A Slow Start

I haven't been as productive as I needed to be. Today I took a break. I did put the sketch of the lighthouse on canvas, but that's about all that has been done in the last couple days. Tomorrow is another day. I will do better. And yes, I forgive myself for being a little lazy. We all go through times like that. Thank goodness we make up for it by working extra hard at other times. See the photo below used for reference and inspiration. Also the sketch on canvas. I'm ready to work.

After the Rain

We had a nice rain yesterday which is unusual for this part of the country during this time of year. Everything looks so green and refreshed today. I am less tired and more refreshed also. I have roughed in a new painting and can hardly wait to begin. I have been thinking color, unexpected color and also thinking about large graphic shapes. I showed a friend my latest few paintings. She had sold my previous lavender field and French cafe paintings which were in an impressionist style. She liked my new graphic painting style. Positive feedback - makes an artist feel good.

My Paintings Are Home Again!

When the three different shops that were selling my paintings closed, I was able to go to two of the three locations and retrieve my paintings which had not sold. The shop that was located an hour away closed before I could make it there to pick up my paintings. My friend who worked at that location took the paintings home with her and I met her this morning to pick up the four unsold paintings. It was good to have the paintings returned to me, but it was also nice to sit and have coffee with my friend and find out where she is working now and how she is doing. She is working at two different locations in Carmel Valley, one of which is a gallery of local Carmel artists. Things are working well for her and she seems happy.
Now that my paintings are "home", I need to temporarily place them in my etsy.com shop until they sell or I find another shop to sell them. So, I will be busy, busy listing and keeping up with them on the website. Also I will start making high resolution digital files of some of my paintings to print. I have my next graphic lighthouse painting lined up to do. Busy, busy, busy. Happy, happy, happy.

A Wide Appeal

Yesterday my promo on etsy.com netted a total of "zero" sales. So now I have to stand back and analyze this. I have gotten plenty of exposure on this one website. Lots of people have marked my items and my shop as favorites. My paintings are being included in lots of treasury lists. So what is the problem? It could be that my paintings were mainly done for a certain market. I painted lots of French landscape and cafe scenes for a shop which displayed and sold them. That market no longer exists. I need to find items to paint that will appeal to a much larger group of people. I need to paint things that people would want to put up in their living rooms. Not everyone likes or wants to purchase a lavender field painting, no matter how lovely it looks. Perhaps this items should be put in digital format and made into greeting cards? They eventually will sell, just have to find the right place to sell them. Now, to figure out what appeals to the masses.

Great Expectations!

Is your glass half empty or half full? I choose to think that mine is half full. Today I have a promo slot at the top of the art/painting page on etsy.com to help draw people into my etsy shop and promote sales of my paintings. Sales may or may not happen, but promoting your work, getting your art out in front of the people can never hurt. It can sometimes be hard to stay positive when sales are slow. Today, with the extra exposure my shop is receiving, I choose to stay positive. I have great expectations!

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Friends are important in every aspect of our life. Friends who support and help us in our artistic journey are invaluable. I have been very fortunate lately to have made friends with other etsy.com shop owners who are marking my paintings as favorites and also featuring some of my paintings in their treasury lists. That may not sound like such a big deal, but viewing treasury lists that others have created is one way to shop on etsy. My circle of friends is growing. The exposure my paintings are getting is growing as well. Tomorrow I will have a featured promo slot in the painting section at the top of the page. It is another way to showcase my shop and get more exposure and more sales. I'm doing whatever I can to get my art out there. It feels good to have such a wonderful support group. Now, let's bring on the sales!

Finally Finished!

After a week of interruptions and real crazy things to deal with, I had a relatively calm afternoon yesterday and was able to spend enough time on my painting to finish it. I am pleased. This is the second lighthouse painting in my graphic lighthouse series. I plan to offer prints of the finished series. Below is the photo of the finished painting. Now, to plan and start the next painting in the series. The process never stops. Plan, paint, finish, start again, with a little marketing and promotion in there as well.

Almost, But Not Quite Finished

My painting time has had many interruptions this week, but my painting is in the final stages. I just have to add a little more detail and it will be done. Progress is shown below.

A Painting Day

Finally things are beginning to get back to normal here. I have made several visits to doctors and hospitals related to health issues in the past few days. If it wasn't a doctor visit for me, it was one for Bern. Now, finally things are settled down and all that is on my agenda for the afternoon in painting. Painting is my passion. Painting is my happiness. This afternoon will be productive. Perhaps tomorrow I can post a new completed painting.

Reviewing Your Sales And Marketing Plan

The economy is slow. Sales are few and far between. What can be done to increase exposure and sales? Are my paintings priced correctly? Do I offer a wide range of items at various price points? Are my paintings appealing to the public? All of these things need to be examined from time to time. At the moment I am offering only original paintings. To make my paintings more affordable I intend to have some prints made of a few of my new paintings in various smaller sizes. I also intend to paint some ACEO's which are small art cards which sell for a low cost, but if I sell 4 to 5 a week that could bring in around $200 added revenue a month. You just have to start thinking outside the box. Consider other types of art to sell like note cards made of your paintings. Perhaps someone can afford a set of note cards whereas a large original painting may just be out of their reach. When people are concentrating on paying for essentials, extra luxury items are often just placed on a wish list.

