back on the chain gang

I just celebrated a wonderful birthday and after 5 days away from work I'm back on the chain gang. And speaking of chains...here is another link for your Free Online Advertising (FOA) purposes! This one is geared towards the artists or arteeests, as some say. It's basically a free directory where artists can register themsleves and their sites. Why not? It's free! And remember we're trying to proliferate the web with our wonderful links so get to linking! Head over to ARTCHAIN and link away!

Selling your Art

Ok, we've been talking about ways to get your art into the world and aside from Free Online Advertsising which we'll refer to as FOA from now on, you're gonna need some nice physical business cards. These are great to put with any art and items you sell to make sure your customer always has a way to contact you. Building good relationships with all your customers can keep them coming back for more and spreading the word about you. If you have yet to go the business card route here is a CHEAP (basically free!) route to take if you haven't yet settled on your branding, logo and all that important stuff. If you need something now and cheap I would check out vistaprint.com. You can get 250 business cards for FREE but you pay for shipping which is a steal. They have some nice templates to choose from and it's a great way to spread the word about your art/site on the cheap!

Pip Pip! Cheerio!

Today I'm diligently working on another English Tea Time box. I sold the Panda box last night and just can't "bear" not having another box to take it's place. This one is so complex with it's layers but it looks so cool when it's done (see pic above, cool huh?) so aside from that, packing up Panda and working on my newest canvas that will be my Sunday. But this is what Sundays are for right?

It's Free Love Friday!

Promo Day! September 5th at the Double Wide my friends band is playing. Check em out! And did you notice the F word?! FREE!

Promoting Your Art

I'm going to be starting up a little regular installment here featuring ways to push your art into the world. For the past two weeks I gave myself little assignments- find places to market my stuff. This week I was to find 5 new places to put my link so that the world could see my stuff. So I will be sharing, because thats what makes the world go round. For today- if you have yet to do so, go to linkreferral.com and Artzee.netand insert your sites info. This is a great little tool that lets you view all the traffic to your site, blog, online shop, etc. I like the reviews feature, you can review other peoples sites and they can review yours! So far I've made new friends on etsy and had more traffic to my shop. I need to make a link referral for this blog next.
The Artzee is easy and the more places your link appears the better! Stay tuned for more on this topic!

I got your back

It's nice to have people (or creatures) who got your back when you got to get into it with some raucous birds....or squirrels.
Newest 8X8 painting on Etsy, posted this weekend.

Artistica

Because we're all artistic up in here today!
This comes to me via Ben Fleming of Blackheart Society who will be playing at this mega fest crammed with music and art. So much to do, see and hear around here!

TOYS!

TOYS! I can't wait to see this upcoming show over at Avenue Arts Venue here in Dallas, tx. Heres a toy by Eddie Ruiz (purple monkey featured). Show is coming in September, details to come to keep your ears to the walls.

Show Pony!

This one comes from my new crafty friend Claudia of ClaudiasBurningInk.com This sounds like an awesome event for the crafty minded and look my fellow EtsyDallas crew is going to be on hand!

Come hang out with www. ClaudiasBurningInk. com and www. JDStar. etsy. com , www. TaranehsBazaar. etsy. com , www. katscratch. etsy. com at the Doudlewide Bar Saturday Aug 16th, and then come see us Sunday Aug 17th at The Show Pony Show

Free Love Fridays

I'd like to do this semi-regularly (time permitting)on Fridays. I posted a bulletin via myspace asking for 5 people to step up who wanted something promoted here and in my bulletin section and this lovely lady was the first in line. This was submitted by the lovely Melissa of Melissas Deluxe fame- sounds like a great time if the sun pops out to join in the fun! Just a little local love on a rainy Dallas day. Heads up for the next 4 contestants!

Bluette 8x8

Heres the first little canvas I started and finished in one day. I really just enjoy the process and feel of painting, pushing the paint around, finding new colors and even "scratching" into the paint like I've done here. I've tried to sketch out my ideas first but it seems so..unnatural to me. Forced. So I just let myself loose on the canvas and let my brain walk around and put stuff where it wants it. It's better this way.
Posted today on www.tigerbee.etsy.com

8X8

I just recently primered two small 8X8" canvases in an attempt to motivate myself to work on some stuff for my etsy shop. Oh woe- it is pitiful at the moment. I haven't felt much like doing the boxes and only want to do what I feel like right now. That would be painting on canvases. So even while I'm engrossed in the big monster 36" x 36" right now, I think doing some small ones in a shorter amount of time will be bring me small satisfactions in the meantime.

things of beauty

It is very important to remember beauty and grace. Especially in times like these.

