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Showing posts from 2017

Artists trying to sell Art

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We are artists trying to make a living from our work. It's not easy and most of the time it's frustrating and downright depressing. But do we give up? No, we continue, we persevere and hope that one day we will find success. Success is different for everyone. For some it's to have a gallery take them on, for others to have an exhibition, for some it's to earn a living from their work, and others to sell enough to cover the cost of their materials. However, we don't give up. We've been told that social media is the way to go. We've read about success stories. Artists making enough from internet sales to give up the day job. But the reality is this. You get likes and the more artists and people you follow, the more likes you get. You write up your blog. You put your photos on Instagram, and FaceBook, you pin on Pinterest, you open a shop on Etsy, you link on Linkin. But tell me, how often does it translate in to sales? Less than most would admit to I guess.

Glass Bottles

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I made this screen print in three different colours, blue, red and turquoise. Take a look, tell me which you prefer. Image size 30x20cm, paper size 50x35cm If you like them enough to buy, then contact me and we can arrange it. So as you know the cost - well, I recon it's a reasonable price for a large scale print. €20 euros each or three (one of each) for €50 euros. Post and packing €10 euros worldwide. Only with PayPal as it's the most secure for everyone. Anyway let me know what you think. Love to hear from you. mcloughlinhelen7@gmail.com

New Hand Made Books II

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Next phase after putting the chapters together is binding the sections, glueing, and attaching the boards. I covered the boards with lovely blue paper and am ready to attach the book block to the boards. I use extra strong vinyl glue to be sure all will hold together and the advantage with this type of glue is that is it dries quickly and I can wash the brush with water. I'm really pleased with the finished book. There are nine in the limited edition, so it's a bit special. I will make some others which will be slightly different, so a separate edition.

New Handmade Book

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Here is my recent work a combination of screen printed pages and handmade book. I started with working out the size I wanted for the book, number of pages and so forth. Then as I wanted to make a notebook for people to write their own text, memos etc but I still wanted to print images to decorate the inside. I settled on printing small trees which would be along the edge of the pages and not take up too much space and every two pages would be blank. Printed and ready to bind I really enjoy bookbinding. It takes a long time and lots of measurements but it's a satisfying process. I love the feel of paper and enjoy sourcing new decorative papers. The paper has to be both light weight but fairly strong, not to rigid but not too stiff either. Wallpaper for example just wont do. So japanese papers are probably a bit light even though they are beautiful. Come back in a few days and see how I'm getting on, see the finished book! Have you any advice, tips or tricks? I&

Back to Work

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It's September, back to work, full of ideas to improve my blogs, my art, my inspiration. So whats new? Well, I'm planning my November exhibition, getting mailing list updated, planning the venue, planning the private viewing. This I think is important. People LOVE to be invited to a preview and a private view evening is perfect and in fact most sales can be generated from a private view. Then when the expo is open people see the red dots and think "hmm, as so many are sold I'd better buy too!" It's psychological and 9 times out of 10 it works! Win win! Have you any brill ideas for expositions?