Ask any successful artist how much time he/she spends actually creating artwork, and you'll find that time in the studio far exceeds time either planning or dreaming. You see, they settled on some plans and dreams early on and then took immediate action in pursing those dreams [...]

The journey, not the destination, is often when you learn and grow to discover the real truths of life [...]

Don’t be drawn into the unwinnable game of comparing your art to the works of other artists, greatness notwithstanding. It’s a sucker’s bet [...]

Since I started my website through FASO, I've sold a lot more art, dramatically increased my client base (through use of a host of good information put out through your newsletter). The ease of use is wonderful and the customer support is first rate. I recommend FASO to every artist I meet. [...]

Think about giving to others to renew yourself. [...]

What do I know about art? Not much, if you really want to know the truth. Yet, at the age of 46, I found myself wanting to know more. [...]

Laurel Sherrie asks, "Has anyone tried selling paintings on etsy.com? I would love to hear some feedback." We would also love to know what painters experiences with Etsy have been. Please provide your feedback at the following link: http://www.brushbuzz.com/links/Selling_art_on_Etsy_com [...]

We get all kinds of positive feedback from customers on our service, FineArtStudioOnline. The only glitch sometimes is people complain about it being so long to type and easy to mis-spell. So, we're happy to announce that, after months of working on it, FineArtStudioOnline will soon also be known as: ArtistEdgeTM Give Your Art Career an Edge with Easy Artist Websites and Marketing Help If you have an existing FineArtStudioOnline account and/or prefer the name FineArtStudioOnline, no worries, that domain will stay online too.  We just wanted to have a shorter brand name and an option for people who were tired of typing such a long domain. Sincerely, Clint [...]

Artist Libby Hart is fighting for her life. Some great artists have donated works to support her fight and you have the opportunity to add to your collection and help an artist in need. . . . Today's post is a bit different. Painter Libby Hart needs your help.  Go to http://welovelibby.com.  A friend of Libby's has  created  this special site where artworks have been donated by some fantastic painters and are for sale....all to help an artist in need. Libby a  fantastic painter herself and one whom we plan to feature individually in the future, but right now, we want to help her get [...]

Today's message is an updated version of our original Christmas message from two years ago.  Our thoughts haven't changed and our message hasn't changed, hopefully our writing has improved a bit.  Today we take a moment to thank you for the gifts you bring to the world with your art . . . As the days have grown shorter, our to do list longer and the impending holiday closer, we have found ourselves scrambling to get everything done. Certainly we all feel this pressure during the holiday season. However, it always seems to come together. The presents are wrapped, the dinner is prepared [...]

Todays message is a mishmash of things that are dear to your editor's heart..... art, marketing, inspiration and fine living of course, but also a story of giving and divine guidance.  We bring you today's message and slight departure from our normal art topics under the "fine living" part of our mission.  And we're beginning to appreciate that "fine living" means giving.... Sometimes we are given divine guidance, dear artists. We often write in this space  about your responsibility as artists to share your God-given artistic talent with the world.  For those of you who can create beautiful works of art....your calling is [...]

It has dawned on me, dear artists, that we're the same. Although, on the surface, it seems that we're very different.  After all, I make software and you make art.  Most people would think that software development is a left-brain activity and art is a right-brain activity. However, that is not true.  What we both do at the end of the day is make things.  If we're any good, we try to make things that will appeal to other people.  We try to become masters of our respective mediums.  My medium is computer code, yours may be paint, pencil or clay.  But [...]

You need professional help! Since I make my living photographing other people's art, my first advice to artists who want to do it themselves is to seek professional help. We photographers have the right equipment and lots of experience to get it right the first time. Anyone who has ever tried to photograph their own work will know that its a rigorous challenge in the best of circumstances, and a downright waste of time and money if not done correctly. If you must do it yourself, though, there are a few tips I can offer that will make the experience of shooting your own art more likely to succeed. I'll focus [...]

