Craftboston: A review

Summary of Craftboston: Wow.

It's been almost two weeks since Craftboston, and I'm just getting back to the blog to talk about this. I'm finally recovered from the rush, and I'm ready for my next huge event, which will happen on Friday, April 8th. And no, I'm not telling you what is happening, but you'll definitely know when it happens. It's that big.

Anyway, back to Craftboston.

The show was HUGE, an entire convention center full of awesome. Seriously, I was in awe of my fellow vendors and so happy and surprised I was invited to join them.

Setup went very smoothly, however time absolutely flew by, and before we knew it we were only 2/3 done and had been there for a full seven hours! The trees looked great, and were easier to install than I had planned, though very time consuming. The drapes looked great and the lighting was well worth the investment!
I was very fortunate to have one piece sell the week before the show (Water). This worked out well in two regards: The first, it took away most of the pressure to sell like crazy at the actual show. The second was that I had digitally planned for (and created) 9 pieces, but the column in our booth took up the space of one of my pieces, so I only had 8 slots. Worked out perfectly.

VIP night came on Thursday and the very first person in my booth fell in love with my most complicated piece and purchased it. In the first 10 minutes of the show. Before it opened to the public. Yeah. It set a new artist record for my work as well.

Needless to say, it was amazing from that point on. I couldn't keep any small pieces in the booth and completely voided my studio/apartment of pieces to restock each day. In the end dozens of small pieces found new homes, and one of the show pieces was purchased (the one that sold at the beginning). Two if you count the sale the week before the show.

The thing that made me most happy, though, was how many people immediately "got" what I do and truly appreciated the work that goes into these pieces. I think being in a craft show, and being one of the few wall art booths immediately made people look at my work (which usually looks like prints or silkscreens) and think..."there must be something more going on here". I also put up a sign that simply read "Hand-Cut Paper Art" and that definitely got peoples interest.

The crowds were great. A few times I had to leave the booth and stand in the aisle due to the number of people in my booth. I had a blast! The show organizers were incredibly kind, my lecture went great, and moveout went smoothly. I really look forward to applying for next year!

All the pieces are now available on Etsy, so if you've been dying to have one of my best pieces, here you go:

Cutting in action

I was about to cut a kissing couple on a bike piece when I realized I should give something a try. have been wanting to do a timelapse video of myself cutting, so I setup my camera and took a long video.

Fortunately, my PC has some built-in video editing software so I was able to fast-forward through much of it to show the entire process in just under two minutes. SO, without further ado, here's the video. I hope you enjoy:

Kissing Couple on a Bike, on Etsy.com $40

Guide to papercutting: Adhesive

Okay, this has been a long-time promised post, and a BUNCH of people have written me to ask, so here it is: My guide to Papercut Adhesives.

Well, really it's just adhesive, since I pretty much only use one.

It's called Studio Tac or Letra Tac. Both are made by Letraset. I'm not sure exactly what's happening, but it appears the Studio Tac (blue package) is being phased into Letra Tac (yellow package). You can order Studio Tac from Blick online, but if you go to the store, they sell the Letra Tac.

No matter, it's all the same stuff.

Essentiall, this adhesive is a sheet of thousands of very small white silicon adhesive dots. They are packaged in sheets, with a a wax paper cover. You place your artwork on the dots, then rub the back, which sticks the dots to the back of the design, then you peel off the design and stick it to your background. Pretty simple, and it has great coverage.

They stick very well. I have several mess-up papercuts that I simply slapped on my studio walls, and they are still up there after months of dramatic temperature changes and no glass covering.

A few very very helpful tips.

1. It sticks pretty good, so be very careful removing your piece from the wax paper.

2. It's technically repositionable, which is great for when you stick it down not quite in the perfect spot, but it is very good at long-term adhesive.

3. Because it's silicon, it has a bit of a rubbery ness that allows your piece to expand and contract with weather and not become detached. I've had pieces adhered for years without any sign of detachment.

4. Personally, I would avoid the "permanent" kind since the regular kind is quite permanent and still allows repositioning.

5. Place your piece upside down on the sheet of wax paper that isn't covered in dots, then press the sheet with dots down onto the back of the piece. It stops the piece from moving and getting wrinkles, trust me.

6. Rub the back of the piece (the side with the dots) not the front of the piece. This makes the dots stick more thoroughly

7. When mounting your piece, lay your piece face down (sticky dots up) on a grided surface, like a quilters mat, and use the grid to place the piece in the right spot, then take your pre-cut background, and line it up with the grid, and slowly fold it over your papercut. This I have found to be the best way to mount your work without damaging, folding, creasing, or otherwise messing up your papercut.

