Have you ever had a project where you just couldn’t get the results that you were looking for? About nine months ago I wanted to design a butterfly collection. I worked on several different designs but I just couldn’t get the results that I was looking for. So, I put the designs away and started working on something else.
Several months later I thought I would give the butterfly collection another try. Again I worked on the designs tweaking a little here and there, but once again it just wasn’t what I was looking for.
Then one day out of the blue I had an idea for using a different technique, but I couldn’t think of a subject matter to use the technique on. Then I thought about the butterfly collection. Once again I pulled out the collection and this time I started to apply the new technique, and there it was. The butterflies were now looking what I was trying to accomplish all those months ago. Now I have the whimsical butterfly collection that I wanted.
If you are looking for and anticipating typical, traditional butterflies, I’m afraid that you are going to be disappointed because these butterflies are in no way typical or traditional.
My original vision of these butterflies was to instead of giving them symmetrical wing designs, I wanted to create an illusion that the wings were feathers. Realizing I had created butterflies that were so non-traditional I quickly decided to call them outer space butterflies and gave each of them names of either a planet or a moon from a planet, thus naming the butterflies, Jupiter, Luna, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto and Venus.
This is the start of this collection and I am sure there will be others added in the future.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Polymer Clay Is Where It All Began!
If you have been following this blog you will know that all of my current work has been digital and of a more graphic design nature, and can be seen in my Zazzle stores, however, that is not where my art career began.
Since I was a child my passion for art has led me to the use of many different mediums. At the young age of 12 I took my first lessons in oil painting which quickly led me to acrylics. My adventure and exploration over the years took me through watercolors, charcoal, colored pencils, pastels as well as many others not worth mentioning.
Around the year 2000 I started playing around with Polymer Clay. I loved the colors and I enjoyed the flexibility of the product. I didn’t really have an interest for creating jewelry or figurines, which is what the product is traditional used for. Instead, I wanted to use the product to make something big like a wall hanging.
After years of experimenting I finally developed a method of creating Polymer Clay Fine Art wall hangings. From the development I was finally able to establish myself as a professional artist by having my Polymer Clay Fine Art accepted and shown in three different galleries in Las Vegas, NV.
Each piece of my Polymer Clay Fine Art is created by conditioning, color blending and then creating strands of clay. By using a pattern of my design I am able to cut, form and join the each strand of clay, one at time on glass to create the design. The vital step of curing the clay presented a unique challenge. Since the clay is cured by firing (or baking) it at a low temperature, finding an oven large enough to cure the entire piece all at once was not possible. This led to my developing a technique of creating the design in smaller pieces that could be fired and then assembling the pieces together to make the overall design.
The first successful piece of Polymer Clay Fine Art I created was “The Big Stud”. The gold, bronze, copper and black clay colors that I used to create this horse accents the beauty and grace of the horse through the abstract flowing lines used in forming the simplistic shape of the horse.
While working on “The Big Stud” I started creating my next piece. In my mind I could see the abstract shape and vibrant colors. Throughout the creation of this piece I could never figure out what to name it. Upon its completion I showed the piece to a friend of mine. She asked me where I got the design. I tried to explain to her that I saw it in my mind and then I drew it out on a piece a paper. She couldn’t understand that and she started calling it “Debi’s Brain”. Not being completely happy with the first making of the design, I remade it and called “Debi’s New Brain”.
(“Debi’s New Brain” has been sold, however if you are interested I can recreate the piece upon request. Please keep in mind that each piece is a one-of-kind original and that any recreation of the original will be similar yet not exact.)
My “Bird of Paradise” has been my most popular Polymer Clay design. It has been a featured piece in one gallery and it has been used in numerous gallery promotional publications. The vibrant colors of this piece are eye-catches and the abstract lay of the clay is fascinating and mesmerizing.
Progression through the making of “The Warrior” was quite an adventure for me. I like the initial design which was originally upside down from the finished piece.
As I started the piece it almost instantly started fighting back. It became very difficult for me to work on it and I could not figure out why. There were many times when I could only lay a couple of strands at a time before becoming so frustrated and tired that I had to take a break.
About half way through I was so frustrated with it that I would say, “I have to go work on the bitch”. Through the rest of the time while making the piece I referred to it as “The Bitch”. I knew that it was either me or “The Bitch”. I knew that only one of us could win this battle and I knew it wasn’t going to be “The Bitch”.
Once it was completed, I leaned it up against the fireplace to view it better. My husband finally walked over to it and turned it upside down. When he did I was shocked because immediately I saw the face of the warrior that I had been fighting.
I have often been accused of living in La-La-Land and perhaps this piece is the most evident of that. I love the fable of the Genie In the Battle and all the magical things that the Genie can do.
My first intent was to just design a decorative bottle or vase. After I drew the bottle and then looked at it I was immediately reminded of the Genie’s bottle. Then instead of drawing the design on the outside of the bottle, I thought, what if the bottle is clear and what I am seeing are all the things that are inside the bottle.
Each design and color that you see is something different that the Genie has waiting for me. Now, if I could just figure out how to get all those things out of the bottle.
(“Genie In A Bottle” has been sold, however if you are interested I can recreate the piece upon request. Please keep in mind that each piece is a one-of-kind original and that any recreation of the original will be similar yet not exact.)
