Through
2 members found
-
T. Wall ~Throu...
United States
-
Life Through A...
United Kingdom
6592 creative works found
-
Through A Glass Darkly. By Paul D Robertson Pastels 140 cms x 97 I like this piece very much. Sometimes in my work I can witness myself taking leaps of quality, and I believe that this is one of those times. It is an indescribable sensation to see my own hands make something such as this. I begin the with a person, a woman, before me, some materials – paper, chalk, paint. At the end of the slow still hours quickening my fingers, I surface from the fugue and wake from the trance of working. And sometimes I have something before me that is beautiful that did not exist, that what the world did not hold before I began. And it will last for centuries. I love the idea of obscured reflections and scattered and refracted light – my desire to work is pushed further every time I stumble upon something I know I must pursue. In many of my works, whenever it is practical, I will place a left-hand print on a wall or smudging a piece of glass. I have done this for years, and I will never stop. Recently the idea occurred to me that since this has become one of the defining symbols within my work, I could execute a piece based entire on the idea. So I made it happen. I forced it into existence. And I am so left handed, you see, that I almost walk with a limp.
-
/ Taken early one foggy morning in Northern France
-
Selling Greeting Cards Through Stores
by Jo O'BrienRecently the topic of selling greeting cards out in the real world has come up in the forums. Having sold greeting cards before throug…
Recently the topic of selling greeting cards out in the real world has come up in the forums. Having sold greeting cards before through shops and at markets, my humble opinion and experience may be of interest. I’ve got a lot to say on this one so I’ll use headings :) Be a Business- Not Just an Artist / What I mean by this is consider yourself a business supplier and demonstrate a level of professionality. Yes it is great if you promote the artistic merits of your work but greeting cards are a very common product and so being organised with an ABN, professional looking invoices, online ordering facilities, fast turn around etc will put you ahead of the (always growing) pack. Like all good businesses, know your strengths and show them off. Provide Good Quality Products / It might sound obvious (I hope it does) but when people are starting out in business they tend to cut corners. In the greeting card business quality is a big deal. This is where RedBubble becomes a huge advantage because the quality of the card printing is so exceptional. Packaging is Important / Have you considered what your cards will look like after 20 or so customers have handled them? Some people like the ‘no plastic’ look and who am I to tell them otherwise. I always individually wrap my cards and make sure that if the packaging prevents the card being openned, that “Blank Card” is printed either on the individual packaging or nearby signage. If you put together gift packs, wrap them beautifully and make sure people know what images they are getting in the pack. / My little tip: leave one copy of each card unwrapped on display and when you check up with the store, see which ones are the grubbiest to identify the favourites Displaying your wares / The things people want to see are the images, the quality and the price. Where possible I use clear perspex stands that do not cover the front of the card. By leaving a few sample cards out of their packaging people can pick them up and feel them to check the quality. I also make sure each card has a visible price on it, on the back, on a removable sticker. Some hints would be not to have too many of a particular card out on display at once. Keep a box of ‘top up’ cards out of sight. If you have a series that belongs together, display them together and perhaps highlight them with different packaging or a small separate display rack. Cards should be displayed with the image facing the right way up where possible. Always put your name and contact details on your card stands- so often they ‘magically disappear.’ And if you are providing your own stands, try to ‘claim’ the space so that other people’s cards don’t get put in over the top of yours. This can be hard to police but for example, having “Cards by Artist ABC” on your stand makes it harder for the retailer to stick any old stuff in there. Get Your Pricing Right / Like all things business, a lot of small shops will heckle with you over money and prices. My advice to you? Know what price you want and stick to it. Think about it in perspective, in a typical shop, greeting cards will be close to the cheapest item in there. If the business can’t fork out $30 to try 10 cards then you don’t want to be doing business with them! But also think realistically about your prices. Most retailers will start saying ‘no thanks’ at about $4 a card so to make RedBubble cards (with a base price of up to $3.50) a financially viable option you need to sell them as premium art cards worth that extra dollar or two. Considering the quality of them, I believe this is possible. Depending on where you sell them, you could get $4 to $8 or even more per card. It will depend on the clientele for that particular store. / Common Mistake: Too many people give their cards different prices when in the eye of the customer they all look pretty much the same. If you want to have a premium range, make it obvious Profite Margins / I should add as a separate but related point, most stores will want to mark up by about 100% on greeting cards. Most people sell there cards for a set wholesale price and then let the store charge whatever they like. The only time in my opinion, you should intervene is if you seriously believe they have overpriced them to such a point that they are not affordable. But think about it before setting your price. If you ask for $4 per card, can the store onsell them for $7.95? How to actually get them into stores / Here’s an idea for you- send them a card! Of course