Saturday, June 30, 2018

Amazon, Redbubble and Zazzle Trifecta

I’ve been sketching on my iPad ever since I got the first iteration in 2010. Then I started an Etsy shop specializing in custom pet portraits. After that came all the associated social media marketing, a personal website, and more on line selling opportunities. Thankfully I don’t have to make a living off any of this. But I really enjoy the challenge and it’s a great hobby - especially since I retired about two years ago. Keeping all these sites up to date is a full time job! Last week was interesting in that I sold three items on three different sites. The first was a German Shepherd baseball cap on Zazzle; the second was a Black Labrador T-shirt on Amazon Merch; and the last was a white standard poodle sticker on Redbubble. It’s always fun to get an email saying you sold something. And it’s even more interesting to see, when possible, where the order came from because they literally are from all over the world. What’s even more heartwarming is that my images were selected out of the millions that are out there. So thank you for looking, thank you for purchasing, and thank you for displaying, wearing, or giving as a gift something that I created. It’s an incredible feeling and I really appreciate it! 


















Friday, June 29, 2018

National Gallery of Art Other Gems

To change up our usual morning walk routine in the neighborhood we went to Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and the National Gallery if Art. We were being tourists this week and both venues were quite different, as one can imagine! Although the wax figures first came about the same time as some of the artists, what a difference in product after more than a hundred years plus! One is quite “cheesy” and the other is a cultural experience. I suppose your experience depends on which state of mind you find yourself! I took so many photos at each place, but twice as many at the National Gallery. I like to focus on the detail in the non portrait scenes. It’s curious to see how oils and the artist ability bring the finer things to life. If you prefer the wax figures, please check my blog from Tuesday. Otherwise, these are the items that caught my eye after after we spent a little time in the Cézanne exhibit. If it gets a bit cooler we will go back to the Hirshorn, then maybe the Portrait Gallery and the Renwick. It’s a great way to spend the late morning. We couldn’t do that when we lived in the Midwest and probably not anywhere else we may eventually end up. 


















































Thursday, June 28, 2018

National Gallery of Art

Yesterday we took our morning walk to the National Gallery of Art passing by a very loud fireworks safety display on the National Mall. We wanted to see the Cézanne Exhibit - and we did. But before we went for lunch in the cafeteria by the waterfall on the concourse level, we strolled around a few other galleries until we were visually overloaded! Probably for most people the French impressionist paintings are most loved (?) - or maybe I feel that way because I am drawn to them the most. Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Renoir, Lautrec, Degas, Matisse, Pissarro, Bazille, Seurat, and many more we all on display. I recognized the Mary Cassatt as we passed through the American gallery. I’ve always liked watercolors and pastels, but never used oil paints. Now everything I do is hand painted digital art on my iPad. I was never really an art student per se - didn’t study it nor visit a lot of art galleries growing up. So when the new exhibits come to town it’s a good excuse to pay a visit. I particularly like to focus and zone in on parts of the scene rather than the whole to observe the detail and animation it represents. It’s nice to be able to just walk on over from our house. Washington DC is an interesting place to live, and this is one of the reasons.