I’m now ready for Valentine’s Day with NINE Assemblage Art creations categorized as Heart Art. Each differs greatly from the others so you have a choice of color schemes and sizes. Take a look here for a full listing of my Heart Art pieces.

And now for the official description of Love Potions:

Although this Assemblage Art Canvas seems especially appropriate for Valentine’s Day, it’s a year-round piece of 3D wall art. Giving a nod to the steampunk era, it spells love with its center plaster red heart and Love Potion bottle as well as the Cinderella type coach and the embossed “maiden fair” medallion.

With its salute to love, I’ve named it Love Potions. The background is made up of many layers of stenciled texture paste, gauze, and paints with metallic spritzes finishing it off. Its colors are primarily bronze, purple, red, and copper (or shades thereof) and the colors change slightly with the light.

Vintage found objects include: filigree rhinestone bracelet (that circles the heart), beaded flowers, metal king’s cross, button, and miscellaneous jewelry pieces. Newer items include: love potion bottle, plaster heart, maiden medallion, gears, paper rose, floral cabochons, metal coach charm and embellishments, and beads. There is also a bit of tree bark which has been treated to assure the absence of pests.

Hangers are attached and, while I prefer the no-frame look, Love Potions is ready for framing. This piece will also display nicely on an easel.

Dimensions: 12” x 12” x 1.75″

Original article updated Nov, 2017 to include current status – SOLD

All art sold at Art Creations by Vicky are the work of artist Vicky Hensley and are one of a kind.

 

It’s getting closer to Valentine’s Day so another day of Heart Art! This time it’s part of my Mini Assemblage Art line and may be my favorite Mini Art piece to date.

Now for the official description…

This delightful piece is part of my Mini Assemblage Art line as well as my Heart Art line and, I must admit, it’s one of my favorites! A perfect Valentine Day’s gift, it measures 5.50″ x 2.625″ with a depth of .375″ and not only hangs but displays nicely on an easel as well. On a rectangular chipboard, the background starts with texture paste that has been stamped with various designs and then finished off with a number of paints and spritzes.

The assemblage artist uses smaller items (found objects) to create a larger art piece. Found vintage items include a portion of a beaded flower and the white flower button. Mostly this piece has newer embellishments including wooden heart, metal heart bezel, quote charm, metal gears, miscellaneous metal adornments, and various beads. It comes with an attached hanger.

Dimensions: 5.5” x 2.625” x .375″

$22.50

Available at Amazon Handmade

or

Available at Etsy

All art sold at Art Creations by Vicky are the work of artist Vicky Hensley and are originals – one of a kind. 

January is my month to start creating gourd artwork once again. I tend to work in one medium and forget the other. The last ten months I’ve been so wrapped up in my assemblage art work that my gourd tools have just stared at me from their lonely work station. One of my goals for 2017? Create assemblage art and gourd art at the same time!

What better way to reboot my gourd line than spending time with my dear friend and gourd artist (who inspired it all) Dani Montoya of Yellow Cottage Studios in Poteau, Ok. I was so fortunate to discover Dani – a gourd artist who also excels as a teacher. I’ve spent hours in her studio cutting, drilling, staining, burning, and carving gourds since 2015.

The lesson I chose for our time together? Weaving the edges of gourds. I learned several weaving methods in gourd classes during 2015 but it just didn’t stick. And I usually made a mess of it causing Dani to laughingly ask more than once, “How did this get all tangled up like this?!” We’d look over at my Aunt Don or sister Mary who would be just weaving away (and almost finished) and Dani would patiently advise me to start over once she’d untangled everything. 🙂

I had in hand three practice gourds from Welburn Gourd Farm. Welburn is the supplier I use for gourds despite their California location. One of the items you’ll find for sale is a box of practice gourds and pieces. That means you’ll receive gourds that may be cracked or have a hole on the bottom or even half a gourd but all that makes for great practicing. I don’t go to the trouble of cleaning out and painting the inside of the gourd.

After I weave the edges of these three practice gourds, I’ll then use them to test stains, practice carving and insetting cabochons, and (the hardest for me) burning designs.

It’s always wonderful to visit with Dani and we talked about more than just gourds. Dani now concentrates on creating her pottery designs and sells in her Poteau shop as well as in her Etsy and Amazon Handmade shops. So, we talked (and I learned) about the mysterious (and laborious) steps one must take to sell on those two online sites. It’s far more difficult than just turning out lovely artwork. And it’s more than just learning what it takes to have Etsy and Amazon Handmade pull your creations up on a search. It’s all about Google! There are algorithms and such to learn and follow if you want folks seeing your artwork.

I did spend time actually weaving and I’ll return later this month to have a refresher course on pine needle weaving. Also planned are times for me to work on carving and burning under Dani’s direction while she creates her pottery (you need to check it out!)

Thanks Dani!

Vicky

 

 

Blooming Creativity – just seeing this work on my art studio wall inspires me and I simply love its quote!

creativity (n): the ability to use, or explore the imagination, to design and express ideas

Yes, creativity is the theme of this assemblage art piece on stretched canvas. I found its center flower at an estate sale – a chandelier embellishment. Its previous owner had made rather extravagant chandeliers and I was lucky to pick up a number of such pieces for my assemblage art work.

