This morning I had a wonderful time with several artists from the Tucson area. They meet for breakfast every week. It was great to connect real people to some of those little icon photos that I've been conversing with online.

While it was a great time, I - once again - feel like I talked too much, and didn't do enough listening. When we get together next time, I'll make an effort to listen more and take interest in what others are doing. If I'm not careful, I'll even cross the line into gossip - although some don't consider what I say gossip, it feels that way to me.
Outer Sabino 9x12 oil

Looks like we'll be meeting for a very early walk in Sabino Canyon next week. This is one of my favorite places on earth. I'll include a couple of photos here. There's a year round stream, stone bridges that were built in the 1930's, 3 vegetation zones with giant deciduous trees near the stream - then saguarhos on the hillsides and then it's topped off with beautiful cliffs. If one is not up to walking the canyon, there is a tram that takes visitors from one end to the other.

Walking trail outer Sabino: photograph by Lori Woodward

View from my window

I'm looking forward to my time in Tucson - away from the the dark days and chills of New Hampshire. Don't get me wrong,  I love New England, but just not in the wintertime. Perhaps someday, my dream will come true and my husband and I can be snowbirds.

While there, I expect to work furiously on my ebook - on art marketing and living the professional artist life.
Also... need to get the bulk of the next article done for Watercolor Magazine... which will be on painting rocks. I can find plenty of those in the desert, but will include scenes from Acadia National Park.

But this year, as is every year, my main goal is take daily walks in the desert, visit Saguaro National Park and Sabino Canyon - visit with friends, and eat healthy food.

I won't have internet access in my room - probably a good thing, but will check in online once daily. If you'd like to see where I stay, you can visit the link here. Hacienda Del Desierto.

See ya in March!
Lori

I don't get a lot of time to paint. If you follow my blogs on Fine Art Views and American Artist, you know why. I've considered having giclee prints made... have done successfully in the past, but I've been pondering an idea for several years which I am now ready to take on. Original Editions.

My husband and I have been collecting art since 1996.. before that we bought limited edition prints, but once we made the leap from reproduction to original, we were never satisfied with our prints. It's just not the same as having something actually painted by the artist.

Many of my friends and acquaintances would love to buy my originals, but they are not used to spending that much money on artwork. They say they'd buy my prints because they're affordable, but if they could afford an original, they'd definitely want one. By now, some of you can see where I'm going with this blog.

I don't mind painting the same thing over and over - it's sort of like knitting; it relaxes me. If I work out a magnificent composition, I can paint it 10 or 20 times without having to think as much as I do with "one of a kind" paintings. The exciting thing is that I can offer these "editions" for slightly more than a mechanical reproduction, but for far less than an original that sells to one person. I've talked to some of my collectors about this idea, and they say that they're excited about the prospect.

Some artists would bore themselves silly by having to paint the same subject again and again, but my personality can handle it fine. I look forward to some of the benefits that I'll reap for doing so - such as improving with each iteration (unlike prints that remain the same - these editions will get better with time).

Of course, this idea is not a secret, and I don't mind if any other artists out there decide to try it out.

My first two series will be paintings from Acadia National Park and one - probably from Sabino Canyon in Tucson. They'll be offered from my website http://lwsimons.com   when I finish a new one, I'll be available through Pay Pal on that site.

If you're interested, please sign up for my email newsletter at http://lwsimons.com

Portrait of Linda, watercolor 14x11(Ipainted for upcoming article in Watercolor Magazine)

My life is becoming increasingly busy - with writing my column in Watercolor Magazine, blogs for Fine Art Views and American Artists' online forum, an occasional article for Workshop Magazine (I'll be writing 2 this year - one on Daniel Keys and another on Stapleton Kearns), my ebooks, and last but definitely not least - my paintings.

I'm writing here this morning to let you know about my upcoming blog series for Fine Art Views which will be about Adding Value to your artwork. I'll include many quotes and conversations from my mentors, including Jack Beal, Sondra Freckelton, Nancy Guzik and Richard Schmid. Just this weekend, Richard gave us words of wisdom at lunchtime about painting what we love... getting to know everything about that subject.

Right now, I'm writing for http://artistdaily.com twice a month, but that could turn into a weekly series. My blog there is called, "The Artist's Life".  I write once a week for Fine Art Views, and it is on this forum where I'll begin the "Adding Value" series. Yep, the title sounds kinda commercial, but the series won't feel that way. It's about painting for both Love and Money... with Love first and then the money following. It's about mastering our chosen medium and subject matter - it's about creating truly remarkable work "worth remarking about". Finally, it's about how it feels to be a professional artist, what to expect - what other artists both renowned and lesser known, experience in their daily pursuits.

