We Create Art With Heart Has Moved...

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/wecreateartwithheart

To Tumbler.

This way I can be closer to my White Tail Collective Community.
Consider following my link there for new exciting adventures of an artists story of success, trials and tribulations.

xo!

The Jump.

Hello Fabulous Blog Readers,

I have so many things to share with you.

First off I have a secret that I kept from you all and I am sorry.

I wrote a blog entry that was about priorities and how I felt that my priorities were jumbled and stretched thin. I really felt the heat in the saying, "there are only so many hours in a day." I made a list for you all to see that was something like this:

My Life:
Working my Part-Time Job
School (statistics class)
Sarah Creates (my art business)
Health and Wellness (healthy food preparation and exercise)

This list mind you, does not include relationships with family and/or friends, relaxation, art time, house cleaning...the day to day life activities that make like fun and a bit unpredictable.

I told you all that I was doing excellent in some of these things (school and health and wellness) and half assing the rest...(work and Sarah Creates). I was so honest with you when I made the confession that ONE OF THESE THINGS NEEDED TO GO. But I cringed when I thought about letting any one of these things go out of my life.

I publically proclaimed that the one that needed to go was my part time job...

Let me share with you a bit of back ground here.

I have been working in a bead store in Humboldt County. I like the ladies that I work with and I like most of the customers. In a way, this job was perfect for me by having jewelry (my art medium) shoved in my face in all manners of ways 4 days a week. I made custom jewelry with people every day. This was my job. This kept me on my toes, and saturated my life with my art.

It was great.

But when I thought about: if I could work this hard for myself, I could make more money than I do now, be happier, make my own schedule, be independent, be a full time artist...

I realized which one of the "priorities" needed to go.

Once this happened I pressed the delete button.

I guess I thought that it was too scary to acknowledge my feelings in that moment. It was scary to share them.

I mourned. I was scarred. I was afraid of disappointing my coworkers. I was afraid of failure.

Then

I jumped.

Instead of criticism I received congratulations, recognition of my talent, the confidence of my co-workers, a premier party in LA, a new consignment relationship in LA, an online sale of a 216. dollar necklace. All in the few days after I took that jump.

Now I recognize how valuable it would be to share with you my whole process. The sorting of priorities, the weeding out of painful pseudo necessaries, the fear of failure and the jump.

Sorry for the delay in relating to you.

I am still falling, but I feel safe and the wind against my face feels so liberating.

Recent Give Away Experiences and Floodstreet Review.

This last Holiday season I participated in 3 giveaways. I participated in hopes of promotional advantages, free(ish) advertising and with the desire to show support for my community of artists. Normally I would not be involved with 3 giveaways at the same time, but the holiday season is a great time to get exposure and I wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity.

My normal protocal about giveaways are that I space them once every three months.

The first giveaway I participated in was for a blogger named Eliza K.
http://elizakprints.blogspot.com/
I exchanged a pair of Sterling Silver and Fluorite Earrings for advertising space on her blog, which is well trafficked. I saw some Eliza K traffic filter onto my etsy site. She was very organized and courteous. No one purchased anything from her crowd, but exposure is a good thing. Eliza used Rafflecopter as her method of selecting her winner. http://www.rafflecopter.com/

The second giveaway I participated in was for my new collective, White Tail Collective. This was via Facebook.

The third giveaway was my own giveaway for Sarah Creates also via Facebook. White Tail Collective and I both used an app called Floodstreet. https://www.facebook.com/FloodStreet?fref=ts

I am not sure if you have heard on the Facebook streets that creating your own giveaway from your business page is actually against the Facebook law. So Apps like Floodstreet have been made to facilitate giveaways.

The Pros:
My "likes" increased from 100 something to 509 in two weeks time. People were also really grateful and posted on my Floodstreet page kind words about my artistry and excited exclamations in regards to the potential of receiving such a prize. I gained a lot of exposure. My stats went up, people were posting on my page and talking about Sarah Creates.

White Tail Collective giveaway was also successful, earning over 150 likes in one week.

The Cons:
The App's set up and page is really glitchy. The first time I tried to give something away through Floodstreet, it set me up with an incorrect date and time. My giveaway lasted for one minute on the last day of the month. Once the date is set, it is set. There was nothing I could do about it. No one answers the emails on their Facebook page. There are threads and threads of people asking questions with no responses. Also when you write a description of your giveaway prize, Floodstreet wants you to advertise for it like a used cars salesman would auction off a cheap car. I, of course, did my best to sound like a high priestess artist, but it was challenging.
Perhaps the biggest problem for me was...where are my target customers? Wait, where did my target customers go? I sell high end jewelry, one of a kind pieces. I would rather have a list of 50 good customers who come back to purchase my art, tell their friends about me, and post on Facebook out of excitement when they purchase a new piece rather than 500 people who just wanted to get a cool pair of earrings for free with no desire to verbally support (post) or purchase in the future. At one point this made me question the whole giveaway experience.

