This raccoon's name is Noah.  Isn't he swell?  I really enjoyed painting his portrait on one 8" tile.  In fact, I was so happy that I painted it before I got paid, which I never do.  I even paid for the frame the client ordered.  It will look beautiful in rosewood because I put some red touches in his fur so it would really pop.  It will look beautiful, on my wall.  He never paid nor answered my emails.  So now I have a nice tile for my studio wall.  Unless someone wants to buy it?  :)

Portraits of Two Goldendoodles on 8 Inch Ceramic Art Tile

I just finished two portraits on 8" ceramic tiles.The black goldendoodle is Lucy, the cream goldendoodle is Gus.  (I call him "Uncle Gus"  lol)

I just mailed this mural today, to a nice gentleman in Texas.  He is putting it in a black kitchen!  Doesn't that sound awesome?  I love it.  Sounds like someone who I would like to cook for ME haha.

This tile mural is from an 18th century penmanship lesson, used to teach the kids how to write with a crow quill pen!  Well, lemme tell ya, it was no easier with a brush lol.  The client had me do this one 15 years ago, and when they moved they wanted it in their new house, too.  How's that for loyalty?  I was afraid that getting older had compromised the dexterity of my brush hand.  But it turned out just fine, I am happy to report.

Brown Pelican

This is one 6" tile, another in the series of Florida Water Birds tiles I am painting for a client. I have really enjoyed this project, living in Florida as I do. When I told the client there were 480 birds in Florida, which ones did he want? He gasped, then said, "Do some water ones, you choose." That's what I like, letting me pick the ones I enjoy looking at lol.

Flamingo

Here is another tile in the Florida Water Birds series.

Great Blue Heron

This is one 6" tile of a series I am doing for a client, all Florida water birds.

New Style of Christmas Ornament

This is Jericho, a Bearded Collie! He is the first of my new line of Christmas ornaments, Purebred Dogs. The facial features on mixed breeds are too unique for a medium that allows NO mistakes or corrections, so I am doing only purebreds at this time.

Arctic loon

This is a 6" tile I just completed to go with the Canadian wilderness mural. It will be mounted in a cheese board, showing off the mural as a kitchen accent.

The mural is complete!

I am pleased and proud when I gaze at this huge mural laying out on my worktable. More importantly, the client is pleased. I was less than confidant when I began, as the recession had hit me hard. But the people were great to work with, which ALways helps, and I felt my old passion and confidence return almost immediately. I call it my masterwork, for several reasons, one of which is the slim likelihood I will ever do a project this huge again. Not because I do not want to---bring it on! :)

A Masterwork

Shame on me for sharing a project before it is completed, I have never done that before now. But I am so excited about this huge mural of a Canadian wilderness. It is a romantic place where a lovely couple got engaged, and I have gotten caught up in their excitement. I will post more images when it is finished. Wish me luck!

New Herb Basket Mural

I just finished a mural that has blue celadon field tile. I used that color all through the mural to show off the color, some you can see and some you can't.

Cool project in Austin

I've finished up a couple of cool tiles that are going to be installed on a bridge being built in Austin, Texas. More details to come (and hopefully my customer is happy enough to provide a testimonial). Happy new year! Work is picking up a bit, yay!

Almost the New Year!

My tile work has been excruciatingly slow in the last few months. I have a regular customer who asks me for two of my house tiles every year, and this time I forgot to snap pics of them for my portfolio. Rats. Ever have those times when you wish you could turn back time to fix those things big and small? I also wanted to ask her for a testimonial while there was still time to encourage holiday sales, but I didn't do that either.

Now's the time to admit to myself that I'm less the marketer and more the artist. Yes, yes, it's important to do both, but I'm a business of one (and 3/4, if you include my awesome husband G, and my social media marketing company, FunCity) and sometimes it's all just overwhelming. Grrr, if I had a nickel for every "missed opportunity."

But.

I have stayed on top of learning how to sew, which is brand new for me, and it keeps me feeling and moving creatively even when my tile business slows to a crawl. It's an amateur hobby for me, and I've become frustrated often. I made my sister a cool-looking shirt and her wife a bag to hold her crochet stuff for on-the-go. The pattern on the shirt didn't go over with fanfare, but the bag (quilted, six pockets, two handles) was a hit. She said she owns some of my tile that has the same southwestern feel. Here is a pic of my newest handiwork. Suggestions, comments?

Creativity can be a fickle bear. How do you feed your creative "monster"?

Bummer!

The tile showing at the library was cancelled; they moved me to March! I'm so disappointed. I had been trying to contact them, but lots of crossed wires, and I'd recently changed my phone number. So, moved to AFTER the Christmas season, which bums me out, but hoping that all the renewed activity on the internet will drum up some biz.

Can I be perfectly honest with you? I love holing up in my little house with my family and my sewing, gardening, and most of all having some tile to paint. I've done so much of it over the years, but every one is a new experience, a new life. I have no kids of my own, so I send these out into the world and hope they make me proud. :)

Ok, I just got all goober on you guys. Guys? You still out there?

Happy almost October. Love this fall season. I miss the changing leaves up in Pennsylvania where I used to live, but it's nice not having to worry about snowdrifts up to my eyeballs.

Hope everyone is doing well out there.

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.