brandi strickland : artists who blog

Brandi's blog: www.paperwhistle.com/blog
Brandi's website: www.brandistrickland.com
Brandi's shop: www.paperwhistle.com

Why did you decide to start a blog?

My blog has been a part of my portfolio website since its launch two years ago. It started as a place for news but soon included posts with sketches, works in progress, photography, and other things that didn't fit into my portfolio. It's become more personal over time, and now I regard it as a (primarily) visual journal.



How did you come up with the name of your blog?

The Brandi Strickland blog was a no-brainer, I wanted to just stick with my name to make it easy. My bf and I just launched our new art and design blog together, called Paper Whistle, and we wanted something more fun. Its name came from my love of paper and whistling. I can't really whistle that well, but my grandpa sure could, and now just the word makes me happy.



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

I can't even count the ways that blogging has been positive for me. I love the immediate feedback, the sense of community, the stimulating atmosphere. I usually blog by posting pictures to flickr, then the pictures are automatically pulled into my blog. I've found it to be easier and more comfortable than writing and planning out a whole post. Because of blogging (& flickr) I've become acquainted with many artists, designers, and people that I admire.



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

FecalFace - They’re the best ever, period.

My Love For You - Meighan always features great work. She also has really fun guest writers.

Booooooom - They highlight talent across many fields and always deliver a smile :)

Leah Giberson - I love her work and viewing her process is exciting.

Little Paper Planes - Kelly writes about great openings and other art finds that are often under the radar.



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

Just blog about whatever gets you really excited! For a long time I've only blogged about my own artwork and life--I’ve been way too shy. Lately I’ve enjoyed discussing other people’s work, and I am excited to be more involved with the community through the new Paper Whistle blog.



What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

The best part is connecting with people. Working as an artist can be very solitary, so keeping up my connections prevents me from feeling isolated. Blogging involves me with a community of very likeminded people, who I probably wouldn't otherwise be able to know.



What do you find the most difficult/most rewarding part of having a creative profession?

The hardest part is switching gears between art and business. I have to set clear goals and deadlines to keep myself motivated and on task. It's hard to apply deadlines and tasks to creativity.



Other than your blog, what has been the most effective way for you to promote your art/design?

A lot of little things add up. After selling through various online communities for almost two years, we decided it was time to have our very own shop. Taking that step to have our own place has been a big help. Etsy and flickr have been invaluable, and showing in galleries is great way to get the word out. Lots of kind people have helped through various blog features, PDF magazines, and interviews.



How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

I *try* to keep a good balance, but I haven’t perfected this thing yet. I do my best to take breaks when I'm feeling burnt out, and to alternate tasks. To stay sane I take pictures, spend time with people I love, walk, play Dr. Mario, poke around online, cook, travel, take baths, clean up the house, go see good bands...



What are your main goals for 2009?

Paper Whistle! My bf and I have collaborated on a new art shop / art blog. The shop carries limited-edition, archival quality prints of my work, (originals coming soon), while the blog features all kinds of nifty art and design posts. I also just became a member of the WAFA collective, and I’m super excited about upcoming collaborations.

Thanks Brandi!

sofia barao : artists who blog

Sofia's blog: www.lafeecoriandre.blogspot.com
Sofia's website: www.sofiabarao.com
Sofia's shops: www.sbarao.etsy.com, www.sofiabarao.bigcartel.com

Why did you decide to start a blog?

I married a French and as I’m from Portugal I was feeling a little bit lonely here so I decide to open my own window to the world. My own thoughts, life and art and I never stopped since.



How did you come up with the name of your blog?

La fée coriandre means coriander fairy and it was just a cute association of 2 things I like :)



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

Blogging and internet has been great, I’ve met people working in the art business, I received propositions for magazines and for exhibitions through it so it has been so amazing from my business point of view too.



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

So many. Pia’s blog is wonderful, she is such a complete artist, love it , Jeana’s blog too, I love her art, her photos, to just be inspired by her everyday life, and lately I’m addicted to Summer’s blog, I love her choices.



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

Just do it. It won’t be easy, especially today with millions and millions of blogs out there but just try and see what happens, just put your soul to it, it won’t happen in a day but I’m sure you will get positive reactions. It’s worth it.



What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

Well, I haven’t had any negative aspect, really, nothing bad happened until now so for me it is a good balance. With my blog I was able to link with people that have the same affinities and this is so great, especially when they are on the other side of the world. I like to step into artists and creative people’s worlds. This is the most inspirational thing of all about blogging.



