The Last Week of RBBP e-Course

The first offering, Spring Thaw Specials, I posted at the beginning of the e-Course ends March 31st. Although we are still waiting for the "thaw" in upstate New York, you can secure these low prices on your order if you act now. 








Finishing up week 7 and starting out week 8.
Being self-employed means that everything depends on self discipline. There if very little, if any, positive reinforcement, encouragement, or accountability. 
The decision to be more involved with the Right Brain Business Plan creative cohorts has remedied that mind set. I have learned ways to be more accountable to myself. 
I am very thankful that I won the spot in the e-Course. 

SMARTER goals are leading to bigger projects...
Using the  Zero to Video Hero 15 Day Video Challenge lessons, I am finishing up the final work-in-progress video for the completed conceptual portrait, Greenwood Ovation, featuring music by The Prickers. This was one of the strategic alliances that I set up during the Right Brain Business Plan e-Course. It will be used as a sample video to demonstrate one of the offerings in Portrait Package D. Using a new system on the Ostrich Cot, Greenwood Ovation is the FIRST conceptual portrait I have completed at the 16" x 20" dimensions.

This week I started my first 16"x20" commissioned mixed-media conceptual portrait. It is going to be a combination drawing, a personal portrait and much-loved, 'heirloom' porch attached to what was once the patron's grandmother's house. Follow this "Porch-trait" in progress on the Studio Facebook page.

Corralling my Creative Cohorts
SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day is March 29th. I have begun plans for a local 2015 SWAN Day Event. On my Facebook page I am leaving the March 22nd SWAN Day Planning Party Event open for suggestions for 2015. From March 22nd-29th I will be posting news and updates about SWAN Day Events occurring around the nation this year. 

Managing the Moolah
I have completed two Grant applications and finally completed my Hatchfund Profile. I am currently in the process of completing the project proposal and working with the team of fundraising advisors at Hatchfund. This funding stream will help finance Arachnoiditis Survivor, the Portrait series component of Living With Arachnoiditis: An Art, Adaptability, and Empowerment Project that I launched on March 20th. The video challenge has also helped prepare me for the video portion of project promotions. (Recording will begin as soon as I recover from this bronchitis-like creeping crud that has taken over my body and my life for the last ten days.)

As I build up steam for 2014 and regain my studio focus, in addition to the ones mentioned above, I want to make note of the resources that are helping me move forward.
Fresh Rag ~ Dave Conroy
The Abundant Artist~Corey Huff
Launch Grow Joy~ Andrea Ayers
The Thriving Artist Summit~ Bonnie Glendinning
Artists Who Thrive~ Ann Rea & her Make Money Making Art presentation on 
Creative Live
Role of Audience and Commerce in Art
Uber Live ~Chase Jarvis
Casey Zeman Online  Blog “talk about the best engagement strategies designed to help you and your business build a thriving online community fast!” and his  Video Marketing strategies (which I will be tapping into as the video marketing efforts increase)
The Art World Demystified~ Brainard Carey
Art Licensing Blog ~Tara Reed
and 
My Inspiration  playlist on youtube

NOW THE BIG CHALLENGE!!! I have to continue to APPLY all of this input. 

Week 6: Naked Revelations

E-e-e-k! Something is fundamentally wrong!
 I just heard myself say, "Why make this if nobody is going to buy it?" 
Making art has always been the ONE thing that made me feel like I didn't need anything else. If that is really how I have been feeling it explains my discontent with this marketing process (and this constant PMS-worthy chocolate craving I can't seem to shake). Logic dictates that in order to have a self-sustaining studio, I HAVE to make art (or something) that will sell. 

Making Money Making Art with Ann Rea addresses this issue quite thoroughly but the other reasons for the making do not seem to be a topic for discussion. The marketing strategies are viable. Her insights into the luxury market are extremely useful and informative. The portion about being true to individual needs and expectations is validating. The networking and accountability methods discussed look like they would work for me as well as many other artists.  

So, why was I left with the feeling that UNLESS my art can be sold at a very high price, it has no real value? Perhaps, practical necessity has been pushing my mind in that direction all along and this presentation just sent that message the rest of the way home. My angst lies in the ink pooling around the unused Return To Sender stamp swimming around the corners of my mind. 

