August 2012 Merch Sample

See these items and more at our website:

etsy.com/shop/onewordgallery

One more day!

  There is just one more day after today to participate in the contest!! It has been an awesome experience doing this and thank you to everyone for participating. We will be doing another one for next month so continue spreading the word about our shop and blog. All the work you have done so far is very appreciated!! I'll make sure to take pictures of us picking the winner so check back on August 1st to see who won!!!
 --Nikki

Living the Dream

Close up of Smith's handmade flags. Check out how it is bound! He took special care to tie all the pieces together.

Smith's handmade party flags. They flutter so beautifully in the wind and look just like a school of fish all swimming together. 

Putting together my new earring series. It has been a blast coming up with new ways to apply my illustration.

Smith working hard, well into the night. Right now he is coming up with different prototypes for massager bags and other fun items. He makes them out of up-cycled scraps from a local car upholstery shop!

Smith's messy work stating. Notice the need for beers in order to create. :)

My work station. As you can see, I am much more organized...

I am trying to be better at making things in stages. These are the tops of some new earrings. 

A big photo of me, wearing one of my new necklaces.

This is the start of earring making. I have to cut up the wood into a bunch of little tiny pieces and get them all ready to be painted. 

New Ideas Come to Life!

           Summer is slow in the retail world, so we are using this precious time to stock up our store. There are so many updates to do, I am seeing Etsy tag words in my sleep! It is fun though, and it means we get to do the art we love. Here is an example of some new items in the store. Please check out the full list at http://www.etsy.com/shop/onewordgallery. Come back often, there is so much more to come!

Painting Process

We have a prime all the boards before we start. Nothing better then a blank slate!

Time to sketch it out!

Next is painting. We basically fill in the lines like a coloring book.

Here you can see me actually painting. I love the block coloring effect!

The painting before the outline. The difference is pretty crazy. At this stage everything is still pretty dull.

The finished product! I outline in India ink, so I still use a paintbrush.

   
 Happy 4th everyone! It's already the 5th, So I hope everyone had a good time. I was able to spend my day with minimal work. I hung out on Etsy for a couple hours, but by four, Smith and I were cruising downtown Tucson, on bikes, in the monsoon rain. It was a beautiful day!
     I have a newish painting up about bike riders. I took a few pictures of the process so I could show you how I work on all the original illustrations. It takes a while because each one is unique. I have to come up with a design, figure out how to execute it, and then actually create the damn thing. Keep an eye out for a lot of new items coming into the shop! I have a lot of plans for the holidays that I am SOO excited to share. I'll make sure to take a bunch of photos of those too. Have a great day guys! Cheers!

P.S. If you are planing on participating in the contest, please remember to comment on the blog telling me what you did. I get emails anytime someone comments, so it's a great way for me to be alerted and  keep track of what people do. I want to make sure everyone who participates gets their name in the jar!!

Prints Now Available!

"Bummer" by Smith Darby
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103365881/bummer-print-plane-crash-colorful-flight

"Falling Feathers" by Nicole Yvonne
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103365327/falling-feathers-print-bird-texture

"Big Foot Family Tree" by Nicole Yvonne
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103365134/big-foot-family-tree-print-forest

"Biker Gang" by Nicole Yvonne
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103364730/biker-gang-print-sonoran-desert-bicycle

"Mexico Shark" by Smith Darby
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103367342/mexico-shark-print-animal-abstract-red

 "Squid" by Smith Darby
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103368411/squid-print-ocean-abstract-animal-8x10

    Smith and I have just launched prints of all our art in the shop. Each print is an 8"x10" reproduction, printed on archival, matt, photo paper. They are signed and dated by the appropriate artist. Each print will come with a foam backing and plastic sleeve, packaged for safe shipping. I have attached a few example here. Check out the Etsy shop, link on the side of the blog, to see all of them!

    I have also been trying to keep my days a little more organized. Each day I have a primary focus. That way I don't waste time scrambling around from paint to computer. Wednesdays and Saturdays are going to be the update days. These are the primary days I will be uploading new art and writing on the blog. I still probably will be writing in between too... like today.... but lets not get too formal here. Sometimes I cannot help but share my new happenings! :) Thats about all. Thanks for stopping by today!

Hot Days and Giveaways

https://www.etsy.com/listing/103141243/falling-feathers-painting-modern-boho?ref=pr_shop

    This morning i woke up, nervous, but determined to meet some people. Smith and I talked about getting some real face time (what? The internet doesn't count?) with possible buyers around town. Because I'm the officially unemployed one chasing her dream, I needed to be the one to do it. This is hard for me. I love people, I don't mind public speaking, but meeting strangers in an intimate setting is awkward for me. I freak a little at the idea. But, today was the day, and I climbed into my car sans air-conditioning, headed to see a friend who promised to walk me through it. That was the first problem, we walked. Before we even stopped at a shop, we decided it was necessary to get some breakfast and ice water. No biggie, we'll just go after.
     As we walked out of the restaurant, bellies full and skin cooled, we were more optimistic. It took less than two minutes before we were both dripping wet with sweat. We made it to one place, asked around, learned the policies, the lady even said she loved my work! Awesome! One place down, where next? Well, maybe we should get coffee... So we trekked a couple blocks out of the way, through heat so heavy you drag your feet, to gather the energy we suddenly realized we needed. Check, coffee break a success, now where?
     We then, so intelligently, found ourselves wondering downtown for no where in particular. We always see boutiques down here right? Where did they go? Nope, no boutiques, little gift stores, anything, just another 10 degrees hotter. We finally gave up and headed ALL THE WAY back. I have no idea how far it was. If I was cool, then I would be ashamed of the struggle, but 5 steps equals 1 mile in 102 degree heat. We barely tripped our way home.
     So, unfortunately due to our bad planning, I do not have any awesome news about a boutique buying out our entire stock of merchandise. I do have good news though. One of the most important things I can do right now is get our blog and shop seen by as many people as possible. As an incentive to help us out, we are going to do a giveaway once a month. If you follow us, you get your name in the jar. If you pin/tweet/or facebook us and comment the link on our blog, you get your name in. If you recommend someone else to do one of those things, and they mention your name in a comment, than you (and your friend of course) get names in the jar. I want to thank everyone already for all the support and help. Above is the first prize for July, you can get info from the link!