My Golden words – Here's My hART Studio

As a small business owner who is working on building the business up I am always looking for good information. I have to wear all the hats as in production, inventory, bookkeeping, travel arraignments, sales. I have compiled a list of my “go to” areas that have been very helpful. I found the red dot blog one day on my search for new information and have his posts sent to my inbox. They are very informative and I also like that the artists are very good about replying to the topic with their pertinent information. One topic I found very helpful was Artistic Productivity, something I had not given much thought to. How much new art should one make to be successful. The link is here.

This website I found from Art Fair Insiders which will be written about down the list. I felt I needed to do a much better job in selling my art face to face with customers and went in search of help. I also have this sent to my inbox and invested in the guide that McKenna Hallett wrote. It was helpful and affirming, I still need practice and keep working at it. The link.

This is one of my earliest books I purchased. It is small, easy to read, very light but informative. I purchased the kindle version, here it is on Amazon.

I have a nice Pinterest site and keep hearing how you can bring business to your site through pinterest so I invested in information about that. I have not read it yet and will do a blog post after I do and make the changes that will be suggested. Here is is on amazon.

One of my goals for 2017 is to revamp my etsy shop behind the scenes as in what to make as my key words and descriptions. I have had a shop for two years and do not get many sales. I have found that I do not have the right words in the right areas. I have read some of it so far and she is very knowledgeable and readable. I just changed one listing and have had more traffic to it. I feel this information that the author is offering will make a big difference and once I get all the changes in place I will do a blog post on it also. Here it is on Amazon.

I purchased this book early last year when I decided to start doing art fairs. I believe it was when I was researching what kind of tents to buy. She has given much valuable information to me. From the tents to preparing for wind and rain, to the tools that one should have in their tool boxes. I cannot recommend this book enough, and I refer back to it often. Here it is on Amazon.

I also have this sent to my inbox, it just has a lot of information for all kinds of artists. The link is here.

This site is a wealth of information for me. They send new art fairs that are coming open to apply for. They also send information if the deadlines are approaching. An artist can just sign up for the area that they are interested in showing at, for example I have signed up for the Midwest and Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. If you have a show you are interested in you may be able to find a review of that show, so it can help you decide if you want to apply to it. I like to see if the show has put the emphasis on the artists or are there too many extra activities going on. If they treat the artists well and if it is well run. If there are many negative points about it then other than sales then I will not spend my time. Each artist makes different things so it is always a crap shoot whether your items will sell. It is just finding the right show for you. I recommend this site, here is the link.

Again, lots of good information. Here is the link.

This magazine comes out four times a year. It highlights different artists and their businesses they have created. It gives the background, their stories and tips. I get many bits from each edition and also learn of new artists. For example the artist on the cover is Katie Daisy and I related to her story immensely. I will be checking out her blog and social media links and start following her. I am going to renew my subscription and here is how you can get one too.

I recently bought this book because it addresses when an artist has a creative block. It is written by Julia Cameron who is an artist and has written over 40 books. I will do a book review after I have given this a read. Here is her website.

My second Austin Kleon book that had the right words to convince me to do what I wanted to do. It is light and informative with humor. Here it is on Amazon.

Kelly Rae Roberts wrote a book called Flying Lessons, tips + tricks to help your creative biz soar. I love this book and refer back to it often. It is an e book and can be found on her website. I have also signed up for her weekly painting video which is not rehearsed and she works in her studio and at times invites another artist also. It is like having a painting buddy. There is chatter and music and Lulubutterbutterbean her English Bulldog. It is very laid back and enjoyable. I have discovered tips from her and can play them over and over and download them into a file to keep. Here is her website.

Zapp is the site where many art fairs want you to apply to participate in their show. It is a good way to find shows that you may not know about. Easy to sort through also. They send me through my inbox of shows that are opening up to apply for. At this time of the year the list is quite extensive. I applied to a Michigan show recently and they used a site called entrythingy which was new to me. Some shows still use USPS and email it just depends on the coordinator but Zapp seems to be the most widely used that I found.

I take advantage of the videos put out by companies like liquitex and golden. I like to see how they recommend using their mediums and how they react with other substances.

Youtube is a huge help if you need an idea. Usually another artist has put something out there that will fill your needs.

It is wise to just keep educating yourself and learning new ways maybe even quicker to do things. One last item, recently I read the directions on my little casio handheld calculator, you know the ones we usually throw away because what it there to running a calculator? It easily explained how to set a sales tax to calculate and add automatically. It was just what I needed. Sheesh!

Don’t forget to read those directions, thanks for stopping!

