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Milkweed, Chess, Social Media – LIfe Lessons

 Milkweed, Chess, Social Media – Life Lessons
Milkweed-Chess-Social Media: A pastel from the Desert

Milkweed-Chess-Social Media-Life Lessons

The pastel is a new pastel but the original inspiration was from a cross-country trip to California in 1989. I have two previous pastels of the same area and still have not captured the image I remember.

Often a picture takes a while to form, much like learning certain processes. Self-taught in most of my creative endeavors, it has taken many years to perfect my vision, technique and the ability to capture perspective.

Painting is on hiatus lately, in fact today I tried painting a cardinal Christmas ornament and it was a futile attempt. I believe the in-between time of mental block or lack of creativity is when we are in the valley of the learning process.

First we receive the information, next we digest it, when using the newly found logic, it is awkward and what is usually second nature becomes difficult because of the learning process.

Only after the knowledge and technique becomes second-nature does it turn into instinct instead of learning, this is when we have accomplished understanding.

Playing Chess: Learning Curves:

I have been playing chess and have been losing terribly to even players with smaller ratings and yet I lose miserably. I believe it is because the knowledge of new moves and understanding has to be perfected in the mind before it becomes second nature.

FIrst you question, then you experiment with what you think is the answer and only after the answer is engrained in your instinct is it actually a learned process.

The Process of Falling Down, Learning, Repeat

Some of the best lessons are learned from failing, trying again, failing again and only then realizing the process. I have been growing Milkweed from seed, first I failed with the seedlings until I learned what was killing them, than I failed the secondary plants that grew from the seedlings-I am just now realizing the process and understanding the why’s and how’s of gardening from seed, milkweed can be quite finicky.

Learning is a process, it can’t be rushed, it must be met with patience and a desire for the final outcome. Once we understand our failure, only then can we find the greatest success.

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So much to learn, So little time: 5 of 5

newgarden

Learning to Social – Back to the original post, it takes time. There are shortcuts to find and retaining clients but there are no shortcuts to knowing them. You can’t fake relationship with a potential client, you must be there for them as they are for you.

I speak with the metaphor of a gardener and being one, it seems appropriate. Disperse seeds, don’t expect a quick pay out but realize why you are in the business in the first place, do you care about your customers?

If you don’t care about them, they will quickly not care about you and your product. I believe in laying the future, getting to know people, having more people realize you may something they need and living life with a passion that pays when others endeavors don’t

In the end, I have no doubt that I will reap the benefits of the broad garden of pictures, thoughts and ideas which will one day be book covers, stories in e-books and paintings on walls, it just takes time, did I mention it takes a lot of time.

You just need to use your time wisely. Do what you love and do it well and often and share it with as many people who care about what you are selling, the rewards will come much like the garden that grows from the seeds you planted in the spring, and it will be beautiful.

 

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So you have an audience: Now what? Part 1 of a 5 part series

muirwoods

Navigating a landscape, it’s okay to ask for directions.

Social Media 101 – This is an update to the article, So much to learn, so little time. I’ve learned much about the social media landscape and the hills and valleys of finding and marketing to potential clients. One thing for sure, it takes a time, lots of time.

If you expect to sell your product or service through strictly free social media, realize it will be a long road, with many highs and lows. One thing great about it, you learn so much by trying, experimenting, by failing and experimenting again.

I now realize how important it is to learn from others who have taken the path and discover some proven shortcuts. You have a finite amount of time and content and if you don’t learn how others have made it, you will spend much time learning and less time reaping the benefits.

So learn from others who have lots of followers that are attracting the same audience you seek. Ask lots of questions, take classes that have been valuable to others in your field and learn from the vast amount of experience at your finger tips.

Tomorrow’s post: A changing Landscape but still the same landscape

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My First Creative Blog – Much to Learn

My First Creative Blog – How do you start blogging about art? How do you explain a process that you have been so involved with for so many years it feels like second nature. I would venture to guess that you would blog about the change from conventional art, painting and pastels to the
Creation of art through the computer and the marketing of art through the internet.  I recently launched my website, www.artbygordon.com,  something I had been talking about for many years and I was so happy to finally complete a task-I tend to procrastinate and I have so many different ideas for writing, poetry, art and photography, half the time I write them down and they never get completed. Starting to blog was something that has been on my list for a long time as well.
So the process starts with a website that is by all counts awkard-inconsistencies in fonts, Lack of search engine keywords which is just as well for now as I  am trying to clean up the site and perfect the appearance before I start spreading the word. I have learned more in the last few days of working with the HTML code and editing the Meta tags and it seems every time I think I get the idea I learn something else. I don’t believe you spread the  word or market artwork by just spreading it to friends, I believe it’s a start as word of mouth is important but how do you spread the site to people that want to buy art or even learn more about you as an artist. I have learned that launching the site is such a small step in marketing and the information I am picking up will be instrumental in how I market and show my artwork. Some ideas on the horizon are an interactive gallery, a poetry blog and a photography page and I know that when doing all of these processes I will learn more from the process itself.
I have been on a bit of a break from painting which I think makes it a good time to market what I have already created but more than selling art and marketing the art is learning about the process of marketing. I will venture more into the social media aspect and actually learn more about the people that would want to buy art. I will, in the near future, have an art show whether it be online or at a festival and I will blog and tweet and post with the idea of seeing where I get the most interest. I tought myself to paint and believe that is how I learn the best. Doing web marketing is just another growth process
And over the next few months I will describe the options I’ve learned about social media, Google tools and the process of what I hope will eventually be effective self marketing of my painting, photography and writing. I am excited about the prospect and hope to gain followers with interest. I guess we’ll just have to see.