a rigorous follow up would be required. I would ‘door to door’ with a small sample or my stuff and it worked really well. I also had a bit of a tactic. I’d show a selection of cards worth $20 total. Then when they fell in love with a couple I’d say. “How about you buy this $20 worth from me right now and you keep that one you like for yourself, I’ll replace it with this one” Then I’d pull some other random card out of my bag and add it to the pile. Worked 9 out of 10 times. The other thing I did was band together with a fellow card maker (she did printed ones, I did handmade) so that we could show a greater range and cut our door knocking time in half. Can I also suggest not interrupting businesses during busy periods such as weekends or lunch hours. That happens to me in the gallery all the time and it’s a real pain. Also, if you’re talking to staff and their phone rings or a customer comes in, invite them to deal with the more important thing first and come back to you. Rotate Your Stock / Basically, if it isn’t selling, get rid of it yourself before the store owner decides to get rid of you! I’m exaggerating but the point it still valid. People will stop looking if your display always looks the same so keep it chaging. Make a fuss. If you have a new range, stick a sign up saying “New Farm Yard Range On Sale Now.” And remember, what works well in one store may go really badly in another so if it’s not selling, try somewhere else rather then giving up and throwing the lot in the bin! Consignment / This is particularly just my opinion but I’m against consignment on cards. Especially if you give a choice of what is ordered. Seriously, cards cost so little compared to other things, if a store can’t find $50 somewhere to buy some outright, there is something suss about that right away. It might be good to offer consignment on your first batch which will encourage the store to stock your stuff but don’t get into a habit of it. I would drop off say 50 cards and get someone to sign a consignment form saying how many they were given. Then after a few weeks I would go back, count them up and invoice for however many were missing. Then I’d also give them the choice of buying the remaining ones, or me taking them back. Most would swap a few that they didn’t like and then buy up. Payments / Again I hope this sounds obvious but ask to be paid. So many people get lost in a world of politeness and assume that eventually someone will do the right thing, Most small businesses using MYOB or QuickBooks accounting software will automatically lodge your invoices to be paid within 30 days. Agree on your terms and then chase up late payments. No need to be mean or nasty but a follow up letter and then a follow up phone call is fair enough. Also, be flexible in how you can be paid. Some businesses do everything with a cheque (or for you Americans, a “check”), others will rely on Direct Debit. So know how the business wants to pay you and don’t make it hard for them! Promote your Cards / The beauty of RedBubble cards is they have the URL of your portfolio on the back which shows off all of your work. But also remember to promote your cards out in the real world. Recently I bought a bunch of RedBubble cards and gave them all to friends. The response was amazing. They all got online to find more! Next step for me is to buy a bunch of my own cards and find excuses to give them to people. webgrrl had this awesome idea too. The cards really do speak for themselves so get them into circulation. - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - So if anyone is still breathing after reading all that, I hope you found it useful! / I do tend to ramble when it comes to retail related things- it’s my passion in life.
-
Just another day at the seaside today – but the sun was out – still cold though.
-
This image came about in an awesome way for me. Two weeks earlier, the model, Margrit, was telling me a bit about her life. She’s lived and travelled in many countries and taken lots of opportunities. She has also achieved great success with her photography. Several weeks later, I had an unusual chance to photograph her in an old train – the perfect location to reflect her life’s journey. / In Australia, Margrit has achieved her LAPS and AAPS, and is the only West Australian women to received international photographic honours AFIAP. She’s a perfectionist and it shines through in her work. Visit Margrit’s website For enquires about canvas prints, or photographic prints larger than Redbubble options, please contact me via bubblemail
-
Thought since this seems to be my most popular piece I should perhaps upload a version of it big enough for those who care for it to have access to BIG PRINTS. So here you are then :) - Paul. Through A Glass Darkly. By Paul D Robertson Pastels 140 cms x 97 I like this piece very much. Sometimes in my work I can witness myself taking leaps of quality, and I believe that this is one of those times. It is an indescribable sensation to see my own hands make something such as this. I begin the with a person, a woman, before me, some materials – paper, chalk, paint. At the end of the slow still hours quickening my fingers, I surface from the fugue and wake from the trance of working. And sometimes I have something before me that is beautiful that did not exist, that what the world did not hold before I began. And it will last for centuries. I love the idea of obscured reflections and scattered and refracted light – my desire to work is pushed further every time I stumble upon something I know I must pursue. In many of my works, whenever it is practical, I will place a left-hand print on a wall or smudging a piece of glass. I have done this for years, and I will never stop. Recently the idea occurred to me that since this has become one of the defining symbols within my work, I could execute a piece based entire on the idea. So I made it happen. I forced it into existence. And I am so left handed, you see, that I almost walk with a limp.
-
It take a bald eagle five years to reach full maturity, this one is almost there.
