Year's End

Well, it seems Christmas is over (sigh...), 2018 is almost done with, and soon it'll be 2019!

WHERE, exactly, did 2018 go? I know time seems to speed up when you get old, decrepit and dilapidated (like me☺), but... come on!! 

OK, so -- I've been working, on and off, on a small painting. At the same time, I decided it's time to revamp my website to make it more compatible with what search engines are looking for. More on this topic soon.

Also, I seem to have lots of ideas for images to paint, but I've gone back to being kinda unmotivated, which is something I need to work on. I can't be that way. Not if I need to survive financially!

I read an online article claiming that the number one obstacle to making it as a professional artist is: the work simply isn't good enough. It can't compete with all the artwork that's out there. The article went on to describe the misadventures of a female artist whose experiences seemed quite similar to mine.

I'm sure this position is true -- for many artists, and maybe for me, too. But I can't ignore other possible reasons why obstacles exist. This is something I've been contemplating a lot. 

So this is where things stand. I'm hoping website sales will increase in 2019, when people are able to find me! Right now, if you Google "desert paintings," my site isn't even in the first 100, although I used to be in the top 5, and sometimes I was even #1!! Gotta fix that, too.

So I hope Christmas was awesome, that this year has been good to you and that 2019 will be a fabulous year for us all!!

Mark Junge
www.SouthwestSpaces.com
www.MarkJunge.com
www.FineArtAmerica.com (prints)

ANOTHER Little Desert Painting

I finished another little desert painting for my "Under $300" series of works -- possibly the last for a while, until I see how well received they are by the art collectors out there!

No title yet, really, so I'm just calling it Joshua Tree 03. The size is 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm. Obviously (I think!), I wanted to draw attention to the almost-a-silhouette of the Joshua tree against the bright clouds.

I'll be adding this to my website soon, and I expect it will be available in one of the local businesses by mid-April. More on this later.

It will be Easter in a couple of days. Happy Easter!

 

Three Little Paintings

I've been working on some small (8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm) paintings in the "Under $300" category. All desert scenes, of course.

Joshua Trees 01

Joshua Trees 02

Sand Verbena

These, along with future paintings yet to be made, will be available at one of the local businesses where tourists and desert lovers will go and, perhaps, pick up one or more as a suitcase-sized souvenir. Check my website for more information on availability:

 www.SouthwestSpaces.com
 www.MarkJunge.com

 

How th' Heck Is It Going, Mark?

Well, let's see...we're in month #2 of 2016. How th' heck is it going, art-wise?

I AM getting paintings done -- better ones than ever, in my opinion! I'm slowly doing more online stuff done to get my presence out there, and I'm looking for worthwhile art shows to enter. Not the art fairs in parks and such, but the more prestigious ones -- hard to get in to, but I gotta try.

I have more prints of paintings on my page at Fine Art America, and I removed the manipulated photographs that I used to offer. (I still have a painting there that I "enhanced" slightly, but I'll soon remove the "enhancement").

I've revamped my website somewhat, including adding a page with paintings that are available for less than $300! My monthly newsletter no longer appears on my website; instead, I now use MailChimp.com to produce newsletters that look more like desktop publishing e-documents. (If you'd like to receive these newsletters, please e-mail me at our "Contact Us" page on the website and let us know).

And, although I had resisted the temptation before -- I decided I'll need to be represented in galleries somewhere, but I'm not so sure about southern California. I don't know where yet, but 
it just ain't hoppenin' here. ☺

 

However, I may frame and take the "Under $300" paintings to a place or two in Yucca Valley (CA).

Admittedly, I'm somewhat surprised and disappointed that no one on Facebook has acquired any of the small paintings. So within the next few months, my website may become nothing more than an online portfolio without "Buy Now" buttons. Galleries and other art professionals simply want to see websites as portfolios, complete with the sizes and prices of the works.

