100 Pic Challenge

Today I stumbled onto something really cool at Chaoticat. It's the 100 pic challenge. The point of the challenge is to test and improve your skill as an artist or photographer. The idea being to create 100 pictures, and after 100 pics who wouldn't be a better artist or photographer?

If I can get other people to do it with me, we might create a web page together for our individual contributions to the challenge. If it looks like I'm in this alone, I'll be posting my pics here. If you see this, and want to join in, that would be great! Challenges are easier to complete when you've got friends and companions along for the ride.

So, check out the rules at Chaoticat or deviant art, and let's get started!

Art Face Off

So, I got inspired by the Question of the Day - it was a question about what would my life would be like if I did something scary every day. I thought about it for a while, and pretty soon I found myself at a little website I heard about called ArtFaceOff. The next thing you know I had registered for a free account, and uploaded a number of pictures.

Here's the link to my page: Shirley Gibson at ArtFaceOff. Go check it out. If you like what you see, vote for me. If you decide to put your own artwork up, leave a comment with a link, and I'll go see your portfolio.

50x50

After a long long absence. I am finally back and working on selling my art online. Today I stumbled onto a really interesting website/art project called 50x50. It is an ongoing online work of art made of 50 pixel square images from artists around the world. I submitted this image, called "Ring of Power", and so we'll see what happens.

-update 9/5 -

I have heard absolutely nothing from him at all. No acknowledgement that he got my image, not a yes or a no. So I'd say this one is a no go for sure!

My Power Element

Your Power Element is Metal

Your power colors: white, gold, and silver Your energy: contracting Your season: fall You are persistent (and maybe even a little bit stubborn). If you see something you want, you go for it. You have a lot of strength, and it's difficult to get you down. Very logical, you tend to analyze everything going on in your life.

What's Your Power Element?

Blogging the Art

I have read in a number of different places, that blogging is a good way to promote what you do. And so, not being one to do anything in moderation, I created a number of blogs. I use Blogger as my blogging platform because it's free, it's easy, and there are a lot of simple ways to tweak the templates to make them unique. If I had the time to make a gagillion blogs, I might try also the wordpress and typepad free blogging services.

For the mandala art, I created Mandala Madness. - blog about mandalas. I wanted something that would attract mandala lovers. It has poetry, quotes, visiting mandalas, interesting tidbits of information about mandalas of all kinds, and of course - my mandalas. It does take some time to put the daily posts together, but I think it's shaping up nicely.

I also joined Zaadz. It's a social networking site for people interested in spiritual concepts, and changing the world, and seemed like a really good place to make friends and share the mandalas and the abstract art. I've got a page for a photo album, and also a blog. The Middle of the Night Art is a little dark for that site, and I'm thinking that maybe it might be better suited for My Space, or Deviant Art.

The other blogs that I have created do not directly "promote" my art, but do offer links to Green Dolphin Studio, the Cafe Press store, and to the other sites that do. Here's a list of the blogs I am currently keeping up with:

• Way Cool Quotes
• Way Cool Pictures
• More Cool Pictures
• Question of the Day
• Prosperity Project
• My Work at Home Job
• Gypsy Magic

Middle of the Night Art prints for sale

And then I had to make a decision about my "Middle of the Night Art" series. My plan is to eventually get it published as a book. I have an idea of creating an art book using the original art, cool leather bindings, doing it all by hand, and then auctioning it on eBay and making a gazillion dollars. Stay tuned to see how that works out. LOL.

For now, I have decided to sell prints of the Middle of the Night art. Just prints. Nothing spectacular, nothing limited edition. I may change my mind later, and there is still time to do that since I haven't yet put them up anywhere. At any rate, here are the Middle of the Night Art pictures that I pulled out to print and sell.

Driving my car off the road into nowhere.This picture is an all time favorite, and really defines my approach to life.

-oOo-


Melting PotI just love this one. For me, the little witchdoctor represents the "master of the universe", and the idea for this picture came from a Rumi poem about being cooked in a pot. I'll upload a copy of the poem here in a few days, and put a link to it here, so you can read it and see what I'm talking about.

-oOo-


Can the problem of bovine illiteracy be solved with prescription eye glasses?An excellent question, and as you can see, it is an important one as well. I too, often stand cow-like and dense, unable to read the signs.

