Scenic Landscape Drawings

Recently I posted in this blog an entry all about my Gothic Drawings. In this post I will talk about my landscape drawings that are also featured in my Etsy Shop. These types of drawings I have been doing since I was ten years old. For some reason I like to draw trees!

Landscape Drawings Born From Charcoal

Very rarely will I use a pencil to draw landscape drawings. I always use charcoal because I love the shades of black and gray I can create. I especially love this when creating the sky. During the winter I had a thought. I had been running my wood burning stove and had plenty of large chunks of charcoal. What was really cool was that each piece was different so that I was able to create some really cool textures and designs.

Landscape Drawings And Then Some

Along with my landscape drawings and my Gothic drawings I do have a few other things as well. I created a series of silhouette including a leaf and a dragonfly. What I did was instead of the subject being blacked out I made the background dark. In the drawing the subject is completely white. What I like about these drawings is the fact that they are very different then what most artists are offering. I also created a series of drawings featuring the same mystery woman and even did one of a sailboat along a beach.

Once Gone, Gone Forever

I have made the decision not to make any more drawings that will be available for sale. Once the landscape drawings as well as the others sell out my Etsy shop will only feature my electric hurricane lanterns. Each drawing I do is all drawn by me and each one is signed. You can see what I have to offer in my Etsy Shop here.

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Mike M Burke
MikeMBurkeDesigns (ETSY SHOP)
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Gothic Drawings Perfect For Halloween

As Halloween approaches I would like to introduce some of my Gothic drawings that are available in my Etsy shop. These are perfect for anyone who likes Halloween, creepy images, or perhaps a little bit of goth.

My Original Gothic Drawings

Back in 2004 I handed my resignation letter to a job I could no longer stand to work at. I knew it was risk when I needed income but I had to take it in order to have a better life. It was my hope to begin working for myself and ultimately go full time in my filmmaking work. Well all that was easier said than done. In order to pay my bills I began selling stuff on ebay and actually did really well with it. I decided to create art and see how that would sell.

I didn't know what I should sell so I drew a few things but found I liked making Gothic drawings the best. I put them up as auctions in the goth category and to my surprise I got bids! I made some more and got more bids. Many times my stuff got into bidding wars. I was able to sell all of the Gothic drawings I had created and never missed paying a bill. One of my drawings, a large old dead tree, was actually purchased by someone who had planned on having it tattooed on her entire back.

The New Breed Of Gothic Drawings

In September of 2012 I was back to living in hard times. I remembered the success I had all those years ago and decided to try it again. I created more Gothic drawings and placed them both on ebay and in my Etsy shop. The drawings got a lot of attention but the sales have been weak compared to 2004. From what I have learned, art has taken one of the biggest hits in this horrible economy. That’s unfortunate for me being that I am involved in all aspects of art such as these Gothic drawings, photography, and filmmaking.

It is a tough sell so I have created this post in order bring awareness to the drawings I have in my Etsy shop. For each Gothic drawing I create I sign and number them. For example I have made five drawings of the same subject but altered them just slightly. I then numbered them 1 of 5 and so on.


What I find interesting is that the most popular drawing, both in 2004 and now nearly a decade later, is my dead tree drawing. It shows you how sometimes simple is best. It appeals to nature fans, landscape fans, and goth fans.


I have shown some of my work in this post but have many more in my Etys shop. Please visit my shop and check out my work and these Gothic drawings. Perhaps you will see something you like!

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Mike M Burke
MikeMBurkeDesigns (ETSY SHOP)
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Gothic drawings now available in my Etsy Shop.

Wood Art At Etsy

In this post about my Etsy shop I am going to showcase my wood art pieces. I did a previous post about my fall decorations which featured colored leaves on wood. In this post I will show you my other wood art wall displays.

 

Wood Art Has Much Competition

The competition on Etsy is tough. If you come up with an idea most likely someone has already done it. I got very lucky with my Electric Hurricane Lanterns. At the time I created my shop no one was making them. That’s why I chose to do it. Six months later the copy cats came out from everywhere. I even had one shop owner go as far as taking photos that looked mine and even priced them the same. I suspect the customers knew better because it seems he went out of business not too long after. I also had an online store steal my images for their own site and social media sites.

My Wood Art Creations

When coming up with wood art I had to make something different than what other shop owners were doing. I decided to go with simple. I also focused on nature type stuff. One of my most popular items, which surprised me, was a painting of a large tree with some scattered leaves. I also did some really detailed pine cones, maple leaves, and pine trees covered in snow.

