25 February 2024

GLOW DESIGNZ will become GLOW CREATIONZ

I have been working on some glow in the dark designs and today started designing a business card and other promotional material. To my dismay, I discovered that 'Glow Designz' is a website and marketing company in America (I was so sure this name was not in use when I checked a few months ago) so I have been searching for an alternative. I really wanted to have 'Glow' in the name, as it is a succinct description of what my products will do, and 'nz' at the end because all my products will be made (by me) in New Zealand. There are so many different businesses with names containing Glo/Glow but my Google search could find no reference to 'Glow Creationz', therefore, I will now be moving forward under the name GLOW CREATIONZ.

01 February 2024

GLOW DESIGNZ by Claire Fairweather

A New Year, a New Month, and a New Project to start work on: GLOW DESIGNZ.

I am excited to start developing a range of Glow In the Dark (GITD) products, which I will try selling primarily online. My initial idea was to make GITD Christmas tree decorations. It is a bit early in the year to start marketing these, so I will try some 'stars' for Matariki. I will also make some 'Glow-Tags' for emergency kits/camping gear and novelty ones for children's school bags.

I have many other ideas but will see if I have any success with the online sales before expanding my range of items.

27 January 2024

My stand at BADO 2024

Here is my stand, set up for the Whangamata Arts Collective's 'Big Arts Day Out' event held over the weekend (27 & 28 January 2024).


20 January 2024

Harcourts Challenge & BADO 2024


I have finished my entry for this years Harcourts Challenge. I chose Air (from the four elements Fire, Earth, Water and Air); it is a 3D piece titled "Her scent lingered in the midnight air" (see photo below)

On the Saturday and Sunday (27 & 28 January) I will have a stand at the Big Arts Day Out, where I will be selling some of my dot painted artwork, other one of a kind pieces, and Swirl-StoNZ. I will also be working/demonstrating how I make the Swirl-StoNZ throughout the weekend.

"Her scent lingered in the midnight air"

31 December 2023

A Review of 2023

My plan for this year was to concentrate on dot painting. I started off painting stones and other items for practice, which looked quite effective. As usual I got side-tracked several times on other ideas, which all came to nothing, and have only completed three small dot paintings. I have spent a lot of time this year landscaping the back garden and doing house maintenance. I have also developed some new ideas for the Swirl-StoNZ I sell at the local market, as well as just replacing my existing market stock.

While I have received a lot of admiration for the dot painting, it has not materialised into sales. So, I think my focus on the Swirl-StoNZ is confirming that my heart is not in the dot painting. I do not get the same enjoyment from dot painting compared to the dot mosaics I made with polymer clay but at least I have given it a good try.

So, for 2024 I plan to return to creating artwork with polymer clay mosaics and selling Swirl-StoNZ at the local markets because I like the contact with customers. I would also like to have another go at selling online, due to the limited number of accessible markets (without a car) and the unpredictable nature of the weather for outdoor events. For this, I am thinking of glow-in-the-dark items, under the name ‘Glow Designz’. I feel this idea is more suited to selling online, as they can easily be shown with photographs, rather than my Swirl-StoNZ that you really need to touch.

From previous experience, it is easy to have plans for the forthcoming year, we will have to see what actually happens! 

30 October 2023

Art After Dark - 10 November 2023

 


Really looking forward to this event, which started for the first time last year. This year, I will have three dot paintings on display/for sale: 1. Sky, Sea, Sand, 2. Sunflower, 3. Meadow Flowers. It should be a great evening and nice to have a chance to dress up.



19 October 2023

Paverpol Flowers

I have been experimenting with Paverpol fabric hardener, hoping to create some large outdoor 'garden art' flowers. Here are two large poppies that I made. 

I had to put reinforcing wire in the petals, between the layers of stiffened fabric, as they were quite large. This was good because it meant the petals could be bent into shape but very time consuming to do. I also needed several coats of paint to get a solid red colour. Unfortunately, this idea is not realistic to continue for selling.


These are some small practice flowers I made first, with the idea of upscaling. After my experience with the poppies, it will not happen.



27 July 2023

Glass Microbead Art - I gave it a try

Poppy - 15cm x 15cm
This is the one and only piece of glass microbead art I will do. It seemed like a possible alternative to mosaics but was very fiddly, time-consuming, and not enjoyable. I can say I 'gave it a try' but it is definitely not for me.


30 June 2023

School Holiday Fun Activity


I have placed 8 of my dot painted stones around Whangamata. See how many you can find. If you find one, let me know in the comments.

You may keep for yourself, gift to someone else, or leave for others to find. Happy Stone Hunting!

Come and see what other dot painted and hand crafted items I have for sale, including Swirl-StoNZ, at the Whangamata Sunday Market on 2 July 2023 from 9am - 1pm by the Library.


29 April 2023

Glow-in-the-dark flowers made from plastic drink bottles

I had a little play last week, after seeing online how to make flowers from plastic drink bottles. To make mine different, I added glow in the dark centres and edges to the petals. Hoping I might sell some of these at the local market for Mother's Day.

Flowers made from plastic drink bottles


Shown in daylight and in the dark