Baby, You're A Firework

Firework Necklace

It's that time a year when everyone starts looking towards the future and mentally writes a list of the things they want to change after the champagne's drunk and the sun comes up on January 1.

The problem with this traditional approach is that every New Year we start with our minds focused on the negative asking ourselves, "What haven't I done?" vs. "What have I accomplished?"

This idea really hit me after I read artist and author, Alyson Stanfield's newsletter, "Acknowledge and Celebrate Your 2011 Accomplishments."  She asked questions such as:

Who were the top ten cool or influential people you met?
What did you try that was completely new?
What did you try that was uncomfortable but helped you grow?
What organizations were you involved with?  Who did you help?
What resources did you discover?
What medium or skill did you attempt or master?
What seminars/workshops/lectures did you attend or teach?
What technological skills did you learn or improve?
Who shared or featured your work?
What was the single best thing that happened to your career in 2011?

The article inspired me to reflect the past year and it caused my mind to shift, thinking of my accomplishments first and my failures last.  So I challenge you this week as the New Year approaches to think about what you've achieved.  Celebrate the small things and keep moving forward with your optimism leading the way.

Below are a few items from Etsy.com that I hope will spark some inspiration and light you up for the New Year, cause Baby, You're A Firework!  Happy New Year!

Black and Gold Sequin Dress, Black and Silver Sequin Dress

Embellished Leggings, Gold Sequin Top, Guitar Ring

Firework Clock, Kiss Don't Talk Poster

2012 Calendar, Happy New Year Note Cards

Kiss Earrings, Fireworks Photo Print

Organic Cotton Baby Onesie, Black Leather Brooch

Seven Tips to Cash in on Christmas

Of course Christmas is not just about presents, but since we do give gifts I believe they should be local, one-of-a-kind and made from the heart.

For many artists they make most of their yearly income during the holiday season. It's a lot of hard work, but it does help increase the chance that our presents under the tree do not bear the name “Made In China."

So here are seven tips that will hopefully inspire you to create and idea to increase your product sales and help spread the movement to buy local.

1. Create a Campaign

Think about your customer and come up with a promotion to get your work in their hands.  Throw a party, host an art show, sell online or rent a booth locally.  Ask yourself, "What makes your product the perfect Christmas present? Answer that question for your customers and they’ll choose you instead of the department store.

2. Make a Facebook Event

Once you make a plan, promote it!  Create a Facebook event to either invite your friends to a party, shop your store, custom order work or to set up appointments for consultations/photos shoots.  This is a great way to quickly put your plan on everyone's radar and increase the success of your campaign.

3. Send An Email

The number one tip I give artists to help their business is to create a contact list.  Connecting with your clients, friends and followers via email is a great way to make sure everyone knows about what you’re doing.  Mailchimp is a free email marketing service that sends professional email campaigns instantly.  It's easy and your contact list will definitely be impressed, adding your work to their shopping list.

4. Send Early Christmas Cards

Get out the stamps and send an early holiday card to your mailing list encouraging them to purchase your products.  It’s a long shot, but I know everyone appreciates receiving snail mail that isn’t a bill.  Use images of your products on the card and write a personal note to leave a lasting impression.

5. Reach Out

Word of mouth sometimes is the best way to promote your work.  Reach out to friends and family to find referrals.  If you’re feeling extra generous offer them a commission if they bring you a client.

6. Sell Sell Sell

Don’t forget sales is a numbers game.  The more people you reach the higher the changes are you will sale more.  Business isn’t personal, but for an artist it can be.  Try to keep your ego out of the equation and only focus on positive results.

7. Follow Through

Now that you’ve made sale, don’t forget about the details.  Give the best customer service by offering pretty packaging that supports your brand.  Make sure to always leave a business card with your work and get the clients email or mailing address for future marketing.

I hope these ideas jump start your Christmas Campaign and you’ll sell more than you’ve ever sold before.  Please share with your artist friends so more people are aware of how they can buy locally and support small businesses during this holiday season.

5 Tips for Touring Musicians

Many bands are making it on their own today without record labels, fancy marketing and just a lot of hard work.

It's not unusual for the lead singer to also be the PR manager and the guitarist to be the booking agent. That's just how it is for bands trying to promote a new album or tour the country with limited funds only living on all they've got, their music.

