Amie Gillingham

Who and where are you?

I’m Susan Brack of Enchanted Sleigh Studios. I’m a self taught folk artist living in Indiana. I’m lucky to have been able to live most of my life in a rural setting. Our area is rich in farm land, crafting culture and antique shops. While raising my family, I taught quilting and followed the arts and crafts show circuit selling my original folk art dolls, bears and Santa figures. I think that early influence can still be seen in my work today.

How were you introduced to Facebook?

My daughter Rachel Sharp is also an artist living in Scotland. Which made it hard for us to share our latest art and artistic endeavors. She kept telling me I should join Facebook. I was reluctant. You know the old saying, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. ha. I finally signed on. I have never looked back. It has opened a new world to me. I can keep up with my daughter’s activities, share my own work and network all at the same time with other artists, collectors and Facebook friends. Our family also owns a small antique / gift shop in Centerville, IN called The Enchanted Sleigh. So I’ve been able to create an additional business page to share and promote our family’s store.

Any tips for other artists starting a Facebook Page?

Yes, first decide how you want to use your Facebook page. Do you just want to be sociable or do you want to use it to network and promote your art. Try to remember if you are using it to promote your art or business you should always present yourself in a professional and friendly manner. No gossip, political or mean spirited comments. I also try not to over do my postings or make a nuisance of myself. There are features on Facebook that allows you to post every single listing you might have on Etsy or Ebay. If you post all the time, your Facebook friends may end up blocking or unfollowing you. When I do post my art or listings, I try to include a short friendly comment that might be of interest. Facebook can be an awesome marketing tool.

What’s your favorite Facebook Page feature?

I like to be able to follow some of the other artists that I most admire. It is always nice to be able to see how they are using Facebook to promote themselves. It’s a great way to become more educated in my own marketing habits.

What’s coming next from your studio?

I hope to keep producing new Christmas, Halloween and Fantasy illustrations. I have just signed with a new licensing agency. I’m very excited to be back in the licensing world. I’ve always enjoyed designing collections for Holiday and Home Decor products. When the economy took a dive, so many companies seemed to quit using freelancers like me. I’m beginning to see signs of the economy slowly improving. The industry seems to be starting to use more outside art sources again. Thank goodness I had sites like Facebook and EBSQ to help promote and sell my original art to collectors which kept me afloat during the last few years when times were tuff. I hope all artists who want to expand their fan base will take advantage of today’s technology. If I can do it, anybody can.

http://www.facebook.com/susanbrackart

http://susanbrack.ebsqart.com/

1. Salt Shaker by Delilah Smith

2. Dragon Lore by Melia Newman

3. New Year Poppies by Torrie Smiley

4. Numbers by Vicky Knowles

5. Seclusion by Kimberly Vanlandingham

****

Have a wonderful weekend!

The following EBSQ Art Exhibits will only be accepting entries through the end of Tuesday, Eastern Standard Time:

Show us animals that occur naturally with black & white markings: pandas, skunks, cows, tuxedo cats, zebras…you get the idea. As long as it exists in nature, it’s fair game. [read more]

To quote They Might Be Giants:

“Most with cones for seeds, most with needles for leaves. C is for Conifers, my kind of tree” [read more]

In 2012, we’ll be tackling all four seasons. First up is Winter. All entries must pertain to this season in an obvious way. [read more]

To enter any of the above shows, you must be a member of EBSQ. Not yet a member? Consider joining today!

Our full 2012 Exhibition calendar is here.

Take the 12 in 12 Challenge!

And here’s a sneak peak at what’s coming next!

Who and where are you?

My name is Stacey Zimmerman and I am a self-taught acrylic artist living in Raleigh, NC. I’m a mom of three amazing children and wife to a loving husband of 19 years. Currently I have my artwork in two local independent shops here in Raleigh and Wake Forest. My ideas come from nature and the wonder of color. I paint how I see colors through my eyes and hope to provide illuminating colors to inspire the viewer.

How were you introduced to Facebook?

I discovered Facebook through friends and after using a personal account became aware of the business pages available. I was hooked after communicating and interacting with the visitors. It was like stepping into my shop and having a cup of coffee with a guest.

Any tips for other artists starting a Facebook Page?

Try to make your page feel welcoming for visitors by including them in a contest or contemplating ideas you have brewing in your head. Also, post photos of your work in progress. Visitors enjoy actually seeing your creative process. Be creative and make it your own!

What’s your favorite Facebook Page feature?

I find that the Facebook Ads for promoting your page are very affordable and easy to set up. I can target a specific audience, set a daily budget and time frame. It is rewarding to watch my supporter numbers increase daily.

What’s coming next from your studio?

I am working on a series of impressionistic paintings inspired by my favorite artist, Claude Monet. I like to add touches of sparkle and mystery to my paintings by using some iridescent paint/mediums. Everyone could use some spark in their life! My hope is to draw a viewer into my work and provide a sense of happiness and love of life by my use of color.

http://www.facebook.com/StaceyZimmermanArt

http://szimmpa.ebsqart.com/

Filed under: Artist Interviews Tagged: art, ebsq1:1, facebook, floral paintings, impressionism, Stacey Zimmerman

[View more Valentine Art at EBSQ]

Voting is now open for all three EBSQ January exhibits. Have you voted yet? It’s easy peasy lemon squeezy:

If you’re logged in, simply browse to one of January’s art shows, click the thumbnail to view the details for that piece, then click the large “vote” button.

Don’t have an account? You can still participate in the social vote, known on our site as the Cloud Awards. Simply use the Facebook “like” button for your favourite pieces. And unlike the member voting button, where a new vote overrides a previous vote in a given exhibit, you can actually vote for as many pieces as you like in our cloud awards.

