WOW, it's getting real.

Wow, it's been 4 years since my last blog post. That's due to the fact that so much has happened, so fast and I'm hanging on with full force! Where do I start?
I live in Steamboat Springs. I'm the featured artist at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort, where I decorate their lobby with art for sale, and I do live painting Friday nights in the lobby. It's a great venue.
My art is also in the Steamboat Art Museum gift shop, Butcherknife Brewing Co, Artisans Market, Off the Beaten Path, and several fly fishing shops.
I am focusing on wedding paintings now, because I LOVE IT!
I am much better at painting clouds now than when I lived in Hawaii and although I have not been creating the quantity of paintings that I used to, the ones I make now seem to be better quality.
I owe that to YouTube. Yes, simple you tube videos that teach things like "Painting clouds with Acrylics" or "Painting Trees" ... simple things like this have changed the quality of my paintings tremendously. I should watch you tube videos on a daily basis. There is a lot I'd like to learn, and master as far as painting goes. Maybe this year I should focus on 1) lighting (directional shadows and highlights), and 2) figure studies (people).
I think the lighting is a priority.

Now I'm spending a lot of time strategically marketing for my wedding paintings.
Which sources to invest in.. things like that. There are so many ways to advertise and so many sales people ready to take 1K in the drop of a bucket.
I'm starting social media marketing a little more. Pintrest and Instagram... and last night I just invested in Facebook paid advertising.. we'll see how this goes. I feel like I'm diving into a deep pool (and I'm not a good swimmer) hoping I'll make it out a better swimmer!

I'm starting to love the winters, but that's just because it's really pretty.
I don't love cold weather and the inability to paint out there! But that's ok.. I get to focus on marketing during the winter. I'd really just like my wedding paintings to take off and paint 2-3 weddings per week all spring, summer and fall, and be able to take the winters off! Maybe eventually get an RV so I can travel in more comfort for wedding painting season.

I have a new commercial for my wedding painting which I'm so happy with! That will be a great tool to spread the word in a more professional manner :) Watch it here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCe4cQ6B-bo    I don't understand why it doesn't show up higher in the search engine.. I'll have to do SEO work on it.

So overall, life is GREAT! I'm very happy, healthy, and so is my beautiful daughter. I'm not sure how blogs are supposed to help my marketing, but maybe my future posts will be more impersonal and more focused on my art, rather than hearing the inner workings of my brain while I sip on my coffee.

Well whoever is reading this, thank  you for your time, and I appreciate so much that you admire my art. Please help me out by sharing my information about wedding painting to anyone you know. You never know who is going to want a wedding painting, and each one makes a difference in my and Enya's life. I don't get hand outs from anyone, no child support or external sources.. I am not from a rich family, and I'm single doing this on my own. It took a LOT of hard work, constant thinking about marketing, and constant effort on my part to get where I am. I'm not rich by any means, but I am so proud to say that my self taught talent, my self-driven motivation and my independence is what puts a roof over our heads, and allows my daughter to experience some great things in her life. Boy does time go fast, it better be used productively! Most importantly, it's people like you who support my path that makes this possible, so thank you again from the bottom of my heart.