Social Media...What the Heck!!!!

Hi everyone....this weekend I spent all my time reading up on how to pull viewers to my website. Goodness.....the amount of things you need to have in place or do.....heavy sigh....but I have to do it all if I want to get my art out there as well as make a living off of it.

I don't want my art to be a hobby. I want my art to be my second business so it has to make money. First off I went on youtube. I have to say you can learn about almost anything on youtube. It is absolutely amazing. I know now that I need to be blogging...which I am : ) I need to be in all the social medias...which I am. I need to be updating my site every week...this I'm not consistent with yet. I also need to up my SEO via my key words on my blog posts and any articles I post on facebook. 

I didn't know you can pay people online to write your articles and blogs 🤤 hnmmmm. They specialise in placing tbese key words within the blog or article so its picked up by the search engine. And you can pay to get keywords that help people find you when they are searching for  similar items/services and you can also pay to get top key words so that your site pops up first in the listing when they search.

Oh so much to learn and sooooo much to put in place. I'm still trying to understand it all so I can go implement. Some of what I learned I've started but most I still need to do. If you need some of that knowledge go to youtube and type...." how to get people to my site".... loads of videos come up and as I said they are quite enlightening.

One of the books I'm reading Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins says some interesting things' like:

"—doing something so small and gradual that it almost looks like you’re doing nothing—often leads to much more sustainable success. You can do extraordinary things when you are patiently persistent."

"In the end, the more cautious entrepreneurs ended up being the more successful ones, whereas the risk takers who quit their jobs early were 33 percent more likely to fail."

 “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” Picasso

"We create by copying, and as we do, the skill becomes embedded into our memory."

 "When we steal like this, we end up creating a style that is all our own."

 "You are not an artist because you steal. You steal because you are an artist."

These stood out to me because for my 10x10 acrylic pieces I sell at markets most of the ideas come from different sites and pics that I see and I would change them up a bit. My large abstracts and my 9x12 abstracts started off with me trying to follow Michael Lang's style but instead I developed my own style and look. My watercolours are totally influenced by things I see and have a deep urge to paint based totally on my personal watercolour style.

Initially I felt that seeing a piece and expanding on it was not a good thing but I've since learned that its when you copy others work and pass it off as yours....that is a problem but if you change it around or even improve on it then that is different. Artists learn and get inspired by each other and especially so from the masters. This book revealed what allot of the other books I've read. 

 "In other words, we create not in isolation but with the influence of others around us."

 "....I call this the Rule of Re-creation, which says that you are not born an artist. You become one."

So to end. You become what you believe you are. You don't have to be born into it. Therefore.......... I am an artist.

Later guys. Send your friends to my website and check out my store on www.zazzle.com/ gafra_designs. Purchase items with my artwork. Even get sets in your favourite design. Check how my abstract looks on this leggings.

orange & green

Technology and Art, Is it For Us or....?

Technology and Art, is it for Us or not?

Hi everyone...what a topic!!! I brought this up because...OMG!!! Technology is the baum...I pity the people who avoid it, are afraid of it or don't believe in it. How can they not? I can understand their slant, in that it does take away the power of personal interactions with all these gadgets, but it is also so powerful and fun.

I say this because I have been trying to use social media to get my artwork out there and be seen. I tried the marketplace sites like Etsy, Shopify, Ebay, Big Cartel etc. etc. but nothing happened. I wondererd if I was doing something wrong so I've been doing a lot of reading and research on the topic. I recently read a few books that were quite good. Check the list at the end.

The end result is that I've hired my younger daughter to manage my social media...instagram and facebook. I deal with twitter and tumblr myself for now. I also recently, like this weekend, registered on zazzle, redbubble and society6. I'm looking to see how these work out and if any sales are made. But my topic today was all about how much fun I had placing my artwork on different items.

I was so into it I spent most of my Sunday (while my husband went golf) to play around with my artwork on different products. SO MUCH FUN!!!! 

It did however force me to go back to the quality of my photos where the pixel quality was too low. I discovered how to increase the quality and thats what I mean. When you are a person who likes technology and is open to playing and experimenting and taking a chance even when you're not sure what you're doing. You figure it out or get help or go on youtube.....lol.....But I prevailed and found a way. It made me also realise that the products we use, with patterns or artwork must have come from somewhere.

So Art is my business not just a hobby. Its not just about creating art but also about making a living. I don't want or plan to be a struggling Artist because there are too many avenues available to help us live off of our art. I don't plan to limit myself to Trinidad alone. I want to be international.

This world is no longer restricted to where you live. We now, through technology live all over the world. So I believe technology is for us and if you use it properly and ethucally you can gain tremendously and have fun while using it.

Thanks guys. Thats all for now, Check you again soon and have a blessed week. My recent abstract:

Acrylic Abstract - Aqua Waves

See how this abstract looks on leggings. The Aqua Waves leggings

https://www.zazzle.com/gafra_designs

 BOOKLIST

1. How to make money online by Samuel Nygard

2. Selling Art Online by Dave Conrey

3. Art Money & Success by Maria Brophy

4. Turn Your Photographs/ Art into Income by Stephanie Laird.