Show Notes | Page 29 of 52

#118 Melissa Partridge: Color Me Happy with Painting

Artist Melissa Partridge is from Massachusetts, and she paints in acrylic with a bold color palette in an abstract manner. It’s very different than traditional New England artists, who often paint scenes of the ocean or the Fall leaves. Melissa turned to painting as a healing mechanism during some rough times. She’s now created a thriving art business and teaches her intuitive style of painting to others.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Melissa Partridge

Melissa’s website is colormehappybymelissa.com.

Her Instagram is @melissapartridgeart.

You can also follow her Facebook page to find her events and workshops.

Melissa mentioned a few artists whose classes, both online and in person, really helped her when she was first painting and she needed healing. Click on each of these to go to their websites:

Rebecca Schweiger of NY Art Studio.

Mati Rose, who does Daring Adventures in Paint and Abstract Bliss.

Alena Hennessy who teaches an intuitive art technique.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

Melissa worked for many years in the creative field of fashion merchandising. She didn’t turn to painting until after her father had passed away, and she used it as a healing mechanism for herself. I’ve heard many artists say that turning to creative pursuits have helped them through grief and other trying times.
Painting enabled her to release the stress that she was having during this time and to start to bring beauty back into her life.
If you are unable to find art classes near your home, search out online classes that you can take. Melissa was still able to receive the healing from the classes she took online. And by the way, I’ll list some of those that Melissa mentioned in the Show Notes for this episode, which you can find on my website.
When painting abstracts, Melissa uses a lot of different things as tools to dig into the many layers. You can get these tools for free, like silverware, utensils, and old gift cards.
Melissa does a form of intuitive painting, meaning she doesn’t have a plan ahead of time. She just keeps painting, adding many layers until it becomes something that satisfies her.
After you’ve made a few paintings, you will get the feel for when your painting is complete.
Melissa also offers her classes through AirBnB Experiences, and she gets international students.
Melissa advises her students to just play when they create: use different size brushes; paint with your non-dominant hand. Just play and experiment.
Consider creating Facebook event pages for the classes that you offer. That’s a great way to let your Facebook followers know what you’re doing.

Post category:Season 2 Show Notes

#117 Melissa Doty: Watercolors, Acryl Gouache, and Geometric Shapes

Artist Melissa Doty works with watercolors and acryl gouache. She has made an impact with her art through Instagram, and locally, as she was asked to paint a mural and participate in an art initiative in her community. She’s faced some medical challenges, which she does share with us. But despite that, she’s continuing to create new art and put it out into the world.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Melissa Doty

Melissa’s website is melissadoty.com.

She can also be found on Instagram.

You can find details about her Squareathon challenge on her Instagram account. It starts September.

You can read up on the paint she uses called acryl gouache here.

Melissa contributed to Kellee Wynne Conrad’s True Colors program. You can find details about that here.

Here are some great takeaways from this episode:

Melissa works with both watercolors and acryl gouache. Watercolors give a washy and dreamy effect, and the acryl gouache is opaque and goes on bold and super saturated.
Besides the opacity, another difference between the two is acryl gouache dries quickly and is colorfast, unlike watercolor which can change after adding more water.
Melissa hosts a twice yearly art challenge called The Squareathon. While it’s a challenge to create a piece of art every day for two weeks, she points out that for any challenge you need to only do what you want to do and don’t feel pressured to finish the challenge.
When you start painting, or whatever you’re doing creatively, put it out on Facebook or Instagram from the start and get used to people seeing your work and commenting on it. Don’t be surprised if people start asking you if your artwork is for sale. You don’t want to just keep your artwork all to yourself and not share it with the world.
Stretch out of your comfort level and accept offers to do interesting things, even if it’s something new to you. Melissa was asked to contribute a lesson to Kellee Wynne Conrad’s True Colors program, and while she had never created videos before, she figured it out and was asked to do it again.
Develop relationships with your town’s Mayor or City Commission and learn how they feel about public art and murals. Get your name on their radar, and they may think of you when they have a City art project they’d like to get done.
If murals are something that interest you, talk to other mural artists and see how they’ve gotten started. Don’t discount murals just because you work in a medium like watercolors. You can figure out how to get your designs on a wall using any kind of paint.
Try to utilize all the features of Instagram, because that is the platform where most artists go. Try Insta Stories, and put some of them on your Story Highlights. You should also try your hand at videos and IGTV, which are both very popular on Instagram.
On your regular Instagram feed, videos can go up to 60 seconds. On IGTV, they can go up to 10 minutes.

Post category:Season 2 Show Notes

#116 Ted Vadakan: A Creative Collaboration called Poketo

Ted Vadakan, with his wife Angie Myung, has created a lifestyle brand based in Los Angeles called Poketo. I won’t give away their story of how it started, because Ted covers that so beautifully in our conversation, but I will say that Poketo came from their desire to nourish other creatives in their community. What started as a small brand carrying a few artist-made products is now a thriving creative hub with four storefronts in the LA area. We also talk about their new book called Creative Spaces, which is available now.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Angie Myung and Ted Vadakan at Poketo in Los Angeles, California.

Ted and Angie's book Creative Spaces has just come out. You can find it through their website or at most bookstores.

Click on the links below for more information.

Their website for Poketo is, of course, poketo.com.

You can also follow them on Instagram @poketo.