I'll post my links to these articles on Twitter and my facebook page. You can follow either one with the following links.
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lori-Woodward/159774076315?ref=nf

Twitter: http://twitter.com/loriwords

Oh, and thanks for all your participation on both Fine Art Views and American Artist forums. It's been a lot of fun exchanging ideas and experiences.

I'm the kind of artist who enjoys making New Year's resolutions.

It was only a year ago that I started using Twitter, and I began with Facebook during the summer, and while these have both been great tools for my art and writing career, it has come to the point where I need to do the bulk of my work offline.

It's been great fun to help other artists out individually by answering their questions, being active on forums, and retweeting interesting articles that interest other artists... but now the time has come to invest more seriously in my own work, and that means spending more time in the studio, and writing on a computer that isn't connected to the Internet.

This might seem a little selfish, but it's the only way I know to get back to my career faithfully. The Internet is just to much of a seductive place to spend the bulk of my day. Then at the end of the day, I have nothing to show for my time except a slightly overloaded and confused mind and a lonely studio.

Yes, I will be actively writing for Fine Art Views, working on my ebooks, writing instructional articles for Watercolor Magazine, and contributing to American Artist's online forum. I occasionally write articles for Workshop Magazine, but only plan to do one or two of those a year.

The truth is, I miss that time alone in my studio or notebook where I create and ponder - with soft music and my muse. As much as I enjoy helping others, I need to be who I am, and that is an artist and writer. I hope you understand and will support me in this effort. You'll still hear from me on twitter and facebook and on forums, but not as often and when I have something to contribute that seems important.

It's been a wonderful and exciting year, and you artists out there have made it so. It's time to make a few adjustments so that I am more productive and can be better at what I do. Thank you all!
Sincerely,
Lori

Portrait of Linda watercolor on 300lb paper 11x14
The spring issue will be out in April.

I've been working all week (yes over the holidays) for my next article in watercolor magazine. I have a column there, but the next article will be on painting watercolor portraits from photos. I will include one or two paintings I've done from life, but the main part of the article will talk about how I use a digital camera and photoshop to help me make better portraits from photos.
Here's the "almost complete" painting that will be featured in the article.

As of last week, I began writing my first ebook. I've been meaning to get to it for over a year, but I'm glad I waited because I now have enough material to make it truly interesting.

It occurred to me that in order to meet the needs of my readers, I'll need to know a bit about what's on their minds. So I sent out an email newsletter asking a few questions about what they'd like me to teach and talk about in the ebook.

I plan on writing extensively about: art marketing, finding collectors, building a cohesive body of work, approaching galleries, selling on one's own, pricing, right brained organization, and artists' etiquette at shows and other events.

This is a lot of material to cover, so I'm thinking it might be better if I were to design several shorter ebooks that go into more detail on these subjects.

Here's I'm asking for your thoughts. What topics about being a professional artist weigh most on your mind?
I can't promise I'll cover every comment or idea that you present to me, but it would be helpful to me if I know what you're all thinking as I go.

Yes, I have the credentials to do this (just in case you were wondering). I've worked with Calvin J. Goodman (wrote a chapter in his Art Marketing Handbook). Have taught many art marketing workshops. I am a successful artist who writes an instructional column for American Artist's Watercolor Magazine. I've worked with half a dozen galleries. I've sold my work successfully on my own, and lastly - I have been a member of the Putney Painters for 7 years... we paint under the direction of Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik.

But that does not make me any better or more important than you. I'm here to share what others have passed on to me.

Sincerely,
Lori

In the 80s and 90s, those who lived in the greater Boston area of New England were used to seeing commercials for Prince Spaghetti. It was well known (by those commercials) that "Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day". The commercial showed how mom's called their kids home - by yelling their names out the door - (now moms use cell phones). When the kids heard their mom's yell on Wednesdays, they were sure to get home in hurry because they would be treated to a spaghetti dinner. This obviously was the practice in the northern end of Boston, but Prince Spaghetti company wanted to make Wednesday the day when all of New England would eat their spaghetti.

One Major Task Per Day

I have a handful of responsibilities these days, and I try to keep the number of major responsibilities to a number that I can count on one hand. This works out conveniently because there are five digits on my hand, and also five workdays in a week. Just as the Prince company named a day after their product, I've begun to name each one of my days after one of my main responsibilities. For example: Monday is Blog Day, Tuesday is Ebook Day, Wednesday is Household/Social Day, Thursday and Friday are Painting/American Artist Article Days.

Since I write 4 instructional articles a year for Watercolor Magazine, many of my paintings end up being published there, so I kill two birds with one stone, so to speak by taking step by step photos of my paintings as I go along just in case any one of them would work well in the article. But sometimes I just paint what I feel like painting, and then I can put those up on my website for sale.

