Lisa Call

Tonight I’ll be giving a teleseminar titled How To Promote Yourself and Your Artwork via Social Media. The seminar is free for members of Professional Fine Art Network (pFAn). Details of the teleseminar are here.

My good friend, Joanie San Chirico (who will be the featured artist in my upcoming May studio newsletter) founded pFAn and has a passion for helping artists.

Professional Fine Art Network’s mission:

Professional Fine Art network (pFAn) helps build relationships between freelance fine artists, consultants, fabricators and art administrators.

Our members select, design, create or install site-specific artwork for the hospitality, health care, corporate and public art sectors.

She donates countless hours of her time to the organization and I highly recommend the group. Plus if you join you can listen to my teleseminar tonight.

Home #3
Textile Painting
©2008 Lisa Call
8" x 10.5"
Purchase

Crafthaus

This week I’m one of the featured artists on crafthaus.

I’ve been a member of this ning group since it’s early inception and have always been impressed by the quality of the community.

With a zillion social networking groups out there this is one of the few I choose to belong to and participate in (although maybe not as active as I’d like to be).

Check them out if you are looking for more ways to spend time online! (har)

Short Updates

For those that have noticed my absence here on my blog and wondering what’s up, you can friend me on facebook and see I update my status at least daily. So I am about and thinking about things.

If you’d like only short art updates (and not off topic ramblings about making salsa and other such things which appear on my regular facebook page) – you can instead become a fan to my art facebook page instead. When I can’t think of an entire blogs worth of something to say I post short updates on my fan page.

Art and Fabric for Sale

When I left for Africa in late August I turned off my art for sale pages on my website. I’m just now getting around to turning them back on. Hm – I think I forgot about them.

Collectible Art for Sale
Hand dyed Fabric for Sale

I also have PFD fabric for sale to dyers that would like to try out the Kaufman pimatex I use in my artwork.

And you can still preorder my South African Impressions work at a discount through the end of September. There are only a handful of ACEOs left. You can get details here: South African Impressions.

I’ll be showing the first pieces in this new series very soon here on the blog.

Structures #40
Textile Painting
©2005
44" x 44"

Create Denver Expo

This saturday I will be giving a talk, titled Social Media: Marketing Miracle or Waste of Time, at the Create Denver Expo. I’ve attended this expo the past 3 years (previously called Building Creative Businesses Expo) and am looking forward to both participating and speaking this time around.

The talk will be from 3pm-4pm.

Web 2.0, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Blogging etc., etc. Everyone’s talking about social networking. What is it? How might an artist use it? What can you expect in return? Is it really a valuable marketing tool or just another way to waste a lot of time on the computer? My first hand experiences with social networking as an artist (and a bit of geek-talk based on my 26 years as a software engineer online).

They’ve already had to move my talk to a larger room based on registration so that’s pretty exciting. You can sign up for the expo and my workshop if you are interested here. It’s only $5 for the entire day.

Structures #40

I made the above textile painting a few days after driving up to Grand Lake from Denver in the fall of 2005. The colors in the valley were incredible: dusty greens, purples and oranges – different grasses and bushes that blended together into a beautiful drive.

I don’t think I’ve ever shown this textile painting in public, it’s one of those that was made and then I moved on to the next. Back in the days when I was very focused on just making work and pushing myself forward and not putting much thought into marketing or even showing the work. Fun time!

Construction Update

They contractors are working feverishly to get everything done for the final inspection on friday so there is a lot of activity at my house these days. The house won’t be finished but it will be very close after the inspection. I didn’t upload images last night but here are the first few days of the week:

March 16: Moving Day (I hired movers to put my piano up on my hardwood floor & bring my stuff home from storage).
March 17: Flooring/Sidewalk/Lights/Fridge

Why More on Twitter

Clint Watson offered for me to write a guest post on his blog over at Fine Art Views after my previous post about twitter.

This is that post – I’ve sent it to Clint to post but am also posting it on my blog, which is probably against some blogging etiquette rule but I write best in wordpress after all these years of blogging (I know – kinda weird huh) and it seems silly not to hit publish for my readers, as my experience is few people actually follow links in a post. Although I do recommend Clints blog as he as some interesting opinions about marketing art. So check out his blog here: Clint Watson’s Fine Arts View Blog.