I am not sure exactly which path of exploration has brought me here but I DO know, without a doubt, that it is NOT my final destination. It explains why my 2014 planning efforts stalled out mid-December 2013. Fundamental changes have to be made at the foundation of my approach if this is going to be the type of endeavor I intended it to be. 

Ann Rea's program promotes the sensible marketing tip of having multiple price points and options in your business plan to minimize limitations and increase the monetary viability of your work . Making it clear that art is a luxury item only purchased by the "haves" and unavailable to the "have-nots," Ann Rea maintains the middle ground by making the point that there is nothing wrong with having a day job while you are transitioning into a sustainable art-based business. Not only is there nothing wrong with it, in all likelihood, it is extremely necessary. 

But here, there is not and can never be a "day job." This is all there is or will ever be. The pressure is on to find a way to make it work...to find a market who wants the work.

Working through Making Art Making Money presentation at Creative Live, the Right Brain Business Plan eCourse, and the 15 Day Zero to Video Hero video challenge with Holly Sugrue, I have discovered that my art studio is a place that has the power to be inspirational and uplifting without being impractical. It is a place to enjoy art while staying grounded in the necessities of life. I have realized that it is very important to me that it remain that way while reaching as many people as possible. Well, maybe what I have truly realized is that: this is a factor I am unwilling to change. 

I recoil at the idea of charging exorbitant fees for my work, fees that I, personally, could NEVER pay...not because I don't value myself and not because I don't value the work but because I DO. I think it is wrong to limit art access to certain portions of the population via the existing economic principals to which we have become accustomed. 

Having these thoughts in the shower on March 12th, it came to me, as so many great ideas often do, that: 
I 100% reject the assumption and declaration that art is a luxury item. 

 Fearing this revelation, this tail I have been chasing for months, would flee in the midst of the getting dressed, which would be interrupted by some household chore that I had forgotten on the way to bed, that would lead to remembering an unfinished studio task, that would remind me that I wanted to research on Google how exactly to obtain an exhibition-required 300 dpi image without Photoshop, which would connect me to the seemingly endless influence of the w.w.w.,and result in the inevitable loss of this fleeting epiphany; still dripping-naked, I stepped out into the studio and grabbed the first piece of paper I could find. On it, in LARGE BOLD GREEN MARKER I WROTE:

ART IS A NECESSITY!!!!!!!!!!!

AND THERE IT IS, The elephant in the room that has been standing on my chest all this time has finally stepped down. I have been resenting the implication that I "SHOULD" view it differently...that I "MUST" do so if I am going to achieve my goals*. Art is only a luxury item when it is priced and marketed in a manner only accessible to the luxury market. 

To achieve my goals within the parameters of my ideals, I must continue to seek out and connect with others who KNOW the intrinsic value of art, who need it in their lives, and I must offer it to them at an affordable rate. Otherwise, I am no better than the people who charge exorbitant fees for bed sheets or the people who sell bread with no BREAD in it. 

Ann Rea's apparently successful policy, "looking is free, owning is expensive" works for her. 

It is clear that these models won't work for me. 
My policy has to be:
 owning it, giving it, experiencing it, and living with it, is achievable, affordable, and worth it.  

Hence, the day 12 video:
Without Art The Crudeness of Reality Would Make Life Unbearable.
~George Bernard Shaw said that. 
Art IS a Necessity:
Veteran Artist Program
The National Initiative for Arts and Health in the Military
Poverty and the Arts
Artists Striving to End Poverty
Art and Healing
Art Lifting
Signs for the homeless
Artist Builds Shelters
Art is Daily Bread
...and the list goes on.

The challenge/burden of proof: I must apply this belief to my practice in a manner that will allow the work to pay for itself...with a little left over for the other necessities of life. 

These will be my SMARTER goals. 

