New Year, New Plan - where do I go from here?

Well, I have done the obligatory house cleaning and taken many bags to charity.  I even reorged my studio space a bit so that I have more surface space (that won't last long ).  Now what to do about my online presence.  I can spend many hours on-line promoting, updating shops, socializing and never get any painting or creating done.  Where do I go from here?

I am the kind of person that always wants to try something new. I have unopened scratchboard supplies, glass painting paint, books on How to Draw Dragons.....  I am the proverbial Jack of all trades, master of none.  If I hear about a new site that may drum up business - I want to join and set up shop.  There must be a better way!  I know I can't do it all, but I sure as hell want to try :)

Whew I needed a little chocolate before I go on.

I have thought a bit about what I want to accomplish in 2011, so in no particular order here goes:

1. Work on Zazzle shop to add more designs and create all the newly added products by March.
2. Create items for craft shows featuring my art on a weekly basis - pendants, trinket boxes, mirrors...
3. Participate in at least 3 group shows and one solo show in 2011.
4. Find a local printer that can print cards of my work in the 1st quarter.
5. Learn how to engage people better on Twitter rather than just talk at them - ongoing.
6. Get a better handle on how to use my Facebook business page - ongoing.
7. Create a daily schedule segmenting my time so I do more art!  ASAP!
8. Close sites that are not profitable and set up new ventures that hopefully are by year end.
9. Become more active in the Rome Art Association by volunteering at events.

I'm sure there are more and many of these need to be broken down further, but the overall goal is to streamline my on-line presence and do more art! 

I would love to hear any comment or suggestions - PLEASE!

Do you have any goals  for the new year?

Don't forget to enter my calendar giveaway in the previous post!

The First Giveaway of 2011! Fine Art Calendar.

Happy New Year~! How about a giveaway!  Let's start the new year off right.  I am giving away my very own
 fine art calendar.

 

Enjoy a new work of art every month.  This is a professionally printed calendar from my Zazzle shop.

 

Here is a preview of the artwork you will see in the calendar (the blue border is not on the calendar).

 

Calendar cover

 

May

 

March

 

You can preview the entire calendar in my Zazzle shop!

 

It is so easy to enter.  You can have up to 5 entries - each needs to be a separate comment :)

 

• 1.  Just comment and say hello!
• 2.  Follow this blog and leave a comment that you did so (or that you already follow).
• 3.  Tweet this giveaway and leave a comment that you did so - Thanks!
• 4.  For another entry, just 'like' my Facebook fan page and leave a comment that you did so or that you already do.
• 5.   Check out my Etsy shop and tell me your favorite item in yet another comment!

 

Contest ends at 11:59:59 1/17/11 so you have 2 weeks to get those comment in!  Thanks for entering!

Art, Paintings, Hemingway Cats and more!

I did this painting for my sister of her sweet kitty, Iggy!  I love him to death.  As you may notice, Iggy has a  few too many toes.  I had never heard of Hemingway Cats before my family got Iggy.  Hemingway acquired his first cat from a ship's captain in Key West, Florida, where he made his home for a number of years. This cat, which may have been a Maine Coon, had extra toes (technically known as polydactyl, latin for "many digits"). Today, approximately 60 cats, half of them polydactyl, make their home in the Ernest Hemingway Museum and Home, in Key West, protected by the terms of his will.

The cats of the Hemingway Museum are so popular and so well-known, that the nickname "Hemingway Cats" has often been given to polydactyls.

Iggy is getting up in years, but he still has a nice disposition and is very loving.  My sis also has another cat named Harley who is young and crazy!  I promised her a painting of him next Christmas!

You can get a print of 'Iggy' on Fine Art America!  He is too cute to pass up :)

Merry Christmas - It's almost award show season!

OMG - I can't believe that it has been since Oct 30 that I posted here - Yikes! I will go on to give an explanation though. But first, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Now for what has been keeping me away from the blogosphere.  Thanks to a wonderful group on Facebook called The Indie Exhibit, I have been busily creating items for the gift lounge at the Golden Globes and for The Sundance Film Festival.  How Cool is that!