Why Tweet

My top 10 List of reasons I might think writing a tweet for twitter is a better use of my time than creating art in response to Clint’s comment on his blog:

Why ANY artist would think that sending a “Twit” is a better use of their time than creating art is totally beyond me.

My list:

1. As an artist if I made art 24/7 and never marketed it I would eventually run out of room in my house for the art. I spend a full 50% of my time running my art business. I think Clint knows this as he advocates blogging, so I will assume his comment meant "why would an artist tweet vs. doing any other marketing activity".
2. I do not view what I do as "selling" my art. Instead I look to just be me. Authenticity is my goal in marketing myself and therefore my art. For me this means having a conversation, not selling. Making a connection is what I’m interested in, not doing the hard sell. Even if not connecting with a real live collector every minute on twitter, it is all a wonderful opportunity for being authentic and writing openly about myself and my art.
3. Twitter gives me a chance to be authentic in a different way than with my blog. With my blog I put a lot of thought into my posts. They tend to get long and can take a few hours to compose as I edit and re-edit a lot. My tweets are much quicker thoughts dashed off in a few moments. It’s basically me, uncensored. Very authentic.
4. I think with twitter, at least the people that are using it to connect and not sell, you get to see the real person behind the art. It’s a fine line to walk between being boring, giving too much information and too much self promotion. I find myself dropping the feeds that are only about selling – it annoys me and adds zero value to my life. I want a conversation with someone that feels like a real person. I don’t watch tv, I block ads on the web via adblock in firefox, I rarely listen to the radio, read no newspapers and few magazines – my tolerance for advertising is very low – if I feel all I’m getting is an ad – I’ll turn it off.
5. I believe social media could likely become a more effective method of communicating with ones tribe than email. I think we are all completely overloaded with email. There is simply too much of it and we need a more efficient way to communicate. I find myself emailing less and less the more I use twitter. I can’t see into the future but I see the present and I see a lot people not liking email so much. At my day job as a software engineer, email has been rendered virtually useless as noone has time to read it anymore. A very common theme I hear from artists is that email takes up way too much time. I don’t view twitter just as addition to email, but hopefully a way to reduce that email so it takes less time.
6. I’ve been online since 1983. Admittedly I’m a geek. For me, one of the most natural ways for me to communicate is online and I’m very comfortable in public chat type forums. This is absolutely authentic for me. I think some people communicate well this way, others don’t.
7. I can completely relate to Steve Pavlina’s comment on his latest blog post about facebook:
   

   No doubt some people will question how Facebook could help me with my business. The truth is that I don’t really care. My modus operandi is to pursue growth experiences and mold my business around that, not the other way around. So all I’m looking for on Facebook is to make new connections that can lead to interesting growth experiences. I don’t center my life around a profit motive.

   There is more to being an artist than making cash from the art. Connecting with other artists is incredibly valuable on both a personal and professional level. Where will it lead? Let’s find out.

8. I find some really great information on twitter that helps with with my art career. References to articles and tools that other artists are using. While this might not be a direct sale of art to a collector, who’s to say that an opportunity I learn about via twitter doesn’t? It’s networking at it’s finest for only a few minutes a day.
9. My 16 year old son tells me only old people email. Kids text, they use social media. Email is too heavy weight for them. My son assures me I am far from cool, but at least I’m willing to give this new thing a try.
10. I buy art. I’m on twitter. I found art on twitter I liked. I bought it. I do not believe I am the only artist that buys art. And if I am, well so be it. Hopefully someday I’ll buy one of my own pieces and twitter will pay off.

My Thoughts Without Numbers

Okay – truth in advertising here – this isn’t really a top ten list. It’s just a random list of the things I thought of in no particular order and I attached numbers to the paragraphs because I always wanted to write a top 10 list.

I have no idea what the future of twitter might be and what type of value I might get out of it in the long run. And honestly, I don’ really care, which is why it has taken me over a week to finally sit down and write the article I promised Clint.

The short answer on why it is not beyond me to understand why an artist (me) might tweet instead of make art: Making art is a solitary activity. As a full time software engineer and full time artist, my opportunities for getting out are fairly limited. Twitter is a way to connect with my tribe in a very immediate way. It’s a fairly new way for artists to connect and I have no doubt I am making all sorts of "mistakes" that I will cringe or laugh about in the future, which is a large part of the appeal – testing it out and seeing where it will take me.