I've also been downloading and accumulating quite a large number of artworks by masters past and present to inspire me -- not to make money off of or to violate anyone's copyright, but just to study. (I could assemble a thick book of images by now!)

Finally, I've been talking with some peeps who have done well with the art biz and getting some advice about approaches that may be a bit outside the box. In fact, I expect to be meeting with one such artist over lunch next week for a brainstorming session.

So -- that's where it is for now. Sorry -- no pictures this time. For now, I'll just keep truckin'...uh, I mean, paintin'!!

Ocotillo Paradise

Ocotillo Paradise is the first of a series of affordable, "Art-on-a-Budget" paintings that I plan to place on my website (which, by the way, is www.SouthwestSpaces.com or www.MarkJunge.com).

Ocotillo Paradise

This new piece shows one of my favorite views of all time: south of Palm Desert, CA, overlooking Deep Canyon, ocotillos and brittlebush in bloom, and a hawk on the wing looking for goodies. Lots of open space, rugged mountains -- all of the things I love about the desert.

The "Art-on-a-Budget" series will be smaller paintings -- this one is 11" x 14" / 28cm x 36cm -- and will not sport the transparent, "stained glass" glazes that I normally prefer. This will save me lots of time, although the images themselves will be of the same high standards I set for myself in my artwork.

I hope I can make more paintings this way and offer them for less (I expect Ocotillo Paradise will be available on my website for around $200 USD, but I'm not sure yet). As usual, the art will be unframed. OR: I could frame them, but then I would need to add the framing and increased shipping costs to the total. At this time, the paintings will be available ONLY on my website, and possibly on other Internet sites.

And, of course, I'll continue to work on the time-consuming glazed paintings, too. ☺

May all this lead to a prosperous 2016!

More Insights from the Art Show

I have to say -- there are some things that happen at art shows that can make doing them worthwhile even when nothing sells, as with the show at the San Bernardino County Museum, 20-22 November 2015. I wrote about this in the previous entry, but three things struck me when talking with potential buyers that will affect what I do for the "Art-on-a-Budget" series of artworks I'll be making:

1. People like ocotillos in bloom;
2. People like skies with clouds, especially the small puffy "popcorn" clouds;
3. People like having the sun appear in the scene.

OK -- so -- I'll be painting lots of ocotillos, preferably with lots of colorful wildflowers around them. Always have clouds, and have more sunrises and sunsets --whether or not the image is a desert scene. Keeping these points in mind should be helpful in remembering subjects I like to paint anyway but also -- hopefully -- narrow it all down to subjects people will purchase.

(I've got these points written down so I'll remember them every time I sit at the confuser...uh, computer!)

Time will tell if these insights will be helpful or not. Meanwhile, I've got some painting to do and a website that needs optimizing so everyone can find it. It's gonna be busy!

By the way -- you can find my paintings at SouthwestSpaces.com or MarkJunge.com.

 

Things I've Learned at the Art Show

The art show last weekend came and went ... and NO SALES AT ALL!!! Grr-r-r-r...

I wasn't the only one. Other artists had no sales, or they sold only small, inexpensive sculptures or prints of paintings.

In spite my initial frustration and anger about how it all turned out, I think I picked up on a few things that may help me move ahead.

-- There is no "economic recovery." It's a lie the politicians -- especially the US president -- keep telling us. People liked my work, but I have to offer it more inexpensively.

-- All of the artwork at the show was realism -- no abstract, impressionism or other styles that seem to be more popular in southern California. (However, I was the only "pure" landscape painter -- everybody else had wildlife prominently featured in their works). So there may be hope in continuing to work in my favored style. 
Art shows just don't seem to work for me anymore. They haven't for a long time. And another artist told me many of the galleries in Scottsdale, AZ are closed up -- couldn't make it. This tells me to skip the art shows and to be REALLY careful with galleries -- they will not be my savior. I'll have to decide if I want to approach them at all at this time.