With the closure of so many fine art galleries due to the recession, all the Polymer Clay artwork is now being sold in the Debi Payne Fine Art Etsy store. You can view all the other Debi Payne Polymer Clay Fine Art pieces by going to Debi Payne’s website.
Since I was a child my passion for art has led me to the use of many different mediums. At the young age of 12 I took my first lessons in oil painting which quickly led me to acrylics. My adventure and exploration over the years took me through watercolors, charcoal, colored pencils, pastels as well as many others not worth mentioning.
Around the year 2000 I started playing around with Polymer Clay. I loved the colors and I enjoyed the flexibility of the product. I didn’t really have an interest for creating jewelry or figurines, which is what the product is traditional used for. Instead, I wanted to use the product to make something big like a wall hanging.
After years of experimenting I finally developed a method of creating Polymer Clay Fine Art wall hangings. From the development I was finally able to establish myself as a professional artist by having my Polymer Clay Fine Art accepted and shown in three different galleries in Las Vegas, NV.
Each piece of my Polymer Clay Fine Art is created by conditioning, color blending and then creating strands of clay. By using a pattern of my design I am able to cut, form and join the each strand of clay, one at time on glass to create the design. The vital step of curing the clay presented a unique challenge. Since the clay is cured by firing (or baking) it at a low temperature, finding an oven large enough to cure the entire piece all at once was not possible. This led to my developing a technique of creating the design in smaller pieces that could be fired and then assembling the pieces together to make the overall design.
The first successful piece of Polymer Clay Fine Art I created was “The Big Stud”. The gold, bronze, copper and black clay colors that I used to create this horse accents the beauty and grace of the horse through the abstract flowing lines used in forming the simplistic shape of the horse.
While working on “The Big Stud” I started creating my next piece. In my mind I could see the abstract shape and vibrant colors. Throughout the creation of this piece I could never figure out what to name it. Upon its completion I showed the piece to a friend of mine. She asked me where I got the design. I tried to explain to her that I saw it in my mind and then I drew it out on a piece a paper. She couldn’t understand that and she started calling it “Debi’s Brain”. Not being completely happy with the first making of the design, I remade it and called “Debi’s New Brain”.
(“Debi’s New Brain” has been sold, however if you are interested I can recreate the piece upon request. Please keep in mind that each piece is a one-of-kind original and that any recreation of the original will be similar yet not exact.)
My “Bird of Paradise” has been my most popular Polymer Clay design. It has been a featured piece in one gallery and it has been used in numerous gallery promotional publications. The vibrant colors of this piece are eye-catches and the abstract lay of the clay is fascinating and mesmerizing.
Progression through the making of “The Warrior” was quite an adventure for me. I like the initial design which was originally upside down from the finished piece.
As I started the piece it almost instantly started fighting back. It became very difficult for me to work on it and I could not figure out why. There were many times when I could only lay a couple of strands at a time before becoming so frustrated and tired that I had to take a break.
About half way through I was so frustrated with it that I would say, “I have to go work on the bitch”. Through the rest of the time while making the piece I referred to it as “The Bitch”. I knew that it was either me or “The Bitch”. I knew that only one of us could win this battle and I knew it wasn’t going to be “The Bitch”.
Once it was completed, I leaned it up against the fireplace to view it better. My husband finally walked over to it and turned it upside down. When he did I was shocked because immediately I saw the face of the warrior that I had been fighting.
I have often been accused of living in La-La-Land and perhaps this piece is the most evident of that. I love the fable of the Genie In the Battle and all the magical things that the Genie can do.
My first intent was to just design a decorative bottle or vase. After I drew the bottle and then looked at it I was immediately reminded of the Genie’s bottle. Then instead of drawing the design on the outside of the bottle, I thought, what if the bottle is clear and what I am seeing are all the things that are inside the bottle.
Each design and color that you see is something different that the Genie has waiting for me. Now, if I could just figure out how to get all those things out of the bottle.
(“Genie In A Bottle” has been sold, however if you are interested I can recreate the piece upon request. Please keep in mind that each piece is a one-of-kind original and that any recreation of the original will be similar yet not exact.)
With the closure of so many fine art galleries due to the recession, all the Polymer Clay artwork is now being sold in the Debi Payne Fine Art Etsy store. You can view all the other Debi Payne Polymer Clay Fine Art pieces by going to Debi Payne’s website.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
I See You Laughing Too!
Laughing Squirrel is one of my most popular designs. It seems like almost every day somebody is checking him out. I have been very surprised by the popularity of this little guy!
Laughing Squirrel is actually just a single element from a much larger picture that I created about a year ago for my little Grandson, Conner.
I wanted to take a photograph of Conner and create a drawing around his photograph so that it would look like he was in a fairy tale storybook.
This is the photograph that I selected to use. It is a picture of Conner at his 3rd Birthday Party. He had just opened a present and gotten a big balloon that he was very excited about.
I first extracted Conner from the photo. I then began drawing the different elements that I wanted to have in the final drawing. I knew that I wanted an open field scene with different forest type animals around Conner.
I first drew each individual animal and then scanned it into the computer. Once on the computer, I then refined the lines and colored each drawing. When I had completed each element I put them all together to get this final picture:
When Conner first saw the picture, he was confused. After his dad slowly explained the picture to him, Conner started laughing and saying “I’m holding a bird”! His two favorite parts of the picture are #1 - he is holding a bird and #2 – the laughing squirrel. Conner thinks it is funny that the squirrel is laughing at him.
