I can remember when I was first becoming an artist – way back almost thirteen years – and the things that I did to promote my work.
First, many hours were spent in the library researching artists, art galleries, environmental organizations and such. I used to fill many pages with addresses and phone numbers. I would write these addresses onto the envelopes I was preparing to send, along with my return address and then the envelopes were stik-ered with my peace stik-ers and stamps. These tasks would take many days and the cost for the stamps and envelopes was great.
To see more artwork that was created during my earliest promotional efforts follow this link: http://www.bitsandpeaces.com/Reflectionsstory.htm
Of course, I had to have samples of my work to show – and this task cost quite a bit of money and the time needed to prepare the printed material filled many weeks. The end result was several hundred stuffed envelopes filled with letters and artwork that cost me close to five hundred dollars – every time I did a promotion. The response that I received for all of this effort was very, very low.
Things are a lot different now – and a lot cheaper!!!
This summer, I created my first ever blog. It takes only a few hours to write a story and get the photos and artwork prepared. It takes only a few minutes to upload this information. By connecting with people through my email account I can now send links to these blog stories to many people… for free!
About a month ago, I entered into the world of facebook. It took me a week or so to get comfortable with this new form of communication and now I am really enjoying it. I am connecting with people from around the world. I am meeting many other artists, and musicians and lots of environmentally conscious people. Not only can I share my art, poetry and songs with others, I can see other people’s art, music and stories as well. There is a lot of talent in this world and a lot of friendly people doing great things.
When I visit my blog I can check to see who is visiting. A map of the world appears with little red dots marking the cities where people are visiting from. The first few weeks speckled North America with dots – mostly from Canada. A few weeks later, little red dots began to appear throughout Europe. Two weeks ago, I noticed three new red dots lining the South American continent and Australia, with a sprinkling of dots appearing throughout Asia.
This is very exciting for me – to be able to connect with so much ease, with people from around the world – for free… okay, it does take an occasional hour of my time – but it is worth it.
I’ve really enjoyed all the fun comments and ideas that flow through the world of facebook. There is always lots and lots of interesting photos, videos, stories and such to entertain and educate people just like me!!!
Yesterday I had a fun idea – to involve my facebook friends in sharing ideas about peace. I asked if I could get at least ten ‘friends’ to make a comment on my ‘wall’ to tell me one thing they did that day to bring peace to our planet. Within half an hour I had received four comments.
The first comment asked if I was giving away any prizes. I responded with “No prizes – simply sharing inspiration!!!”
Later that afternoon I noticed that several more comments had been written on my ‘wall’ and then I thought that maybe I should give away a print of my artwork to one of my friends. I give my artwork away to total strangers all the time, so I thought it would be a fun way to end this little event!
Before I announce the winner, I am going to share some of the comments that I received:
Barry – from Toronto, Ontario wrote “I have a vacation day today so I took my dog for a run and plan to spend a peaceful afternoon working in the garden, bothering no one.”
Sherry – from Vernon, British Columbia wrote “I told my hubby to stop talking! LOL just kidding! Oh right, that's just peace for me. How selfish! I have an environmentally friendly company...does that count? have a nice day!”
Bob – from Santa Barbara, California wrote “Had dinner with an Iraq vet last night and talked about his experiences in Iraq and point of view. Sometimes men of peace have to go to war. But men who have gone to war, always become men of peace.
Marita – from China wrote “I stopped and smelled the roses along the way today and was kind and friendly to everyone I encountered...”
Jennifer – from London, Ontario wrote “We are out of town in a hotel and we had a great chat in the elevator with a stranger. If people would just take the time to say hello and be friendly, the world would be a more peaceful place. :)”
Alex – from Toronto, Ontario wrote “I let some cars in front of me......they were stuck on a sidestreet. They all waved at me as they passed by.....hope they do a good turn for someone else....we don’t need more road rage.....”
It made me very happy that so many people participated with this fun idea. I think that it is very important for people to realize all the peace that surrounds us daily. I think it is inspirational to hear stories about the people who are involved in this spirit of peace.
Today, I will be contacting Marita – from China – to let her know that she will soon be receiving (via snail mail) one of my art prints. Marita was my choice because she shared peace with Nature – smelling the flowers – and she shared peace with strangers – being kind with everyone. I also do not think that any of my art prints have ever been to China so it is exciting for me to see this happen.
I have decided to sent Marita a landscape that I have entitled ‘Murmur Mermer’. It is a scene that is taking place in the autumn among the rolling hills where I grew up. Here is a link to that story: http://bitsandpeaces08.blogspot.com/2008/10/murmur-mermer-18-x-32-acrylic-paint-on.html
Thank you – all facebook friends – for being a light in my life! I know that I will do something like this again – it was great fun.
