Monsters by Sorknes

So, remember that octopus I knitted and posted? After that I did some more. They were a hit with the kids that visited. So I made some monsters. And then some more tiny octopi. And then it kind of rolled from there. I was at a market last weekend (more on that in another post, probably tomorrow) and suddenly these little guys were getting some interest. They were bought for kids, by kids and by people wanting to use them as needle cushions.

So, time to introduce some of them... I never got around to take a picture before the last market, but these are the ones that's left, and I am working on getting more made. :)

Gonna do more markets coming, as I am suddenly helping out hosting Lørdagsmarkedet (Saturday markets) here in Larvik, so there'll probably be more about that later as well. :)

Landscapes - Eftang og Mølen

A small update again as I am putting things away safely until mid-August, this is a photo of the A5 landscapes I have left. Seems to be an even two of each I got left even, some subjects are sold out. I've been trying to nail colour while painting in a new way for me in these and therefore had several of each subject as I tried my way. Since they're all from local places, I've had some interest in them, which was fun, as I have never really considered myself a landscape artist - but I've been doing a lot of it lately, not in the least my inks. All of them has been from Ølbergholmen on Eftang (a five minute drive from my own house) and the cliffs at Saltsteinane on Mølen, Norways largest beach of rolling stones, half an hour from here.

I do have a supply of these small canvases though, so I am probably gonna try some more of this, maybe in another paint. They're a bit rough which makes for very relaxed and fun painting since I don't get hung up in details, I just go with whatever happens - a bit of a rarity for me.

Anyways, here goes. :)

Small inks and fish

I couldn't find the photos I am pretty sure I took before I started selling (but on the other hand, those days were a mad rush, I might've actually forgot), so here's a couple of quick photos of some of them that I was about to put in a little safer places than random totes.

The first are some small inks that I've been doing on A5 (210 x 148 mm or 8.27 x 5.83 inches) paper. I use the same as on the big ones, a small brush and liquid ink in bottles.

And just for fun, here's a few fish drawings I did in mixed media in an attempt to work out how some paint I had laying around worked. I did a fish drawing and copied onto A5 paper using the self made lightbox, and then went to work with paint, water, coloured pencils, pens and permanent marker. You can see I'm not quite sure on the medium at first, but I got the hang of it - especially after finding out that the opaqueness of the paint changed dramatically when drying. I might have another go with this using another drawing at a later point, it was fun - and I put them in my stand as well to get some colour splotches. 

I'll get some proper scans of the inks later, but I am kind of dreading the huge scanning session I need to do, so I'll just have to plan an evening of scanning sometime before next market, since I haven't done scanning in ages so even old inks and drawings needs to get on file.

Market Days

I have been doing some market days lately, where I've had a stand. The first was in June, and it was kind of scary since I have never done anything like it before. My husband also made some wood work to put there - it was on such a short notice that I just had to gather whatever I had and go from there. Since my arm and hand has been partially "out of function" since Easter, I couldn't really sit down and draw all day either, as it would have worsened my condition.

First thing happening was the day before the market day though, after I had managed to gather a bunch and took this picture I put out on social media hoping to pick up some interest.

People started to show interest and buy right away online - so that was a good start. I did also post it in some groups locally also adding some very cheap used kids clothing hoping that might get some people into the stand and to fill it up, basically.

The day started off ok, we didn't panic too much - but then the rain set it. And it rained. And it rained. Thankfully we got ourselves some walls for the stand when we looked at the weather report and realised what was gonna happen. We had to put the drawings, paintings and prints in the back of it to save it from being drenched, and we had to take a lot of wood stuff off the ground.

I did however have great fun. There were people dropping by, talking to me, talking about art, and in general when it was not pouring I did get interest.With the sales the stand paid for itself, and I had gotten more local contacts. The clothes thing was a bust though, there was brand new clothes sold for silly prices at the stores around.This is a photo of my stand with a rather scary lady bug in it.

Then I did another one in the beginning of July, a happening once a summer that is called "night town" where all stores are open until midnight, there's shows, stands, entertainment, record tries, etc. Most stores here (we're in a town, not a big city) close between 4 and 6 pm, unless they're in a shopping mall (then they usually close at 8), and some bigger outlets sometimes have open until 8 pm. (We're not talking about food stores now.)