So Conner, this one is for you!
Laughing Squirrel is actually just a single element from a much larger picture that I created about a year ago for my little Grandson, Conner.
I wanted to take a photograph of Conner and create a drawing around his photograph so that it would look like he was in a fairy tale storybook.
This is the photograph that I selected to use. It is a picture of Conner at his 3rd Birthday Party. He had just opened a present and gotten a big balloon that he was very excited about.
I first extracted Conner from the photo. I then began drawing the different elements that I wanted to have in the final drawing. I knew that I wanted an open field scene with different forest type animals around Conner.
I first drew each individual animal and then scanned it into the computer. Once on the computer, I then refined the lines and colored each drawing. When I had completed each element I put them all together to get this final picture:
When Conner first saw the picture, he was confused. After his dad slowly explained the picture to him, Conner started laughing and saying “I’m holding a bird”! His two favorite parts of the picture are #1 - he is holding a bird and #2 – the laughing squirrel. Conner thinks it is funny that the squirrel is laughing at him.
So Conner, this one is for you!
Friday, January 7, 2011
New Art for The New Year
Cubism Art is a style of art that I have been fascinated with, but have had a great deal of difficulty in figuring it out. I first became interested in Cubism Art when I saw a collection created by Pablo Picasso several years go. The thing that drew my attention was the bright colors and odd lines. At first it was confusing to me because it seemed like there were lines in places where lines didn’t belong, but somehow it worked.
As I started finding other artist that created art in this Cubism style, I found most of them bored me and I was not attracted to it at all. However, I always kept going back to Picasso’s work trying to figure it out.
The past couple of years I have tried to create my art using the Cubism style, but I (for some reason unknown to me) could never make it work. Instead it would just be aggravating and frustrate me. I could never feel comfortable while trying to work it out.
Then last month I was trying to work on some new art, when all of the sudden, and much to my surprise, there it was. What I had just created was the Cubism style of art. All of the sudden, in that moment, I finally understood Cubism Art. I understood the purpose of the lines and what made each individual piece of the art all flow together as one. Finally, I got it! However, it still felt boring to me.
Now that I understood how it worked, my next challenge was to figure out how to bring this style of art to life. I had to figure out how I could mix this Cubism style with my Whimsical style. I am happy to announce that for this New Year I have New Art of which I call “Whimsical Cubism”.
To start with I have three pieces of Whimsical Cubism art; “Heart”, “Flower” and “Butterfly”. All three pieces turned out to be really fun, happy pieces, and for those that like bright colors (like I do) you are going to love it. I think that this is going to be one of those things where you are going to either “love it” or you are going “hate it”, I can’t see anybody having the attitude of ‘take it or leave it’.
So, which is it for you?
As I started finding other artist that created art in this Cubism style, I found most of them bored me and I was not attracted to it at all. However, I always kept going back to Picasso’s work trying to figure it out.
The past couple of years I have tried to create my art using the Cubism style, but I (for some reason unknown to me) could never make it work. Instead it would just be aggravating and frustrate me. I could never feel comfortable while trying to work it out.
Then last month I was trying to work on some new art, when all of the sudden, and much to my surprise, there it was. What I had just created was the Cubism style of art. All of the sudden, in that moment, I finally understood Cubism Art. I understood the purpose of the lines and what made each individual piece of the art all flow together as one. Finally, I got it! However, it still felt boring to me.
Now that I understood how it worked, my next challenge was to figure out how to bring this style of art to life. I had to figure out how I could mix this Cubism style with my Whimsical style. I am happy to announce that for this New Year I have New Art of which I call “Whimsical Cubism”.
To start with I have three pieces of Whimsical Cubism art; “Heart”, “Flower” and “Butterfly”. All three pieces turned out to be really fun, happy pieces, and for those that like bright colors (like I do) you are going to love it. I think that this is going to be one of those things where you are going to either “love it” or you are going “hate it”, I can’t see anybody having the attitude of ‘take it or leave it’.
So, which is it for you?
Friday, December 31, 2010
Happy New Year!
For days now I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of 2011. Finally in just a few short hours it will be here.
In 2010 I was able to start some new and exciting projects, and I am looking forward to the results coming in 2011.
For all my family and friends (old and new), I am wishing that 2011 is our best year ever! I hope that 2011 is the year where all our wishes, hopes and dreams really do come true!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!
In 2010 I was able to start some new and exciting projects, and I am looking forward to the results coming in 2011.
For all my family and friends (old and new), I am wishing that 2011 is our best year ever! I hope that 2011 is the year where all our wishes, hopes and dreams really do come true!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Christmas Twist
Every year since 1999 I have handmade all my Christmas cards that send out to family and friends. What surprises me about my Christmas cards is the number of people that have kept these cards from year to year and actually have the own personal collection of Debi Payne Designs Christmas cards. Several have told me about how they have incorporated my cards into their Christmas decorations and every year they add to their decoration collection. I am truly honored by each and every one of them.
In 2008 I designed this crazy Christmas tree for my Christmas card that year. I really liked the tree design and the background that looked best to me was the black background. At first I told myself that I couldn’t send a Christmas card with a black background because that just wasn’t “Christmasy”. I was very nervous about it, but since I really liked the card I decided to go ahead and send it out anyway.
