A Look at Art & Design

Pantone Information and Fun Widget

If you haven't been to the Pantone website, I highly recommend you visit. Besides providing the required content on Pantone's products and services, the website is full of terrific info for designers. The MyPantone section of the site contains a Tips and Techniques area where members can download PDFs of topics such as designing a beautiful web header, Making Pages Look Real, Design Talk and Before & After. Additional member areas include info on color management, support files and fun tools. Being the color lover that I am, I downloaded the cool Pantone COLORSTROLOGY Dashboard Widget for my Mac which is fun. Everyday I am presented with info on a new color. The MyPANTONE section also has quicktime video on Pantone for fashion and home, architecture and interiors, Pantone essentials and color bridge.

Silence - A Cure for the Weary Mind

I was saying to my beau the other day that he might consider spending some time listening to the silence in his life.  I don't remember what brought up this conversation, but love him as I do, this guy usually has either TV or music going on in his house all the time. Maybe it's a guy thing?  I asked if he had ever just turned everything off and was just "one" in the quiet. When I mentioned this new and startling option to him he looked at me surprised. (Is it really that strange?)  As for myself. I'm a big believer in silence. You could even call me a "silence junkie".  If I don't get enough quiet time, I begin to get a bit cranky.

I love to listen to the sound of silence in my home. Sometimes it is not completely silent, of course. Tonight I hear the rain on the window and the sound of car tires on a slick pavement.  Sometimes it is the soft conversation of my boys downstairs.  When I'm in the city I love to hear the city sounds outside the window and those somehow seem to also comfort me.  But when I turn off the TV and the music in my immediate environment, I find my body almost immediately relaxes. Literally within minutes, I feel my neck muscles loosen and my breathing becomes more deep and regular. It's very satisfying and a gives me a greater sense of relaxation then if I were to come upstairs and switch on the TV. Silence allows me to be alone. It allows me to follow the train of my thoughts or intuitions and to sometimes even shut off my thoughts and just be. It lets me shut out the world and my goodness...it's just plain peaceful.  I find that sometimes my most creative ideas come to me when I'm in silence.  When I read it must be silent.

I honestly don't know why I have chosen to share these thoughts with you tonight except perhaps to somehow tell you that I'm really enjoying a quiet night at home and am wishing the same to all my readers...  Breathe deep and enjoy. 

For those of you who can't seem to break the sound barrier but feel the need for a Zen moment...try this great site Free Soothing Music (found via The Thinking Blog.) Free Soothing Music works almost as well as the sound of silence.

Making Connections at an Artist's Reception or Gallery Event

One of the greatest barriers to making connections at an art event is not attending the event.  This might sound incredible obvious, but many artists often resist the opportunity to attend a gallery opening or artist's reception because they have the feeling that they don't need to "get out there" to sell their work.  Art lovers and new collectors can sometimes be intimidated by the whole art scene.

The art world can keep a gal or guy busy almost every single night of the week.  And while that might be a bit much (you do have to spend some time working after all) it's my feeling that attending some of these events will pay off if not in selling your work... at least meeting some wonderful new people and keeping abreast of happenings in the industry.  Besides it's a lot of fun.

There are a couple of reasons why people don't attend these events.  A fear of the unknown. A lack of confidence.  Laziness.  Lack of concern.

Let's take the last reason first.  Let me be very clear about this...If you are an artist it is your job to be concerned.  Not just about the work happening in your studio but in events happening in your world. Just because it's not your reception doesn't give a valid reason for maintaining a low profile and not lending support to other artists and galleries. Want a lot of people at your next opening? Then go out and meet some nice people and show your support.  Attend the events to experience the new treads in art.  What did you like about the opening? Dislike about it? What aspects of that event can you apply to your own event?

"I've worked hard in my studio all day. I'm too tired to attend tonight's reception."  Get over it.  Get off the couch. There are many great publications, including the local newspapers, that list weekly or monthly events.  For starters, pick two events a month that really interest you.  Schedule them in your calendar and get excited about attending. Just like any other appointment or obligation, keep that calendar date and attend.  It's a date with yourself.  It's an evening to dress up, have some wine (just a little...we're not getting drunk at these events mind you) and view some great art.  After awhile I bet you'll find that just these two nights a month isn't enough. Soon you'll be making contacts and looking forward to seeing these same people again next week. If you are feeling a bit scared or unsure about attending alone at first, ask a friend to go with you.