Ending Week 5: Creative Cohorts

Community

Working on identifying Creative Cohorts during Week 5 of the Right Brain Business Plan eCourse. I decided to combine it with the work I was doing on my Values Card:"Community" 
The focal idea of the collage is that: civic engagement, community interaction, and networking will get me off of the proverbial couch and out of the creative desert. Collaborative efforts will erupt into new profitable endeavors.
{I don't own a couch and I live in the currently frozen tundra of Upstate New York.} 





This will be posted so that I can add to the Creative Cohorts map as it develops. 
Please not the "wishes" growing out of the trash can. 

It has been a very busy, connectivity-based week for me. 
As the RBBP cohorts know, I am maintaining activity on the FB group and reached out to other RBBP members for help with marketing ideas and sales opportunities as they relate to my "Getting the Word Out" goals. 

As I worked through my helping hands wish list, I discovered that I HATE trying to find ways to sell my work and hope that in the future I will be able to collaborate with or hire somebody to do this for me. I also clarified some of the physical aspects of running the studio that I should begin to delegate to other, more able-bodied people. [This will permit me to save my vertical time and physical efforts for making art and doing physical therapy specific activities.]

The inner circle of my Creative Cohorts Map consists of myself and Brian. I met him in August of 2010. He is my main cheerleader and  a musician, and visual artist in his own right, as well as a gourmet chef who works twelve hour days as a Baking Production and Management instructor at a local college during the school year. He handles nutrition and dietary issues related to my spinal cord injury. He provides valuable, creative constructive criticism on works in progress when I ask for it. One of the things I love about him most is his ability to help me when I need it without making me feel helpless. He is able to be sympathetic and empathetic while quietly re-directing me away from maudlin moments. We lift each other up without forgetting our need to be down. 

The light glowing beside us represents "us" and the fabulousness of my children. 

The circumference of the circle is made up of the friends and family members who provide the transportation I need to participate in the world. They keep me physically connected. 

During week 5  
Although I was leaning towards giving up on it...I Pushed myself not to give up on outreach to local creative cohorts and Pumped up the advertising on my Support Women Artists Now local Event. I extended the RSVP date to March 11th and posted fliers at the photo show and around town and posted reminders on FB pages of local businesses and art organizations. 

Attended and participated in the Wellsville Art Association Annual Photography Show and Opening Reception. Elan #2 won first place in its category. While helping take entries several days before the reception, I got re-acquainted with a younger member of WAA. Connected her with grant opportunities and she provided me with a lovely Hoya plant and transportation back to my studio after the reception.


Established new Strategic Alliances with:
The Prickers  a local band that has given me permission to include their music on a sample Video for a Conceptual Portrait in progress. (I will be using this video to show patrons what they receive on the DVD that is included with Conceptual Portrait Package D. )


Reached out to find New Business Mentors:

ACCORD Corporation Business Services where I completed the Entrepreneurial Assistance Program and my first professional business plan for my studio (2010). Hoping to get some guidance on local marketing and networking opportunities.

Branding, Marketing, and PR for Artists listened to this class and signed up for teleconference/coaching call with Bonnie on Wed. March 12th.

Making Money Making Art with Ann Rea
at Creative Live for tips on marketing my art

Small Business Administration 
for business mentoring

Veterans' Business Outreach Center  
for business mentoring and counseling about accommodations in self-employment for disabled Veterans



Attended a wonderful exhibit, Re-Presenting Representation VIII, at Arnot Art Museum in Elmira NY. While there obtained entry information for the upcoming Juried Show. 
74th Regional Exhibition 

20 June - 9 August 2014

Artists from the Northeast are invited to enter the juried exhibition, which presents over $10,000 in prizes. Click the link below in NEWS & NOTES for your copy of the Call for Entries and an Entry Form.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 4pm, 25 April 2014

Continued with the 15 Day Zero to Video Hero video challenge 
with Holly Sugrue
Day 4: Inspiration
Day 5: Self Appreciation 
Day 6:Gratitude
Day 7:Check In with Holly
Day 8: Eventful
Day 9: Accomplishments


Connected with fellow arachnoiditis survivors (part of my nurture huddle and mentor group for "recovery") via Week5 tangent videos
Trigger Point Injections
Coping With Arachnoiditis: Unexpected Outcomes of Accommodations
Living With Arachnoiditis:Coping with Obliterated Cervical Lordosis
Confirmed Geographical participation in: Living With Arachnoiditis: An Art & Empowerment Project my 2014 Art Grant proposal project submitted to Creative Capital and Photocrati so far...