8. This adhesive works best for white backgrounds as tiny bits of the dots will overhang your papercut. If you are adhering it to a white background, these will become completely invisible, but if you are mounting to a colored background, they may be very noticeable and I recommend a different adhesive like double sided tape.

9. If any stray dots get on your work, you can remove them with a very clean soft eraser and they come right off.

10. #9 is especially helpful if you accidently put the wrong side down and cover your presentation side with thousands of tiny sticky white dots.

Photos of me using the Studio Tac:

Each of those dots is a dot of adhesive, and yes, I accidentally covered the back of my ruler with studio tac taking this photo



This shows me pulling one of my papercuts away from the adhesive. Note the fact that one side of the paper is white. I'll discuss that in my next post...

Next helpful post will be on the paper I use. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section. I'll answer them the best I can.

Hard work (and a little play)

The valentine's day orders are rolling in left and right, which is fantastic considering last year I literally did not sell a single piece that I knew was going to be a V-Day gift.

Right now the two biggies are my custom silhouettes and hand-cut valentine

Anyway, the real point of this post isn't to get you guys to buy stuff, but to encourage you all. Last January was the start of what I call "the rough months". My sales plummeted, almost nobody was interested in my work, and the entire country was in near-panic over the economic situation.

The incredible amount of "down time" allowed me to focus on my art, get some pieces cut, and come up with new ideas for my etsy shop. It got so bad that in February of last year I had $300 in total sales. That isn't profit, that's TOTAL sales. It was rough, and when you are working 40+ hour work weeks and seeing nothing for it, it hurts. Wasn't much better in January or March. Fortunately we were expecting a dip after Christmas and cut our spending WAY back and just managed to squeek by through March.

If you are also self employed and facing a minor crisis and possibly considering quitting, look at your goods. Look at your website, blog, twitter, facebook, etc. What can you do better? Think of it as a bit of a vacation and do something crazy as an experiment. Can't get much worse right?

I did some CRAZY pieces last winter, and I don't have them any more, because come summer and fall, I had a better blog, a better site, increased my items in my etsy shop (more items, the better I have found) and had a TON of new pieces that were ready to go any time a show came up and sold a bunch of pieces.

If you need help, tips or encouragement, especially these slow times, I'm a pretty good cheerleader. Drop me a note!
~Joe

Terminal 22 Papercuts Show

Just sharing the announcement for the Terminal 22 Papercuts Show including seven of my pieces:
If any of you happen to be over in the San Francisco area, please attend the show and let me know how it goes. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it!

Experimentation!

I've been itching to make things, but lately it's been of the 3D variety.

For starters, I made a paper collar my wife was kind enough to model for:

Link to Etsy Listing: Radiant- Avant Garde Paper Neck Piece

I have another collar that's all done, just need to photograph it and list it.

I also had an idea last night about combining papercutting with origami. Wasn't sure if it would work, and it, guess what, it did!

This one's 14x14x8



Etsy Listign: Origami papercut crane with branches

This inspired me to make this smaller one (7x7x4), which I cut out all the "panels" between the folds making a paper crane skeleton:


Etsy listing: Origami paper crane skeleton

Let me know what you think!

Two-fer

Okay, finally giving an update,

The Boston Ahts festival went great! There were so many people I went through the over 300 business cards I brought with in the first three hours of the show. Won't make that mistake again.

It sounds like I may be showing my work at a local boutique that has recently gained a lot of national exposure, lots more on that when the details get worked out.

Four pieces went home during the show. Wish it was more, but I was still happy with the results.

Not much more to say, so here are some photos of the show.





In part two of the two-fer, and the reason it has taken me so long to post these, is that Jen and I took our first days off in almost three weeks and went to the-middle-of-nowhere Maine. We were gone all this past weekend and had an absolute blast. Highly recomend it: no tv, no internet, no electricity except from 7-10pm, quiet, gorgeous, and full of moose. Increcibly affordable too! Here's the website of the resort: The Last Resort, Jackman, ME

And some photos because it was that beautiful!

One day to go!... so I missed a day

Yeah, remember two days ago when I said I had six days worth of work to do and four days to do it. That was before I got seven custom requests in 48 hours. One was an express deal, so I had to set aside everything to work on it. Not complaining, if people want my work, I'll be there!

So I did get lots done yesterday, just flat-out ran out of time and energy to blog.

All morning I worked on a rush-order custom piece, which should be in Florida in a couple of hours (hope you and your husband love it Marisa!)

After that, I really had to mount all the 18x24s or they just wouldn't get done. Since they are the main pieces for the show, thought that was important! My very first attempts of framing on my own. Kudos to Steve for everything you taught me about framing, I think they came out great!


Made a run to Target to get a tablecloth for my the huge 6' table they are supplying me for the show. Still not sure what to do with it, or where to put it, but figured I should at least make it look good. I was completely shocked at how expensive table cloths were, so I ended up buying a flat sheet which happened to be on crazy sale due to college season. Saved me $15 so I was happy.