Every year I always get the nicest comments about my cards and I really do enjoy hearing every comment. That year since I was so nervous about sending out a black Christmas card I really didn’t expect any comments. But boy was I surprised! The comments that year were over the top. Everybody loved the card with the most comments being along the lines of “so different”. Much to my surprise and even more to my delight my Christmas Twist with the black background was a HUGE hit!
The first year that President Obama was in the White House he announced that they would not be having Christmas Trees in the White House, instead they would be having Holiday Trees. Upon hearing that I thought to myself, ‘man have I got a Holiday Tree for you’!
In 2008 I designed this crazy Christmas tree for my Christmas card that year. I really liked the tree design and the background that looked best to me was the black background. At first I told myself that I couldn’t send a Christmas card with a black background because that just wasn’t “Christmasy”. I was very nervous about it, but since I really liked the card I decided to go ahead and send it out anyway.
Every year I always get the nicest comments about my cards and I really do enjoy hearing every comment. That year since I was so nervous about sending out a black Christmas card I really didn’t expect any comments. But boy was I surprised! The comments that year were over the top. Everybody loved the card with the most comments being along the lines of “so different”. Much to my surprise and even more to my delight my Christmas Twist with the black background was a HUGE hit!
The first year that President Obama was in the White House he announced that they would not be having Christmas Trees in the White House, instead they would be having Holiday Trees. Upon hearing that I thought to myself, ‘man have I got a Holiday Tree for you’!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Happy Harvest
I wanted to create something that represented fall. For a long time the only thing that I could think of was Thanksgiving and cornucopias which is not at all what I was trying to accomplish.
So I broke it down into single items that reminded me of fall. I first made the pumpkin and then I made the fall leaves. To me sunflowers are fall flowers and I thought that might be nice to use. I tried really hard to think of something else. What else does nature give us that reminds me of fall. Finally came up with the cattails.
The pumpkin was pretty easy and didn’t require much thought. Then came the leaves. I loved making all the leaves. Each leaf has pretty much the same shape, so the fun was in mixing and blending the colors of each leaf. After the leaves I drew the sunflowers, which were pretty simple since I had made sunflowers before. Next came the cattails. The cattails were the most difficult element for me to make.
I first started drawing the cattails, and all I could see from my drawing was weenies on a stick. No matter what I changed or what I tried, I still got the same results. So, I decided to do some research and look at some photographs of cattails to see what I wasn’t getting right. As I was looking at photographs of cattails I finally came to a realization that all cattails look like weenies on a stick. With that realization I became satisfied with my drawing and proceeded on.
After I had completed each individual element of the design I started putting them all together. That is when the magic happened. Each element just fell into place as if the piece was drawn as one. The final piece element that I added was the blue background.
Sometimes in creating a new design you have to look at it like a jigsaw puzzle. You have all the pieces in front of you and you know they all fit together, it is just figuring out how they fit together.
Overall I was very pleased with the outcome and to me this is what fall is about. When I was finished and looking at the piece the one thing that surprised me the most was how brilliant and vibrant the colors were. That was a very pleasant surprise that made me smile!
So I broke it down into single items that reminded me of fall. I first made the pumpkin and then I made the fall leaves. To me sunflowers are fall flowers and I thought that might be nice to use. I tried really hard to think of something else. What else does nature give us that reminds me of fall. Finally came up with the cattails.
The pumpkin was pretty easy and didn’t require much thought. Then came the leaves. I loved making all the leaves. Each leaf has pretty much the same shape, so the fun was in mixing and blending the colors of each leaf. After the leaves I drew the sunflowers, which were pretty simple since I had made sunflowers before. Next came the cattails. The cattails were the most difficult element for me to make.
I first started drawing the cattails, and all I could see from my drawing was weenies on a stick. No matter what I changed or what I tried, I still got the same results. So, I decided to do some research and look at some photographs of cattails to see what I wasn’t getting right. As I was looking at photographs of cattails I finally came to a realization that all cattails look like weenies on a stick. With that realization I became satisfied with my drawing and proceeded on.
After I had completed each individual element of the design I started putting them all together. That is when the magic happened. Each element just fell into place as if the piece was drawn as one. The final piece element that I added was the blue background.
Sometimes in creating a new design you have to look at it like a jigsaw puzzle. You have all the pieces in front of you and you know they all fit together, it is just figuring out how they fit together.
Overall I was very pleased with the outcome and to me this is what fall is about. When I was finished and looking at the piece the one thing that surprised me the most was how brilliant and vibrant the colors were. That was a very pleasant surprise that made me smile!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Birdie Village
Birdie Village a delightful collection of whimsical and colorful birdhouse.
Before I started working on the Birdie Village Collection I did many house of research in looking at as many birdhouses I could find. I first looked at what all the houses had in common, and then I looked at what was different about each house. In conclusion I determined that they are all as much the same as they are different, which made it really easy from the designers point of view.
For each individual birdhouse I first started with a shape. Once I had the shape that I wanted, then I would just play around with different colors and accents until I had the final birdhouse that I wanted.
Birdie Village is my most popular collections. My husband keeps asking me why people like birdhouse so much. I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know that I like birdhouses very much.
