Date joined etsy- 6/5/08
Sales to date - 299
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.I was born in San Francisco and raised in the east bay area. After a tour with the US Navy, I began studies at the San Francisco Academy of Art where I spent four years struggling with my main subjects Fine art painting applications and commercial illustration. After graduation I began showing in galleries and in various localities and functions around the state. Shortly after wards I met my Mrs. and with her faith in me have provided a living for us the past 35 years solely with the sales of my art work. We always wanted a home in the country where our dogs could run on our own property without a leash, so eighteen years ago we moved from the bay area into the Sierra mountain foothills. We both love the country life. I have a studio where i do my paintings and a computer station for digital enhancements. We have no children, but provide love and home for two dogs three cats and a parrot.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
An average day for me begins around 7 to 8 am where I try to complete my wife's honey do list before the summer afternoon heat builds. Later I go out to my studio to paint or to frame and mat my images.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
Yes, I was creative when I was small. My folks bought me a blackboard when I was just six years old. I wanted to draw a gorilla, but the gorilla didn't want to come out of the chalk. I was frustrated and amazed that my Mom couldn't make the gorilla come out either. I suppose frustration became my first instructor. I would go out to the streets where they had just tarred the pavement and collect the tar so I could go home and sculpt animals.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I became involved with Etsy some two year ago. I am now retired, so other than my one man show in the fall, I have oodles of time to myself. A friend of mine who was on Etsy recommended it, so I loaded a dozen or so of my images online. It must have been a week or two before my first sale. Since then it has become alot of fun for me. Especially fun, to see which images are the more popular with Etsy's viewing audience.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
top five foods - fish and chips, mulligan stew, salads, pasta, cake cookies and all the bad sweet chocolates I can think of...
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
If I were to begin another endeavor in art, it would be to sculpt. I've lived for all these years painting the illusion of a third dimension. It would be great to actually work in it.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
My suggestion for new Etsy art creators would be to find out just who the viewers and buyers on Etsy are. It's hard to sell horse paintings at a dance recital or ballerina studies at a rodeo festival. If you can find a mid ground where your desires can blend in with what the buyers are interested in, then you are lucky. I've been lucky, that way to some degree on Etsy. There is not as broad a spectrum of buyers on Etsy as there is, at say, an art fair open to the general public, so you must be more selective in the art you present. Also you can see when the traffic flow is best. I've found
making my listings available during the evening hours and on the weekend evening hours and Sunday afternoon to evenings have been best. Getting on treasuries can be rewarding in many ways. Your work is exposed to more people when your art is selected to be on a treasury. I am usually involved with one to two dozen treasuries a week..
The other Etsy people who make the treasuries are always on the lookout to build their theme, so listing during the day time hours is even helpful. Also many folks are making very creative blogs, such as this one. If you find yourself featured in one of them it will mean even more exposure for you and your art.
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Have an etsy shop with over 300 sales and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
