Friday, January 29, 2016

My world is alive with challenges!

I absolutely thrive on pressure and challenge ... as long as I can get long nights of sleep and the occasional day where my wheels simply fall off and I have to sleep the afternoon away. I'm obviously loving a life of extremes ... either totally exhilarated or happily snoozing on a sense of achievement.

There's a lot on my plate this year .... the new aspects being a demanding new brush painting course, and administering and marketing the Palette Knife Painters Group which takes up two almost entire days a week at the moment. I've still got a formal, large, portrait painting to complete, a trip to the UK (family visits) and Ireland to take work to three galleries there, marketing my own work and keeping a high profile in cyberspace ... and, of course, my fair share of looking after my 92 year Mum who has Altzheimers.

My tip for the day:
The days are just flying by .... so I've set out a timetable for myself, just like I was in school. And it's really helping to keep me on track and stay focused. I've used a spreadsheet programme with each day of the week and it's duties highlighted in a different colour. Yay me!

On a high today, so have chosen a busy painting for this blog :

"Henry"

Monday, January 18, 2016

My Art Marketing Addiction

I get such a buzz from marketing and networking online.

For a self-professed hermit, as I am, I have a fair number of Friends on Facebook (and growing daily), twelve Facebook Pages which are either mine or I am involved with, two Facebook Groups, and at least three blogs which I monitor daily. I don't post daily but I do keep an eye on them and promote them regularly as well as when I get the chance by default. I have a few other blogs as well but use them more as my private notebooks than public platforms.

I'm passionate about it all!

My latest Group is the Palette Knife Painters Worldwide Group where I've used one of the members' paintings as our page image. I just love it! It's called "Free Already", is by Carrie Jacobson, and sadly only the top part of the image is able to appear on Facebook, but here's the whole thing:

"Free Already" by Carrie Jacobson

Networking online is, for me, another creative activity. Sometimes I feel a bit like the conductor of an orchestra ... what a feeling of power! Organisation and displine are key to all this music, otherwise all hell breaks out and it takes me a while to catch up.

Believe it or not, there is time to paint in amongst all this marketing stuff, although more in the warmer months than right now in the chilly depths of winter. As I type, my fingers are stiffly protruding from fingerless gloves and I'm thinking .... hot chocolate.

So, to prove my networking and marketing addiction, these are my pages, groups and blogs:


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Painting and Art Sales Blog

Once a week I'll post an update from the Painting and Art Sales Blog. It's building up to be quite a strong platform from which to promote your painting sales.

You find find the Facebook page here :  http://Facebook.com/PaintingSales

And the blog here : http://PaintingAndArtSales.blogspot.com

How to participate on this platform is easy to find on both the Blog and the Facebook page. Just look for Terms and Conditions.

Some latest posts:

"Fly Free" by Roisin Duffy
For sale. Please click  :  HERE
http://roisinduffy.com/RoisinDuffy.com/Fly_Free.html
 "Fly Free" by Roisin Duffy (Irish Artist)
info@roisinduffy.com
http://roisinduffy.com

"Cosmos" by Brenda Mackay

"Cosmos" by Brenda Mackay (South Africa)
For sale. Please click  :  HERE

Please contact Patricia Brown, UK agent for Brenda Mackay

Monday, January 11, 2016

Palette Knife Painters Group

I'm happy to report that I have recently been handed the reins of the Palette Knife Painters group and blog. Yay! What a challenge and what a lovely group of artists to work with.

I'm busy getting the hang of it all - how to network this valuable gem so that it becomes part of a strong linked-system working Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter - as well as other blogs and platforms.

We're on the lookout for new palette knife artists .... hopefully loads more from Europe, Africa and Australia - as well as anywhere else in the world we can find them. And there must be a treasure trove more palette knife artists in the USA too. In this way we'll bring together a host of different styles influenced by different cultures and environments. Just think of that energy!


You can find the main blog here : http://PaletteKnifePainters.blogspot.com

Here is a sample of paintings recently uploaded:

 Artist : Karin Tarlton

 Artist : Jane Boyd

 Artist : Judith Babcock

 Artist : Carol Schiff

Artist : Mark Bidstrup
lyndacookson@gmail.com

www.facebook.com/MySoapBox

Saturday, January 02, 2016

"Told You So!"

It's a new day, it's a new world, it's a New Year!! And I thought I'd start it with a little bit of Attitude. I present to you: "Told You So!" a charcoal drawing on oil monoprint.

I have a few of these types of sketches, inspired by two separate life drawing classes where I found the models (a male, then a female) to be particularly grumpy and unresponsive during the class. I just couldn't relate to the essence of who they might be ... so resorted to humour and character drawing instead. I had loads of fun ... even if they didn't!

Have a delightfully wonderful 2016 everyone! Enjoy all the Highs, and kick all the Lows into the place they belong!

"I Told You So" - in all his glory - is available HERE (or click the image or title below)


lyndacookson@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/MySoapBox