I receive a lot of emails from bands touring through Nashville looking for a little extra press and I'm happy to help them out if I can fit an article into my schedule. Often times I receive an email a little too late or with insufficient information. So if you want to make the most out of your tour I recommend doing the following:

1. Expand Your Reach

Reach out to local bloggers, newspapers and other means of press at least 1 month before your scheduled tour date. If you want your show to make it into local magazines I recommend at least 2-3 months prior. Remember press has deadlines and they best way to make it into the papers in time is to form a relationship with the writers and staff by sending multiple emails over a period of months. I can almost guarantee the first email you send will not receive a response. Send two and that will jog the recipient's memory of the first email they discarded and then it might get opened. That's the ugly truth, so please don't get your feelings hurt if your emails aren't replied to right away.

2. Be Professional

When you begin to reach out to others for help, be professional. Have links to your website, music and videos available with a press photo and 3-5 sentence bio. The easier you make it on the recipient the better. I know every band starting out doesn't have videos, but that's the best way to communicate. Have friend film a show or practice, edit it on your computer and post to YouTube, having something is better than nothing.

3. Submit Your Show

Look for free listings on local event websites. If you want your show to be listed online, submit it! This step is completely up to you. Check out local event websites and enter the information about your show. Be prepared with press photos and a little write-up about what you'll bring to the event. In Nashville you can submit your shows to the Nashville Scene's event calendar through their partner www.backpage.com. Also check out www.nowplayingnashville.com.

4. Use Social Media

If you feel like your emails are being ignored, so straight to the source -- social media. Find your local press online and post on their facebook page and tag them on twitter. Again have links ready to direct traffic to music and videos.  Also it doesn't hurt to make a peace offering with the stranger behind the screen and send a free download.

5. Make A Plan

The most important part to going on tour is have a plan. I know this sounds like a lot, but spend a day before it all begins on google doing your research and making connections. It might make a world of difference to do the extra work.

Please leave a comment if this is helpful or if I've missed something important.  Also share with your fellow musicians if this might help them get the edge they need on their upcoming tour.

Curing the Creative Curse

Being creative is truly a gift, but it doesn't always feel that way. If you're not creative, you want to be and if you are it sometimes it just feels like a constant struggle. Everyone's heard of the "Tortured Artist" so even if we don't talk about how we really feel, it's pretty clear that it exists.

Whether you're an artist, musician, writer or an idea person creativity is a huge part of your life, I know it is for me. The dark side of the situation is that creative people many times have to deal with a lot of self doubt, insecurities and confusion. I'm determined to figure out a way to let that go and just be grateful for the gift and try to help others who suffer with similar emotions and inner conflicts.

For example when I'm working on a project there's always this little voice inside my head that tells me it's not good enough. That nagging voice takes all the joy out of everything and it must be stopped. So when I start to sense that negative energy I push it aside and focus on my progress and think back on all the positive things that have come from using my creativity. The mind is more powerful that we give it credit for and anything is possible with positive thinking.

On the flip side when I'm not working I feel guilty. I wonder why I can't come up with any good ideas and once again the negativity is back. Then one day I heard a speech about to how to think of that down time as a period of growth. We are all living creatures and just like the Earth we have our seasons. It's unrealistic to think that it's possible to produce 100% of the time, so why would we ever put that kind of pressure on ourselves?

It's not easy managing powerful ideas, but it's possible. Where would we be without Thomas Edison's light bulb? In the dark! He must have messed up thousands of times, but in the end with perseverance he prevailed. Creative people were given their gift for a reason so don't let the insecurities stand in your way, you've got a lot to offer.

5 Tips for Creating Terrific Tomato Art

It's Tomato time!!  One of the best art shows in Nashville is quickly approaching and now it's time for the artists to create their tomato inspired work.  It's not your average art show and it takes years of experience to pinpoint exactly what it takes for the art to sell, but I'm here to help guide you in the right direction.

The Tomato Art Festival is an annual art show and event held in East Nashville at Art and Invention Gallery.  It has been voted Best Art Show for the part 4 years in a row by the Nashville Scene's reader poll and around 18,000 visitors fill the streets at Five Points.  This year it will be held on the weekend of August 13th with a pre-party event Friday, August 12th and the big festival on Saturday, August 13th.  It's always a blast -- especially if you're an artist showing in the gallery and see a little red dot on your title card, meaning SOLD!

Not every piece sells -- but to increase your chances here are 5 tips for creating terrific tomato art.