Details about their book Creative Spaces and their upcoming book tour can be found on their website here.

Poketo has four retail locations in the Los Angeles area. Here is a list from their website.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

Work together with your artist friends to create popup shows. Think of what would sell and create something just for the show, like Ted, Angie, and their friends did when they first made artistic wallets to sell at their shows.
Look for exhibit spaces that you can rent cheaply for just a couple days so you can host a popup art show.
Attract people to the show by placing large art in the windows, but then make sure you have smaller affordable pieces in the show too.
If you’re doing a popup, and you’re not sure if it will just be one time only or a longer term project, give it a name so that you start with some branding. Ted and Angie called their very first popup Poketo, not knowing that it would eventually become an online store and then four physical stores.
When creating a line of products, gradually add more over time. Don’t add too many at once.
If you’d like to get your art products into stores, go to trade shows to pitch your work. Or just walk into stores and show them what you have. You don’t necessarily need to follow the traditional rules.
Ted and Angie found that offering a community space in their stores brought more people into the neighborhood. They offer workshops and still do popup events there.
Their new book called Creative Spaces includes profiles of over 20 different creatives from all over. If taking on a project where you’re meeting lots of people, consider making it a road trip that you go on to meet and talk to everyone. That will make it a much personal book than if you just talked to people over the phone or email.
Ted and Angie will be promoting their book through a book tour. In keeping with their style, as they have always done events, they will be making each event different. Some will have panel discussions, some will have workshops. Make your events uniquely your own.

Post category:Season 2 Show Notes

#115 Lucie Duclos: Surface Pattern Designer, Instructor, and Mixed Media Artist

Lucie Duclos is a graphic and surface pattern designer, illustrator, teacher and mixed media artist. She works with collage, watercolor, monoprints, and acrylics. She has worked in publishing and package design and illustration. You can find her surface pattern designs on Spoonflower and her mixed media art classes on Skillshare. She makes her home in Victoria, British Columbia.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Lucie Duclos

Lucie’s website is duclosdesign.com.

Her online classes are hosted through Skillshare, but you can use the links right on her website. She is offering two free months of Skillshare classes when you 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:

Make sure that you have time to make not only the art that is for clients, but also the art that is just for you.
Lucie has done some big projects where after she has hand drawn them, she scans them in as a vector image in Adobe Illustrator. This enables the drawing to be blown up as large as you want. She did this for a drawing that became a large mural.
If you’re thinking of moving to an area, consider applying for an art residency there first to see if you like it. That’s what Lucie did when she did a residency in Port Townsend, Washington.
An artist residency is also a good way to really concentrate on a project and get clarity on what you want to do, because you’ll have uninterrupted time to work on it.
Lucie teaches online classes through Skillshare. She likes that she is able to teach people from all over the world.
Skillshare is a subscription site, so as a student, you just pay a small monthly fee to gain access to all the classes.
Lucie likes to keep her classes to about 30 minutes long.
Repeat patterns are a design method you can use to develop fabrics or wallpaper. Spoonflower.com is a website you can use to upload your patterns and print products on demand.
Also on Spoonflower, other people can buy your designs in fabric, wrapping paper, or wallpaper.
Lucie uses Adobe Illustrator to create her surface patterns. You can also use ProCreate.
Lucie doesn’t buy papers for her collages, she uses the scraps that she’s created and are left over from other things.
You can get first notice of Lucie’s classes by getting on her email list.

Post category:Season 2 Show Notes

#114 Tammy Kanat: Weaving Sculptures in Australia

Australian artist Tammy Kanat makes beautiful art sculptures using a circular style of weaving. No two pieces are the same, and she’s constantly experimenting with different shapes and designs. We talk about how she developed her style, how she finds the different wools, and how she chooses her colors, textures, and patterns. Tammy mostly creates her pieces for commission work, but she is also getting her art into well-known galleries and collaborating with designers and spaces.

Listen here or use a podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Spotify, or Stitcher.

Tammy Kanat

Tammy’s website is tammykanat.com and her Instagram is @tammykanat.

Her artwork will be at the National Gallery of Victoria starting October, 2019.

To see other examples of Australian Art, visit The Design Files.

Here are some great takeaways from our conversation:

When you take something artistic and you commercialize it, the art piece is no longer just about the art, it becomes about the commercial purpose of the art.
Sometimes it’s helpful to just sit with something that is uncomfortable, like Tammy did when she wasn’t feeling the joy from making jewelry anymore. This allowed her to get the space to let something else come to her, which was her weaving.
When making art, learn the traditional methods and rules, but then bend and change them to make it your own art.
When Tammy is working on her art pieces, the frame is suspended from the ceiling or other things in her studio, and it’s often moving and swaying while she works. She likes that because the really likes the imperfection in things. She feels that in life we are always trying to control things, but it’s really ok to just go with the flow and let it be.
Let your environment and your mood choose your colors for a project.
When she does commissions, she feels that people get the best work from her if they just let her create something and they don’t put stipulations on the colors and shape and look of the sculpture. They need to just trust that she’ll do something from the heart.
Don’t get caught up worrying that what you do is craft and not art. More and more places are expanding those definitions and recognizing the skill involved in making certain things.
Look beyond traditional places for displaying your art, and think about collaborations you can do or design contests you can enter.

Post category:Season 2 Show Notes