Spring!

Yes, it's spring, finally happening in Wyoming. It has been raining a bit and everywhere I look is green as can be. This is so refreshing after the monochromatism of gray winter days. Nature has come to life again and because of the harsh climate, it's a yearly celebration.

I find myself wanting to paint everything green, in fact. It's such an amazing color and it's fascinating the know that most of the world is green -except for the oceans and seas, indeed. So it's the most "natural" color around, but it's never been an easy color to reproduce. What comes out of your tube of Permanent Green Light you will never find outside. Green is difficult to reproduce, and it has often been made of metal, or rather, the corrosion of metal.

I am loving all the nuances and thinking I need to explore a painting that encompasses them all, without being boring and overly uniform.

In the meantime, I'm back in my studio painting a lot! I had a difficult winter with my sweet beloved dog being sick and passing away and it took me a long time to recover. Now on, my art will always be dedicated to him, for he was a grand presence in my life.

Here is one of my latest studies, mainly green, I guess. It will most likely change in design and values, but for now this feels good.

My gold

Fall is past and winter showing signs of taking over with some basic snow. It's time to be more indoors and I am reflecting on why I am doing this artwork.

I'm not exactly sure why, aside than having been involved into art in one form of another since I was very young. I used to spend hours in my bedroom drawing and being content with that. Today, many years later, I find myself in my studio painting... and being content with that. It simply brings me great happiness to mix paint and use it. I sort of feel as an alchemist, and if the acrylics I use are less precious than gold by far, well, they are my gold. They allow me to translate whatever seems to need to be translated onto those wood panels.

It takes courage: I feel, at times, the anxiety when I start, for the act of creating is not an easy one. Ask any artist. And yet, it is also a catalyst for doing it. Instead of paralyzing me, it motivates me to see what is going to be painted today. There is great joy in that mystery, and yes, courage, for it would be much easier to just sit with a good book by the fireplace. 

I now understand that I need to pace myself a bit. After having started with a bang recently, I am slowing down some, perhaps due to the season, when we retreat inside - homes and ourselves. I am remaining very inspired but I feel that pausing more will benefit my work. So all the desire to keep up with the various media is slowing down too, even though it's critical. I want what I paint to be more known, for I yearn to share it (not so much for an income, although being paid for what you do is always good, right?). I keep posting on Instagram more often as it's easy, less on Facebook as I find it demanding, and I have opened a shop on Etsy so that I would have a way to sell without stressing about it.

And now, it's time to paint, I am very excited to be doing that in 5 minutes: water is ready in buckets, my palette is primed, off to work.

A useful tool: Instagram

Instagram is one of those great social media tool for getting your work more known. It has developed into a very popular app, and if it's not as much as Facebook, it's simply because it is a different interface, and a simpler one, more based on visuals. Check out this article for more details Instagram vs. Facebook
Instagram demands less of you but it seems you can see more. I am learning to use it regularly, and discovering some great talent artistically, which is hard on Facebook. Browsing for great images is a breeze, particularly with hashtags.

Some artists even make a killing selling their art on it! Once again, from The Abundant Artist website, an article on such situation and if it is certainly motivating, there is no doubt that this doesn't happen overnight, that successful selling artists on Instragram, or any other social media, work hard at this, and are pretty good at marketing. Which can be learnt. I used to think of myself hopeless in that department, but perhaps because my motivation is totally different now, I understand a lot more and have more interest in it.

One thing I learnt is that posting regularly is good, often is better, several times a day is optimum. That said, I don't have the time to do so, but my goal is to post once a day. And don't forget hashtags, they are critical to spread your work in that network. You might want to limit them to 10 or so, after that it becomes a little obnoxious and is not recommended. Also, try to post with hashtags that are not so common: for instance, if I post with a #abstratctart, I can see that there are over... 126 million posts, so your work will get lost at the bottom really fast. Be creative, find hashtags that are not typical keywords, or create your own.

And now if you want to see quick images I post, my Instagram name is "audenevius"

Final notes:

• my website is now up and running!
• tonight is the opening of the Jackson Rising IV exhibition where 7 of my paintings are featured. I am most happy and can't wait to talk to viewers.