1. Community Involvement

One thing I've learned about East Nashville is that their residents love where they live. Anyway you can tie in your artwork to the community is a huge bonus with the people who will be shopping.

2. Imagination

This festival is the most creative and unique show centered around the theme, "The Tomato ... A Uniter, Not a Divider -- Bringing Together Fruits and Vegetables".  It's so much more than portraits of tomatoes it's beyond words.  Nashville has so many amazingly talented artists that it just blows my mind every year to see what people create.  The more creative you can be the better and you'll certainly get noticed.

3. Not Your Average Painting

Just because it's an "art show" doesn't mean that it's all paintings.  This show boasts jewelry, photography, fabric, mixed media -- anything and everything under the sun.  Step out of your comfort zone and do something really different -- expect the unexpected. 

4. Make It Fun

The purpose of this festival is for fun so artwork that reflects this theme it always a winner.  However you can get that message across whether it's through color, content or materials you'll automatically become a favorite.

5. Price & Size

In the past when I wondered around the gallery checking out the sold pieces I noticed most of them were $200 and under.  That seems to be the magic number so shoot for setting your price around there.  Whether your a high dollar artist or a new painter in town making your mark, adjust the size of your piece to fit into that price point.

I hope this information was helpful -- if you have any tips to add please leave a comment and share with your artists friends.  Now go get ready for the festival!  Here are a few of my past submissions, starting from 2007 - 2010 and I'm still learning!

Nashville Art Makers Is Making History

In April 2011 Nashville Art Makers was born.  Ronny Criss, creator and host of Nashville Art Makers is on a mission to unveil Nashville's best and brightest visual artists.

Criss is a fellow visual artist and a spectacular singer songwriter who features a new visual artists each month who are making the magic happen in Music City.

Criss presents each interview as a short video and transcribes the dialog for easy reading.  His You Tube Channel and blog hosts the interviews so visitors can look back at the past painters.

This is a wonderful service that active visual artists in the community need desperately.  Many times artists are only promoted through magazines and galleries, leaving out those who sell in local stores, art shows and online.  This is a great way for those hard working artists to gain attention and exposure.

Ronny is also always looking for people to promote, so if you're an artist and interested in an interview post on the Nashville Art Makers' Facebook Page with images and information about your work.

Please share and leave a comment to recommend yourself or a friend to Nashville Art Makers, inspired by Nashville!

Click Play To Watch Ronny Criss and Artist Jeff Bertrand

Seven Awesome Art Movies

This morning I woke up to thunder crashing, lightning flashing and very dark sky.  I thought to myself, this would be a perfect day to watch movies!

I remembered an article I wrote last year about some of my favorite art movies and decided it was definitely worthy of reposting.  If you haven't seen the following movies yet, they will entertain, inspire and definitely get you off the couch and ready to create.

Article from August 8, 2010: Ever since I joined Netflix watching art movies and documentaries is as easy as clicking a button. Netflix has a huge library of amazing films to watch that will not only entertain you, but educate you as well. I've been watching tons of art films lately and have put together a list of my seven favorites:

Art & Copy: Inside Advertising's Creative Revolution, Advertising meets inspiration.

Art City - Making It in Manhattan, How to make it as a comtemporary artist in Manhattan.

Pollock, A film about the life and career of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.

The Cool School, How LA learned to love modern art, by a few renegade artists who built an art scene from scratch.

The Impressionists, Three hour mini-series tells the intimate history of a most illustrious brotherhood of Impressionist artists.

Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?, A semi-truck driver, Teri Horton, quest to prove to the art world she owns a true Jackson Pollock.

My Kid Could Paint That, A look at the work and surprising success of a four-year-old girl whose paintings have been compared to the likes of Picasso and has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Now go get some popcorn and get ready to be inspired! Do you have any favorite art related films? Please share!!

Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

I'm talking about charities and fundraisers. As soon as you start advertising you're an artist they will find you and start asking you for donations. This is pretty much how it sounds:

"Hello, I was wondering if you would be interested in donating a piece of artwork for my organization? This is going to be a wonderful opportunity for you and your artwork to get great exposure! We would really appreciate your help."

I probably receive 2-3 emails a month like this asking me to donate work. If I donated to all the organizations that asked me for art I would be in the business of giving it away for free and never make any money. The truth is you can only tax deduct the cost of the materials, not the estimated value of the artwork, so either way the artist loses out of their valuable time and money really never gaining any exposure in return. So why do we do it?

