by Carol on 7/11/2008 1:19:34 PM
Oh, how I miss my paints. The last several days have been necessary "dates" with my computer. Along with most of the public, even we artists have this notion that we paint, we frame and the artwork is put out there ready for eager buyers. Wouldn't that be a romantic life? Unfortunately, before, after and in between those three steps, lots of other work has to be done, as in any business.
Me and the keyboard/computer screen (I have a love/hate relationship with my computer), have been busy doing the following: processing images of paintings, cleaning out old emails, reading past e-newsletters, updating mailing list, filtering the mailing list for a local show, designing the postcard invite for August show, writing a press release for same show, researching internet PR sites, learning about FaceBook and LinkedIn, social networking on a site for artists, submitting images for show competitions, documenting my artwork, filing reference photos, writing a sales letter for a new class I am offering in Nov, writing a creative process article about a commissioned painting I recently finished, and packing to take off for our cabin to PAINT!
Somehow, I need to find a balance between my painting/creative time with the business/computer time. How do you do it?
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1 Response to I Want to Paint!
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As a new kid on the block in the art world, by the sounds of your schedule, the to do stuff, being necessary, slows the fun part which is painting.
I've only had my website for a couple of months, like the computer takes a lot of time to keep blogs current, work current, and then like you my computer acts up and , I call them gremlins, for lack of any reasonable explanation on how electrons can do what they do, in a computer to make workflow miserable.
This next year, my goal is to focus on painting, making the best art I can-one of the ways I do this is not only do commercial art- but what i call gift commission paintings. I ask a couple of friends and family, sometimes strangers what they love, then ask them to give me a photo I can work from. The business of art is love and beauty--sharing that gift with others in this way keeps me aware of what's most important. Then when some of my commercial art is not doing so well, i have all this gift commission art subjects, not selected by me but by others--who knows what new worlds might open up doing subjects never considered before. I may learn a lot more through this process, rather than thinking i know what people are thinking or wanting--it puts a smile on their faces--how good is that-God has blessed me with the resources to gift, so I'm treating others as i would want to be treated, that sums up the law as written in the good book.
Your work is really good--gives me a good idea each day how wonderful our art community really is.
Have a very blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends--Jimmy Springett