New Item in the Shop: Naomi!

(listing can be found here)

Happy New Year Everyone!

Five and Under Feature

I am super excited to debut a new weekly item here at eschechtman.blogspot.com - Weekly posts that star new Etsy sellers that have had five or less sales.


To kick things off, I would love to introduce you to FlyCatcher Studio.

Flycatcher studio, which is based in Chicago, sells beautiful screen printed coasters. This shop opened only a few weeks ago and has yet to make a sale. I am sure that it won't be much longer though :)

Flycatcher studio may just be getting started and not have many items in the shop yet, but all of them feature well crafted and tailored designs, beautiful photography, and a great sense of color. Each 4x4 coaster is silk screened by hand with the artist's Gocco.



Isn't this calendar so beautiful?? I love the mustaches... it wouldn't be the same without them! According to the artist, "The 'bugman' series came out of a collection of doodles inspired by a distinguished moustache and how it can change the face. You may recognize some of these faces as world leaders and men that changed history, all while sporting their own style of moustache." - Neat! Like the rest of the items in the shop, this piece of artwork doubles as a coaster, though I don't think that I would ever use it as one. Regardless, I can only imagine that these would make a great host or hostess gift!



As of now, there are only coasters in the shop, but I hope that Flycatcher will expand to include cards and prints in the near future.


How can you not love them?
Please go and see this shop for your self, and give Flycatcher Studio the welcome that she deserves!

Mika with the Groceries

This is my newest painting:


This one was for Grand River Beads and Gallery in Rocky River, Ohio. (Its still for sale if anyone is interested! ;) )


I LOVE to paint my cat. But with these eyes, who wouldn't??

This is It!

It is time to get serious about blogging.

This has been a task that I have been putting off for quite a while. Yes, there have been weeks that I have posted more than once, and I have said to my self - "This is going to be it..." but things have just fizzled. The thing is - as anyone who runs a weekly blog knows - the relationship that I am about to start with eschechtman.blogspot.com and with my potential readers is a serious commitment that should not be taken lightly.

I feel like I need to enter into a formal contract to start this off...
Something like, "I, the undersigned, hereby commit myself to upload a high quality written "blog" post accompanied by 2+ images at least twice a week. The post must meet the high standards set out by other successful blogs in a similar genre..." etc. etc.

Blogging is a lot of pressure. I am putting myself out there on the internet for the whole world to see. As a perfectionist, this is no easy task. This is scary! The words that I put here will be here forever. I can not underestimate that fact.

However, I do have a lot that I want to say. I want to promote myself, of course, and I have to admit that one of the main reasons that I am doing this is to drive more traffic to my Etsy site (Found here, hahaha). But I also want to share my art with the world, and show everyone what I can do. I want to promote other artists as too, and get people excited about all the amazing things that are happening in the Handmade world. I want to get people talking about Illustration, and talk about my heroes, maybe even get to interview them! This blog can go many places.

So, Here is what is coming to you. THIS is my commitment that I am making Right Now. This is my promise for what you are going to see:

1. At least 1 new post each week (maybe more, but never less)
2. More pictures of my illustrations and my jewelry
3. Posts where I explain my processes
4. Posts where I promote or feature other artists
5. A monthy etsy finds post (maybe more frequent, but that is what I am promising right now)
6. Posts about my heroes / inspiration
7. Posts about me
8. Pictures of my cats (cause they are the bestest ever!)
9. In-dept analysis of my favorite tools / art supply reviews


Mika the Cat!

Here are things that I would like to post about, but am not committing to at this time:
1. Posts about my wonderful adopted home / home town (its complicated) of Cleveland, OH
2. A weekly art-related post by my Boyfriend Ron
3. Posts about my cooking / baking adventures
4. Perhaps some vlog posts? (I do have a webcam on my imac)


Now I did just get my dream camera, so there are no excuses:



Ok internet, are you ready?? Because this is it.

Holly

Holly leaves for the holiday


Deck your Neck!

Newest Etsy Item - Ruthie!

Ruthie is a wonderful woman that I work with who always brightens up the room. This necklace was inspired by her!

Do you treasure this necklace as much as I do? You can purchase it here.

I need a camera

So...I need a camera.

No no, that's not right.
Let me rephrase:

...I need a good camera.

I need to be able to photograph my illustration work and jewelry without taking 100 shots of each to maybe have a few non-blurry shots. I need a camera that I don't need to hold for 4 seconds stock still while I wait for the lens to click open and close. I need a camera that is sharp and true to life that will let me take fabulous photos of Laura's wedding when I go to England this March.

I need a shiny, new, beautiful, semi-professional camera.



My problem is that most good cameras (like the one pictured above) are over my $250 budget.

What I would like is a digital SLR that is somewhere around 7 megapixels. However, I don't really know anything about photography. To be honest... I don't even know what SLR means. I know that it has to do with what you see through the viewfinder and that this makes it better - and significantly more expensive - that the non-slr models, but what I know pretty much stops there.

Its also tough to wade through all of the camera reviews that tend to get very technical and end up going right over my head.

However, the camera that I have at the moment has a broken screen, and makes all of my images look like this:



Not to mention that it was a hand-me-down from my little brother Matt:



Anyway, when photographing artwork, no matter how good a point-and-click is, it is nearly impossible for me to take a non-blurry picture.

It is incredibly frustrating.

Oh well.... better start saving up.
Thanks for letting me wine awhile anyway.

Here's what I am working on now:



Stay tuned to see where this little guy will end up!

A few better pictures from my Local Girl Show (alternate title: LOVE)

Hello internet! Here are a few better images of my collage work:







We (ie: Ron and I) had such a hard time taking these photos! We ended up opening up the frames (groan) and putting the work back in without the glass (ugh). The process then involved struggling to take a non-blurry photo (blech) and then painstakingly putting everything back together without (and this is the kicker here).... without getting a single strand of cat hair stuck btwn the illustration and the glass. Pretty darn frustrating.

All in all, I managed to get a few good shots with Kalya's pink camera. I really REALLY need to get my own though. Can anyone recommenced a Digital SLR that is around $200?? It would be a huge help.

Anyway, I love my paintings.... that's what it all comes down to..pure LOVE.

ToBeTreasured

I am SO proud to announce that my Etsy Store - selling lovely handmade ceramic necklaces - is officially up and running!!








Please go and pay a visit! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ToBeTreasured