In the Studio

As part of my continuing education, I follow (and actually read the posts!) a few art blogs. Some of them are more business oriented; some of them cover the gamut from tutorials to reviews, but all of them relate to growing your art business. These are my favorites and most helpful in my opinion in no particular order: http://www.artbizsuccess.com/; Alyson B. Stanfield, Art Biz Coach. No excuses! Alyson is hands down the best resource for beginning and mid-career artists on the web. Her no excuse approach is something the every artist needs to embrace to [...]

When I was working on my list of accomplishments for 2014, I also made the decision to invest in growing my business this year. Specifically in setting up and IMPLEMENTING systems to market my work and better get it out into the world. So I signed up for Alyson B. Stanfield’s Art Biz Bootcamp. And even though it’s only been a week, I can already feel the shift in my energy. The first week’s lesson forced me to confront a number of “beliefs” that are actually not true, even though I have in essence made them into self-fulfilling prophecies. We all know [...]

A good design looks good the way it is intended, but also works upside down, sideways, and sometimes backwards. Balance is what makes it work, visual balance and structure. So when I work on a piece, I move around and look at it from different directions. I am always looking at my work in progress from the top, side, bottom and sometimes even climb on the table or set up the step-ladder to get a better view. Because if the visual balance is off, then the artwork is simply not going to be as good. And then sometimes when I get done, I’ll cock my head [...]

The Highlights from 2014: 11 year anniversary for the studio completed just under a dozen commissions sold more than a dozen art panels Saint Paul American Craft Council Show 2 Art Crawls, plus the Last chance Holiday open studios Art-A-Whirl at the Grain Belt Bottling House Ramsey, Mabel and Peggy helped sell my artwork participated in the Minnetonka and Bloomington Art Centers Holiday Shows the Grand Hand continues to represent me made more than 400 snowflakes and trees, plus 400 plus stars made another 100 snowflakes and 1200 stars for a new wholesale account printed the 2015 CD calendar and more note cards continued ‘sketching’ in watercolor, encaustic and mixed mediums was a finalist to be mentored by a [...]