I wanted to share with you what I have been reading recently. I became interested in Theodore Roosevelt from the PBS documentary “The Roosevelts” which I have mentioned in the past that I loved. Teddy Roosevelt did so many things and was such a high energy man. I found this author, Edmund Morris, who wrote this in depth biography which is very good. It is the first book of three featuring different phases of Teddy’s life. This one is The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and the other two are Theodore Rex and Colonel Roosevelt. I can tell he has done much research and when there was not much written about a certain topic then he will admit there is not much found about it. We are planning a trip to New York soon and my plans are visiting his home, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay on Long Island. We are staying only an hour from it.

I am a member of Art Fair Insiders, an informational site that lists through emails and a website are fairs to apply to. Also there are reviews of art shows and other helpful information. McKenna Hallett advertised about a book that she wrote about selling artwork and so I decided that It would be helpful to purchase it. It is thought provoking and made me look at the sales part of selling art. Her website is called My Golden Words.

I really enjoyed this book and it has given me much information about just the art fair experience. I really just zipped through it and could relate to many things she wrote about. It included helpful tips about tools I should have in my supplies. It spoke about putting up and taking down in adverse weather and also leaving your art and tent overnight for two or three day shows. It was one of the most helpful books I found on this topic. Art Festival Guide by Maria Arango Diener. It can be found on Amazon and I downloaded it to my Kindle. Her art business name is 1000 Woodcuts and the website is here.

We at our house have decided to watch a movie together every Sunday Evening. I am going to give a list of what we have watched so far and my view of it.

Dirty Grandpa-Not exactly what we expected. It had some comedy but was very crude. It was a bit shocking at times.
Saving Mr. Banks-This is the story about how Walt Disney came about making the movie Mary Poppins. The movie turned out totally different than what I had visioned in my mind. The author, Pamela L. Travers was quite a difficult woman. The story centers a lot about that. Many times you may feel like shaking her! The movie also brings out why she is such a difficult person to deal with. This is a long movie and dragged at times. I did like Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.
The Nut Job-an animated movie that we enjoyed very much. It had good squirrels and bad racoons. A squirrel that was all about himself and ones that were saving the village. It was super cute.
Pursuit of Happyness-An older movie that was made in 2006 starring Will Smith and his son. It has a great story and an uplifting outcome. We had forgotten how many rough times Will Smith’s character had to go through. It showed that tenacity is what a person needs to make it.
Mr. Peabody and Sherman-This is an animated movie also that is really a history lesson too. Mr. Peabody the dog is a brainiac and adopts a boy and names him Sherman. They had invented a time machine that takes them to historical places and they participate in history. Of course to make it interesting there were problems at the end, but it was fun and made us laugh. We also enjoyed this movie very much.

I also have been using my Amazon Prime which enables me to have many free movies.

Take Me Home-A man who lives in New York City who is a photographer. He cannot find work and eventually gets evicted from his apartment. He has an old cab that is his regular car but decides to make money by posing as an actual cab driver and he picks up a woman who just found her husband about to have an affair with a co-worker. She is an overbearing upset woman who tells the cabbie to just drive. They eventually make their way to California with many mishaps and money problems along the way, because her divorced parents live in that vicinity. It ends up her father passes away and the family is going to the funeral and she meets up with her husband. I am not going to tell the ending but it was a very cute movies. Nothing but entertainment and not too deep.
Where Hope Grows-This is about a washed up baseball player who has a drinking problem. He befriends a grocery worker in the produce department that has Downs Syndrome. Everybody calls him produce because his badge says that. The baseball player has a 16 year old daughter who has a boyfriend and may be getting in trouble with him because the baseball player isn’t watching her closely enough because of his own problems. The produce worker is just the most sweet and saver of the day. I enjoyed this movie very much.
A Walk in the Woods-Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. Robert Redford is an author who decided that he needed an adventure and wanted to walk the Appalacian Trail from Georgia to Maine. His wife thought him a bit off and told him that he couldn’t do it alone so after asking many friends he came across one from college whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, and he said yes. There were many funny parts, much beauty and I loved Emma Thompson hair cut. She is Robert Redfords wife. Nick Nolte is the college friend who is somewhat of a bumbler. It was enjoyable.
The National Parks-Americas best idea by Ken Burns-I am in the midst of watching this and on section two. Theodore Roosevelt had a large hand in setting aside lands for the National Parks and it is also the 100th anniversary of the National Parks System. I always liked Ken Burns the Civil War and Baseball. I also am enjoying this informative documentary. I am not sure how many segments but it does make me want to explore Yellowstone and Sequoia National Parks. That’s as far as I have gotten. If you like history I would recommend this.

That’s it and up to date. It would have taken me too long to put in pictures. Look up the trailers on You Tube and see if you might like to view these movies also. Have a good one, and thanks for stopping.

Here's My hART Studio – Artist Robin Hawkins

There is nothing more empowering than an idea whose time has come.

Tag: My Golden words

Never Stop Learning

Literature and Moving Pictures

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