Information Overload

As an artist my main mission in life is to paint and to create. It is not to go overboard signing up for every art marketing newsletter, blog, book, Facebook friend, group, and Twitter feed etc...

I am in Linda Blondheim's Mentor-ship for this year.She is wonderful mentor and I am enjoying the comradeship  with the other painters. Linda is the "down home" on what works and what has not worked for her. She brings new  ideas for each particular artist's niche.

I have a serious Internet addiction when it comes to art marketing information on the web. At  one time that would have been a good trait. But now it tends to overload my time -- reading  to keep up with all that is out there. Its all great information... but my "painting for sale inventory"  has dwindled to only a few!

Being really overwhelmed with all the online advice to artists that supposedly will keep us from being in the "starving artist" category is my operating system these days. But what is the use if an artist doesn't have anything to market? Recently I was  wowed by an announcement of what my online Facebook friend Nancy Medina did at Artscape in Dallas this past weekend - she sold over 60 paintings! I am not the least bit jealous-- I am wowed!

But what I am jealous of,  is her perseverance and copious productivity. Linda Blondhiem is extremely productive as well. This is where I fall off the map-- I am or WAS a painter that waited for the mood to strike me... to begin painting. Unfortunately that has not been a great idea for me to make into a habit.
 It is especially complicated when I have the information obsession... because lets face it we can all spend 100% of the time messing around on the computer  on the Internet  in the name of research...:) and then call that time WORK.

 By the time I get done with that-- or any art business task...I am ready for a nap! NO Painting!

 Today I am dropping off this painting for an up coming  show at Florida Hospital Altamonte.

There is my water lily painting series to finish up and actually two other paintings that are 1/4 done -- then there is a gift  that I need to paint-- with a deadline no less. And all manner of general life's business invades my precious time to keep me from actually painting. So at this point I need to stop "reading about" and "start doing".

This is a picture of a little bird that comes and sings nonstop every spring in my front yard and this year was no exception. There is a nest inside a large bush that is located to the right of this smaller one that he takes turns sitting on when he has a mate -- no eggs yet! May be he needs to get productive and find a mate-- he is doing a lot of advertising and research but I don't see any products yet...