New show

I know it seems like I’ve been blogging about everything but art lately. With my walls full and art pilling up in corners its hard to think about anything but how am I going to sell something. I’ve also had to stop paying entry fees for contest and shows, I am down to $50 in my biz account, so that REALLY limits my options to show. But I do have a show (free to guild members) coming up at Kennedy Heights Arts Center Nov 14, I will have my 3 newest unseen paintings at this show along with photos I haven’t shown yet. I do also have a couple good leads on new venues near me so we’ll see if I can get some fluidity into my funds again!

October 21, my bday, we stopped at our favorite place, Hocking Hills, and finally got to see it with fall colors. As always its very hard to capture the scale and drama of the place but we did get a few good pics, here’s a couple.

By the way I hate the way they crop these pics, I can’t find a template I like that show full frame so go to my website to see uncropped pics.

 

On elephants and letting go

Been thinking a lot lately about my personal world view. Seems like every time I hear someone talking about their views or beliefs I am shocked and angry, ‘what the hell are they talking about, how could they possible think that, that is so wrong’ ect, ect. I try taking a step back and tell my self its not like my views are any more valid or even accurate, but its really hard cause I THINK  I am right.  With the insanely massive amount of information out there its impossible for anyone to take in even the most miniscule fraction of it. We each have our own filter which comes from our families, friends, religion (or lack of), personal tastes, and choice of reading or viewing. Needless to say by the time this pinprick of info gets through your filter it has a very different appearance than the same info through my filter.  It makes me think of the parable of the blind men and the elephant. A group of blind men are feeling a elephant to try to describe what it is, but since each one only feels a portion they all disagree as to what an elephant is. They are all right and all wrong at the same time.  We are like that in our view of the world, except it seems more and more people are getting VERY angry about the fact that there  are people who totally think the opposite of them. Its like those blind men are suddenly going on talk shows and screaming at each other, getting into fist fights and strapping on guns to make everyone ’see’ things their way! Its ridiculous, but also very upsetting when we can’t even agree on the most basic things, or even have a discussion about it.

This is only aggravated by what I see as the complete death of provable facts.  News programs let almost any old kook on to spout whatever sort of unchecked ‘facts’ they want, and I don’t just mean the fringe news shows, they all appear to be throwing fact checking out the window in order to be more shocking/entertaining. Any fact you could think of you could find some one to present data to say the complete opposite, how can you prove anything any more?  For example if you see two ‘experts’ on a credible news source talking about marriage laws in Sudan and they both say complete opposite things you can’t be totally sure unless you have first hand knowledge of marriage in Sudan. Any other source, your cousin, your friend, Wikipedia, books, documentaries, whatever, is all someone else opinion and you don’t  know their bias, really its just their opinion.

I had this realization many years ago and found it scary to see EVERYTHING I thought I knew, all my belief and opinions on how the world worked were mostly formed based on information I gathered from others, information which was then suspect.  Really the only way to function with this knowledge is to constantly look at information and ask your self how likely it is to be true (the more outrageous it is the more likely its not true), and be willing to be wrong. Be willing to admit you really don’t know anything, you are just doing the best you can with the mind you have and the miniscule information you have. With this attitude there is a lot less violence and more discussions to try to figure out this confusing life.

 

Big build up, big let down

I spent the last week gearing up for my big weekend, three show in 2 days. Friday was a silent art auction/fundraiser at Hauck house in Sharonville.  I had high hopes for this, my big chance to expose my work to more monied buyers. Saturday was to be District A arts festival in Pleasant Ridge in the day ( I did decent there last year) and Click opening at Kennedy Heights Arts Center in the evening. Hard not to be excited and nervous with this much going on, unfortunately turned out to be a big let down all around.

Art auction had good turn out with about 100 (not counting the artists), they clearly were well heeled, but after 2 hrs with no bids and no questions about my work I got tired and left. Guess I don’t understand rich people, apparently paying $30 each to sit around and eat cheese and one glass of wine is all they were interested in. I think a maybe two or three things sold, just none of mine. Sigh.

