Last Post Here at Rose’s Art Lines

The day has arrived! I have setup my new blog and site. This will be my last post here, barring any major complications.

If you have received this post in a reader, you need to subscribe over at www.rosewelty.com, there is a link in the sidebar. This message is only going out on the blogspot feed, so if you want to stay in touch, you need to go to www.rosewelty.com and subscribe.

If you come over to the new blog:

Giveaways! Any one who leaves a comment on the welcome post will be entered into a drawing. I will be giving away two pieces of original art .  If you have any links to me and you update them, please mention that and I will put your name in for each time that you updated.  (It will all be explained on the welcome post.)

Finally, thanks to everyone for the well wishes after my accident at the jungle gym. Honestly, I must have really whacked my head badly…that concussion was very difficult to get over. My husband was a super champ…he proved again that he is my knight in shining armor. We had wonderful help from many friends as well…you know who you are and that we love you.

Make sure you visit rosewelty.com we have some great posts on twitter, facebook, and art marketing coming up.

On Medical Leave

I'm off blogging for a few days...I suffered a concussion this weekend. I have had it checked out, there is no hemorrhage. I praise God for His care of me and my noggin.

Back when I'm up to it...

Changes Ahead

First, I just wanted to share the beauty that is currently happening in my front yard….my phlox:

I am not a great gardener, you can see that my grass is mostly cropped out, but this is a victory!

Changes Ahead

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was considering moving away from blogger. I have decided to make a move. The changes won’t be made until next week.

There is nothing for you to do right now.

I’m just giving you some warning that things are in the works.

Most of you won’t have to do a thing, it will be seamless.

I wish that I could do this completely without bothering anyone or creating any uncertainty. But, there is always a risk that we’ll lose people.

So, to keep everyone motivated about making sure they are subscribed and looking to the right place, I’ll be giving away a few pieces.

I’ll have more details in the coming days. Be assured, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it was essential to me being able to give you more art, better art, and a better blog. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

 

 

Flick! - Good, Cheap Database for Artists

Origami Velociraptor – what we moms do for our kids!

Recently I’ve been working on organizing my art studio. One essential part of the studio is the management on electronic files and images. I had looked at a bunch and was very disappointed. Then, I stumbled upon Flick!

As it is only $30, I figured it probably wouldn’t be that good. But, I saw the front page endorsement by the clever Tina Mammoser and decided I definitely had to try it.

I have since played around with it and love it! It is definitely able to do all that I need it to and more. Before this I have used spreadsheets, which are all alright – but with tracking customers, dealing with more images than before, etc – I just kept thinking that I needed a database. Having been a programmer, I was very tempted to build my own. But, I decided that if I could find something affordable I’d be further ahead to just buy one.

I’m thrilled with it. It’s definitely affordable. Organization is a very personal thing, so you would need to try out any system for yourself, but Flick! makes it easy with a free trial.

Origami Anklyosaurus – when the first step has a substep of 16 steps, you know you are in trouble!

Challenge Can Lead to New Inspiration

Another page in the flower book

Recently I mentioned that I was joining Problogger’s 31 Days to a Better Blog challenge. When he did this two years ago I read through all the posts, so why did I decide to do it again?

More importantly, why should you give yourself a challenge about blog writing?

1. None of us is perfect – everyone, even Problogger himself could stand to improve. It’s a bit like communication in marriage, one can always work on it :D.
2. Breathes new life – asking critical questions of your blog can lead to new ideas.
3. Refocuses purpose – do you remember why you started your blog? What is your aim? Are your latest posts in line with that purpose?
4. Encourages – in some of the areas we’ll be looking at you’ll find that you are doing really well – and it’s always nice to be reminded that are doing well.

And, is it working so far? (This is day two.)

1. Improving? Yes, I have been thinking about some improvements lately and this whole process is confirming to me that I need to make the improvements. (Watch this space – there are a few changes ahead, they will be better for you and better for me, I promise. :D)
2. New Life? Yes, I’ve had a few post ideas lately that I didn’t think were all that great – today, I read the challenge and this post has written itself! (Today’s challenge was to write a list post.)
3. Purpose? I have never defined my exact purposes for this blog, it felt really good to do so. A friend of mine who is doing the challenge found this part very helpful!
4. Encourages? Yes, it feels really good to understand that how important this blog is to me and why it is so important to my business.

So, if you haven’t  done some critical thinking about your blog lately, I’d suggest you do. You can join the challenge, or not. You can get special emails about it, or just read the posts. Personally, I hope to only take about 10 minutes a day to work on it (at least sitting in front of the computer for only 10 minutes), thinking may occur at other times. :D

Don’t wait for the day when you are willing to devote 3 hours to your blog instead of your art – not going to happen! Ten minutes spent improving your blog is better than zero minutes!

Start to A Portrait

 

For tonight’s painting session I decided to make a start on the portrait for my study group.

I used some of my new brushes that arrived today. I absolutely love my new “mural” brushes….the two inch flat is my favorite, just a wonderful way to lay down a huge swab of color.

Before I head off into the weekend…

Valerie, one of my Fine Art Friends has a new Etsy store. Valerie is clever with a colored pencil. She is also very good with a sewing machine. She has some unique products for sale – if I had a daughter she would get one of these for sure.

Series on Empty Easel

Today the third installment in my series on getting an art education cheaply  is available on Empty Easel.

The other articles I have on Empty Easel:

1. A Free Art Education Online – Is it Possible? (First in the series)
2. The Big List of Drawing Resources (Second in the series)
3. A Call to Artists Everywhere: Stop Dreaming and Start Doing