Last week, I wrote about the power of context in my post, "Masterpiece in the Subway, Trash in the Museum." DC writes with an anecdote that supports the theory: Years ago I heard about a psychology study (maybe in LA or San Francisco) in a big city.  They left an abandoned car on a city street for a couple of weeks.  Nothing happened.  Then they cracked one window.  Within hours the car was stripped. I try to remember that in my life to make sure I am caring for myself and things (like paintings) with respect - since that it likely to be echoed back to me. DC [...]

As long-suffering readers of our blog are doubtless aware, on rare occasions we depart from the topic of art...today is just such an occasion. We admit it fellow art patrons, we're a closet Harry Potter fan.  We didn't want to admit it.  Our Christian friends would probably chastise us if they knew . . . . but what can we say?  We're smart enough to tell fact from fiction. Next week, the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be released.  We've been waiting over two years to learn how Harry's struggle with Voldemort will end.  But, if you're a Harry Potter fan, we have a shocking theory [...]

“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We all know these words. These are our “inalienable rights.” Our republic was founded upon them. We celebrate them today, as we celebrate the 231st birthday of the great American Experiment. We all know what we’re celebrating this independence day, but we contend that what the founders wrote is actually only half the story. So this independence day, let’s take a guess at why the founders felt it important that we had our “inalienable rights.” Life Obviously the greatest gift of all – the gift of life. Our laws protect [...]

"Not this year, LaBraun," says Bruce Bowen

I digress from art for my yearly Spurs playoff post. A shout out today to Tim Duncan, Toni Parker, Manu Ginobilli, Brent Barry, Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley (who got his championship ring after 12 seasons of trying and after being thrown out like yesterday's trash by the Dallas Mavericks) and the rest. The  San Antonio Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA finals.  They won the best of seven series 4 games to none. LaBraun James, of course, garnered the media hype going in to the series.  He's heralded as the "next Michael Jordan."  No doubt the kid is great and I have [...]

For those of you who've been wondering - I have taken a few days off from the blogging.I sign my letters "Software Craftsman and Art Fanatic" -- well this week, I've been focusing solely on the "Software Craftsman" side of things.  We've migrated all of our web sites and internet services to new web servers.  Without going into technical detail I'll just say...it's a big project -- one that took the better part of three days straight (and that was after three months of preparation too!)It's now *mostly* done and I should be back to a *mostly* normal schedule now.If you [...]

Reporting from the National Oil Painters of America show in Fredericksburg, Texas -- a gentleman approached our booth and introduced himself as an artist.  He was looking for a web site. . .   "So you guys can help me with setting up a web site?"   "We are at your service, sir"   "What do I need to do?", He asked.   Ahhh, we were prepared.  We pulled out our handy card that we had printed especially for this occassion and started to explain...."Well you see, you just go to our site....click this....etc"   "Son, I don't think you understand......I don't even have a computer!"   Yes, my fellow patrons, there are a few such [...]

Clint at the OPA Show

After years of existing only "virtually", we're out in the "real" world today!We're in Fredericksburg, Texas at the 2007 National Oil Painters of America exhibition....showing our wares and meeting old and new friends.Above, left is your software craftsman (ie me) at our exhibit table.Below we picture our FineArtStudioOnline clients and friends, Janice Yow Hindes and Carolyn Ratliff.  Carolyn and Janice at the OPA ShowWe're looking forward to the OPA events today and tomorrow and, who knows, we might even learn a thing or two we can pass on to you.Sincerely,Clint WatsonSoftware Craftsman and Art Fanatic [...]

Shameless Post.Happy Birthday Mom.Note to regular readers - returning to art topics on Monday, thank you for letting me indulge.(Mom - sorry about the bald guy "growing" out of your head in the photo) [...]

Tomorrow, we're launching a free e-newsletter called Fine Art Views.  Fine Art Views will be straight talk about Art, Marketing, Inspiration, and Fine Living For Artists, Collectors and Galleries (And anyone else into art).It will provides an eclectic combination of articles about all things art.  From creativity and success tips to artist reviews and marketing ideas that really work, there's something for all artists, collectors and galleries.In short, it will be the type of articles you read in this blog and more delivered to your email inbox on the schedule most convenient for you.Click the link below and pick your preferred [...]