Here is the answer plain and simple. We all must give if we want to receive. It isn't about the money or the time or anything else except the giving. Organizations raise money to help people and this is never going to stop. There are people in this world who will always need help. Giving is a selfless act and that is how you should approach it every time.

Yes you will lose money, no you probably will not get the exposure you are promised by the event organizers, but in the end you are just doing your part as a member of society and giving the gift of your God given talents. But where do you as an artist draw the line?

I believe it's a smart idea to set guidelines for your giving. Maybe you only give to one charity a month, maybe it's just a print or it's a certificate for your art services. Whatever you decide find something that works for you and it will be easy to say yes every time!

How do you feel about giving art for donations? Please share your ideas and experiences and please leave a comment.

Four Ways To Fix A Creativity Problem

I don't know about you, but Nashville's summer heat has dried up all my creative juices. I was talking with a girlfriend about how I didn't have any blog ideas and it hit me, write what you know.

Right now I know that I must be going through a dry spell because the creativity isn't flowing downstream. This happens a lot to creative people out there and my best advice is to just chill out or suffer the consequences.

The consequences are a poor attitude and that will throw you into a dangerous cycle. For example: First, I realize I'm not feeling creative, then I'm frustrated because I am trying to force my brain to be creative. Next, I beat myself up that I'm not producing good enough work, then I'm down on myself even longer perpetuating the non-creative cycle. All that time wasted worrying about creativity only causes more uncreativity! It's a lose-lose situation.

So last night I decided to take my own advice to chill out and what can I say I feel better already! Use your down time to relax and reflect then eventually like a river you'll be flowing full of creativity again. To jump start your chill out try out these four tricks:

1. Take a vacation. Working too hard and long definitely leads to a burn out. Take a mental vacation for a few days and do activities that you enjoy to get your mind off of work.

2. Read a book. The best way to get back your creativity is to be inspired by someone else's.

3. Do something for someone else. Creative people are always looking inside themselves for ideas and inspirations. Now do the opposite! The best way to take your mind away from you is to help someone else. Give a friend flowers or make someone dinner, in the end the best way to receive is to always give first.

4. Exercise. There are tons of creative thinking and brainstorming exercises on the web and in books to help get your creativity going. Check out this free eBook Creative Exercises for Artists by Benoit Philippe to get started.

The best news is that dry spells don't last forever! If you have an idea that works for you please share and leave a comment! Good luck!

Change Is Daily: 3 Ways To Cope In Social Media

Most of us avoid change. We fall into habits and do things the same every single day. Whether we like it or not, change is the best way to grow.

Now that social media is the new playing field change is more important than ever. Why do you think people go to Facebook and Twitter everyday even multiple times a day? They know that change is occurring minute by minute and want in on whatever is happening.

If you want to grow your business through online channels such as a blog, website, Facebook or Twitter page here are a few ways to start:

1. Spoon Feed Your Community
The most important way to grow your community is to feed them. Share relevant information about your business and your industry. It’s not easy finding new and interesting content everyday, but it’s not impossible. First, share with your community everything you have going on with your business. Second, follow popular blogs that are relevant to your business and share their information. By now most up-to-date blogs have sharing options integrated into each post, use those and it will save tons of time.

2. Create A Visual Environment
People love pictures! We are visual creatures and connect to visuals more than we do text. Bring your community into your world by posting photos from your work space, events and everyday life. Change the pictures on your website frequently to give your audience a reason to go back again and again. Give them the experience they deserve and they’ll turn into repeat customers.

3. Plan Your Progress
All this does not happen overnight. Take away what you will, but start by practicing these tips one day at a time. Set a goal to post on your Facebook/Twitter three times a day. Learn how to find content, then sharing it will be a piece of cake. Plan to bring your camera everywhere you go to visually document important moments in your day. Once you start to change and develop these new habits into your life -- growth isn’t too far behind

Good luck! If you have any other tips that have helped your grow your business, please share and leave a comment.

The Art of Vulnerability: Do It Afraid

I’m not gonna lie, I watch a lot of reality TV, typically the creative competitions. HGTV Design Star, American Idol, Work of Art, So You Think You Can Dance, Project Runway and the list goes on. I watch these shows because they glorify creativity and talent, what’s not to love about that?