Meeting With My Friends in Real Life

Every other Wednesday, I'll try to get out with real people (in person) because I need social input. On alternate Wednesdays, I'll devote the entire day to cleaning, shopping, and updating financial records. Plus, since my husband adores spaghetti... why not make it Spaghetti Day. I can't promise I'll use Prince products - I use Healthy Harvest combo whole wheat/Semolina products... which my husband tolerates. He says I put "sticks" in his food when it contains things like whole grain and flax seed.

The Ebooks Are Coming

One of the major projects which I've been meaning to make a priority is to begin writing ebooks. Some will cover painting tips I've learned from the masters I've studied with, including Sondra Freckelton, Jack Beal, Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik. Others ebooks will be about a combo of art marketing and living a productive life as a professional. I'm planning on offering these from my website and on Fine Art Views with Clint Watson because he has a larger audience.

This week, I'm moving my studio into the largest room in the house: the living room. My husband is totally OK with this, and I'll use the smallest bedroom as a storage place for frames, finished paintings, and other art supplies. This will hopefully keep the clutter out of my working space. The living room has cross ventilation, a nice gas fireplace, and an ancient carpet which we intend to remove at some point, so getting paint on it won't be a problem.

Fine Art Views and American Artist

PS In addition to writing a weekly blog for Fine Art Views, I'm now writing a bi-monthly blog for American Artist Online Forum: It's called, The Artist Life: it gets posted every other Friday morning. I'll post a link from my facebook page and my twitter account when it becomes available.

The following blog is by Christine Kane. Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her 'LiveCreative' weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative at www.christinekane.com.

How to Survive a Bad Day
by Christine Kane

Let's face it. No matter how much progress we make, we're still going to have "bad days."

You know the ones. When the old critical voices are milling about drinking martinis and eating crab puffs in your head. You try to send them all away with your favorite powerful affirmation, but only a few of them even look up - and one of them turns away and lights a cigarette.

What do you do when no matter what you do, you just feel awful?

Very few success-gurus talk about the bad day, or even the process of following your dreams and the persistence it takes to shift old patterns.

Truth is, sometimes it helps to hear someone be honest about this stuff. Not so that you can indulge in self-pity about how hard you have it. But so that when the bad day strikes, you have some leverage.

So, how do you survive a bad day?

Here's a few things that might help…

WHAT TO REMEMBER:

1 - The voices do not tell the truth.

They're just your old voices coming up to feed. Do not feed them. This is what makes them stay. Even if you're already hooked in, the best way to begin the unhooking is to rest, or to be very kind to you.

2 - This is not who you are.

The voices like to tell you that this depressed person is who you really are and that the rest of the world doesn't have these same flaws. Not true. This is just a temporary set back. That's all.

3 - Mochaccinos don't take the voices away. It just makes them go faster.

Bad Days are not a call to rush out to Starbucks, hoping that if you move faster, it will all go away. If there's any action that needs to be taken now, it's probably a nap.

4 - You don't have to be productive today.

It's okay to put down your goals and to-dos for one day. You can return to them tomorrow. Today, make it your goal to just get through the day being kind to yourself. Think of it as a sick day. Maybe there's no PROOF – like a fever. But your insides are sick. Let them heal.

5 - Everything seems worse when you're tired or hungry.

Eat something yummy. Take a nap. Or go somewhere and sit quietly.

WHAT TO DO:

1 - Stop feeling bad about feeling bad.

If it helps, make today a container. Know that you're allowed to have this stuff and that nothing horrid is going to happen with this one day of getting thrown off.

2 - Make no decisions.

The late Richard Carlson, author and psychologist, gave this great advice: "Never make decisions when you're in a low mood." His belief was that low moods are a natural occurrence and that any low-mood decisions are typically not healthy. Put off all decisions when you're having a bad day.

3 - Don't read fashion magazines. Or the news.

4 - Take a 20 minute walk.

Bring a gentle affirmation along with you. On days like this you don't want to say, "I am master of the universe!!!" On days like this you want to say, "I am loved. I am safe."

5 - Don't try to fix yourself today.

No need to rush to the Self-Help section at Borders. Maybe steps you can take toward being healthier in the big picture, but not today. Today, let yourself stop.

6 - Lower your standards.

If you get out of bed, or eat a good healthy meal, be proud. Tomorrow you can have your old high standards back and be productive and evolved and all that. Not today.

7 - Say NO to anything if it's motivated by the word "should."

This is a good rule to follow on good days too!

8 - Ask yourself what you feel like doing.

Sometimes the answer to this can be surprising. Maybe you'll want to begin a fiction audiobook and clean your closet! Maybe you'll just want a nap.

9 - Don't do anything destructive.

Don't overdose on sugar or indulge in alcohol. Don't call anyone who drains you. It will not make this better.

WHAT TO BE:

Be very, very kind to yourself.

Be the way you would be with someone who is sad or hurting or scared. Because today, you are.

WHAT TO KNOW:

That the victory is not about not having bad days anymore. The victory is that you can get back up after having one.