I’ve spent a lot of the evening nosing around the internet looking for good ways to market the small sculptures I’ve been finishing in the last month. Without much success, I might add. I don’t need much in a website, but the top results in Google for the search terms that seem best to me are terrible. Maybe I’ll enlist the help of a friend and devise something simple. I’m not in a great hurry, but I need to start thinking about it.

During this search tonight I landed on Etsy, which I’ve known about and actually used in a very cursory manner. Looking for other ceramic artists, I found an Etsy user called Stepanka. This New York City artist handbuilds with porcelain, which is something I don’t come across very often. Her small works, most of which she refers to as “wall pillows,” are soda fired. I really like the end result. If I ever get the chance again I’ll be using porcelain in salt or soda firings in this way.

Something about these hold my attention. I like the contrast, the finish and the delicate yet lighthearted line work.

That’s about all I know of her. The one sentence in her Etsy profile doesn’t say much, and there are no outside links I can find either. Thought I’d share one of her works though. The above work is titled “Standing by the lake” and measures 3.75 x 2.75 x 1.5 inches.

Who pays for environmentally friendly design? asks Architecture + Morality’s Corbusier:

“As I seem to be inundated with new information, advertisements or appeals to make buildings in a green-friendly manner, I find it more and more difficult to ignore the aspect of money in evaluating it all. Somehow I fail to suppress my sneaking suspicion that there’s more than just simply wanting to use resources more efficiently or limiting a building’s carbon footprint - that in reality the green movement in the industry of architecture is eyeing for potential new sources of fees and income. I admit it’s a cynical posture, but om so many places one looks, money is an important consideration when practicing the green way of life, especially when it comes to who is expected to pay for the extra expenditure.”

MoCoffee has opened an Etsy store. See his wares for sale at Mo Coffee’s Art Cafe, such as the following plate titled “George has brains.”

Adding: Coincidental to see the Sally Forth cartoon today (25 April 2008) suggesting part of the reason everything’s going green is because business has discovered how to profit from it.

I’ve written sparsely about photography, even though I enjoy it, because it doesn’t seem to fall into the realm of the tactile arts as much as I’d like — especially digital photography where you never set foot in a dark room. Dark rooms are part of why photography is fun.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been putting together some of my and my wife’s better photographs for a calendar as a gift for Christmas. I figured these would be worth putting up here. Long-time readers may recognize a one or two of these that I’ve uploaded to Flickr (or may have actually put in previous posts).

These and some others I’ll probably upload soon to my mostly ignored Etsy shop for sale if anyone is interested. What I like about photography is how it forces me to slow down and intentionally observe my surroundings. It’s a good exercise for me as an artist, even though I don’t really consider myself a photographer.

The following are a few places to find some nice, artsy and/or handmade Christmas gifts:

mLee Fine Art: Woodblock prints

MissionaryArts.com, linking to my favorite page on the site, paintings by Xiaoyang Galas including this piece:

ElegantScarf, for handmade scarves and accessories.

Porcelain by Kim Westad, delicate and unique pottery.

A few of my own sculptures are for sale via this link. As well, if you see something in my portfolio or on my Flickr that you’d like let me know!

Last weekend my boss went to Denver for a wedding. While he was out there he met an artist. The artist goes by the name Donut David and runs a website called The Yummies. I dug a little deeper and found that Donut David has an Etsy store. The profile on the store says the following:

“Our motto is ‘Art and Peanut Butter.’

The Yummies is a full time collective that does art about the joys of life otherwise known as ‘Peanut Butter.’

We started in 2003 doing paintings, clothes and performances.”

I’m a little confused about how to separate Donut David from The Yummies. For character profiles on The Yummies see this link.

From what my boss could tell, Donut David used to be a tagger. At some point in recent years he became a Christian and began painting instead of vandalizing. The only other thing my boss could tell me was that he actually makes a living, apparently, selling his paintings. His works are for sale on The Yummies website and Etsy; see his MySpace page here.

