Featured Artist Of The Week – Nadine May

I love you by Nadine May

I met Nadine on Facebook where she posted some of her Zazzle designs, and knew that I had to get to know more about  her work. Thankfully, she agreed to sit down for an interview with me. Her bright and colorful florals are featured in her store “Just Kidding”, such as this  King Potrea Pillow while her store “The Awakening” features fantastical images that are stunning, beautiful and visionary.

Me: How long have you been working with Zazzle?

Nadine: The 14th of October 2015 was my first anniversary with Zazzle.
I found out about Zazzle when two friends were chatting to each other on a Skype group about Redbubble and Zazzle. I was clueless as to what they were talking about so I asked them. That was my first introduction to this wonderful possibility that anybody can design images for products and can earn royalty payments. For the rest of that week I looked, read, and practised while now and then chatting to my friends on Skype.
My normal job doing book cover designs for Kima Global Publishers was going through a quite rough time, so I found myself glued to my computer chair for hours creating images for the Zazzle templates. I thought of all the leather work, drawings and paintings I had done over the years and was keen to see them displayed on their products.
I love illustrating – telling stories through imagery, and today I love working with Photoshop. I’m self taught and learn each day what I can do with this amazing program.

Fairy Kingdom Postcard

Me: What made you choose Zazzle?
Nadine: Zazzle has a lot of products and a very easy platform to create an online presence for a designer.
Kima Global Gifts shop
An idea came to me one morning that I could use many of my book design covers and I format these for the Zazzle templates and at the same time promote the title of the book! I thought the authors would be my first customers! That has not happened so far….but they do like my efforts.
Just kidding shop
It is here that I post all my past and present artworks, especially the leather work. I still have to do a lot of scanning, but now I had to start organizing my computer by creating files for the many images and photos I want to use for my designs.
The Awakening shop
I write articles for Hubpages. Most of these posts are about the research I’ve done over the years for my visionary fiction novels. I love creating images for these articles, but they are more about very alternative topics, so I created a different shop for these designs and two weeks ago I started to prepare an online doodle workshop using Zazzle products. I can also add the article links to the designs for visitors just in case they are interested

Me: How would you describe your process as an artist?
Nadine: I’m a visionary fiction author and learned over the years that to write a book is a lot easier than selling a book, and so I know that the same applies to images. As an artist, I had to invent myself all over again. I’ve created two blogs for all my product designs. One with WordPress and one with Blogpost. I do have other blogs that are more connected with my published novels available on Amazon and many other platforms, and I often post a product image on there if it links to the topics of my writings. I learned a great deal from other Zazzle designers on Facebook, and the friendships I have made with them are an added bonus.
I share theirs and my own products on my own Facebook shopping page and on Pinterest and Google+. I try to be creative by using Polyvore for display purposes. Now all I need is to be able to stretch “TIME”

Spring Basket Gatherers

Me: What do you think are your greatest obstacles in creating and selling art for an online platform?
Nadine: To reach an exposure level that results in sales takes hard work and time.
Many people would never spend the hours that I do each day after I have told them what I have earned so far over the one year period, but I have every confidence that each year my earnings will multiply. What is for me the most important is that I LOVE what I do. I could never do anything solely for the money, no matter how financially lucrative it might be.

Featured Artist Of The Week: Lisa Marie from DawdlingDoodles

Funny Cartoon Couple Girl Kissing and Boy Mad by DawdlingDoodles

Do you like quirky, yet pretty art? Then Dawdling Doodles has exactly what you need. Artist Lisa Marie has created a charming series of adorable and sometimes funny pieces of art, that are softly colored and simply beautiful. I had a chance to ask her a few questions a few days ago and wanted to share this interview here with you.

Me:  How long have you been drawing and creating art?
Lisa: Pretty sure I was born with a crayon in my hand. But I’ve been making art professionally for about 5 years now (opened my studio after I completed my MA in Art History). The doodles started about 1 year ago. Mostly in my studio I create fine art portraits and I needed a way to decompress artistically, so I began doodling on scrap pieces of paper. After a while, I had a pile of cartoon images and I figured I would put them to work – that’s how my doodle blog was born.

Me:  Your Dawdling Doodles are charming, and showcase a quirky sense of humor. How did you come about putting them on Zazzle?
Lisa: Thank you! I already had a Zazzle store showcasing my fine art drawings (http://www.zazzle.com/nosesnposesfromalm), hence opening a second store showing silly doodles (http://www.zazzle.com/dawdlingdoodles) was a fun side project at first. But then they became very popular and it just started to grow and grow! Now it’s just part of my regular studio routine.

Cartoon Child with Wolf Drawing by DawdlingDoodles

Me: What is your favorite aspect of creating art for Zazzle?
Lisa: I love seeing where all my customers come from! The idea that someone in Ireland or Switzerland is wearing one of my doodles on a t-shirt makes me smile! And around the holidays, when the store gets really busy, it’s really fantastic to think that people all over the world are giving my doodles as presents! Sometimes I think there’s no greater gift than the gift of humor.

