what's in a name?

I've been thinking about names a lot lately. (And the photo above is kind of out of place with this post but I hate posting without pictures and its kind of a nifty saying, isn't it?)

When I got home from IQF Houston, I felt an overwhelming sense of clarity. Mostly that a lot of things I've been thinking about changing for the past year need. to. happen.

One of the things that has been kicking around in my head is the name of my business - Fibra Artysta. I thought we'd talk about it because I think as artists we don't talk about business things often enough. If the idea bores you, I'll post art stuff in a day or two. :)

Its constantly misspelled (can't say I'm surprised), frequently mispronounced and really, is it descriptive at all? I've had this nagging worry that people are associating it with the Fashonista trend. And recently I noticed that someone else is using a name that is nearly identical and when I saw that, I knew it was the Universe knocking me over the head and saying "Do it already!!"

So I am.

And for the record? "Fibra Artysta" means Fiber Artist in Polish. When I was first starting out I was an addicted mixed media girl. I still kind of am but my focus has finally settled on printing fabric and hand stitching so the name just doesn't excite me anymore.

After many really bad ideas for a new company name were scrawled in my notebook, I finally settled on one: Smudged Textiles Studio.

Its a little goofy, a little serious, quite friendly and it reflects my focus. I'm a little bit in love with it. :)

I read a lot about from the experts about what to name your business. The overwhelming verdict was to use your name - meaning I should use Lynn Krawczyk. And I thought about it, I really did. But there is a faint idea creeping around the edge of my mind about creating a collective of surface design artists at some point. I don't know what that will mean, how it will be executed or when it will happen but if the idea is there, I'll listen. That meant choosing a more general name that could include several people so that's why I picked Smudged Textiles Studio.

So now the hard work begins. I've resisted the idea of re-branding my business for a long time because wow, its going to be a big pain in my behind. To take the sting out of it, I've decided to hire Holly Knott to design a big girl website for me. I think I hold my own well enough fumbling through websites but I'd like one that is well designed and has things that require code and graphic design and well. That's more then I can do. Add to it the fact that it takes an extraordinary amount of time (do you have any idea how much fabric I can print in the time it takes to build a website??) and it was kind of a no brainer.

The process will take a while. I'm hoping to be completed by late spring next year. It will mean asking you to follow me to wherever I move (not sure yet if the blog will be relocated, decisions decisions) and that makes me a little nervous because I love you all. But I think you'll like the new digs when they're done.

So a new name. Such a small thing to open up the doorway to new beginnings. :)