-
The view looking up at the Coops Shot Tower in Melbourne. I love the contrast between the old and the new. / / / / © Shelley Heath (aka Soul Creates), Copyright 2008, All rights reserved.
-
A morning that started with a sunrise the that was totally blocked by thick clouds. However, the clouds started to part and I was greeted with this view of the incoming waves squeezing through every crack in the massive granite boulders that litter this stretch of coast
-
This (below)was supposed to be a link….I guess it didn’t work…... THANK YOU FOR VIEWING THIS! Special request for Andi /
-
This building has no visible floor, instead you tread on loose soil. I believe conveyors were fed through each of these small windows and this building was involved in the production of some of the smaller caliber shells used during the war. The Kingsbury Ordnance plant sat upon land acquired by the us government during ww2. some 13,000 acres were designated for this facility and it was operated throughout the war and then once again reopened for the Korean conflict. This is one of my favorite abandonments to visit.
-
My love
-
Okay well this morning I felt the urge to get out and finally take some new pics and the first thing that caught my eye was a bunch of dandelions that were starting to break apart.. However I didn’t feel like just taking a plain shot of a dandelion, I felt like doing something a tad more artistic, so today I have a series of three dandelion shots that I have processed in an artistic way to break free of the standard flower macro bounds.. I am open to all feedback because I will only keep shots uploaded that people think are worth being on the sight.. Thanks for having a look! This would have to be the least artistic shot of this morning, as the only real major treatment here was implementing a monochromatic filter and then a sepia filter over the top of that.. As per usual the exposure, contrast and levels were played with to bring the image to what I believed worked best.. / I liked this image as it seemed to “pop” and it looks almost as though the dandelion is lurching forward in an attempt to break free from its flowers. I think that this shot and Season’s End both really captured the moment that the dandelion begins to lose its flowers and disappear from existence.
-
framing suggestion / mounted print /
-
Taken at Mammoth Hot Springs (Yellowstone Nat’l Park, WY) on a cold September morning. The sun was beginning to break through the fog, but the boardwalk still led through an eerie scene. Probably my favorite as I like the mystery. Canon Elan II / Velvia film.
-
The Breede River which runs through the beautful little town of Robertson, 160kms from Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa Placed in the Top Ten in the Reflections on Water Challenge!!
-
Combination of two photos…... For anyone who might be offended from this photo and the resemblance of 911 that was never my intent nor thought until a few people mentioned it. My thought behind this photo was simply to make the plane look as if it was landing between the 2 buildings. / The two building are in Irvine, CA close where my husband and I love to have Sunday brunch. One morning I brought my camera with us so we could go out taking pictures after wards. These builds are grouped together next door, after brunch I walked over and started photography these buildings looking up at them and getting many different views as you can see from the attached photos to “Flying Through The Key Hole” / From there we went over to John Wayne’s Airport which is only a few miles from where the buildings were shot. “For those who are not filmier with John Wayne Airport it is just a small airport in Orange County, CA.” I was able to park in their small parking lot and get a perfect view of the planes landing right over my head. The plane shot with a Nikon AF 18 – 70 mm lens, and the plane shot was not cropped but used in its entirety. The sky was very bare that and not very blue. But loving the way the plane came out I really wanted to use it, so having the building shots in the same group as the planes that day, I started playing around by removing the back ground from the plane and placing the plane elsewhere. The two buildings I used happen to be my favorite from that day, so when adding it to that shot I thought it looked as if the plane was coming in for a landing between the two tall buildings. I liked the finished product so that is where it got its name “Flying Through The Key Hole” As for the reflection on the plane that appears to be from the buildings, I believe it is either from the concrete below or it was a reflection from the sky and maybe even blue that was already on the plane. But truly your guess is as good as mine, all I know is it worked out perfectly. So again I apologize to anyone who might be offended by this shot and any resemblance it may have to 911 that was not my intent.