There was a throng of people and the weather was nicer - even if there was a couple of drizzles. The stand cost more to have there, but I was hoping it would at least pay itself like last time. Also, I had found out that knitting didn't hurt my arm, and I brought some of the random stuff I had knitted. Again I had lots of interested people to talk about art, but the two groups I drew most were kids loving my knitted octopuses and the monsters with cages my husband made for them and old ladies marvelling over how I knit whatever comes out of my brain without a pattern. Since I knitted a bit while I sat there as well, that might've have helped, I guess. This is a picture of the stand early on, it didn't take long before we put up a back wall and half one on the side, but it was more open and people seemed to like that. 

The sales weren't too good on the night town, it was clearly the wrong crowd for me, even if I got quite a bit of interest. It seems that people for the main part were walking around looking around for the insane sales, some of them updating hourly. I did however sell my most pricey painting late at night, and I know it went to a collector that has her "own" steady framer, so that was a bit of a boost after not too many sales earlier.

All the interest, and being able to talk art with all these people has been a wonderful experience. I don't know if I'll do anything like "night town" again since it costs a bit to put up a stand and the sales might not come, but I am going to Lågendalsmarkedet (a market on a large farm) late in August, where there will be two days of auctions, flea markets, entertainment, music and stands. Any sales there will go directly into the plus account, and I know a couple people there at least, so I am looking forward to that. And I am knitting monsters and trying to do the occasional drawing since my arm and hand is getting better. I will also try to found out if the more fantasy and sci-fi part of my stuff might fit into Banzai Con hosted locally next year if they have anything like stands or if it's just a gathering with entertainment.

Anyway, it's been fun experiences, I'll do some of it again, and it has made me realise that I might be able to sell some of my stuff online since people asked about that. Some ladies even mentioned that you can sell knitting patterns, so maybe I should look into that too, hehe.

As I were picking out stuff for the stands I realised this blog is horribly outdated, so I am going to post some of what I have been selling the next days. 

July 22nd

Today  it's July 22nd. And I couldn't really focus on anything else today, so I made this.

Paper Peonies

A little break from the usual art, to post a little guide on how to make paper peonies, or napkin pompoms. We have some lovely peonies in our yard, and rather than picking them - we decided to make our own paper versions to have inside hanging in the windows. In mentioning that we were gonna make them, I got asked how we do it, so I thought we might as post the process. I got my trusty assistant with me, and we'll try to do this step by step.

For these, you need three napkins, a little piece of string or thread, and the only tools you need are scissors.

It doesn't really matter if the napkins are two or three layers, it just means there's a difference in density and fluff.

1. Open the napkins and cut through the middle, one way. If your kids can use scissors, they can do this - it doesn't matter if they cut a bit off the middle or it gets a bit frayed.
2. Put the napkins you've cut in two in a stack, you should have six pieces from three napkins. 

3. Fold the napkin stack like you would to make a fan.
4. Find a piece of string or thread to tie around the middle. One end has to be a bit long, as that's what you'll hang it from.
5. Round off the ends by cutting a bit off the corners. Sometimes it's nice not to round them, but if making them look like pompom flowers, this helps.

6. Open the sides a bit, then start to slowly tease the layers of napkins out of their fan shape with your fingers. This step might be a bit tricky for some kids. The layers will be very thin and fine, but if they're torn a bit, it doesn't matter. It'll hide within the "ball" in the end, and if there's any pieces hanging down it or anything, just cut them off. You're supposed to get all the layers apart, meaning 12 if it's a two layer napkin, 18 if it's a three layer napkin.

Here is my trusty assistant holding one of the half made paper peonies.

7. Tease out the layers on the other side of the peony/pompom - and you're done!

Almost so you can't tell from the real deal! (The real deal here being the dark pink ones... )

Cat beanie

A little more catching up from last year, which is slightly embarrassing since half of this year has already passed... Ops. Anyway, this is something I did last November: 

So, I got this little designer in my house that told me exactly what she wanted, and in what colours. Since there was no way I'd manage to find this anywhere, I had no choice but digging out my knitting pins.

At one point during the knitting I started to wonder if I at some point ceased knitting and started reinventing some sort of self defense mechanism for women from the dark ages.

But I hadn't, I managed to finish it within a few days, and the designer was very happy both about the delivery time and the outcome. I got properly paid in home made bracelets.