tina steele lindsey

Checking In

Has it truly been a month since my last post? I've been preoccupied in a search for new studio space, my nose daily in listings and driving to and fro and yet have not located what I am looking for. My requirements are very specific which limits my options but I am hopeful if I remain diligent the right space will present itself. You may find a couple of pages at the top of the blog that are new, I need to get on those soon, much has to do with this hunt I've been on, so bear with me if you will.
Summer is fast approaching, I hope you are finding warmer temps agreeable, no problem in that for me.
(drawing - graphite session - edited for blogger - TSL)

graphite - TSL

Some Statistics on Online Art Sales

Fine artists and their patrons have been arranging direct sales and commissions via the Internet successfully for years. Now traditional art galleries are reaping the benefits regarding online sales as consumer confidence in the purchase of works of art online skyrockets. In some instances it may no longer be the patron walking through the gallery doors that keeps them open, but rather hugely supportive online sales.
Art Galleries, Art Sales and the Internet: A Survey, contains interesting statistics regarding a survey of seventeen fine art galleries in California on the percentage of their online sales. Below is a portion of the article from ArtBusiness.com to whet your whistle, and if this is a reflection of what is going on globally it is quite impressive:

"While older more established galleries said online sales generally accounted for 10-35% of total business, younger galleries consistently reported making 60-85% of their sales almost exclusively online. One gallery owner said that sales made either largely or entirely online account for over 90% of their total business, and estimates that they've never personally met 65-75% of their collectors. Two galleries reported that pretty much 100% of their sales have some online component, either major or minor (both of these galleries are somewhere in between younger and older more established). A number of galleries mentioned that they have multiple collectors who buy regularly from them online, but who they have never met in person. One gallery stated that one of their biggest collectors buys totally online and that if the collector walked into the gallery, no one there would have any idea who they were."

For me nothing is more exciting than art galleries and artist studios for viewing works of art, but regardless if one purchases through a gallery, through artists via their studios or online, or via a broker or art collective, fine art continues to be cleverly sought out and highly collectible!

My best as always!

Thank you ArtBusiness.com for your informative piece.

Natalie didn't like the movie, either.

Natalie - graphite on paper - TSL

My sweet husband and I stay so very busy that when we get a day to chill that is precisely what we do. We go nowhere. Yesterday, after a relaxing day and fabulous dinner cooked by Chef D. (husband) we retired to the sofa to watch a movie he chose, a cowboy movie which turned out to consist of innocent families terrorized and eventually murdered; this went on the duration of the movie, horrible. Because we have so little time together I wanted to stay in the same room but not watch the movie, so I grabbed my computer and a drawing pad and opted to draw Natalie Portman from a compilation of photos I found on the internet. Though I tried not to watch the movie, I heard the movie, and the emotional roller coaster of its theme came through in my drawing. This drawing is a perfect example why I prefer beautiful music and no distractions while painting, beauty begets beauty, angst begets angst. Our emotions will come through in our work, as artists and as individuals as well. Clearly, Natalie can attest to that.
I have been considering that what separates us in life and in the arts is our individual strengths and flaws which enable each person to bring something UNIQUE to the table. If we were all perfectly rendered we'd be robots. Keeping the life in your art is imperative, after all that is what separates the great works of art, not how perfectly rendered a piece is, but how well it exudes the soul of its creator.

Was that a ...tornado?

I was painting on the below little oil still life yesterday afternoon, which is still unfinished, and it was raining fairly hard. It was the kind of rain that gets the dog all upset, clearly the bad line of storms were knew were headed our way were upon us. Suddenly the power went out and my husband and I heard the sound of an approaching freight train; we knew what that sound meant - take cover! After things quieted down we went outside to assess the damage. Tree limbs were down, debris scattered about, heavy iron outdoor furniture strewn here and there, some strange items found their way into the trees, but we were so fortunate! The folks on the street behind us had trees upon their homes! Below is an image of the neighbor's trampoline up the trees between our houses. Oh to have to explain to a little girl why her Christmas trampoline is now up in a tree. Electricity to our area was out into the wee early morning hours - thank goodness for dedicated electric company workers, and also for down comforters!

work in progress

Anyway, for painters reading this blog I will get back to painting on the little still life; there are some drawing issues and perspective issues I need to correct, hopefully a few more passes on it and I will be through. It is a little piece which would have more meaning to me than anyone else, it is the jar I keep walnut oil in for painting. Take care, keep warm and dry, spring is nearly here.

