Links will open in new windows or tabs
Helpful Blogs & Websites
Alyson B. Stanfield
Alyson offers wonderful business advice for artists! Subscribe to her blog and don’t forget to sign up for her free art marketing newsletter.
Holly Knott and Andy Baird put together this super great tutorial for great quilt photos. The principles apply to other artwork too! Don’t let bad photos be the reason your work isn’t accepted into exhibits.
I host all my domains and client websites here and just love them!
Calls For Entries
Useful Tools
I use Evernote continually every single day. Basically a way to capture anything from a website to an image to a list or idea, it’s a fantastic way to keep track of everything you need to remember. You create notes, and file them if you like, in Notebooks. An especially useful feature is the ability to sync your notebooks to different computers and smart devices. You’ll never be without that piece of information you require!
Some specific things I Note:
Ideas for blog posts
Calls for Entries
Pieces of programming code
Books to keep my eye out for at used bookstores
Recipes and grocery lists
There is really no end to what you can remember in an organized manner in Evernote!
I firmly believe that every professional artist should write an email newsletter at least quarterly. It’s a great way to connect with your collectors and supporters in a meaningful way. And connections are what sell art!
However, sending many copies of an email can trigger spam filters and blacklists… using an email newsletter service can get around those problems. They make sure you are in compliance with all the applicable laws, and make opt-in list maintenance a snap.
I’ve been using VerticalResponse for my newsletters for several years now. The main feature that made me choose them over other email newsletter service providers is the option to pay per email sent by purchasing credits, instead of having a monthly subscription fee when I don’t send a newsletter every month.
If you’ve worked with me, you know I am all about streamlining art business tasks by scheduling with great tools. VerticalResponse allows me to do this for my newsletter. I write the individual stories over the weeks leading up to the publication date, then it’s all set to go out on the exact date/time I specify.
Using VerticalResponse has improved my newsletter life dramatically!
Recommended Books
Art Business & Marketing
I’d Rather Be in the Studio!
Subtitle: “The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion.” I consider this the most important book an artist can have in their marketing arsenal! Alyson gives tons of great advice, explains the why of it all, and provides clear tools and procedures for getting it done. I cannot recommend this book highly enough: I even reference it in the artist development classes I teach at the Dougherty Arts School!
The new edition includes expanded information on using Facebook and Twitter effectively, more social media tips, and revised information on blogging.
The link above will take you to Amazon to purchase the new edition, or you can use this link to order the new edition directly from Alyson, and receive some great perks!
The Right-Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success
If you are the kind of creative person who cringes when faced with a balance sheet, and you skipped all those “boring” business classes your Mom wanted you to take to “have something to fall back on,” this book is for you! Jennifer Lee guides you step-by-step through the necessary process of getting a business plan down on paper so you can succeed in your art career, and she does it all in a non-threatening, creative manner. Woven throughout are Success Stories, practical tips, and excellent checklists.
How can you know when you’ve reached your goals if you haven’t articulated them?
Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It
Peggy Klaus believes in doing many of the same things that I am firmly convinced make all the difference in connecting with art buyers… and the number one thing is to tell stories! Ms. Klaus makes a very compelling argument that if one doesn’t want to be overlooked, one must be willing to learn how to artfully weave one’s accomplishments into a story format so that they may be shared at the appropriate times, in or out of a professional setting. There are loads of practical tips, and anecdotes illustrating the major points. I wish this book had existed way back when I was beginning to make my way in the world.
Legal
Legal Guide for the Visual Artist, Fifth Edition
Covering everything from copyright and other intellectual property concerns to contracts and negotiations, this newly revised and expanded edition of the classic is a must-have for every visual artist. It even includes sample forms!
I wouldn’t be without it.
Recent Print Publications That Include My Artwork
Books
Touching Fiber Arts
A lovely coffee table book by the Texas Museum of Fiber Arts includes my piece from their exhibit “Texas: A Blending of Cultures”
A Rivertop Journal
Walt Franklin is a gifted poet and nature writer from my home area along the border between New York State and Pennsylvania. This autobiographical work contains three of my black and white photographs, including two portraits of Walt taken on some winter rambles through the snowy woods.
Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project
I participated in the Journal Quilt Project for several years, and was pleased to have a piece selected for this retrospective book.
Magazines
AudioXpress, May 2012
Several photographs throughout a featured interview.
Volume 5 of In Stitches eMagazine published by Interweave Press, Autumn 2011
Video and photo shoot of artist Barb Forrister
Chemical & Engineering News, 89(10), March 07, 2011
Photographs
AudioXpress, January 2009
Photo of two audio world luminaries, Scott Wurcer and John Curl, at an event in San Francisco.
The Fine Print Disclosure: Some of the links you see on my website are to products or services for which I am an affiliate. If a sale results from clicking on them, I might make a small percentage on the sale. I never recommend anything which I have not used myself and fully endorse.
