The business side of things

I've been getting my glazes and such organized for the busy season. With the economy, the busy season has been more of a "meh" season, but I'm hoping a couple of discounts may encourage folks to consider my tile art as gifts.

I've got side tables, trays and trivets to sell as gifts. Email me if you want to know more. I don't advertise them as widely as the art I do for murals, but I do them. Unique and practical too.
My little brother Jay is moving to Florida soon from Texas. He's buying a house not far from us - he'll be moving over probably mid-October. It's a great buy, but I'm not sure if he's going to want any remodeling work or not.

New News: I've hired a social media marketing company, FunCitySocialMedia.com, to help me get my tile biz kick-started into the holiday season. Marketing is really tough, and even though I've been working on my own business for more than two decades, I've always found that reaching out to people who might already need me or looking for "their" tile artist has been difficult. I'd rather just paint tile, you know? lol The marketing is tiring and relentless! But I can't just keep selling to my friends and family over and over. (Well, I can - come on, sisters!) Some of you know about my dog training book too, but that's a different blog. :)

Anyway, let me know what you think about my facebook business fan page, and twitter page. I think they did a pretty good job, but the proof is in the pudding, right? Do a fb search on Dy's Art Tiles and on Twitter it's username dyztilz.

Take care. As my little sister Andi ALWAYS reminds me, "It's almost Christmas!" even in June. Oy.

Art show for the month of October

The Belleview Branch Library up the road from me sponsors an artist every month. They offer space and display casing for works by local artists. I frequent the library quite often and was thrilled when they got this one built last year. It's closer than the Ocala library for sure with a lot of fun, new appointments. Several lovely pieces of pottery were set up around and I asked from whence they came. Turns out people come to them to "interview" their works and she loved some of my tile pieces. I'll be showing several of my unsold pieces - they will be distributed throughout. If you are local, please stop by and check out my stuff - and a book, for that matter - at the Belleview Branch Library http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=6632068192593628695&q=belleview+branch+library&gl=us throughout the entire month of October. Stop back by here to comment on what you saw, or my facebook biz page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=127755773924322&sk=basic

I haven't sold myself on here in a while, so if you're looking for unique holiday gifts for your closest friends and family, remember that I custom-make hand-rolled ornaments of your beloved home - send me a pic of your house by Nov. 30 and I'll have your personalized, lifelong memento to cherish by Dec. 15. FREE SHIPPING TOO! (They're light - what can I say, I'm a giver. lol) $95 for a one-of-a-kind gift.

Almost Friday, peeps! I'm sewing something cool, too. Who wants to see pics of my handiwork? Don't everyone raise their hands at once now ...

I Won a Contest lol

This is the colored pencil drawing of a mother mallard and her ducklings that won a contest for me on Fine Art America.com last week called "Your Best Ducks" haha. These little contests are a good way to move your art around the site and people get to see it. Most are artists too, but hey, ya never know, right? I am trying to promote my tile work in this miserable recession, so I win a contest with a colored pencil drawing. Go figure. (Like Monty Python says, "No pleasing some people." haha) Anyway, even without prizes, it feels GOOD to win a contest.

Bunny Portrait

Every time I gt a client who loves their pet enough to get it immortalized on tile, it makes me want one of my own. Something soft and cuddly....like this lovely bunny, but most likely an older dog who probably wont get adopted, I am into rescue. Everyone should adopt their pets from a shelter, there is one for everyone. Go to Petfinder.com.

A New Tile Installation

This image is a lovely installation of a tile mural I did of a Scottish castle where the client was born. Cool, eh? I mean being born in a castle, silly.

Here is a different angle of the same mural. Great job they did. I love it when my clients send the pictures they take for me. Reminds me, I have to go get these on my web site too. Later, gators.

Close-up of "The Golden Hills of California"

Here is a close-up of the above mural. They have done a beautiful job with the installation. It helps to have a gorgeous home too, eh?

Happy 2010!

I know I have been remiss writing on my blog, but the recession has hit me hard. I would love to know how other tile painters have been doing, if they somehow still have had work in the last two years, or if, like me, they have busied themselves with other projects. I have concentrated on my garden, making it self-sustaining for the days when I can no longer maintain it at the level I do now.

Here are some lovely photos a clent sent me of a mural I did for them. It is of the golden hills of California, and she told me that the "golden" part is because the grass is totally dead! They get no rain and all the grass turns gold. Out on the east coast, it's just called "dead". lol

Famous Goat

This is a portrait of "Bentley", a pet goat. You may have seen him a few times on Animal Planet, doing his tricks.

Here are two portraits in the same family. These are great people, they adopt retired racing greyhounds and give them very happy homes. This is "Abu" and "Stripe", obviously not greyhounds lol. Some families need a lot of dogs to capture all the love they have to give.

Happy New Year!

This was a huge challenge, piecing together from a million images on a fabric, the client and I created a nice mural in the French Toile style. It doesn't look complicated, but it sure was.

I am getting ready to have one of two surgeries on my leg. The first is to remove the hardware and screws from when I broke it two years ago. The second is to give me a new knee joint. I am scared but excited. Just to be able to walk again.....maybe this is the year!