Why I'm an artist

  I've always thought I was very luck to have such supportive parents. Even from an early age they supported and encouraged any of my endeavors. I remember my step dad once telling me "You can accomplish anything you want to in life, as long as you work hard enough." It's advice I have always taken to heart.

  It's been a long journey til I realized that this it's the only thing I can be. Not that I couldn't have tried hard and finished college and chosen a "real job", I am fully capable of doing so. At most any job I've had I worked hard, followed directions, and became an exemplary employee. I would think to myself "This is it, I can do this, it's easy, it pays the bills and then some, I'll just work here and I'll be ok." And then a little time passes and I just can't do it any more. It would begin eating into my sole. It was against who I am. It's not about chasing a foolish dream, but about staying true to myself. There is no other way to explain it except that that being an artist is something I must do, just as breathing is.

  I didn't choose to be an artist, I was born one. It is my calling, it is something I have known since the age of 8 and no matter how hard I fight it, no matter how much I try to have a "normal" job or a "normal" life I am physically, and spiritually unable to do so.

Blue Boston on Orange

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=261418019717

RMB Art Studio OFFICIAL GRAND OPENING! Nov. 16: 6-10pm

Well, it has occurred to me that my studio has already been open for about six months and I haven't really had a BIG Grand Opening Party! Yes, I had what I called a grand opening when I opened my doors to customers for the first time in April. But this was more of a Soft Opening as I did not have many items or guests that night.

So, my Official Grand Opening will be November 16, 2013. From 6pm-10pm during our normal monthly art walk. I am so excited about it! I typically do not dress up for many events, but this will be my time to do so. I am currently trying to get some great Entertainment, I'm already speaking with a Gentleman that may perform on his guitar that night. There will be great food and a variety of drinks (of course, what's an art opening if not a chance to mingle and take in some fine spirits). And, the most exciting part of the night, aside from seeing great art, will be the raffles! Guests can get their tickets at the door and a drawing will be held at about 9pm that night for some great items from the gallery/shop area of my studio!

Below is the official invite/flyer for my Grand Opening, if you live in the DFW area I'd love to see you there!

New Art: Orange Beagle on Blue

Check out out on EBay! This is a $56 painting I am auctioning off for only $39.20. The auction ends Sunday and will go back to its original price if it doesn't sell.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=261292804490

Yorkie

This painting was supposed to go with an order placed by a Dog Daycare in NC. However, since it was different then the others that were just face portraits I decided to paint another Yorkie in its place. This little guy is now for sale, he is on 8x10 canvas and poisoned in acrylic.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=261277599859

Pug painting for sale!

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=261271777692

The Importance of selling art across multiple venues

Back when I was in school I began selling my art on Ebay. At this time the site was just booming and my art was selling like hot cakes. I was able to pay the bills and pay my university tuition. My boyfriend at The time and I were both able to quit our jobs and live off of my art sales alone. And all while barely out of high school and with no experience running a business!

And then 9/11 happened. For a while sales went down and I quickly realized that if sales dropped in the one place I was selling my work I may not be able to afford food or electricity or even rent. So, I set forth on a quest to learn all I can about other places to sell my work, sales in general, running a business, and marketing. I picked up jobs that would teach me these thing. I sold cars, managed restaurants and even became a marketing manager for a real estate company. This along with my own research in how to sell, finance, and where to sell online has equipped me with an arsenal of information and tools to run my own business doing what I love to do most, Paint.

One of the most important things I learned is not to have only one venue for my work. The thing is that if that venue is slow that month you will go hungry. Anyone who invests knows that investing in the market you should use what is called "Dollar Cost Averaging". This is where you spread out your investments over several different stocks to reduce your liability and protect your assets all while building your investments. This is considered one of the safest ways to invest. I applied the same theory to my art sales plan. If I have several sites and brick and mortar locations with my work in them, then when one venue is slow one of the others can help make up for that. Now I currently sell my work in 6 brick and mortar locations, over 5 sites and on social media. This strategy has proven to help not only increase my sales and commission work, but to to keep me going during the slower months.

This isn't something you can just jump into, it has taken time and patience to build each venue, and although I have only been consistently using this strategy for less then a year, since I quit my job the be a full time artist, I have had much success. So much in fact that I have been asked to teach a series of workshops on the subject in a local artist community I am part of. And I am more then pleased to be able to help other artists build their business by teaching what has taken me over a decade to acquire. 

If you live in the DFW area and would like to attend these workshops please contact me, either by Email, or on Facebook. Right now I am only teaching locally, but I hope to start some online seminars soon. To be informed of workshops and seminars in the future please subscribe to my blog or my Newsletter.