Only one and a half more days until the September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge is here! Yikes. 

So am I ready? Hmm ...

theme selected ... check
studio clean and organized ... check
supplies ordered and delivered ... check
thirty blog post created and ready for daily insert of painting ... check
back ups painted for when I am traveling ... check
house organized and kitchen stocked ... check
monthly schedule finalized with lots of painting time ... check

It looks like I am ready. How about you?
​And you can still join me and almost 1000 artists as we paint over 30,000 paintings in September ...

There are weeks and then there are "weeks". This week is definitely one of "those weeks". 

There are so many big things happening this month and many of them start this week. I am seriously stressed out.

What's on my list?

The start of the September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. (i.e. I have to paint thirty paintings ...)
Launching my new webinARTs course.
Posting the September Monday Online Class.
Finalizing the Curriculum for my two Marketing Boot Camps.
Announcing my 2017 Calendar (with workshops and surprises).
Send out my first newsletter to interior designers. Finish consolidating the mailing list.
Four commissions (three abstracts and one very large oil painting).
​Two out of town workshops (Idaho and Cape Cod).

​Now I am really freaked out. OMG. What was I thinking?

"Aqua Bliss"
36" x 36" acrylic abstract
Available.

September has always traditionally been fashion month. And in the spirit of creativity I am have chosen my theme for this year's Challenge from my favorite TV show ... Project Runway. 

Every day this month I will be painting an abstract painting inspired by one of the dresses designed on the show Project Runway. There are hundreds (actually over a thousand) to choose from and wow ... there are some iconic ones to choose from! For those of you that watch the show, you know what I mean. In the past I have used many of the "looks" designed on the 14 seasons of Project Runway as inspirations for my paintings. So now I am in the process of selecting thirty more dresses to inspire me! Some are gorgeous and some, well, are scary. But they are going to be great inspirations for abstract paintings.

By the way, I am still looking for more dresses from the show. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment here! I am still looking ...

​Make it work!

Some of you may remember a previous blog post I wrote about an unfortunate experience I had with art licensing. It was called, "OK, Now I am Really Pissed". (You can find it here.) Guess what? This story now has a happy ending. 

I won't go into all of the details but yesterday I received an unexpected check in the mail! The licensing company issued me a check for all of the royalty payments for the Hobby Lobby sale. I had no idea they were doing this and I am thrilled. Wow. I should have had more faith.

So I really am not pissed anymore. Let's just say I am doing the happy dance.

​And it's a glorious day!

Ten more days. That's how long you have to make a very important decision. Are you looking for a way to jump start you art? Do you wish you were painting more? Do you wish you could find the time to try something new?

Then it's time to join the September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. 

It changed my life. And it's one of the few times you can do something with over 1,000 artists in over 30 countries. Even if you can't commit to painting thirty paintings you should join anyway. So what if you only paint twenty? That's a lot more than you probably would have painted on your own.

Check out the page on the 30 Day Challenge to learn a lot more. Just do it.

I know I am late. And many of you have emailed or messaged me asking. Thanks for being patient. But my 2017 schedule will be published the first week in September. My new schedule has workshops, Monday Open Studio sessions and a new Marketing Boot Camp! Plus a few new surprises.

I usually have my schedule published earlier than the first week of September. But my schedule is based on things I can't control (like dates for volleyball games ...) so I can't book anything until those are published. I have also decided I am going to teach less next year because I need more time to paint. So fine-tuning all of the dates and locations is a bit tricky. Did I mention I have some new cities where I am teaching in 2017?

Planning ahead is important and I am sorry that I am a bit tardy. But hopefully it's worth the wait.
​Have you planned 2017 yet?
​Leslie

So I have to be honest. I have been a little anxious these past few weeks. Of course some of it is probably due to the fact that I have been watching the Olympics 24/7. Too much athletic competition. But the truth is that I have been suffering from "marketing stress". And I had forgotten that I need to be patient.

Many of you know I have launched a national campaign introducing my abstract paintings to interior designers. The response has been amazing. So many designers have taken the time to let me know they love my art. And they have all said they can't wait to work with me in the future on one of their design projects. The key word however is "future". 

And so I just have to wait. And wait. And be patient. And wait some more.

And just when I was about to convince myself that this whole effort has been a waste of time, everything has started to click. Finally. Lots of calls and email from designers with art needs. Commissions are happening. I am even stressed about deadlines. And I am thrilled. 

I just don't understand why I was so impatient. I need to remember that patience is key. Because usually hard work always pays off. Of course it just takes a little time.​

It's common sense that any artist who wants to sell their art needs a place to sell it. In today's art world there are many options available to artists such as galleries, both brick and mortar and online. But the one place everybody must have to sell their art is a website.

I know. It's intimidating. But you need a website. It's imperative. If you can manage posting your art on Facebook, Instagram and a blog then you can create one yourself. There is no reason to hire someone to do it for you. Instead, let me teach you.

I created an online website building course called webinARTs a few years ago. But the technology has improved so much, that I have created a brand new 2016 online course. The 2016 webinARTs course will teach you how to create a website, blog and newsletter. It's full of videos that show you exactly what to do. You will learn how to build a store on your site which automatically adds buy now buttons. You will learn how to add as many pages to your website as you want. The course will also teach you how to navigate social media to promote your art.

​Once you have your website completed you can stop there and start selling your art. Or you can take it to the next level. In the webinARTs course I will show you how to do this. We will add movies, build a blog, add a newsletter and create a mailing list. You will even learn how to add a survey and online form to your site. You will then learn how to utilize links and analytics that will enable you to see exactly how many visitors you have to your site every day. ​

The course also has a live Forum for all students to ask questions and share their progress. Throughout the course we will be using a website builder called weebly which offers fabulous templates, very easy and intuitive elements and is very inexpensive! I have used it for years and I love it. I know you will too.

The webinARTs course will launch in September 2016. For more information click here.