I wonder what it would be like to live in one of these birdhouses. What if the house we lived in looked like a birdhouse? What would your house look like? Now wouldn’t that be fun!
Before I started working on the Birdie Village Collection I did many house of research in looking at as many birdhouses I could find. I first looked at what all the houses had in common, and then I looked at what was different about each house. In conclusion I determined that they are all as much the same as they are different, which made it really easy from the designers point of view.
For each individual birdhouse I first started with a shape. Once I had the shape that I wanted, then I would just play around with different colors and accents until I had the final birdhouse that I wanted.
Birdie Village is my most popular collections. My husband keeps asking me why people like birdhouse so much. I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know that I like birdhouses very much.
I wonder what it would be like to live in one of these birdhouses. What if the house we lived in looked like a birdhouse? What would your house look like? Now wouldn’t that be fun!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Hearts & Swirls
Not only is Hearts & Swirls my oldest collection, but it is probably the very first collection I ever created. Sometimes your best work can come from something that is nothing more than just a doodle.
Hearts and Swirls probably started around the time I was in Junior High School. Being very typical for my age, I can remember drawing hearts on everything. The book covers of all my school books were covered in tiny little hearts. And yes, I went through that adorable phase of when I would write something I would dot all of my “I’s” with little hearts. (Thinking back on it, I know my teachers must have really loved getting my homework with all these little hearts on it.)
Eventually the hearts became a little boring to me so I started adding the swirls to the hearts. Then over time the leaves were added which is the point where the doodles became a collection.
Anytime you see the Hearts & Swirls Collection it will consist of these three elements; the heart, the swirl and the leaf. From there it will change. I have used the hearts and swirls on stems with leaves to make a flower garden and I have also used the hearts and swirls on a vine with leaves. Who knows what forms the hearts and swirls will take on in the future.
Since the Hearts & Swirls Collection is my oldest collection I have chosen it as my logo for Debi Payne Designs which is why it is also my avatar and likely to pop up anywhere. I have intentional done this in the hopes that one day people will see this simple symbol and immediately connect it to Debi Payne Designs.
Hearts and Swirls probably started around the time I was in Junior High School. Being very typical for my age, I can remember drawing hearts on everything. The book covers of all my school books were covered in tiny little hearts. And yes, I went through that adorable phase of when I would write something I would dot all of my “I’s” with little hearts. (Thinking back on it, I know my teachers must have really loved getting my homework with all these little hearts on it.)
Eventually the hearts became a little boring to me so I started adding the swirls to the hearts. Then over time the leaves were added which is the point where the doodles became a collection.
Anytime you see the Hearts & Swirls Collection it will consist of these three elements; the heart, the swirl and the leaf. From there it will change. I have used the hearts and swirls on stems with leaves to make a flower garden and I have also used the hearts and swirls on a vine with leaves. Who knows what forms the hearts and swirls will take on in the future.
Since the Hearts & Swirls Collection is my oldest collection I have chosen it as my logo for Debi Payne Designs which is why it is also my avatar and likely to pop up anywhere. I have intentional done this in the hopes that one day people will see this simple symbol and immediately connect it to Debi Payne Designs.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Today Is A Day To Celebrate!
About 15 years ago a wonderful woman (Barbara) asked me the question, “If you could do anything you wanted to do, what would you do?” Without thinking or any hesitation I immediately answered, “I would design or make something that would be sold all over the world so that when I die there will be little pieces of me left all over the world.” As soon as I said that Barbara looked at me and I looked at her. We were both stunned at what I had just said. I had never said these words before, and I’m not sure if I had ever even thought them. Where they came from I’m not sure, but I do know that was a life-changing moment for me. After what seemed like a very long silence Barbara finally said, “that is the best answer I have ever heard”. Then her next question was the really stumper for me, she asked, “how are going to make that happen”. At that point I could only laugh and say, “I have no earthly idea!”
Ever since that day I have thought of that statement almost every day. I knew that is what I wanted to do, I knew that was my goal in life, but I just couldn’t figure out how to make it happen. I have spent years looking for the path to help me reach that goal. I have researched and worked on one avenue after another with each avenue turning out to be just another dead end. The search has been very frustrating, but for some reason I never gave up. As many times as I tried to give up, something always kept pulling me back to the search. Because I could never give it up I knew that this is why I was here on this earth and someday it would happen.
Then one day I found this website called Zazzle.com. I immediately feel in love with Zazzle. This is a place where I could create my art and put it on products that people could enjoy. This was great! Every day I work on my store, creating new art and designing new products. The ideas for new art are coming so fast that I can’t create the art fast enough. I work on my store and designs from the time I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night 7 days a week. I have never had so much fun doing the thing that I love the most in my life.
I knew that Zazzle sold products worldwide but for some reason I never really made the connection in my mind of somebody in another country buying one of my products. That is until today. Today I made my first international sale. One of my products was purchased from a customer in the United Kingdom. To say I was excited would be a gross understatement! After I was able to curtail my excitement just a little bit, I thought about my conversation with Barbara so many years ago and I thought to myself, “I can now answer the question of ‘how am I going to make that happen’”. I realize that I am finally achieving the goal that I had set for myself some 15 years ago.
