In case you are wondering about the mural in progress at St. Anthony’s, I have set it aside (figuratively speaking) until I have finished the custom art jobs. The mural doesn’t have a deadline; the other jobs do.
In case you are wondering why I am not showing you more custom jobs, it is because they are gifts for people, and I can keep secrets.
More will be revealed in the fullness of time. Tomorrow I’ll begin showing you a few of the commissions that the recipients won’t see on my blog because they don’t read it or even know about me.
During the last year of belonging to BNI – Business Networking International – I learned and experienced many new things. This is not necessarily because of BNI, but some of them may be a result.
Still working on commissioned pieces that I cannot post so there will be about one more of these chit-chatty summary posts before I am able to show you any new work.
I am working on some pieces that the customer has requested that I keep private, so I will spend the next few blog posts just chit-chatting at you.
A year ago I attended my first meeting of BNI – Business Networking International – at the urging of my cousin who said it helped his business tremendously. I parked far away in case people would judge me by my car, and expected to find stuffy people in fancy business clothing. Instead, I found a room full of authentically friendly go-getter business people, most of whom were measurably younger than me (and all drove better cars, but whatever, Fernando has been paid for for many years).
During that year I did the following because of BNI
Gave about 45 1-minute presentations
Gave 3 “Feature Presentations” using powerpoint
Gave 9 “Referrals”, only 1 of which turned into a “Thank You For Closed Business”
Received a bit of business, called “Referrals” in BNI Speak, from 2 of the members, not anywhere near enough to pay for my membership but appreciated all the same
Had 22 “One-To-Ones”, no where near BNI standards, but impressive for this introvert who fiercely guards her work time and solitude
Met over 30 interesting, varied, focused determined business people from different professions, many of whom I now consider friends
Invited about a dozen people, 5 who actually attended, but none who wanted to join because using Zoom isn’t personal or real enough
Learned to use Zoom
Refined my one sentence business description (“elevator pitch”) several times until it became this:
I make art that people can understand of places and things they love for prices that don’t scare them.
I view this whole venture as a marketing effort, and marketing has very slow returns. This particular way of marketing was time consuming and expensive, but the results are far superior to FaceBook or those other virtual methods because I made real friends.
Trail Guy helps me with my art business in lots of little ways, and a few bigger ones too. He likes power tools, and by using one he was able to secure a wire to the back of the shutter so it can hang on a wall.
Will it hang on your wall?
For $250 plus shipping (oh my, it is heavy compared to my normal paintings) plus tax (welcome to California unless you live in another state, in which case I would advise you to count your blessings) this one of kind painting can be yours.
And remember, EVERYTHING looks better in person (except those aforementioned news babes – see the post titled “Farewell at Dusk” if you are wondering when they were mentioned “afore”).
Are you a note writer? Do you send thank you notes, or thinking of you notes? Getting real mail is fun. Email is good too, but there is something special about ink on paper in an envelope with handwriting on it, arriving at your home (or in your P.O. box).
I saw an advertisement in a magazine about 20 years ago when email was new, and it was for fancy stationery. The line on the page said, “No one has ever cherished an email”.
About my cards
You probably know about them already, so consider this a reminder. They come 4 to a package with envelopes, and each package has all the same design, $8/package including postage and shipping.
The newest one
Yokohl Oak
Standards (but not old enough to be called “Classic”)
Who in your life would like to receive a note in the mail? Your Grandma? Your grandchild who may never have received real mail before? The mechanic who keeps your car running so you can drive worry-free? The grocery store checker who is always cheerful, even when she has to wear a mask every day? The barber who lets you come in the back door of his shop so you don’t have to wear your hair in a ponytail?
P.S. You don’t have to use the website and Paypal to buy cards because you can send me a check IN THE MAIL and I will send you your cards IN THE MAIL.
P.P.S. (This means PS#2) There are more designs than the ones I’ve shown here, including cards in color, different sizes, and even an assortment package (Mineral King, larger cards, $15).
I agree with this sheep about today’s blog commenting behavior.
Thank you for reading and commenting today. If you tried to comment and got an error message, just know it isn’t you. It is the blog’s fault. Remember the recent post “Wonky & Weird”? That’s what I’m talking about!
If you tried to comment and nothing happened or you got an error message, maybe your comment will eventually appear in one of my “back office” files of Pending, Spam, or Trash. When I see it, I will approve it (unless it is redundant because another one of your comments finally made it through.)
My elephant and I aren’t that happy with the blog’s performance, but we realize it is temporary.
