curation, my way

I had a piece in a Treasury that made the front page again! Yay! Callooh Callay made the 10 Mile Hike Treasury and she did a beautiful job.

I've had two Treasuries make the front page and it's very cool to hear back from featured artists about the exposure they've gotten.

I love creating color themed Treasuries myself, but I can get pulled into themes like bugs, masquerades or things I think someone specific would like.

Treasuries are about visual impact. Each photo needs punch or it will take away from the entire thing.
Really fabulous Treasuries are created from really fabulous photos. It's in the details! The striking. The unusual. Or the pretty. I'll pick an average item with a spectacular picture over a spectacular item with an average picture. I prefer really tight shots, as a rule, with minimal background space-- something soft and unnoticeable, or something very artistic, or something bright-- anything so long as the whole shot is gorgeous. But there are always exceptions for backgrounds!

All white or all black backgrounds can be harder to work with, but they're not impossible. A really discernible watermark or words overlayed on the picture aren't usually attractive in Treasuries. Pictures with borders are tough. If it's got white space to make it squared, I just won't use it. And there are no exceptions for blurriness!
Each Treasury I make features things that I personally like. If I've got a question about if it's handmade or not, it's out, even if I like it. I don't feature supplies or vintage, because I want to share the art itself. If it doesn't look well made, it's out. If it's priced insanely low, I question whether I want to feature that artist.

I'm always hearting things for treasuries-- from searches, from other treasuries, the forums-- wherever I come across them. So I mostly mine my faves and I pick a lot of items from the Bead Art Originals and Etsy Beadweavers Teams because we put emphasis on promoting the teams via treasuries. To fill out I'll search by color combination (or theme) and arrange by price-- most expensive stuff up top. I get lots of great shots of luxe jewelry and fine art like that.

I try to be very texturally conscious and include on or two "wowza!" pieces-- even picking out an item or two and building the rest of the Treasury around it.

I try not to do all bead, or all painting treasuries but add a bit of this and that.

Treasuries can be a great way to get views and once in a great while a sale. It's a fun way to express yourself. It's a cool way to get some recognition. But at the end of the day it's just a short-lived collection of pixels and I don't get obsessive about them!