Many people have Zazzle stores and there are some that are making a very good living off of their stores. Of course that is one of my goals as well, to have my art be my sole source of income and for that sole source to be a very good income, just like everybody else. However, for me, it is so much more than that. For me it is to have my products sold all over the world so that when I die there is a little piece of my heart and soul left behind in countries all over world.
Goes to show that you just never know how things are going to turn out. So if you ever have a dream, hold on to it even though you don’t have a clue as to how you are going to make it happen, because one day, in a way that you might least expect it work out, it just might happen!
This is the first international product sold. It is from the Sassy Shoe Collection and it is called “Hip Granny Boot”. Would I have ever in a million years guessed that this would have been my first product sold internationally? Never!!! But it was!
Ever since that day I have thought of that statement almost every day. I knew that is what I wanted to do, I knew that was my goal in life, but I just couldn’t figure out how to make it happen. I have spent years looking for the path to help me reach that goal. I have researched and worked on one avenue after another with each avenue turning out to be just another dead end. The search has been very frustrating, but for some reason I never gave up. As many times as I tried to give up, something always kept pulling me back to the search. Because I could never give it up I knew that this is why I was here on this earth and someday it would happen.
Then one day I found this website called Zazzle.com. I immediately feel in love with Zazzle. This is a place where I could create my art and put it on products that people could enjoy. This was great! Every day I work on my store, creating new art and designing new products. The ideas for new art are coming so fast that I can’t create the art fast enough. I work on my store and designs from the time I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night 7 days a week. I have never had so much fun doing the thing that I love the most in my life.
I knew that Zazzle sold products worldwide but for some reason I never really made the connection in my mind of somebody in another country buying one of my products. That is until today. Today I made my first international sale. One of my products was purchased from a customer in the United Kingdom. To say I was excited would be a gross understatement! After I was able to curtail my excitement just a little bit, I thought about my conversation with Barbara so many years ago and I thought to myself, “I can now answer the question of ‘how am I going to make that happen’”. I realize that I am finally achieving the goal that I had set for myself some 15 years ago.
Many people have Zazzle stores and there are some that are making a very good living off of their stores. Of course that is one of my goals as well, to have my art be my sole source of income and for that sole source to be a very good income, just like everybody else. However, for me, it is so much more than that. For me it is to have my products sold all over the world so that when I die there is a little piece of my heart and soul left behind in countries all over world.
Goes to show that you just never know how things are going to turn out. So if you ever have a dream, hold on to it even though you don’t have a clue as to how you are going to make it happen, because one day, in a way that you might least expect it work out, it just might happen!
This is the first international product sold. It is from the Sassy Shoe Collection and it is called “Hip Granny Boot”. Would I have ever in a million years guessed that this would have been my first product sold internationally? Never!!! But it was!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Traffic Jam
I don’t know if it is because of my architectural background or not, but I love geometric shapes. I know that they say that to be an artist you have to know and understand shapes because all drawings are nothing more than a combination of shapes to create a figure or anything else. I realize that, but that is not what I am talking about. I am talking just drawing a bunch of random shapes on a piece of paper without giving it any thought and seeing where they fall and what interesting design they make. Traffic Jam is nothing more than one of those doodling play times for me.
I first started out with the triangles overlapping each other. Then I added series of circles. At that point I wasn’t really too impressed with it so I added the checkerboard winding strip. Perhaps that is a rule of thumb for me, “if something isn’t working throw in some checkerboard and it will make it all better”. Once I had the design drawn it was okay but I still wasn’t sold on it.
Most of the time when I get to this point if I don’t really like the design it just goes into the trash, but this time I kept going with it. I decided to add some color. When I finished, (and much to my surprise) it wasn’t so bad after all. It definitely wasn’t on my top 10 list but it was worth keeping.
I actually created this design about a year ago and not knowing what I was going to do with I just added it to pile of “maybe for some other day” drawings. Then one day when I was trying to figure out a new product design I started going through some of my older drawings to see if there wasn’t something that I could pull from and maybe rework. That is when I ran across this old friend and thought it might work on a couple of products.
In this case I didn’t rework any part of the design, I just started creating products with it. Much to my surprise the products looked pretty good. The more products I made the better I liked the design.
Why the name Traffic Jam? I named the design Traffic Jam because to me the checkerboard strip looks like a freeway and the circles look like cars all moving in unison with each other. The triangles are the buildings along the freeway.
This just goes to show that as an artist, you might not like the art you create at the time you create it, but that is no reason to throw it away because there will come a day when it is just the piece you are looking for.
I first started out with the triangles overlapping each other. Then I added series of circles. At that point I wasn’t really too impressed with it so I added the checkerboard winding strip. Perhaps that is a rule of thumb for me, “if something isn’t working throw in some checkerboard and it will make it all better”. Once I had the design drawn it was okay but I still wasn’t sold on it.
Most of the time when I get to this point if I don’t really like the design it just goes into the trash, but this time I kept going with it. I decided to add some color. When I finished, (and much to my surprise) it wasn’t so bad after all. It definitely wasn’t on my top 10 list but it was worth keeping.
I actually created this design about a year ago and not knowing what I was going to do with I just added it to pile of “maybe for some other day” drawings. Then one day when I was trying to figure out a new product design I started going through some of my older drawings to see if there wasn’t something that I could pull from and maybe rework. That is when I ran across this old friend and thought it might work on a couple of products.