Purple Has Fans

I noticed that there were fans of the color purple. They would buy anything purple so I wanted something available that no one else was doing. What I did was paint purple maple leaves on light colored pine boards for these wood art pieces. These are really perfect for fans of purple. To add a little more spice to them I used gold for the veins of each leaf.

Christmas On Wood

I didn't forget Christmas as well. Once again the competition was heavy. I decided to only make a few pieces. My favorite is a smiling snowman petting a dog wearing a Rudolph red nose. I also painted some holy and berries with the message “Happy Holidays.” These can double as unique Christmas cards as well. Just write your message on the back and give it as a gift. It is an awesome one of a kind gift and a conversation piece.












These are all now available in my Etsy shop while supplies last. With autumn here and Christmas on the way now is the best time to grab these wood art wall displays before they sell out. You can visit my Etsy Shop here to see what I have available.

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Mike M Burke
MikeMBurkeDesigns (ETSY SHOP)
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Rustic Pine Cone Decor Wall Sculpture

The item I would like to talk about today are my Rustic Pine Cone Decor wall sculpture. My Etsy shop originally just featured my Electric Hurricane Lanterns but since opening in summer of 2012 I've added many different items that I personally make.

Rustic Pine Cone Decor Wall Sculpture Introduced

These rustic pine cone decor wall sculptures use all natural materials. First I start with the wood base. Each piece I made are from reclaimed wood from furniture I built years ago but no longer needed. These boards help add to the rustic charm with their screw holes, aged look, etc. I then add pine cones from White Pines that grow on my property, acorns from oak trees, and pine needles from those same white pines. Finally, I preserve the items by coating them so that they will last for years and years. Each pine cone decor sculpture has a picture frame hook on the back so that they can hang from a wall. They are also sturdy enough to sit upon a fireplace mantel. Place one on each side for a really nice display!

The Idea For These Rustic Pine Cone Decor Sculptures

In 2008 I moved into my first house. When putting together my living room I wanted a rustic charm to it. So during my first weekend there I went outside and grabbed some stuff that was native to my property. I made two pine cone decor wall sculptures. Now they were different then what is currently in my Etsy shop but I made them with the same process. Today they still hang from my walls and look really cool. They really do add that rustic and country living charm to any room.

From An Idea To A Product

A year ago my life took a turn for the worse and I no longer had income coming in. My Etsy shop was a few months old and although making sales it wasn't enough to cover my bills. I became very fearful that I was not going to be able to pay my mortgage anymore and end up losing it all. I had to get creative and add to my shop. That’s when I saw the pine cone decor display on my wall and came up with an idea. I collected as many pine cones as possible and went into my pile of wood that was from some old furniture I cut apart and began to make these pine cone decor sculptures.

My plan is to sell these out and not make any more. My ultimate goal is to only feature Electric Hurricane Lanterns in my shop. You can get access to these pine cone decor pieces in my Etsy shop here.

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Mike M Burke
MikeMBurkeDesigns (ETSY SHOP)
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Fall Decorations In My Etsy Shop

In this post I will talk about my art on wood and specifically my fall decorations. Each post of this blog is to make people aware of what I have to offer in my Etsy shop. Each item are things that I handmade.

The Fall Decorations Come To Life

I still remember the day clearly when I made these. It was just a few weeks away from Thanksgiving on a crisp fall day. I was very much in that fall spirit. I wanted to create something special that would easily blend into anyone’s decorating style. I know that there are many people, my mother included, who like to add seasonal decorations to their home such as fall decorations. I knew I wanted to do something with fall colors and it had to be simple.


Using my stock of reclaimed boards from furniture I had taken apart I painted colored leaves. I chose just three colors: orange, red, and yellow. I used acrylic paint and once finished I sprayed polyurethane over the fall decorations art on wood to protect it. I really like the colors of leaves on top of the light stained pine boards.

Fall Decorations Now Available

I have been able to sell a few pieces of these fall decorations but still have more available. With autumn now here these are perfect to add to any decor. They have a picture hanger hook on the back making it easy to hang on the wall. They can even be placed on a fireplace mantel or bookshelf.


If you are interested in these awesome fall decorations be sure to check out my Etsy shop. I am hoping to sell these out soon so if you like what you see grab yours today!


Check out these really cool metal wall sculptures I recently made here!

Mike M Burke
MikeMBurkeDesigns (ETSY SHOP)
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Rustic Country Living Metal Wall Sculpture

New to my Etsy shop is this limited edition metal wall sculpture. This piece is made with pine boards and features green metal vines. This is perfect for anyone with a country decor, log cabin, nature lover, or anyone looking to add that special touch to their decor.

