Mary!

Well this one was a suggestion from one of my wonderful patrons.  I just love the way this one turned out.  I  put it up on ebay as Buy it Now or Best Offer so she had a chance to buy since we were co-creators with this one.  However, like Angel Helen I think I am having another ebay glitch.  The buy it nows doesn't seem to be showing up in the search.   Hmmm..... Here's the link and if it doesn't appear by tomorrow I will have to do some revising and put it up on Etsy or as an auction. 

Thanks for stopping by!!!!!!!!

Sunflowers

A friend of mine said she liked the Sunflower painting that is up on Etsy so I got on a bit of Sunflower jag.  There is something so happy and well I guess sunny about them.  I used some pictures and sketches I had from when we were in Tuscany last year.  When we were there in September the flowers were really just fading but I used my imagination and brought them back to life.  I just wish you guys could see these in person - the paintings are so much more vibrant -- ah well.

What's new here- Keep Dancing!

Keep Dancing is on Ebay tonight.

I really enjoyed painting this one.  I just started with the thought of pink shoes and movement and went from there.  Thanks for looking!

I am relisting Helen tonight.

Something was wrong with this listing.  It just wasn't showing up in search results.  To ebay's credit they did issue me a refund.  I pulled the listing and will relist it tonight.  I will provide a new link when it's up.  Thanks for staying tuned :)

Carrie

On Ebay This Week

Angel Helen

For some reason she is not showing up in the search listing so I thought I would provide a direct link.  Must be an ebay bug or something. 

Triquetra

Welcome Autumn

Where have I been? Getting Married!!!

The Wedding was beautiful and magical but we are still both exhausted - so many details!  Whew.  We had nearly 50 people come in from out of town and most of them were at our house the night before the wedding.  It was great!  During the reception I realized I had forgotten to wear something blue.  However when we finally got home and I started pulling the pins out of my hair I realized I had left a blue hot roller in my hair the whole time.  That was how dazed I was!  I don't think anyone saw it because of the veil but I was laughing.  Well I got my blue!  The flower girls walked down the aisle to Down to the River to Pray.  And the recessional was America the Beautiful done by Ray Charles.  Dancing and cocktails were on the big back porch of this beautiful Southern Plantation.  Dinner was in the gorgeous dining room.  All my girlfriends were running around the house playing Gone With The Wind.  It was just wonderful!  I need a couple days to recover and then I will be painting!  See you all soon.

Ebay is really irking me.

Firstly, I want to say thank you so much for your comments on my last blog entry.  I really appreciate hearing what other artists think about that subject.  It has been very encouraging.  Above is Bearing The Apple, either my homage or apology to Raphael depending on your taste!

Secondly, I just have to say that ebay has become such a disappointment these past couple of years.  They are so sneaky with their fee system.  When I looked up how fees are calculated, their fee schedule page states 8.75% of the first $25 and then 3.5% of the rest of your sale up to $1,000.  However, now they don't charge an insertion fee on your first five listings and charge 8.75% of the total sale at the other end.  Maybe that would be okay if it was clear from the beginning but it is hard to find where that is stated.  Now they also own paypal so they get another cut at the other end.  If you state on your listing that you are wiling to accept another form of payment they pull your listing and you lose the insertion fee money.  If you link to your blog or website they also pull your listing.  Hopefully, they won't read this post and pull my listing! They pretty much get between 20 and 25% of my total sales - hmmph.  I believe in capitalism and I hate to whine but I just feel the way they go about it is very sneaky and borders on unethical.

I have gotten so many wonderful collectors from Ebay and for that I will be forever grateful.  However, I think I am going to start to step up my efforts to move the majority of my art to Etsy.  Etsy has been fantastic - I just don't get as much exposure there.  I am going to start by stating on my Etsy page that I am willing to take offers - the price listed is suggested.  One of the nice things about the ebay format is that the market can kind of determine your paintings sale price.  Especially with the way the economy is right now.  I would always rather a sale at a reduced price than no movement.  Just thinking out loud and would love to hear ideas or other people's experiences.

Carrie