Vintage Tea Cups - Orange Pekoe and Talavera Pottery

I enjoy the simplicity of these teacups.  Painting them is somewhat therapeutic, really.  I can make the delicate, layered and distressed backgrounds, sketch in the simple shape and then just let my mood do the painting.  These photos are coming out blurry for some reason - maybe the compression?  grrr

Talavera Pottery (the second cup) is one of my favorite things to look at in the whole world.  Such freedom in the authentic stuff.  I notice that mine is holding on to a little of the uptight North American in me.  Darn.

Orange Pekoe might not be the most exotic of flavours, but it's my favorite.  I don't know why but I can't seem to convince myself to drink those floral, spicy smelling blends.  They are lovely and fragrant, but so is soap, you know?  Maybe one day.  I do enjoy a cup of Chai, so that painting lurks in my future.

If you'd like to purchase prints do visit my other Etsy shop here: 

 sherri nelson studio

For the original pieces, please come to my web site www.sherrinelson.ca or contact me directly through the comments.

Bones Nelson is honoured to have a place at Get Funky Boutique!

Get Funky is a little store tucked just north of Princess Street at 39 Montreal St Kingston, Ontario.  Owned and curated by Aara Macauley it is the kind of place that makes any creative type swoon.  High ceilings, bright colours, fabulous light and awesome decor -- add in the merchandise and there's eye candy everywhere you look!  

I was delighted to meet the owner herself a couple of weeks ago and I must say that I found her to be as charming as the Boutique she has created.  You can read more about Aara and her business journey right here.

Lucky for me she found something to like in my work and I've got my first batch of consignment merchandise in the store as of today.  I brought down a sampling of baby, toddler and kids wear featuring my original designs.  They are old school in more ways than one:  I have tried to keep a rockabilly vibe to most of the pieces, focusing on tattoo art and day of the dead imagery.  Not only are the images a throwback, but I`ve used a good old fashioned Hix heat press to apply the decals!  Ahhh, nostalgia!

For a look at what's in the store, check out Get Funky on facebook by clicking HERE.

Look for my DOTD (Day of the Dead) ornaments and Pop Art prints to be available there shortly, too!  To get an eyeful of what's coming, please check out my website by clicking:  Sherri Nelson Art and Wares

I did it! Sugar Skull Onesies!

I worked my tail off and got them done!  Here they are:

Ta-daaaaaaaaaaa!  Available on Etsy (click here) or contact me on Facebook (click here) 

Rocker Kids!! Tattoo Baby & Kids clothes designed by me!

Printed clothing available online at Etsy or Zibbet, or contact me through my Facebook Page Bones Nelson Art

It's very exciting!  I'm going to have the chance to have some of my very own graphic tee shirts and baby bodysuits in a bricks and mortar store downtown!  And not just ANY store, but the hippest store in the city: Get Funky Boutique on Montreal near Princess!

Oh yes...

THERE WILL BE DRAGONS!

and Hot Rods, and old school tattoo designs, and if I get to work right now instead of blabbering to you guys there will also be sugar skulls!

Today Etsy Rewrote the Dictionary ... Their New Definition of Handmade

NOTE:  Seriously, if my Etsy shop BonesNelson is closed when you look for it here it is because the Etsy gestapo got me.  They do that.  Seriously.  No warning, they just decide that you shouldn't be allowed free speech and they kill your livelihood and then never, ever respond to your inquiries ever again.  Stories abound on the web about it.  

MY MY MY - So That's what Handmade means to you, huh?

In case you missed it, Etsy had a Webcast today.  It was one of their so called Town Halls and at that Town Hall it was announced that they would no longer be sticking with either the dictionary's definition of "handmade" nor even the general public's understanding of it.

I watched the webcast (as much as I could stand of it) and here's a synopsis:

Blah blah blah horrible music unimaginative PowerPoint display lame joke cutesy photo walk down hipster memory lane audience grooming "there will be phone support.... for SERIOUS problems only (so don't get too excited) YADDA yadda "we are all about helping businesses grow" (and) transparency more grooming "How awful is it to go to the Post Office, right??" and then BAM...HANDMADE is redefined to mean having an idea and paying people in factories offshore to make the stuff and even ship it directly to the buyers!

