Saturday, February 27, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
How Lucky We've Been!!
We have been working our tushies to the bone (I wish) since we have opened up our Etsy shop. This probably wouldn't have ever happened if it weren't for Janiece from JBird's Garden & Brooke from Jukebox ART. I knew there was a lot of work involved in getting things going but I didn't realize it was THIS MUCH WORK. WOW!! We started it on January 31st and put on a few items and did some research. After we finished organizing and completing UpStage Artisan Alley we dove in head first.
There's been fanning, posting, reposting, posting some more, promoting, listing, more listing, taking pics, fixing pics, organizing, learning and lots and lots and lots of reading and studying. We've been doing all of this while working full time jobs, "taking care of 2 boys" and trying to get some sleep (but not very much).
There's been fanning, posting, reposting, posting some more, promoting, listing, more listing, taking pics, fixing pics, organizing, learning and lots and lots and lots of reading and studying. We've been doing all of this while working full time jobs, "taking care of 2 boys" and trying to get some sleep (but not very much).
So yesterday I'm doing our Etsy thing on the computer wondering if all of the work that we're putting into it will be worth it or all for not. I go off to do some other stuff and was probably away from internet love for about 40 minutes when lo and behold.....A SALE!!! WHAT?! You heard me, a sale. A TREASURY? WHAT?! You heard me, a treasury. In that short amount of time we were listed in a treasury "Yikes! Stripes!" and had a sale. Our first glorious sale. I was squeeling like a little girl. Needless to say the package was ready in less than half an hour.
So before I go to bed I check Etsy again when lo and behold.....A SALE!!! WHAT?! You heard me, a sale. A SECOND ONE!!! Woot! Woot! We got that one ready to ship in 15 minutes. One duckie bath set sold, one U2 magnet sold. Now I'm usually really good about checking our Creative e-mail but I missed a couple yesterday.
I was dying to know where all of these people were coming from so I checked Google this morning when I woke up. Tons of hits from e-mail referral. Man someone must really love us and have a lot of friends to send this too. Wait, our e-mail! I go back and look at the Etsy e-mail that was sent out. OUR DUCKIES!! Holy sugar snap Batman!!! Our duckies were included in the The Storque "Etsy Finds Decor: Family Affair!!"
How exciting!!
I am so totally addicted. We love making and creating....and want to share it with everyone. So Forbes, if Cleveland is so miserable then why are we so happy? Great things CAN & DO come out of Cleveland!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Our First Blog Feature
We're so excited to be featured on our first blog as a new Etsy seller!! Please check out MHaynes2009 on her Esty site and her blog. She has beautiful jewelry making supplies as well a greeting cards.
Friday, February 12, 2010
UpStage Artisan Alley
As almost everyone knows by now, our friends at UpStage asked us back in November to organize their craft show this year. Of course we jumped at the chance to help besides, we'd been talking about doing so for quite a while. We've been wanting to do a rock n' roll indie craft show. How better to showcase how we think a craft show should be and for a good cause. We have had quite a bit of inspiration to make it happen. First of all, all of the grandma craft shows where no one buys our stuff 'cause their all over the age of 80 and not interested (We don't have doilies). Oddmall & Bazaar Bizarre Cleveland. They are the two most rockin' Indie shows in the area. There is talent there like you've never seen before.
We are hoping that we can be even just a fraction as cool as the two previously mentioned shows. Let me tell you, organizing and getting press for a craft show is hard work. It's hard to make people care about the cause that the show is for and to get them excited. Well, luckily some people in the press cared as much as we do. We got write ups in The News-Herald, Scene Magazine, Cool Cleveland, The Collinwood Observer, and people have been blogging & tweeting about it.
My only worry at this point is that customers show....I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown today. I think I'll be virtually worthless at work obsessing about setting up tonight, getting vendors prepped, and getting a good crowd. So if you know me and see me today be gentle.
Say a prayer for everyone involved and wish us all luck!! As they say in the theater "Break A Leg!".
We are hoping that we can be even just a fraction as cool as the two previously mentioned shows. Let me tell you, organizing and getting press for a craft show is hard work. It's hard to make people care about the cause that the show is for and to get them excited. Well, luckily some people in the press cared as much as we do. We got write ups in The News-Herald, Scene Magazine, Cool Cleveland, The Collinwood Observer, and people have been blogging & tweeting about it.
My only worry at this point is that customers show....I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown today. I think I'll be virtually worthless at work obsessing about setting up tonight, getting vendors prepped, and getting a good crowd. So if you know me and see me today be gentle.
