Susan, what a great note about the Facebook thing! It’s been on my to-do list for ages, but haven’t gotten to it. Actually, this topic begs for its own blog post for further discussion - think I’ll do that right now.

I guess I haven’t bought into the Daily Painting idea either. I like a bit of planning when I’m approaching any painting, and if I were to try to do a painting a day (or 2-3 small things a week) I’d only be prepping and painting, not getting any business done. Doesn’t make me excited.

Daily painting seems to be working well for several people I know. There are two approaches that I’ve noted in that arena. One is to do a small painting every day, in addition to regular work. The other is to keep several paintings going at once and simply put one up for sale each day. With the former, the general trend seems to be something like 5×7 or 6×6, etc. at $100 or less. Not bad if you can sell a few each week. I have noticed that some artists tend to find a particular subject that moves and stay with it. Probably a good idea for that kind of venue. The latter allows more freedom, I think, because you can work on several pieces as you like. To approach it this way, you’d probably want to have several finished pieces at the beginning, to give yourself a cushion. One advantage to both of these is that you dont have to frame the work.

There are some really good artists making a living this way. I’ve purchased work from a couple myself.

On the contrary side, an artist friend argues that this tack can hurt the value of one’s work in the long run. His theory is that, by offering “production work” through an outlet like eBay or Etsy, the incentive to purchase through galleries is reduced. Over the long haul, as more artists move that direction, the number of galleries might shrink, or disappear altogether in some areas. Also, the motivation for personal development might diminish as demand for a particular subject matter grows.

My personal viewpoint is that each artist must make career decisions based on personal goals and circumstances. For example, I’m sitting here with a dozen or so paintings lying around my studio and no place to show them. I dont want to get into the art market scene and I’m really awful about updating anything on the internet. (It’s a discipline thing.) So my best bet is probably to find a gallery somewhere that can get excited about my work and start moving it. Before I can do that, though, I’d like to have a dozen or so more. I’m thinking about Spring or early Summer. We’ll see.

I do like Ed Terpening’s work. He’s formed a plein air group on Facebook. You might check it out. I cant remember the name of it right now.

Now, I CAN lie on the couch with a book, probably way too easily, and tend to do that on weekday evening along with web surfing. Currently reading-a biography of Eric Clapton. I love reading about great creative people in other areas besides painting.

I also do a mental re-group and brainstorm what I’m going to do next year career-wise. Had lunch today with another artist friend who mostly does plein air. Like a lot of artists we are both at the “what to do, what to do” point as far as getting sales in the next 1-3 years.

I have a plan, but have realized that I really must focus in on getting my work in front of buyers, especially with the Mongolia subject niche. So, I’ve joined Facebook, which seems to have been a really good idea. In a week, I’ve picked up one Mongolian and the author of the Lonely Planet Mongolia guide, plus some art school classmates and other professional artists. I feel like I’m following a bread crumb trail sometimes.

The other thing she and I spoke about was this Daily Painter phenomena. I’ve been resistant because it felt too much like going back to illustration. But, after her telling me how well some artists are doing selling small works directly, I’m wondering. What do y’all think? I mean, I want to be a painter, so maybe that’s a good way to Just Paint.
I’m not thinking of doing the literal painting a day, but integrating the production of smaller, simpler pieces into my work flow and then marketing them on EBay or ?.

By the by, for marketing, check out Ed Terpening’s site. I’m interested in what your reactions are to what he is doing as far as selling his art, which is great, by the way. It certainly shifts the “do I or don’t I put the prices of my paintings on my site” choice to a different place.

Don, I often do the same thing: an end-of-the-year studio-cleaning cycle…organizing, throwing stuff away, cleaning out files. Very cathartic, and it does make me happier to be in my studio. I work on my overall deadline/planning calendar for the upcoming year.

BTW, I do agree with “a change is as good as a rest”, perhaps more so. Changing my creative focus for a while seems to keep me more stimulated than simply lying on the couch with a book (which I have enormous difficulty permitting myself to do).

And Rosemary, I think your advice about loonnngg walks is most excellent - being outdoors, even when it’s cold and gray and snowy (and often very pretty) is a super antidote for winter blahs of any kind. Clears the head, makes the bright warm studio more welcoming, keeps the dogs very happy.

Go with the flow — I use this time to catch up on administration stuff, clean my studio like Don, and plan for the coming year.

Also, I’ve redone my studio in hopes that it will be more attractive and inspiring. I’ve added some out of the way storage, moved my work space, picked up some good speakers and changed the lighting. They say a change can be as good as a vacation. I dont know if that’s true, but I do spend more time in the studio now. Beth might argue about whether I’m getting any more work done, though.