Feeling either envious... or motivated? (Or quite possibly BOTH!)

Lately more and more, I've been noticing that some of my favorite artists- some I know in person, some I know or follow online through Etsy/Twitter/Blogger/Facebook/etc. are having a lot of great success!

I see Facebook posts showing that a new painting has sold. 

I see multiple artists posting that their 2011 calendars have arrived and are ready to be shipped! (And we're not talking they ordered 10 or so calendars 'in case' anyone happens to order one- we're talking boxes and boxes of them, hundreds! Anticipating that many to be sold... Wow!)

I see another friend who is celebrating her 100th Etsy sale.

And yet another who is celebrating her 600th!

I always think it's super cool to see success like this because a lot of these artists I've been a fan of since they were just starting out. Maybe they had a few sales on Etsy, or maybe they've blogged about an art show that they've gotten into. And suddenly they're on their way to doing this full time! Plus it gives hope to the art community as a whole- that the economy isn't dead, that you *can* make a living doing what you love (and not workin' for the man!)  :)

And then I find myself going... wait... when did all this happen? What did I miss? How'd they go from the occasional Etsy sale to suddenly being.... not necessarily famous, but definitely sought after? 
And
What am I doing wrong that I'm still in about the same place I was two years ago?

It occurs to me that trying to spread myself out over my regular job, dog walking, fixing dinner (yes I used to make a home cooked meal almost every night!), and triathlon training sent art to the back burner quickly. By the time I had time for it at night, I was too exhausted from everything else. It was easy to almost ignore it for a while- I had the mindset of, "Hey, the bills have to get paid.... the dog needs to be walked... I need to stay healthy... Logically it's the easiest thing to give up." But of course I can't turn a hobby into a job if I don't pay any attention to it. 

Now throw in packing for a move in HOPEFULLY a week and a half and I've not only got no time to do the art, but not a great space to do it in either. Not that I ever had that here. I'm hoping that in the new house, where I will have a dedicated space just for art related stuff, I'll be able to spend more time on it and get more done and more efficiently since I plan to create a super organized beautimous new studio! :)

Once I get all that going, I just have to figure out how to promote myself. That's where I feel like I missed the boat- all the other artists I've been following took the last couple years to refine their craft AND learn how to run a business.

This year all I've learned is... how to swim! ;)
...Not a bad skill to have nevertheless.

So what do you do to promote yourself? What have you done to learn more about how to promote and run your hobby as a business?

Guess I better get back to stalking  research!

Cyber Monday Promotion!! Free ACEO bug print...

It took mere nanoseconds of being online this morning to realize that today, everyone with an online shop is having special promotions! It IS "Cyber-Monday" after all- apparently the biggest online shopping day of the year!
In honor of Cyber Monday, I decided I'd start my December promotion today. A little early. Cause that's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it.

Starting today, and for the month of December, you will receive a FREE print (of your choice) of one of my "30 Bugs in 30 Days" ACEOs with ANY order from my online gallery shop!! :)

Here's how to get your free insect ACEO print:

1. Go to my online gallery shop and place some goodies into your cart...
2. In a new tab or window in your browser, go to my flickr "30 Bugs in 30 Days" set of pictures (links are also available in my shop) and decide which of the 30 bugs is your favorite!
   http://www.flickr.com/photos/samanthasartstudio/sets/72157618274937415/
3. When you go to PayPal to check out, write the name and/or number of your favorite ACEO bug choice in the "Notes to Merchant" section. (If you can't find the "Notes to Merchant" link, you can also email me the details of the bug you'd like to add to your order.) If you'd like a specific color for the border of your image, please specify this as well!
   

The size of the print you will receive is 5" x 7", an easy-to-find standard frame size. The insect ACEO printed graphic will be the standard ACEO size of 2.5" x 3.5". It will have a colored border around it (color will be chosen from something in the image, unless you specify a color you'd prefer), which will make for easy framing and you won't need a mat! You can also cut down the image to 4"x6" or smaller if you like.

Here is an example:

Bug #5: Cicadas.

Happy Shopping!**

(** note: I do realize that I'm making a promotion post immediately following a post about shopping/too much stuff/consumerism etc. However, I happily and enthusiastically promote shopping handmade and/or eco-friendly.) :)

I've moooved!

My online shop, that is! :)

You can see it here:
http://www.samanthasartstudio.com/fineart.html

The great things about this are #1 buying is easier AND #2 I am able to offer much more variety!

You don't even need to create an account, you just need a credit card- the same as with your other online shopping. My online gallery shop is a lot easier and more user friendly than ImageKind seemed to be- as I was told more than once by customers that it was too confusing (they emailed me to place the order instead, which was also fine).

I've still got my Etsy shop for now, but on my website you will find a lot more variety in sizes and artwork that I don't have available on Etsy.
They will all print on demand for you when you order, and be signed by me before they ship. I'm SO excited about my new shop!

Within the next week I plan to add the capability to purchase original artwork directly from my site, too.

I'll be out of town a few days, so I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Etsy Promotion! Today & This weekend...

