Yesterday a new friend came to view my Journey with Jeddah picture book and he stopped paging when he came upon the watercolour section which depicted a few landmarks in Jeddah. He said the colours are so happy and inviting. He jokingly asked me where I got them from and I jokingly replied that they were all inside the little watercolour travel set – of course, where else would they be? I did not do these works on location. I worked in the safety of my villa. These watercolour scenes were rather small in real life, but they were received with open arms; perhaps the spontaneous style I employed here sparked something in the viewer. Maybe it’s the never-waning allure of watercolour? I will quote a paragraph or two from my book to explain things a little more. I would like to tell how the “welcome” these little works received, made me consider other avenues in order to extend their “reach”. (I made these miniatures in 2012.)
Being an inexperienced watercolour artist, I did not expect such a positive response, because I thought they were simply too small and they were just my little experiments. However, their reactions made me consider reproducing some of them on coffee mugs and on fridge magnets, because I had unintentionally captured a few landmarks in Jeddah which would make lovely little gifts for friends back home. So, these “first fourteen” quick pen and watercolour sketches started to awaken entrepreneurial possibilities in me.
A school colleague of mine mentioned my name to a small compound curio store in Jeddah and so they started to showcase my art products there alongside works of other artists and so my circle of visibility was enlarged a little and these items, I hoped, travelled to exciting destinations which I may never see. From sublimation printing on a few coffee mugs and magnets in Jeddah, my little hobby business went wider to sublimation printing on silk, silk scarves, wool scarves, chiffon scarves, a cotton duvet cover, cotton beach scarves, cotton table cloths and raw silk cushion covers in India, and even a few large experimental textiles (samples) in Hong Kong. I even undertook an eight day “business” tour to India when I started to feel that I was spending too much money to my liking as a mere art teacher. Needless to say, I became very excited and I rubbed shoulders with “possibility”. However, art and business are a little bit like oil and water at times, because as artists our passion often lies with the creative process, but fortunately we always learn a few things along the way.
I learned a lot, but my ventures did not multiply my pennies significantly; I broke even more or less. However, I feel richer in spirit and I have a few tips I can share with other artists who would like to know more about sublimation printing. The world is rife with possibilities, but it is important to find images, like landmarks (for example) which people can associate with. Have a colourful and may it be as bright as intense blobs of watercolour on white paper.
If you click on the link below, you will learn more about my Journey with Jeddah and you will see my lovely friends showcasing my Jeddah scarves on location. This event happened in February 2019.
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