What do you find the most difficult/most rewarding part of having a creative profession?

The most rewarding is of course to do what I want to do but unfortunatly there are still bills to be payed so I work outside the studio. At a museum half the day, 8 months a year, the rest of the time I spend it on vacations and on my artwork.



Other than your blog, what has been the most effective way for you to promote your art/design?

Etsy. To have my shops there and to have the chance that some of the items there were promoted by girls such as Jan from Poppytalk, Holly from decor8 and Grace from design*sponge at the beginning but I’m not a good marketing person so I don’t do as much promotion as I should. It is a full time job and I decided to spend it more on creation. My marketing nowadays is to just post on my Etsy shop.



How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

It’s not easy. I’m addicted to almost everything organic and I don’t eat much meat. I drink tons of herbal infusions and rooibos tea. Unfortunatly I’m not an exercize girl but I walk a lot (I don’t drive) so it is already a good thing, right ?



What are your main goals for 2009?

To continue to do what I love. To have some success with my Oiseau Rare Etsy shop, to have some more exhibitions scheduled for this year and to continue to read a lot and to write too; this 2 things are so important in my life.

Oh and yes to buy a bicycle too :)

Thanks Sofia!

vivienne strauss : artists who blog

Vivienne's blog: www.vivienneart.blogspot.com
Vivienne's shop: www.vivstrauss.etsy.com

Why did you decide to start a blog?

I started my blog mainly to have one consistent place to store images of my artwork. I had no other system of documenting the work I was doing that worked as well. So many things I've done, I have no record of at all, paintings and collages created and sold that I wish I had photos of at least.



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

I think it has made me much more productive because I like to post something new almost every day.



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

I don't spend a lot of time reading designer blogs but when I do, I love a lot of what sfgirlbybay features and always keep up with Poppytalk I mainly read blogs for entertainment and one that I check out frequently is silentsandtalkies by artist and friend, Kate Gabrielle. Much of my inspiration comes from old movies and she is the authority on classic films. I also frequently look at the blogs of Elizabeth Bauman and Amanda Blake, two of my favorite artists.



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

If you are featuring your art work on your blog, don't make the format of the blog too flashy or it will distract from your actual work. Post often. Before I started tracking my blog traffic, I would just post every now and then. I didn't realize that people other than me were actually looking at it. Now that I realize that others are reading it, I've become more careful about not just rambling on too much about nothing and trying to correct grammatical errors.



What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

I started my blog years ago when I just produced art sporadically and rarely posted to it or certainly not on any kind of
regular basis. Now it has become not just a place to document my art but a place to write about books or movies that have really moved me. Recently, Matte and I went to an estate sale of a former ballerina who had no heirs and as an early anniversary gift for me, Matte bought her entire collection of scrapbooks, photographs and ballet memorbilia including signed programs by Anna Pavlova. I've enjoyed sharing her life on my blog. It is weird how a person whom I've never met has suddenly become part of my life. Comments are always nice, you know someone is seeing your work!



What do you find the most difficult/most rewarding part of having a creative profession?

I would say the most difficult part of the creative process is finding enough time to complete all my ideas. The most rewarding part for me is finding inspiration everywhere. Stumbling across the perfect old photograph or just seeing a name can trigger an idea for a new painting.



Other than your blog, what has been the most effective way for you to promote your art/design?

I think posting my work on flickr along with my blog has been pretty effective, it seems to develop a lot of cross traffic. Other people who discover my work and post about it is always a nice plus, it always seems to steer more traffic my way.



How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

I try to make sure I get some type of exercise almost every day, even if it is just a short walk or run. I also try to limit the time I spend on the internet and make sure I read just for fun every day.



What are your main goals for 2009?

Mainly to be as productive as possible, keep trying new techniques and to not constrain myself by too many rules. I keep thinking about trying oils but don't think I have the right temperament, I like to work really fast and having to wait for paint to dry would probably be pretty tortuous for me.

Thanks Vivienne!

marisa haedike : artists who blog

Marisa's blog: www.creativethursday.typepad.com
Marisa's website: www.creativethursday.com
Marisa's shop: www.creativethursday.etsy.com

Why did you decide to start a blog?

I started a blog because I heard (this was in 2006) that „every business owner should have a blog“. As a mostly private person, the thought of sharing myself publicly via an online journal was a little intimidating. That is until I discovered the practice of daily painting. When I found artists who were painting and posting original paintings online via their blogs, I thought „perfect“! As a prolific creator, I thought this would be a great way for me to begin to keep a regular blog. I could simply letting my daily creations speak for themselves.