Shannon and Nikki from the Indie Exhibit will do their best to get your display item photograhed with a celebrity and they also assemble the bags and hand them out at the awards gift lounges. 

Both shows are in January and with Christmas activities as well, time has been a blur around here!

This is a peek at what I am sending to Sundance.  I ordered a tie with my artwork from Zazzle as my display piece and have prints of some of my ACEO's in frame cards with envelopes to go in the gift bags - each with a Certificate of Authenticity and a business cards, of course!

For the Goldent Globes I an including a 5x7 print with a green border to make 8x10 in the gift bags.  I choose my Vancouver painting hoping that some of the celebs will have filmed there and recognize it.

For my display piece I matted and framed my Fuschia print because it is more eye catching!

I shipped them off before I thought to take a photo of the lot.  It has been so much fun working with this group and we will see if anything comes of it.  Just another marketing tool in the vast arsenal on the World Wide Web!

Art display for your frig! Fine art magnets!

I think that this is a great idea!  With the economy as it is you can still dsplay fine art at a very affordable price!  I found this treasury on Etsy full of fine art magnets incuding my 'Spanish Courtyard' magnet. 

Turn your refrigerator into an art gallery!

'No more wall space? Collect FINE ART MAGNETS!' by KayLarch

....So many beautiful paintings...so little space.... I just had an idea! I want to start a fabulous collection of FINE ART MAGNETS!

Fridge Magnet from ... artbyLucie $4.99	Giant 4 x 6 Refrige... silkartisan $3.99	Albert Einstein Art... KayLarch $5.75
Fridge Magnet from ... artbyLucie $5.25	FRIDA THRU THE PEEP... AnnasDreamsbyL... $13.00	Large Magnet from O... FancyFolkArt $6.00
Magnet - ACEO Art P... poppycat $3.25	Spanish Courtyard M... artbylmr $4.50	ACEO Magnet - Summe... budanART $8.00
Japanese Pheasant a... LABELSTONE $5.95	MAGNET Frida Purple meloearth $7.00	City Skyline Sunset... MelissaSherows... $18.00
A LITTLE DANCE WITH... kittyjujube $5.25	The Watcher II Magn... CHUYMOSCA $6.99	Jellyfish Magnet 3 ... mikeboston $9.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

What's on the Easel? A new watercolor and a new acrylic!

Thought I would give a sneak peek at what is in the works!~  The left side is an new acrylic painting I am doing.  I just love the window reflections - they are little paintings themselves!  The top two are done, but I am still working on the other 4.  There are also some pretty flowers that I need to add the the flower box.   I am really enjoying this one :)

The right is a new watercolor still life.  I have decided that I really like doing still life watercolor paintings rather than landscapes.  Trees are really not my thing in watercolor.  I am still fighting with the doily, but other than that just a little more tweeking. 

Let me know what you think.  I would love to hear from you.  Also feel free to comment on what you would like to see me paint.  I may just take you up on it! 

In the presence of greatness - Joan Baez

No, I am not just showing off - 3 posts in as many days! 

I had the pleasure of seeing Joan Baez in concert last night.  It was a nice venue with stadium seating so the view of the stage was great!  This was a stripped down show with just Joan and one other musician. 

As she admitted, her voice has lowered an octave, but after 50 years in the business some changes are expected.    I will admit that my husband is the Joan fan more than I am, but you have to respect anyone that has been in the world of music for 50 years and still has her convictions.

She will be 70 in January and still does about 75 shows a year  - again, gotta respect that!

My first exposure to Joan's music was on my Woodstock '69 soundtrack.  Her voice was undeniable and hard to ignore!  Then in the 70's she had her biggest hit - 'The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down'.  I bought the 45 rpm record of that and still have it on my juke box.

The crowd was very quiet when she was performing, but showed their appreciation between songs.  No sign of the stray flash here and there since flash photos were not allowed.  I have to admit that I am a sucker for story songs so I was occasionally tearing up listening to her moving lyrics.  Songs like that will be around for a very long time.

It was a wonderful evening and I hope she passes our way again soon!