How Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Where do the days go? Memorable moments from the recent past:

1.  Bebe Long and I traded paintings. I now have her "Pink Passion" and she has my "TuTu Tangle." We are both thrilled and excited with our recent acquisitions. Photos to follow.

2. Sierra Art Trails was a successful event in spite of the rain. The 4 artists there were a great team: Julie Mitchell, myself, Vivian Capone, and Gretchen Lee. We enjoyed each other's company and making new friends together. I had a successful sales weekend with 2 originals finding new and loving homes and numerous smaller sales.

3. I'm taking Alyson Stanfield's "Cultivate Collectors" online class. Time to clean up my act and move to the next level. :)

Long day--

What's wrong with this picture? I'm almost always writing my blog post of the day after midnight. Today, I wish it was earlier since I left home this morning before 10 AM and got home tonight after 10 PM. That isn't a normal day but it's not often that I have meetings with both of my artist friend groups on the same day. My marketing salon group met in Coarsegold for our first meeting in 2010 and lunch and my potluck critique group (MY term for us!) met for dinner and our monthly critique.

In Julie Cameron's books, she talks about "believer mirrors"--people who reflect back at their artist friends with positive support and encouragement and that artists turn to in times of need with no fear of negative consequences. Both groups that I met with today are made up of people most of whom I consider to be my "believer mirrors". They give positive feedback and suggestions, constructive criticisms and are very supportive, knowing when I need encouragement the most whether or not I realize that I'm asking for it. I greatly appreciate the individual personalities in both groups and the feelings of now and then isolation that they help alleviate.

My evening group is made up of some creative and wonderful cooks and if the critiques are lacking because we haven't painted "to the topic", the food never is! My saxophone painting received a lukewarm reception, partly I think because it's so different from what most of the other members of the group do. But looking at it across the room with different eyes was very helpful to me--I know what I need to do to make it better and then I will consider it ready to frame.

Thank you, dear friends, I appreciate you all!

Summer Days of June

I'm trying to get myself back into the routine of blogging every day, but I'm having a hard time getting started. I had one attempt 10 days ago, and this is the second. I CAN do it, I know I can!

Tomorrow, our Art Marketing Salon group is meeting in North Fork to have lunch and to finalize our group portfolio for submission for a group show as "Sisters7". The seven should be raised so it reads like "Sisters to the Seventh Power". And powerful we WILL be! Seven strong-minded, talented, creative women who have bonded as we have been improving our marketing skills to become more successful and organized artists. It has been a wonderful experience and I'm totally glad that I decided months ago to take part. We finished the nine "official" sessions, at two week intervals, and now are planning to continue to meet periodically to maintain the momentum that has all of us "on a forward roll." As I think back to where we were when we started and where we are now, I believe we have all made a lot of progress and definitely moved forward in our quest to become better known, more successful, and to achieve our artistic goals.

I have done my homework for tomorrow and one part of it that wasn't required but that I wanted to do was to create an (optional) Powerpoint portfolio. I am going to try to include it with today's blog post, but I'm not sure if that's possible or not. Let's all cross our fingers, think good thoughts, and try it out!

{Unfortunately, it didn't work and I'm having to try--read that as "LEARN"--how to do it another way. Hopefully, that will work and I'll have it up very soon.}

A Busy Day

First, I was off to Art Marketing Salon (courtesy of Alyson Stanfield) and then on to Oakhurst, California to visit 2 bookstores where I am going to have shows in the not too distant future. I will post dates very soon! Hope your weather is currently as beautiful as ours is here in central California. 

I can't believe how much there is to be learned every day!

I made the title statement mainly in reference to my blogging experiences. But, really, it's true in ALL areas of life. Today at my Marketing Salon session, I learned SO much from the other 6 participants. And that has been true every single time we've met over the last weeks. It is so nice to be able to share thoughts, hopes, dreams, and concerns with like-minded artists and to laugh with them, too. I've enjoyed the relationships that are developing and I hope that we continue them after the 9 bi-weekly sessions are completed.

What I've learned regarding the blog today is about the insertion of a calendar. I've been trying to add one for a while--not too seriously until 2 days ago--but I wasn't able to get one that worked for me. And I'm still struggling with it but it is there, at least! I just did a little calendar in a program I have called Print Shop Deluxe, saved it as a PDF (which did NOT work), and then saved it as a JPEG. I added it as a "gadget" to the top of the right hand sidebar, but it's too small to read. So, I have uploaded it to aDrive (my free storage area) and if you just click on the small version, it will allow you to download a large, readable version of it. Right now, it's only a very basic calendar. I need to add more dates etc. and I also need to figure out how to make it sharper and clearer. But you see what I mean about learning a lot! I think it should help to keep my brain sharp and my wits about me--IF it doesn't all drive me crazy, which is another possiblity. Technology is so fantastic, but it can also be extremely frustrating when things are going well. Learning new technological skills definitely develops patience!

