In addition to being a featured artist, I’m also proud to say that I’m also the Legal Advisor to the fantastic artist collective Live Unchained. If you haven’t check it out yet, now is definitely the time to do so and learn more about the fantastic female artists of the African Diaspora and what it means to Live Unchained!
Stevie, my new iPhone, is my latest addition to my electronic family! I’m sure it’s not hard to figure where his name comes from but I finally decided to join the rest of civilization and buy a smartphone. Naturally, I had to get an Apple gadget but I have to say, I have had a fine old time playing with Stevie and figuring out all of his bells and whistles.
©Jaimee Todd
Most notably, Stevie has an amazing camera for a phone. The 8 megapixel lens offers some beautifully crisp photos and since I’ve added the Instagram app, picture taking has become spontaneous and even more fun. Before I started using it, I was a little suspicious of the whole Instagram thing, thinking that it took out the art of taking good pictures by turning any old photo into something interesting, but after using it, I can definitely say that you still need to a good eye to really good a good effect with the app.
©Jaimee Todd
Anyway, these are some of the pics I’ve taken wtih Stevie but there will definitely be more!
I saw this on someone’s Facebook today and later found out that it was actually on a T-shirt, so I had to share. I don’t think I need to say much more; this pretty much speaks for itself.
Oh, how I love my Moo cards! They are so much fun to make, share and play with. They take business cards to a whole new level because they serve a cool keepsake for people to hold onto in their wallets or put in their cubicle. It’s so funny because when I hand them out to people, they always ask, “Oh! This is nice. Can…can I keep it?”
Aside from cool business cards, Moo Print also makes fun doo-dads like personalized stickers, mailing labels, greeting cards and more. It’s truly an addiction but a happy one (and no, they did not pay me to write this post).
Anyway, just wanted to share my little inkblot arrangement, which is sort of a preview of what I will be adding to my online store. Stay tuned for details!
I love the internet. It is such a wonderful and endless source of information and I am continually on it. So much so, that I know that if I ever got a chance to land on Jeopardy, I would RACK UP from all the information that I’ve absorbed. My friends are always asking, after I forwarded them my latest exciting find, “How on earth do you find all this stuff?”
Amongst the vast resources that are out there, there are several sites that I love to frequent because they are inspirational, informative and just plain fun, especially when it come to things related to art and design. