Awesome News!

My website has been launched! This was a long time in the works, but I am very happy to announce that I have an official website.

www.limitedpalette.com

Links!!

Make an app. out of your artwork! (I can’t wait to try this out)

http://www.artistsketchbooks.com/step1.php

Any other book nerds out there?

http://artbooknews.blogspot.com/

Very good post for all those resolutions made for the new year!

http://ittybiz.com/creative-ways-to-meet-your-goals/

Amazing art work. I love the spoiled walls section. Hello panda watching t.v.

http://www.bananca.co.uk/spoiledwalls.html

I hope these links make your Sunday a little more interesting.

What I’ve been working on:

Here is the latest version.

I am really enjoying this painting. I believe it’s the first time I have ever been happy with the process and not pushing myself to an end.

Lately, as I mentioned in a previous post,  I have been in a very big slump. It happens from time to time, but this one has been particularly bad. One of the reasons is $$$$$. One solution to this is so obvious and simple it took me a couple of months to even think of it. I also didn’t think I would need to go this route, but you know, “this economy.”  So I bring it up in case someone else is not thinking of it too. I called all my student loan companies and got my loans pushed back until we move to cheaper housing in June.  I really didn’t think that they would just push my loans back. I called before and asked them to lower the payments, which they all did, but I thought that would be the extent of it. Not so.  That has relieved so much stress I feel giddy!

Now back to the painting. Normally I am beating myself up about how much/little painting I am doing more than anyone else. Then this week I realized that that’s not helping me.  That doesn’t put me in the mindset to paint. Those thoughts make me feel bad about myself and doubt my goals.  So instead, for the moment, I am just satisfying myself with sitting in my studio every day. I sit in my chair and look across the room at this painting. Some days that makes me want to paint, others I just enjoy looking at a painting that is going right. That makes me feel good.

I also mentioned a new medication in that older post. That medication made me freak out and it took another month before I could see the doctor again. However, this new, new medication does not seem to have any bad side-effects so far.  Another reason I am just content with enjoying this painting is because it is going right and so much else is in limbo and still needs more attention.  All this is really personal and I may decide to delete it all later, but it is part of my art experience and it does effect my creativity/motivation.

I have faith that I will know when to step up and push myself. For now I’m not going to feel guilty about not painting every day.  I think that will allow me to enjoy the times that I do paint and sooner, rather than later, I will be painting every day instead of pushing myself and beating myself up. It’s hard to learn to love painting again.  But we’re working through it. Clearly painting is willing to give me another chance, the image above is proof of that.

I have some great links for tomorrow!!

Selling Art Without Galleries

By: Daniel Grant

I am a bit torn with this book.

I found a lot of  great info in the pages, but not much had to do with selling w/o a gallery. The author mentions obvious venues such as art fairs and a few not so obvious ones, however, most of the examples from artists seem to be dealing with galleries. Or, even more frustrating,  Grant will give an example of what worked, but in a tone that is more, “This may work for you, but probably not.”  Although, I could just be reading into that.

If you saw all the tabs coming from the book you would assume it’s amazing. I have marked quite a few things from it. It was really dry reading though and it took me quite awhile to get through it. I had a couple of false starts.

This book does have a few amazing lists though. It lists different societies, different insurance groups, etc.

While it is not a very exciting read I think it is one for the book shelf if only for the very valuable archive of extensive lists. The chapter titled ” Help That Is Tailored To Artist’s Needs” is worth the price of the whole book, especially for a “new” artist.