Touching Art

Five--Only Five-- big old hairy Art goals for 2008!

1. Mount a group show of erotic art in Midcoast Maine. Is the midcoast ready? Is Maine ready?
I doubt it, but I want to do it anyway. I have some established and very accomplished artists telling me about their "secret" body of work they can't show. Those are the people I want.

2. Establish a studio routine so that I am working almost every day. I have a lot of pieces I want to make, and a couple of series I want to finish. But the important part is just work my way into the Zone, consistently. Because the work will tell me what to do. Something wonderful I can't imagine while typing a blog post will emerge when I am in the Zone.

3. Set up the business side of my art with Quick Books, a database, a newsletter with enthusiastic subscribers, and professional help (not a shrink! a bookkeeper and office helper!)

4. Launch and maintain the new art blog Loving Art. Create a vibrant network of artists by linking to and writing about other artists with blogs and websites. Especially blogging artists.

5. Find a gallery or similar representation for my artwork that will put it in front of my audience, and work to sell it for me!

If anyone has any brain storming ideas or resources to share, comment away! I'd love your input.

My Art Year: 2007

The 12 days of Winter Feasting are over; I have two cords of firewood spilling out of my garage doors; and the January thaw is drip drip dripping, about three weeks early. It's time to return my focus to Art and the business of making and selling art.

For those of you who like the entertainment awards shows, and are missing them due to the writer's strike, I offer you my own personal 2007 self-congratulatory pat on the back: My 2007 accomplishments!

Biggest was the Love Medicine show, a one woman retrospective in June at the Yellow House.

Flipping through the calendar, I celebrate:
January I spent hours in the studio, diving into new work.
February, I was in the All Heart show at Nielson/Smith Metalworks in Portland, Maine. I made all new work  and I felt a degree of mastery of my material and process using porcelain and glass with the work for that show.
March, I made my first precious metal clay pieces.
April, I discovered a way to add silver to my porcelain pieces.
May, created up a storm completing new work for the show and creating publicity for it.

Also in May, I started my video career, with the 39 minute Love Medicine video at Google video and the 3 minute trailer at Youtube. There are others in the wings, just waiting for my co-creators and me to finish them and load them up.

June: Love Medicine show
July through September: Pieces in the Judith Gallery in Boothbay Harbor.
Also July through September: weekly model drawing with my artist friends, and unsinkable Lise!
And I completed the Peace  Chamber series of Paintings during the summer... well almost. I have more work to do on the fourth one which is why I have not shared this particular suite with you yet.
September I continued my experiments with PMC and porcelain,  and I made the first porcelain buttons for Nanney's Seacolors sweaters.
October and November my mother died and I was occupied by family stuff.
Though... at the end of October I met Jeannie Greenaugh at 205 Lavinia Street. We worked in her forge and I made a hook! What a great time that was!
Finally at the end of November I made an amazing silver merqueen/dolphin button for another SeaColors sweater.

Throughout the year, I became better at blogging, and did a lot of art networking, building my art community locally and on line.
For the  first half of the year I was part of Alyson Stanfield's Inner Circle art business coaching and mastery group.
It is Wonderful to write down accomplishments. A year is long, and I had forgotten how much I accomplished in the first half of2007. I am very proud of the work I have done. I am grateful for the help and inspiration I received. Bill, you started  something with that email... "let's do a show". Hahaha! Thank you. And I offer particular appreciation to everyone who bought some of my art in 2007. I hope it is bringing you great happiness. You made it possible for me to keep working with your support and faith in me! I love you!!!

The work of 2007, the goals, and the successes have germinated many new ideas and dreams. In a day or two, I will tell you what I want to accomplish in 2008. I have already started!

Artist in Business

Every artists who wants to sell art is by default an entrepreneur. Maybe art school is different now, but the most business advice I got when I was in art school was "study something you can fall back on to support yourself". Now I am catching up, reading books on business, working with coaches and small business advisors, writing a business plan, and loading Quickbooks software.
Another artist blogger, Maggie Stiefvater, Equine Artist and soon to be published novelist, spent some time researching tips for making it in business as an artist. She shared four links in a recent post at Greywaren Art. I have read one so far, choosing first Alain Briot's article at Luminous-Landscape, because it has beautiful pictures. His article for Artists in Business, part three, says

Do what you love .  Doing what you don’t love isn’t going to be any easier.

Briot is a successful landscape photographer, who also teaches other people to be successful photographers. I have pulled the lobster meat from the shell of his first point for success:

He writes "success was bound to come at the cost of a lot of work.  I       therefore determined. . . that I might as well do exactly what I wanted – what   I love – for it was not going to be any more work.  

. . .by doing what I love I would have the added benefit of doing       exactly what I wanted to do right now as opposed to hoping to do so at       a later, and usually undefined, date.

 

. . .the most energy you’ll ever have will be at times during which       you do exactly what you want to do, without any further motives in your       mind, without any regrets, without any other thoughts of things that you   would rather be doing."

You can read all 10 points for success here

Thanks Alain. I am really happy that the first tenet of success is to be working at what I love. Every day in the studio, I check in. What do I love today. That's what I work on. Right now, there are three paintings in progress, a series. Soon they will be finished, and I'll show them to you.