A mini poop storm followed from the online community, which Etsy was monitoring.  So the panel went into damage control mode.  The talking points were as follows:

"TRANSPARENCY!"
and
"OK, What I'm hearing is that you are afraid of competition. "

Quite honestly, there's no competition to fear - we as independent artists cannot compete at all when our listings are hidden in between thousands of product listings from factories.  We'll never get seen.  Ever tried to search for something on Etsy?  You can't narrow down your search, all you can do is go page by page hoping that something catches your eye.  Etsy has a secret formula for selecting which items show up in their Search Results (admitted today by their Chief Technical Officer Kellan somethingorother.)  It's secret, so there's nothing anyone without all day to spend on it can do to figure the method out of the madness.  (especially if you're busy CREATING and not just phoning an order into the factory)

So be warned.  if you want hand made or if you think you're going to be supporting a sole proprietor who works his or her buns off creating and trying like heck to live on the small deneiro that artists have contented themselves with, think again.  There's a good chance that what you're so tempted to purchase is listed by a big faker who is fronting for a factory in Guanzu province paying people pennies.  In fact, I'll tell you what Etsy is clearly aspiring to:  They seem to want to take AliExpress's market share.  Too much money going offshore to that operation for Etsy's liking.

ha.

Oh, and one more thing - I'm (this is somewhat shameful for me) already "indefinitely" muted from the forums.  I spoke too harshly when they refused to take seriously the fact that sellers were not being notified of sales that were being made.  !!!!  (I still think that's a REALLY serious bug in the system!)  My shop is still active but in the last week views and sales have dropped dramatically.  Not just for me, either.  Read here: https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/12512708/page/152  I started you out on page 152, but you can navigate using the page numbers at the bottom when you get there.  And that is by far NOT the only thread on the topic, just the biggest  So..
Anyway my point is that much to my chagrin and constant worry I might not be there too long.  If my shop out and out disappears you'll know that it was Etsy that removed it, not me.  And you will know also that it will be because I have once again spoken harshly of their practices.  

On the bright side, though:  Link to my very very new Zibbet.com site here:  BonesNelson

September 2013.. Rockabilly Babies and Day of the Dead Catrinas

This was a tough month, but thankfully it is coming to a close.

I've been working harder than ever, trying to branch into designs for clothing.  I see a lot of the same stuff out there for little ones - it's difficult in today's day and age in a mid sized city to get away from the three or four designs that "the Big Box Stores" have decided they want to present to us.  Do you all notice that, too?  Here are some of what I've come up with:

Rockabilly Baby Undergarments / Creepers / Bodysuits

Available on Etsy OR by contacting me at my web site:  www.sherrinelson.ca/contact

The homogeneity of choice is making me crazy.  Sweaters without sleeves or cardigans without belts.  Low cut jeans.  Chevron Stripes.  Plain white onesies for babies.  Daddy's little girl.  bah.  same same same same.  I realize that fashions and trends have always been with us, but not too long ago there were little shops where one who didn't like the momentary trend could go to find relief (and say, a bathing suit out of season or a cuddly sweater in July.)  The only places like that any more are second hand shops and even their selection is becoming a reflection of the Big Box direction.  (a little rhyme for you there wink wink)

Anyway hopefully these Rockabilly Baby and Rocker Kid tattoo and Hot Rod inspired selection will at the very least remind everyone that the world used to be a more interesting place.  :)  

As always I'm painting, too.  This week I wanted COLOUR and GIRLY and PRETTY so I pulled out a sketch I had worked on a couple of weeks back and sat the main Catrina in a surreal background of floating hearts and roses.  It's a Day of the Dead piece and is on an 8" x 8" x 2" wood "canvas."

You can buy the original on my website.

Ciao for now

So it's been a long time.. but I'm back!  I've been busy and right now all I have time for is to post some pictures.  Forgive me the watermarks, but it must be done.  Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the photos and maybe click on one of the links in the sidebar to view my web site or my Etsy shop!

The two images above are of sets I've put together:  Mini Prints of my best loved 

"Kitchen Catrinas" series.

Betty Lou's Pies!  The original is available on my web site and the prints are for sale on Etsy.

We've got "Boarder" at the top of this bunch, followed by "Bola Ocho," "Welcome to the Carnival" and "Forever."