This is my elephant. It has nothing to do with anything today (or yesterday’s post either).
When I began blogging 12 years ago, I had no idea what it was about but boy oh boy, it was fun.
Maybe blogging was new then, or maybe I was behind the times (a common occurrence in my life). I began looking for other blogs to read, and hoped that one day mine would have as many followers and commenters as The Yarn Harlot, The Pioneer Woman, lively discussions like Stuff Christians Like or maybe a community of regular commenters like the Entreleadership blog when Chris LoCurto was the writer plus the host of the Entreleadership podcast.
Instead, I have a small (microscopic in the blogging world) readership. Whenever it seemed to be growing, something broke and then I lost my subscribers.
My subscribers don’t seem to understand that they can go to my website and click on the Blog button to find the blog if the subscription stops working.
Many of my real life friends don’t read my blog; many of my customers don’t know I have one, if they even know what a blog is.
When I read blogs and articles about blogging, marketing, and promotion, I feel like a loser.
When I learn that people I know are reading my blog and realize that I know or have met most of my readers, I feel quite happy. This isn’t some impersonal marketing gig; this is the real me, connecting with the real yous. (Don’t you think we need a plural for “you”? “Y’all” feels phoney, because I am not Southern, and “all y’all” sounds particularly phoney, but it does work.)
Here are a few more thoughts about comments:
Sometimes my readers comment which I REALLY appreciate; otherwise I wonder if I am just making noise and no one cares.
Sometimes my readers email me and then we have a private conversation.
Many of my readers have no idea how to comment.
The comments have to be approved by me before they appear, so sometimes people write a comment twice because they think it didn’t work.
And here are some thoughts about blogging:
My blog has built real life friendships (Hi, Dan!), strengthened other friendships (Hi, Sharon!), made long-distance friendships (Hi, Jennifer and Cheryl!), and provided a way for family to stay current (Hi, Laurie!).
Blogging has helped strengthen my writing skills.
Blogging allows me to publicize things, which is useful as a Facebook avoider.
It keeps me accountable, working steadily, staying focused; all are a little harder when working alone.
My guess is the front orange kitten is Pippin; the gray is probably Georgia (R.I.P.), because Jackson’s face is narrower.
You may have noticed that my blog is looking a little different, a bit wonky and weird. The headline looked broken for awhile, and I am no longer able to put in the tagline of “In which the Central California artists [bloviates endlessly about her art and life]”.
The Thing, the big ShutDown, showed me that my website is inadequate. When drawing lessons were forbidden and my commissioned work was completed, I learned about web design. (Actual design, not coding – no need to be impressed here.) I spent a great deal of time figuring it out on paper, typing it on the computer, and sending it off to my web designer.
Last week he started working on it. So far, the results are wonky and weird. This is due to the nature of the work, not to any ineptness on the part of my web designer.
Eventually, the site will focus on custom work, AKA “commissions”, which is Artspeak for a piece of work done to the customer’s specifications and tastes and desires.
The blog will remain the blog; it might look wonky and weird for awhile, and then either we will adjust to the new look or it will return to normal in appearance.
Meanwhile, thanks for hanging out with me and my elephant.
This is my elephant. It has nothing to do with anything today.
A commissioned oil painting in which the customer gave me much free rein along with many requests, all good suggestions.
“Just curious–do you get annoyed, or do you appreciate it when someone makes a change/suggestion to an already completed painting?”
A friend and my most regular commenter asked me the question above.
Here is my reply:
“I am happy to do whatever the customer requests, as long as I have the ability and it doesn’t mess with the scene’s believability.”
She responded:
“That’s very kind (and flexible) of you. I can only speak for the audio arts, but I have seen situations where we took an arrangement and made a few cuts and lyric changes, and the arranger became incensed that we DARE change his precious arrangement. I like your policy better!”
And I replied:
“I am very practical about the need for flexibility if I want to stay in business. I am here to serve the customer, not to serve my own art. If I was a hobbyist instead of a professional, I would probably have a different view. And I do put my foot down when it comes to logo design, because Design-By-Committee is how we got a camel when we needed a horse.”
A pencil commission from customer-supplied photos, with some free rein and lots of suggestions and requests, all good and manageable.
Here’s my guess about the difference between my approach and what my friend/commenter experienced: I, the original artist, get to make the changes; my friend’s experience was that her music department was making changes on someone else’s piece.
I recently heard an interview with an artist who said she likes commissions because she can charge more for them. Really? Should I be doing that?
Better commission me soon before I decide to raise my prices.