An "Artful" Way to Cut Your Tax BillBy Kieran Doherty Originally for Early to RiseIf -- as I do -- you feel it is important to give to worthy charities, here's a way you can be generous to others while you cut your tax bill by several thousand dollars . . . or, if you're in a high bracket, by a great deal more. And it's a way you can cut your tax bill without raising a "red flag," provided you follow the rules carefully.This perfectly legitimate strategy came to me from Mike Kuschmann, a fine-arts dealer I've known for several [...]

Your dealer calls with good news:  He just sold the only seascape you ever painted.  He wants you to paint nothing but seascapes now....but you really don't like painting seascapes....should you do it?You've been painting part-time for a couple of years, you've only sold a couple of pieces, you're not sure your ready to go full time, yet your friends all think you're great and want you to quit your day job and go full-time.  Should you?You're excited about becoming an artist and your gut tells you to go to art school, but your parents think you should get a "real" [...]

We occassionally have clients who don't seem to receive communication from us, or from the "Contact the Artist" submissions from their web sites. For years, this perplexed us because we would test our systems and everything worked correctly.  One day, we noticed that all of these problems had one thing in common: the clients' were using Hotmail or MSN email accounts.  After searching online, we discovered that Hotmail is notoriously unreliable. So, just to be sure, we opened our own Hotmail account.  And sure enough, messages from our test web site never arrived in our Hotmail inbox.  They were not in the [...]

Today's post isn't about art, however, just as a landscape painter may occassionally take artistic license and paint a portrait, today I take artistic license to discuss a nonprofit project that I am involved with.Church Under the Bridge in San Antonio (CUBSA) offers hope to the homeless in San Antonio by bringing them food, clothing and the Word of God.  They feed the homeless "under the bridge" (under a major freeway intersection) three times a week.  I have become involved as their webmaster and recently launched a new web site for them (built on the FineArtStudioOnline platform).If anyone is interested in [...]

Robert Genn, ever innovating, posted these cool one minute painting videos to his web site today: Surf over lava at Hale Ke Kai Check out the rest of the videos at:http://clicks.robertgenn.com/big-small.phpI'm not sure what purpose they server but they are fun to watch.  Perhaps an artist selling demo DVD's could have a short "sped up" version for people to check out as a "teaser?" [...]

My friend, founder of RayMar Art, John Dietrich passed away Tuesday.John was a wonderful guy who always made my day brighter when I spoke with him.  I will miss him.If you knew John and/or wish to express your condolences for his family, please visit the following guestbook site:Goodbye to JohnAlso, if you are a painter, I encourage to try the art panels made by the company John founded:http://www.raymarart.com [...]

We pause today to reflect upon the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  I admit, like most Americans, I don't know very much about the man.  My knowledge is limited mostly to the last few lines of his passionately delivered "I have a dream" speech.  No, I only know the icon of MLK.The civil rights movement happened before I was old enough to understand it.  My knowledge has come from textbooks, soundbites and wikipedia.  However, I think knowing the icon alone is enough. After all, I don't really know any of the people behind the holidays we celebrate.  We can only [...]

In our FASO system this week, we've added a new behind the scenes feature that, in some instances will speed up the performance of your web site (assuming you are a FASO customer) by up to 800%. We have added a Caching system to the FASO web sites.  This means when you update your site, the system knows that there is new information on your web site.  The very next visitor to your web site will experience the normal page load time, but, at that point, the system makes a COPY of the page to keep handy for speedier access.  Until [...]

Admitedly, this post is more for the geeks.  We've begun adding CAPTCHA tests on forms throughout our systems.  CAPTCHA is short for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart."  The Turing Test is designed to differentiate humans from computers.  In our application, the CAPTCHA is in the common form of a series of twisted numbers that must be entered into a form for the form submission to be considered valid.  The idea is that humans can figure out what the numbers are, but spammers' computers cannot. We are adding this to all artist contact forms in the FASO [...]