His current work is a massive series of small cartoon-like dogs:

His use of mixed media is nice and the series’ consistancy is commendable. The layering on the surface is dynamic in some of the paintings. However, I still don’t empathize with work that so openly displays marks that more or less look like undeveloped craft. The dogs look like southern preacher folk art with a big city sensibility; the result is something like pop art without the precision of a Warhol or Lichtenstein.

Is it difficult to take serioulsy the art of someone who’s motto is openly “Art and peanut butter?”

My wife, who frequents the Etsy forums, found this thread last night discussing (if you can call what goes on in most Etsy threads “discussion”) the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Etsy users are significantly more female than male, and therein some of the responses surprised me (a couple of them are actually articulate):

* I’m probably one of the few people on the planet allergic to Dove! I don’t think their ads do much for me, because I see curvy women, but no scars, cellulite, saggy boobs…….

* GAHHHHHHHH! I hate Dove! Hate them with a passion. I bought Dove products occasionally before this campaign of theirs. Since then, never.

* I once showed the class I teach (they’re first year university students) a commercial for Dove and then a commercial for Axe body spray…and then told them that the same company makes both products.

* Ug, I hate those ads. They are doing the exact same thing the ads featuring size 0 models are doing, except instead of making you feel bad because you’re NOT thin & beautiful they are making you feel bad if you ARE thin…according to dove ads if you are not “curvy” or don’t have wrinkles etc. you are not a “real” woman or you don’t have “real” beauty.

* Dove is owned by Proctor and Gamble, which carries out horrendous animal testing. Just something to think about. No matter how many curvy women they show me, I won’t buy anything made by P&G. Besides, if I want curvy, empowering women, I’ll just wonder down to the local lesbian bar - or take a look in the mirror!

Take these comments with a grain of salt (do I actually have to say this?). Most of the responses in the thread reflect positively on Dove’s efforts, although some of what I posted above is certainly worth considering. Advertising is bound to be loathed by a lot of cynical Generation Y types, and even if the Campaign for Real Beauty is just a slick advertising ploy to pad the pocketbook, it’s still a good thing. If you’re going to give something for women to aspire to, at least make it attainable.

The following is an interview with Cosette Cornelius-Bates. Cosette’s undergaduate work was in art and writing. She is presently finishing up her thesis at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, in theology and the arts. She is knitting her thesis.

I see your undergraduate work was in art and English. What prompted you to go to graduate school?

The need to know more about Christianity and further explore things as a artist who is also a Christian. Also, graduate school is a great place to keep on doing your art.

Yeah, disciplining myself to create after graduating — since I wasn’t pursuing art full-time — has been tough. Did you ever consider pursuing an MFA from a Christian university?

Nope. I was very much interested in learning about both theology and art at the same time.

Ah, sure. I found myself in a very similar position. I remember, albeit vaguely, seeing Regent’s theology and the arts program when I was looking for an MFA program at a Christian school (around the year 2000). I was consindering an MFA at the time with the thought of teaching at the college level. What has been your impression of the program there at Regent? Is it adequate, is it relevant to the needs and desires of its students and the Christian community? 

Regent’s history lends it to cross-disciplined Christianity, starting from the belief that we are all ministers no matter what we do. It trained (and still trains) lay people to combine their vocation with Christian thinking. That said, Regent’s program is not an MFA program and people coming into it will be incredibly let down if that’s what they expect. You’re expected to already be a professional artist coming in. You may have to fight a bit for your education here, but it is well worth it.

I do not like the word relevant as used in the Christian community, so I will use the word necessary.

It is certainly a loaded term, but the best I could come up with for the situation!

Regent is a great theology school, albeit spread a bit thin. What they are trying to do and accomplish is necessary to both the growth of the church and to the people who go here. Like all institutions, it has its problems, but they do not yet trump what they have to offer.

What is the balance between theology (presumably lectures) and studio courses in the program?