The festival the next day started with heavy clouds and cold weather which may have accounted for the poor turn out compared to last year. One other artist in our booth sold two prints, I had the only other sale with two cards going, so I made three dollars. Yippey

I wasn’t expecting much from Click opening, I never know what to do at openings, should I lurk around my art and corner people into talking about it? I usually spend about a half and hour looking at everything while eating a couple crackers and then if there is no one I know I split. This one was a little better got into good talk about printing and computer techniques with fellow guild member and had brief conversation with about 3 people about my photos (which they really liked) so that was better than usual. However I almost never sell anything at KHAC so my total for the weekend is $50 in the hole for entry fees and $3 profit, hence the let down.

I am trying to keep my hopes up though, I have a good feeling about this new cafe (Cold Turkey)that wants me to show, no commission and he says he sells a piece a week so I am planning to load the place up! Also have new gallery in West Chester planning to do show for me in January, and get this they actually do press releases! What a concept!

Now all I have to do is try not to run out of money in my art budget before then, I am down to $50! No more entry fees for me please!

Here’s one of the pics from Click people liked

Must. Get. Back. To it!

Big surprise, having bad cold, sinus infection, 3 weeks of antibiotics which then gave me horrible stomach cramps for days and all sorts of general crappiness this month has left me totally uninterested in blogging. Finally went to my holistic doc and found out I had no more infection but was suffering from liver problems, adrenal failure, calcium deficiency, and mold allergy. With buckets of supplements I am slowly getting better but still not interested in writing. Trying to make my self get back into it, also trying to go back to gym, but I just keep thinking tomorrow, I’ll do it tomorrow I promise. Today I am using the rain as an excuse to stay in, that and my headache, but I have a headache every day soooo…

I am supposed to go met with a guy about showing in his cafe, so think I’ll focus my pitiful energy on that and maybe forget the rest. Maybe make a few photo cards…..

Writers block

Its been weeks since my last post, I just can’t seem to think of any thing worth writing about. It’s not that I haven’t had things to talk about, some how I just can’t seem to get interested in writing it down. I have been keeping busy getting lined up for all the show I have coming soon and that along with my life just seems more important than sending notes into the void. So I’ll talk to you again when I have something more to say.

ART, ART, and more ART!

Wow suddenly I am swimming in art shows, I am kinda overwhelmed and excited. Here’s the run down, not all are totally confirmed yet but here’s what I know.

Roho Photo Gallery, 331 w 4th st loft#1 Cincinnati has opening of new show, Your Best Shot, 8/28 6-9. I didn’t make the gallery show, I will be in the online portion of the show ( which is problematic cause the pic they chose doesn’t show will online!) Prizes to be announced at opening, not sure if I will be there yet.

The Bethesda hospital show I got into has not told me date yet for opening, some time end of september. I expect lots of hoopla on this one and I will be there smoozing the uppercrust!

Another uppercrust event (maybe its time to start asking for more for my work?) I am in is a art auction 10/9 at Hauck estate in Sharonville Ohio. Tickets are $30 each or $50 couple and include 2 drinks and food. Unfortunately as its a fundraiser I have to pay to go too, but since its good networking probably will be there.

KHAC has annual Click photo exhibit opening october 10th, so I’ll be at that too! See what I mean, wears me out just typing it all! Good thing I got a lot of work laying around, won’t have much time to paint with this schedule. Have to finish on big landscape for auction thou.

Here’s a new pic , it from my last Hocking Hills trip (Ash Cave)

Advice from Molly Gordon for my career

Last year when I bought the Smartist Telesummit  I heard about Molly Gordon, she’s a personal growth coach for business people, especial artist. Since then I get her news letters and have enjoyed her advice and take on life. She has generously offered to visit me and my blog(along with others) and answer a few questions I have about improving my business. Here is my questions and her advice.

My biggest concerns are remaining focused and using the time I have wisely, so many ideas out there it’s distracting!

Even though earning an income is a big concern for self-employed people, I get aksed even more often about how to focus and manage time. Perhaps that’s because people  realize that we need to have time in order to make money. (Is it true? Something to ponder!)