I also got a box of huge clear bags, which I will use to transport the pieces and wrap them up when people purchase a piece. Looks like it may rain Friday and a bit on Saturday, so I'm determined not to ruin all my work!

Also designed all my "bookmark" pieces for the 8x10 frames. Hate waiting until the last second to do these, but they don't take too long and sell like hotcakes so they're a must. Here they all are unmounted.


Still have to pack everything up and make sure I have everything I need. Also need to mount and frame all the little guys above and two other smaller pieces. My biggest worry about these shows isn't the art, but doing something stupid like forgetting to bring anything to hang the artwork on the wall with, or forgetting my business cards or some other small detail that completely derails the whole thing.

Okay, back to work. I'll try to post again this evening to make up for the lack of post yesterday.

Cheers,
Joe

Accepted! Boston Ahts festival 2009

Woo-Hoo!

Just got a weird letter in the mail from the city of Boston (parking ticket?). No, it's an acceptance letter from the Mayor for the 2009 Boston Arts Festival! I applied back in March and pretty much forgot about it. I had a string of rejections lately so this was very nice to hear.

I was one of 60 artists accepted, so I'm damn proud of that alone. I think it didn't hurt that I was in the deadly-competitive paper category (ha ha)

The festival is located between the North End, Quincy Market, and the Aquarium in Downtown Boston, so TONS of people will be walking by. Last year, they said 50,000 people attended!

Blue Man Group, the Boston Pops, the Boston Ballet, the Opera, etc. have performed so there should continue to be a big turnout. Here's the official website: www.bostonahtsfestival.com

I would love to see some of you if you happen to be in the area!

New space, and a new papercut!

Just got back from Haymarket in Boston with bags full of fruits and veggies. Got four quarts of strawberries, four pears, two pounds of cherries, two ponds of roma tomatoes, a pint of blueberries, and eight kiwi...all for $11. I freaking love Boston!

Anyway, I'm just posting now that we are completely unpacked and back to work. Below is my new work space. I just hung up a ton of art and pretty much filled the book cases so it looks a bit busier now, but I now have an entire 12x12 room for my papercutting!




I've been doing between 5-10 custom papercuts every week since May so that's the biggest reason I haven't been posting much lately. It's definitely been my busy time of year with anniversary present requests rolling in. I haven't had much time to do more my-style pieces, however I did get a spare half-day yesterday to finish the piece below that I've been working on for about a month. It's of the Second-Empire building that housed Boston's City Hall from 1869-1965. Below are images of the city hall, the papercut, and just some shots to show scale and that it truly is cut from paper:) I haven't mounted the piece on its white background. Right now it's on a green cutting board and still has the support pieces I cut into the design to keep it's shape while I'm mounting. I cut them off when it's done.

That's all for now...

Some bad news...

So Jen and I went to Maine for Easter with my family. While there, we decided to drive up the road to the Old Crow Gallery where I am having my solo show in June. When we got there, we found the gallery empty and a For Rent sign in the window.

Big time bummer...

I was quite panicked, actually, because I had thousands of dollars worth of art currently at the gallery and I had no idea where any of the piece were.

I eventually got in touch with the gallery owners, whom I love to death, and they explained how it happened. Long story short, the owners of the building were unreasonable and they had to leave shop in an extremely short amount of time and didn't have a chance to call all the artists to get their work.

So, as of right now, there will be no solo show:( Perhaps if the owners get the gallery and frame shop back up and running, I may be able to show later in the year, but for now it's all off. My pieces are going to be moved to several businesses that appreciate art and may help get my name out and possibly sell the piece off the wall.

I'm pretty bummed. I've been planning this for seven months now and had all the pieces ready to go. I've actually avoided applying to shows and galleries in June so it didn't conflict with the show. I'm also worried because most galleries are booked for the year (or more) so I may have to wait over a year for another opportunity to show my work.

Le Sigh.

Regardless, I'm now looking for shows and events locally to get the word out about my papercuts in town. We just decided to not move out of town, and found a beautiful tiny house to rent with a great finished shed (more of a separate building/room with windows and heat and everything) that will become my studio.

Not all bad news, but still pretty bummed about the show.

Oh, I'm on twitter now too. Terrifying, but maybe it will drum up some support or sales?

Introducing: Make

Make

16x28 mounted to 20x30
Single Sheet of Black Paper

Inspired by my previous work, I, I have continued experimenting with texture and scale with this papercutting of my left hand. I was sitting at my desk working on some custom pieces when I noticed my hands were extremely dry. When I looked at them up close, the sun was coming in through the window behind me at the perfect angle. I could see all the wrinkles and grooves in my palm and I wondered if I could capture it with a papercut. This is the result of a very long design process. I really fought for this one! I'm very happy with the outcome and I really love the bold graphic in-your-face quality, but it also has a tranquil side...somehow. Hope you like!