Assemblage is all about making a larger art piece from a number of smaller pieces. My assemblage work is on canvas rather than free standing.

Found vintage items include: buttons, trim, and chandelier flower. New items include (but not limited to): floral cabochons, paper roses, cutout heart, gauze fabric, gears, leaves, clock face, metal embellishments, and creativity quote charm. The polymer clay heart embossed with script was fashioned by yours truly. The background has multiple coats and spritzes of paint with a crackle design as well as stenciled modeling paste. The depth of the overall design is 1.50″.

Attached hangers for wall hanging. Although I prefer the no-frame look, this is ready for framing. I occasionally frame an Assemblage Art piece and the end result can be stunning. This piece will also display nicely on an easel.

Dimensions: 10” x 8” x 1.50″

Original article updated Nov, 2017 to include current status – SOLD

All Assemblage Art pieces sold at Art Creations by Vicky are original works from artist Vicky Hensley.

 

Recently I’ve started participating in several Etsy seller groups. I’m learning that I can influence sales by using the right tags and titles for each of my items. It’s confusing and I won’t attempt to explain it here but it has made me more aware of the art of selling – something I’ve always considered myself rather good at. I’ve discovered that I have a lot to learn from these groups. But even more important is the confidence these groups inspire – I am doing many things right.

One of the moderators of a sales group targeting handmade business is Kateland Kelly of Copywriting for Creatives. She specializes in just that – writing copy for handmade items and other similar topics essential to the small business owner who creates and manufactures their inventory. She asked the question a few days ago, “What’s your word?” And then followed up with “I want everyone to think about their word for 2017. It should be something that inspires you, empowers you, and describes what your year will be.”

Choosing my word for 2017 was easy – fulfilled. To more fully describe…

Fulfilled – satisfied or happy because of fully developing one’s abilities or character

See, 2015 was my year of change. It was the year I chose to quit writing for a literary site 30-40 hours a week. It was the year I boldly started calling myself an artist and allowed myself the time to actually create art. In the ten previous years, my art studio had been a place I wandered to when I had the time. I loved spending time in my art studio. I loved planning my next art project. I loved reorganizing my wonderful studio. But as one of those people who is always busy, the time I spent actually creating art was much lower than I wanted to admit. So 2015 was the year I turned 10 hours of creating a month into 20 hours a week. Ten hours became eighty hours. A big transition – let me tell you – even though it was one I highly desired and I had a void to be filled.

2016 was all about balance. How much time did I allot to grandchildren, friends, my husband, and the drudgery of housework compared to creating my artwork? It was all about making my artwork a part of every day yet still allowing ample time for the other important aspects of my life. But to balance my life, I had to learn new skills to lessen the pressure of committing to new responsibilities for marketing my artwork.

So, in 2016, I learned photography – using my Canon Rebel for the first time and being thrilled with the results. I still have a long way to go but I can handle the basics for listing my art pieces. I’ve learned to turn my pictures into promotional pieces and collages. I’ve created a way to sign my work that doesn’t interfere with the design. I’ve developed banners and avatars for cards and stamps to easily carry my look beyond the digital world. I have the basics of packing and shipping down so I can enjoy delivering my art to buyers in a pleasant and creative manner. And I’m learning about those dang tags coordinating with titles. Some of my effort seemed to be wasted (although I learned – so no true waste!) when I spent hours creating a watermark (and adding to all my photos) only to discover that Amazon doesn’t allow watermarks and in general they limit your exposure online especially with the likes of Google Shopping. And I’ve learned so much more. But for the most part, I’m comfortable running my two shops – Etsy and Amazon Handmade as well as my website.

Looking back, I see 2015 as a time of confusion and a feeling of “Will I ever get it all done?” whereas 2016 was a time of marking those tasks/learning experiences off my list one by one. Many thanks go out to my sisters – first Mary for helping me build my website and second, Janey, who supports me from afar – reposting my Facebook posts, brainstorming with me, and even buying my product. I now understand that the twenty hours that I spend weekly on my art projects doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll be in the studio creating art that entire time. Part of that time will be used photographing items and then listing for sale. Part of that time is spent educating myself on this world of selling handmade products.  Many weeks, time dedicated to my handmade enterprise averages 30 hours or even more. But I love it all which leads to my 2017 word.

Fulfilled – that’s what I’m believing for 2017. It’s all about continuing to see my dream unfold.  Am I selling all the art I envisioned? Yes and no, but I’m on that road. I also have 2017 goals – some personal and others having to do with running my two little shops. But the anxiety of change – of the many steps required to move from my 2015 decision to where I’m at now – is a thing of the past.

Fulfilled doesn’t just mean reaping that which I’ve worked to obtain – it also contains a challenge. It’s a New Year’s resolution of sorts to remember that I am already fulfilled and living life as I always dreamed when faced with some difficulty in 2017. Worries or discouraging events wane when compared to the joy of my every day life. And my little handmade art endeavor adds yet another layer of joy to my foundation of family, friends, faith, and Mother Nature.

Happy New Year!

Vicky