Niggling feeling...

Déjà vu

Do you ever feel like you've painted something before? I'm sure I've painted this shape/composition before but can't think when. Must spend some time trawling old digital images tomorrow I think...

(Spurn Head, Yorkshire, painting in progress)

Lake Michigan - the missing years

Something I don't really include on my website is a history of sold paintings. But when doing some updates post-AAF I thought the Lake Michigan paintings page looked very sad and empty. You see, while there were some paintings on the page it was actually a much bigger series than it might appear. Not quite on par with the English Coast series but a definite little sister of it, and a sign of the quantity of work one subject matter can inspire in me.

So simply for viewing pleasure I added most of the series to the 'sold' section of the page. This wasn't a rigorous project, I simply took a hour or so and added the the ones easily found. While I should have been doing other things of course. When the autumn madness ends I will make a more thorough effort.

Enjoy! (click here)

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Map swapping

3 maps for swap
Originally uploaded by bigbluebed

The very generous bigbluebed put these maps on the Etsy UK swap group - a Flickr group of UKers where we swap extra supplies and materials mainly.

So it seems I'll have to jump up to Scotland for my next coast cycle! And not just that, but a big jump from the Elgin area over to Ullapool. Somehow. heh.

The other maps I currently have are the Scilly Isles and Colchester. So I guess a lot of big jumps!

Do you have any old OS coast area maps that you don't need? Since I mainly follow roads rather than bridleways or cycle paths generally they can be slightly out of date. At the moment I estimate I need about 50 more Landranger maps just for the English and Welsh coasts (not including Scotland and Ireland). That's at least £200 if I get them from a good source, or £350 at retail. There are about another 30 maps of the Scottish coast (not including islands). So as you can see, any map donations greatly appreciated! :) Perhaps I could swap you an ACEO?

(It's quicker to list maps I don't need really: 19, 25, 28, 101, 107, 169, 178, 179, 189, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 203)

Saturday "Oh I wish I were by the seaside"

It's the weekend and don't you wish you were by the sea? Even a bad day by the sea is better than an average day anywhere else.

Mist near Bournemouth

Please feel free to download this image, it should be large enough to be used as a desktop pic on most computers. Print it if it will make you feel happy to see it on your wall. Feel free to send it to friends. Copyright does remain with me though so please don't sell it. The full-size resolution of these images may not be great; I take the photos on my coast journeys with a cheap and cheerful compact digital as reference for the paintings so things can be blurry, badly-lit, low-res, etc.

This is a new weekly feature to share my coast photographs that otherwise don't get seen much. They were feeling unloved. You can see the paintings they help create at http://www.tina-m.com

Artist Day Off

Lots of browsing online
About 5 cups of coffee to go with...
5 hours of catch-up Gilmore Girls (sad, but true - weekend omnibus as I was out all this week)
IOP mags to read
Mac Format mag
Possibly some sewing
Maybe crochet

And a lot of tidying. The house turns into a tip when I have an art fair.

Tomorrow: Skylark Gallery and end of AAF.

Starry Starry Night...

Well, ceiling at least! My tiny horizons hung at the Affordable Art Fair this afternoon.

The building organisers (rather than the fair organisers, as far as I understand it) decided to drape the ceiling not with the usual white fabric but with black fabric with purple/pink fairy lights. While it's entirely wrong for an art fair (no natural light coming through now, and quite dark) I love it! heehee.

Here's to a good fair for everyone taking part!

StudioWaves, Deadlines

deadline art department
by youcansleepwhenyouredead

Welcome to episode 14!
DEADLINES

Click Here to Listen

Affordable Art Fair this week, Edinburgh Art Fair next week, Dartmouth Arms show, choosing work, and what is "affordable" art anyway?

Mentioned this week:

• Wetcanvas.com
• Affordable Art Fair, London (if you'd like a 1/2 price voucher for tickets, just email me)
• Edinburgh Art Fair
• My exhibition at The Dartmouth Arms, Forest Hill
• The Newhaven cliffs painting: "From Saltdean"
• The 5" horizon paintings

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Saturday "Oh I wish I were by the seaside"

It's the weekend and don't you wish you were by the sea? Even a bad day by the sea is better than an average day anywhere else.

Pagham Spit

Please feel free to download this image, it should be large enough to be used as a desktop pic on most computers. Print it if it will make you feel happy to see it on your wall. Feel free to send it to friends. Copyright does remain with me though so please don't sell it. The full-size resolution of these images may not be great; I take the photos on my coast journeys with a cheap and cheerful compact digital as reference for the paintings so things can be blurry, badly-lit, low-res, etc.

This is a new weekly feature to share my coast photographs that otherwise don't get seen much. They were feeling unloved. You can see the paintings they help create at http://www.tina-m.com

Spurn Head - the next canvas

Spurn Head
Originally uploaded by tina-m

Literally just stretched a canvas for this one!

Spurn Head begged to be a larger canvas (though not too huge, I need a rest from lugging 150cm wide paintings around). So I tore an old painting off stretchers and got some lovely new canvas to stretch on. This one was slightly challenging to sketch up since it is a horizontal image of course, but the layout -- Spurn Head splitting the North Sea from the Humber -- is vertical in an instinctive sense. From the viewer's perspective on the head, with the head running into the distance between the two stretches of water on either side.

So vertical it shall be. A challenge. And those darn cliffs thought they were tricky.

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From Saltdean

From Saltdean
Originally uploaded by tina-m

As promised from last week - the cliff painting from Newhaven, with masking tape used, forgetting about said masking tape, turning the canvas sideways, etc.

It worked in the end.

The story is on last week's podcast, Excess Energy.