Palette

I was just about to order some oil paint and was delighted when I discovered a box of unused tubes. Eureka! So as I have a little time to spare I'll post on my palette.

I generally order Grumbacher, Gamblin or M Graham; Winsor Newton is always in stock at the closest art supply store if I am in need of something quickly. My palette is Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Cad Orange, Cad Red, Cad Yellow Pale, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine, Burnt and Raw Sienna, Viridian Green, Burnet and Raw Umber. I adore Cobalt and Cerulean in impressionistic pieces. I would love to scale down to using five or six colors and mixing from there - I haven't tackled it though it seems exciting just thinking about it. If you are starting out purchase some of the less expensive grade paints and once bitten by the painting bug invest in higher quality paints and you will see the difference. Find what brand suits YOU and your style of painting.

The winds are howling outside this morning, I've quite a full day, so I will take a pause now and bid you a happy and productive day.

Have a Little Faith in Your Work

I encourage everyone who puts their work "out there" in the world to not be discouraged. Truly understand that just because one individual turns down your book, your play, your research, your song, your design, your performance, etc. doesn't mean it isn't good; if something isn't right for someone it probably isn't, but it may be perfectly good for someone else.

The above painting, Sorbet, is the only painting that didn't make it through a review in a gallery selling my work. I took it to another gallery and it sold straight away and has since been one of the most written about abstractions of mine on the web. Just remember, everything is subjective to the moment, keep doing what you love, and godspeed.

Compilation photo credits to Anita - Girl with a Serious Dream, and Elise Bergman

Russian Art Love

This image is from a file from the Wikimedia Commons.

Nikolay Nikanorovich Dubovskoy - December 1859 - February 1918.

Be still my heart - how I love the Russian masters.

Inspiring, yes?

Makes me want to schedule a traditional landscape piece. I think I will put it on my agenda.

Have a beautiful day.

New Bot Technology Resulting in Lawsuits for Bloggers

Many blogs have grown popular by leaps and bounds which consist mainly of, or solely of, hundreds of beautiful images uploaded via image URL, without permission by the image copyright holder. As innocent an act this is there may be a piper to pay one day for doing so, and it won't be cheap!

There is new web bot technology which is very hot right now, and companies are using it for their clients who wish the bots to crawl the web and seek out their images on websites, blogs, and social websites that are posted without their permission. I suppose we have become too comfortable posting any image with merely a image source or include disclaimer pages, but this will not protect us from lawsuits, take this from Roni Loren (see below.)

Included below are two very good links with information on this subject, and I URGE you to read them both. The second is a first-hand account of what happened to writer, Roni Loren.

Blogger Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Photos You Don't Own on Your Blog - by Roni Loren blogher.com

Checking your blog stats to see where your blog traffic is coming from?

Be careful clicking on some of those links! Bradly Sylvester (link below) writes this about Adsense Watchdog, Zombiestat, Vampirestat, Villainstat and Uglystat Blog Traffic:

"Neither Adsensewatchdog, nor any of these others have anything whatsoever to do with Google or Google AdSense and are essentially spam sites that use automated traffic to blogs to attract clicks to their own sites from blog owners such as you. Once you're at their site, at a minimum, you'll be fed ads. At worst, you might fall victim to malevolent code that seeks to infect your computer with who knows what ..." Bradley Sylvester

Check out Bradley Sylvester's post on this, click HERE, it may save you some headaches later.