ybonesy’s bones, ybonesy’s pendants displayed in black beans
at the We Art the People Folk Festival, September 2009,
photo © 2009 by Joel Deluxe. All rights reserved.
I’m having fun. Playing with the Scrabble and other game tile pendants I’ve been making, turning them into bigger and better things.
I’m nuts for milagros and medallions. I once bought a collection of Catholic medallions from Ecuador, one family’s history with First Holy Communions, praying for miracles, and visiting religious sites. There must have been almost 100 medals in the collection, and I took half of them and put them onto a silver chain. It’s still one of my favorite necklaces.
Last weekend I did something similar with my own pendants. I took a wide-linked, choker-length necklace and started adding Scrabble tile pendants to it. I had some milagros I’d picked up in Sedona, Arizona, a few years back at a garage sale whose owner had just closed down a retail store of Western kitcsh. I also made some charms with my doodles and with images from religious cards I’ve collected over the years. A mixing and matching of all sorts of doodads.
scrabble milagro (one and two), ybonesy’s pendants and charms
mixed with found milagros and charms to make a necklace,
photos © 2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
I have other ideas, too, for earrings and bracelets. I’m not sure where this will lead me. Jewelry is a tough business to compete in, and some of the tile pendants I’ve been using are vintage and hard to find. Plus, my primary passion is painting and doodling.
But I’m going with the momentum. It’s all art, it’s all learning, and it’s a heckuva lot of fun for now.
A sampling of pendants (made from existing and new doodles) for the milagro charm necklaces, images and photos © 2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
Show What?
In preparation for another art festival this Saturday, I’ve reflected on what worked well at last month’s event and what I wouldn’t mind leaving behind. Here is a list of my insights:
- Lighten up. How these two words have presented themselves to me again and again! Don’t take the event so seriously as to think I have to do everything, now! It’s not my one shot at perfection. I don’t have to push myself to make just one more each of 13 different designs, just in case I sell out of them. Or to prepare for every possible scenario. What if I need to take orders? What if I run out pens? What if I changes my prices? GET OVER IT. None of it is life or death, and it sure ain’t worth staying up until 2 in the morning the night before wracking your brain as to what you’ve forgotten. Get done what you can and don’t worry about the rest.
- Process matters. Inquiring minds want to know. Do you paint this small? Does it need a mold? What does this drawing mean? I loved it. Artists love talking about their work. Other vendors came by and wanted to know how I got my artwork on t-shirts. I explained the whole thing and left them with the phone number of the silk-screener. So what if next show everyone and their mother shows up with domed resin pendants and silk-screened t-shirts bearing original art? Nothing is original in today’s world. Plus, the more I give, the more I receive. Honest.
- As with job interviews and blind dates, first impressions are everything. The display is what anyone sees first, so it should appeal to the senses. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. Black beans, 79¢ a pound. Fabric from Hobby Lobby, some odd dollars. Three wire frames painted in bright colors, also from Hobby Lobby, $14 each but on sale half off. (Photo by Joel Deluxe, priceless!)
- Location times three. Not much needs to be said there, except, show up early to get a good spot.
- Friends and mentors. It’s less scary to partner with a friend, plus you can watch each other’s booths and meet each other’s friends and talk up each other’s art. (And glom on to her when she gets invited to a by-invitation-only festival, and eat her fried chicken, and, and….) Also, I didn’t think up the black beans on my own; my sister came up with that after I told her I thought I needed a black background versus the oft-used white rice.
- Let yourself get scared and discouraged. For a day, maybe two, but then move on. It’s natural to freak out, but get over it.
- Practice. The only way I stay fresh, make new images, keep things moving forward, is to keep up my practices—writing and doodling.
Las Tres Mujeres, trio of three new pendants
(but only one new doodle), images and photos
© 2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
I love these necklaces. If I had been at We Art the People Folk Festival, I would have bought one.
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I want to see the mail order catalogue! 🙂 I’m sure you’ve had plenty of time to print one in your spare moment!
It all sounds perfectly wonderful to me, even the mini-crises.
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soooo….Are you on Etsy yet? How do we order?
I want to look cool, toss my hair back and say “yeah…I know the Artist”… and I promise to wear all black to not take away from the focal point 😉
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Getting there, Heather. It’s so hard to make all this happen in a fast way when it’s a second job, so to speak.
And thank you for honoring my wish that the pendants only be viewed against black backgrounds. 8)
Bo, yes, the winter catalog will ship day after Halloween. NOT.