-- All of the paintings I showed received a positive response. I'll continue with desert paintings, but I'll definitely add more other kinds of western landscapes, especially Colorado mountain scenes, with or without ruins of 19th century mines. These two pieces seemed to be the crowds' favorites:




Badlands, 18" x 24" / 46cm x 61cm

Springtime Ocotillo, 8" x 10" / 20cm x 25cm










So I'll be painting more ocotillos, desert mountains and flowers! And for the local market, I'll be painting Joshua trees with those fantastic monzogranite rock formations, too.


To make these paintings more affordable, I'll have to pass on doing the time-consuming, transparent glazing that I love. It gives the works a stained-glass luminence, but it does take more time to do. So the glazed paintings will be for galleries, a few rare selected shows or for me to keep! I'll offer the "art-on-a-budget" paintings on my website (SouthwestSpaces.com or MarkJunge.com) and to local merchants/galleries who may get tourists.customers who want memories of our beautiful Joshua Tree National Park.

Does this sound like a sound plan? I hope so!! At this point and in this economy, art is all I have. Maybe with the things I learned at the art show, I can still make it!

 

Not-So-Boring (for Me) Statistics

I had to take a minute to look over the statistics that we bloggers get. Just to satisfy my curiosity. I'm a curious sort -- what can I say?

Not including this post: I've written 391 posts since I started this, with 11,784 views. Not bad -- I guess!

Many, many posts have only one or NO views, especially in the beginning years. It has picked up in the last couple of years, and six posts caught the attention of more than 100 readers each. They are, in descending order:

• 648 views   Desert Painting in the Dutch Tradition   11-29-2009
• 450    "         Jean-Léon Gérôme   8-28-2010
• 285    "         Desert Hills   1-23-2009
• 156    "         Kelly Clarkson and Fat-Ness   5-31-2009
• 149    "         Additional Website URL   1-22-2009
• 105    "         Desert Shack   11-05-2008

Don't know what it all means. I assume my piece on Gérôme got some hits because people were looking either for his artwork or for information about the man. Kelly Clarkson -- well, I wrote about how much I love a little plumpness in women -- many guys do, in fact, and don't care for the skinny, "concentration camp" look the entertainment industry constantly sells us.

I AM surprised that a post about a second URL (www.MarkJunge.com) I created, which will redirect the viewer to my "main" URL (www.SouthwestSpaces.com), got as much attention as it did!

My blog is useful to me in other ways, too -- it helps me look up events that happened and I can't remember the dates for. I.e., I never remember when I was officially diagnosed with Type II diabetes. But I wrote about it here in May 31, 2011. So it's been over four years ago.

Lately, my posts have been getting anywhere from a dozen to three dozen viewers. Nice to know friends out there have "discovered" me!

Thanks, everybody! We'll meet here again soon!


Postscript: how about an image of Kelly Clarkson in February, 2015 to finish this off?

Kelly Clarkson -- plus-size beauty!

How to Pursue This Art Business

I'm still struggling with how to make a living, at least a part-time living, at art. I need to. Social Security isn't enough, and my IRA will be drained sometime early next year. The Wiffee is working toward launching a business, but again -- who knows how long, or if, it will take off.

Galleries are out of the question. It's all consignment, they take 40% - 50% (sometimes more), and it can be a hassle getting them to pay you when the work does sell. I even know of one gallery owner who decided to pull up stakes and take off -- with the remaining inventory of artwork that he never paid for. Thankfully, I wasn't in his gallery.

Outdoor art shows, and the travel associated with them, got too expensive and too iffy if nothing sold. Many of the western art shows keep inviting the same artists to show -- as long as they are selling and if they want to be in the shows, there's rarely any room for unknowns like me. And when you come right down to it, I don't really like traveling anymore. I'm a totally cocooned artist!

Showing at banks, restaurants, whatever -- I just haven't heard enough success stories (in fact, I've heard none!) to chase that idea.

That leaves the Internet. I'm hoping I can depend on website sales and maybe from other sites, if I can find some good ones. (EBay and etsy.com seem to have gone downhill for art sales).