Say a prayer for everyone involved and wish us all luck!! As they say in the theater "Break A Leg!".
Friday, February 5, 2010
Cleveland Jewish News > Archives > Arts > Visual > Artist, 91, proves you are never too old to achieve success
Matt and I stopped into Waterloo 7 tonight to see Jerry Schmidt. So many wonderful thing happened while we were there. Jerry told us about an opening that he's having on Friday Feb 12 featuring Hy Snell. I saw a preview of it today. It was so completely moving and touching that my eyes teared up. This is the article that is in the Cleveland Jewish News featuring Hy & Jerry. Look for an article this Sunday in the Plain Dealer. If you have a chance stop by and check out Waterloo 7. If you don't have a chance, you should clear your schedule and make some time.
Artist, 91, proves you are never too old to achieve success
Click image to enlarge
Fragments of recycled metals are incorporated into many of Snell’s sculptures, soon to be displayed at local galleries.
By ARLENE FINE
Senior Staff Reporter
Published: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:09 AM EST
At age 91, artist and sculptor Hy Snell is an overnight sensation.
The former Jupiter, Fla., resident moved to Stone Gardens in mid-December. Before he had officially settled in, he found himself thrust into the spotlight when local artists discovered his lifelong collection of sculptures and paintings. Two separate exhibits in February will honor his work.
What makes the story even more remarkable is that Snell, who continues to paint, is almost sightless.
“This is so amazing,” says the Bronx, N.Y., native who spent his professional life as a department store display artist. “No one has ever paid this much attention to my work before, and suddenly it seems the world is taking notice.”
Within days of Snell’s arrival at his assisted living home, artist Jenna Fournier, a Stone Gardens employee, alerted renowned metal sculptor Jerry Schmidt about Snell’s work. Once Schmidt walked into Snell’s art-filled apartment and saw rows of exquisite sculptures and a series of vibrant oil paintings featuring swirls of colors, he “knew I had stumbled upon genius,” Schmidt says. “Here was this humble, elderly self-taught artist whose work had been largely unrecognized. I feel incredibly lucky to have uncovered this treasured artisan and to be able to share his work with a large, appreciative audience.”
Schmidt, who owns The Waterloo 7 Gallery in Collinwood, is launching a one-man exhibit of Snell’s work starting Feb. 12. Included will be Snell’s detailed, sculpted menorah, abstract figures, and powerful horse sculptures.
“I usually display several artists at a time,” says Schmidt. “But Hy Snell deserves a show of his own, and I am honored to represent him in my gallery.”
Fournier, who along with artist Kristin Olsen is opening The O Gallery at LaPláce in Beachwood, is including several of Snell’s sculptures as part of their opening show on Feb. 6.
Despite his visual impairment, large clean canvases stacked in Snell’s apartment are testament to the artist’s drive to paint. “Even though I can’t see the canvas clearly, I know what the colors, shapes and designs look like in my head,” he says. “Like Jackson Pollock, I swirl paint onto the canvas in a thoughtful design. When I am painting, I feel such elation. Painting is a great escape for me.”
But it is his sculptures that show Snell’s greatest talent, he says. “I used to go to junkyards in New York and gather interesting fragments for my work. Then I soldered them together into an expressive whole. My inspiration comes from the world around me.”
“I feel incredibly
lucky to have
uncovered this
treasured artisan.”
Jerry Schmidt, sculptorSnell’s daughter, Solon resident Amy Kintslinger, is delighted that her father’s new-found fame has helped his Stone Gardens transition. “My father lived in Florida for 25 years, and moving away from warm weather, his friends and daily routine has been very hard for him,” she says. “So this interest in his art has been good. Although he made a celebrated menorah for Temple Beth Am in Jupiter, his talent has not been fully recognized anywhere before.”
But it’s not just Snell’s artistic ability that delights Stone Gardens’ activity staff and residents. They are also impressed with his “zest for life,” says activities director Sarah Taub. “Hy’s energy, sense of humor, and ease on the dance floor make him very popular here,” she says.
“I had a wonderful time at our New Year’s Eve party; I was asking all the women if I could sign their dance card,” Snell adds with a smile. “Who thought at this time in my life I would be so popular?”
afine@cjn.org
WHAT: Exhibits of Hy Snell’s work
WHEN & WHERE: Sat., Feb. 6, from 5-9 at The O Gallery at LaPláce in Beachwood. Fri., Feb. 12, from 5-9 at Waterloo 7 Gallery at 16006 Waterloo Road
CONTACT: sculptor1121@yahoo.com
Artist, 91, proves you are never too old to achieve success
Click image to enlarge
Fragments of recycled metals are incorporated into many of Snell’s sculptures, soon to be displayed at local galleries.
