What I have learned from art magazines

Thanksgiving weekend was a wonderful time with family, yummy food, and for me: time to catch up reading my four artist magazines: Pastel Journal, Watercolor Artist, The Artists' Magazine, and Art Calendar. What a treasure trove of information the most recent issues provided me with!

Watercolor Artist had an article on how to take good photos of your art work - a great nuts and bolts article for the non-photographer.

The Artists' Magazine had an article on copyright law as it pertains to the artist.

And my favorite business magazine, Art Calendar, had article after article like: "Getting Connected on LinkedIn" (a business oriented social networking site), "How to Work With Art Consultants", "Almost Everything You Wanted to Know About Solo Exhibitions", "How to Sell (Art) on eBay", and several articles on cultivating networking skills, keeping in touch with your customers, and more.

For a year I've been reading whatever I can get my hands on - about how to be a professional artist - the business side of it - the mysteries of the unknown. My husband and I sat by the fire the other night and had a brainstorm about my direction next year. I am going to paint a "body of work", i.e., 20 paintings of a similar subject, style and media. Next, I will put together my first solo show, and hold it in our Truckee house. I have decided to do this in pastel, and paint landscapes depicting the Sierra Nevadas - in and around Lake Tahoe, Truckee and surrounding areas.

While my brain was spinning with details and ideas, I spun about 5 skeins of yarn at my spinning wheel! What a great way to meditate and think about things! Spinning is so rhythmic, tactile and doesn't require any mental effort - so your mind is free to think about whatever. And then you have come up with great ideas and produced a useful product to boot!