Yesterday Was A Painting Day

Here is the result from a productive painting day which I had on Sunday. Hopefully tomorrow will be productive as well. Today was a day of doctor visits and tests for me and for Bern. Now that all that is behind us, I am expecting a wonderful day of painting tomorrow.

Painting the Hawaiian Lighthouse

My latest painting of the lighthouse in Hawaii is progressing nicely. The background is pretty much done. Yesterday I roughed in the green landscape surrounding the lighthouse. There is plenty of work left to do on the painting but it is evolving and progressing nicely. I am pleased. I am enjoying painting in a different style and learning more and more with each painting I do. See the progress below.

It Feels Good!

It feels really good to finally be painting. I started another graphic painting of a lighthouse. I printed the photo, then roughed in the drawing of the lighthouse. I worked on the background yesterday. Today I will rough in the landscape surrounding the buildings. It is fun to pick some unexpected colors and see how they work together. I used cobalt turquoise and a light blue for the abstracted water shapes in the background. I plan to use a darker third color for accents in the water patterning, perhaps a blue violet or dark purple color. It is fun to see how the painting evolves each step along the way. Happy to be home and back at my easel. Yesterday's progress can be seen below.

Endless Possibilities

In this economy it would be easy to get discouraged. I refuse to let shops closing and slow sales discourage me. I see the glass as half full, not half empty. There are endless possibilities. Though all three shops that have sold my paintings have closed their doors and the previous gallery as well, I see endless possibilities. I see a new store moving into the old shop location. They are remodeling and opening soon. It is a small high-end kitchen linen and china shop. The paintings I have done in the past would not be appropriate there. So, I'm am thinking of doing a few small paintings that could possibly sell at that location. If they aren't interested in selling any of my paintings, there is no harm done. I won't be offended by the word "no." There will be other places in which to sell my paintings. I have been moving more and more of my paintings to online shops to sell. The world around us is changing and we have to change with it.

The Ideas, They Just Keep Coming

The two week vacation I took must really have done a lot of good. My mind keeps getting flooded with lots and lots of various ideas. They are just ideas at the moment, but I am sure several of them will be good enough ideas to follow through and create something in a different style and manner than I usually do. It's great to be an artist.
Today I am trying to multi-task. I worked on my online shop, which is a daily thing. I am shooting out a quick blog, and I am trying to stay focused on the project at hand. The print of the lighthouse I will be painting turned out great. I cropped it in a pleasing manner to create an interesting composition. I will be working on the painting this afternoon.
I'm busy. I'm motivated. I'm excited. And now I'm ready to create.

Deluge of Ideas

I am still in recovery mode from my trip. My body is still on Eastern time and I am in the Pacific standard time zone. I am finally starting to process some of the things I saw while on my trip and the ideas are flooding in. I not only have some ideas for my next series of projects, I also am planning to get my other half, Bernie, interested in painting again. He did a little painting for awhile and the paintings reflected his personality. He is an engineer and very analytical. He did a lot of paintings of geometric shapes, triangles, circles, etc. I will try to stay focused today and pick up the lighthouse prints I ordered and layout my painting of a lighthouse. I am still adding a painting a day to my etsy shop. Several listings of paintings had expired and I want to add at least one a day to spur activity. Ideas, ideas, ideas - they are flooding in, I just have to put them in some sort of order and priority.

Regaining Focus

Taking a break, having a vacation and travel have been great for inspiration. Though my time off gave me inspiration, after being away from my easel for two weeks it is difficult regain focus and paint everyday, or most days. As soon as I returned home I did take my online shop off vacation mode. I am slowly adding more paintings to my shop. Now I have to regain my focus. I have an idea of the direction in which I want to go with my painting. Now I just have to discipline myself to stay focused and carry out my vision. There as been a lot of positive comments on one of my recent graphic paintings, the one of the lighthouse. I have decided to continue by doing a series of lighthouse paintings. Now to the planning stage, going through my photos and finding ones suitable for my lighthouse series. Prints need to be made and compositions for my paintings done before the actual painting process begins. Today, the planning stage; tomorrow, putting paint to canvas. Good to be home. Good to be regaining my focus.

Back From Travels and Back To My Art

I had a wonderful time for the past two weeks traveling and visiting with family and friends. It was a great time to regroup and rethink the direction my art is taking. While visiting a friend I went to an art museum and two art galleries. Lots of new and varied ideas were presented to me. I need a little time to process all that I viewed, but I am sure that some of the paintings I saw will influence my future paintings.
Now that I am back from travels, my online store is open and I am back to blogging and sharing my journey as an artist with you.