In this case I didn’t rework any part of the design, I just started creating products with it. Much to my surprise the products looked pretty good. The more products I made the better I liked the design.
Why the name Traffic Jam? I named the design Traffic Jam because to me the checkerboard strip looks like a freeway and the circles look like cars all moving in unison with each other. The triangles are the buildings along the freeway.
This just goes to show that as an artist, you might not like the art you create at the time you create it, but that is no reason to throw it away because there will come a day when it is just the piece you are looking for.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
When Tuscan Meets Debi
Do you remember the old Reese Cup Candy Commercials? “You got your chocolate in my peanut butter.” “You got your peanut butter in my chocolate”. That is what my coffee cup collection reminds me of.
I love Tuscan/Mediterranean architecture and décor. I love the stucco and plaster as well as the open spaces and rounded features. I just really like everything about it. Having been an architectural drafter (professionally) I have designed many Tuscan/Mediterranean “dream” homes that I would like to live in.
When I was thinking about creating the Coffee Cup Collection I knew I wanted to do it in the Tuscan/Mediterranean style. I first created the backgrounds which was easy to do in the Tuscan style. But then when I went to design the individual cups something happened. You see none of my art style is of the Tuscan style. About 90% of my art is bright tropical colors with whimsical designs, (not at all typical of traditional Tuscan design). At first I started to scrap everything and start over, but instead I decided to preserver on and see what happens.
After I had completed the designs and I was looking at them and it was very apparent to me there were two distinctly different styles of art in each piece. That is when the old Reese Cup commercial popped in my head. I thought to myself, ‘well I guess this is what you get when you mix Tuscan Design with Debi Payne Designs’. At least I can say I don’t think this version of Tuscan has been done before.
I love Tuscan/Mediterranean architecture and décor. I love the stucco and plaster as well as the open spaces and rounded features. I just really like everything about it. Having been an architectural drafter (professionally) I have designed many Tuscan/Mediterranean “dream” homes that I would like to live in.
When I was thinking about creating the Coffee Cup Collection I knew I wanted to do it in the Tuscan/Mediterranean style. I first created the backgrounds which was easy to do in the Tuscan style. But then when I went to design the individual cups something happened. You see none of my art style is of the Tuscan style. About 90% of my art is bright tropical colors with whimsical designs, (not at all typical of traditional Tuscan design). At first I started to scrap everything and start over, but instead I decided to preserver on and see what happens.
After I had completed the designs and I was looking at them and it was very apparent to me there were two distinctly different styles of art in each piece. That is when the old Reese Cup commercial popped in my head. I thought to myself, ‘well I guess this is what you get when you mix Tuscan Design with Debi Payne Designs’. At least I can say I don’t think this version of Tuscan has been done before.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Trick-or-Treat
I am not a huge fan of Halloween. I don’t like the creepy, bloody and gory things that you see during Halloween. I am especially not a fan of all the horror movies! However, on the flip side I do like all the cute things about Halloween. How cute are all those little children dressed up in their little costumes. Scurrying about from one place to the next looking for that next piece of treasured piece of can while stumbling on the costume or trying to carry their bag of goodies along with any other accessories to their costume. I do like how for one day you can dress up and pretend that you are anybody (or anything) that you want to be.
When thinking about what product designs I would use for Halloween I had a difficult time coming up with something. I do like Jack-o-Lanterns and I am often amazed at how some people can carve them so elaborately.
I wanted to make a Trick or Treat bag and I thought that I would use some cute Jack-o-Lanterns. As I began sketching out the pumpkins I got to thinking about the words Trick-or-Treat and decided to name my pumpkins Trick and Treat. Since none of us like to be tricked, I gave Trick a sad face, and of course Treat got a happy face.
After I was finished with the pumpkins and I was looking at them and it was funny because Trick and Treat reminded me of Laurel and Hardy. So I guess you could say that I have Laurel and Hardy Trick or Treat Jack-o-Lanterns.
When thinking about what product designs I would use for Halloween I had a difficult time coming up with something. I do like Jack-o-Lanterns and I am often amazed at how some people can carve them so elaborately.
I wanted to make a Trick or Treat bag and I thought that I would use some cute Jack-o-Lanterns. As I began sketching out the pumpkins I got to thinking about the words Trick-or-Treat and decided to name my pumpkins Trick and Treat. Since none of us like to be tricked, I gave Trick a sad face, and of course Treat got a happy face.
After I was finished with the pumpkins and I was looking at them and it was funny because Trick and Treat reminded me of Laurel and Hardy. So I guess you could say that I have Laurel and Hardy Trick or Treat Jack-o-Lanterns.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Fishy Fish Friday
Since the Fishy Fish collection has been so popular this week I decided to make this Fishy Fish Friday on Twitter and continue the theme here on my blog.
The Fishy Fish Collection was one of the first collections that I created. When I started designing the individual fish they just kept coming. When I was finished I had a total of 23 fish plus the Happy Kahuna.
I gave each fish a name and over time in working with the fish in different designs they have each started to develop their own personality. Nadeen thinks she is the queen of the fish (but she’s really not… she just thinks she is). Chester is just so cool! He is like the Elvis of the gang.
The Fishy Fish have also met some fun friends in the ocean. There is the Octopus that they visit for their daily exercise workouts and there is the Seahorse that they love to play games with. Over time I am hoping that the Fishy Fish will be able to meet more new friends in the ocean.