By ARLENE FINE
Senior Staff Reporter
Published: Friday, January 29, 2010 1:09 AM EST
At age 91, artist and sculptor Hy Snell is an overnight sensation.
The former Jupiter, Fla., resident moved to Stone Gardens in mid-December. Before he had officially settled in, he found himself thrust into the spotlight when local artists discovered his lifelong collection of sculptures and paintings. Two separate exhibits in February will honor his work.
What makes the story even more remarkable is that Snell, who continues to paint, is almost sightless.
“This is so amazing,” says the Bronx, N.Y., native who spent his professional life as a department store display artist. “No one has ever paid this much attention to my work before, and suddenly it seems the world is taking notice.”
Within days of Snell’s arrival at his assisted living home, artist Jenna Fournier, a Stone Gardens employee, alerted renowned metal sculptor Jerry Schmidt about Snell’s work. Once Schmidt walked into Snell’s art-filled apartment and saw rows of exquisite sculptures and a series of vibrant oil paintings featuring swirls of colors, he “knew I had stumbled upon genius,” Schmidt says. “Here was this humble, elderly self-taught artist whose work had been largely unrecognized. I feel incredibly lucky to have uncovered this treasured artisan and to be able to share his work with a large, appreciative audience.”
Schmidt, who owns The Waterloo 7 Gallery in Collinwood, is launching a one-man exhibit of Snell’s work starting Feb. 12. Included will be Snell’s detailed, sculpted menorah, abstract figures, and powerful horse sculptures.
“I usually display several artists at a time,” says Schmidt. “But Hy Snell deserves a show of his own, and I am honored to represent him in my gallery.”
Fournier, who along with artist Kristin Olsen is opening The O Gallery at LaPláce in Beachwood, is including several of Snell’s sculptures as part of their opening show on Feb. 6.
Despite his visual impairment, large clean canvases stacked in Snell’s apartment are testament to the artist’s drive to paint. “Even though I can’t see the canvas clearly, I know what the colors, shapes and designs look like in my head,” he says. “Like Jackson Pollock, I swirl paint onto the canvas in a thoughtful design. When I am painting, I feel such elation. Painting is a great escape for me.”
But it is his sculptures that show Snell’s greatest talent, he says. “I used to go to junkyards in New York and gather interesting fragments for my work. Then I soldered them together into an expressive whole. My inspiration comes from the world around me.”
“I feel incredibly
lucky to have
uncovered this
treasured artisan.”
Jerry Schmidt, sculptorSnell’s daughter, Solon resident Amy Kintslinger, is delighted that her father’s new-found fame has helped his Stone Gardens transition. “My father lived in Florida for 25 years, and moving away from warm weather, his friends and daily routine has been very hard for him,” she says. “So this interest in his art has been good. Although he made a celebrated menorah for Temple Beth Am in Jupiter, his talent has not been fully recognized anywhere before.”
But it’s not just Snell’s artistic ability that delights Stone Gardens’ activity staff and residents. They are also impressed with his “zest for life,” says activities director Sarah Taub. “Hy’s energy, sense of humor, and ease on the dance floor make him very popular here,” she says.
“I had a wonderful time at our New Year’s Eve party; I was asking all the women if I could sign their dance card,” Snell adds with a smile. “Who thought at this time in my life I would be so popular?”
afine@cjn.org
WHAT: Exhibits of Hy Snell’s work
WHEN & WHERE: Sat., Feb. 6, from 5-9 at The O Gallery at LaPláce in Beachwood. Fri., Feb. 12, from 5-9 at Waterloo 7 Gallery at 16006 Waterloo Road
CONTACT: sculptor1121@yahoo.com
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Our Etsy Shop
So our new project is creating our Etsy shop. I am quite proud of how it's coming along so far. I do have to admit that it takes quite a while to post the items. Needless to say, I've been staying up until about 1AM or so for the past few days in order to just get a couple of items up at a time. I am really taking my time with the listings. I want them to stand out and yet show some of our quirky, crazy personality.
We would love for you to browse our shop and heart us. If you have any comments be sure to convo us too. We really look forward to your input!!
Thanks,
The Creative Team (AKA: Matt & Jo)
We would love for you to browse our shop and heart us. If you have any comments be sure to convo us too. We really look forward to your input!!
Thanks,
The Creative Team (AKA: Matt & Jo)
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