North Dakota work-at-home artist sells products out of state
Published by gwen October 31st, 2007 in Beyond North Dakota, Business, North Dakota People.Paper making. Book making. Pages on how to paint, how to create a biome, classroom projects and pages for teachers and children–Lone Prairie Art Works has a long list of free, informal online tutorials to help people enjoy personal art projects.
“I’ve always tried to include techniques for how I did things and things I learned in school,” said Julie R. Neidinger, Lone Prairie artist and owner.
Neidinger knows what it’s like to try to teach yourself something new. All of her web pages are self-created, and she taught herself how to design web pages by viewing the code on other web pages. She’s also taught herself how to survive and grow as a one-person work-at-home artist in rural North Dakota.
After she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Moorhead State University, Neidinger moved back to her hometown area of Hampden, North Dakota. Her art business got off to a slow start, she said, because she wasn’t sure where her market was.
“It took me a long time to realize that my market was not North Dakota and I had to think outside of North Dakota,” she said. “Once I did, I found that I could price things higher and experiment more and still get sales.”
“This is the place you live, this is the place that inspires you, but this is not the place where you sell your work,” she said.
Neidinger said she opened for business in about 1999. By 2002, her web site was evolving into a series of fun, spicy blogs that helped her build a true web presence. Since then, she’s branched out into commissioned and non-commissioned artwork, graphic art, publishing and writing.
In spite of the slow start, Neidinger said business has picked up over the years. She usually has at least ten different projects she’s working on at one time.
“I always have a very long to-do list,” she said. “There’s plenty to keep me busy.”
Neidinger places some of her work at a gift store in Michigan, North Dakota, where again, most of her customers come from out of state. She also keeps up with an online gallery and, according to her web site, her occupation is ever-changing.
It’s both one of the hazards and one of the thrills of working at home in rural North Dakota. Neidinger’s personal experiences reflect the same sell-out-of-state philosphy that North Dakota’s larger primary sector companies use. It also means that the variety of art she offers gets seen by far-away eyes.
Here are some of my favorite Lone Prairie products:
Gwen and Julie,
I love this site and just looking at that wonderful winter image makes me long for my home state. I am a Raku Clay Artist who’s aesthetic is very North Dakotan in texture, color and conservative thought and action.
Don’t get frustrated because you are not valued in your backyard as an artist, because you really are. Everyone who lives among you, knows who you are and what you do. They intend to purchase your work, and they intend to let you know that you are a valuable part of the shared backyard, but they never seem to get around to it. Well, maybe we don’t tell them enough that they are appretiated and thank them for the little things they do to make our backyard that special that our art and craft reflect it.
If there is one thing that I remember about my home state is that to be an artist is really nothing new. Everyone in North Dakota has one art or another. Most have multiple talents and craft that keep their minds fresh and their dreams and inspiration fueled. However, not many take their craft or art seriously enough to make a living off of it.
I am displaced in Minnesota currently and I have owned and opperated The Clay Empire where I started in providing after school clay enrichment classes to youth. It is rewarding, yet a hard way to make a living. I traveled the metro and surrounding areas to scrape together a living. Lately, I have taken my earnings and now I have all the toys and tools needed to think more of production. So I am in my studio and online a lot more lately. I have fallen in love with the handmade clay tile and I am focusing more on the Raku Fired handmade tile.
One thing that I have found is that you definately must think of yourself as selling to the world. My first raku handmade tile installation was in Ishpeming, Michigan. Not in my backyard at all. I look forward in working with home owners and business owners in catering a handmade tile reality to their dream.
I applaud both of you, Julie and Gwen. You both are living in God’s country and reaching out to offer your art, craft and your North Dakotan style!
I wish you the best of luck and if there is anything I can help with, let me know!
Chad Everson
~Teddy Bear
Princeton, MN
Thanks for the fine article, Gwen. And thank you, Chad, for your thoughts. Both of you — well-spoken.