Announcing... the CrannaSphere

I have officially dipped my toe into the sea of online selling.  Impetus comes from this month's Year of the Spark business video.

I chose Etsy because most of the setup is already done.  One day I will have my website up, but for me creating a website is daunting even with templates - terms such as html and style.css cause my eyes glaze over :-D

Why CrannaSphere? 

I had thought that DarleneCranna would be a logical choice for my shop but it was not to be.  If a name has ever been used before on the Etsy site in any capacity, it can never, ever be used again.


Years ago I set up an account in my name to buy some prints and other art work and because I used it to make these purchases, my name fell under the laws of Never-Ever land.  Disappointed? Uh huh.

Okay, not to dwell, I did the rest of the prep stuff (shipping info, payment methods, listings) - not very exciting.  But when it came to designing my shop banner, now that I enjoyed:

I will put a link on my blog...when I figure out how to do it.  Html...style.css...Oy.     

Dog in the studio

along with Remy, of course :-) 

Doodling around this morning with a sketch of an imaginary dog.  Originally he was very loosely rendered but I gradually changed him into a stylized, imaginary pooch :-)

Looks like he's happy and just back from "walkies".

 

Bits and bobs by nature

The current Year of the Spark lesson - go out and gather things (as if you were a crow) and then use what you found to (1) create something and (2) create something else to share, show appreciation, give back.

Although Spring is here and there are green leaves and a few blossoms out, most of what I gathered was one version or another of straw- colored.

This is the "created" thing:

Happy little critter.

See? Very sweet :-)

 And this is the thing to be shared:

A scroll with a message.

"Deployed" in some shrubs.

 

The message :-)

                              

It's a Spring thing :-)

My goldie, Remy, loves spring for so many reasons - one of them is that the pleasant weather makes for even longer walks :-)

For whatever reason, I cannot put away the pens or the desire to doodle words; I combined Remy and spring into this:

I love walkies.

Word art inspired by...

this beautiful morning:

to the sounds of chirping birds :-)

In 3-D

Year of the Spark: the working assignment now is creating a wire and fiber-wrapped animal.  Uh O, hand sewing is involved - something I do not like much at all, mostly because I am clumsy with needle and thread.  I feel inner resistance...

When I mentally protest it is a signal that I absolutely need to do it.  On the positive side, I am drawn to three-dimensional work.  I have created a couple of 3-D pieces (in clay and in paper) and the unfamiliarity of working in "space" was all-absorbing.

Et voici, the imaginary animal: 

"In the Pink"

Tie more, sew less :-)

:-)

Have fun, too!

Abstraction

More Year of the Spark - Carla and Lynn both teach and this time Carla is up.

I think the goal of this lesson is to become comfortable with abstraction.  

Essentially, look at a scene with the intent of creating a sketch that minimizes photo-reality and instead focuses on lines and shapes, patterns, forms, etc. that are appealing.  

And then from that sketch create another one where the focus changes from that of "representation"  to one of "qualities", e.g., abstraction, of those shapes, forms, patterns.

Here are three sets of sketches.  For each set, the sketch on the top is the interpretation and the sketch on the bottom is the abstraction.

First set:

park scene

abstracted - emphasizing line variation, form

Second set:

amusement park

abstracted - emphasizing shape and shadow

Third set:

kitchen

abstracted - emphasizing form and texture

I enjoy working in the abstract :-)

Chasing rabbits

is the current assignment for Year of the Spark.  Carla  has the class chasing rabbits...but in a positive way :-)

My rabbit chasing had to do with acting upon a desire to plunk around on a ukulele.

Ukulele fresh out of the box.  Remy knows I haven't a clue :-)

The "other" rabbit I was chasing... guilt-free doodling and exploring with no goal in mind, e.g., wasting time:

Fun

And wouldn't you know it, doodling led to this:

Acrylic paint, gel pens and pastel

:-)