Week after week, these shows require contestants to perform their talent followed by an evaluation from industry professionals, you know the drill. Then miraculously after hours and hours of nonsense and drama I can still find some life-changing meaning to it all. Lately I have noticed many of the most talented contestants are criticized for not being vulnerable enough. So even if you’re the best artist/singer/dancer/designer it doesn’t even matter if you aren’t exposing some inner deep part of yourself.

Being vulnerable is hard for everyone. We all live in a society that leaves many of us feeling inadequate at the end of the day. The beautiful and the rich are constantly in front of our faces waving their flag of success. We live in fear … of everything. So for a person to completely bare their soul and influence their work based on who they are is an amazing accomplishment. It really hit me when I heard this similar critique from different judges on multiple shows. Is vulnerability the secret weapon of success?

As soon as things get uncomfortable or scary our first reaction is to run away. Could we be running away from what we’re supposed to be running towards? Overcoming fear takes courage and all courage means is to do it afraid. I heard that for the first time a year ago and that’s when I started doing everything afraid. It changed my life. For the first time ever I was working towards goals and my fears stopped controlling my decisions. I felt it, disregarded it and moved on. It took practice and became a learned habit. I still get butterflies when I’m about to sing in front of a group or show my artwork, but doing it afraid is better than not doing it at all. Be confident, be vulnerable and you'll impact many more people that way.

Get In Shape, Exercise Your Effort

Just like clockwork my Fine Art Views Newsletter arrives daily to my inbox. The articles are always insightful, encouraging and remind me to think about the business of art.

This past week I read an article by Keith Bond, "Regular Compelling Newsletters Are King". Basically saying he notices peaks and valleys in his website traffic and the peaks are around when he sends his newsletter. Keith is encouraging artists to find a way to smooth those peaks and valleys by constantly promoting their website with not only a newsletter, but with all marketing materials.

I totally agree with him, I also see an increase in my website traffic after I send my newsletter on the 1st of every month. So how do we keep those stats up all month long?

His article encouraged me to take a look at my website traffic. To the left you'll see a pie graph that represents referring traffic. These are sites that refer/link people to my website. Facebook, Google, and my blog are the top referring sites. Email marketing comes in fourth. Does this disprove Keith's statement that "Newsletters Are King"? Not necessarily.

I believe whatever you are putting your energy into you will see results. I see results with Facebook because I use it a lot. Most of my friends, collectors and new contacts come from Facebook. It is my main social media spot, that's why it's number one.

This principle is true with anything in life. Results require work and work takes effort. Ask yourself how are you exercising your efforts? It doesn't take long to figure it all out when you take an honest inventory. The good thing is you can start anytime. It’s like dieting, when you are disciplined and work hard you see results, but if you don’t try than your pants just keep getting tighter.

The important task is to figure out what works for you so that you’ll stick with it. Make a plan and try it, if it doesn’t work than try something else. Just don’t give up!

Have any tips that help you keep your web traffic in shape? Please share and leave a comment.

How Do You Make Your "Work of Art"?

Bravo's newest reality TV Show, "Work of Art, The Next Great Artist" is pretty darn awesome. It's a lot like Project Runway - the artists are given a challenge, make artwork, judged and one unlucky person goes home. The contestants have a variety of backgrounds from painters to performers and all very talented. If you want a crash course on Contemporary Fine Art this is your show and that is only what the judges are looking for. Last week's winner, Miles, made a bed and slept on it during the gallery show. Sound like art? Not really, but every judge nearly freaked out over it his genius presentation.

Something I've realized about art since I started watching is that every artist approaches it so differently. Some are literal, conceptual and just plain crazy. That's why I love it! I think a lot of artists approach it how they were taught in school. Painters paint and sculptors sculpt. The contestants on this show have a big challenge because this isn't a painting competition it's an art competition. It's the ideas that matter, the personal interpretation and the passion. They are judged on how well they evoke emotions, show the audience who they are and overall presentation.

This show is very inspiring to me because it makes me rethink how & why I make art. It challenges me to perform with passion and excellence in all that I do.

For more information check out their website at BravoTV.com/Work-Of-Art and you can even create your own masterpiece at the Work of Art Sketchpad!

How To Collect Art :: Buy What You Like

When I ask the question, “Do you collect art?” the top two answers I get are:

1. No, I don’t know anything about collecting art.
2. No, I can’t afford it.

Thank goodness I’m here today to break the cycle of the non-art collector. Yes you do know about collecting art because everyone knows what they like and yes you can afford it because all art isn’t expensive.

