Today's Post is by Lori Woodward Simons, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews. When I was just a lass of 10, I'd spend evenings listening to the radio. Back then, the networks played the hit song, “Turn Turn Turn” by the Byrds – a British Invasion rock group. Interestingly, the lyrics are derived from Ecclesiastes, a Book in the Old Testament of the Bible. My recent blogs have have been concerned with fighting distractions that keep artists from being productive. Things like, checking email 20 times a day, feeling compelled to clean the house, or even working in the yard. But, before I move onto anything else, I'd like to touch [...]

Check out the great new artists who are hosting their artist websites with us! [...]

I came across a thread in a forum titled, "Do we need art galleries anymore?" I fired off a quick response at the time, and have now expanded on those ideas for this post. Key to Selling sell artwork, you have to build a group of followers or a "tribe" as Seth Godin calls them. I used to own an art gallery.  During my gallery years, I built my own "tribe" of art-collector followers and, consequently, was able to sell the artworks of the wonderful artists we represented . . . a lot of artworks. [...]

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 [...]

Check out the great new artists who are now hosting their artist websites with us! [...]

Today's Post is by Lori Woodward Simons, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews. I don't consider myself to have an addictive personality. I've never used illegal drugs, or smoked a cigarette (probably got enough nicotine from second hand smoke). However, these days, I'm finding that I'm just as vulnerable as the next guy when it comes to being addicted to social media. A month ago, Clint Watson “tweeted” through Twitter that I was being sucked into the Twittersphere, but I denied it! Nope, not me... but Lately, I've been showing all the signs of addiction. Today I'm admitting it, [...]

As an artist, you've already discovered that one thing that you do better than anyone else.  No, you're not necessarily the better than other artists in general, but you are the best person in the world at your art, your style, and your creativity.  You are the one and only person in the world who can do that.   Play to that strength. We can all "improve" our areas of weakness . . . . a little bit.  But we can get exponentially better at our areas of strength.  For example, I've become a marginally better graphic designer [...]

Today's Post is by Lori Woodward Simons, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews. In the movie, You've Got Mail, Tom Hanks has a mantra, “It's not personal, it's business”. Because I am a creative type, the business of finding a market for my artwork is entirely personal. It doesn't make sense to half-wittingly adhere to someone else's business plan for my life and art, and it does me no good to accomplish a plan that won't satisfy my goals and desires. Rather, it is imperative that I have a crystal clear understanding of what the word Success means to me.  [...]

Warning, strong sarcasm ahead, our tongue was firmly stuck in our cheek as the following flowed from our pen . . . . Every time we turn on the television, we're shocked to learn about some other distressed soul who needs a handout from the government. Why is it that the government steps in to save the banks, the stockbrokers, the lenders, the borrowers, and the corporate financiers…but not the artists? Should there be a bailout for artists? It seems to us that artists are as important to our society as the financiers. Artists provide beauty, hope, . . [...]

Then you're going to love this. From TechCrunch: "Yesterday, President Bush signed into law the Pro-IP Act, which further criminalizes consumer behavior and appoints a new “Copyright Czar” to oversee enforcement of the new measures. The law triples damages in copyright infringement cases, allows the government to seize property used to usurp a company’s copyrights . . ." (Read Entire Article on Techcrunch) I've previously gone on record as thinking there's a lot of hype driving the fear of the Orphaned Works legislation.  I've spoken with two attorneys and read the bills for myself and, at least [...]

Pardon our mess, we're experimenting a bit with the design of this blog. We're trying to make the design cleaner and put the focus very clearly on the articles. We've already made the fonts larger and, hopefully, more readable.  We've also eliminated a lot of the ads in the sidebar . . . . we're reducing clutter. Let us know what you think . . . . . Design Rules Your Art Website Must Follow Make Everything Linkable  [...]

Today's guest author is Connie Tom. This article has been edited and published with permission of the author. I've often wondered how my artwork might bring glory to God. Even though this thought has been foremost in my mind, and the desire of my heart, often at the same time, I thought that art is something that people don't really need to have – something frivolous. However, I did pray a long time ago that God would somehow use my art for his glory. His answer became evident to me while I was exhibiting with the Silver Dollar City Traveling Art Guild at [...]

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 [...]

New FineArtStudioOnline Artist Websites - check out these great artists! [...]

Seth Godin writes: Some people want to do things because they are interesting. Some people want to do things because they work. Some people want to do things because everyone else is doing them. Why do people buy your artwork? For all three of the reasons listed above: Some people find find your artwork interesting. Some people think your art works with their decor. Some people will buy your artwork if other people buy your artwork. You can't do much about the 2nd and 3rd type of people, so focus all your effort on the people who find your artwork interesting.  You'll know who they are because when they see [...]

Check out the great artwork by our newest members! [...]

Added a new link at the bottom of our artwork screens that reads, "Blog this Artwork!" It will automatically take the image of that particular artwork, the title and any comments you've made and start a new blog post.  Should greatly help artists who want to have a daily painting blog AND upload the paintings to their portfolios . . . . now they can do it all basically one step. [...]

If it's relatively short and art related then contact me by leaving a  comment or emailing clint [at] fineartviews [dot] com. I'm working on some new web apps and am looking for good names . . . . plus I'm and art collector AND a domain name collector . . .  it's an addiction. If we work out a deal, I'll by the domain name from you for a fair price. Sincerely, Clint Watson Software Craftsman and Art (and domain) Fanatic [...]