Me: Take us through your process of creating a piece. Do you sit down with a specific idea in mind, or do you let your creativity flow without boundaries when you sit down to create a piece?
Lisa: Heh, ummm……it’s pretty sporadic. Doodles happen when I need a break from some realistic portrait that I’m drawing for a customer. Usually, I just grab a piece of paper and start to play. Eventually, one particular doodle catches my eye and that’s the one I commit to finishing. If I really want to make something pop, I’ll even put it in Photoshop and enhance some details. But I have a strict rule to never take my doodles too seriously. If I overwork a cartoon, it loses that impulsive playful feel.

Me: How can the audience connect with you outside of Zazzle? Do you have any social media accounts or blogs you want to mention?
Lisa: Oh, I’m all over the place! They can find me on Instagram (ArtistryByLisaMarie), they may see my fine art portraits at ArtistrybyLisamarie.wordpress.com, and they can see a new doodle every Monday on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DawdlingDoodles

Me: What would you like to tell an independent artist out there, who is trying to get the nerve up to put themselves out there?
Lisa: There will never be a “perfect time” to start, so just go for it! Really, sharing your art can be one of the greatest hurdles for a new artist. You just have to look the computer square in the keyboard and put your stuff out there!

Thanks for taking the time to answers these questions.

As always, please support independent artists with your purchase. And stop by again next week, when I will feature another exciting independent artist.

Have a blessed day!

Claudia

Featured Artists Of The Week: Thomas “Swiss” Wuthrich

Independent artists range in the choice of their medium and subject matter greatly. I find it intriguing whenever I find an artists who can capture my attention in an unexpected way, just as Thomas Wuthrich has done with his humorous way to create relateable pieces of art. Thankfully I had a chance to ask him a few questions about his work in general and what he thinks about working on the Print On Demand Platform, Zazzle.

Funny Economical Cheese and Wine Party Invitations Postcard by Swisstoons

Here is the short interview I conducted with Thomas recently:

Me: Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us today, it is a great pleasure toy connect with you.
Tell us a little about your journey to the art you create (amongst other places) on Zazzle today?
Thomas: Many, many years ago, I stumbled across a book at the library about making money writing gags for greeting companies (just the gags). I got pretty good at coming up with, literally hundreds of ways to say “Happy Birthday”, “Get Well Soon”, etc. It was great training. A few years later, I began freelancing gags to cartoonists, including Bill “Lockhorns” Hoest. I would include a little sketch on the 3 X5 cards I’s submit. With encouragement from several cartoonist clients, I began drawing up my own gags and submitting them to magazines. After winning a 5000 US$ grand prize in a cartoon contest by a cigarette company, I was hooked on Cartooning. Even though I have sold lots of toons over the years, I still consider myself to be basically a gagwriter who can draw a little.
Me: What made you choose the name for your pen-name “Swiss”.
Thomas: I choose the pen-name “Swiss”, because my parents had emigrated from Switzerland about 15 years before I was born.
Me: Tell us a little about your style of work.
Thomas: You’ll notice that my toons are simple and uncluttered. Even though I have sold lots of toons over the years, I still consider myself to be basically a gag writer who can draw a little

.
Me: Judging by the quality of work you provide, I say you are a lot more than that. Thank you for this interview.

Check out Thomas Wuthrich’s cartoons out on Zazzle at “Swiss Toons” right now!

Swiss Toons

The Interview

He stared at the resume with such a frown, that Jennifer was sure that there was no chance in getting this job. Maybe it was the wording, maybe she sounded too ambitious, maybe she was again considered over-qualified. But on the other hand, this job would have been perfect for her, and she would have been perfect for the job. There was nothing in the description that did not fit her to the tiniest detail – looking for an independent, driven, hard-working individual with the right skill set, who is willing to devote him or herself to advancing within the company structure. She was all of that and more. Trying not to frown herself, she decided for a neutral, pleasant expression, while her mind began to boil with the possibilities of reasons for her rejection. Was it her gender again, the possibility of her becoming with child to great to invest into a new employee for this Fortune 500 company? A statement she had heard before, not directly, but in oh so many round about ways.
Keeping her face soft and relaxed became harder and harder with each fleeting moment, the thoroughness of the man in front of her, more than just a little disconcerting. Fighting back tears, she swallowed hard, hoping he did not notice.
And then he looked up, his face unreadable, comparable to a well-trained poker-player, no muscle leaving any indications of his thoughts, the expression motionless, his eyes still.
Two long, silent breaths.
Raising himself from his chair he smiled, reaching out his large, but gentle hand, grabbing hers with a swift motion.
“Welcome on board, Miss Matthews.”

 

Copyright Claudia H. Blanton 2014

This Flash Fiction was inspired by the Flash Fiction Challenge – Prompt 45:

Week 45
Prompt: Grab the book (or your favourite book) you’re reading, turn to page 45, close your eyes, point to a word, and write about it! Have fun!

The word on the kindle edition of a book I am currently reviewing was “Interview”.