Well, I have had to manually move my old posts. There have been a lot of them and I am done. Too tired, too lazy, to continue. So, for all my very old remaining posts, I am just adding them all in one lump sum. Not very search engine friendly, not exactly pretty. Don't care. Must get food. Must get rest. Fingers sore. Eyes sore.
Holy Murals Batman!
05/28/2010 06:32 pm
I can't believe it! I went larger and my computer didn't melt! Check out my latest piece, "golden serpent." It's 72"x108" at 240ppi, and 3.45GB in size.
How big should I go next?? I'll have to give the composition some thought, first.
Later, peeps!
~Mattie
Happy Memorial Weekend!
05/28/2010 02:38 pm
I hope you all have a pleasant *and safe* Memorial Day. I'll be assisting in a wedding. What fun! Not. :-P
I have a bunch of updates to tell you about. I have added a new abstract image. I'm excited about this piece, because it is the largest I've created in Photoshop. I am in an ongoing experiment to see how large of a painting I can create in Photoshop before I hit whatever limit is dictated by it and my computer's RAM.
In honor of Memorial Day, I would like to share with you all a special piece that I finished earlier this year. It is a photo of Co 15 2nd ARMD Div: Replacement Center, Ft Benning, GA Mar 1941. These troops served under General Patton in World War 2. I was able to scan and work on this panoramic because a friend, Mr. Jack Barnes, allowed me to scan this photo - which he has been keeping safe ever since 1941. Yeah, I know. Jack is actually in the photo, follow the link for more info and to find him in it. Thank you Jack and to all who have ever served in any branch of the military.
I also have loaded a couple of new categories in my collections. These are more about posting items for my resume. Client Work is where I will show off items that I have created for my clients (stay tuned for some chocolate items I've designed).
Photo Retouching is where I will show off examples of what I can do (and have done) to photos. These are not listed in Client Work, because these items are either show pieces or were pet projects. In other words, nobody paid me to do these.
That's all for now. Have a great weekend!
~Mattie
More Info, As Promised!
05/26/2010 02:05 pm
I have been informed that the guys at Rogue Monk are making an exception for my design and are going to produce it at the size I intended. This is certainly great news! A big thanks to the guys at Rogue Monk Workshop.
At this point, the shirt will probably only be sold on the online store. However, if it does well, it might be marketed to other stores. Who knows, I may get to see my shirt in a Dillards some day! ;-)
Celebration Station!!
05/26/2010 11:34 am
Thank you!!! Thank you to everyone who went out and voted on my Cherry Blossom design! I received notice this morning that my design has earned a place in their store and will be avaiable in 2 to 3 weeks.
I so appreciate everyone taking an interest. I still have another design posted, so if you have a chance and have not done so, please check it out!
I'll post more info as I get it.
~Mattie
Makin' Progress!
05/25/2010 07:58 pm
Ok. The voting on my Cherry Blossoms design on Rogue Monk Workshop is closed. I am waiting to hear whether I received enough votes for the shirt design to sell. If it hasn't, then I may try placing in on another service. However, you should know that if it didn't receive enough votes, that is kind of telling. Plus, other services may have different printing restrictions and sizes. I'll let you know.
You might notice that this site looks slightly different. I've been tweeking the design and have been working to make this a real blog. You can't see this part, but up until now, every post had to be added by hand to the HTML of this page. Starting with this post, this is now a database driven blog. Not many features, yet. No comments, yet.
Depending on how far I can get in my spare time, and how many hurdles I have to cross, I might still go with a pre-fab blog engine. I had hoped to simply integrate a Blogger account, but Google recently stopped that, unless I want to learn their API for integrating a Blogger account. Sigh. Not sure if I care to learn anything else. Plus, a seperate blog would mean two sites that I have to maintain, rather than just this one. I already have WAY too many websites on my plate.
So, I hope you like it & I am open to suggestions.
Be sure to check out the new piece in my abstracts collection!
Later, peeps!
~Mattie
I have questions
05/23/2010 03:56 pm
If any of you have answers, I'm ready to listen.
I love Zazzle.com - but, it is not without problems. Specifically, I have two issues. First, they do not do full shirt printing. Second, while they will to large art prints, they have a limited selection of paper and printing options.
For shirts, I like more than a small area on the front and back of a shirt to place artwork. I want something more. While I am a fan of Rogue Monk Workshop, they have a max screen print size of about 14"x18". Better, but still not full shirt printing. Does anyone know of a source that will allow me to design full shirt prints, and will sell the shirts for me, like Zazzle, and send me a commission?