A few weeks ago we wrote about the young artist, Sala, who has created 1,000 paintings depicting the numbers “1” through “1000”, and has apparently found enough gullible buyers via the Internet to make some serious money with his project. One Thousand Paintings:http://www.onethousandpaintings.com/Quite a few of our readers replied.  Several wondered if we had lost our marbles...our at least our eye for art, obviously thinking that we admired Sala's art.  Let us assure you, we do not.  Whether we've lost our eye for art or not, we cannot say, but, it seems our point was missed.  Our agenda that day was [...]

I keep seeing an advertisement for a service that allows you to create postage stamps from a photograph.  Every time I see the ad, I think "what a perfect application for an artist sending Christmas cards."The service is photostamps.com and looks like it adds a fair amount to the cost of each stamp, but for a really personalized stamp with your own artwork on it, it might be worth a bit extra. If you're interested, check it out at:http://www.photostamps.comSincerely,Clint WatsonSoftware Craftsman and Art Fanatic [...]

Left: The First Thanksgiving, painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris (1863–1930)A man and his rag-tag band of followers gather to break bread and share a meal. They start the meal by giving thanks.Astern group of prude Puritans in proto-Massachusetts congregate toshare a meal with the native people. Legend has it that they gavethanks. They were probably thankful that they even made it across theAtlantic in a rickety old ship. . . they were thankful to be alive.Duringthe American Revolution George Washington, proclaimed a Thanksgiving inDecember 1777 as a victory celebration honoring the defeat of theBritish at Saratoga. Thanksgivings were held off [...]

Back when I was in the gallery business, we had some very good clients who had a fire in a section of their home. The entire house filled with smoke. Fortunately, no one was hurt. However, upon inspecting the art we were all crestfallen to discover that every painting was covered in soot and ashes. Most of the paintings were nearly black.We recommended a painting restoration person to the client. After working on the paintings for some time, the restoration person called to let us know the good news - she was able to save all but one of the paintings [...]

Hello all. Some have been wondering where I have been. I had a chance to go to Maui for several days for a unbelievably good (cheap) price. I will blog about Maui as I get back to "normal." Today, I'm still trying to get back on Texas time and experiencing my first real case of jet lag.  By the way, if you're a landscape painter, you have GOT to go to Maui.  Even an artistically challenged layman such as myself managed to get some great photographs.  It's pretty difficult to take a bad landscape photo in Maui.Reading a recent newsletter that [...]

Alsyon Stanfield Writes:In preparation for my “Promote Your Art with Confidence” book, I am looking for art teachers to interview. I am most interested in artists who teach adults both formally and informally.1. What do you teach?2. To whom do you teach it?3. Where do you teach? (venue/city)4. How long have you been teaching?Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you!If you're interested, please visit:http://www.artbizblog.com/2006/08/looking_for_tea.html [...]

B writes: I recently established a website with your company and have several questions. First, I have my own computer for 20 years but am unfamiliar with some of todays terms. questions: 1. What are "blogs"? The term Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical [...]

Robert Genn writes:Every so often some researcher will publish fresh info on the mental or physical problems of creative folks. The general implication of some of this stuff is that you have to be just a wee bit sick in order to be creative. They often show that many historic artists had something wrong with them. The latest outbreak comes from clinical pathologist Dr. Paul Wolf of the University of California. He cites that illnesses, rather than being obstacles, can be the paths to genius. He mentions the likes of Einstein, Warhol, Newton, Cezanne, Goya, Michelangelo, Turner and Berlioz. According to [...]

A gifted newsletter writer, Bill Bonner of the Daily Reckoning, whose works I read daily and who is possibly the most gifted writer I read, refers to himself in the first-person plural. I recently wrote to him to ask why he did so, and although he referred to me as a "hillbilly" and a "redneck" in his reply, it is quite an honor to be insulted Mr. Bonner. You see, nearly all of his scribbles drip with tongue-in-check flavor. Whether he truly considers me a redneck I do not know, but here is his answer regarding his use of the first [...]