- Why was this shutter on the slope above our cabin?
- Where did it come from?
- What shall I do with it?
P.S. About Blogging
Thank you for reading and commenting today. If you tried to comment and got an error message, just know it isn’t you. It is the blog’s fault. Remember the recent post “Wonky & Weird”? That’s what I’m talking about!
If you tried to comment and nothing happened or you got an error message, maybe your comment will eventually appear in one of my “back office” files of Pending, Spam, or Trash. When I see it, I will approve it (unless it is redundant because another one of your comments finally made it through.)
My elephant and I aren’t that happy with the blog’s performance, but we realize it is temporary.
Thoughts on Blogging
When I began blogging 12 years ago, I had no idea what it was about but boy oh boy, it was fun.
Maybe blogging was new then, or maybe I was behind the times (a common occurrence in my life). I began looking for other blogs to read, and hoped that one day mine would have as many followers and commenters as The Yarn Harlot, The Pioneer Woman, lively discussions like Stuff Christians Like or maybe a community of regular commenters like the Entreleadership blog when Chris LoCurto was the writer plus the host of the Entreleadership podcast.
Instead, I have a small (microscopic in the blogging world) readership. Whenever it seemed to be growing, something broke and then I lost my subscribers.
My subscribers don’t seem to understand that they can go to my website and click on the Blog button to find the blog if the subscription stops working.
Many of my real life friends don’t read my blog; many of my customers don’t know I have one, if they even know what a blog is.
When I read blogs and articles about blogging, marketing, and promotion, I feel like a loser.
When I learn that people I know are reading my blog and realize that I know or have met most of my readers, I feel quite happy. This isn’t some impersonal marketing gig; this is the real me, connecting with the real yous. (Don’t you think we need a plural for “you”? “Y’all” feels phoney, because I am not Southern, and “all y’all” sounds particularly phoney, but it does work.)
Here are a few more thoughts about comments:
- Sometimes my readers comment which I REALLY appreciate; otherwise I wonder if I am just making noise and no one cares.
- Sometimes my readers email me and then we have a private conversation.
- Many of my readers have no idea how to comment.
- The comments have to be approved by me before they appear, so sometimes people write a comment twice because they think it didn’t work.
And here are some thoughts about blogging:
- My blog has built real life friendships (Hi, Dan!), strengthened other friendships (Hi, Sharon!), made long-distance friendships (Hi, Jennifer and Cheryl!), and provided a way for family to stay current (Hi, Laurie!).
- Blogging has helped strengthen my writing skills.
- Blogging allows me to publicize things, which is useful as a Facebook avoider.
- It keeps me accountable, working steadily, staying focused; all are a little harder when working alone.
Wonky and Weird
You may have noticed that my blog is looking a little different, a bit wonky and weird. The headline looked broken for awhile, and I am no longer able to put in the tagline of “In which the Central California artists [bloviates endlessly about her art and life]”.
The Thing, the big ShutDown, showed me that my website is inadequate. When drawing lessons were forbidden and my commissioned work was completed, I learned about web design. (Actual design, not coding – no need to be impressed here.) I spent a great deal of time figuring it out on paper, typing it on the computer, and sending it off to my web designer.
Last week he started working on it. So far, the results are wonky and weird. This is due to the nature of the work, not to any ineptness on the part of my web designer.
Eventually, the site will focus on custom work, AKA “commissions”, which is Artspeak for a piece of work done to the customer’s specifications and tastes and desires.
The blog will remain the blog; it might look wonky and weird for awhile, and then either we will adjust to the new look or it will return to normal in appearance.
Meanwhile, thanks for hanging out with me and my elephant.
P.S. “I before E except after C. Weird.”
How Do You Handle Customer Requests?
“Just curious–do you get annoyed, or do you appreciate it when someone makes a change/suggestion to an already completed painting?”
A friend and my most regular commenter asked me the question above.
Here is my reply:
“I am happy to do whatever the customer requests, as long as I have the ability and it doesn’t mess with the scene’s believability.”
She responded:
“That’s very kind (and flexible) of you. I can only speak for the audio arts, but I have seen situations where we took an arrangement and made a few cuts and lyric changes, and the arranger became incensed that we DARE change his precious arrangement.
I like your policy better!”
And I replied:
“I am very practical about the need for flexibility if I want to stay in business. I am here to serve the customer, not to serve my own art. If I was a hobbyist instead of a professional, I would probably have a different view. And I do put my foot down when it comes to logo design, because Design-By-Committee is how we got a camel when we needed a horse.”
Here’s my guess about the difference between my approach and what my friend/commenter experienced: I, the original artist, get to make the changes; my friend’s experience was that her music department was making changes on someone else’s piece.
