It's so pretty

Sitting in my studio just looking out at the snow covered trees and basking in the beauty of winter. 

All too often we complain about the cold, the roads, the shoveling but on days like today, it's just too darn pretty to complain.

The bright brilliant white snow is so refreshing... so clean... as it clings to the trees. Like a beautiful painting.

There really is no purpose to this post other than I just want to share how much I am enjoying the beauty that is New England. I love our 4-seasons!  So if you are up north with me in the snow, take a break, make some hot coco and embrace the beauty around you.

Art is everywhere... Thanks God!

Just do 5

Just some food for thought...

When was the last time you sent out a thank you (email or card) thanking your customers or clients for their business? Or better yet a phone call?

Maybe today is the day to start a new habit.
In hard economic times such as this you need to stand out from your competition. 

You need to do excellent work followed by sincere appreciation of those who give you their business. A good job topped off with a thank you is a great way to get repeat business and to also get referrals.

So take time today to contact just "5 Customers"......... No sales pitch. 
Just simply to say thanks.

Now if you did that 5 days a week, for a month you would have contacted 100 customers. 100 customers that you took the time to just say thanks. 

I guarantee you will surprise a lot of people just because you didn't say anything else but "thanks". 

Everybody loves to feel appreciated... remember what comes around goes around.

If only I could just draw funny stuff all day…

These past few days I’ve been away for a little R&R and also doing some reflecting. Thinking about career decisions I’ve made in the past, some good, some bad and some we won’t even talk about.

Gosh, I’m thinking…wouldn’t it be great to just be able to draw and create what I wanted without worrying about money. 


I’ve wanted this so much in the past that I have actually done jobs outside the art field and I was miserable. Real miserable. 

No Way!! Salespeople are more important than who???

When I first read Al's blog titled "Why Sales People Are More Important Than Astronauts"  I said okay he's gone over the deep end now. But out of shear morbid curiosity I kept reading. And much to my surprise, he is so right... Wow, if we didn't have sales people where would we be!!

Here is an excerpt from his blog, and I quote:
If a sales person does not sell a house, 
no one moves in.
If a sales person does not sell a car, 
no one drives away.
If a sales person does not sell an airplane, 
no one flies.
If a sales person does not sell a transport truck, nothing gets transported

Wow, he is so right! 
Even in my art business I can make great artwork but if no one buys it, I starve, plain and simple. So, if I don't sell my art, then somebody has to... 

So in reality either I am the salesman or the art rep that I hire is the salesman for me. And yes, salesman get a bad rap but the reality is, if it weren't for them, where would even an artist be. We would starve! And as I said before, my two favorite things are eating and sleeping indoors.

And Al brought about another good point... here's more from his blog post:

Yes, even artists have to get sales...

When I became an artist I thought great, I can draw all day, people will just magically find me, and hire me. Then I got a real big reality check.

At an artist's conference I found out that 50% of an artists time should be spent in marketing themselves. They talked about developing marketing plans, strategies... for an artist???

Whodda thought!! But it started to make sense.

Marketing=Sales! Sales=Money!
Money= Eating and Sleeping Indoors...
Two things I've really become accustomed to.

Ding, ding, ding!! I think this is something I better do.  But how??

Be A Kid Today...

With the summer just around the corner that means...

STOP WORKING -- GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!
At least for me, that's what summer means, and if you would admit it, the little kid inside you is screaming I wanna go swimming.Yet responsibilities and bills too often stop us from doing the things we used to do as kids, and that stinks. It really does! If I had to do if all again I wouldn't grow up.

So now that I am stuck being an "adult" I have decided to let loose my inner child. Each day I just take time to have fun,
to step outside, to breath, to enjoy, to be silly...
even it's just for 10 minutes.

It's fresh air, sunshine... take off your shoes, wiggle your piggies, breathe... then breathe again. So that is all for my first post, I am turning off the computer... getting the dog, and heading out for a walk... and breathe. As Oscar Wilde said: "Life is too imprtant to be taken seriously"