In the end I am especially glad that I did the Sarah Creates giveaway. I have made some new genuine fans and that is worth every effort that I gave for that giveaway. Really truly. I want to have another giveaway, but I would like to be more strategic about it next time. I think that rafflecopter is definitely worth looking into.

Thank you for listening.
Sarah

What is Artistic Integrity?

I Google searched Artistic Integrity and found a few unsettling answers.

-That a true artist would sell their work for little or no money, so that they would have all the integrity in the world.
-That it is a highly politicized term.
-An artist doesn't compromise themselves for profit.
-Being too picky about where an artist invests their interests.

Frankly, there was not a lot out there in Google land.

Perhaps the best words I found on the subject were:
Never settle for anything but your absolute best effort – an effort that may be exhausting and frustrating, but that will ultimately serve you in good stead as an artist and as a human being.
Quoted from Joseph Polisi's Graduation Speech.

I like that.

The word integrity is a loaded word. It is subjective and personal values will change from person to person.

Okay, so this makes things tricky.

What do I mean when I talk about Artistic Integrity...now we are getting somewhere.

What I mean by Artistic Integrity:

My Art possesses me. It gives me so much pleasure and helps me to grow as a person. I am a better person for doing my Art. It is not for everyone, I can accept this. I do not aim to please others. I hope that others will find joy in my work, but this is not what completely motivates me. Because there will be a group of people interested in purchasing my Art, I do not compromise my profits. I earn my way for a living. I do not capitalize on the misfortunes of others. I am self sufficient in my business. I treat my customers with great value.

I just want to be a good person who makes Art, conveys it through my Art and through my marketing.

If Integrity is honoring your word as yourself, Artistic Integrity would be Honoring your Art as yourself.

Whew!

That was more challenging than I realized it would be.

Some of these ideas were vague, please excuse me for this. As you are able to see, I am blogging here and go into more and more detail with each post. I do shift my focus around a bit also, but the theme is the same.

How do we market with Artistic Integrity?

We Make Art With Heart.

Ideas?

Comment Below!

A film about John Baldessari Narrated by Tom Waits.

 

This video makes me feel inspired on a few levels.

 

1. Artistically, I feel inspired by John Baldessari.

2. It's marketing qualities are numerous.

3. Its ability to get the point across in a short amount of time.

4. It was ridiculously biographical.

5. Now I want to make a short video to aide my marketing.

 

 I like the film overall, how it was shot and the humor involved.

I also love Tom Waits voice.

 

 

 

 

The White Tail Collective

My life long dream is self sufficiency.

I have been a traveling jewelry artist with a long term goal of self sustainability. I have been involved with many various communities throughout the years that hold this sentiment close to their hearts.


My Cooperative Roots Community,expressing passion for Kombucha.

 

During my travels, I found it difficult at times to have all my plush Libran needs met. I desire to be around good people in a warm and intimate atmosphere. I need my conversational needs met without the use of alcohol and the drunk culture. I need healthy food. I love access to the internet, arts, reading and I love to buy locally. I would rather spend the extra money buying from a small business rather than a giant corporation. There were also many times when I felt the need to just sit and be warm while eating a great bowl of soup, a hot cup of tea while checking my email without the fear of being shoed away.

High Protein intake on the road dreaming of a better way. 

 

This got me thinking about a multi faceted business and what that would look like.

Due to an amazing turn of the fates, I was reunited with a culinary artist and nutritionist friend named Marcella Silva.

After a week of eating amazing food, reminiscing over old friends and talking shop, we decided to dive into this multi faceted business endeavor together.

Henceforth White Tail Collective was born.

We are starting small with Art Fairs and Expos, collaborating our Artistic and Culinary skills. We are working towards a grander vision.

Our mission statement is:

To promote a healing marketplace for the community where whole body wellness, education and conservation are paramount.

Here is a bit of information about our business.
Think of it as a year round farmer's market.

Facet 1 and 2

Farm and Restaurant.

Farm-to-table: Farm-to-table refers to a movement concerned with producing food locally and delivering that food to local consumers. Linked to the local food movement, the movement is promoted by some in the agriculture, food service, and restaurant communities. It may also be associated with organic farming initiatives, sustainable agriculture, and community-supported agriculture.

