Seth Godin On Marketing

Just watched a great 15 minute video of marketing expert Seth Godin talk about being remarkable on TED.

smARTist Telesummit

Ariane Goodwin organized a telesummit last January which I attended and found very useful. It was a new experience for me. I was able to listen to 13 different experts share and receive their handouts all from the comfort of my home and at my convenience. There was an opportunity to listen live or listen to the recording when it fit my schedule. I kept all the notes in a notebook and have referred to them throughout the year. Ariane is offering the 2008 telesummit for a $60 discount through Halloween. The speakers include experts such as Jennifer Loudon, organizational expert; Joan Stewart, promotional expert; Alyson Stanfield, art career expert; Leonard DuBoff art law expert. Click here for more info and to listen to a 60 min sample!

Enjoying Autumn

5" x 7"
acrylic on masonite
sold

My latest submission for Different Strokes From Different Folks.
Click on image for larger view.
Click here to bid.

Inspiration From You

Inspiration for my art comes from many places. Sometimes it’s a photo that I’ve seen. Other times it’s the way a certain part of town or scenery makes me feel … so I go grab my camera to capture what I can.

I thought it would be fun to include my friends and blog followers in my search for inspiration.
I want to know …What inspires you? What would you like me to paint?

Do you have a photo that really speaks to you? Or maybe it’s an idea that tugs at you a bit? I’d love to know about it. It could be a place, an object, food, a quote, a book , etc. If you want to include people, I would prefer something that does not focus on their face. It is amazing how you can recognize someone by their posture or gesture! Let's see what we can create together!

Please submit your photos or ideas to me at: annie@anniesalness.com. If I choose your submission to paint, I’ll give you a free reproduction or note cards as my way of saying, “Thanks for the inspiration!”

Fall Trees

5"x 7"
acrylic on masonite

The color of the leaves on the trees and the light is glorious this time of year! I have been taking pictures and stopping to look and appreciate at every opportunity.
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Apples

5"x 7"
acrylic on masonite

Here is a quick painting where I added some different colors to my palette and tried to work on my edges.
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New Golden Products

I just attended a very informative demo about the new Golden OPEN Acrylics and Digital grounds.
The Open Acrylics stay wet significantly longer than the regular acrylics and the OPEN mediums and paints can be mixed with Golden regular paints allowing you adjust the open time to your personal preferences!
The digital grounds are amazing:
GOLDEN Digital Grounds turn just about any relatively flat surface into an ink-jet printable surface, providing the control and freedom to create textures and surfaces at whatever scale and shape desired.
If you do any ink jet printing, I highly recommend that you spend some time reading about them.

An Illustrated Life

Danny Gregory, author of Everyday Matters and The Creative License, has a new book coming out in the next month or so called An Illustrated Life. There are several artists featured in this book and he has been doing podcasts with some of the artists to talk about their artwork. The podcasts are only about thirty minutes each and very informative. I like to go to the artist's website and look around at their work while listening.
I encourage you to spend some time on Danny's site and his books are excellent too!

The Bean

5"x 7"
acrylic on masonite

Here is the weekly challenge for Different Strokes From Different Folks. This is a painting of Cloud Gate in Millennium Park in Chicago. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to click on the link and see the photo. It is very impressive!

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Sir Ken Robinson

I just watched a very stirring video from a TED conference:

"Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. "

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Anne Bagby Workshop

I am gathering my art supplies to take to Anne Bagby's workshop at the Art and Soul Retreat here in Portland. I have never been to an Art and Soul event, but I am excited to take Anne's class. She has been featured in The Artist's Magazine and Somerset Studio and does beautiful work. Maybe I'll post a picture if I produce anything decent!

Garlic and Rosemary

Garlic and Rosemary
5"x 7"
acrylic on masonite

sold

Two of my favorite ingredients.

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Pose Maniacs

I am incorporating a few minutes of quick, warm up sketches to my morning routine. One great resource is Pose Maniacs. On this site there are choices for 30 sec poses, negative space drawings, hands for drawing, etc. Any other resources out there?