First day of my first blog!

Hello.


This is A LOT easier than creating a web site! I have someone else do all the work there but this even I can do this. (I think.)

Portland Head Light, 11 x 14, watercolor on Arches CP 140 paper

That was easy. The intent of this blog is to gather interest in myself and my artwork. Ideally, this interest will lead to worldwide recognition, artwork sales, and help me rise to the rank of a professional artist who actually makes a successful living at it. I sell paintings now but it is still massage that provides most of my income. I would rather paint! I always thought that the phrase "starving artist" was a very poor affirmation and that artists should have a better attitude. I am learning that earning money in art can be a bit challenging. I accept that challenge and you can watch while I achieve my artistic goals.


I hope to interest you with images of paintings, and information about them that you will not find on my web site. I will do some photo series that will demonstrate the evolution of a painting. (Example: "How the leopard got its spots.") I will share some interesting marketing ideas that have worked for me and hopefully will experience many more of them to share. Expect to explore real life art experiences from the perspective of a creative, emerging artist who believes in magic.


There may be some humorous blunders as I learn to navigate in a blog and start getting a clue about what I am doing. I have only been on one blog before. I think it was a blog.


The lighthouse image above is supposed to be down here. It took three tries to get it to show up at all so I will leave it where it is. It is the Portland Head Light, a well known lighthouse in Portland, Maine. My friend Allan Perrie took the reference photo and let me paint it.

I like to paint from my own photos and have been on a lighthouse quest for the last two years. I tried to get good photos in Cape Cod and on the coast of Southern, Connecticut. I was unable to get any photos that looked worthy of paintings. In July my family went on vacation in the Outer Banks in N.C. I finally got some nice lighthouse photos but they weren't spectacular. What is the point of a lighthouse painting that doesn't even have water in it? I painted the Bodie Lighthouse and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse anyway. They are OK. You can see them on my web site and some people like them. I told Allan my dilemma and he told me about this photo. He emailed it to me and it was like a dream come true. I consider this one of my best paintings. The biggest complement was when I showed it to my teacher, Laura. She told me it was done! Laura usually finds about 10 ways my paintings can be improved when I think they are about done.

I finished the painting in November in time for the fall Connecticut Watercolor Show. I just got it back from a juried show at the East Granby Public Library and am wondering where to put it next. I am doing a signed limited edition of 100 Giclee prints. I sold at least one so far. I am very willing to sell the original because I can keep a print, otherwise it might be tough to let it go. It is $450 with the double mat and frame, and I am surprised no one has bought it yet. I know this painting will sell. The note card version is a best seller at $2.50.

I guess I better actually publish this post and see how it all works! Thanks for reading! I hope I still have time to paint now that I am a blogger!