A final note. This is my experience. I’m not saying other artists should or shouldn’t hop onto the social media bandwagon. I think everyone needs to evaluate it for themselves and determine if it will fit into their art career. I’m happy to see Clint is actively using twitter now and his opinion in the future will be based on experience.

Still More

After writing this I can see I might have another post about twitter in the future. About how I actually use it. I think that might be of help of those that want to try out twitter but aren’t sure what to write about. Look for that post some day in the future. Not sure when.

 
PS – You can follow me on twitter here: Lisa Call’s Twitter Profile.

PSS – You can friend me on facebook here (just note in the request you read my blog): Lisa Call’s Facebook Profile.

PSS – Clint always does a PS so I felt I should follow the tradition for this post.

ACEO #12
3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″
sold

 
A few unrelated topics…
 

Twitter

A series of articles I’ve read related to social media:

1) In a recent post, titled A Spectacular Way to Avoid Doing What Really Matters, Clint Watson definitively states:

Unfortunately, I keep seeing artists who seem to think that Twitter is some sort of revolutionary marketing tool that will help them sell art. It won’t.
…
Why ANY artist would think that sending a “Twit” is a better use of their time than creating art is totally beyond me.

 
2) A recent post by Seth Godin titled The small-minded vision of the technology elite:

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
—Ken Olsen, ceo of DEC,

Only 31 years ago. DEC was one of the leading computer companies of the day, but not for long.

Take a look at the geek discussion boards and you’ll see an endless list of sharp-tongued critics, each angling to shoot down one idea or another.
…
PS the marketing elite have precisely the same problem.

 
3) An interesting point of view by Bill Weaver is presented in an article on his new blog The Artists Center: What’s up with social media.

I recommend the entire article and here’s a small bit:

So last year when I found out about Twitter I joined but really didn’t get it until the last few months. Coupled with my Facebook toolbar for Firefox I now get regular little blurbs that pop up on the bottom of my screen whenever one of the people I am connected with has something to say. That very action has allowed me to get to know what used to be pretty close to complete strangers. As a result, I have several potential partners for workshops or seminars each having a strong skill I am lacking in. I hinted above about communities, again this is one of the things social scientists have found occuring more and more as a result of staying connected with each other.

 
4) My twitter profile: twitter.com/lisacall (guess that makes it clear where I fall in the conversation).
 

PFD Fabric For Sale

As I’ve mentioned before I purchase the PFD (Prepared For Dye) fabric directly from Kaufman. I love this tight weave, high quality, 100% cotton pimatex fabric. It’s very dense and in my opinion some of the best fabric out there for making quilts (definitely a matter of opinion). I wrote a post about this fabric here: Kaufman PFD Pimatex Fabric

Kaufman has changed their rules for keeping my account active and I need to purchase more fabric than I can use each year. Would anyone be interested in purchasing some of this fabric from me? The cost would be around $5 a yard (including shipping). Unfortunately I don’t have the time to investigate shipping out of the US so currently this offer is for US residents only.

If you’d be interested in purchasing some fabric please send me email and I’ll see if there is enough interest to pursue this. I sure hope so cause I LOVE this fabric and don’t want to lose my account.

ACEO #12

Last night I didn’t get to my studio until about 9:00pm. I finished construction of Structures #99 before work so the next step was to piece the back and baste the quilt. I was in no mood for that so instead I decided to make an ACEO. This artist trading card is a combination of the bright colors from Structures #98 and the more somber dark gray/browns from Structures #99 as they were jumbled together on my cutting table.

If you are interested in purchasing ACEO #12 please send me email. It is $21 US and includes shipping to anywhere (I accept payment via paypal or check). It’s sold.

ACEO stands for “art cards, editions and originals”. Originally known as ATC, Artist Trading Card, and are traded between artists. When sold to the public they are referred to as ACEOs. The primary rule for an ACEO or ATC is they be 3 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ – the size of a trading card. They are created in many different mediums and are collectible, trade able and affordable art for everyone.

Backside:

Fall in Colorado

The weather is Colorado is beautiful this time of year. Warm days, cool clear nights (well except for the recent rain). It’s beautiful. This is the view from Jim’s deck up in the mountains. Visiting my boyfriend is better than going on vacation. I love living in this state (I know I said this same thing just the other day – I’m very grateful for my life!).