Teri, thanks! There were a lot of cool things to buy at the folk fest. You might have been torn had you been there.
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These look fabulous against the black beans! I would have been one of those old women elbowing others aside to get the just right pendants for myself – would have started a buying frenzy. LOoove them all! G
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Again, you must, must, must tell us when you make these available to those of us far away from you! I know I would buy for myself and as gifts.
The work is beautifully done and the black bean background is awesome!
Great job!!!
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G, how wonderful to hear from you. I’ve missed you! Thanks for all the encouragement! Corina, you will know, and it will be soon that I get these into my Etsy store. Thanks!! And Joel’s photo really did justice to my little pendant display. He’s a good photographer!
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ybonesy, break a leg at your art festival today! I’m thinking about you. Love the photographs of your work in this post. And your list is spot on. Many ring true for me. Lighten up, let yourself be afraid, process matters. I love talking process with people who are looking at my work when we have big openings at the studio. It’s a lot of fun.
And remembering — there are no original ideas when it comes to the visual arts. Most everything has been tried in some form or another. It’s the way we each interpret the process that helps us to find our own voice and make the art our own. I totally believe in you and love your work (which looks stunning against that black background). Can’t wait to hear how it goes today. Hope you have time to check in when you get back!
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Oh, I forgot one of the most important things on your list — the PRACTICES we have had the last few years around writing, photography, doodling, art, haiku, mandalas, writing for red Ravine. All of it leads us to new and creative ideas and is so important to keeping ourselves going when times get tough.
All of these practices (and our daily commitment to them in some form) have led us here. And — I’ll speak from my point of view — what Natalie (Goldberg) taught us about structure and Writing Practice can be applied to any part of our lives. That’s one of the biggest things I learned studying with her. And I will be forever grateful to her for the things she has taught me.
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Charming! You know I’m ready to purchase! Hope your day is going well! D
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Hi there. I just started following your blog via my Google reader. Your posts appear as partial snippets. Would you be able to change your settings so the whole post appears? It would be much appreciated! Thanks! -Vesper de Vil
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Very nice, yb! I especially like the one with the hand. Keep us posted about your new venture!
May your good and creative energies continue!!
~g-h
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Thanks, suz. I did manage on Friday night to incorporate that particular pendant (the one with the hand) into a milagro charm necklace, and guess what? It sold! And I sold another one. And the third I made is going to my friend for her birthday.
But I am enjoying branching out and doing different things. Makes it fun.
diddy, my goal is to have some online purchasing available by early November.
QM, thanks for all your encouragement. You are the best! BTW, yesterday and at the last show I met people from Minnesota, in one case St. Paul and in the other Minneapolis. I tell them that I’ve heard so much of the Twin Cities, and I drop a few landmark names to prove my point. They always comment on what a great city it is for the Arts.
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FYI on yesterday’s show—well, it was one fun event. Must have been around 30 or so artists set up all around the property, under trees and in different areas. There were about five bands, I think, and they were such a great variety, from Blue Grass to Rock to eclectic/wild/wooly. Having never been to this festival in the past (it’s been in existence for 6 years) I will now make it an annual thing, whether I’m showing or not. It was about as folk as you can get.
And there was free food, a silent auction, theater…and so many great artists. And in spite of the fact that our State Fair was ending this weekend and there was a huge art festival downtown, plus the Corrales Harvest Festival, a lot of people made it out. Lots of great response to my pieces. But mostly, what a fun thing to do. I love the sense of community.
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Hi vesper, thanks for dropping in and for letting us know about the RSS feeds. I don’t think we had even realized that it was set on summaries instead of the whole feed. I changed that, so hopefully the entire feed will come through now.
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ybonesy, I’m glad your second show went so well. So much is coming together around your art. It’s exciting. And I know how hard you are working behind the scenes to make it all happen. It’s so cool that you met a couple of people from Minnesota there. I bet they were impressed that you could spout off a few landmarks here in the Twin Cities. It’s fun to learn more about the places we each live through our blog posts and through writing together for as long as we have. Can’t wait for your online store. I appreciate all that you are sharing about your process because I’m learning from it, too!
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Thanks, QM. I do think I might have run myself a bit ragged with the show (and the one two weeks earlier). It has taken a lot of extra energy and many late nights. I am just finishing up a combination of Sleepytime tea mixed with a 1000mg Vit C Emergen-C. Did the Emergen-C last night without the Sleepytime but woke up at 3 and lost about an hour tossing and turning.
One thing I should have included in the hints and tips is, Take care of yourself! Especially during flu and cold season.