Money Can Buy You Love Medicine

Yes! we are offering a limited run of only 20 prints of the Love Medicine image, and as of today, 14 are still available.

The price is $300.00 + $20 shipping

Pay with credit or debit cards by Paypal or use your Paypal account.
Maine residents will have 5% sales tax added.

                   Porcelain Diva Bowl by Carla Sanders
                   Digital Art by Bill Anderson
                   Details: 18 by 19.5 inches with white border

 

A Day of Art Networking Action

Today Alyson Stanfield's ArtBizBlog lists some guiding principals of Art Marketing. Number two on her list is "Connections are critical to your success. Ignore meeting new people and maintaining relationships at your peril." 

Yesterday was a busy day of making connections. Early morning I was at the computer emailing Love Medicine show announcements to my list, answering emails, and sharing the Love Medicine print with friends and affiliates. Late Morning, Bill Anderson of BBVPress came to shoot video that may have life on this blog someday soon. After noon I showed some love charms and diva bowls to an gallery in Rockport, the Carver Hill Gallery. Jana liked some pieces and wants them in her gallery, and she gave the phone number of James Strickland, an artist who could give me some advice on making display boxes for the pieces.

Midafternoon found me at the Good Tern Coop in Rockland, running into friends and neighbors, telling them about the show, finding out what they are up to, and then to 2nd Read Books and Coffee (place has a new name, Rock City I think, best Maine Roasted coffee beans available--so lucky to have them).  I  met Neal Parker, schooner captain and children's book author, who knew Ed Moran at the South Street Seaport. Ed Moran and SSS are part of my personal ancient history too.

Evening: the opening celebration of the new Landings Gallery in Rockland, Maine, where a number of friends are showing beautiful work. There I met Bruce and Myra Busko the gallery owners, who are wonderful new assets to our art community. I ran into many neighbors, both artists and art lovers, and I met James Strickland who I had been referred to earlier in the day! Two more gallery owners expressed an interest in seeing my work, and helpful people of all kinds gave me feedback, shared information, invited me to their studios.

I am awash in gratitude right now for the community I live in, the generosity of people, the help I am receiving at this critical point that I have decided to be successful as an artist. It seems that people are jumping out of the woodwork to help me. I wonder what I have to give back? At the moment I will bask in it, Let It In, let it fill me up, and now, send out love and appreciation to all the people who made my day so wonderful. And do ask me if you ever need anything. My good will account is overflowing today.

Love Medicine: Works by Carla Sanders

 

Thanks to Bill Anderson of BB's Video Press for the beautiful poster and the opportunity to show at the Yellow House.

Major Distraction

Monday is one of my studio days, but this Monday I did not make it to the studio at all.  I spent all day cutting down deadwood and small ash trees with a hand saw! Granted, the month of subzero weather in Maine has emptied my woodshed, and it is still February. I have a full moon sweat lodge on Saturday and no wood for the fire. And I do love to work on my land, especially on a sunny 30 degree day in snow-covered winter. Work like that has its physical and emotional rewards. But doing that work all alone was dangerous, hard, exhausting, and hurts my hands. Is it really the best use of my time and life force?

All day as I worked to the edge of my physical strength, and beyond my skill and available tools, I thought about some big questions. What am I committed to? I am committed to the sweat lodge, to work so hard for the wood. What if I showed the same commitment to my art and art business? What are the hidden costs of me taking many hours of studio and business time to cut about $30.00 dollars worth of wood? No brainer! I could sell one piece and buy a cord of wood. I could spend an hour connecting with my collectors and new markets, and set up income to buy next year's wood. I increase my body of work, my reputation in my field.

I am out there cutting wood again today, because now I have to get those trees to stove length. All because I have a habit of living on the edge. I think I have chosen the wrong edge. Living on the edge of survival is a major distraction. It is not getting me what I want.

Iris in Hope

I have a show of paintings hanging at the Hope General Store. Andrew Stewart bought the store last year and has made it into a 21st century general store, with fine wine, microbrews, internet wireless, brie and black olive pizza, and fishing licenses, eggs, bread, and milk, and coffee, doughnuts and sandwiches. In one short year, Andrew has made the Hope General Store what it used to be: the heart and hub of our little farming community of 1300 residents. Thanks to Andrew, Hope has a downtown.

He has a small gallery where people can sit on a sofa and chat, nosh, knit, and read the paper.  Hope is full of artists, and he has no trouble covering the walls with the products of local talent. This month is my month. The only  "socially acceptable" work I do is my Iris series, so that's what is showing.

Here is my artist statement:                      

Iris is my favorite flower. Each June I take my easel and paints out to the garden amid clouds of blackflies and honor the beautiful Iris by painting her portrait. Painting her gives me uninterrupted time to look at her and get to know all her moods.

The iris blossom structure is both flamboyant and secretive. Her velvety petals and luscious colors, in contrast to her spiky, sword shaped leaves,  contribute to her mysterious sensuality. Iris is named for the Rainbow Goddess, Iris, who carries messages between heaven and earth. The flower is found in every color of the rainbow, though I only have purple iris in my garden.

While we wait for the Iris to bloom next month, enjoy these portraits of purple iris past.