Things to Do and Other Goals, Part 2

It's been a lazy couple of days. The weather has been cold and wet and it is finally starting to feel like Fall. It's the kind of weekend that makes you want to snuggle underneath a blanket with your significant other and watch movies, or in my case, watch episodes of "Boardwalk Empire" and "Dexter". While it has been great to spend this time with my husband, I haven't gotten much painting done. I don't really have any deadlines at the moment so taking some time off, especially with the holidays coming up (of which I doubt I will get much work done during), is completely fine with me. I do think I should finish reviewing my list of things to do and evaluate whether or not these are realistic monthly goals and activities.

11. Attend two art openings: Since I am working at a studio space with about 50 other artists, there seems to be plenty of art openings to go to of people I know.

12. Update my mailing list and add at least 5 new names to the list. Some months are easier than others, especially ones where I have openings. The months where I don't are harder to get interested people on my list. I know I should be meeting more people and adding names on my mailing list. There's no excuse. I will try and do better...

13. Check out/ research 5 new galleries (to me) online. I think I am pretty good at this.

14. Submit art to at least 5 new galleries. Sometimes I'm really motivated and will submit to 15-20 galleries and then nothing for months. I need to be more consistent about submitting and getting my work out there. Instead of submitting in waves, I should do it on a regular basis. It's not easy, but then again, it's not exactly hard either. It just takes motivation and persistence.

15. Send out a newsletter once a month. If I have shows coming up, then it isn't a problem. But when I don't, I kind of feel like I am bothering people and just sending them junk mail they don't want.

16. Update my website: I am really good about this. Anytime I finish a painting, I immediately take a picture and update my website. It helps that I use iWeb, which is extremely easy to update. I can do it myself and not have to rely on anyone to help me or do it for me. Yes, it's not the fanciest site, but it works for me.

17. Visit a nearby city and check out their galleries. I don't leave my city very often, if at all. I live in San Francisco so everything I need is here. I have been planning some trips to LA and San Diego to check out their art scene, but as of yet, I haven't gone.

18. Have my artwork photographed: I do my own photography for my website and that happens as soon as I finish a painting. I have been wanting to get them photographed professionally, but at the moment, I can't really afford it.

19. Update eBay and Etsy listings: I am finding that these are not very good venues for me to sell my work anymore and will probably discontinue then completely.

20. Update online galleries (such as bluecanvas.com, myartspace.com, etc.): I am pretty sporadic about this. I do have a ton of pieces up on these sites that are a good indication of what my work looks like. I'm just not very good at keeping the paintings updated with the newest and latest painting. I am not sure how important that is. Visibility is good but according to my stat counter for my website, I am getting very little traffic from these sites.

Well, there you have it. My twenty things I need to do every month. I think I will probably whittle it down to 15 since some of these activities no longer apply or aren't realistic for me. The important thing is to have a regular routine for marketing and painting. If this is what I am going to do for a living, then I have to take everything that comes with it seriously.

I worked on this painting a bit more before my lazy weekend. I think the stripes look quite nice.