Jim
First, many hours were spent in the library researching artists, art galleries, environmental organizations and such. I used to fill many pages with addresses and phone numbers. I would write these addresses onto the envelopes I was preparing to send, along with my return address and then the envelopes were stik-ered with my peace stik-ers and stamps. These tasks would take many days and the cost for the stamps and envelopes was great.
To see more artwork that was created during my earliest promotional efforts follow this link: http://www.bitsandpeaces.com/Reflectionsstory.htm
Of course, I had to have samples of my work to show – and this task cost quite a bit of money and the time needed to prepare the printed material filled many weeks. The end result was several hundred stuffed envelopes filled with letters and artwork that cost me close to five hundred dollars – every time I did a promotion. The response that I received for all of this effort was very, very low.
Things are a lot different now – and a lot cheaper!!!
This summer, I created my first ever blog. It takes only a few hours to write a story and get the photos and artwork prepared. It takes only a few minutes to upload this information. By connecting with people through my email account I can now send links to these blog stories to many people… for free!
About a month ago, I entered into the world of facebook. It took me a week or so to get comfortable with this new form of communication and now I am really enjoying it. I am connecting with people from around the world. I am meeting many other artists, and musicians and lots of environmentally conscious people. Not only can I share my art, poetry and songs with others, I can see other people’s art, music and stories as well. There is a lot of talent in this world and a lot of friendly people doing great things.
When I visit my blog I can check to see who is visiting. A map of the world appears with little red dots marking the cities where people are visiting from. The first few weeks speckled North America with dots – mostly from Canada. A few weeks later, little red dots began to appear throughout Europe. Two weeks ago, I noticed three new red dots lining the South American continent and Australia, with a sprinkling of dots appearing throughout Asia.
This is very exciting for me – to be able to connect with so much ease, with people from around the world – for free… okay, it does take an occasional hour of my time – but it is worth it.
I’ve really enjoyed all the fun comments and ideas that flow through the world of facebook. There is always lots and lots of interesting photos, videos, stories and such to entertain and educate people just like me!!!
Yesterday I had a fun idea – to involve my facebook friends in sharing ideas about peace. I asked if I could get at least ten ‘friends’ to make a comment on my ‘wall’ to tell me one thing they did that day to bring peace to our planet. Within half an hour I had received four comments.
The first comment asked if I was giving away any prizes. I responded with “No prizes – simply sharing inspiration!!!”
Later that afternoon I noticed that several more comments had been written on my ‘wall’ and then I thought that maybe I should give away a print of my artwork to one of my friends. I give my artwork away to total strangers all the time, so I thought it would be a fun way to end this little event!
Before I announce the winner, I am going to share some of the comments that I received:
Barry – from Toronto, Ontario wrote “I have a vacation day today so I took my dog for a run and plan to spend a peaceful afternoon working in the garden, bothering no one.”
Sherry – from Vernon, British Columbia wrote “I told my hubby to stop talking! LOL just kidding! Oh right, that's just peace for me. How selfish! I have an environmentally friendly company...does that count? have a nice day!”
Bob – from Santa Barbara, California wrote “Had dinner with an Iraq vet last night and talked about his experiences in Iraq and point of view. Sometimes men of peace have to go to war. But men who have gone to war, always become men of peace.
Marita – from China wrote “I stopped and smelled the roses along the way today and was kind and friendly to everyone I encountered...”
Jennifer – from London, Ontario wrote “We are out of town in a hotel and we had a great chat in the elevator with a stranger. If people would just take the time to say hello and be friendly, the world would be a more peaceful place. :)”
Alex – from Toronto, Ontario wrote “I let some cars in front of me......they were stuck on a sidestreet. They all waved at me as they passed by.....hope they do a good turn for someone else....we don’t need more road rage.....”
It made me very happy that so many people participated with this fun idea. I think that it is very important for people to realize all the peace that surrounds us daily. I think it is inspirational to hear stories about the people who are involved in this spirit of peace.
Today, I will be contacting Marita – from China – to let her know that she will soon be receiving (via snail mail) one of my art prints. Marita was my choice because she shared peace with Nature – smelling the flowers – and she shared peace with strangers – being kind with everyone. I also do not think that any of my art prints have ever been to China so it is exciting for me to see this happen.
I have decided to sent Marita a landscape that I have entitled ‘Murmur Mermer’. It is a scene that is taking place in the autumn among the rolling hills where I grew up. Here is a link to that story: http://bitsandpeaces08.blogspot.com/2008/10/murmur-mermer-18-x-32-acrylic-paint-on.html
Thank you – all facebook friends – for being a light in my life! I know that I will do something like this again – it was great fun.
Jim
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1 comment:
It was fun and Marita was a worthy recipient.
Congratulations to you for hosting the game and to Marita for wining!
Peace!
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