And Patience should be, and probably will be, one of the words in my "Words Series." But it isn't yet. Today, I'm going to show you the painting of "Integrity"--and I love the definition of integrity that I remember from years ago. Integrity is doing what you know is right even when no one is watching! So, on that note, I'll upload the painting photo and say my goodnights for now. Tomorrow, I'm going to explain about how to have my newest entries/posts sent to you via email. I'll do my best with the topic and then maybe you can give me some feedback about whether you've been able to do that successfully, and if so, HOW so?? :)

Affirmations for Artists in Today's Economy from Alyson B. Stanfield and ArtBizCoach.com

When you need affirmations as an artist, here is a short podcast to visit. . . . and revisit. This is the first time I've added something like this to my blog. That steep learning curve is still in evidence.

The artbizcoach.com site is a good one to visit for all kinds of marketing tips, tools, and techniques when you need motivation and inspiration. Check it out!

Today, we cleaned and set up The Art Stand Gallery for our Blossom Trail season. Then I went south to Visalia to hear the Tulare County Symphony concert. It was really good and I enjoyed the concert, as usual, but I only painted for about a half hour today. Tomorrow is another day, as someone (Rhett Butler in "Gone With the Wind"?) playing a famous part once said.

Work and Play

Today was the second meeting of the Art Marketing Salon group in Coarsegold. We are meeting as a group, with a designated leader (Julie Mitchell) to follow the "plan" established by Alyson Stanfield,  Art Biz Coach. Her website is artbizcoach.com and her blog can be followed at artbizblog.com. There is a definite time commitment involved (which makes the process somewhat hard and serious work), but there is also a feeling of fun, playfulness, and developing collegiality. 

As I read Alyson's  blog today, one paragraph stood out to me. It started out by saying: "Presentation is everything." And then went on to say: "It's the small things that make a difference and distinguish us from others. As an artist, it’s your attention to the detail of your matting, framing, and display. It’s the care you give your printed materials and your Web site that announce to the world that you’re a professional. It’s the care with which you treat each person you run into because you know they might be a customer one day—that you show them respect and trust." And I know from personal experience that this really is the truth.

I am enjoying meeting with other like-minded artists to discuss common concerns and share our hopes and goals regarding our careers as artists. The process is causing me to focus on the critical pieces of marketing and public relations that I might neglect otherwise. Today, we had lunch together after the meeting and that was rather like one of Julia Cameron's suggested "artist dates". We're getting to know each other better and coming to respect each others' opinions and advice. I look forward to the next meeting in 2 weeks.

Magical Inspirations

It is late Sunday evening, the first Sunday in 2009. I apologize for not adding a post to my blog in well over a week now. I am going to make a commitment right now to add something every day, from now on, if at all possible. It may be only a sentence or 2, but I WILL write something. I let too many excuses keep me from writing and there is no excuse at all except NOT doing it! 

I have been trying to formulate some sort of plan of what direction I want to travel in terms of what to write about. Since I seem to be having a problem coming up with a structure, I am going to abandon that idea and truly make this blog more of a journal account of what happened each day. I will just write about something that happened that affected me, artistically, each day. My art is most effective when I don't worry about it's structure much and I anticipate that my blog will be also! Some days, there will be no photo or a painting or anything else, but there will be some words each day. I'm finding that it's a little hard to write when it is not interactive, but I will try to get over that feeling and move forward.

Next week, I am going to begin an Art Marketing Salon experience that will take place every other week for nine weeks. I am eagerly looking forward to interacting with other active artists who want to increase their chances of successfully marketing their art. 

And the week after next, I'm going to take a 4 day class in San Diego from an instructor that I've enjoyed in the past. So, it promises to be an exciting, busy January--especially since The Art Stand Gallery does their Winter Workshops this month and next. I am teaching one class and taking 3 others. A lot of magical inspiration is in the offing--and it's just what I need during this rather dreary weather. Today's painting is called "Hocus Pocus" and it is a mixed media painting (38" X 30") featuring the elements of magic.

Well, more soon--write to me when you can with your comments and please sign up to be a follower of the blog if you'd like to read it regularly.