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Thursday, January 7, 2010

Field of Daffodils

"Field of Daffodils"
Oil, 11" x 14" on canvas panel.
$700.00 framed.

I kind of went "outside of the box" on this one today and painted a very different subject matter than usual. But it's the new year, and time to try different things every once in a while. It was fun, but I will probably be back to painting boats very soon, so no worries!

For all of you artists out there, I have decided to periodically share my marketing and organization ideas. One of the problems I face with my art business is trying to keep track of upcoming juried competitions and entry deadlines. It seems that I somehow let some critical dates pass and I miss entering my paintings in to some of the better competitions. Recently I created a system that is finally helping me keep track of art competitions. All you need is twelve file folders. Go to http://www.vertex42.com/calendars/printable-calendars.html and download twelve monthly calendars for 2010. Print them on cardstock and then staple each one to the front of a file folder. Label the folders with each month. They should look like this:

Next you need to know which shows are upcoming and when the deadlines for entries occur. I have yet to find one place that lists all of the monthly exhibitions so I periodically go to the following sites:

http://www.cac.ca.gov/artistcall/index.php?sort=deadline

http://www.artshow.com/juriedshows/index.html

http://www.theartlist.com/index.php

http://artdeadlineslist.com/

I have also signed up for periodic emails that send updates about upcoming shows. Whenever I see a competition that sounds interesting, I print the prospectus, enter the submit deadline on the calendar and put the backup information inside the file. I put the current calendar in a file so it stands up on my desk (and stares at me all day)! Every week I go through the files for the current and following month and put post it notes with the names of the paintings that I intend to enter. I also keep track of paintings that I need to finish for upcoming exhibitions. When I send off the entries I check them off on the calendar and then add the notification date to the calendar.

I would love any other suggestions or "improvements" to my system. I hope this is helpful to some of you!

11 comments:

  1. your paintings are so amazing,delightful,inspiring !!! and so much information on your blog!...happy painting

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  2. great info and suggestions. i'm also hoping to enter more shows this year. i love your work and am always inspired!

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  3. Leslie...great painting...it is fabulous that you stretched yourself in size and subject...it works!! i encourage you for more!! Thanks so much for all the helpful ideas and sharing what works for you...I am sure we all can glean from your experience, inside and outside the artist arena. have a blessed day!

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  4. Leslie,
    Thanks so much for sharing all the great info, I am really in need of this kind of help, I will definitely use it. I like your latest painting, great colors!!

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  5. Great organizational skills. Look forward to more.

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  6. Great idea, Leslie..
    I also love it when you paint things other than boats... (not that I don't like your boats, but I like the diversity!!)
    I put "folders" on my computer desktop with the date deadline and name of the event... I put the prospectus and any painting images I'm considering submitting.
    Now my challenge is to do a better job of deciding which are the venues that are best for ME at this time on my journey that will hopefully never end.

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  7. Like the painting. Enjoy the boats, but nice to see something different. Also appreciate the art business information. Thank you.

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  8. Love the diversity of your painting...and man, you are one organized girl, thanks for sharing!

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  9. Oh you have made my very cold very breezy, snowt winter day here in VA!! It is not supposed to be this cold here!!! This painting simply yells Spring is coming!!!!
    Thank you so much for such a lovely daydream!!!!
    Elizabeth

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  10. It's nice to see you switch up subject matter, Leslie!

    Quite pretty!

    -Dean

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  11. How did I miss this?.... VERY PRETTY, Leslie!!

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