Lots of Updates

I have a lot going on lately so here are some updates:

• International Cephalopod Awareness Days have ended. The giveaway and shipping special was a success. Jae has claimed her octopus and hopefully she loves it when it arrives.
  
• To make room for a new trilobite design I'm planning I've dropped the prices on the current design to $15. You can find them on Etsy and eCrater
• I've also lowered the prices on my gargoyle jewelry. I'm going to be completely discontinuing the line since it no longer really fits Noadi's Art very well. On Etsy and eCrater
• I'm working on a commission of 20 pins for a member of a Mardi Gras Krewe, very cool and fun.
• I sometimes have crazy ideas that I really want to make happen and one from this weekend is the Holiday Horseshoe Crab ornament so keep an eye out for that. It continues the theme from the Xmas Platypus of strange animal ornaments.
  
•  I created a new squidoo lens for my steampunk jewelry. It's been pretty popular lately so trying to get it a little more attention and making more multiples than I usually do.
• Made a dinosaur specimen jar. Might make more, haven't decided yet.

Valentine Surprise for a Friend

My best friend's husband showed his sweet side this Valentines Day. He asked me to make a Stone Bonds pin for his wife in their wedding colors which were blue and green.

This was just great to do, Danielle and I have been friends since kindergarten and me and her husband set up this up as a surprise. I had such a hard time keeping a straight face when I was at their place for the Super Bowl and she mentioned Valentine's Day and that her jewelry box looked awful empty.

New Gargoyle Series

I've been making the Gargoyle Pendants and Ornaments for some time now and people seem to like them. However I've been getting a little bored with making them so I wanted to have a little more variety. Since the next big holiday comign up is Valentine's Day I thought gargoyle couples would be cute. I haven't quite decided what I want to call them, my first though was Gargoyles in Love but I think they would work just as well for gifts between good friends as well so I'm not sure exactly what would fit.

This is just a quick photo, I'll take better lit ones for my website once I've finished adding all the jewelry findings and such. Check out the tails, I think that's especially cute. The only problem I see with these right now is the size, they are quite large, a little more than 2 inches across. I worry that it makes them too big to be worn as a necklace and maybe they would work better as pins or barrettes or just as ornaments? I'm not sure yet.

2007 Retrospective

So now that 2007 is nearly over it's time to start reflecting on what I've accomplished. Most likely I wouldn't have thought of sharing this if not for Troy McDevitt from the Clubhouse forums who posted a thread asking everyone to cram their 2007 portfolio into one 600x400 pixel image.

Now there's still a little while to go in 2007 so I have a few small projects that I may get finished before the end of the year but nothing significant. While I was compiling this I was able to reminisce over the creation of each piece, what I learned, and the progress I've made. With everything I sculpt there's always something in the end I know could be better but even so I'm really happy with the rate at which I'm improving. As long as I keep learning and improving that's what I think is the most important thing.

Going left to right from the top: Satyr (January), Octopuppy (January), Perma-Pets (ongoing series, started February), Squid (August), Odin's Runesong (September), Lionfish Mermaid (November), Baby Rat (May), Hatching Turtle (July), Frog Ornament (November), Cthulhu's Gems (ongoing series, started June), Cephalopod Pendants (November), Gargoyles (ongoing series, started May).

Doing a Good Deed

The local middle school always has a charity project for the year, where they pick a charity and do events throughout the year to raise money for it. Part of this is the annual charity art auction right before christmas. I've donated 2 pairs of gargoyle ornaments in decorative tins. I hope they're a hit!

This year they are raising money for the Pine Tree Camp, a camp in Rome, Maine, that gives children and adults with disabilities the chance to experience camp activities such as swimming, boating, and team sports. They are currently building Maine's first ever fully handicapped accessible treehouse! Which is just the coolest thing ever.

The auction will be December 12th at Telstar Middle School in Bethel, Maine, from 5pm-8pm. I'm going to try very hard to be there to talk to the kids running the show and see their artwork.

Random News

Been a busy couple weeks so I thought I'd catch you up on all the happenings.

New Artwork

So first up I've completed some new stuff. Biggest is completing a commissioned sculpture, it's a mermaid bust based on the lionfish holding a blue-ringed octopus (both are highly venomous). You can check it out here: Lionfish Mermaid

Also a new series of pendants based on my favorite sea creatures, octopus and squid. Click here for my Cephalopod Pendants.

Buying My Artwork

Since it's coming up on the holiday season I've launched a new section of my website that I've been thinking about for a while. You can now directly order some of my smaller pieces such as my gargoyle pendants and ornaments, cthulhu's gems, and cephalopod pendants. Soon I plan to add Perma-Pets as well. Please check it out: Little Gifts by Noadi.

Gawker Artists

Recently I was accepted for inclusion in Gawker Artists. Gawker Media uses their spare adspace on blogs like Gizmodo and Lifehacker to display a rotating gallery of artists and other website can also choose to display Gawker Artists as well. Now I'm all for promoting both myself and other artists so as you can see to the left I'm now displaying Gawker Artists here.

Trying to Figure Out the Whole Marketing Thing

I'm an artist, business just isn't something that comes naturally to me. So trying to figure out what I should produce to actually make a profit is difficult. Another problem is how much should I have in inventory? Hopefully I'll be able to figure this out before the show and festival that I'm doing.

What I've got so far.

Original one of a kind sculptures. These sculpts like my Wood Nymph, Satyr, and An tEach Uisce.

One of a kind sculpture series These are one of a kind sculptures that fit into a set theme. So far this only consists of my Perma-Pets.

One of a kind jewelry series. These are my Gargoyles and Cthulhu's Gems necklaces.

What I'd like to add.

First of all of course I'd like to increase the numbers of everything I have so far.

One of a kind sculpture series I'd like to come up with at least one more one of a kind series. So far I've got no ideas for this, I'm trying really hard to come up with something.

Cast sculptures. I have some resin and ordered some hydrocal and mold latex. I'd like to start with some small cast plaster pieces. One of the ideas I had was to expand on the idea of my Mermaid Bust and do a full figure. A baby Cthulhu has also been floating around in my head.

Larger scale sculpture. Odin's Runesong right now is my largest sculpture to date. I'd love to do some even larger work, in the 3-4 foot high range. Due to the limitations of the size of my oven any really big work would have to be either sculpted in sections in polymer clay, mixed media, or cast. I have a few ideas for this right now one is the Wild Hunt and also the Man in the Moon as a large moon globe that opens to show clockwork and a little guy operating it.

Future online sales.

Right now I'm focused on local sales, the festivals and gallery. I really hope to get into selling on ebay in the near future, I've set up my account and I'm looking at other sculpture auctions to see how I want to present mine. I think that ebay will probably be something that will remain in the works for a few months, the Moore Art Festival is August 11 so it will probably be after that. I just think trying to learn both things at the same time is just too much on my plate.