Another element of the Fishy Fish Collection is the Ocean Flowers that you see on the bottom of the ocean. Personally I have never been to the bottom of the ocean, but to me, that is what it must look like. All the beautiful, fun, happy flowers each in bright and vivid colors. What a joy it must be for the Fishy Fish living in such a beautiful world.
The Ocean Flowers grew to such a large collection I made it a collection all its own which I will talk about at another time.
If you would like to get to know all the Fishy Fish you can visit them in my Zazzle store. I hope you enjoy them as much as I know they will enjoy you visiting them.
Have a happy Fishy Fish Friday!
The Fishy Fish Collection was one of the first collections that I created. When I started designing the individual fish they just kept coming. When I was finished I had a total of 23 fish plus the Happy Kahuna.
I gave each fish a name and over time in working with the fish in different designs they have each started to develop their own personality. Nadeen thinks she is the queen of the fish (but she’s really not… she just thinks she is). Chester is just so cool! He is like the Elvis of the gang.
The Fishy Fish have also met some fun friends in the ocean. There is the Octopus that they visit for their daily exercise workouts and there is the Seahorse that they love to play games with. Over time I am hoping that the Fishy Fish will be able to meet more new friends in the ocean.
Another element of the Fishy Fish Collection is the Ocean Flowers that you see on the bottom of the ocean. Personally I have never been to the bottom of the ocean, but to me, that is what it must look like. All the beautiful, fun, happy flowers each in bright and vivid colors. What a joy it must be for the Fishy Fish living in such a beautiful world.
The Ocean Flowers grew to such a large collection I made it a collection all its own which I will talk about at another time.
If you would like to get to know all the Fishy Fish you can visit them in my Zazzle store. I hope you enjoy them as much as I know they will enjoy you visiting them.
Have a happy Fishy Fish Friday!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Cheers!
As a Fine Art artist and when I was display my art in various art galleries I created the majority of my works in Polymer Clay mounted on canvas. During that time I created a cocktail glass design that I had originally planned to create in clay. The clay piece actually came to be however I liked the design so well I have incorporated into a digital illustration that I can use on products. The design was originally name Cockeyed Optimist. The Cockeyed come from the olive/umbrella at the end of the straw which is actually an eye. The Optimist comes from the glass being half full as opposed to the glass being half empty.
The really fun part of the overall design is the mysterious concoction that is inside of the glass. I don't know exactly what this elixir is, but I know it is fun and it makes me happy. I like it!
The really fun part of the overall design is the mysterious concoction that is inside of the glass. I don't know exactly what this elixir is, but I know it is fun and it makes me happy. I like it!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Having a Zazzle Store has really been an education in internet marketing. Slowly but surely I am figureing it out one baby step at a time. I love creating the designs but unfortunately that isn't all there is to it.
I just finished the Sunflower collection. As I finish new collection I will be posting them as well.
I just finished the Sunflower collection. As I finish new collection I will be posting them as well.
Friday, July 16, 2010
What An Adventure!
For those of us that didn't spend our childhood years surround by all the techie gadgets that we have today or didn't learn how to use a computer before we could say Mommy or Daddy, learning the ways of the techie world are a little more difficult for us.
My art use to be 100 percent by hand using different mediums like paint, pen, pencil, pastels, etc. Now it seems like all my work is done on the computer. I am now even doing my rough sketches on the computer. Making the transition has been quit a learning curve for me.
Another thing that has gone totally digital for me is my marketing. I use to think that one email account was difficult to keep up with. Now I have 4. Also, in addition to the 4 email accounts I now also have Face Book and Twitter to manage. So, with all of that what do I do? I add this blog. Oh goodie, now I have one more thing to manage.
I remember the days when if you wanted to open a store you would go rent a building or space, then you would purchase your inventory. After you had received your inventory and set up your store like you wanted it you would then do your advertising to try to get people into your store to purchase your items. Even that has changed. I now have a on-line store where I get to design all my own products. I don't have to worry about making the inventory or deal with the money from people purchasing my products and yet I still get paid every time somebody purchases one of my products. Now how great is that????
I know that once I get past this learning curve that I am going through and many years down the road I am going to be able to look back at this point in time and say, "ahhh, yes, those were the good ol days!"
My art use to be 100 percent by hand using different mediums like paint, pen, pencil, pastels, etc. Now it seems like all my work is done on the computer. I am now even doing my rough sketches on the computer. Making the transition has been quit a learning curve for me.
Another thing that has gone totally digital for me is my marketing. I use to think that one email account was difficult to keep up with. Now I have 4. Also, in addition to the 4 email accounts I now also have Face Book and Twitter to manage. So, with all of that what do I do? I add this blog. Oh goodie, now I have one more thing to manage.
I remember the days when if you wanted to open a store you would go rent a building or space, then you would purchase your inventory. After you had received your inventory and set up your store like you wanted it you would then do your advertising to try to get people into your store to purchase your items. Even that has changed. I now have a on-line store where I get to design all my own products. I don't have to worry about making the inventory or deal with the money from people purchasing my products and yet I still get paid every time somebody purchases one of my products. Now how great is that????
I know that once I get past this learning curve that I am going through and many years down the road I am going to be able to look back at this point in time and say, "ahhh, yes, those were the good ol days!"
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