First of all collecting art is really fun. It’s not at all like action figures, coins or baseball cards. It’s not the type of collection that sits in a box in the closet for no one to see. It’s on your walls and brings you joy every single day. It represents a bookmark of your life and reminds you when and why you bought it.

My First Art Collection

So what if the first piece you buy cost $25 at an estate sale, the more you collect the more defined your tastes will become. The most important factor is that you are purchasing work that makes you happy. Happiness comes from the inside and there is no right or wrong way to go about finding it. Consider collecting art a treasure hunt and everywhere you go you’ll be looking for those pieces that reflect something true inside of you.

A great way to start collecting artwork is to attend local fairs and festivals. See what the artists in your community are creating. There’s a great chance you’ll find something that resonates with you when it’s local. If you have the time to dig try out estate sales, garage sales and even Goodwill. I mention Goodwill because there have been many stories of donations turning out to be fine works of art. Now of course this is extremely rare, but still fun to think of what you might find!

Once you’ve outgrown those types of venues try out your local galleries and gift shops. These stores typically carry established artists so the prices will be higher. Higher prices doesn’t mean you’ve entered into a scary art collectors world, all it means is that you can expect the artwork to be higher quality. That’s one thing I’ve learned as my artist career grows, the materials I use and my skills become better and better warranting a higher price.

I must warn you, once you start collecting it’s going to be hard to stop. Instead of saving up for a new dress and pair of shoes, you’ll be dreaming of an original piece by your favorite local artist.

Music and Art Connects Communities at Flatrock Festival

Last Saturday The Flatrock Music and Arts Festival, held at Coleman Park in Nashville, TN, created new opportunities for emerging artists and the local art buying community.

Located at the Nolensville/Thompson Lane intersection, this diverse area has 42 different nationalities represented at the local High School and is the perfect location to present art and music to such an eclectic neighborhood.

Three years ago, the Festival was developed by a group of community members from The Flatrock Heritage Foundation, Inc. This Community group formed an Arts Panel made up of working artists, art museum staff and retired art teachers. They had a vision to create an art buying destination totally supported by the local talent.

The Arts Panel held an informal review for potential artists to experience a “practice interview” as an opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback from industry professionals. Once selected, they are offered a free space at the event and do not charge a commission on sales.

This is a great opportunity for the new artists to measure public interest, sell their work and receive feedback from buyers. Three years ago the first festival started with 9 and this past weekend showcased 65 artists!

Over the weekend art sales exploded and prove there is clear evidence of art interest in this community. One of the artists who exhibited last year at the Festival sold nothing his first year; this year he sold 5 large paintings and will exhibit at an Atlanta Festival this summer.

I was one of those ready to buy art enthusiast! Recently I have been so blessed with my own art career that I wanted to give back to those artists just starting out -- plus purchase amazing eclectic work for my own collection. One of my first stops was Mary Lou Reynolds booth. Her paintings spoke to me and I immediately asked for prices. I told her very proudly, "I came to buy!" She couldn't have been happier! Not only was she an artist, but the Grant Writer and one of the volunteer organizers of the event. We agreed this festival was special because the artists were undiscovered and their work very affordable.

Anyone wanting to start or add to their art collection should definitely make this event a priority. It is growing by leaps and bounds and I know their 4th year will be even better! For more information please visit their website at: FlatrockFestival.com.

Artwork by Ronny Criss and Mary Lou Reynolds.

How To Afford Original Art

Collecting art is pretty much my favorite thing besides creating it. I started at a really young age mostly buying prints and framing them. That's how most people start. Prints are great to collect because they are very affordable and look great. If you can get an original signature by the artist, well that's even better! I sell a wide variety of prints on my website, binglishART.com and sign every single one!

The next step for collecting art is going to art shows and fairs and buying small original artwork from emerging artists. This is a little more expensive and you can expect to spend around $80 - $150 for a small piece of artwork even from a new artist. There's nothing like bringing home your new original artwork and hanging it on the wall. You'll be like a proud new parent!

From there you will discover your favorite artists, techniques and styles. The amount of money you spend on original work will continue to climb, but so will your income as you advance in your career. As you grow up and look around the walls of your home you'll have a story behind every piece of artwork.

