I feel like I'm in a constant state of trying to keep up with the technology that is suppose to be helping me be an efficient business woman, artist and human being. Social media likes to keep changing everything around right when I am beginning to feel comfortable and understand what it is I'm suppose to be doing in the first place. Definitely a few learning curves to navigate.
I am coming to terms with the fact that if I want to do anything online, I need to be prepared to spend more than a few minutes trying to accomplish what should be a simple task. It usually ends up with being a sizeable chunk out of my day.
There are the google gods that must be placated if you have any hopes of being found on the internet. I can't leave out the social media god either. It's a never-ending circle of having to post and promote and then do it all again.
Then come all of the sites that have tens of thousands of artists all vying to be noticed and hoping to make actual sales after spending hours setting up their online shops. Once it all gets set-up there is the social media promotion part of the deal if you dare to wish anyone to find your shop.
You can join groups of artists that are also in the same selling platform to work together for promotion and you can even find a so-called expert that will gladly help you spend money that you are not making as an artist. I know that I have tried a lot of these things and all the while all I wanted to do was to be creating art.
That short rant was brought to you by... I won't name names. I wanted to make a point that most artists don't like all of the hoops we jump through in hopes of trying to find our audience and especially during these very strange times we hope to live through.
I currently have an exhibit of 29 pieces that I created during 2020 and 2021 at a gallery that will come to a close in a week. I had the pleasure and honor of actually being able to have 2 artist receptions and met so many wonderful people that took their time and really looked into each and every piece I had hanging on the walls. They asked questions about my process and tried to figure out what the story was for each one. It was exciting to watch as they made their own discoveries from the art.
There were conversations, connections and sales and I'm still floating from it all. I am hoping that there will be lots more of that type of interaction in the near future.
Now, I will begin to figure out the promotion part of creating this blog in hopes that someone will actually see it. If you have the chance to get out and look at art, you should go and enjoy the experience of seeing the actual art and being away from a computer screen. If you see some art you really appreciate online, please share with others so maybe that artist and viewer can find one another.
Image above: "Scene in the Alley" prints available on request
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