 

 

Our Farm: This is our mother-ship, where 80% of our fruits and vegetables will come from for our table. This piece of land will have: A fresh water source, Flat areas for building/gardening, Zoning for both living for multiple families and farming, a house that is up to code on a minimum of 40 acres. Ideally this farm will be less than 30 miles away from the table its produce is being served.
Rachel Lupis's Production: A Mutual friend and long time co conspirator of ours, Rachel Lupis,  has taken the reins for our farm production and will be working to create a beautiful and dependable farm-scape. Rachel will not be alone in supplying the table with beautiful organic produce over 30 farms in the surrounding areas participate in our trade.
Our Table, Marc Silva's Restaurant: Ideally less than 30 miles away from the farm where its produce originates, this table will be what will make our farm a home. Over 80% of our produce will have come our farm or from local farms. Earnings will go towards equipment to upkeep agriculture and towards gasoline for transportation of our produce. Most importantly the table will support the table. A farm-to-table style Restaurant with a small seasonal menu specializing in world class pastured meats, local produce, hand-made cuisine, local craft beers and both local and world wines. Our menu clearly displays the different farms that provide their produce and meat to the restaurant including our own farm.

Facet 3 and 4

Classroom and Consignment Shop.

Self Sufficiency is our goal. We would like to weave this idea into all the corners of our lives. This facet has to do with sustainability on a community, independent and economic level.

Our Classroom: Students will be the seeds of the consignment shop. This is where we learn a multitude of new skills. From jewelry making to screen door making, metal work to business. We will have an artists studio, equipped with various tools, open to our students and to our community.
Sarah Caligiuri's Consignment Shop: As overseer of the consignment shop facet Sarah's desire is to supply the county with the most versatile and USA made shop to date. We are looking to line up artists and skill workers to fill this space with beautiful and functional supplies.
Beyond the Consignment Shop: The ultimate goal for this process is to scatter these seeds into the world. After learning new skills and attending the business classes, students will perfect their crafts, and at their choosing, become an asset to the shop and to their community and surrounding areas by supplying local goods.

 

We are also looking to potentially add to our table:

A Library or Used Book Store.
Out Door Garden.
Work for Food Program.
Full Bar.
Membership Options.


Thanks ALL for listening, if you have any questions or want to get involved please shoot us over an email.

sarahcreates@yahoo.com

Why do we feel the desire to GIVE our ART AWAY?

This post was inspired by an email I received from another jewelry artist, she brought up her fear of success. I hear her loud and clear.

I had my friend Vicky over the other week. She was visiting with her mother and her sweetheart Andy. They immediately wanted to bust into my jewelry stock and rummage. I was over joyed and pulled out my stash. I immediately told them that they should pick out their favorite Piece and take it home with them.

Jaws dropped.

I then received a firm talking to.

Vicky's mother has been an artist for many years, as has Vicky. Before they made their way into the house they were just having a discussion about how artists like to give their art away. And for why?
Do you know the answer to this question deep down in your heart?

Now, you know that I am not talking about the art of generosity here. Generosity is a wonderful thing, but this is not what I am talking about. I am talking about repetitious sales, giveaways, gifts, hand outs, etc...
Why do we do this?


Did I truly desire to give Vicky and her mother a beautiful gift? Yes. I do not receive visitors often and I want people to leave my house feeling well loved. But they taught me a valuable lesson.

In response to my offer to pick their favorite Pieces and bring them home- I was told that I should tell them how much their favorite Pieces cost at Retail. Not Wholesale, but Retail value. I told them the jewelry's monetary worth. They both proceeded to give me more than what I had quoted them.

I think that perhaps we may have many different reasons for giving our Art away...perhaps some of you do not have this nasty habit. You may be like my Aunt Mary (who teaches me a great deal of useful things)... She is a weaver of Willows. She picks, tends, strips, spikes, soaks and weaves her Baskets and Jewelry. She does NOT give things away...okay, she very RARELY give things away. She trades them or she keeps them. She is a great role model to me by the way that she bears the worth of her Art. She is not a greedy person, just understands the effort of her hard work and the worth of her time.

Those of you who are not like my Aunt Mary, perhaps you know the reason why you give your art away. For myself it has been superficially because: I want to give people a good deal, I fight the capitalistic system, whole sale is what I offer consignment shops, why not my customers?...

But deep down I know that it is none of these reasons. Deep down it is because: I do not think that I deserve success, my art is not worth the money, I am not worth the money. Why should I be paid to do something that I love when there are so many people who get paid to do things that they hate?

We all know what a Starving Artist is...we are plagued by the idea.

It is time that we toss this idea to the side. There are people who will pay top dollar for our talents. For many reasons.

1. They do not want to make it themselves.
2. They feel good when they buy...from artists, locally, for a cause, to stimulate the economy...
3. They WANT that beautiful item and it feels good for them to be wearing/hanging/experiencing something new.
4. It feels good to give.
5. It feels good to take.

Have you ever made a very special purchase? One that made your heart leap for joy? Remember unwrapping it and telling your friends about your new amazing treasure?

Why take that pleasure away from someone else?

Thanks for listening.

S.