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GO TO YOUR ROOM !

I borrowed this phrase from the recently deceased Canadian painter Robert Genn who believed that there is only so much we can learn about how to paint from the many fine instructors and resources available today. The true learning comes from going off on our own and just doing it - Go to your room!

I have had the good fortune to take instruction from outstanding artists in Canada and the USA. I continue to work on my own development ( Going to MY room!) . I share, through this blog and workshops, what I have learned and what others have shared with me.

I created this blog primarily for those attending my workshops to keep in touch and to further share as we grow together. If others are interested in following that would be great.

Enjoy the journey.

Sunday 4 November 2012

GETTING ON TOP OF MY RECORDS



I paint a lot - normally over 300 pieces a year. I am represented by half a dozen galleries, enter shows regularly and display art in a number of locations. I hate working with records and numbers and resent the time they take. But as my works pile up and I grow commercially I know that I need organization - so I struggle along and try to stay on top of things. 

For the past few years I have been working with an Australian product  called Flick. It is quite good and I recommend it. I have placed my database (file holding my records) in Dropbox ( a cloud storage system) that lets me access my records from my desktop, from my laptop while traveling and from my tablet  as needed. System works well as long as I stay on top of it. But I often let it slip and it piles up to the point that I can't face it. 

I subscribe to the blog of Lori McNee. In  a recent post she recommended a new software program for artists that she was instrumental in testing called Artwork Archive .  This is a cloud based program that you access on line. I took advantage of their free trial period and liked it - a lot. It is much simpler and more intuitive than Flick - but not as complete. But complete enough for me. All I want is a record of each piece, including image, where it is located, its price, when sold etc. I need to be able to keep track of my gallery holdings and be able to print out gallery records etc. This one works well. You can also export to Excel and print out records that way.  Price is good as well. I have taken the Masters - which gives me unlimited number of images. If you order via the Lori McNee blog there is 20% off for the first year - cost about $60 which I think is reasonable if it helps me to get control of my life.

Take a look. 

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