LWD Spotlight: Cole + Josephine

This month's LWD Spotlight is brought to you by Nicole of Cole + Josephine. I instantly fell in love with her whimsical and colorful paintings. She puts a fun, dream-like twist on everyday people, objects and creatures. Besides being a super talented artist, wife and mother she is also very sweet and by her answers below, very intuitive and honest. I could not agree more with all of her insights. Thanks Nicole for participating in LWD Spotlight! Be sure to stop by her blog to say hi and check out more of Nicole's work--sounds like there is a give-a-way on the horizon! Now onto the questions...

1. You were obviously born with the natural talent to draw and paint, at what age did you become aware and start to take note of your artistic ability? How did you decide to make art a full-time career?

I can’t remember a time without drawing. I don’t even think I realized that a lot of people aren’t artistic in that way; I didn’t recognize myself as different. Drawing was just something I did. I believe I was born with it as a part of me. I do remember being about 10, and I was drawing in my room when my Dad walked in. He said, “You could put that on a t-shirt.” That was the first time that it really hit me that, hey, I COULD put that on a t-shirt. It didn’t occur to me that this talent could be useful in some way.

I didn’t really plan on being a full time artist. I didn’t save up and write a business plan. I had a baby and was staying at home with her, and I realized this would probably be the only time in life (short of retirement) that I could devote myself full time to trying to be a working artist. If I didn’t try, I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life. So I started calling myself a full time artist and followed up by applying myself to being one.

I know only a handful of all artists actually make it, but I would never forgive myself if I didn’t try. I don’t want to be 70 and feeling the void of an abandoned dream.

2. I have some friends toying around with the idea of starting an Etsy shop, do you have advice for them as a shop owner yourself?

Don’t expect to take off your first day, and don’t expect yourself to just be “found”. It is extremely rare that anyone magically becomes an overnight success. Etsy has become enormous, and you have to apply yourself to getting looked at. The “if you build it, they will come” mentality does not work anymore. Newly listed items are no longer guaranteed to be rolled across the front page, so the new item visibility has dropped markedly.

Chat with other artists, blog, twitter, face book, use Flickr. Put your work out there for people to find. Don’t hide under a rock - no one will ever find you. If you don’t have the time to do all of them, pick one or two and do them really well. Having a lot of poorly done venues gets you less recognition that a select few of outstanding accounts. For example, I am great at blogging, so that is where I devote most of my time. In fact, that’s how I got this feature!

Hmmmm… now that I think about it, you should go check it out.
http://www.ColeAndJosephine.blogspot.com
You will love it! This is where I really sell my personality, which is so vital to the handmade product. I believe that people want to get to know me, and a blog is the perfect way for me to achieve that. I interact with my readers, and I talk about my life. However, I do have boundaries, so I never post pictures of my daughter face or anything too overly personal. I don’t write anything I couldn’t have my Mom read.

By the way, I am going to be having an amazing give away VERY soon, so subscribe to my blog and keep an eye out!

3. Everyone has those days when they are uninspired, unmotivated and have hit a creative block; how do you deal with those days and what are your "go to" places for inspiration?

I usually sulk about it and organize my house. I find that I am most productive in a clean, orderly space. Separating out drawers and filing paperwork clears my head.

Then, I pick myself up and start browsing the internet, looking through books, or tearing up magazines. I have a huge filing system full of inspiration torn from magazines. Because I am an organizer, they are separated and filed by category, so if I need a picture of a flower, I can find it.

I also follow tons of blogs, and I love all of the random things other people find and share. You never know what will light your spark. For purely art inspiration, I like hifructose.com and juxtapoz.com. When I’m really frustrated, nothing gets me going like reading comments people leave on my blog. I have so many encouraging and kind people that follow me and believe in what I’m doing; that motivates me more than anything.

Personally, I usually avoid the Etsy forums. Some people love them, but I always end up feeling depressed and a little hopeless. There will always be people there that tell you that they hate your banner, your avatar, your product. People will think you charge too much or too little. I welcome constructive criticism, but too much of the negative is discouraging. Besides, if you are looking for someone to tell you your new banner is good, you probably already know deep down that you could do better. Listen to that little voice inside you (the good one; ignore the bad one).

4. Josephine and Cole are both beautiful names, how did you decide on that and what was the "shop naming" process like for you?

This is the single most important bit of advice I can give anyone: Make sure people can spell your shop name!!! I really cannot emphasize that enough. I had a fairly successful shop on Etsy before. The name was Theoleanderblack. No one can spell that. It was not a name I could move forward with, so I felt it absolutely necessary to change it. That means I had to leave behind my outstanding seller rating and my trackable sales record. So now, I’m trying to relaunch myself with a usable name in a cruddy economy and a giant Etsy. It was a very difficult decision to make.

Cole is a nickname my husband uses for me, and Josephine is my, my mother’s, and my daughter’s middle name. Both names are very special to me, and I think they are a good representation of my personality. Part of me is serious and melancholy, and part of me is colorful and optimistic. Also, I was able to create two art shops with related names.
The serious, introspective artist lives here: http://www.ColeAndJosephine.etsy.com
The fun, colorful, sarcastic artist lives here: http://www.JosephineAndCole.etsy.com

I also Googled the heck out of names. I wanted a name that would have very little competition and that wasn’t already a brand so I wouldn’t have to change names when I hit it big (knock on wood).