In This Month's Blog:
If your planning on being creative, no matter what you are producing, you need to know what's trending especially if you want to sell more artwork, painted furniture, crafts, or fiber art, you still need to create the kind of art that is important to you so pick and choose from the trends I have researched and make the little adjustments that may bring you more sales this year. Let's get started.
You will see that vibrant colors are still trending into 2024. You will find them in eye catching floral patterns. Think 70's-80's rather than older vintage. Retro floral prints and geometric designs will be popular along with classic stripes, polka dot, and animal prints and some plaids. Some experts are predicting a return of both the 50's and 80's.
Abstracts, contemporary, and modern styles will continue to be popular styles of art. Over sized abstract are going to be big as in go big or go home. Look out for 3-D art trending in sculptural elements that seem to leap off the wall. We will be seeing more texture in
paintings as artist are recycling and embracing tactility and texture. This will include a rise in mixed media art and creations that appeal to the eye and touch.
Nature returns to create a sanctuary from an overstressed world. Think nature inspired botanicals and landscapes. Look for mountains, tranquil seascapes and botanical studies.
We will be seeing blue-greens and sky-blue hues as trending colors popping up in these nature inspired pieces.
Now we have to talk about AI creativity. The integration of AI in artwork as some artist shift to AI to collaborate with their artwork. This will create a whole new category of art. I feel we all need to learn more about AI to see the pro and cons and make are choices as whether to include it in our artwork. Side note, be careful when creating AI digital art. Read the fine print and make sure you retain the copyright to your art.
Now before we get to creating, we need to lay a foundation for the year and what kind of art we are going to create and how. Yes, I'm talking about a business plan. Have you finished yours yet? If you're in business for yourself you really need one. I have avoided doing one the first few years mainly because I didn't know were to start.
Last year I used Dionne Woods's business plan. She did a video masterclass in 2023 for her group. I watched it several times to form the outline of my business plan. If you want a more involved business plan you can download her free business plan from her website at The Turquoise Iris. It's pretty much the same one she talked about in her masterclass last year and will give you more forms for all aspects of your life.
The business plan I outlined from her class did help me stay on track for the year and I reached the majority of my goals. So this year I started the day after Christmas and used the
same business plan outlineI made from her masterclass again for 2024. I finished it New Year's weekend. To me a plan was something I did not know how to utilize or even how to put one together. If this is you and you have never used one or just starting out in business you will want to think about doing one. It can be very simple to start out with. A few simple lists that you can hang in your studio to keep you on track.
Why a business plan? It organizes you. It can be a simple list of goals for the year. You can further breakdown your goal list down by month. This way you can re-evaluate at the end of each month. If the goal you didn't achieve is still important enough to move to the next month or on a list for future consideration.
Need an example? Okay, say you paint furniture. How many large pieces will you do a month? How many small pieces will you recycle and paint? Do you also paint Christmas ornaments? How many could you paint a month so you're not doing a big push before the holidays and feel overwhelmed. See how this list of goals can organize you and show how much you can realistically expect to produce in a month. This will also give you an estimate of how much money you can expect to make each month. It will also show you that if your big pieces are not selling you may want to adjust your goals the next month and concentrate on your small recycling pieces or increase other revenue streams that are selling well.
Revenue stream is another list you'll want to have. Revenue streams are the things you are producing. let's use the artist painting furniture. Your revenue streams are your large pieces of furniture pieces, your small recycled pieces, paint, brushes and decoupage papers you sell.
The list of revenue streams helps you also see what sells best and what makes you money each month. You'll know then how to adjust what revenue to concentrate on and what revenue streams make you the most money each month. The revenue stream list also let you add future revenue streams.
I have done the lists for you to fill out the downloads are available below. I call it the Baby
Step List Business Plan. I'm also including two costs sheets. One for general item cost sheet and the other one for artwork. You can't set a good retail price if you don't know how much money it costs to make your projects. Plus if you include the name and a photo of the piece you will have a good record of what you made each year and how much to raise your prices as you gain experience. You can go old school and keep a copy in a binder or keep a file of them in your computer. I'm sure there may be other costs that I didn't include for whatever your business is. Use these costs sheets as a guide to create your own lists.
These Baby Step lists are a small simplistic way of getting you started in organizing yourself from month to month and also to see what your expenses really are and how much income is coming in each month. Keep these sheets from year to year so you can see where your business is going from one year to the next. Then when you're ready you can move to a more expanded business plan that includes self care, , health, and whatever else you include in your lifestyle. This Baby step list approach is to dip your toe in the water and get a feel for planning your business. I hope these list help you get your feet off the ground and reaching your dreams in the sky. Look under Freebies for the downloads.
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Freebie/Drawing Template:
The Baby Step Business Plan Lists include and an introduction sheet, goal list, revenue list, general item coat sheet and an artwork cost sheet.
Craft Idea: Demo Video
This moth's craft idea is a Valentine's card for your special person. I used Golden Fluid paints, but use what you have. You will need to thin them if they're heavy body to a water color-like consistency. Specific colors do not matter other than the mixing white (which is the Winsor and Newton color of white I used. It is also know as zinc white. It's a transparent white. If you don't have it, you can just do your background with a loose wash of color instead. Other than the I used a titanium white also, ultramarine blue (a red blue), phythalo blue, a red, and cad yellow light. My card is a 5x7" blank greeting card.
Tips/Books:
Pantone 2024 color is Pantone 13-1023 Peach Fuzz. Not sure I would have chosen this name but it is a beautiful soft color and don't we all need some softness in our lives.
"In seeking a hue that echoes our innate yearning for closeness and connection, we chose a
color radiant with warmth and modern elegance. A shade that resonates with compassion, offers a tactile embrace, and effortlessly bridges the youthful with the timeless."
Leatrice Eiseman (Executive Director, Pantone Color Institue)
What I'm Working On:
January is a hard month for most of us to get back to our routines. After the Holidays and all the overwhelm it's hard to get started again. If you're a creative you have to come up with
new inspiration and getting your creative memory muscle and skills back intact. But it's now time to get back to business.
Myself I'm putting my studio back together and orgainizing it into work stations. I have some new small cabinets going around my utility sink area and am reorienting everything else into work stations so there is only one area to cleanup after a project. My other goal is to plan out next month's projects. I seem to find the need to go about my creativity in a more organized way. If I plan out far enough while I'm feeling creative then maybe I can avoid getting stuck for down the road, at least this is the pan. We shall see how it works out. I hope you have set your plans and goals for the new year into motion and reach for that creative star in the sky.
New on my website:
I'm so excited my website is in the process of being revamped with a whole new feel. I'm not
quite sure when we will see the new format but I'll keep you informed.
I have a lot of Woodubend molds, and Posh Chalk products: decoupage papers, tools and brushes to upload to my website also. My present sale ends the end of January and the next sale will be sometime in the Fall. Hugs to you my friend.
inspirational Quote:
Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace.
Old French Proverb
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Hugs my friends
