1000 Facebook Likers giveaway!

WOW.

It's hard to believe that my little business has over 1000 likers. How did that happen?

Well, it certainly didn't happen overnight. While Facebook is an exponential marketing tool, it doesn't work without some serious input. My husband can attest to the fact that I'm on it a lot: sometimes just browsing, but more often than not, networking. Visiting other pages and liking them so that their 100, 500, 2000 fans are exposed to my products. What's that saying: 'it's a hard job but someone has to do it'! At the end of the day, the more sites you introduce your products to, the more fans will eventually come your way.

And they have! An enormous 'thank you' to all of my likers, and followers, and to everyone who has posted a 'shout out' for me over the past 18 months -- especially to those who posted regular, full-of-praise, shout outs. You know who you are. I am indebted to you all.

As an indication of my gratitude, I'm giving away Kitchen Owl #339 'Music maker' (his eyes include tambourine jingles) to one of my regular visitors. To be in it you just need to say that you'd like it by posting a comment at the bottom of this post.

This year is flying by so fast I'm not sure how many of the new ideas I'd like to try will be possible but please keep your eyes out for some diversifying in the latter half of this year. Inspiration abounds and I'm surrounded by it through this online community. Thanks.

Please continue to support my fledgling business -- it's much appreciated!

Your humble Owl lady. ;o)
R

Small print:

If for any reason you have difficulty posting here, I'll accept a comment below my FB link to this blog post as an entry. Overseas fans shall not be excluded, but I beg for your patience as shipping overseas would be per sea mail. i.e. painfully SLOW.

One door closes & another one opens...

My motto in life is 'you need to be prepared for anything' and that's pretty much what's happened: ‘anything’. A planned display of my work which was to be in place at the Sydney Opera House in the Avant Card 'We love 3D' stand from March 12 to April 12 sadly didn't go ahead but there's still hope that something will work out through Avant Card whose stand it was that was to house my owls. I had set aside a number of owls to place in its lovely perspex space on the top of the stand so as they're not going to end up there I thought I'd arrange a selection of them here for your online enjoyment.

'Shock, horror!' -- Kitchen Owl Series #263 **AUD$65 15 x 21cm

'Golden girl' -- Kitchen Owl Series #247 **AUD$55 9cm

'Pixie' -- Kitchen Owl Series #222 **NFS 5.8cm

'Frank' -- Kitchen Owl Series #266 **AUD$55 11 x 35cm

'Little sweetie' -- Kitchen Owl Series #269 **AUD$55 8cm

'Faithful?' -- Kitchen Owl Series #271 **AUD$70 ~17.5 x 15.5cm

'Blush' -- Kitchen Owl Series #272 **AUD$65 ~15cm

So, the door that opened, although not quite as illustrious, was in the form of an exhibition of a number of artists from MREAM (Maribyrnong River Edge Art Movement) held at NMIT Preston Campus' 'A Space Gallery'. The exhibition opening event on Facebook has all the requisite details if you can manage to swing by. Displayed en mass my selection of Kitchen Owls looked fabulous (and, yes, I say so myself!) A number of those intended for the Avant Card stand at the Opera House made it to here, but not all. I can see Frank, I can see...

If you have time, the exhibition is on until Friday 29 April 2011 and is open from 9-4pm.

Catching my breath!

Lots of excitement around here over the past month or so. A whirlwind time was had late June preparing calendar designs for 2011 before presenting them to Readings in Carlton with the hopes of some being ordered. I came out of an incredible meeting with the rep there with orders for 160 calendars (4 types: 40 of each) and 60 cards (10 types: 6 of each). Wooo hoooooo (exactly what I yelled out -- not being able to contain it -- walking down Lygon St after the coup)!! They will be stocking one calendar that was in store there for the 2 weeks before Christmas last year (Details in Nature II), another calendar overflowing with incredible colour, both natural and colour manipulated, called 'Vibrant Colours', a third with a seaside theme including some beach boxes from Mornington beaches called 'Sand and Sea' and my 'Kitchen Owls' calendar -- filled with 24 of my assemblage sculpture creations. Now to work out the best way to get them produced so I make some money and it doesn't just turn into a marketing exercise!

Other great news includes the cube I now have at In.cube8r: champion to around 90 Melbourne artists. I rent the glass cube on a monthly basis and fill my cube with whatever product I wish (obviously they have vetted mine and all other artists' work). I currently have 12 owls and 3 mini blocks (photographs) on display. Go in and check it out sometime: they have some wonderful work all made in Oz.
In.cube8r
321 Smith St, Fitzroy

My owls have flown into Ojas Handcrafts in Clifton Hill

Exciting news: Focus on Art, in the form of 11 Kitchen Owls, have made a breakthrough onto the retail scene. A long overdue visit to Ojas Handcrafts (at 344 Queen St, Clifton HIll), resulted in some adoptions and they are now the proud owners of owls #31, #47, #48, #50, #53, #55, #58, #59, #63, #66 and #75. If you would like to see which owls these are, check out http://good-times.webshots.com/album/575948722JEguIc?start=96. All owls in this album which have comments are no longer available from my market stalls (either sold, in a gallery, or retail outlet).

