faith by Sammie D. Flame

Got your traveling coat on? Today we are off to Arizona for a visit with RawkMama.

RawkMama.Etsy.com

Also known as artist (& fellow Etsy's Melange Team member) Sammie Flame. She recently moved to a new house and has kindly agreed to show us around her expanded creative space. (By the way, please forgive any weird spacing - blogspot is acting up again today). Ready? Here we go...

SF: Here is a picture of my old "living room" studio. My old space was a 4X10 ft. space located behind my couch in the living room! 

Sammie's old art space

SF: I moved into my new studio four months ago. This new space is a 9.5 X 14 ft. room, actually built as a studio! it has a lot of natural light & is part of my new house. It has taken a lot of time and thinking, adjusting to this new space... trying to figure out something that works for me is hard, but it is coming along finally!

 

SF: Entering the studio through inside door.  This connects the studio to the family room. Now, going counterclockwise through room:

SF: This corner showcases artwork by Stacey Merrill (ArtSnark.Etsy.com) & Trine Stasica (ManicAttackArt.Etsy.com).

SF: Shelves that house (from the top down) - paintings, envelopes galore, and drawers & drawers of patterned papers & vintage maps.

SF: The outside door leads to the back yard (super handy)! The artwork on the wall is by Kim Geiser (PersimmonsGal.Etsy.com).  I made the garland/banners over each of the windows - I needed some color & "me" in there! The file cabinet is a yard sale find which I painted.

My messy art table

 and my drafting desk.

 Me, by the art table.

SF: Special things on my art table: my dad's vintage Kodak camera, a clay head that I sculpted when I was 19, and various jars/pencil holders from friends.

Art journal pages in progress.

SF: Some outlet covers in progress. The outlet covers were made for the studio, but I do list them in the shop at random times.

Hey, Sammie, thanks for the tour! Enjoy your new found elbow room  - I can't wait to see what colorful creations you come up with next!

And thank you to all who came along for the ride today. Want to find out more about this artist? Pop back soon (probably next Thursday) for a chat with Sammie.  (ADDED 1/20: Sammie's interview is now posted at this link)

In the meantime, be sure to visit her online Shop RawkMama.etsy.com where she sells her artwork as well as paper supplies.

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Need to get your creative juices flowing? Enter the random drawing for a copy of Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way, A spiritual path to higher creativity. Just leave a comment on my blog before 1/27 to enter. For giveaway & book details visit this link

Studio Tour # 31 - Meredith Dada (also Part 3 of her interview)

Love Doves beaded cake topper & jeweled nest by Meredith Dada

Got your traveling shoes on? Today we are off to California for a visit with the artist behind MeredithDada.Etsy.com.  (Most photos are courtesy of Meredith Dada, except her Etsy picks which belong to those artists)

My husband makes beer...we needed a bar to serve it on tap. Hey lets make one!

Did you catch Friday's interview with Meredith? If not, check it out by clicking here. My time machine is on the fritz (I think I burned out the thingamajig chasing Christmas Ghosts - fast little buggers) So if you want to go back to the first installment of this 3 part feature, a clickety here will take you to the Dec. 16th thought provoking post "Do The Work ....Stay out of the results." 

Meredith, thanks for inviting us into your creative space today. During our chat last Friday you mentioned  your the transition you made from mosaic tile work to bead mosaics. Do you have any images of your tile art that you would like to share?

MD: This table was my first serious mosaic project. I made the decision to start making work that may or may not sell anywhere. I made the leap!

MD: Here is my first mosaic table. When it sold I immediately started working on another.

What are your 3 favorite etsy shops?

Virgen de Guadalupe Nicho (Pendant) from PuebloFolkArt.Etsy.com

MD: PuebloFolkArt.Etsy.com - Larena makes beautiful and unique jewelry that I just love. I am hoping someone buys it for me soon!

Altitude Fine Art Nature Photo from Bomobob.Etsy.com

Bomobob.Etsy.com - I fell in love with Bob’s photography at first sight. I hope to have a whole collection on display in my bedroom, but right now I just have one beautiful photo.

French Beaded Hyancith Flower Plant from BuddingCreations.Etsy.com

BuddingCreations.Etsy.com - I love Danielle’s work. She makes the French beaded flowers just like my Grandmother made. She also just started a team on Etsy for bead and wire artists (BAWA) that I am a proud member of!

What are your 3 favorite websites?

MD: http://www.marthastewart.com/ - I look at Martha Stewart’s website almost daily because I secretly want to be like her!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ - I always see something interesting on apartment therapy.

http://www.anthropologie.com/ - I can’t afford it, but it is fun to look at!





MD: By the way, this is what you have to put up with when you live with a creative person... broken tile in the dining room and no place to eat. 

