Thanks a HOLE PUNCH

I have shared before that one of the little "BRANDING" touches that I use when packaging up my art sales is what I call my "FARM CONFETTI".  I have invested in a couple of paper punches and my favorites are of a cow, a pig and a small heart.  Farm animal paper punches are hard to find and I would LOVE to add a Goat and a Chicken paper punches to my little collection.  You would think these companies would realize how popular farm animals are and get on the "HAY WAGON" and make more designs.

The pig punch is my favorite but, while the PUNCH BUNCH paper punch plunks out pink pigs proficiently (I dare you to say that fast 10 times) it is rather stiff and puts a real strain on the old carpal tunnel.   

On the Punch Bunch website,  they actually sell a lever device that they call their POWER PUNCH for a whopping $60 bucks.  I love my pink pig paper confetti but not that much!

After showing my husband the picture of the "Power Punch", he decides that the thing for him to do is to make me one from all his scrapes of things he has lying around in his garage.  So while it might not be as "PRETTY" as the one selling on the Punch Bunch website, this device works just as well.  

I can now PUNCH PINK PIGS to my hearts content.  I just have to say that my husband is so supportive of my artwork that I just had to do some BRAD BRAGGING today.  THANKS A HOLE PUNCH HONEY!

Coloring Anyone?

 Who likes to use coloring books?

I've decided that I'm going to work on publishing a coloring book that will contain primarily my "Wash Tub" series along with other farm animal related drawings that I have done. I'm kind of excited and nervous about this project but I have over 32 pages designed and now I just need to scan them and make edits to each page. Then I have to work on designing the front and back cover along with the first few inside pages. This is going to keep me pretty busy. I would LOVE to have this book ready to sell on my Etsy Shop by Christmas but we shall see about that.

I think I also want to include small thumbnails of my completed artwork so that there is a coloring suggestion for how the finished page could look. My thoughts here are that while the images are simple enough for children to use, that with proper attention to shading and techniques, these drawings can be enjoyed by adults. Does that make sense?

The BIG learning curve will come to play when I work on getting the book published. I'm going to research the KDP self publishing arm of Amazon. I was listing this week to "Coffee with Ronnie" of Ronnie Walter Biz Coach for Creatives this week and that was one of her topics. It was like she was talking straight to me. I have tons of drawings already so for me it is really a matter of getting them edited and organized. I'm hoping she decides to offer a small Zoom class just to help those interested in see their book published. I've already sent her a message to add me to her list.

Anyone already have experience with publishing a coloring book? I'm sure this will be a blogging topic of mine for quite sometime. I would LOVE to hear your opinions and suggestions.

I Didn't Know My Artwork was so POLITICAL

This past week I experienced, in just a tiny measure, the world's sad state of affairs when  a comment about a post I shared in a farmhouse decorating group had me scratching my head.  This nation's political division, for the first time, raised it's ugly head in my studio.  

Don't get me wrong,  I have very strong political opinions, but I work hard to keep all that off of my Facebook studio artwork page.  I feel that this world lacks joy, and that a great deal of what is passed around Facebook is more like throwing rotten vegetables in a pot to stir up unrest and create division.  So I feel strongly that my online mission is to share art that brings people back to a happy place where they, even for a brief moment, forget all the junk going on in the world and just smile.  So how could I possible, in drawing a cow and some watermelon have made what can be construed as a political statement? 

I created this drawing that I titled "One in a Melon" to be my July 2021 artwork in the calendar that I have been working on.  What says July and summer more than fresh watermelon, cows and the American Flag?  Well obviously I wasn't thinking straight because here is the comment I received after sharing this artwork in one of the many farmhouse groups I belong to:

"Thinly veiled political statement, much"  and a second person chimed in "My thoughts too".  I read and reread that comment, and for the life of me could not understand what she was referring too.  While it is just one comment, I felt it important enough to understand what about this image prompted that statement.  I shared this question on my studio art page and received an explanation that is probably accurate.  My artist friend felt that the "RED BLANKET" under the flag was a promotion of "the GOP".  She is probably correct in her critique of what this comment was about but let me tell you that this of course was not my intention.  

Do you remember way back in elementary art class when we learned about the color wheel?  Do you remember the each of the primary colors of Red, Blue and Yellow have a complimentary colors?  Red and Green, Blue and Orange, Yellow and Violet are all complimentary of each other.  I can tell you that this art rule was my whole motivation for picking a "RED" blanket to lay my "GREEN" watermelons on.  LORD what has the world come too?  

The post never got ugly or any more negative.  She liked my explanation that the image was not political and that this was a COW under the flag and not an elephant or a donkey.  LOL!  

To end my little rant here, I do want to share with you that this week I made my 2021 calendar available for purchase and this drawing along with 11 other "Wash Tub" images look great.  I hope 2021 is a better year than this year has turned out to be and having my funny wash tub artwork to look forward to is just a tiny contribution to that end on my part.  Here is the link to the calendar on my ETSY SHOP if you want to order one for yourself or for a friend. 

Cover Artwork for my 2021 calendar

JULIE TOWNSEND STUDIO ON ETSY