Available on Etsy

An homage to Tord Boontje

I had a wonderful person ask me to make them a paper chandelier through Etsy a few weeks ago. After playing around with designs and construction ideas, I came up with a two-layered paper lamp.

I used paper, since the lamp will be lighted with CFL bulbs exclusively. I have had it on for several hours and the bulb is still cool enough to hold your finger directly on it, and the paper is barely warm.

What do you guys think? Sorry for the terrible photography. I just snapped a few photos to get the point accross. If I continue to make these (hopefully) I will definitely spend a bit more effort on the staging!

Anyway, there are obvious similarities to Tord Boontje's incredible lamps. Didn't want it to look that similar, but I definitely used my own technique and trademark branches design. Not too many ways to make a paper lamp without doing some sort of conical shape. Hope he won't mind. I've been a HUGE fan of his work for many many years.

What do you guys think?

Not So Fast...

So after much reflection about my previous post, I realized one major issue: Is my custom page actually ready for an increase in interest? Will more people actually request a piece I don't have a well developed site that actually presents my pieces well?

The answer is no, I don't. Or atleast didn't. I hope I do now!

I spent pretty much the entire weekend reading about marketing, and all of today redesigning my custom anniversary paper art page: papercutsbyjoe.com/custom

There's a lot more words on the page, which I realize is a bit of a minus, but it lays out everything I have to say on one page and doesn't require anyone to travel through three pages before the actually know what I'm selling. I'm surprised they actually did before!

I added an About the Artist page, a fun jpg of where my pieces have found a home, completely re-did the Gallery page, and added a FAQ section.

I really want to get across the fact that I personally work with everyone, and that the piece I create for them is both worth what they are paying for, and will last generations. I hope that got across, please let me know if it didn't!

There has been a steady increase in hits from my google Adwords advertising. Hopefully things will start to pick up. Not expecting miracles, just something. Anything!

I'm sure I've got some major tweaking to do with the wording, but overall, I think I'll try this on for size for a bit. What do you all think of it?

Going for it

Friend-of-the-Blog ArtSnark, whose work I greatly admire, suggested in one of my recent posts to seek out publicity at various magazines and media outlets.

This has worked out well for me in the past, and I feel stupid for not doing it again sooner, but I definitely will! This past fall I wrote the editor of the local newspaper, and within two hours I had an interview. Within a week I was on the cover of the newspaper and had an online video interview and feature! Good fun!

So, because I am COMPLETELY incapable of holding back on anything, I'm really going for it this time. I have three major components to my "business": Fine art, Local Art, and Custom Anniversary Art. Therefore, I will be customizing several digital and printed press releases and harassing (politely) editors until I get some attention. All tastefully, respectively, and humbly done of course.

Here's the lineup, feel free to suggest others if you know of any:

Fine Art:
Crafts Arts International
Art in America
The Artist Magazine
Cloth, Paper, Scissors
Paper Crafts
Elle Decor
ART News
Paper Creations
World of Interiors

Local:
Down East
Portland
Boston
Maine Home Design
Port City Life

Custom Anniversary Art:
Rachael Ray
O
InStyle
Readers Digest
Better Homes + Gardens
Real Simple
The Nest
Lucky
Martha Stewart Living

(took FOREVER to get all those links!)

Frankly, if I get even one of these to so much as mention me in a footnote, I'll consider it successful. I have to believe that my work is the best thing ever or nobody else will think so. I've definitely learned that if you wait for things to come to you, often they never do and you have to sometimes show people what you are worth in order to get any attention. It's pretty much the only way I've gotten jobs, interviews, offers, gallery shows, displays, apartments, internships, articles...

I'm going to look into papercutting classes at Michaels too. I've got the Boys and Girls club workshop as experience and that was SO much fun.

One question for all of you to help out with: Should I send an 8x10 "custom" anniversary papercut to all the major magazines as a good visual (O, Instyle, Rachael ray, etc)? Lots of work, but might be worth it? I figure the more fine-art oriented publications can work with just images since that's really what they do anyway.

I'll share the stuff I'll be sending with the package with all of you when I make them (soon)

Thanks again ArtSnark!!!!

Introducing: Jen

Jen 2009
20x20 inches

Black Paper on Illustration Board

I was staring at a profile silhouette I cut of my wife, Jen, when I had the idea of combining the very traditional profile with my new branch pieces. This is the result: One of my most detailed pieces yet. By far one of the most difficult pieces I have ever cut. DELICATE! but still bold and very graphic.

available on etsy.com