Saturday "Oh I wish I were by the seaside"

It's the weekend and don't you wish you were by the sea? Even a bad day by the sea is better than an average day anywhere else.

Fair ride at Bridlington

Please feel free to download this image, it should be large enough to be used as a desktop pic on most computers. Print it if it will make you feel happy to see it on your wall. Feel free to send it to friends. Copyright does remain with me though so please don't sell it. The full-size resolution of these images may not be great; I take the photos on my coast journeys with a cheap and cheerful compact digital as reference for the paintings so things can be blurry, badly-lit, low-res, etc.

This is a new weekly feature to share my coast photographs that otherwise don't get seen much. They were feeling unloved. You can see the paintings they help create at http://www.tina-m.com

Flick o' paint: Twitter lessons

Following on from Alyson Stanfield's link to a Twitter seminar yesterday, here are a few more resources for Twitter lessons. Whether you already enjoy using Twitter or are still on the sidelines, these links might help you improve your "tweets".

The Twitter Grader : http://twitter.grader.com
(mentioned by CreativeSage, and her Twitter profile)
Gives you a rating based on your followers, followings, and updates plus recommendations for like souls to follow and a link to the free... (my rating is 80%, but CreativeSage's is 100%!)

Social Media Marketing Kit: http://tinyurl.com/3nbabf
A set of a web video seminar and PDF of the slides/ebook. Free, you just have to sign-up.

And lest we forget
Chris Brogan's guest blog on ProBlogger: How I use Twitter to promote my blog
Probably the best 4 tips you can get relating Twitter, blogging and promotion.

Any other resources out there?

Mark the Date! Affordable Art Fair

London Autumn Affordable Art Fair!

I have a limited number of 2 for 1 email entry tickets available, please email me if you'd like one. (you just print it and take it along to the fair). I'll be showing a zillion (okay, maybe 50 or so) of my tiny horizons on Stand G5 with Skylark Gallery.

StudioWaves, Excess Energy!!!

Welcome to episode 13!
"Excess Energy!!!"

Click Here to Listen

This week I share my nervous and excess energy as I get optimistic and then get working on the new Yorkshire coast paintings. (and finish up some older ideas too) Today's picture is of the lenses in the old Dungeness lighthouse - I thought I might have a good photo of the power station there (energy and all that) but this seemed zingier!

Mentioned this week:

• My Etsy thread (I here's the follow up blog entry on the same topic, with some interesting other blog links)
• Finished Newhaven painting - no photo yet so will post later this week!
• Weird grey light on the horizon on Flickr
• The cliffs heading into Newhaven, until I get the painting photographed
  

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Saturday "Oh I wish I were by the seaside"

It's the weekend and don't you wish you were by the sea? Even a bad day by the sea is better than an average day anywhere else.

Tide going out at Rottingdean, Kent

Please feel free to download this image, it should be large enough to be used as a desktop pic on most computers. Print it if it will make you feel happy to see it on your wall. Feel free to send it to friends. Copyright does remain with me though so please don't sell it. The full-size resolution of these images may not be great; I take the photos on my coast journeys with a cheap and cheerful compact digital as reference for the paintings so things can be blurry, badly-lit, low-res, etc.

This is a new weekly feature to share my coast photographs that otherwise don't get seen much. They were feeling unloved. You can see the paintings they help create at http://www.tina-m.com

The economy - a different take

Image by tina-m via Flickr,
bunny by SpidercampLately there has been thread after thread on Etsy (and blogs) about the economy: what to do, bad things, scary things, pulling back, how to cope, etc. I kept seeing things like "Because of the economy" so decided to post a counter-argument out of frustration at all the negativity. Even when things are tough why not smile?

I wanted to generate some positive brainstorming and it became a wonderful exchange of ideas. My podcast out next week expands a bit on where I'm coming from with this point of view.




"Because of the economy..."
(link takes you to original thread, with 12 pages of replies as I type here)

Are you EXPANDING?!?!

I am. Painting bigger, higher prices, trying to open a workshop/gallery (renting, not buying the shop), advertising more, listing more, and for the first time have a business account and applying for a bus loan.

How about you? Downturns can be the best opportunities for growth and expansion as your competition pulls back, downsizes, and businesses with larger overheads and too many credit accounts close shop.

Being a low to mid-turnover self-employed business can actually be a benefit right now if you have minimal premises expenses, can still buy somewhat in bulk, control your own hours, and don't rely on high-street retail traffic. For artists and craftspeople who can put work out on consignment our opportunities can actually INCREASE because shops who are feeling the pinch don't have to invest capital in stock, yet our work can then be seen in more places.

Are you growing? Do you have a plan to hit the market hard for the next 6 months? He who survives wins - if you're trading and active for the next few quarters you may find your competition has shrunk, while your presence has been consistent, and you are the name that comes to mind for buyers and stockists when the upturn hits!

Anyone else agree with this? Business plans must be longterm, not just the current economic period. It's worked for me so far over the years - the harder things get the more I take risks.

Share your ideas, plans and successes! :)

Here's to a period of great opportunities.

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Artists need cake

I'm having a very good studio day today (or have had rather, it's about quitting time) so instead of blogging about the work I'm going to get on with it and share a treat instead.


5 minute chocolate cake. Yes, really.

I do recommend the following changes to the recipe:

1. Add an extra tablespoon of milk
2. Smother in chocolate frosting and eat while warm. It will melt into a pile of messy chocolate goo but by gods who cares?!?
   

Tip for Brits: you can replace the sugar and cocoa with 6 tablespoons of Cadbury Drinking Chocolate, the kind you mix with milk (not the kind you mix with water)

Have a great day!