[Learn more about EBSQ Exhibits awards here.]

1. Fairy Laundry Day – Sherry Key’s latest whimsical delight is sure to bring a smile to your day!

2. Sketchbook Project 2012: Time Traveller – Mark Satchwill’s sketchbook project rocks! Take a trip back in time for a peak into Mark’s past.

3. The Parrish Award – Congratulations to Fawn McNeil for her recent win at The Lake Placid Art League show!

4. ACEO Art Auctions – KiniArt Studios (the art of Kim Niles) is holding silent auctions for nine original ACEOs.

5. Valentines 2012 Coloring Page – Melia Newman has a FREE treat on her blog for dragon lovers.

Have a great weekend!

We just learned that longtime EBSQ Artist Ruth J Jamieson has passed away. From her husband David:

Ruth Jamieson won her battle with life and passed from this world on February 4th 2012. Rest in Peace my love.

If you’d like to leave condolences for her family, you can post them directly on her public Facebook page.

Our hearts and prayers are with Ruth’s family and friends. And we thank her for the beauty she shared with the world in the all-too-brief time she was with us.

Artist; writer; researcher; business woman; family woman.
Goal: Make the world a better place.

Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Ruth was undoubtedly touched by her passion, her creativity, and her heart. She will be missed but never forgotten. I’m certain she is painting rainbows on the other side.

Originally published January 25, 2011

This week’s EBSQ Blogger of the Week is an inspiration. It makes no difference what medium she chooses to work in, her art speaks to the heart.

Who and where are you?

I’m Ruth J Jamieson and thank you for featuring me as blogger of the week.  I’m a visual artist and potter, though I have been on hiatus from clay for a number of years. I live and work in a little house my family and I built on the beautiful north shore of Lake Nipissing, in northern Ontario, Canada. My dining room is my studio and I watch the sun travel the sky and watch glorious sunsets many evenings while I work. I would say my current artistic focus is on photography and fractal art.  I also create many digital art images by combining various elements including my photographs and fractals.

How did you get started art blogging?

I never really thought about blogging until 2009.  I had begun reading various topical blogs on a semi-regular basis, but felt it was more of a commitment than I was able to make at the time.  Finally though I set up a blog on Blogger and began featuring my artist friends periodically.  My posting frequency dwindled off and my blog languished while I dealt with other issues until late 2010 when I decided that if I was going to blog, I was going to blog regularly.  So now I have my original blog, remixed as “Isn’t This a Fine Kettle of Fish”, in which I now intend to chronicle what is happening in my studio and shops.  I have added two new blogs, THE ZAZZLE REVIEW, and THE ETSY TIMES which feature a Zazzler or an Etsian weekly.  As well I now do an artist feature weekly on my website blog.  So Monday, Wednesday and Friday are now blog posting days at my house.

Any tips for other EBSQ art bloggers?

Blog regularly, at least once per week, preferably more often.  Posts don’t have to be long or complicated but they should be genuine and share a little of you with your readers.  Think about the kinds of things you like to read about in other artist’s blogs, what kind of posts keep you coming back to your regularly visited blogs.

It is VERY important to have pictures in every blog post.  Readers like to see what they’re reading about.  Keep your text in short, easy to read paragraphs with white space between them.  Save the fancy flourishy text for titles or effect, the main text should be in a clear, simple, easy to read font, in a color that contrasts with the background.  Be sure to activate links for anything that has a web presence.  CHECK THE LINKS, make sure they work properly.

CONNECT, CONNECT, CONNECT!  Your blog should link to the rest of your online presence and the rest of your online presence should link to your blog.  This gives you an organized, competent, professional web profile.  Be sure to have easy access for people to join, follow or subscribe to your blog, have a search feature on your blog and make it easy for visitors to share your blog via email, twitter, facebook and other sites if possible.

Be sure to reply to every comment made on your blog.  Check out your followers and their blogs, if they have one (or more).  Network with those blogs and others to build your visibility and draw traffic to your blog and your business.

What’s your musical inspiration of choice when you’re working in your studio?

I rarely listen to music while working.  I work in my dining room which adjoins the kitchen and living room, so I get to listen to The Weather Network or whatever the family has on television and the sounds of activity in the kitchen.  When everyone is out or elsewhere in the house, I prefer quiet.  The only time I really feel like having music while I work is when I am working on Christmas themed art.  Then I like to have Christmas music playing quietly.

What’s coming next from your easel?

What a question!  I have so much to do this year it boggles my mind.  Currently I am working on a 72 image series, which I want to complete before Pesach begins on April 18.  The series is of the 72 Names of God.  This is a Kabbalistic series.  The images are digital collages of vector graphics, fractal images, photographs and Hebrew and English text.

I have set hefty goals for building my Zazzle shops this year.  In particular I will be tackling more ‘occasion’ oriented images and designs for my newest shop.  This is in addition to building a more robust inventory in my two original Zazzle shops.

I am also trying to keep up with the new EBSQ Fractal Challenge.  I’m liking the challenge as it has prodded me to create some new fractal images.  I have a very large library of existing fractals that I created and work with, but it is good to add more for future use.  Photographically, I continue to follow the seasons as I do each year and add to my inventory of images to draw from when I am creating digital works.  I think I need an assistant just to manage my image inventory.

This is turning into a busy, busy, busy year!

http://defyinggravity.ebsqart.com/

http://ruthjjamieson.blogspot.com/

http://www.zazzle.com/dequilla

http://www.zazzle.com/rjjamiesonart

http://www.zazzle.com/ruthjjamieson

http://thezazzlereview.blogspot.com/