Visual and Audio: bringing it into HARMONY

While I thank my lucky stars that music and art are in my blood sometimes I wonder where my extra gas tank is. How is someone supposed to have the energy to create new paintings AND practice in a band? Not to mention the "work" that goes into pushing both those things into the publics eye gently and gracefully so you don't get the reaction of "OW! OK ALREADY!". It's a tough road. I'm a whiner.
I'm currently trying to balance the scales once again, working on a new painting and trying to jumpstart the Shapes as we near the end of recording. Mainly what we're doing now is production work, album art, logos, making those things that lazy musicians hate...decisions. Theres a few loose ends to re-record. I am not happy at all with my vocals on "I Don't Wanna Know" so back to the drawing board we go. And Mark Ridlen (Lithium Xmas) is helping us with production stuff, the sprinkles and cherries and bits of Oreo cookies that make stuff good and bad for you.
It all takes time and as much time as we have taken- it takes more. More and more. I think the best thing to do is just to let it happen, whether it be the painting or the record. I think a lot of meditation is going to get me through this. I expect expensive champagne when this baby finally drops into the stores.

Augustian Graphiques

These were my latest freelance assignments. The cute cartoon illustration is from an unknown artist but I found that a blogger had posted a few images from the crazy 8's card game this drawing came from. All very lovely 50's illustrations. Now this is off my plate I can start work on my painting today.

Green

Two coats of green and I'm still not satisfied with the flatness. One more coat shall do it and then the fun begins!
I'm putting into practice a new productivity schedule. I noticed I was wasting lots of time online before and after work and thats when I can actually be getting a lot done. Workouts in the morning and painting, painting and bass practice in the evening. So I'm totally doing an internet rehab program this week. It's like less than 20 minutes a day online. So far it's been nice.

36" X 36"

I got a big canvas sitting in my studio. It's white and intimidating. At 5 o clock this morning I woke up and thought of it, first thing. It is just sitting in my studio haunting it with it's whiteness. After breakfast I'm going to eradicate the pale thing with green. I have so many ideas left over from it's predecessor and I can't wait to get to work on it. This canvas is much larger than the one before so I expect it's going to be a lot like an epic test of will to battle this canvas. It will be a lot like a boxing match, much like the other one was.
It was very rewarding to have so many people come up to me and tell me they enjoyed my work at the opening for the "Insider Art" show. I really don't know what to say when people compliment my work so hopefully a foolish grin and a "thank you so very much" is enough.
I'll be keeping this blog updated with my battle royale.

The Buzz gets Blogged

If there was anyone awake this morning besides my cats I would've liked to reenact this photo. The first email in my inbox was from my friend Jimmy who directed me to local blog Unfair Park, where yours truly had a bit of a mention. High Five! Read all about it...

Unfair Park

Art News! Me in the Museum

Dear friends,
You are all cordially invited to see my newest paintings on view at the Dallas Museum of Art.

The 2008 exhibition entitled “Insider Art” opens July 18 and runs through November 23, 2008.
This is a group exhibition of museum Staff work. The exhibition will be installed on Mezzanine 2 in the hallway just outside of the Library and Imaging office spaces.

I worked really hard on my paintings and would love for you to see them on view in this auspicious setting!

Directions if you're in the atrium (cafe area)...hit the stairwell that runs directly from the atrium and go through the first glass doors on your right, ba-da-bing- you are there! I have two pieces in the show and theres lots of great work on view.

Support the arts! ;-)

Dallas Museum of Art
1717 N Harwood
Dallas, Tx 75201..

No Canvas: No Work

I'm out of canvas. But it's ok because I'm also sick with a sinus infection and thats just NOT conducive to creativity. So next weekend I go get canvas and get back to work. It's very important to keep the momentum going because it is very easy to just keep putting it off and putting it off and before you know it-it's been months and you have no new work to show. And then you'll see all these call for entries and submissions and opportunities and you will just have to go "wah! boo! Im a lazy bum!" and miss out. So, momentum and keeping up with it! That's what we're doing for the rest of the hot Texas summer. Blog again soon when I have some art-y news to spread!