How This Metal Wall Sculpture Came To Be

Recently I created these special novelty picture frames. You can learn more about them in a previous post. I needed to find the right frames and I couldn't. These frames needed to be flat wood and wider than 2 inches. The only thing I could find were these picture frames that had a green metal vine going up the side. I decided to buy these frames in order to create my product. I knew that I could find a use for these metal pieced and almost instantly I thought of this metal wall sculpture I could create. Not too long ago I cut apart some furniture I had build years ago and no longer needed. I had some good pieces of wood sitting in my wood burning stove pile. I took the best pieces and was able to create three of these metal wall sculptures.

Cool Rustic Metal Wall Sculpture

I had no idea how to position this. My thought was to cover most of the board with the vines in order to create these metal wall sculptures. I placed them in such a way as to make them look as natural as possible. What I really like about the leaves of the vines is the fact that not only were they hand painted but they have two shades of green . This really makes them pop up against the light color of the pine board. Each metal wall sculpture features a hook on the back for hanging it on the wall and they are 14" tall x 4" wide.

Very Limited QTY's

I was only able to make four of these metal wall sculptures but now only have three available in my Etsy shop. Once these three sell out won't be making any new ones. These are perfect many decor styles. They also make a great gift!!


If you would like to get one they are now available in my Etsy shop here. If you like what you see I would jump on these fast as they are likely to sell out quickly!



Dream Big, Believe In Yourself, And Anything Can Happen,

-Mike M Burke
MikeMBurkeDesigns (ETSY SHOP)
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Novelty Picture Frames Now In My Etsy Shop

Introducing my new Novelty Picture Frames. From trash to treasure I have created something really cool for all photography fans, movie fans, and alike.  These really cool frames can be hung on a wall or sit upon a table.

Novelty Picture Frames Explained

Novelty Picture Frame - Style 1

These novelty picture frames are made from real wood but they feature something even better! I have created two versions. The first has a photo slide in each corner of the frame and then running down along the sides are real 35 mm film strips! The second version doesn't have the slides. There are only two available per style and they can hold up to a 4 x 6 photo. I came up with idea for these novelty picture frames when I was working on another huge project.

The Story Behind These Novelty Picture Frames

I have been involved with photography ever since I was seven years old. I had taken a modest amount of photos until I reached 14 years old and then I went crazy with an automatic 35 mm point and shoot! Two years later my uncle, who was a professional photographer and artist, gave me this great Olympus 35 mm SLR Camera. From that point on I began taking hundreds of landscape photographs and many of my pets! About 9 years ago I moved onto digital photography and left film behind. Digital is great because of all the things that I can do with those images. It’s super easy access, easy for me to edit them as needed, etc. As far as my print images, I was never happy with the results I got from scanners so they just sat in photo albums and boxes just wasting away.

Novelty Picture Frame - Style 2

Recently I decided it was time to do something with all those old photos. I had photography books to make and photo prints to release. I got a hold a professional film and slide scanner and embarked on this enormous project of scanning 4,000 images! I had no idea I had that many. I even discovered images that the photo labs had never printed. What made these special is they were of my dogs who are no longer here. It was amazing to see something new from a time that no longer exists. I converted each image to digital and cleaned them up in Photoshop. The end result blew me away. These images were all stunning and looked far better than the original prints!  In the process I also found many blank film strips and bad film slides. I was going to throw them away but I waited. I knew that there must be something I can do with them. Soon after I had a vision of these novelty picture frames and I knew I was onto something really cool.



The Frames Are Born


I finally got around to making these and they are exactly what I pictured. These novelty picture frames are so perfect for anyone wanting to have something extremely rare and unique. I was only able to make two of each style and once they sell out I will never offer them again.  These will be a conversation piece for sure! These novelty picture frames can hold up to a 4x6 photo.



If you are interested in getting my novelty picture frames I will include a link for each style. I am really hoping to sell these fast and I’m sure photography and film fans will love these! Once they do sell out they will never be available again because I have no more film strips left! I also really like the fact that I have a story behind these frames and it wouldn't be the same if I sought out film strips that are being trashed.



For the picture frame with the slides and the film strips go here: STYLE 1 

For the novelty picture frames with just the film strips go here: STYLE 2




Dream Big, Believe In Yourself, And Anything Can Happen,

Mike M Burke
MikeMBurkeDesigns ETSY SHOP

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