FREE SHIPPING on my "Baltimore Checkerspot & Black Eyed Susan" 8"x10" print on Etsy!

Today and this weekend!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10855548#

I'm back in Maryland for the weekend on a mini-vacation, so I thought I'd celebrate and promote some local subject matter!....

This is the official State Butterfly of Maryland. Did you know that some states have designated state butterflies? Some don't, but most at least have a designated state insect! This colorful butterfly is sipping nectar from the Maryland State Flower, a Black Eyed Susan.

Enjoy, and happy shopping :)

Passion Flowers Progress...

Back in May, I was finishing my grapes paintings and trying to decide what to paint next. Passion Flowers were high up on the list, but I was afraid that after painting grapes- consisting mostly of greens and purples- I would be tired of that color combination.

I went ahead with this painting anyway, and as of now I'm almost done with all of the leaves! And not tired of it at all, since painting these leaves is a completely different process than the grape leaves, and the flowers will be a completely different way of painting, too.
I used this photo (I took the original photo at Nature's Paradise B&B on St. Lucia) as a basis for the composition, but changed a few things to make it a little more aesthetically pleasing. I also adjusted the composition with the idea that this painting can be hung either vertically or horizontally.


Here are pictures of the progress so far:

Background blocked in.

Background shading done (can't see it very well in this pic),
base coats of leaves started.

Detail added to some of the leaves and vines. woody vines finished.

More detail added to leaves,
some of the darker background leaves have been finished.

Progress as of midnight last night: Foreground leaves' basecoats complete, and shading added to the foreground leaves on upper left and lower right. Leaf on upper right corner needs just a couple more detail coats.

I also created an artist page on Facebook to offer special deals or promotions to my fans :) I regularly upload pictures of art progress or other fun stuff- like the billboard in town that currently has my art on it. If you'd like to check out the page (or even better, become a fan!) here's the link!
http://www.artist.to/samanthasartstudio
Or you can get to it by clicking the "Become a Fan on Facebook" button above.

Facebooks! and Twitters! and Blogs! Oh my!

If you've been trying to start a business online (or offline), or you're just trying to market yourself, you've probably noticed that you're limited to only......... about 48392038 ways to do it.

Long, long ago (circa 1995) in the land of the World Wide Interwebs, there was simply having a website for yourself.
Remember that? And those silly basic HTML pages??

This is me.
These are my pets!!!
I like frogs!
I listen to the Beatles, and Tom Petty, and Steve Winwood, and Tom Cochrane.
I like Chinese Food and raisins and Indian food and sushi.

Look at all the cool colors and fonts I can do!

(Are those old pages still somewhere out there?)

Photo-sharing became pretty popular, too, for obvious reasons.
And then there was Flickr, where you could share photos with friends AND with total strangers, post messages, join groups- it's almost limitless!

Then blogs were the next big thing, and everyone had to have one of those. (Makes sense, it's a great way to keep people updated on your latest news or anything else interesting.)
Then websites like blogger came along, to help those of us who didn't want to pay for web hosting, and/or didn't know enough HTML (or were just too lazy) to lay out and consistently update a blog of our own.

Facebook has been around for a while, and it seems like 99% of the people you talk to have one (or maybe two, one for themselves and one for their business). Facebook is kind of a hub- you can share photos, blog posts, long updates or short updates, and even interact with friends and fans.

And Twitter came along. Twitter was okay, too- quick mini-updates the length of a text message if you don't feel like doing a whole blog; plus, Twitter is more interactive.


However, the more involved you get with trying to promote yourself online (as I can tell, since I'm guilty of having all of the above), the more you find that there are OTHER sites you simply MUST join to get the most out of your promotional experience!

I don't even want to try and come up with a number for how many twitter applications there are...
"Get 1000 followers in a day!" (Noooo-ooo-oooo!)
"Find your target market on Twitter NOW!"
"I have 43000 followers! Follow me and I'll show you how!"
Or the numerous tweets/various forum posts pleading, "Follow me and I'll follow you!"

And if you've got a blog, you start reading about how to find readers and get THE MOST AND BEST out of your blog. You simply MUST be a member of Digg, Technorati, Entrecard....... Hell, I've even got the "share" button on here and don't know what half of the websites do.

With Facebook, you can make yourself a business page, but then you've got to find some fans. You can share it with friends, but you don't want to annoy your friends with promotions or business related events. If you're lucky, some friends might become fans though. And if you're still lucky, some actual fans of your business (art, in my case) might even become fans. But it seems like it's becoming more like Twitter in the "Fan me and I'll fan you back!" mentality.

Is someone who became a fan of my Facebook page, just to get me to fan them back, really going to care at all if I've just started a new drawing or finished and framed a painting?

It seems impossible to keep track of it all, with needing usernames and passwords for each and every one of these (and of course, for security, a different unique password for every site). And how can anyone have time to actively participate in all of the recommended sites?

Are we spreading ourselves too thin?

If you've got an online shop (etsy, 1000 markets, ebay, other?), have any of these sites been useful to you? Or do you feel the same way?