I recently heard an interview with an artist who said she likes commissions because she can charge more for them. Really? Should I be doing that?
Better commission me soon before I decide to raise my prices.
How To Subscribe to This Blog
Good morning, Blog Readers.
My blog has 2 different items that you may subscribe to. This confuses many people, so today I will tackle item #1.
How to subscribe to THE BLOG:
You may subscribe to my blog. This means that each time I post a new entry, you will get an email. The email will contain the whole post, or you can click (or tap) on it and go to the blog on my website.
It is not necessary to subscribe to be able to read it. Subscribing means you will get an email; not everyone wants 5 emails from me per week. No offense taken. Do what works for you.
If you are looking at the main blog page instead of the individual blog post, you should see the thing circled in the picture above. If you are reading the individual blog post, the subscribe dealie doesn’t show.
If you fill out the subscribe dealie, you will get a confirmation email. Follow the instructions there, and you will start receiving an email each time I post.
Yeppers, a little bit boring today. Tomorrow will also be a little bit boring. It will explain how to subscribe to the newsletter.
Thank you for reading.
Email me if you want help! Oh no, do I need to do a whole tutorial on that?? Say it ain’t so! My eddress (in words instead of regular email format so that the Bad Boys of the World Wide Web won’t bother me) is cabinart at cabinart dot net.
P.S. “Blog” comes from “web log”. Take away the “we” and the space, and you get “blog”. The “log” part is the word meaning “journal”. It is a journal on the world wide web.
The Business of Art
There is a misperception about artists, that we just sit around waiting for inspiration, and then paint what and when we feel like it.
Artists who do that are usually hobbyists. Professionals know that life is easier when you have money, and if you want to sell, you need to paint what people want to buy, and then make yourself and your work visible and available.
Treating art-making as a business means many things are necessary:
- Figure out what people want.
- Learn to paint well.
- Pay attention to online marketing – using my website, an email newsletter, Instagram (nope, no Facebook or Twitter for this Central Calif. artist – I have standards and boundaries.)
- Keep in touch with real people that I know in real life rather than depend entirely on “likes” and “hearts”.
- Make sure that people know what I do. (Do you know?)
- Figure out what works and what is a waste of time and money.
- Pay attention to trends (remember coloring books for grown-ups?)
- Be willing to do odd jobs. (Oh yeah!)
- Be willing to accept commissions (I am and I do – murals, oil paintings, pencil drawings).
- Keep learning new skills.
I am reading Building a Story Brand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller. He is an author whose memoirs I have enjoyed for many years, and “suddenly” (how did he pull this off from a navel-gazing author?) he has become a very wise business coach. His podcast, Building a Story Brand is one of my favorites, both for his business acumen and his sense of humor. I trust this guy and just really like how he communicates.
This is what I have come up with after spending time with his book; I think it really summarizes what I do.
Making art you understand, about places and things you love, at prices that won’t scare you.
(There is a parenthetical addition to the end of this little blurb: “because buying art shouldn’t require a degree.)
Now I just have to figure out how to incorporate that into all my marketing efforts.
I’d really rather be painting or drawing, but sometimes an artist has to do what she has to do.
(With thanks to my longtime blog reader and virtual friend Marjie who helped me streamline the words)
Lots of Work Right Now
“Busy” is a loaded word. People like to say they are “crazy busy”, maybe because it gives them a sense of importance or indispensability. I bet people aren’t using that word too often right now.
I am busy during this weird time. Some of it is commissions, some of it is bidding on jobs, some of it is taking advantage of more time to catch up on things like keeping my website current and reading business books.
Maybe instead I could say, “I have lots of work right now”. For that I am grateful, and I am grateful to have the time to take care of customers and my business responsibilities.
Enough chatter, Central Calif. artist. Show us some things!
There is more, but there is also tomorrow to show and tell you.
Thanks for tuning in today!
Pencil Reminiscing, Part Eleven
This is the final part of our Pencil Reminiscing series. This last set of pencil notecards is Mineral King again. This one was done near the end of the last century, after I figured out how to handle the textures of landscape views. I don’t remember where this set falls in the sequence of notecard sets, but it seems fitting to conclude this series of posts with Mineral King.
These views still look the same today. Well, not TODAY, but last summer, and hopefully the summer of 2020, after all the snow melts.
Pencil Reminiscing, Part Ten
Somewhere along the path of creating notecard packages, I did a set of Mineral King scenes, a mini-set of four instead of five, without the identifying label. Instead, I inserted a photocopy of what was inside.
Judging from the quality of the background landscaping, this was still early in the sequence of notecard sets.
The old Ranger Station was from a postcard; the others were from my photos, so they were current at the time (and still look almost the same).
I think these were tied up with raffia, oh so very elegantly rustic.