How did you come up with the name of your blog?

Driving over a hill in Boulder, Colorado while talking to a good friend of mine. I told her I needed a name for my business that would be an umbrella for all the creativity I want to explore. That was eight years before I titled my blog of the same name.



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

When I started, just the commitment to posting a painting almost every day taught me to let go of perfection and trust my creativity, while gaining more confidence in sharing my work publicly. It also helped my work develop into painting style I now have. All my little characters were „born“ through my blog.



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

My pat answer to this question is always that I have too many favorites to list. Oh, the talent that exists in the blogging world. Amazing! But I will say that the blogs that stand out to me and inspire me the most, seem to be the ones where the author feels the most genuine, the most comfortable in their „blogging“ skin.



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

Be yourself.

What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

The chance to get to know myself better.



What do you find the most difficult/most rewarding part of having a creative profession?

The most difficult part is to continue to trust your creative intuition. And the most rewarding is when you do trust it.



Other than your blog, what has been the most effective way for you to promote your art/design?

Saying hello to people who inspire me, either virtually or in person.



How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

That is always the question isn’t it?
It’s a moment by moment choice. Going back to one of my previous answers, when you learn to trust yourself, finding balance becomes much easier.



What are your main goals for 2009?

To keep doing what I’m doing now, and maybe, just maybe continue creating while living overseas for a bit :)

Thanks Marisa!

belinda kemp : artists who blog

Belinda's blog: www.gretchenmist.blogspot.com
Belinda's shop: www.gretchenmist.etsy.com

Why did you decide to start a blog?

Initially I resisted the idea – i had no understanding of the blogging world and how blogging could work for me. But it finally clicked when i met some vibrant and lovely bloggers/etsy sellers at a local etsy catchup who's advice was loud and clear: start a blog!



How did you come up with the name of your blog?

my blog and shop name is a variation on the name we had chosen for a baby girl - misty gretchen! {we have 2 boys}. misty is a childhood nick name that my husband's mother had for him when he was little and gretchen was my idea – i thought it sounded good and strong next to sweet misty!



How has blogging affected your work as an artist/designer?

blogging has helped my confidence enormously. to have people see my work and leave generous comments has been very encouraging. reading blogs provides endless inspiration and helpful information that keeps my mind ticking over when i'm not working. my blog also helps me to keep momentum and focus – its a work in progress and a place for me to keep track of my work and ideas. it also allows me to take a step back from my work and potentially see a bigger picture. the other big thing is that it has forced me to chase after that part of my brain that i like to use for writing {it had been pretty flooded out by the sleep loss and domestic life that goes with having little kids}. writing used to be a more natural part of my life a long time ago and now it's slowly coming back with a new purpose!



What are your favorite artist/designer blogs? Why?

there are so many great design and art blogs that i follow, it's hard to single them out . . . designsponge was my first blog love - it's just so stylish! designformankind – i like how erin let's her posts almost speak for themselves and she curates with a great sense of humour.

i recently discovered notpaper – short sweet interviews with collage artists.
tangledskystudio, artmind-etcetera + jessgonacha - are daily reads and lovely people



Do you have any advice for artists/designers who are starting a blog?

i don't feel qualified to give advice at this stage but i think real is good! i also love to see work in early stages!

What has been the most positive and inspirational aspect of having a blog for you?

like many others here have said, the connections and frienships that it helps to make. my blog allows me to feel connected to a world of amazing artists/designers/makers in a way that just hasn't been possible before. the inspiration and support that comes from this sense of connection is the icing on the cake which is being home raising kids and working from home.



What do you find the most difficult/most rewarding part of having a creative profession?

the most difficult thing for me is to switch off and relax. the need to create is a big part of who i am and to be able to see myself as having a future as an independent artist keeps me going. feedback from people who have bought my work is pretty heart-warming too.



Other than your blog, what has been the most effective way for you to promote your art/design?

having one of my collages featured in a storque article recently has been been really positive. i've also had my work featured on a few blogs, which i am grateful for. contributing work to the latest pikaland package has has also helped.



How do you maintain a healthy work/life balance?

i'm pretty sure i can't at this stage! i'm trying hard to make time for the life stuff that happens outside of family and art time but i'm also pretty happy to be living a simple and focused life for now.



What are your main goals for 2009?

to keep up with my work and ideas, to keep my shop full {and fresh} and to beautify my blog!

Thanks Belinda!