My first attempt at CS5's onscreen color mixing

I took Sunday off from any chores or goal-oriented tasks. Instead I played – Adobe Photoshop CS5 and metal clay. Both were surprisingly tricky! And my results show just how little I know, but it sure was fun to stretch into new areas where there are no consequences. It really doesn’t matter if I never learn to digitally paint, but it would be cool if I can!

I’ve also begun pricing the essentials for doing art shows this summer. The age old debate of spend less but replace in a few years or spend more up front and risk changing my mind in a few years. I have a bad habit of feeling it’s essential to start with top of the line materials. Sometimes, that’s a good call (there really isn’t a professional equivalent to Photoshop) and often it’s not, particularly if it keeps me out of the game entirely.

Either way, my kit will be coming together shortly…

I’m also reading I’d Rather Be in the Studio! which is giving me some pretty clear direction on what I need to do -rewrite that artist’s statement! ugh! I’ll be adding this to the booklist shortly for anyone that is or is wanting to be a working artist.

Gradually things are coming together!

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Technorati Tags: learning new things, The Art of Happiness

We all have moments of self-doubt but when it turns into an excuse not to move forward, face fears, persist in the face of adversity we don’t honor ourselves or our talents.  I admit to uttering the phrase “I must not be good enough” a few times, mostly after seeing an Oprah episode of pre-pubescent kids that have international businesses or when I haven’t a clue on how to proceed.  It just seems like divine guidance is supposed to show up quickly and point the way and if it doesn’t that too must be a sign.

It just isn’t that easy and when we limit ourselves with ‘how things are supposed to be’ we cut off avenues of exploration and success.  The last time I checked the Harlem Globetrotters weren’t part of the NBA and yet they don’t seem to be complaining about not making it. Sometimes going down a path previously untrodden is more difficult but it’s also more exciting, because nobody can tell you what’s around the next bend.

For those of us with multiple interests, wanting and trying to wear several hats all at once, it’s worth remembering that it takes something like 10,000 hours to become proficient at something. The more things you add the more your available time is split.  That’s not a bad thing as they can often balance each other and cross-polinate with great rewards, it just takes more patience on your part. Seriously, if you find yourself wanting to stop because you aren’t there yet, add up how many hours you’ve really spent trying to grasp it.  No stopping if it’s less than 10,000.

Next week: ‘I don’t know what to do’

Technorati Tags: common excuses, learning new things, self-doubt

My single biggest accomplishment for this week was creating a “line sheet” for the sea glass jewelry and sending it off to the first prospective buyer.  I’d never done one before and all the advice I could find had to do with pieces that can  be ordered in bulk even when they’re handmade.  I’ve no idea of what I came up with works as it should but there’s only one way to find out.  I did take great care to make sure fonts matched and spacing was perfect.  Now I need to send it out to other prospects and keep refining.  The first step is always the hardest!

My marketing education continues and the website I’ve built for class made it up to #8 on Google for it’s main keyword and then slipped to 11th – which isn’t bad for something that didn’t exist at the beginning of December.  Sometimes it scares me that this stuff works.  The bigger challenge is applying some of it to my true business endeavors which have a great deal more competition and where “BUY NOW!!!!” isn’t really the appropriate tone!  However, I know a whole lot more than I did five weeks ago and I am starting to see the benefits of what I’ve applied so far.

Now it’s time to take down the lights and the Christmas tree and start working even more efficiently – new projects loom large like learning about ebooks and subscription lists!

Technorati Tags: achieving goals, learning new things

Christmas is under control for this year (I think) – shopping is done, all but one present wrapped, decorating is done so just cookie baking left and I try not to do that too early or I find excuses to eat the ones that aren’t absolutely perfect!

In between all of that, I’ve continued working on my online marketing skills (they need a lot of work.)  I’ve been focusing on just one hub at a time so jewelry has been getting the bulk of my focus first, hence not as many posts here as I would like but I am starting to see some positive results.  And I’ve learned new and sneaky ways to gain presence without more work and much to my chagrin convincing me to get a twitter account. The nifty new thing is posterous.com which integrates everything so that with one email a post is made to a blog, twitter, flickr, facebook, and whatever else you’d like.  And even better, it actually works.  It seems a little odd to be broadcasting on all these channels without ever going to them, but it also means that customers can tune in on their preference rather than having to go out of their way to find me. At the same time I’m building my presence on the web in a way that isn’t spam and that I can actually manage with integrity. I’m beginning to see that I’ve underestimated how outgoing you need to be these days – what seems brash to me really isn’t anymore because nobody (except maybe your mother) ever sees all of what you put out there.

To go along with that today is play time as I prep my very first Youtube video.  I’ll post it here when it’s done:-)

Technorati Tags: doing less, learning new things

They say that you begin to grasp a subject when you realize there is more that you don’t know than what you do. For some that’s an ego thing but I think for most of us that means we can itemize what we don’t know; we have a more specific form of measurement than just “a lot”.  That was me this week as I worked on remedying my lack of knowledge regarding online marketing combined with my complete lack of talent in that area;-)  I’ve made progress, enough to know how much I didn’t know when I thought I knew something.  (Read that last sentence fast and you’ll have some idea of how my brain is feeling right now!)

What I’ve also run into though is having to spend more time and energy finding solutions to “recommended” tools and processes that don’t violate my ethics, things like lifting content without crediting the author, etc. I don’t think I’m alone in that but right now the Internet seems to be set up for those that don’t know or don’t mind bending a few rules to succeed so their recommendations rise to the top. When I get it sorted out for myself, maybe I’ll start a website for artist marketing, who knows.

In the meantime I’ve gotten started on Christmas and left the Gallery where I had my jewelry (lack of a lot of things is closing it down shortly). Christmas is going to feel different this year without my dad but I’m confident something good will fill the void.

Technorati Tags: Health and Happiness, learning new things, solopreneur, the way to happiness