Faces of the City LX

Faces of the City LX 20x24 oil on canvas 2009
Available on Etsy

Cornered

"Cornered" 4x5' oil on canvas

Another new piece for my upcoming exhibition :)

New work on Etsy

Faces of the City LIX

In The Bay

Holding On

Story Of The Tree Act XVI

4 new pieces listed in my Etsy storefront today with more to come. Also finished a fantastic 4x5 foot piece over the weekend in my kitchen (my husband loves when I create "mine fields" of paint in the kitchen, keeps him on his toes *wink*) and I hope to get pics of that up soon as well. As with the other larger pieces, it is going to be reserved for my upcoming show at Taylor & Mackenzie in NYC.

Black Friday madness

Having an impromtu Black Friday sale (after much deliberation) on my original paintings that's only available to my Facebook fans at my fan page. It's a big one. Just cause I feel like rolling like that. It might be the turkey. It might be the vodka. Either way, it's good for those who want one of my paintings at a slammin' price. Cheers.

Become a fan here

Shop your pants off here

A peek at all 3 5x6' paintings together

Not the best pic but you get the idea. I love working big. I want to go bigger.... Haha, I should take a pic of me standing next to all of them. That really gives you the full idea of how big these babies are. I have to stand on a chair to paint the tops. Looking forward to seeing them all on a wall :)

The Flame

5x6' oil on canvas, 11/2009

Progress pics below....

The Flame - 5x6 foot progress shots from start to finish

The death of a friend....

2007-2009 RIP

75 MPH

The skeletal structure of a new series. These photos were taken on my latest trip down to Brooklyn. I have a lot of time to think about things on the 3 hour trip down and back... I grabbed my camera to see what kind of abstract shots I could get to use as reference pics for new paintings. Several hours, 60 images, and 150 miles or so later, I had a collection of photographs chronicling our weekly journey. Some of the pics I think are art in and of themselves....

New work

A Crisp Breaze

Approaching

This weekends paintings

Story of the Tree Act XIII

Story of the Tree Act XV

Story of the Tree Act XIV

Blurred Vision VI

All listed on Etsy as of this evening. Click on each image to visit the listing. Hope you all had a relaxing (or productive!) weekend!

Why I paint nudes

In conjunction with EBSQart.com's month long gallery feature on the subject of the artistic nude, they've asked several artists whose work focuses heavily on the nude to write a little bit for their blog on why we paint it. My feature is today in the blog but I thought I would repost it here too. Please visit the EBSQ Blog for more features!

...

My work has predominantly encompassed the subject matter of the nude ever since 2003 when I was pregnant with my son. Pregnancy felt to me like an invasion and a loss of identity. This mass growing inside of me, pushing my stomach outward, the object of strangers pawing and prying…a loss of self. I’m aware of how that sounds, and don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade being a mother for the world, but the pregnancy part really put me in a strange place. Like, I hadn’t fully gotten to know myself and now, I must get to know this little being even before I have laid eyes on him…Even surmising “how he’s doing” to satiate strangers and their relentless questions at grocery checkout lines seemed so peculiar to me, since I knew he was fine, while I on the other hand carried quite a burden. I didn’t have much of an outlet for this. Wasn’t even sure *how* to go about addressing it, since, even the mere mention that a pregnant mother might not be enjoying every single moment of such a “joyous” time instantly paints horns on ones head and places a pitchfork in one’s hand and the demon that is the uncomfortable, not quite so “glowing” matron gets holes burned through her maternity garb by the same strangers asking to “touch” her bulging belly….

So, I painted. My first real attempt was aptly titled “In Utero”, a woman suspended in painterly viscosity mimicking the bottom of an unclean pool…it grew from there. With each painting I get to know myself a little bit more. It’s me. Bare. Exposed. Much like I felt standing in line at countless check outs. Sitting in class barely able to fit between the seat and the desk. Standing in front of the world silently screaming that I had a voice too.