 

What do you like to do when you are not creating?

MD: Having a two year old keeps me pretty darn busy. We take trips to the park, and we try to take daily nature walks…the important things! Mostly we play, play, and play some more. With the little free time I have, I do yoga or I read, nothing terribly exciting.

MD: This photo shows the influence of my creative genes.... why buy candles when you can make them in your kitchen? I did decide to teach myself to cook this year. It became glaringly obvious when I got married, that I never really learned to cook. I made it by on simple, quick, and easy dishes when I had a full time day job. The last thing I wanted to do after a long workday, was cook a big meal! Now that I don’t work, I started watching the food network religiously, reading magazines, and cookbooks. It was my 2010 New Years resolution to cook, cook, cook! 

I started a food blog: http://www.dadadelicious.blogspot.com/ mostly to force myself to stick to my resolution and also to have a record of my more successful recipes. The year is almost over and I am still cooking!

Is there anything else you would like to share?

This nook in the garage is my studio space

MD: As you saw in the previous post about me, I shared a conversation I had with an artist friend of mine named David. His words struck a cord in many fellow Etsy sellers, and it helped me gain some perspective during the holiday madness. I was hoping to share a bit of advice from a different source with you today. This was a conversation I had a few months ago with my 93 year old Grandpa. I have shared it with a few Etsy sellers and it seemed to strike a similar cord. 

My Grandpa is still painting daily and even had an art show for his 93rd birthday a few months ago. Recently surrounded by my family full of artists I asked them all for the best advice they could offer right now when so many artists and crafters are struggling during these economic times. Everyone looked to Grandpa for the answer. This is what Grandpa Otis had to say:

"Darling, just because you make something don’t mean anyone is gonna buy it...but you make it anyway because you love it, or what the heck is the point? If you can say that you are proud of what you did at the end of the day, well then you are do'n alright, and if you gotta fix toilets to pay the bills (he was a plumber) and do what you love when you can...then fix the damn toilets!"

He made me re-think my definition of success, because to me, he is the most successful person I know.

After that conversation I posted this question on my studio wall:

“At the end of the day, are you proud?”

I try for a “yes” everyday! 

Magenta Moment hand beaded dish from MeredithDada.etsy.com

Meredith, your grandfather is a wise man. Thanks for the fantastic tour, eye candy and food for thought today.

And thanks to those of you who traveled with me to this creative space. Want to see more of Meredith's work and world? Here are a few links:

art blog http://meredithdada.blogspot.com

cooking blog  http://www.dadadelicious.blogspot.com/

twitter http://twitter.com/meredithdada

online shop http://meredithdada.etsy.com

Want more studio tours and interviews? Then be sure to leave a comment. The featured artists and I love the feedback. Also, if you leave your comment before 12/30 you will be entered in the random drawing for a 100 piece art set from Creatology. Click here for more info on the random drawing, including photo of prize.

Studio Tour #30 - BumbleBooHandmades

Artichokes by Kailey Lang

Hi there. How have you been? Grab your coat - we are heading north this week to visit Kailey Lang of BumbleBooHandmades.etsy.com. She has kindly offered to show us around her creative corner of the world. Kailey is a 3rd year illustration student at Sheridan College in Ontario. In last week's interview, she mentions a love of nature. You can see evidence of this artist's green thumb in her studio as well as in her artwork.

Did you catch Kailey's interview & giveaway announcement on 12/02? If not, click through & check it out. I'll wait for you here...

Pretty cool stuff, huh? I love the variety in her pieces. When you have a few minutes pop by her etsy shop; you will find a little something for everyone. Now lets take a peek behind the curtain to where the magic happens...

KL: This is where I do pretty much all of my art. It's kind of bad to have the computer right there because it can be distracting, but it's also get for doing research and gathering reference!

KL: This is the side of the my desk where I do most of the work, I rarely work on the other side of my desk. On the left, you can see my female beta's 5 gallon tank, her name is Bea and she is very silly. I think she's sleeping in her coconut house in this picture though, so you can't see her.

KL: This is my distraction station haha. And you can see some of my plants on the left!

KL: A couple of my plants, the tall one is dwarf schefflera, and the one on the right is nepenthes sanguinea. The one in the from is adorable little carnivorous plant called utricularia blanchetti.

KL: Just a closeup of the blanchetti, it's so cute!

KL: This is my 25 gallon tank, there's shrimp, rummynose tetras, neon tetras, and a couple of otto cats. It appears they are camera shy though! All the plants are real, I love aquatic plants (and plants in general!)

KL: My windowsill filled with plants, and my sundew terrarium on the right side. I have herbs and then just some generic flowering plants.

