Take Five - Art Marketing Ain't Brain Surgery

Don't get me wrong. I love reading the blogs, magazine articles and other punditry on how to grow a successful art business. It's been a passion with me for years to help artists and I am amazed at how much there is to learn about the process. Sometimes though, I think the information overload, and not just from art blogs, but all sources, is enough to make anyone throw up their hands and say fuggedaboutit. This post is your unofficial sanction to goof off, get lost, daydream, go fishing, knit a beanie or anything that will let you get away from the pressure of working to catch you art career on fire.

I mean the news on tainted meat, crazed college killers, endless war and terrorism talk, not to forget the incessant blather about Obama, Clinton, McCain and Britney tends to take a toll on one's psyche. Who has time to absorb that and all the great stuff freely flowing about what you need to do to make it in the art business? I don't think you can without some balance. That requires Takin' Five, or Fifty or Five Days. Whatever you need to get away from it. For some escape might come by retreating into creating art purely for the purpose of creative release and expression with no thinking about how to make so it will sell smartly sell in a business-like manner. Nothing wrong with that. For others, it might be reruns of Seinfeld, The Golden Girls, or I Love Lucy, or some other sort of mental escape from the drumbeat of information modern technology puts at our fingertips.

Music Provides Relief

For me, if I want to truly escape, it's with music. I have great fun making mixes to match my moods. I used to spend time reading mindless escapist fare, but perhaps because I read so much now in connection with this blog and other planned projects, it's not so much these days. That's a shame, because I know there is a treasure trove of great literature, biography and historical novels ready for me to devour sometime when I am in a different place on a different pace.

As a pleasant productive pastime, I've lately have been copying several hundred cassettes that I never replaced with CDs. It's an enjoyable hobby with a trip down memory lane attached as I relisten to music I haven't heard in years. The software I use is called Honestech VHS to DVD 3.0. With it, you can rip cassettes onto your hard drive. The only drawback is it doesn't rip by song. But it works great if you don't mind listening to a whole side of a cassette as we did back in the last century. As you can likely tell by the name it also works to allow you to copy VHS tapes to your hard drive.

Art Print Issues celebrates one-year anniversary as a blog with post # 100

You might say I'm taking my own advice here in not proffering art marketing information with this post. Today is the one-year anniversary of Art Print Issues in blog format. This is the 100th post I've put up in the past year. For those long time readers, you know I have an archive of 8-page newsletters dating back to 2005 when I first published my book as well. You can peruse an article index list to the API archives here where you will find nearly 50 other items of interest.

Tough and tense as we seem to be these days, I wouldn't trade living in this time for some other in the past. I love being part of a worldwide community of artists and others interested in art marketing and to be able to easily communicate, share thoughts, collaborate and learn from them on subjects where I am absolutely passionate. What's possible now is so vastly superior to just a few years back it is hard to believe it's all happened in such a short period of time. I think things are only going to get more interesting, fun and challenging all at the same time.

Thanks for reading my blog and for participating for those of you who have commented or sent me emails. It is very gratifying to know the effort makes a difference. I'm looking forward to many more years of producing this blog and some other projects I think you'll be excited to learn about as 2008 progresses.  All the best!