In short, each nude is a therapist. And I’m cool with that.

Preparing for the Holidays - Segment 2 - Marketing

Here's a super important area we need to address - Market your work - but don't spam! There is a fine line between keeping past and potential customers updated and throwing a big ole' can of spam at their heads 24/7. Be smart with your marketing.

•DO create a newsletter and ask your customers if you can add them to your mailing list.

•DON'T add every email address you have to your mailing list - you must obtain permission first!

•DO send newsletters out periodically with the latest news as well as incentives - offering an exclusive sale through your newsletter will tell you how effective your newsletter is and will keep subscribers looking forward to seeing an email from you in their inbox!

•DON'T send daily newsletters with buckets of links begging your customers to check out your site. Desperation is not your friend and you'll lose subscribers. Try and send out a newsletter no more than once or twice a month.

•DO at the very least try social networking before you write it off. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, they all have quite a bit of power in driving your brand as well as keeping your name out there (exposure is important!) They might not all work for you, but mastering one is a good idea.

•DON'T twitter links to your items every 3 minutes. Short of being a porn bot there's no faster way to getting unfollowed. Temper your business tweats with other content and interact with other individuals in the twitterverse. It's called social networking for a reason. Socialize!

•DO offer strategic sales from time to time. Because people are going to be seeking out deals on days such as Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and Cyber Monday, you might want to offer your own sale - a percentage off, BOGO (buy one, get one), that sort of thing. Sales for smaller businesses though on days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are hit or miss. Last year I only got one sale on Black Friday and zero on Cyber Monday. This year I will be trying out having a sale either right before Thanksgiving or right after Cyber Monday. Timing is everything! Remember - you're in essence "competing" with the big box stores. Sometimes it's best to tackle it in a more tactical manner. We as small businesses don't have the advantage of massive marketing budgets, PR firms, ad spots on TV, radio, and in print...we have to work with what we've got.

•DON'T have a sale every single week leading up to Christmas. You'll find after a while people only purchase on the days they know you'll have a sale. Sales are supposed to be special.

•DO carry around business cards and have them ready any time the topic of what it is you do comes up.

•DON'T scatter your business cards all over the place like some new age Johnny Applesead. It's tacky and really, it's littering :P

•DO leave your business card in targeted areas (depending on what you sell and who your target audience is.) Not on the floor. Not on a desk. Pinned to a public board maybe?

•DO purchase your domain name, even if you aren't going to create a website just yet. You can at the very least redirect your domain name to your blog or online shop until you feel you are ready to get a website set up. A domain name helps with brand recognition and legitimizes your endeavor to your patrons. An actual website takes that legitimacy one step further and creates trust.

•DO secure your username on as many sites as you can. It's all about branding. Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogger...and then all of the online venues - Ebay, Etsy, Artfire, 1000 Markets, Zibbet, DaWanda, Shop Handmade - You might not ever sell at any of these places or utilize the websites passed laying down your profile, but you don't want another business taking your name. Here's a nifty little guide of a bunch of popular sites and their classifications I found - http://blogs.oracle.com/jobsatoracle/images/SocialNetworking.jpg

•DO create business profiles on sites like LinkedIN and Ning. The more your username is out there and linking back to your website / domain address, the more traffic you will get streaming in. It's not guaranteed, but with millions and millions of websites on the internet, you have to do what you can to be recognized!

•DON'T then go into those sites and spam the hell out of the public spaces. It just pisses people off. You definitely don't want to piss off potential customers!

That's all for now. Watch for the next installment focusing on commissions and holiday deadlines! Till next time, kittens.

Peek into Taylor & Mackenzie Gallery space, NYC

In a few months time, my work will grace those fabulous walls. Seriously stoked. The space showcases rustic and aged architectural details peeking out behind a modernized facade...think, shiny steel meets peeling paint. There's something truly marvelous about the pairing. Can't wait to see my work hanging in there.