-oOo-


Life in a nut shell. This pretty much sums up my views on life on earth as a human woman, and it also looks like a fairly accurate portrayal of my house.

:)

These are wax pastels and colored pencil on acid free black cardstock. The originals measure 8" x 8". So, here they are. Now all I need to do is figure out where to put them so people can buy them.

Mandala Art For Sale

The mandala art is all digital, so there are no issues in terms of packaging and shipping. I am planning to sell them as 16" by 16" limited edition fine art giclee prints on canvas. Here they are:

Abundance

This seemed an appropriate choice, since abundance is what I am wanting to achieve here. And also because this is the first mandala that I made.

-oOo-


NamasteI like the message, (Namaste means peace) almost as much as I like the image. Not only that, it really pops out on a web page, so I thought it would be a good choice for that reason as well.

-oOo-

Samadhi This one is so beautiful. I love the blue in it so much. It reminds me of water and stained glass together. Wouldn't it be cool to have a small reflecting pool with this image under the water? Maybe even with a few little orange koi swimming through it? Yummy!

-oOo-

MeditationI shared with a small demo print of this image with a coworker and she likes to keep it at her desk, it really pops out at you when you walk by. My sister, who is an incredibly gifted artist, made me a beautiful piece with an image similar to this, only she used colored glass and did a mosaic.

Abstract Art for Sale

My selection of the four abstract art pieces was based on how much I love them, how easy they would be to scan (for prints), and also for how easy they would be to pack and ship. This is what I came up with. If you want to see them bigger, click on an image and it will enlarge:

Blue Fish

This is pigmented india ink on 100% rag premium paper. I love the colors in it, and when ever I look at it, I just want to go there. It's small, only 8" x 10".

-oOo-

HalloweenThis one is one of my all time favorites. It's mixed media on watercolor paper. Another small painting, this one is only 9" x 12". The wonderfully creepy interesting textures and colors give it so much depth and flavor, don't you think?

-oOo-

Owl MoonI always see new things when I look at this painting. It's like a shamanic dream. Today it looks to me like there is someone sitting under the moon, hidden in the shadows. Cool huh? This one is a 9"x12" mixed media on watercolor paper.

-oOo-

Cosmic IrisThis is the largest one. I had to scan it four times and then merge the scans, but it was worth the effort. This one is ink and acrylic on rice paper, and is 9" x 13". It has a wonderful translucent quality.

Getting Started with Selling Art

I got some great feedback on my question over at Question of the Day, and it helped me to make up my mind which paintings to put out there first. I found it impossible to pick two of each one, and I have lots of favorites, so I chucked the idea of starting with six paintings, and decided to start with twelve - four of each. And because the styles are so different, I thought it might be a good idea to "market" them separately.

The abstract pieces chosen are: Blue Fish, Halloween, Owl Moon, and Cosmic Iris. You can take a look at them here.

The mandala art that I picked: Namaste, Abundance, Samadhi, and Meditation. You can take a look at those pictures here.

And from the Middle of the Night Art series, I chose: Driving my car off the road into no where, Melting Pot, Can the problem of bovine illiteracy be solved with prescription eye glasses, and Life in a nutshell. Take a look at them here.

So, there they are. The top twelve, armed and dangerous, ready to voyage into the cyberspace of "Art Online". The next thing to figure out is where to send them.

Selling Art Online

Ok, so I want to sell my art online. And this is my year. So I'm going to do it. Hmmm, what should I do first?

I guess first I need to have art to sell. Lets just take a look around the house... Well, let me see... there is art on the walls, art leaning up against the walls, art in the closet, art in front of the closet, art in the other closet, art in the computer, art on the computer, even some art under the computer. There is art on the dining room table, art on the art room table.. There's even art in the dresser drawers. There is so much art around here, I almost don't have room for me!

There is so much art, I don't even know where to start. I guess that's going to be step two. Figuring out what paintings to start with. So... should I start working at selling paintings in alphabetical order? Favorites first? Start with one series? Put forth a variety of styles and colors? Do a weekly pick 6? Run around the house blindfolded and just grab something?

I think I'll just bop on over to the "Question of the Day" and see if I can get any valuable insights or answers.