A lack of confidence or a fear of the unknown can cause us to really procrastinate.  This is a human response and it might take some courage to take those first steps to familiarizing yourself with the social scene.  But realize this...while these events are indeed professional, they are also social.  There is no test at the end of the evening.  You only need to be yourself and bring along your love of art.  If you are afraid of saying something wrong or appearing foolish, just say hello, be friendly and listen a lot.  Asking people their opinions and be an active listener.

You'll notice that this post talks and refers often to "friends."  And really making connections is simply about making friends.  No pressure, no stress...these events are usually after work and people are relaxed and open.  Remember, first off...People do business with people they like.  People support and help people they like.  Be friendly, be yourself, wear a smile and you'll do great and be on your way to a richer happier artistic life. 

Review: Online Slideshow Creation for Photos and Artwork

I know I said I was going to be posting a series about making connections and I haven't forgotten that, I promise.  However, the last few days have found me researching different websites and programs in an attempt to find some tools to recommend to a few of my clients who are seeking the ability to create and show slideshows online.  I thought it might be useful to share here, at ArtLOOK, my findings.

Part of the requirements for the winning slideshow program is the ability to be able to:

1. Share the slideshows with others via website/blog/email.
2. Accept comments.
3. Keep presentations private if desired.
4. The ability for multiple people to access the slideshow to add images from any computer anywhere.
5. I also want the ability to showcase these slides in a community setting thus improving and taking advantage of increased traffic to my client's sites and getting some additional marketing miles out on the www.

FilmLoop

In the past, I was pretty keen on Filmloop and spoke about it here and here and here. In accessing Filmloop again this week, I found they have made some impressive improvements in their interface and in the options offered. The new Filmloop Studio is very nice, works well and is easy to use.  Filmloop's forums and customer support is excellent. But...and this is a big issue...the advertisements are just too much! They are simply everywhere on the site, they are in the studio viewer, and in the loops and they have gotten beyond just merely intrusive. Additionally, some people may find them inappropriate.  Now I grant you Filmloop is free so I think we all understand the reason for the advertisements but the real downfall here is that Filmloop does not even offer a paid subscription to eliminate those ads.  That's a shame and perhaps one day Filmloop will offer such a subscription.

Photagious

So off I went in search for something new...something better.  I found Photagious. This is an online photo sharing and slideshow creation website and it looks pretty darn nice. They offer unlimited space, secure storage, NO ADs, great theme templates, customizable slideshows, ability to add video to your presentation, and password protection. You can order prints online. Photagious offers its members a personal page. Visitors can add comments and there is the ability to share presentations via blog/website/email. Updates to the slideshow show up in your blog or on your website immediately. You can customize colors, backgrounds and add music to your slideshow...lovely.  And it is not crappy canned music but actual stuff from your Itunes or mp3 collections. If you don't have mp3s on your hard drive the music offered by Photagious is also very nice. Another option which might be especially attractive for artists displaying their work is the "Zoom Spot" which allows a close up detailed examination of an area within the image. (There is an example of the Zoom Spot on the Klimt shoes image in the presentation below. Click the "x" to see.) Photagious is a paid service and the personal account is $3.95/month or get 2 months free if you pay for the year.  There is a professional version of Photagious at $10/month which offers more advanced options. You can try it out for 7 days free.

Here is my first Photagious Slideshow, customized and sized for sharing on a blog or website. Please push play. 

The above slideshow is a customizable template.  Photagious offers other amazing templates, but to my knowledge those are not fully customizable. For instance, options were not offered to resize and the HUGE presentation would not fit on this blog space.  I wrote to support at Photagious about this and some other questions. I received a prompt, friendly reply which answered my questions.  Regardless of the inability to resize these featured templates, look how lovely this would be on your website in a separate window. Check it out because I've chosen a travel theme and added some great sax jazz for you here.

Photobucket 

The other site I checked out was Photobucket. It was quite easy to use and the photos appear very crisp and clean. This is a free service and therefore has advertising on it but not nearly as "in your face" as the Filmloop service and I haven't thus far seen any half naked people in the ads.  Photobucket also offers a "Pro" account for $25/year which eliminates the ads and provides 5GB of space.  They have a limit on storage space on the free account but it's 1GB which is about 10,000 images.  I believe this to be ample. This service also offers the ability to share your slideshow via email/blog/website. I have to say...while Photobucket doesn't have the professional polish of Photagious, I had a lot of fun playing with the different themes. Photobucket also includes the Zoom Spot option like Photagious. There is the issue of the Photobucket logo, which can't be eliminated even with the paid account.

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