Nancy Lefko is a mixed-media artist in New Hampshire. She is also, like me, a stay at home mom. So, I really identified with this great piece that she created while tending a sick child.
Be sure to check out Nancy’s blog and her Etsy shop.
Lyndon B. Johnson is quoting as saying the following to historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (in current issue of Newsweek Magazine):
“I knew from the start if I left the woman I really loved – the Great Society – in order to fight this bitch of a war (Vietnam) on the other side of the world, then I would lose everything at home. All my programs. All my hopes…All my dreams.”
I think this is the saddest, most heartbreaking statement. The regret in those words is palpable and powerful. I actually cried when I read these words.
I’m trying to think of a way to visually represent the power and loss behind these words.
I didn’t think I would become so business-minded when I decided to open an Etsy shop to sell the art that was beginning to pile up in my spare room. After all, doing artwork was fun — exhilerating even. What I didn’t understand was how huge Etsy is.
There are thousands of artists on Etsy, and the challenge is to get people, more specifically, buyers, to look at the stuff in your shop. So far, I’ve learned that you have to list new objects pretty much every day to stay visible. Second, I’ve found that experienced sellers are generous with support and tips if you ask. I browse through a few shops every day and identify the ones that are impressive, either with their art or with the way they have presented their art. I convo these guys, telling them specifically what I like about their shop. I have now joined two etsy teams – Collage Etsy team and Melange Etsy Team. Being on a team gives you a connection to artists who have similar artistic and marketing interests.
At this point, the biggest challenge for me as a new Etsy shop owner is learning to use internet technology to bring in customers. It seems that a successful seller must build a network of sellers. The old adage – there’s safety in numbers – could be rewritten in the virtual age as “there’s visibility in numbers.”
I’ve been reading Dan Brown’s new book, The Lost Symbol, so I’ve been thinking lately of symbols. I’ve also been reading Joseph Campbell on myths. In the past, I’ve always thought verbally – analogies, parables, myths – all these are written symbols. Words were the tools I tried to use to express myself.
Never before did I realize how powerful visual symbols can be and how rewarding it can be to express oneself visually. I found it to be a much different and profound expression.
That said, I don’t think I’ve quite got the hand of it yet. Two nights ago, as I was immersed in The Lost Symbol, I decided to delve into my own experiment with symbology. I found an image of a vintage-looking woman superimposed on the shadowy profile of a man. You don’t have to be Isaac Newton to get that. I glued that image in the center spot on my panel. Then, I found a few more image of stereotypical damsels looking longingly for something they could not possess and affixed those around the central image. I found an image of an audience and cut it into tiny pieces and scattered them around the whole piece — aren’t we always playing a role, us girls?
I added a few frilly images, and then affixed an image of Father Time. It was a short leap from this to the brass clock charms for which I’d never figured out a place and glued three of them about the piece. Who knew those little charms were biological clickers!
The final piece was of chaos. Perhaps I overdid. My first festival is in a couple of days and I think I may have drained my creative well for the moment. Still, I am reminded of an 8th grade English Class. Mrs. Benningfield was teaching us about symbolism. I wrote a story about a dog who had a special bone that he believed gave him special powers. He carefully buried the bone so that he wouldn’t lose it. He went about his life courageously, knowing that his powerful bone was in a safe place. One day he went to dig the bone up, but it wasn’t there. He had been courageous all on his own. He didn’t need special powers.
Heavyhanded, yes. But still a basically good message. Hopefully I will develop more finesse with my visual images just as I gained a certain degree with my verbal symbology.
May the force be with you.
Ruth's Arts and Letters 