Artist Lucie Duclos and I first spoke in August of 2019 in Episode 115. Lucie lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where she creates cut paper collages and surface patterns. Up until recently, she had been teaching in person classes. That’s been put on hold for now, so she is increasing her online class offerings and is engaging artists through Instagram with her 40 Days of Postcards.
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Lucie Duclos
These are a few of Lucie’s 40 Days of Postcards.
Lucie’s website is duclosdesign.com.
Her online classes are hosted through Skillshare, but you can use the link on her website.
Feel free to follow her on Instagram @lucieduclos.
You can find her surface pattern designs on Spoonflower.com.
Lucie is the Uppercase Magazine Issue 41 cover artist. To learn about Uppercase and get a subscription, go to their website here.
Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:
- Lucie has offered online classes through Skillshare for awhile. She has seen an increase in students since everyone has been staying home.
- She has also seen an increase in business from fabric and other home items sales from her patterns she has uploaded on Spoonflower.
- Now is also a good time to offer free content so people can get to know you and your teaching style.
- If you have been teaching in person classes, but they’ve been cancelled, you can use that content to create online classes.
- Lucie uses a lot of recycled paper items for her artwork, like cardboard from cereal boxes or other food boxes. Now is a great time to look at what you have around the house that you can use in your art, since we are not able to go to art supply stores now.
- You can also use found items so set up your photos for Instagram. Lucie has found scraps of wood that she uses as a background for her photos, and sometimes she will paint it with a white wash for something different.
- Lucie also makes her photos more interesting by arranging other items around the artwork. Sometimes she uses one or two of her art supplies, sometimes she uses a painted rock or a leaf from outside.
- Lucie has been doing 40 Days of Postcards. During this crazy time when nothing is guaranteed, it’s nice to have a daily ritual of making some art. You can count on taking a few minutes each day to make something beautiful and to relax while doing it. We all need a little self-care right now, and your art making can be a part of that.
- Now is a great time to set up a camera and show clips of your work. Just share with others what you’re doing and they will get to know you.
- When you’re creating your first online class, Lucie has found it helpful to write down your steps when you’re making something. This will help you to keep the lesson organized.