KL: Another shot of the window with the addition of my lovely cat Boo, cleansing himself on my bed.

KL: A close-up of the handsome man himself haha. His nickname is actually "Bumble Boo" which is where I get my shop name from. I adopted him and my other cat Martin from the humane society here in Oakville when I first moved to Ontario back in 2007 for college. And they've been driving me crazy ever since! Nah, I'm kidding they are good boys.

KL: This is my plant rack! Lots of odds and ends here. I wired and attached the lights myself cause light fixtures are expensive. In the closeup from left to right its heliamphora minor, Persian Violet, and cephalotus follicularis. The Persian Violet is still young, I grow a lot of my plants from seed because I love watching them grow up!

KL:  A closeup of the beautiful carnivorous plant, heliamphora minor, or Sun Pitcher.

KL: My beautiful Blue Star Morning Glory growing on the growing rack. Thanks for looking everyone! :)

Thank you, Kailey, for showing us around. And for sponsoring the current giveaway. I can't wait to find out who the lucky winner of Fishes Wishes will be.

Fishes Wishes by Kailey Lang

And thank you, everyone, for popping by & taking the tour today. Please leave a comment before you go. Everyone who leaves a comment on my blog before 12/16 will be entered in the random drawing for the Fishes Wishes print. Also, it is your interest that keeps the artist features, tours & giveaways coming.)

Do you have a space that you would like to showcase? Or is there a studio you would like to see? It can be big or small, fashionable or functional. I'd love to take a peek & share it with anyone who stops by.

Want to know more about Kailey and her art? Visit these links:

http://BumblebooHandmades.etsy.com

http://bumble-boo.deviantart.com/
http://twitter.com/bumblebooHM
http://www.formspring.me/bumblebooo

And be sure to come Thursday to see who gets to take home a new art print. If you've left a comment, the winner could be you....

Studio Tour #29 - Black Baroque

The Bird Finger print from Black Baroque

Hey there! How have you been? 

I can't believe it has been almost 4 months since the last studio tour. Thanks for your patience! Today we are off to New England by the Sea to visit Alexandra Wolf from BlackBaroque.etsy.com.

I stumbled into Black Baroque while looking for Halloween imagery. I couldn't resist  these fantastic flying skeletons.  To make them even more tempting, they are printed on a page from Dante's Inferno. (By the way, click on the captions for more info on these fun pieces).

Bat Surfing print from Black Baroque

Alexandra and her loyal assistant Poni have invited us to check out her studio as well as the retail shop they owned until recently when they moved closer to the beach. This fun boutique, Poni's Parlor -gifts with a twist, was such a cute creative space, I asked Alexandra to show us around. Now let me get out of your way, so you can get a better look.

AW: Poni, so happy waiting for customer's to come by & say hi. He was all dressed up for the Meredith Bloom Festival. Even though he is a boy he still likes pink. People loved seeing him in his pink flower collar I made for him.

AW: "Before" photo of the main room of the store.

AW: "After" photo of the main room. Our tin ceilings look like whipped cream.

AW: The awning was actually a large piece of fabric I bought. It was not scalloped but had more white coming across where you see the black pattern. I cut around the black pattern, then using a plate marking the white area and then cut so it would be scalloped as well. Then I hot glued pom pom trim to the edges. The taller desk with the black area has my computer in it. I kept a black piece of fabric to cover it when the shop is closed.

AW: Poni has his own line of all natural chemical & preservative free spa products for dogs. You can see them on the tables with the blue labels.

AW: The red bowl sets I design and manufacture. They have been featured in over 18 magazines including Cat Fancy and The NY Post.

AW: My office in our home. I just decided to take black paint and start painting the room to look like a cartoon lounge to go with My Pet Lounge Company. This is where I have fun coming up with the pieces that end up in my Black Baroque Etsy shop.

Friends Come In All Sizes print from Black Baroque

Thanks for the great tour, Alexandra  & Poni!  And thank you, readers, for stopping by and leaving a comment. Your interest is what keeps these studio tours & artist features going.

Come back Thursday (11/18) to find out more about Alexandra, Poni and the art of Black Baroque.  I'll also announce the new giveaway, with a fantastic prize donated by our generous hostess.

For more about Poni's spa products visit ShadowsBeautyPalace.com - (Shadow is Poni's secret identity). Also check out ThePetLounge.com to view Alexandra's fun pet bowl sets. 10% of the profits from these 2 shops goes to help animals in need. Click the links to read more about this.

Before you go, have you entered the current random drawing for a framed print of my "Secrets" painting? Everyone who leaves a comment on my blog before 1 a.m. (EST) on 11/18 will be entered into the drawing. Click here for details and to view that prize.