My goals for 2011

I have been thinking about my goals for this year. They are broken down into personal, marketing, online, offline, exhibiting, creating art, learning and other revenue streams. At least so far… Last year was a wonderful year for me, I finally achieved one of my long term goals and gained gallery representation. I’ve been building…

2010 – my year in review

2010 has been a huge year for me in just so many ways! I decided to take much of the year off from chasing galleries, focusing on exhibiting and the hard slog of being an artist, and instead made my focus studio work, improving my art, and, of course, getting used to being a mommy!…

being and artist and a mother need not be impossible

(this works for cleaning too 🙂 have a list of goals for your art, your marketing and keep them in mind. make sure they are achievable and excite you. set particular goals for each year. this year I am focussing on creating works and marketing online, I have stepped back on exhibiting, but I am getting my gallery list together and starting to plan my calendar for next year. keep a sketchbook with you for quick ideas and sketches. no matter what you are doing there is always time for thinking about art!

Art, motherhood and religion – oh my!

There is no such thing as the perfect parent and what works for one family may not work for yours. the best advice I’ve received is to do whatever works for you. all of these subjects make me think about relative roles in the home and workplace. there is still an expectation that women will stay at home to raise their children, that their careers are temporary (as evidenced by the very large gap still in pay rates) and that we have a duty to surrender to our children. a few artist dads spoke out in the comments of this post, they find it just as challenging to balance their careers with their children. all working parents have this dilemma. the problem is that because so many artists are passionate about their jobs (and enjoy them!)

My Top 20 Search Terms

I think it’s pretty interesting to see that nude celebrities are still all the rage, and that apparently my coverage of Bill Henson has really made a difference in the world of blogging – or something. and yes folks – I do actually rate on my blog- see?

Rubbing Botero the wrong way

I can’t decide if I’m thrilled or horrified by all this.. on one hand people are interacting with art, they’re enjoying it and it’s making an impact in a positive way – so that’s all good. but on the other, they’re all seeing everything in the most puerile light!

Nude of the Week – Standpoint Daz Render

Wavelength Daz|Studio and Realityrender Reality is a new bridge for Daz|Studio and Lux Render. it’s a physically based render engine, which means that it calculates the actual physics behind the lights, reflections and the way that light actually works. it produces outstanding effects but means that you have to re-learn everything you knew about how Daz lighting works and go back to original photographic lighting concepts. this is pretty cool, and I can see so many applications for artists who work mostly in still life. it creates volumetric glass, proper metallic reflections, and wonderful realistic water effects. sadly it also requires a pretty powerful machine – my computer just wasn’t up for anything more complex than this!

David Miliband’s nude art under critical and political attack

An emerging photographer took a portrait of David Miliband and his wife in their living room for a competition. she got the idea from a frend and ran down, narrowly missing the scrum of reporters after Miliband announced that he was not standing for the Shadow Cabinet. the photograph was entered into a competition and won. wonderful news for the photographer Naomi Goggin, but unfortunately the focus has not been on her exciting win, but on the cavorting nudes behind her subjects.