The program is first and foremost a Masters of Christian Studies, so it certainly leans towards the theology. You have to have a love of your art and know how to keep doing it when very busy to get any art in the first year. My friend Jim (who is doing his thesis show with mine) and I both got nothing done our first year here. Or maybe that is necessary too.

How is knitting related to theology?

For me, everything is theological. Knitting in particular strikes me as connected on many levels. At the very bottom, it is something we can do to be creative in our everyday lives. One of the questions I am asking in my thesis is how we live as people made in the image of a creative God.

At its best, knitting is also relational- not only in that we take seriously our role as created by a creative God- but also in that knitting is inherently about other people. It is about care, love, warmth, prayers and wishes. It is also about people getting together, talking, telling stories, being productive and creative together.

One step deeper along this path, knitting is about stewardship. It is about sheep and alpaca, llama and goat. It is about taking the time to know why these are amazing gifts from God, caring about how the animals are treated and appreciating the gifts of creation.

As you can see, knitting is a deep practice. It harkens back generations in a world that is obsessed with shallow consumption. It takes into account other humans, creation, and God in a culture where we are told that none of that matters, only our purchases. Practices like knitting, living theology, are essential to our world right now. They help to preserve and give meaning in a world in which it is often absent. Knitting is an example of what philosopher Albert Borgmann calls a ‘focal practice’-a practice that brings things out of the muck and business of the modern world and into a place where we can see again.

What made you think of knitting your thesis?

When the time came to decide, I had a class called ‘Vocation of the Artist.’ I brought in my paintings, my poetry, and my knitting. Everybody was especially taken by the knitting and that was when I knew that knitting had a power that I did not expect. So I decided to explore knitting and theology more.

Do your projects visually reflect theology? If so, how?

Nope. I do have a scarf called the holy spirit scarf.

You use a lot of recycled yarn — a very important part of your work. Does the theological idea of restoration show in your work, or play out in the process? 

The recycling is certainly playing with the ideas of restoration and redemption. I’m subverting the modern norm of mass producing too many animal product sweaters and not taking the product seriously. In re-knitting, I am holding the animal fiber yarn up as something more valuable that needs to be considered. On another front, I am also, very practically, recycling sweaters and fibers that no one is willing to call lovely and precious and making them lovely and precious. Just doing my little part in the incarnation.

Most (in fact, all that I can find) of your knitting projects result in functional objects. Have you ever considered using this craft to draw, paint or sculpt non-functional objects?

I have considered it. On a personal level, I don’t think I can subvert a medium that I love so much. I am too attached to the practicality of wool and to all of the women who came before me. I am planning a painting and lace shawl project, but the shawls will still be ultimately useful. For me, wool is for warmth. When not used for warmth, it almost seems a waste to me. That said, I would totally buy a weaving or what have you for my wall. I don’t mind if others do it, it’s just not my thing. When you become so deeply involved with a medium while making art, I expect that you’re probably using it in good ways.

How has the art community approached and/or viewed your knitting?

I am more a member of the crafting community than the art community. The nice thing about knitting is that everyone understands it. People naturally know what it means. Many of the people who originally were so moved by my knitting are fine artists, but, yet, knitting seems more primal to me. That said, I can’t imagine it going over well in the high art community. It does go over well with random people on buses though.

Your Etsy store is doing very well according to your blog. How long have you used Etsy? How did the store become so successful?

I have been on Etsy since June 26, 2006. I really have no idea how my store became successful. I hope that I do good work and do it well and I hope that is what people are attracted to.

For some weeks now my wife has suggested I read the blog of a knitter who she became familiar with on Etsy. The knitter, Cosette Cornelius-Bates, is finishing her thesis at Regent College in arts and theology.

Theology and the visual arts is a passion of mine (which I’ve clearly eluded to on this blog in the past). I don’t know the slightest thing about the process of knitting — and barely understand my wife’s avid crocheting either — but tying knitting to theology seems to be a very novel and wonderful concept in the present culture. I don’t really know much about Cosette either (assuming this is a different Cosette than Victor Hugo wrote about in Les Misérables).

