livefunky

Etsy Shop Name: LiveFunky

What you sell: Original contemporary art and archival prints.

Tell us about your featured item: Mystic Garden is an acrylic painting on 36” x 36” stretched canvas. This is my favorite painting in my shop because it conveys a very spiritual, calming and healing power. What is most exciting to me about painting abstractly is that every viewer has their own reaction and relationship to what they see. I like to think of this as a vision from a dream, being surrounded by lush green foliage, and looking through the mist into the light. What someone else sees is equally valid and real to them, which is exactly my intention. This painting is closest to my heart and soul, and the style is a direction I'd like to continue to explore in my work.

What role does creativity play in your marketing methods?

I think just being yourself is “a marketing approach” and it's the route I've chosen for myself. So all of my interactions with other artists, buyers, gallery or shop owners, is in my own true voice, and I have a pretty relaxed, open approach to life - you can see that in my work. I think it would take something away from people understanding my art if I didn't operate this way, both online and in person. As far as true marketing goes, I think it's all about just paying attention to what new opportunities are out there to promote yourself, learning each site or gallery/shop's system and maximizing your own time management. Multi tasking is the name of the game! That and making sure you take a break for air every once and a while. It can be easy to get sucked into working around the clock when there are so many things you “could be doing” - just search the word “overwhelmed” in the Etsy forums – you'll see!

Do you get stressed just thinking about filing taxes?

Yes, and I'm working on changing that.