Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Silk painting and OttLite


Developing our Facebook Page is really rewarding because it gives our customers a place to share what their work & us why they love OttLite! That's how we got in touch with Angel Ray. She specializes in Silk painting, a crafting domain few of us have heard about.

Angel explained to us how she came to silk painting and how OttLite really helped her business to blossom :)

"I was a Fine Art major in school, emphasis on painting. After school, I pursued graphic design, which is still my day job. Slowly I became starved of creative self-expression and needed an outlet. I found a silk painting class being taught by Dr. Rosemary Cohen. As soon as my brush hit the silk, I was hooked – found my creative outlet! Even more than an outlet, I found my passion and dream. Silk Painting is it!"

"After dabbling in silk painting for a few years, I finally went for it and did my first show in May 2009. Shortly afterwards, I opened the doors to my Etsy online shop, and joined the amazing CCCOE team as well. I quickly learned as an online seller, you could have the most beautiful product in the world, but if you don’t have amazing pictures, it won’t sell! I asked my talented photographer friend for tips and she told me how it was really all about the lighting. Lighting. Real daylight was the best, she said. Easier said than done, I said."

"I can only paint on the weekends, in the sunshine (my studio is a rooftop deck). So those valuable hours of afternoon are my only time to paint. I whined to my CCCOE teamsters about not having enough daylight hours to paint and do my photo-shoots, and then one of them mentioned, 'Have you tried the OttLite?' and sent me the link. That’s when everything changed for me. I immediately started experimenting and re-shooting my scarves."

"They looked great!! Not glaring, but nearly as bright as real sunlight, and the photos did pick up the subtle shine and texture of my different silks. I had about 10 scarves that had been finished for weeks, but I had kept missing my 'sunlight time window' so I couldn’t list them in my shop yet. I was BEYOND overjoyed as it changed everything for me."

"The OttLite is possibly the smartest investment I’ve made in my silk painting business so far, and I plan on buying several more for my studio. Not only can I do my photo shoots at night, and list my finished pieces faster, but now when the sun goes down after a day of painting, I don’t have to stop. I just bring my OttLite outside and I can see the real paint colors, and keep painting until it just gets too cold. It’s just incredible, and has helped me to grow my business, and get me just a little bit closer to my dreams coming true."

Below are a few links where you can find some Muse Silk Paintings:


12 comments:

Angel Ray said...

Thank you SO much for featuring my hand painted silks. I just ADORE the OTT light and think artisan should have one so that their products are well lit and beautifully showcased. Go OTT light!!!!

honeyddesigns said...

Love the scarves! They're so beautiful!

Melissa said...

Your silks are amazingly vibrant in color and you always capture them pefect in your photos...love knowing your secret now!!

AlliesAdornments said...

Angel does gorgeous work! I'm a big Ott lite fan, & purchased 2 of the battery operated lights to use at craft & art shows. Can't tell you the number of shows that have been ruined due to lack of decent lighting.

SachiDesigns said...

Georgous work Angel. I noticed the Ott light really makes colors vibrant. congratulations on being picked.

Lisa
sachidesigns

Anonymous said...

I am a huge fan of Angel and her beautiful photography and lighting really sold me on her amazing scarves!

I just bought a battery OTT for my next show, good job OTT.

ennadoolf said...

Great feature! I'm thrilled to have found your blog and am now a follower! I love my OTT light! :D

Laura said...

The scarves featured in this piece are absolutely beautiful, and I'm incredibly impressed by the photography.

I have worked under OTT Lights pursue my beaded wearable art for quite a while now, just recently upgrading to a higher voltage OTT than I could get at a craft store (purchased it at a local lighting source) and I started taking pics under it too.

OMG! While natural sunlight is wonderful, it's not consistent where beads are concerned, and glass is incredibly difficult to photograph under the best of circumstances. Outside, 5 minutes go by, the light is coming from a different angle, and suddenly my pictures go from fantastic to a blur, and I have to move my entire set-up to a different location or a different angle.

Now I, like your feature subject, just wait until dark and get my pictures in the convenience of my studio. I am currently using two OTT lights at a time for this purpose, but plan to buy two more shortly to be sure that there is no shadows in my photography.

OTT made taking pictures go from a pain in the neck and something I dreaded to a pleasure.

obabydotcom said...

Beautiful scarfs!
Love the color combo's.
Beautiful artwork.

Toni at Satin Stitchery said...

Great work Angel - I love your scarves. Also, thanks for the great suggestion on the photography. I have a floor OTT light but it hadn't crossed my mind to use it for my photos. I'm going to try that!

Beth said...

Angel Ray, Your work is beautiful!!!! I know how much help the OttLites can be....I have 3 of them! I use mine for weaving, sewing, reading, and whatever other crafty thing I dig into. So nice of the folks at OttLite to make you and your work a feature. Congratulations!

Angel Ray said...

I just wanted to thank OTT light one more time for this fabulous feature and thank you, everyone for your kind comments. I'm so happy to share my little love story of MUSE and the OTT light :)

Happy Musings, all!
xo,
Angel