In a post titled “Cosy Knits: Literally,” she says this in the opening paragraph:

“I’ve been thinking a lot about moving back to the states and what I would like to do for work next. There are many options. I could work in a church (preferably in adult education) or teach in some capacity. I’d love to teach art/knitting/spinning/poetry in an after school program of some sort. I like working with teens on a mentor type level. Maybe teach homeschool classes? I’d also love to teach theology through knitting/spinning - maybe as a retreat leader? I could also teach theology through visual literacy, literature, poetry etc.” [emphasis (and capital letters) mine]

She and I could get along, which is why my wife kept prodding me to look at her blog. If she is somehow able to procure any of these opportunities — melding theology and the arts — I’ll be quite green, especially if they pay a living wage! I noticed someone else interviewed her for their blog; I’ll have to read that interview and then, perhaps, see if she’ll answer a few of my questions too.

She even spins and dyes her own luscious yarns.

My wife uses Etsy. Etsy is “Your place to buy and sell all things handmade.” It’s a good idea with a whole lot of shops.

But it appears Etsy is having a crisis of identity. My wife informed me the website recently enstated a constitution, something they didn’t have before. The establishment of these rules resulted in a flurry of threads in the Etsy forums:

These forums are difficult to navigate, even for this experienced poster. And I’m not going to link to one particular thread — multiple threads have resulted from this action by the Etsy administration.

Eddie Dominguez, my esteemed ceramics professor, created a wall piece titled “Art and Crap.” Through this he was exploring the line between what people consider art and what is considered craft. Potters ponder this, perhaps, more than painters and sculptors, simply because a lot of ceramic art is both functional and beautiful. The art vs. craft debate will probably rage on — in light of our apparently inadequate English language — until Christ returns and properly enlightens us.

The debates in the Etsy forums seem, if I recall correctly the conversation with my wife, to be less about the classical art vs. craft banter and more about mass-produced vs. one-of-a-kind. An example concerns prints and editions. Is a print, whether from your personal printer or a pro’s giclee on canvas, “handmade.” In a denotative sense, they are not. English dictionaries everywhere agree that “Handmade = made by hand, rather than by machine.” Woodcuts, etchings and photographs developed in a dark room begin to blur the line.

The admin over at Etsy are, as I recall, encouraging their store owners to limit editions. That is, if you offer a photograph, devise a maximum number of prints you will develop and sell. This seems like a good comprimise to me, although I would personally have gone further. Regardless of whether or not someone thinks a digital photograph or graphic design is “art,” these things are not handmade per the aforementioned definition.

But I suppose the website should be commended for implementing anything like this at all. The temptation to stick with the status-quo — and avoid angering or isolating paying sellers — no doubt weighed on the administrator’s minds. For instance, some people selling “Vintage” items are in a tizz, considering their category up and disappeared entirely. Etsy will, when the now outlawed Vintage listings expire, have done nothing to help their bottom line by making these new rules.

I don’t try to be a stickler for denotative adherance, however I do put a lot of effort into clear communication. And, thus, anything my laser printer spews out (when it decides to clearly communicate with my laptop) should not, in my strong opinion, be called “handmade.”

Link to my working definition of “art”

I’ve talked before about my love of restoration and use of salvaged materials. My wife, an avid Etsy user, alerted me to a contest the website sponsored encouraging reuse of materials. The winning entry of this “Upcycling” contest is a stellar piece of furniture — what seems to be extraordinarily time intensive (and the price reflects this time):

It looks a little short to function as a bench (dimensions aren’t given), but the texture created by the crocheted elements (”weiners,” in the words of the maker) looks delicious! Third place is this stellar bustier and skirt fabricated from a FEMA tarp:

The creator of the skirt lives in New Orleans.