That's why I'm painting smaller these days -- the art will be more affordable, and it'll be easier to ship, especially if I continue with my policy of selling the works unframed.

And I'm hoping I can reach parts of the country where people still appreciate traditional/classical painting styles. Most collectors in southern California sure don't!

So -- I guess I'll need to pour my marketing efforts into Internet sales -- period. Frankly, I don't know what else to do. (By the way, my website URL is SouthwestSpaces.com or MarkJunge.com).

Wish me luck!

In the Colorado Wilds

In the Colorado Wilds is the title of my newest painting -- 18" x 24" acrylic on panel.

This is looking toward the Needle Mountains south of Silverton, with some liberties taken on the Animas River (as far as I know, there are no waterfalls on this river). Pigeon Peak is to the distant right, just 28 feet short of being a fourteener (and therefore isn't climbed as much as 14ers are). I was going to put a deer on the outcropping on the lower left, but The Wiffee talked me out of it!

This is one of the few non-desert paintings that I'll be taking with me to the Cattlemen's Western Art Show in Paso Robles, CA next weekend. Even though I still feel my desert art is my strongest, I also know some people -- for some strange reason -- are not into Southwestern desert scenes. Hard to believe, but it seems to be true!

It's obviously autumn in the Colorado mountains, although the yellows never look as bright as they should in my digital images of paintings -- I need to find out how to fix that without altering the overall color of the image to yellow. For now, trust me: the aspens are golden-yellow!

And, of course, don't forget to visit my Website once in a while: http://www.SouthwestSpaces.com or http://www.MarkJunge.com.

Gee -- Thanks, Google!

I heard that www.google.com changed some of its rules about how websites are ranked following a search. It used to be that my website (http://www.SouthwestSpaces.com), if you Googled "desert paintings," would list as high as #1 or sometimes into the 20s or 30s. Now my site is hovering around #172!

And I don't know why! What did Google change? Is a certain group of us being "punished" for doing or not doing something?

I built my website myself, and I think I did an OK job, especially considering the high rankings I used to get. But web design is not my job. Making and selling paintings is. I just don't have time to try and figure out what Google wants from me so I can fix whatever the issue(s) is/are.

So all I can say at this point is: Gee -- thanks, Google! I hope you peeps understand that when you do stuff like this, you may be literally affecting someone's livelihood -- if not an individual's (like me), then even entire companies of people.

Google and the Website

Or maybe I should call this "The Website Blues."

One of the things we website owners want is for our sites to rank highly when someone uses a search string that describes our site. So, for example, I figure people who are looking for paintings of the desert would Google "desert paintings."

As someone who built and maintains my own site (which, by the way, just happens to be http://www.SouthwestSpaces.com or http://www.MarkJunge.com), I spend a lot of time trying to make sure Google finds my site quickly when search strings like "desert paintings" is used. Most of the time, I think I've done OK -- SouthwestSpaces.com usually ranks in the top 20 in a list of literally millions. I have ranked as high as #1!

However, if I make no changes to my site, it slowly slips back in the rankings. Frequent changes is one of the ways Google determines if a given site is worthy of being ranked highly.

Some changes are better than others. Switching out images of paintings or rewriting text are normally fine. Changing the name of a page is iffy. I did that with the two pages that feature my available paintings. The first of those pages was entitled ".../Purchase,", but I recently changed it to ".../Purchase-Desert-Paintings" as a way of using "desert paintings" more often so Google would find it easily.

Problem is: Google isn't as fast as I am when changing page titles. My website has been bumped all the back into the 130s at this time. The original title still shows, and if you click on it, you'll get a "Page Not Found" message, since "Purchase" is no longer the title of that page!

Thus -- my website is buried back further than most people would search for, and if they do manage to find it, the link in the Google list of sites doesn't work!

Oh, brother!

All I can do (as far as I know) is wait it out and hope things get fixed...eventually.

And I'll moan "The Website Blues."