Exploring new Concepts leads to a new Series

Sometimes art is hard and you have to squeeze with all your might to find your voice. And sometimes it's a matter of wanting to just play...a sort of hmmmm, what if I did this moment. That's how I accidently fell into this new concept series called Negative Spaces - Meanings in Random Patterns. 

The photo above is called Raven Dance Pendant. I describe the process as follows: 

The method used is a reverse stamping process, in other words it's using the negative spaces formed in an already stamped or carved piece to create a new pattern. By only using a certain area of a stamped piece I create a random pattern to fit the shape of the pendant. But yet, not so random, as I find that each piece seems to call up something that has recent meaning for me. 

The carved piece I used for this and the other three pieces done so far are from a four sided dragon carving. I'm showing this one first, as it's actually the head of the dragon. It's not really identifiable here, and wasn't meant to be. I used Pearlex powders to darken the recesses and highlight the raised areas. 

As an artist I rarely see shapes as just shapes...they always bring something to mind...either because it looks like something or reminds me of something, at least in my own mind. And that is part of what being an artist is...you see something in your mind and set out to re-create it so that you can share it with others.

Usually that is done with a preconceived idea but in this case it was entirely random, sort of like a dream that is telling you something you already know but maybe weren't aware of. This concept is fascinating to me. Like reading tea leaves...messages in randomness, with meaning.

I'll reveal the other pieces in the next few days, meanwhile I'm taking this idea and running with it...creating patterns of my own to see if they also 'come out of the other side' when I put them into play. Heady stuff for an artist!

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

Looking for inspiration...

Well, it's actually been a productive day for me but even though I fired eight new pendants they weren't ready for finishing, so I decided to play around with a couple photos I took. The first photo is completely untouched, though I did crop the image. I went to fill a pot with water and noticed the water was neon blue. I realized that the cobalt pieces in the window were being reflected in the water stream and wanted to get a unique angle of it. I love how it so sharply focused in on the water.
I did a ton of effects on this next one...none of the colors are accurate since I boosted the heck out of them and then cooled the temperature. I took this photo of my pieces still in the dutch oven on a plate glass (it keeps them flat while they cool). I noticed the cool, barely there, reflection of the overhead chandelier and wanted to bring that out so it looked like a mirror reflection. 

I don't know why I do this stuff...I guess I just enjoy seeing unusual effects that I might use as inspiration down the road. No sense keeping them to myself :)

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

Finding my Tweet voice

Now that I'm firmly entrenched in the world of online marketing and social media I'm slowly learning that I need to find my own voice. Currently I'm managing two Twitter sites, one for our Peace & Love market http://twitter.com/peacelovemarket and one for my own work http://twitter.com/9dragonslady (feel free to follow either or both!).

Surprisingly I'm doing a bit better with the market blog than my own, though that may be because I have a stronger base to work with per demographics. It's a little easier to tie into other people's crossover interests too...like music...so far we have the Foo

Fighters http://twitter.com/foofighters following us plus a real rocking group I just got introduced to called Citizen Icon http://twitter.com/citizenicon . I think Twittering involves a lot of you scratch mine, I'll scratch yours, so I do a lot of re-tweeting followers' tweets. 

I also try to play up the market products with a bit of foreplay in the form of questions...hoping to perk a bit of interest in following the link. It's hard sometimes...I know we have some awesome products and a lot of fun, interesting blogs and forum topics to engage people but I've never liked or wanted to be the slick salesman. I figure quality sells itself...but only if people know where to find it.

As to my own work and tweeting it...well, I think I need to just talk it up a bit rather than hard sell. I don't want to bore people with an endless parade of product (why click when you know what it's for?) or a boring minute by minute update of my day. So I'm falling back on my old WIP habits..which is short for Work in Progress. I used to do threads and blog posts that went on for weeks and months, and now I have to do it in one short sentence. Well, I'm using a bit of foreplay there too...don't you want to see the head I just popped in my freezer??? lol...of course you do...and it's now a twitpic. 

Of course, I still haven't gotten any famous bands to follow me...I mean if you aren't Ozzy or Alice Cooper what use do you have for a head anyways???  :D

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

Pi Squared Necklace

Here is a photo of my latest Wearable Art design, Pi Squared Necklace . It is composed of 69 hand cut polymer clay beads and each bead is connected by a handmade sterling silver fitting. It's overall length is 20 inches. My favorite thing about this design is how each bead moves independently, flowing in an ever changing pattern around your neck. 

You can find this necklace in my 1000 Markets shop Nine Dragons Sculpture Art or at the Wearable Art Market .

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons

Trying out different tools for Social Media interaction

This photo is showing my new toy, a browser application called PeopleBrowsr. You don't have to download anything to use it, just go to the site and start using it (though you might want to bookmark it and certainly want to watch the tutorial video). This is a small photo, so maybe you can't really see what is here but it is showing 5 different photo streams from Twitter. I can simultaneously keep track of my own posts, my followers' posts, those I'm following, any comments on 1000 Markets and any comments of the Peace & Love market. I can also pull up other things to look at, like who is re-tweeting me or talking about a comment I've made. It sort of makes me feel like a spider who has spun out her web and is waiting for visitors (though I'm not trolling for dinner lol). I also can check and post to other social media networks through here, like Facebook, Flickr, Youtube and Google search plus several more.

I've also been exploring some other tools for Social Media like myopenID , SezWho and JS-Kit. This all started when I happened to come across a comment I had made on PR 2.0  that had a (who is this?) behind my user name...I clicked on it and found a little history of comments I had made on the web in various places. Hmmm...veddy interesting! I now have an open ID, and an account with both SezWho and JS-Kit. I may not need those things, but I have a feeling some of this will be important down the road, especially for someone trying to market.

I now have a new comment area on my blogger and it allows comments to include photos. I use my open ID to comment, which is kind of strange, since I've always used my blogger ID. A person can also connect with Facebook or Yahoo plus more or as a Guest with a chosen nickname. It also allows others to say if a previous post is offensive. I hope that this encourages people to comment, so try it out and let me know :) http://artravings.blogspot.com/

Let me know if you're trying any new toys too!

Sue
http://www.1000markets.com/shops/ninedragons