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yb, I LOVE your work and must have some for myself and my beloveds! Even more important, I’m part of an artist’s co-op that runs a shop at holiday time. Do you have enough inventory to send us some? I can send info if you’re interested … and I’ll happily provide the black beans for display!
Can’t wait until you have a website for orders …
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[…] it’s hard not to be inspired when you see greatness. One example; over at red Ravine are ybonesy and Quoinmonkey. I asked when QM would be posting more of her mandala series and she got back to […]
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ybonesy, thanks for holding down the fort this week while I worked full-time at a new job that’s away from a desk. I’m adjusting to the schedule and I know you are, too! I’ll have a little time this week to reflect on a new schedule for myself. I think that will help.
What’s the next thing happening with your art? It sounds like you really got rundown from the last big push. Take care of yourself and rest between. You bring up a good point though — on how much work it is to show your art. I remember before Art-A-Whirl last year, we were running around like crazy.
It all looks effortless when it’s presented to the world. But the preparation is really something. We are heading over the the Casket Arts Building today to see the Rain Collective’s work. (We had a Guest post a while back from Gail, one of the Rain Collective people. See Inner Rhythms post (LINK). Her paintings have gone in a total new direction which is really exciting. Seeing artists grow in their work is so wonderful to witness.
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Oh, these are great, ybonesy! I have missed your artwork. If I didn’t love my Scrabble game so much as-is, I might copy your idea, though you’re a much more talented artist than I.
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teaspoon, how great to hear from you! Have you been to NM to visit your mom lately?
Hey, you can get Scrabble replacement tiles from Hasbro for a very inexpensive price, something like $6.50 for 100+ pieces. Also, I’ve bought a few old Scrabble games at flea markets and such. Just for the pieces.
QM, I’ve missed you a lot, what with the retreat and the new job. It’s a different feel without your constant presence.
As for what’s next with my art…right now I have two concrete things. I am wanting to open a small version of the online store by the end of the month. I have lots of inventory although dwindling each week as I sell more pieces word of mouth. Once I get the store going, I’ll try to find a schedule that allows me to keep producing pieces to meet demand in the near term. Longer than that, I’m still figuring out.
I also submitted to be considered for a local society of artists, and I’m waiting to hear back. If accepted, I’ll do one show in October. If not, I’ll go the gallery route, and I’ll try to find at least two galleries to take my pieces.
I have gotten further along on behind-the-scenes tasks, and so I feel good there. But there seems to always be something to do. I’ve been taking it easy since the last show, though, giving myself a break and only maybe two things (instead of 50) to do each week to move it forward.
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Oh, the other thing QM, is that I’ve re-upped my commitment to continue working on my fine arts series, Angels & Demons. I’ve completed four paintings in the series, some of which may be combined to make groupings, and I’m working on a fifth. It’s coming out well, and I don’t want to put it on the shelf and forget about it. Also, I read an article today that reminded me of someone who I’d like to paint.
So I continue to have ideas and motivation, and I have to remind myself that this is a long-term project, not something I need to whack out and be done with. I’m really just getting started with it, getting ideas, letting the ideas grow and take new directions. So I can’t just let the pendants take up all my energy. There has to be balance, and believe me, when you’re balancing several things and they all need to be done in the slivers of time I can devote, it means I have to really focus. I gave myself off two weekends from doing much with my art, but soon it’s back to the grind.
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ybonesy, I got back home from the writing retreat late last night and had to get up for work at 5:30am this morning! Had a great time and reconnected with my goals for the next six months as well. Isn’t it great to set new goals and go for them?
I’ve recommitted to a photo project I’m working on and want to complete that. Also a writing piece I hope to submit by the end of October. But I’m also heading to Georgia for a bit in October, too. So it’s going to be a wild month.
Thanks for your comment. So happy to be missed. I have missed your constant company and those on red Ravine. More as I have time to settle in and adjust to being home. Thank goodness for community.
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Oh, and thank you for all the work you have done this week in posting our Envy guests. I can’t wait to dive in and read the posts and the comments. It is great to have the energy of all of these Guest posts. Looks fantastic, too.
We had no Internet access at the retreat on Lake Michigan. It’s good to get away and connect and write in person. I really appreciate the online community when I come back. It seems fresh and new.
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[…] -Related to posts Hey, You Got Your Doodles On My Scrabble Tiles!, When You Get Tired Of Scrabble, Take Up Dominoes, and Pendants And Charms And Milagros, Oh My! […]
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