For prints... I don't know about you, but if I'm going to spend a lot of money on a piece of art, a print on poster paper will not cut it. I want it printed on nice, heavy-duty, high quality paper - even archival quality paper. I would like the option, at least, to have the print mounted on foam/gator board, or stretched on a canvas. I see that MPix does all that, but they do not sell the pieces for you. They have a partner that will handle all the ordering, and shipping, but you have to pay to have them host a website for you. Again, I want something that works like Zazzle, but offers more options in the printing. Zazzle does offer nicer papers for prints, and will even frame the print for you. They do not, however, offer foam/gator board or canvas wraps. Does anyone know of a source that will offer all the options of MPix but will handle all the ordering, printing, and shipping, like Zazzle?
I've been researching, but have not yet found a good solution for these two issues. If anyone has any leads, I am open and will appreciate the help! Just send me a message through my contact form.
As always, I appreciate you all so much! Thanks for taking the time to listen. Also, be sure to check out the new additions in my Abstracts!!
Have a Perfectly Positive day!
~Mattie
More Komen Designs
05/19/2010 10:50 pm
Well, I went ahead and added a couple more designs to my Susan G. Koman shirt concepts. As always, I value and appreciate your feedback!
Chowders!
~Mattie
Susan G. Komen
05/19/2010 04:29 pm
I made contact with a rep for the Susan G Komen foundation yesterday & they may be interested in having me design a shirt for them. Before I submit anything to them, however, I want to do my due diligence and get feedback on some design ideas.
Basically, I want to know if any of these ideas would appeal to you and would you be interested in purchasing one, or both, if they were available. If one or more of my designs is accepted, then all proceeds would go directly to the foundation.
I'm not looking for praise - but I am interested in constructive criticism. So, if you have a second, please check out my design concepts.
Thanks!
~Mattie
More Updates!
05/18/2010 11:54 pm
I've uploaded some of my photography pieces. Some are photos taken with a standard camera, some are from my iPhone (who says you cannot be creative with an iPhone camera?). All are edited and are either a bit abstract or surreal. I hope you enjoy them!
I've also added a page with links to my products. The page is broken into general categories, then there are links to products for each specific artwork. I do not have all my artwork posted for sale at this point. It's a bit of a process. If there is something you would like to purchase, but it is not yet available in my store, let me know through the contact form and I will bump it up in my to-do list.
Also, don't forget to check out my shirt designs on the Rogue Monk Workshop site. My "Cherry Blossoms" design only has 6 days of voting left. I *really* could use your help!
Finally, for those of you who visited because you heard about me on Larry Flick's radio broadcast, I want to send out a big *THANK YOU* for taking the time out of your day to check me out! Also, a big thanks to my partner, Donnie Brown, for the shout out and to Larry Flick for the free press!
Thanks all for the moment. Catch ya later!
~Mattie
Rogue Monk Workshop
05/16/2010 11:27 pm
Fantastic! I was just notified that my Phoenix design on Rogue Monk Workshop has been approved for the voting process! So, in addition to my other shirt design, you can visit my page on their site and vote for one or both designs - if you like them, of course.
Thanks peeps! I'm pooped. Been a long, and I do mean loooonng, day. 3:30am to, what is it, 11:31pm as I type this. Crud. Gotta get some sleep.
Later taters!
~Mattie
News Flash!
05/16/2010 09:00 am
I need your help! I have submitted two t-shirt designs to Rogue Monk Workshop. Before my designs are eligible for sale, I have to get a certain number of votes from the general public. How many? I don't know & they're not sayin'. If you have a sec, please check them out and vote on them if you like them. As of the time I am posting this message, only one of my designs is open for voting, and voting on it ends in 8 days from today. It is the Cherry Blossoms design.
Hopefully, my other design, Phoenix, will be open for voting soon!
Thanks for your support! It means a lot to me!
~Mattie
New Site
05/16/2010 06:00 am
Ok, gang. Here's the deal. I've been trying to bust out a new site in my spare time. This site is a rough draft, but I really needed the site to be up and running. So, please forgive the rough edges and any bugs you may encounter.
Also, note that if you are viewing this site on an iPhone or iPad, you can view the image thumbnails, but you will not be able to see the images directly. This is because I use a Flash plugin to allow you to zoom in and out of the images. Sorry about that. Until I figure out a way to accomplish the same thing without Flash, you just have to deal with it. As a temporary alternative, you can always view my images on my Flickr page.
Not all of my work is included in this site. You can find more on my Flickr page. Like I said, this site is still very rough around the edges, and I'll get more up as soon as I can.
For what is loaded, click on the collections link (to the left of this text). That will take you to a listing of the different artwork collections that I have currently loaded. I'll be loading new pieces on a regular basis, so check back often!
Hope you enjoy it!
~Mattie