Marketing and the Art World

I belong to various blogs and virtual groups to keep me in contact with the art and photography industry. There is so much information out there, I find that sharing a link can be helpful to others. Understanding the art world can be very overwhelming. The link is to a short video about how the market flows and where to put forth efforts as an artist. Of course, the number one business focus is marketing.


http://wafglobal.ning.com/video/video/show?id=3927681%3AVideo%3A177616&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_video

When summer vacation upsets your printer

Ah yes, I am back in the studio after some much needed time away. However, I think both the dog and my printer actually were upset by the vacation. I went about catching up on emails and administrative catch up assuming I could multitask by printing out some family photos for my dad's upcoming birthday. My wonderful Epson 3800 gave me lines all across the first 4x6. I knew right away the printer's nozzles were a bit clogged from non use. Yes, since I vacationed, my printer's ink dried up in the small tubes that deliver the ink dots to the paper. I should have expected this.
The printer utility icon can be found both in the printer's dialogue box or through applications menu->utilities->printer utilities [on a Mac]. Once I double click on printer's utilities, a new box opens with 4 choices. I want to select the nozzle check, which if needed will perform a cleaning. This can be a little time consuming. Overall, I needed about an hour to make sure the final print was perfect. The dialogue boxes walk you right through the process and even show examples to help you identity your exact problem. I admit I do have a magnifying pocket lens on my desk to check for any imperfections.
Now, I am off to keep printing some new still lifes. Be sure to keep your printer running.

Beach Sessions on Sale until July 20th!!

HOT SUMMER SPECIAL!!!!!

Let's meet at the beach for an hour or so for a half price special.

Bring some friends or another family and get even more perks!

Call today for Details or Email for the Scoop!

Check out the new website design at

www.sbiportraits.com

Sarah Brown Images Portrait Website Prepares to Launch

Sweet 16 Party

If you have tried to click searching for Sarah Brown Images Portrait Website
www.sbiportraits.com, you may not have found it. Nope, it is not you nor the world wide web. In honor of the start of summer, officially that is, I have reconstructed my portrait site for a cleaner and more satisfying view of some portraiture. Predominately children and families, I also include some recent Professional Business type portraits for local business women. I plan to expand the business portraits and have a special package just for on-location sessions at the office. Pet portraits will also continue to be a popular session-especially with all those puppies out there.

I am also now available for assignments and editorial work.

I appreciate your patience as I wait for the server switch to be finalized. Please send me feedback about the new site. All my contact info remains the same. Send me an email:   sbrownimages@gmail.com

Thanks,
Sarah

Images from a Sweet 16 Celebration!

 

Uncertain Times, Uncertain Measures

My studio has been very quiet in the mornings. Usually, I am in the office chair early since my son is an early riser. My husband is an early guy too, but as an Ocean Lifeguard he has no choice. Since news of the oil spill tragedy in April, we have made a conscious effort to swim and play in the waves as often as we can. Admittedly, I had visit the beach low on the priority list. The Atlantic Ocean has been a constant for me since we moved to South Florida when I was five years old.
My childhood memories, like most, have the good and bad as I grew.  But I retreated to the beach and the Everglades as I nursed the pain of growing up with a mother with cancer. Her mortality challenged my frontal cortex before my brain could grasp abstract concepts. The salty Atlantic nursed my wounds.

When she finally died in 1996, having lived with cancer for over ten years, I was living in the mountains of Colorado. I remember, upon returning to Florida, how my ocean trips were healing during the phases of accepting death. Now that I live back here in South Florida, I still feel the same healing, and, perhaps in part to the ongoing parts of her absence.
Usually these days, I am chasing after a four year old; my feelings are mixed with the desire for him to have similar childhood memories of bonding with the Ocean, just as my husband and I have through out our lives. We grieve for those in the Gulf; my son suggested someone take a helicopter and drop buckets of dawn soap in the Gulf. As we wait to see if our coast line is effected by the oil spill, I have continued to photograph the Atlantic's mighty beauty. Color and Black and White. I am thinking on Velvet Fine Art Paper.
Photography, as an emotional medium, eases my sadness. I am not sure if I sketched or painted this same image I would feel the same peace. What is it about Photography that as a tunnel for expression is different than other mediums?

When is a body of work complete?

This is a new still life I did in the studio yesterday. I had sworn off the still life creating for a bit. Sometimes the distance or break allows for new out of the box I have placed myself ideas. Sometimes the pause generates more experimentation to see something new. I think I will always be creating still lifes even without realizing until I am moving objects. The more I understand arrangement support the more I challenge myself to create more abstract compositions. All the while, I continue to have the principals of Ikebana in play. What really gets me is the more I sit still, the more clarity I have with placement. 

Onward into the experimental realm of Abstract Realism and Contemplative Photography I go! 

T.S. Elliot Begins a New Book

"The End is Where We Start From." TS Elliot

Who reads the last page or even the last chapter of a book first? I can not go through a book without reading the preface first. Mr. Hamilton, my high school english teacher, showed me how significant the preface or introduction can be. So for me the mystery is already over; the story line is just icing on the cake.
Perhaps that is why I am drawn to the idea of creating a new kind of photography book. One with words and images; just not the way our brain has come to auto interpret in anticipation. So, I feel as though it is almost a Kohan of creating a book with no words. I pose a challenge to anyone willing to create: How can I change the definition of book.