Focus on Art™ supports educational projects in Kenya

This coming weekend, Focus on Art™ is very proud to be supporting the Vanessa Grant Trust (VGT). To find out more about the VGT and make a donation of your own click here.

Three of our new owls will be flying up to Sydney, accompanied by Felicity Kingsford, for a fundraising dinner in support of this worthy charity. Sugar & spice #73, Why? #67, and Clueless #71, all owls completed in the past week, will be under the hammer in live and silent auctions, helping to raise money for sorely needed furniture, educational aids, library books and computers. Fingers crossed that they fetch some good money!

New market on trial this Sunday -- Rose St Artists' Market, Fitzroy

Well, I've been enjoying the freedom of the school holidays but *not* the absolute shambles resulting in my house at the end of a few days of playing at home. I'm therefore looking forward to some time to create a little order here once school goes back. Not too much, mind…

Tara's 7th birthday at the beginning of Easter was a highlight of the holidays, along with our present to her, 'Cats', a couple of days prior. It was a distinct pleasure to enjoy her absolute delight at the theatre (luckily not solely due to the kitch, plastic martini glass with the lit stem that constantly changed colour -- "you may take it back to your seat but you must switch it off before the 2nd act begins". Never fear, it was only a non-alcoholic slushy!).

Easter down on the Mornington Peninsula helping to celebrate a wedding and take some photos of the occasion was fun with additional highlights of a judged Easter Bonnet Parade and Easter Egg Hunt at Uncle Martin & Aunt Yvette's caravan park on Easter Sunday. Tara's eyebrows shot up when, on arriving at Granddad's place, the Easter Bunny hadn't yet been as he was "incredibly busy delivering eggs all over the world"! A weak excuse which has helped to convince her that the Easter Bunny, along with that guy in red who turns up at Christmas, aren't real. Let's face it: I'm a terrible liar. ;o)

One benefit of our lazy school holiday life has been the volume of new owl creations (new ones starting from Mini Mae #25 -- http://good-times.webshots.com/album/575948722JEguIc?start=72) which I'll be taking to Rose St, Fitzroy on Sunday 11th. Come and join the fun of a market chock full of amazing talent selling fabulous stuff. I hope to see you there!

Back to school and the usual routine next Monday. Mixed feelings about that. My next market will be the following Sunday (18th) back at my regular Abbotsford Convent Maker's Market. It's panning out to be a busy month.

Market day again!

I have been enjoying the return of movement in my fingers and have been busy making some more owls for my market tomorrow which you can see on my webshots page by copying and pasting the link below into your browser (if you've seen the others, you might want to 'jump' to the current ones by clicking on 3 at the bottom right of the white picture panel).

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/575948722JEguIc

I will be at the Markets in the Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens (near the Observatory Gate) from 9 to 2pm on Sat 13th March and then at the Abbotsford Convent Makers' Market on Sun 21st March from 10 to 4pm. See you there!

New additions to my repertoire

I have had some surprising interest in my quirky Kitchen Owls which you can see in my album on Webshots http://good-times.webshots.com/album/575948722JEguIc The he first one ('Flashy Fabio': Kitchen Owl #1) was quite a surprise to me as well: he is so adorable! As with most things creative he sort of evolved and, to be fair, he had been brewing in the creative recesses of my mind since my first 'sculpture' attempts for my daughter's school art show back in October last year. I displayed this shiny fellow for the first time at my Dec market at Abbotsford Convent and, perhaps due to poor layout, he was still around to be packed up again ready for my Jan markets at the Royal Botanic Gardens and Abbotsford Convent. More success this time as he, and a strawberry owl I made on the day of the Convent Maker's Market were sold. I didn't even manage a photo of 'Strawberry owl', my first jam jar lid owl (almost identical to 'Berry Pretty' but with a strawberry jam jar lid). 'Little Laddie': Kitchen Owl #2, my very first tea strainer owl, became a Christmas gift but also the rough template for the majority of my owls to date. I took along 'Beaky', 'Berry Pretty' (another jam jar lid owl), 'Insomnia', 'Dainty', 'Fly away home' and 'Copper Grandpa' to my February market at Brunswick Town Hall (Sisters' Market) and had some exciting interest. 'Dainty' was sold quite late in the piece to a young lady who had earlier bought some of my cards and who had been riding away but returned saying 'I was on my way home but I decided I just had to buy Dainty'. It's wonderful to think of my little guys hanging around in people's back yards or kitchens. Time and enough tea strainers are lacking to get more done but I'm doing my best to have some ready for the Botanic Gardens market on 13 March. 'Fly away home' now has a home to go to so I'll have to make another one of those, too. No rest for the wicked! ®