There is a relationship between time and money, and it is a two-way street. So before I answer your specific questions, let’s talk about how the way we are about money can help or hinder our ability to focus.

Work always has been and always will be about survival before it can be about anything else. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, only after we take care of our survival needs do we have the capacity to experience and fulfill higher level needs for connection, meaning, and self-actualization.

Bottom line: the first function of work, including self-employment, is to meet your survival needs. The next function is to meet the higher-level needs that emerge as you move from survival to thrival.

In other words, the primary criterion for how you spend your time needs to be whether or not the activity is profitable. This can’t be the only criteria for most of us, because we’d just go nuts if we were only working for dollars and cents. Yet it must be the primary criterion precisely because we need to meet survival needs (and more) in order to live the evolved lives we envision.

Now, to the nuts and bolts!

I have blog, websites, strong Facebook presence and fan page, but still have trouble getting feedback from people. I post, comment, and blog and, for the most part, hear nothing, should I just hope I am reaching people?

Yes and no.

Hoping that you are reaching people can be draining. When we don’t get feedback, we can start listening to ourselves, which can mean being subjected to self-doubt and critcism. We make up stories about what people are thinking about us. We imagine that our peers are doing it better. And we can get very, very tired of putting energy out with no way to know if we are making a difference, let alone a way to profit from our efforts.

On the other hand, I think it is important to put yourself out there and, to a certain extent, let go of the results. Growing a network of clients and customers is like growing tomatoes. You need to provide good soil, nutrients, sunshine, and water, but if you yank on the plant every few days, you’ll just stress the poor thing.

I advise folks to decide what channels of communication they are going to use for three to six months. Decide about how often you are going to communicate through these channels, who you are trying to reach, and how you’ll know if you are having an effect. Then follow your plan for at least three months. If you do not start seeing results by the fourth month, tweak the plan.

It sounds to me like you are doing a good job of this already. It can be helpful to actually write down your choices so you have a visible reminder that you’ve made a decision and are following through. It is better to choose three channels of communication (e.g., Facebook, your own blog, and commenting on related blogs) and use them consistently than to spend heaps of time trying to be everywhere at once.

When you want to pump up your effectiveness, check out Nancy Marmolejo’s work. She’s presenting on social media during the telesummit, and she is a genius at simplifying and systematizing so that you get the greatest reach with the least effort. What’s more, Nancy does this in a way that is hype-free, warm, and engaging.

I am busy enough with those things and just can’t get into other networks like Biznik–and I REALLY don’t get Twitter. Every one acts like I am sooo missing out, am I really?

You are soooo not missing out, and I’d like to see you leverage what you are already doing so that you reach even more folks. You don’t have to do it all at once, and a Virtual Assistant can help you, when you are ready for one (or if you already have one).

Here’s an example of how you can leverage what you are already doing. Let’s say you write a blog post on Monday. With very little effort, you can connect your blog with a Twitter account so that every time you blog, your Twitter network gets a tweet about it.

It’s a snap to connect Twitter to Facebook so that your tweets show up in your Facebook profile. Voila! Your blog post is now showing up in Facebook. (And, as you may already know, you can link your blog to Facebook directly.) If Facebook is a primary channel for you, you can add a comment to the tweet so that your Facebook communityenjoys your personal touch.

Now, pop into your email program (or pop over to Twitter) and send messages to 5-6 people letting them know you’ve posted on your blog and inviting them to comment. Choose different folks and let them know that you really value their input. Include a link to the post so it is really simple for them to follow through.

Then, copy and paste your blog post into the article submission form at Biznik. Do the same at several of the article banks online (ezine-articles.com, for example).

Setting up all the pieces so they work together takes some time, but once it is done, you can leverage that one blog post so that it reaches far beyond your initial audience in just a few minutes.

Yes she sure hit the nail on the head! It is tiring trying to continually put my self out there with no feedback, I am even getting discouraged on Facebook because I have asked my ‘friends’ directly for their opinion a few times with NO response. Then I am left to wonder if the even saw my post/questions, who knows how often they look at their news feed and if I am in the part they are seeing at that time. I wonder should I post it again, or did they see it and don’t want to respond. Its a futile guessing game!

