November 2008 – Amanda Milke

New Shop in Time for Christmas

November 25, 2008 by Amanda, posted in Abstract, acrylic, Art, Artist, canada, commission, creative, events, female artist, For Sale, God/Religion, ideas, Life, photos, Series

Well I’ve finally done it.

I’ve been meaning to open an Etsy account for ages now and I’ve finally gotten around to it.

Now, you can find all my artsy goodness for sale at themilkeway.etsy.com

So go check it out and get that someone special something unique for Christmas this year.

I’ll be working on it all week so check back often for updates.

Cheers!

Amanda

Back to semi-normal

November 19, 2008 by Amanda, posted in Abstract, acrylic, Art, Artist, canada, commission, events, female artist, For Sale, Life, Paintings, Series

Wow it seems like ages since I’ve sat down and done a post that wasn’t “a quick note.”

And of course it’s only typical that WordPress is acting REALLY slow today.

Well, the shows are done for now, I have another one coming up on December 6th in Brookville, AB from 10am -4pm and possibly another one come the end of January.

If you’re interesting in stopping in let me know and I can get directions for you.

I haven’t decided if I’ll be going to the January/February one yet though.

We’ll see.

But things are becoming progressively interesting.

Like I commented on my new page the striped bangles I did up are now being carried at Haven Skateboards & Snowboards shop locally here in Fort Saskatchewan.

So that’s cool.

I’m also working on a couple of commissions.

One commission is a logo for a bakery

and the other

is for a lady who liked my “Life Simplified” series and is getting a piece done in the “Hold Me” style.

Both of which I hope to have finished by the end of the month if not sooner.

I still have room on my schedule if anyone is interested in getting some commission work done.

Art makes a great Christmas present! *hint, hint* 😉

Or yanno those bookmarks are great little stocking stuffers.

LOL One of the joys of being a “starving Artist” is that you have to promote yourself to keep going…so buy buy buy 🙂 hehe

Hmm, I can’t really think of anything else at the moment so I suppose I should get back to painting and cooking supper.

Cheers!

What counts as success?

November 16, 2008 by Amanda, posted in Abstract, acrylic, Animal art, Art, art discussions, Artist, canada, commission, creative, events, female artist, For Sale, Life, Paintings, photos

Well, the shows are finally over.

I don’t know what counts as sucess at one of these types of shows.

If it’s strictly the financial aspect then it didn’t go as well as hoped.

I did get lots of feedback however. Everyone that stopped to look seemed to like my style.

I got alot of “wows” and “cools” and “nices” and “funkys” etc just not alot of people wanting to spend money on it.

It would seem re-usable rags are more purchasable.

I did however get a few business contacts, sold a few smaller things and picked up a commission.

I also had several people interested in my work who took my card or flier so it was by no means a complete loss.

Just one more small step towards my goal and besides, this was my first show and dangit lol I stood bravely beside my creations and presented them to the visible public for the first time which in itself is a success and proof I’ve stepped outside my shell.

So yes, I was disappointed I didn’t sell more but I’m not through yet, oh no, I am going to be a successful semi-well known artist someday and this is just the foundation work.

So here they are. The monumental pictures 🙂

Saturday at the Dow Center

Show #1 Perky and Optimistic 🙂

I had one 6 foot table to work with and arrange my Art work around

and there was probably around 60 vendors.

Needless to say it was a bit cramped.

Oh and I was like the second table when you walked into the room so lots of people got to see me coming and going so that was good.

Sunday was a much smaller show at the Legion building

Show #2 Tired and Tired lol

with probably around 20 vendors but there was tons of space.

Again I ended up being out in the lobby so I was the first booth people saw coming and going.

I also did up a new piece as a sample for the show examplifying my hand print art.

So all in all things went well, I just didn’t make much money.

I also had proof this weekend adding to my theory that I don’t look like or exude an artist persona.

What might that be you ask?

Well even with “Amanda Milke” writen on my sign and business cards several people just assumed Jonathan (my husband) was the artist. lol oh well. I guess I just look too boring comparitively to my work or something.

I also had an interesting experience. I had one little old lady look at my art, specifically my “Unexplained” color abstract painting and say it was “stupid” and “not real painting” to which I naturally shrugged it off thinking “meh, little old lady, what do you expect.”

I then later had two little old ladies come look over all my paintings thoroughly, chatting amongst themselves and stop at the “Unexplained” piece and commented for like 5 full minutes saying how beautiful it was and how they really liked that piece.

Just found that juxtoposition rather fascinating.

Well I guess there isn’t much more to say except I’ve added a “Gift Shop” page to my site for those of you who might be interested in seeing some of the other things I paint asides from paintings.

Cheers and Goodnight,