TMPixArt: Artwork and Books by Tracy Ruckman: POD

NOTE: As I transition my art efforts to this TMPixArt blog from my personal blog at TracyRuckman.com, I will be sharing art posts that were originally published on that site earlier this year. While the posts may be duplicates, my body of art, and the body of art created by my guests has grown and expanded. Because of this, I invite you to visit their websites and explore their art even if you read the blog post previously - you might be surprised to find a new favorite somewhere along the way!

Meet the Artist: Vickie Emms

(originally published here)

Today, I'm happy to introduce a new artist friend, Vickie Emms.

Vickie, what type of art do you create?

I offer my own photography for sale on POD websites on products they offer.

I am a member of Redbubble and Zazzle where I have 4 stores, one of which
is totally my photography, called DiamondW_Photography.

I also create designs from elements I purchase on the internet from commercial use sites and add them to products on either of two of my stores on Zazzle, one of which is DiamondWillowDesigns and the other is a niche store of totally Plaids/Tartans, which originate from Scotland and offers products with those plaids on them on dozens of products in ThePlaidShop.

This is a magnet offered on Zazzle from a photo of a Scarlet Macaw taken in Mexico.

A favorite design from Zazzle would be tartan pillows from The Plaid Shop.

How did you get started creating this particular type of art?

Photography has always been my love and just making photos for sale wasn't satisfying enough. I started designing wedding invitations, shower invitations, wrapping paper and greeting cards, plus hundreds of other items that were fun to do. After buying Photoshop CS5, the products just became a natural to me. I love seeing end results, and specially sales!

Tell us the story behind ONE of your favorite creations.

One of the highlights of my photography travel was visiting Alaska in 2009. This is the most popular photo from that trip.

On the Way to Haines Alaska

Explore Vickie's shops at:

RedBubble
Zazzle: Diamond Willow
Zazzle: The Plaid Shop

About the Artist:

Vickie was born in Scotland in June, 1945. She is married, and is a mother of three grown daughters and has 7 beautiful grandchildren. As well, Vickie and her husband Fred have 8 foster grandchildren, who are no different to them as their own.

She lives in Manitoba, Canada, one of the prairie provinces. Most of her scenery is from those areas, although she lives close to the eastern lakes area of the province called the Canadian Shield and visits and camps in her favorite parks often. She LOVES the Canadian Rocky Mountains and travels almost every summer to Alberta to camp and photograph those beautiful icons.

She and her husband have been married 50 wonderful years, and travel quite a bit, usually within Canada and the United States. So you will see a mixed bag of shots from both countries. They have caught the travel bug the last couple of winters and have visited the Bahamas, Cancun, Mexico and the Dominican Republic and a couple of trips to Las Vegas.

She loves photography, camping, traveling, crafts, flower gardening and music. She has been taking photographs most of her life, upgrading to the newest cameras as they came on the market. Now with digital, she is having the time of her life. She's had photos published in Canadian Wildlife, a magazine by the Canadian Wildlife Federation. She has had photos published in Our Canada and More Our Canada and in the August/September issue of 2018 another is being published of a Cedar Waxwing eating Mountain Ash berries.

Meet the Artist: Donna Cervelli

(originally published here)

Today, I'd like to introduce you to photo artist and graphic designer Donna Cervelli.

Hi, Donna! Welcome to our art space.

What type of art do you create?

Currently my work is a blend of fine art and graphic design. Over the years my work has evolved. I’ve work in different mediums and I think that shows in my current work. Photography, which was once a hobby for me, has become more of a passion. With the ever changing technology in cell phones, the built-in cameras, make it even easier to take pictures. A lot of my current work starts out as nothing more than a garden photo or an evening sunset. By using filters and apps I alter the original photo, add text to achieve the final design. These designs have been known to show up on products in my online POD (Print On Demand) store. For the past 18 months I have focused my attention on my POD that’s set up though my Zazzle store, HeART & Soul Artwork.

I love creating art and my Zazzle store allows my to showcase my work on wide variety of products, everything from home decor to clothing and print products, such as invitations.

How did you get started creating this particular type of art?

I started my store on Zazzle about a year and half ago. Prior to that I worked for a major newspaper in Chicago, for over 15 years. I was a senior designer in advertising and created ads for the newspaper. In addition to my full time job I did freelance work; everything from logo designs and business cards to acrylic paintings. Within the last five years I’ve my creative focus leaned more toward my painting. I opened up on online store with Fine Art America mainly to sell affordable prints of my work. Like other Print On Demand companies, Fine Art America, also prints artwork on products, such as phone case, pillows, tote bags, etc. Through a referral from a friend, I checked out Zazzle in January of 2017. I opened a store and tested it out. I didn’t take it too seriously, as there were a lot of personal changes going at on the same time. Later in the year, around June, I decided to pursue Zazzle on a full-time basis. While most of the work in my store is based on my photography and graphic designs, I have also incorporated some of my more recent paintings.

Tell us the story behind one of your favorite creations.

That would be my EARTH DAY is Every Day design. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd. But I feel it should be recognized throughout the year. I believe we should, reuse, reclaim and recycle whenever we can. With that in mind I wanted to design a logo that could be used all year round. Since I love gardening and have so many photos of my gardens, I decided to incorporate them into the design. That’s when I came up with the heart shaped collage with photos taken of my various flower beds. The green texture within the words Earth Day, is actually a close up photo of plant leaves.

Find Donna on the web to learn more about her art:

HeART & Soul Artwork

Facebook ~ Artist Donna

Instagram ~ Donna Cervelli Artist

About the Artist:

Donna was born in and grew up in Chicago. As long as she remember she has loved art and the arts. When Donna was 10 years her parents signed her up for weekly art classes, at the home of a local artist who taught adults and children. There, Donna learned the basics of art such as shapes, color and composition. She worked in several mediums and painted landscapes and still life. Several years after high school Donna attended the American Academy of Art in downtown Chicago. Her areas of study were illustration, lettering and design, and advertising. Donna went on to work for the Chicago Tribune Newspaper, as an ad designer in the creative department. Wherever life takes Donna, her art work is always there in one form or another. Currently she has a print on demand online store, through Zazzle which allows her to showcase and sell her artwork and designs.