Saturday, May 12, 2012

"In House" encaustic workshop

I had been scheduled to teach an encaustic workshop at a local art association today and about 10 days ago I was notified that there was not a high enough enrollment to run the workshop. I didn't really understand that because there were enough people signed up to cover the cost of their supplies plus my fee. Immediately after the class was cancelled I received emails from several people that had been looking forward to attending the workshop and each inquired about private lessons. I decided to offer a semi-private workshop in my home today. I knew the electrical requirements limited the amount of griddles I could turn on at the same time, and until I make a change in electricity, 2 griddles with a heat gun (and music and proper lighting) is all I can accommodate.

We had so much fun and I plan on opening my home up to future workshops. Several other people are waiting to hear back from me about scheduling another workshop but I needed to see how it went today before I took the next step. After everyone left, I completed my demonstration painting, and it felt good to get back into encaustic painting.

"Winter Brook", encaustic image transfer


I setup a temporary studio in my garage. Fortunately the weather was perfect and the garage door was up all day.




I continue to add work to my Etsy shop with focus on small encaustic works because of the lower price point and the ease in which I can create them. I have so much to learn about Etsy and networking there but for now I am going to just continue increasing my inventory. 

14 comments:

  1. Terrence BillingsleyMay 12, 2012 at 8:41 PM

    Nice setup forprivate lessons....very nice demo as well!

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    1. "Man-cave" converted into a studio, very nice indeed!

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  2. I feel so happy when some one uses the available resources to make some thing happen, loved your initiative to set up this work shop at home.. I am sure this will be welcome in future as well and be well used by enthusiastic learners.. Robin, a beautiful job!

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    1. I had been toying with the idea of offering lessons in my home for a while, padmaja. In the past students have asked if I would do it but up until now I wasn't comfortable with the idea. Using the garage space actually worked out beautifully and I will be able to make adjustments and improvements each time I do this.

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  3. Oh this piece you turned out is just exquisite! One of these days I'm going to attempt this. Are you still moving to IL, Robin?

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    1. Sherry, I am definitely moving after my youngest finishes high school next year but right now I am leaning toward moving to the west coast of Florida rather than the Chicago area. I will keep you posted as to where I end up!

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  4. "Where there's a will......". Great idea and I'm impressed with your well-organized garage. Winter Brook is beautiful.

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  5. The garage is an amazing space, I just didn't know if the lighting and electricity were enough to create good working conditions but fortunately everything came together.

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  6. You took a big ol' bowl of lemons and turned them into delicious lemonade! Kudos! I'm listening to the song "Beginnings" by Chicago as I type this. I think it's quite fitting...

    -Don

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    1. "Beginnings" is perfect, looks like I will be teaching a watercolor workshop next.

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  7. I really like this piece. It has a lot of movement and a sense of weather. How nice to have a small class at home. I'm doing a silk painting workshop for a couple of people on Sunday and I'm excited to see how that goes to decide if I want to do more.

    Your garage is so clean and organized. : ) I'm jealous!

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    1. Good luck tomorrow, I am sure everyone will enjoy the opportunity to paint with you at your home. I have already booked a next workshop in July - this time watercolor painting, and I am probably going to start promoting private and semi-private workshops in my home starting this fall.

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  8. Robin, you are so fortunate to have such a nice place at home to teach. I always wanted to do that, but never had the courage to follow through. Love your landscape as usual. Lots of visual texture.
    I visited your new Etsy store and bought one of your bookmarks to help you launch it. I opened a store, but never followed through with putting anything in it. Typical of me. I don't think too many people make a lot on Etsy. It's like anything else you have to have a following and advertize, advertize, advertize. That's why we pay such hefty fees to galleries.

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  9. I appreciate your continued support, Eva. You should have received an Etsy email notifying you that the bookmark was shipped today. Thank you.

    I setup a shop on Etsy mostly for the additional web exposure. It will be a bonus if it actually becomes profitable! I priced everything lower because there is no 40 - 50% gallery overhead however I do feel that the cost to do business with paypal, credit card fees and Etsy fees is equivalent to paying a low gallery fee, I guess the only way to avoid that is to do everything independently, a reason I continue to do the Paradise City Fine Arts shows.

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