I am excited to show you some of May's production! I'll be sharing more about this later in June but I took the month of may off from almost all custom work to focus on a little experiment. What happens if I forego the custom order route for just making what I want to make? How will it effect sales? Would I feel more rejuvenated and happy simply making whatever I feel like making every day again?
Well, the answers to those questions I will share soon but a little hint is that I'm spending June making sure I complete all my current custom orders (which has backed up from not taking any in May) and keeping July, August and September as completely free of commitments as possible to do the same for an extended three month period!
This is not to say I am doing away with requests or custom work, just changing the way I approach it, frame it and work on it so that I can continue to explore what I love most, the unending course of un-contained imagination. :)
Ok, more on that, as I said, in the near future. . . for now, here are some of the new items created last month for my shops! I hope you enjoy. . .
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| This was a request for a birthday gift for a 10 year old that I could not refuse. . . 6 x 6 inch "Fairy Village" frame/shadowbox with tiny N scale houses, winged fairy and enchanted landscape! |
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| Living on a tidal bay inspired the idea that a fairy tower, perched on the shore of such a place, would need a door high enough to withstand exposure to the high tide while offering access at lower tides too! |
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| Formerly my "Alpine Fairy" houses, I have reintroduced this series as the Fairy Houses of Chatsworth Village so as to be able to write/sketch them into my world of the Bewildering Pine. I'll be adding two more to the shoppe today. |
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| New Mini Garden Gargoyles with their own little flowering pots! |
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| The completed trio of Ancient Egyptian deity "busts" I spoke of a few posts ago. . . Sekhmet, Bastet and Khnum |
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| Two Aten symbolic pieces that were a request too. I am fascinated by the reign of Akhenaten and Nefertiri. They moved the entire capitol city of Ancient Egypt to the desert (Armana) and reorganized the pantheon putting worship of the Aten, their solar Deity, at the top. These were Tutankhamen's parents. During Tut's short reign, the entire process was reversed, the new city dismantled, and much of this period was stricken from all text, tablets and monuments. |
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| Yes, I know, everyone is making tiny elves these days. . . but I wanted to add my own little twist. Hard to see in this image but he is in a flat mini basket with teeny pine cones, moss and green fluff. Clothing is made from handmade papers and twine. Hair is a shock of mohair |
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| This little one is ready to go on an adventure with the handle basket! Same idea as the one above for the clothing and hair here. |
Hoping June, be it the onset of your summer or winter season, is filled with magic and enchantment in your world too!
xoxoxo
nicolas
Hearing you re custom orders... I find I neglect the store if I take on too many as they take so much of my attention - along with constant delegation with the customer when they alter their mind .. Your work is so, so delightful. Like creatures who come alive with your magic hands. Book sneak peak?! Yes Please! :D
ReplyDeleteHi Louise! It seems custom work is the proverbial double edged, damned if we do, damned if we don't, sword! I lOVE them, but I also find they often leave me feeling ruffled and curmudgeon-ish when I can't just make whatever I want. This month was a real eye opener. . . I didn't miss a beat not doing a custom piece and was able to further so many more new ideas. . . might just be the way for the future. :) Thank you for dropping by, as always! XO
DeleteWow Nicolas!! Truly WOW!!!
ReplyDeleteI had a very large custom order last year, for 8 paintings. My biggest custom order yet. I am very blessed, that the people I work with, give me free range with their ideas.
I hope you have time to breath! LOL!
Can't wait to see and hear about everything else!
Hi Stacy! WOW EIGHT paintings?? How wonderful! Yes, most people let me have at it however I wish but that is actually part of my problem. I never want to say no to that creative freedom though lately it has been at the expense of the new ideas that are no longer so shiny and new. lol Hence, the experiment!
DeleteAnd, like the universe tends to do, as soon as I reach my conclusion, I am bombarded with a slew of custom requests this week! I've been good and said no to many although I found a happy medium that I will write about soon!
Thank you for your sweet comment! Hoping you are well!
HUGS!
oh my!! so much to see and appreciate... i am totally in love with that shadow box. wish I could get a closer look, there's so many wonderful details in it, and there's just something about a shadowbox that is just so charming anyway. beautiful work all around. The tiny fairies are also perfect! and the flower gardening gargoyle! how cute! I can't wait to see and hear more about them all....
ReplyDeleteI guess your dilemma about custom work is about the same as me and my day job, there is just not enough time for total creative freedom when we have to earn a living one way or another. If we could just be independently wealthy, not rich, just enough to allow for creating what we want when we feel inspired to do so... ah that would be perfect!
Andrea I agree. . . I suppose thats why I have always tried to live my life with a less is more approach. I could not expect the money to appear to make things easy so I had to peel away whatever I could to make what I do earn go further. I look back to jobs I held in my 20's where I was always turning down raises in exchange for the luxury of an extra day or half day off whenever possible. Training others to do my job so I was more dispensable. Hard enough when running kitchens/restaurants but vital to my soul. And the life Sofie and I have created the last six years revolved entirely around cutting corners at every turn to allow more freedom. In May, It was an eye opener to do away with custom work and see that It made little difference financially but then that the onset of June saw that old queasy feeling of the "have-to's" rearing it's head again. :) So we will see. I am well into the list of custom work for this month already and hope to free up the next three for a longer experiment. And for book-creation, writing, illustration etc. See. .. YOU inspire!
DeleteThank you for dropping by, as always! :)
I certainly hope you find your way through your decision of custom work vs. your own. I do few custom orders now and more of what I want...it seems to work well now. It was a bit of a transition at first but all has evened out and I couldn't be happier.
ReplyDeleteYour fairy houses are SUPER SUPER cute. I LOVE it!
THANK YOU Alexandra! It's hard to say no to lovely people who are so excited about something they'd like you to make. But I really think that there are two modes of artistry and one is definitely bringing other people's visions to life. . . but for me, well, I fall way on the other side and really prefer to just make what I wish to make, and dream up, most days. I'm amid a table full of custom pieces again this month and then it's back to the clear schedule which I hope to maintain all the way thru the holidays! :)
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