-
smoke, trees and a warm light
-
Yesterday was, quite simply, a rotten day in many ways, however I did have a very short time with the lovely Arnavaz, who came to my studio to be photographed by a couple of friends. They were still at it by the time I arrived home from work, so I grabbed the first camera that I could find quickly, and started shooting. Turns out it was the Canon 5D, and the lens on it was the Lensbaby composer at f/4. This was my first go with the lens, apart from a couple of shots in class, and I’m VERY impressed!!! Seascapes / New Zealand / Infrared / Landscapes / People
-
The Soft Sell - Creating Sales Through Non-Salesy Actions
by sellingYou can reach a lot of people using the Internet, but creating personal and lasting relationships is a more difficult task. It requires a…
You can reach a lot of people using the Internet, but creating personal and lasting relationships is a more difficult task. It requires an openness and reciprocity that doesn’t come easily to most people. Not that we artists don’t have the ability, but exposing ourselves emotionally outside of our art takes practice and a thick skin. There’s also a tension between wanting to sell our art and not wanting to be too salesy nor abuse others with self-promotion. So, how can we promote ourselves using a ‘soft sell’ or ‘no sell,’ yet create sales? Here are a few ideas that members have shared in the Selling Group. 1. Share information, help others, and give encouragement on RedBubble It’s easy to get mired in the minutia of everyday life. No one can fault you for addressing personal priorities and work, but it only takes a moment to comment on an artwork, t-shirt, or a bit of writing. Share your expertise or give another member an encouraging sentence or two about how their work made you feel. These activities help elevate your profile – and work – on RedBubble. The more people that view your work, the better your chance of receiving a personal referral. If you’re interested in sharing ideas or have questions about selling art, join the Sales/Sharing Group here. We don’t judge and we don’t bite. Also, check out the RedBubble site and individual group forums. 2. Network web-wide with kindred spirits Track yourself and your interests with Google Alerts and Google Blog Search, among other tools. Alerts and Blog Search help you find websites that have content related to your artwork, t-shirt designs, interest areas, etc. A practical example would be for the Game of Kings to track websites that talk about chess. Chess destinations and fans would surely be interested in learning more about a stellar collaboration featuring artwork about chess. Track them, and then contact them with a friendly head’s up about your work. 3. Add people to your RedBubble Watchlist, Favorite work, and Comment on work Here’s a case of quality over quantity. Discover new kindred spirits, curate your Watchlist, and make insightful and positive comments that spur conversion and relationships. These relationships can bring helpful advice, collaborations, and again, referrals. There have been a number of times that my work didn’t suit a friend’s aesthetic, so I referred them other RedBubble artists. I sent a quick Bubblemail to these artists to note my referral. It’s good karma, and the artists appreciated my thinking of them regardless of the outcome. 4. Publish a blog or website about your subject matter, geography, technique, etc. The key to a blog is updated content. Ask yourself if you can commit to updating at least once each week – if only to post a quote and a link to relevant resources. Readers can visit your website directly or subscribe to a feed of its content. Did you know that you already have a RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed in your RedBubble profile? Just go to your Profile page, click on Journal, and then find the “RSS” button in the address bar of your browser. You’ll see a page like this one: Simply copy the RSS URL from the browser bar and add it to your iGoogle, MyYahoo, Feedburner, or other newsreader account. Outlook and Apple Mail accept feeds too. Here are a few members that have used their blogs and websites to drive sales on RedBubble: Matt Moylan and Lilformers Helen Nehill and Bowerbird Blues As well as, Ron Moss, Bryce Casselman, Diesel Laws, Soniei, among many others. Please post your blog/website below. 5. Develop a rapport with industry websites Giant caveat – DO NOT simply email a thought-leading website with a generic note and URL, e.g., “please highlight my t-shirt.” Try to develop a rapport with the author first. Start by reading their website. Make sure their content matches your artwork. Ask what it takes to be featured on their website. Send them occasional links to related articles unrelated to your artwork. You’ll make friends in no time. We previously discussed tactics for contacting periodicals, magazines, etc. here. RedBubble can help you find the best press contact for your announcement; learn more in the Sales Group PR forum. 6. Give a little, get a lot Everyone loves freebies, chotchkes – whatever you want to call them. Email a digital postcard to a friend or contact. Embed you message in your artwork and subtly note your URL in the email body copy. Create business cards or product cards. Here’s an example from the always-giving Nuh Sarche. Another way to share is to show works in progress. Sam Dantone is painting a wall mural. It’s not for sale, but I loved that he shared his progress on RedBubble. Whenever I think of costal scenes, I’ll return to this mural and then browse through his portfolio. I could go on forever, but I’m interested in the things that members have tried. Add you comments below, or join the conversation here. Thank you. Regards, / Jason
-
Inspired by the the lady in my life, this photograph was taken with a Sony A100 f/32 1/2sec iso 400 and edited with Photoshop.
-
http://albastock.deviantart.com – Background / http://falln-stock.deviantart.com- Model Hope you like it!
-
Magnolia falls like butterflies from the sky… From my TtV (Through the Viewfinder) series. The dust, scratches and blur from the vintage camera give a lovely old effect. Camera: Kodak Duaflex
RedBubble is a great place to find art, design, photos and writing from over 80,000 talented people.
You can buy their stuff
On stunning greeting cards, awesome t-shirts or beautiful prints to hang on your walls.
Risk Free Returns
It’s really simple. If you’re not happy with your purchase for any reason, we’ll fix it.
About RedBubble
Since February 2007 we’ve shipped over 291,600 items to more than 70 countries around the world.
Join In
Sign up for your free account, upload your work, join some groups and share your creative genius with the world.