Studio Blog: J.A. Geiger Studio, LLC. Fine Art Stained Glass.

Watercolor Sketches

By: Josephine A. Geiger on June 4, 2013

Some artists cannot talk without sketching, like my friend Tracie Thompson. I have never really been a doodler, but I was one of those kids always drawing horses instead of doing my homework as kid. So with inspiration from Tracie, I have been making an effort to explore the artiste part of my psyche by finding joy in some old mediums.

While off in the north woods of Wisconsin working on my business plan I took some time to sketch a couple of rough landscapes. Then I stole Tracie’s watercolor set and tried my hand with them after a twenty year hiatus. Not exactly Rembrandt, but I am happy with the results and can’t wait to get back in the studio to to translate these into some new windows.

HoinvilleLake

Hoinville Lake. The play of greens was simply too rich… and then an eagle was soaring overhead.

pine

White Pine and a twisted cottonwood trying to find the sun from the shadows.

purple clouds

Purple clouds and a blue sky, even though the rain was falling just a few minutes later.

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Marketing, Goals, Mosquitoes, oh My!

By: Josephine A. Geiger on May 29, 2013

Retreat to the woods

Hiding out this week in the Wisconsin north woods… the Heartwood Conference Center just out side Minong to be specific. Beautiful setting, quiet in terms of people and traffic but very melodic with birds and frogs where you can sleep with the patio doors open all night long and wake to the call of a loon. But in truth, the mosquitoes have not been too bad.

While this photo was taken a few years ago on Madeline island, it is still a potential window... and I forgot my camera, so new photos are not an option at this time.

While this photo was taken a few years ago on Madeline Island, it is still a potential window inspiration… and I forgot my camera, so new photos are not an option at this time.

Marketing, Goals, and Focus

I have been doing some sketching of the great spring landscapes, crooked pine trees, and the lake, but mostly working through business strategies. This is the second year I have done this, and I love the time away from the studio to think and plan for the future. Last year my focus was on my business identity, brand, and direction. This year my focus is on marketing goals. I will revisit the notes and plans from last year to make assessments and adjustments as well. While I am not creating a traditional ‘business plan’, I am defining my why, the how and a plan to keep myself focused. This self-imposed retreat helps me to figure out what I need to do, and where I want to go, though I tend to get fuzzier in planning the path to get there.

But now that the sun has come out from behind the clouds, I think it is time to get the sketchbook back out…

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Memorial Day Memories

By: Josephine A. Geiger on May 27, 2013

We all have lost a loved one or we all will some day, and Memorial Day is dedicated to the remembrance of those who have passed. It has been many years since I lost my grandmother – I was only 9 – yet she had a huge impact on my as yet short life. She always encouraged me to just try it, whatever it was. She was trying to teach me to make lefse (the cooking stuff never did stick) and I would go to the church quilting bee with her and help tie the quilts. My grandfather passed away when I was in college and I still have some of the letters he wrote to me because email was not yet around and it was too expensive for a lot of phone calls. I remember with fondness and exasperation how we used to watch the Packer games together. Every time I plant a tomato, and most of the time when I just slice one up, I think of Gramps’ garden of tomato plants surrounded by marigolds.

Memorial Day is not just about the loss of people in our lives; pets play just as important a role – we lost Charlie 10 years ago and this image is still my computer background.

When my father passed away about 12 years ago, that was one of the hardest losses yet. Not because we had been so close, but because we hadn’t. We had just started getting to know each other, and it was to worst thing in the world to know that time was running out. But when I hit my thumb with a hammer or a 2×4, I think of my dad. Come to think of it, every time I use my saw, I see him trimming branches up on a ladder and then he wasn’t because he cut the saw cord – the yellow tape now holding it together reminds me every time. Yes, some things that you wish were not genetic, really truly are.

While life marches on, Memorial Day helps remind us that we come from someone, not just somewhere. And I am very grateful to have my memories.

And yes, I still occasionally cry when I think of how short of a time we had together.

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Getting Ready for the Spring ACC & Art Crawl

By: Josephine A. Geiger on April 12, 2013

Early glass layout for a piece I am calling Fall Creek – though you can’t see the water yet.

I have been working around the clock – well my feet feel like it has been like that – in the studio getting ready for the spring ACC and Art Crawl. So far, there are 7 new window panels are on the table and ready for cementing (this post tells a bit more about that process).

blue, clear iridescent ice, bevels and more blue

While I couldn’t resist working on a couple of new birch and maple trees, most of these new pieces reflected the blue wonder of water.

Caribbean turquoise – reminds me of Key West.

Some of the new windows ready to be soldered – you can even see the arrows and notes I use when working out the cuts.

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11 Open Studio Tips

By: Josephine A. Geiger on March 24, 2013

Brenda Brousseau, Tracie Thompson and Christy Johnson will be joining me for this April’s open studio.

I have an open studio 3-4 times a year. Two of them are in conjunction with the Saint Paul Art Crawl and I invite guest artists to show their work with me. It has become a fun collaborative event!

Here are 11 things you must do to promote your open studio event:

Postcards – mail and hand out to everyone I know and many I don’t. Make sure you have contact information, address and a small map (or QR code linking to a Google map)
Email blasts – I try to limit this to only 2; one announcing the event, and the second a simple reminder that it is this weekend so as to not annoy my clients.
Write a press release and send it out to the news-people you know. And if you don’t know any, look them up and find out how they like to be approached.
Facebook/social media/blog – make an event page, invite people, talk about it on the page and the blog and your personal page. And make sure the other artists are doing the same. Nobody wants to be the only one marketing and bringing in customers for everyone else (it creates tensions for obvious reasons).
Variety: like a traditional gallery, you need to have items for sale in a range of price-points. It is sometimes disheartening to only sell greeting cards or a small print, but if the experience is good for that customer, eventually they will come back for something original.
Have some refreshments, but NOT a lot. Too much food, and people just eat. A few nibbles and they browse and are more likely to shop.
Try to have at least one artist working in the studio – people LOVE to watch and ask questions.
Talk to EVERYONE that walks in the door, with a SMILE. Even if that person is the only one to show up for the last 2 hours, if you welcome them and they have a good time, even if they don’t buy something now, they most likely will come back and brings friends because it was fun.
Make the experience pleasant and don’t try to force a sale. Tell your story. Why are you an artist? Why are you doing this? You are in this for the long haul and not just for the weekend, so start to form a relationship with your potential customers.
Have a sign-up sheet for invitations to future shows/events – if you don’t have a way to invite anyone back, then they for sure will not be coming back.
Follow up with the people who walk in the door: send a thank-you note (especially if they purchased something), send an email, post a thank you blog, etc.

I do all of this IN ADDITION to whatever the Crawl organization is already doing. The first 2-3 years I had an open studio, only friends and family came; we played Rummikub one afternoon for 3 hours…

Repetition is the key, so don’t give up if the first time if it is a flop – learn from the mistakes. Now we average around 100 people and we artists are not the only ones sampling the refreshments!

Almost forgot – be careful with pricing your work at an open studio. You need to make absolute sure that your pricing structure is the SAME as in the galleries where you have artwork. Remember, your gallery relationship is important and undercutting them will destroy it. Not to mention that you do have time and expenses with an open studio: postcards, display set-up, refreshments, lost work-time, and the time it takes to run the show. You will be earning that gallery commission on your own this time.

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