Well… it’s 2018! Shoot, it’s almost February already! The last couple of months of 2017 were very busy in the studio. All the busyness slowed me down on the blog front. It’s been great to catch my breath a bit.
As I reflect on last year, there are few developments that I made that I’m excited about. To begin with, I took a leap and signed onto a more robust website host with Art Storefronts. Art Storefronts provides a ton of powerful options for artists websites. I’m continually amazed by the level of coaching and development they put into their system. It’s great to able to tell art-lovers to go to my website, to look at my work and view it using a variety of materials, sizes and frames–the shopper can even see the work in certain room scenes with whatever wall color they choose with the web preview tool. If you haven’t had a chance to try it out yet you should!
Another big discovery I made last year was how wonderful printing art on scarves can be. I’ve been using long and soft modal fabric.
Modal actually derives from bamboo. It’s very light-weight and silk-like. I now have a have a section of my website devoted to displaying my growing collection of scarves; you can even pair them with the corresponding greeting card to show the original work of art. With Valentine’s Day coming, I think it will be helpful for people looking for unique gifts.
The last thing I want to mention about 2017 is that I launched a group to help artists who are trying to make a full-time living as artists. I call it Creating Art & Business. Any creatives or artists who live in or near Lawrence is welcome. Last Thursday was our fifth meeting. We’ve discussed topics like marketing, websites, pricing and selling work and bartering. If you are interested, we usually meet the third Thursday of each month here in the gallery, from 7-8:30pm. We would love to see you come out! Send me a note if you want to check it out.
On the painting front, I just wrapped up a painting commission of Dream Lake in Colorado. I didn’t have a chance to get over there in person so I did a search online. I came across a terrific photo by Blair Wacha. Blair explained his experience photographing this lake and his surprise capturing this scene during sundown. I’m happy that both Blair and I refer to each others work as “stunning.” It’s nice to have a mutual appreciation for each others art.
The next painting I’m about to start will be a fun challenge. Professional Engineering Consultants here in Lawrence will be commissioning a 3.5X7 foot painting of downtown Lawrence for their office on Mass. St. I took a nice drone photo last fall that is going to work well for this. I’ll be sure to post photos when I’m finished.
Thanks for your support and interest! Feel free to send questions or feedback if you have any. -Brian
