Making progress

It's been an amazing amount of work to progress on the road of promotion. I have felt that there is so much to be taken care of: it can be overwhelming as it takes a lot of time, away from painting, particularly. I wrote previously about being organized, and that implies having a plan in order to have a map to follow and move forward.

At this point, it's important to establish priorities. It appears that one that is pressing is simply to get framed the artwork that needs it (pieces painted on wood boards as they look so great with that dark floating frame). Once that is done, I will be able to open my shop online. But before I get my artwork framed, I need to varnish them all, with 2 coats each. So, working backwards to find what's most important is a great way to progress, as odd as it may seem.

I don't forget to paint, either, as this is what I live for, after all. So... I have almost finished the painting above, but I am not satisfied yet, I have to push it further. It lacks spice!

On studio time optimization

Browsing the net for info, I came upon a great article for artists about being efficient with time spent in the studio. It's clever, well-written, and I liked it so much that I printed portions of it to have on my wall as a reminder. I read it in the morning with my cup of coffee, before working, and it really opens the mind up to possibilities. 

Not much else to say, read on about Artists - Making Effective Use of Your Studio Time

A great success at the Art Association “Jackson Rising IV” opening reception!

Friday night saw the works of 9 artists being displayed, mine amongst them. It was a lively show, with many people showing up: the reception was part of the Fall Arts Festival and Palate & Palettes, thus attracting quite a crowd. 

It was my first participation to a group show of this size and to see my 7 paintings featured on a large wall, and in the best location, was a true reward. All paintings are different, but my style is clearly established and the whole was cohesive. Many art lovers were present, asking me numerous questions about why I paint this way, what inspires me, drives me, how I create this or that, and I was blown away by the overall response. People really liked what I did and they validated my hard work. 

One of my works was sold, "Summer Between the Sun and the Moon" (keeping the buyer’s name anomymous, but I'm honored). I am grateful for his support, and it motivates me to keep pushing further. I have so much to paint and share, it’s the best part of being an artist! I also want to thank all those who came to see my work, specifically: your support is invaluable!

I can now rest a little, yet I don’t want to “rest upon my laurels” (French expression), and here are 3 actions I intend to pursue by the end of the year: 

1) entering 5 juried shows

2) speak to H.S. about having a solo show at one very very popular place in town

3) ask the newspaper about creating a portrait in the local newspaper

… and paint daily!

Enjoy your week,

Aude

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.

What's the header about?

I created my header to share a small part of what I do. The left side is self-explanatory, it's a cropped view of my work area, a sketch that took me a good hour to make, it's fairly detailed. I probably should sketch the whole area but that would take me a lot longer, so, in due time! 

And about the painting on the right. Do you feel as if you had all the time in the world? If so, you're lucky! I wish days were twice as long. I wish I could buy time. Even better, make it! The painting was an attempt at translating the "busi-ness" of life making us go like mad, and finding a still moment, which was when I was painting. The process of painting is always very meditative, I don't work fast, I observe a lot. This is, among other reasons, why I'm an artist: because it makes me pause and find my center, and sense of freedom (the seagull on the bottom).  I like symbolism a lot, and the Chinese IChing came to mind, and it fit right in. 

Are your days busy? Do you pursue any artistic purpose? What does it do to you, for you, in relation to a busy life?

Enjoy your day,

Aude

On selling your art through social media

Being an artist means spending a lot of time on your own, doing what you do best, your art. It can be a bit lonely at times, as a social life is not easy to bring into the picture. If you are a total hermit and never need to see anyone, perfect, but it’s probably not the norm. And it is well-known now that being social is an important part of healthy brain function. The other side of being social is that it is a critical step in order to get your artwork out in the world. If you’re not already doing that, read on.

About the whole aspect of selling your artwork online. I am finding out all about it these days, studying options and ways to do it well, and slowly moving forward that, rather than gallery sales. The reason for that is that for a minimal investment, you can see new collectors come to your store and buy your work. It does take a bit of work, and that does involve social media. 

Some pointers as far as what you can do:

• Blogging: keep people informed of what you are doing. Blog a couple times a week, or more. Inform potential art collectors about what you’re doing, what is happening in your artworld. You never know who might be interested.
• Facebook is now a fabulous tool, and I am going to use it shortly: for a small fee, $10 or $20 a week, you can reach quite an audience. Cory Huff at The Abundant Artist tells you all about it
• Instagram: great tool and here is Cory Huff’s take on it 

There are other options, but these three are a good place to start.

What about Twitter? in my opinion, it is helpful for getting known, but I find it a lot of work. I like participating in the occasional chat, but it takes too much time overall. I keep it as recreation.

*Note that I am not getting any commission for mentioning Cory Huff’s website. I simply like what he does and am considering following some of his courses eventually.

Tooting my own horn

A week from now, Friday Sept. 11, is the opening reception for the Jackson Rising IV exhibition. I am part of it, as I have been nominated by an artist friend of mine. It came to a total surprise in July, yet it came at the perfect time, as I was painting - and still am - daily and had much to show.

There are 8 other artists, and this exhibition will be part of the famous yearly Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival. I will have 7 paintings showing and this has come at a very auspicious time! I have so much to paint and share, I’m proud of what I’ve done so far, and intend to go much further. This involves selling my art online, rather than approach galleries locally and nationally - at least for now.

My collection is all about my dream-like world. It is abstract, yet I am inspired by nature so much that it comes out in its own ways in the pieces. I like that they are all open to interpretation. That is my intention: to make the viewer decide what they are seeing, to take them away from the every day scene. Specially in Jackson, where art is all about the scenery and fauna. We’ll see what the reaction is. I know what I do is unique. But it’s hard to be a prophet in your own country, and I am not sure I have my place in Jackson. Time will tell. Thus the goal to sell online.

I am working on it daily, and my next steps are:

- redo my website

- create my Facebook page

- get business cards printed

Have a great week-end,

Aude

Slow and patient

Today is a new day! I love getting up in the morning and feeling the full potential that lies ahead. However, I am learning fast that becoming a professional artist is not easy. Not easy at all, in fact. After the conviction that I would sell paintings fast, that I would be quickly be able to stop working in graphic design and paint all the time (how naive), I have understood over the past few days that it's not how it goes. Unless one is extremely lucky, have unheard-of talent, and is noticed by some collector, slow and patient is the norm.

I have be listening to the radio show Artist Helping Artists, also available in podcasts, and it's a gold mine of information. And now I get it: you need to be very prepared before you enter the selling world. And it takes time to get there. I will write more on this as I go.

When I thought that such news would make me depressed, when I had high hopes, I actually relaxed! How surprising! What happened is that it took the pressure off to succeed today. The concept of giving myself 2 or 3 years to go into the art business is just what I needed right now, as I was pushing pretty hard. I was simply going to exhaust myself, and was feeling stressed. Suddenly, a weight has lifted and I can paint with my heart, to my heart's content too, and work towards building inventory over time.

Slow and patient allows me to set up goals and a plan. Starting with today, I will, in any order:

• paint 3 hours
• write a blog post (done!!)
• work on MindMeister to organize my thoughts and plan my path.

May also your day be filled with potential, and realizations,
Aude