Artist Diary

I’ve ben busy since February, preparing for an art show in May. Though it might not happen, as this coronavirus pandemic has caused school closures and event cancellations. They say that it might last until June or longer. I am not surprised though. I have not felt optimistic about 2020. The end of 2019 saw riots in Hong Kong and Paris. The virus was slowly erupting in China, and has now it has reached all around the world. I had a feeling at the beginning of the year, that things could get cancelled. I intended to lay low this year. But the art show placement was assigned to me since last year. I procrastinated working on it. Then in January, I started making plans for it. I made some decisions to grow my art business. I invested in buying equipment and art materials. It’s been a real process, something that I had been avoiding for years. Up until tis point, I’d only been testing the waters to see if anyone would buy my art. Having the art show as a firm deadline to work from, gave me the push. Otherwise the hesitation about what to do could drag on. So even if this art show doesn’t happen, it’s all work that I had to do anyway.

The biggest decision I made, that will affect my art the most, is choosing to print my own work. I bought a photo printer. I had been sending my work to print at a professional lab. I love the results that the labs give, but it’s not flexible enough for my business, logistically speaking. The cost of shipping really ads up, plus the waiting time. All the prints listed on my shop are currently lab printed. They are printed using the silver halide method on a metallic finish paper. The process involves photo paper that reacts to light. There is no ink involved. It is really the best, and I will still offer it for large size prints. I have a found a metallic finish paper that I can use on my inkjet printer that offers very compelling results. They are not the same, but it is still just as beautiful. Silver halide prints are have a super shiny finish, they are more silver toned and look very 3D, whereas the inkjet metallic is also very shiny and glossy, it leans more on the golden side. There is a subtle golden glow that projects from the paper. Below are photos of silver halide on metallic versus inkjet on metallic. The photos hardly do it any justice, you really have to see it in person.

Creating art prints and products for people to buy has a real process involved. Every detail must be considered. Decisions must take place before things can get started, as they will affect the materials and equipment that I need to buy. For instance, choosing what sizes of the art prints to offer, only until this is firmly decided, that then I can consider what my packaging options are. And then comes the sourcing, and that is one of the most crucial but challenging steps. One must envision how they will package and present their artwork to the customer, and then find the appropriate materials. Have you ever heard the saying, that God only gives you what you can handle? In the past, I have found that if I did not have the packaging ready for my online store, the sales for larger orders would not come in. I used to think that I could just wait to get an order in and figure it outtlater. But those orders never came. Then I splurged on the packaging and the orders came in.

Last week, I went to Michael’s to get a hold of a white Sharpie marker. I recorded EVP while I was in there. I rarely ever get to go to Michael’s. I could honestly spend hours in there.

These clips turned out pretty good. I tested them on my laptop speakers and you could hear them audibly. But I still recommend headphones for a better listening experience. The clips are repeated on loop.

Here is someone saying, “Hi Prince”.

I think we must have ran into some of his fans, as this one said, “I adore you, Prince”.

This one asked, “When did you die?“. P said, “2016”.

Some one said, “Orange tree… Eat an orange”. I think there must have been an orange tree there on the spirit side.

Someone offered P a drink, “You wanna drink?”.

“Orange juice”.

Someone said, “Angels in here”.

“There’s an angel”.

I spent about 50 minutes there, browsing. I had already gotten what I came for, but I couldn’t stop looking. But it was getting late in the day. P said, “It’s getting late. Gotta go”. I felt him tugging at me to go.

But before I left, Michael Jackson’s song came on, Remember the Time. The spirits there knew it was going to come on the radio. They said, “Next is Michael Jackson”.

I only bought the Sharpie and went home.

I have a collection of art prints and greeting cards coming soon. I found a really wonderful inkjet cardstock to print on for cards. The print quality is amazing. I already have one card posted in the shop. It’s the card version for my Prince Artifacts print.

These recordings were recorded using  my EVP Wrist Recorder 3 on March 8 2020.

Image above: “Ink and prints” by Andrea Mai.

©2020 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.