With the exception of the actual Elmira Museum Visit and wonderful dinner at Three Birds Restaurant in Corning, NY; most of this (even the riding time) was done while being horizontal. So, Saturday night we were able to connect with local friends at a Mardi-Gras themed fundraiser to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. [We support this organization because Brian's youngest niece has juvenile diabetes which she developed at age 4.]

I guess hibernation is over. 

Something to believe in...

Just when I needed Something to Believe In about this effort to have a self-sustaining art studio. It wasn't three minutes after I posted about my worries, the OneFive4 notification about Katie O'Hagen came into my Newsfeed on Facebook.

cover for MY 10 point profile 
opp at OneFive4 Dec. 2013

 This week, one of my favorite painters is also being featured at OneFive4...feels a lot like that time my sister got published next to a piece by Stephen King...

Katie O'Hagen's  10 Point Profile

 The imagery in her paintings just resounds in my head...find out more about Katie's work.

It seems uncanny that a year ago, practically to the day, I was talking about how much I admired her work and how I felt about it.

Follow Up: Closing Week 4

Moola Map, Getting the Word Out, and Studio Values:
Following up on some of my goals and objectives for the Right Brain Business Plan (RBBP) e-course



Values "Cards"  
I have been struggling with collaging these concepts...partially because they were just too big for the card... Also because the resources available to me are mainly text. In any case I wanted to point out the image in upper margin of the Adaptability card. If you zoom in you will see that it is a Yin/Yan symbol divided by a spinal column. I found this photo in a copy of Architectural Record of all places. It is logo carpet.The timing was perfectly bizarre. Using the few magazines that I had, I was on a quest for the perfect image...some way to visually represent (in a collage) the significance of adaptability here. 

custom logo Carpet
for Crane Creek Medical Center Melbourne, Florida
by Amtico International amtico.com

ADAPTABILITY 

AFFORDABILITY 

Managing the Moola
The Friday challenge was to set a specific income goal for this week. Then take steps to make that happen. 
Coincidentally, I received a call from a potential customer Friday afternoon. She has been intending to have a conceptual portrait done for some time now. We have not revisited this project since reviewing some preliminary sketches last summer. She has decided on the size that she wants and has clarified her intentions to impose a portrait of herself over a portrait of her porch. The $200 payment on this commission is supposed to arrive this week.

A portion of this payment is a contribution to the purchase of a studio microphone that will also be used (at a later date-when I have 'mastered' the video monster) to post video broadcasts for BOFA.

This week, I am still seeking new orders from NEW patrons.


"Gettting the word out" goals 
This weekend I began the 15 Day Zero to Hero Video Challenge [the March 2014 version of the 30 Day Challenge with Holly Sugrue]. 
Day 1: Introductions
Day 2: Goals
Day 3: Quotespiration

In addition to posting new package options and studio offerings, last week I posted two portrait-in-progress videos about the Conceptual Portrait, Greenwood Ovation. Forced to concede to the tech powers that be, these videos have Youtube music in the background instead of the narration that I had originally intended. My nephew was generous enough to loan me his headset yesterday. I am hoping to add the desired narration and will post those updates. 
Greenwood Ovation:Shadows (with music only)
Greenwood Ovation: Guitar Pick Details (with music only)

Without the proper equipment, it has been quite frustrating to attempt to use video as a means to communicate concepts, ideas, and offerings. I am trying out some different options during these two challenging classes. Hopefully, upon completion my Youtube channel will be a successful means to broadcast my WORK and my studio message. 


Moola Map

In an effort not to duplicate the way that I spend my time, I decided to wait to do this while I was paying monthly expenses. The "moola out" items in yellow are things with very limited flexibility. The ones in pink are expenses that I may be able to reduce this year. 
Not much in the guaranteed "moola in" category.
However, I did include new items with earning potential as well as the Barter For Art system (underneath the moola map) as opportunities for in-coming moola/compensation.