Dare to be different and stop buying mass produced artwork. You can even create your own and all it will cost you is supplies and a Saturday afternoon of painting. That sounds pretty great!

This video sums up everything I've said and it is by some of my favorite art collectors, Bob and Cortnay Novogratz from Bravo's TV Show 9 by Design. (Please forgive the pre-video advertisement.) Now go and start your collection!

Music Inspired by Six Pixels of Separation

I am reading a new book and it is firing me up! I tell everyone I know. The name: Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel, the author of The Twist Image blog. The game: How to effectively brand and connect your business online.

The past two years I pursued online marketing for my art business and had much success. I started a few blogs, a website, and am connected to many social networking sites. I used these online channels to grow my business. However, after reading this book I realized, I'm doing it all wrong. Well not all wrong, but this realization made me slam on the brakes and reevaluate my approach.

In the beginning I thought I'm going to do this the best way I know how, dive right in! Post some pictures of art with links, talk about the paintings and hope people respond. That's not enough.

In this book it explains that selling a product or building a brand online is asking people to trust you. Mitch Joel describes it as a trust economy. In order to build a brand you need people to like you and they aren't going to like you if all you do is self-promote. I thought, oh no! That's what I'm doing because I didn't know any better. So it's time for a change.

My vision is to build a community of people around my brand that are inspired by music as much as I am. I want to promote others and share everything. I want to feature artists, songwriters, musicians, and other professionals that are doing the same thing I am, making a life surrounded by creativity. That's all.

If you like this idea please let me know! If you would like to nominate someone, I’d love your suggestions! I’m ready to start shining the light on the people who are music inspired, just like me!

Find Yourself Be Yourself

I like to watch the sunrise. The smell of coffee. Coffee mugs.

Christian television. Stretching. Smiling.
Hot showers and cold air conditioning.

Oatmeal with sugar.

Drinking green tea all day using the same bag.

Think about acting out of love.
Listen to someone complain without joining in or stopping them.

Making someone smile with a stupid joke.

Write song lyrics in my head and humming.
Think about when I'll have time to make the pictures in my head.

Dancing like a fool.
Watching TV that makes me laugh out loud.
Drinking ginger ale from a wine glass.

Eye glasses. Reading. Sleeping early.

It's hard to know yourself. It takes practice, time, and dedication. The better you know yourself the better you'll be all around. Your art will evolve to be uniquely you. Ask yourself what you like. I asked myself who I am during brief moments that make up my entire day. The sum of them is me. If you ask yourself these same questions, you might be surprised! Have a great day!

DIY Artist Websites

DIY Portfolio Sites:http://www.squarespace.com/
http://www.myartspace.com/
http://www.coroflot.com/
http://www.behance.net/
http://www.carbonmade.com/

DIY Online Stores:
http://www.shopify.com/
http://www.yola.com/

Local Registries:
www.hellonashville.com/art
www.nowplayingnashville.com/profile/listing
www.artsnashville.org/registry

Taking Artwork from Original to Print

Entering into the print market isn't as easy as I thought. There are so many options to choose from I had to really do my research. I recommend working with a local company that scans or photographs original artwork into high resolution photos for printing. Make sure to ask for both RGB and CMYK files, depending the printer you will be glad to have both. If you're in Nashville, TN this is who I recommend:

Pro-Graphics
www.pro-graphics.net

Chromatics
www.chromatics.com
615-254-0063

Picture This Gallery
www.picturethis-gallery.com
615-899-5640

Digital vs. Offset vs. Giclee Printing

If you plan on printing fewer than 50 prints then it might be more cost effective to go digital. Almost anywhere will print digital images. Walgreens, Kinkos, Wolf Camera, etc. If you want a professional product, then hire a professional printing company.

I recommend Wondergraphics, www.wondergraphics.net. I tried a hand full of printers before I made my decision to stick with them. I have been very happy and love working with the people there!

If you need to print more than 50 than go commercial and mass produce with offset printing. It's a pretty cool process. Visit www.uprinting.com for ordering information, it was a great website.

Giclee is another option for printing. If you want to give your collectors an investment than go with Giclee. The inks will last a few lifetimes and can be printed on canvas or paper. Check out www.allpconline.com for more information.

Whether you are a professional or living room artist make the best decision for you and your budget. Now that I know more about printing I feel completely prepared to make the best decision for me. Thank you to all the artists in Nashville who sent in their feedback. I really appreciate the support and wonderful suggestions!