I love what she says about getting all my online venues to work together. I just figured out how to get my blog to automatically appear on Facebook which is cool, I’ll have to try some of those other suggestions. I also get tired of how tedious posting new pics is, I have to post them to Facebook, WordPress and my Artspan site on at a time, though I have heard there is a plug in that posts WordPress and Facebook pics together. That would sure save time!

Not sure what I think of submitting my blog posts to Biznik, I have trouble seeing why their network would be interested in my random thoughts and posts. Maybe I just keep underestimating the voracious need of the internet for views into everyday life. I’ll have to think about that one.

In the spirit of collaboration, here’s a pic for you that my husband did. He took my plane pic and cut out the engine and put in pic of plants, tea fields I think.

My own private fight club(minus the pain)

So I was watching Fight Club yesterday, about the third time I’d seen it, and it was even better than I remembered. Not sure however if I should be worried about how much more I could identify with the mental state of the hero now. He can’t sleep due to mental problems, something I have been struggling a lot with recently, and at first crying in therapy groups helped. Right now I can’t afford therapy, so have to cry alone, which doesn’t always help. I also could really see how the exhausting physical demands of fight club burn off stress, and how doing something which might kill you makes all your little everyday problems as trivial as they should be. In our pampered modern 1st world lives we are so far from the hardscrabble survival mode we spent thousands of years adjusting to that our brains get bored and make stuff that is minor seem life or death. Our fight or flight mechanism needs something to do so now petty office politics cause stress reaction as big as if you were in REAL danger. Fight Club to this problem away, now there was real danger that our primitive brain could deal with.

So I started thinking, could I come up with something with the benefits of Fight Club with out all the pain and beating? Something physical enough to burn up excess emotions, and dangerous enough to put things in perspective. After awhile I thought about rock climbing, I had done it once about 20 yrs ago and really enjoyed it. I liked the complete and simple focus required and the sense of achievement. Hmm that might work, I’ll let you know who it goes.

For now though getting ready for shows and editing new photos from the trip we took to Air Force museum in Dayton. I know airplanes are a big departure from my normal subjects, but I like old machinery and never get tired of cool design in any form so here’s two for you.

New paintings

Not much to talk about, just wanted to share my new paintings. Entanglement 2

I also have this one which is almost finished, may be called Low Clouds on the Horizon

Its not really crooked, I just took pic wrong.

This week I will also be taking my painting, In the Weeds to a year long showing at Bethesda hospital, hopefully the hospital will buy it for their permanent collection! I entered some of my more unusual black and white photos in a show at a new gallery I hope to get into, its called Roho and its in downtown Cincinnati. Here’s one of the pics I entered called Masked

A life less boring

I had a really bad couple of days this week, not sure what happened but spent all night and next day an emotional basket case falling apart at every little thing. I barely made it through work with out crying, and so I took the next day off ( I had two more scheduled after that) for my mental health. I can only guess that 2 months of trying not to panic about jobs and money finally caught up with me, also 6 days in a row at work, three of them really annoying and confusing, and  I couldn’t deal with it any more. Luckily when I got home from work the prospect of three days off was sinking in, a friend invited us to his rock show, and Lee had the next day off to spend with me. After a lovely day in the woods, a good talk, and some good food I was feeling more my normal self again. I will just have to allow my self to freak out some (that post I made a few weeks ago  about The Fear probably also stress) if this cut back at work continues. We are still doing ok, despite having to spend $300 on new alternator for the car mom gave us, but of course I worry how long we can keep it up with 30% of our income missing

It was ironic that the night of my mental meltdown was the same night that The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur published my advice on how to remain confident in the economy! Well I believe what I said, but its not always easy to fool your inner demons! My article is number ten if you want to check it out www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/how-entrepreneurs-build-confidence

On the art front, close to finishing a new abstract, show in Starbucks in Mariemont in august, and entering photos in new gallery. Here’s one I am thinking of entering, would love any comments as this is an unusual style and wonder what others think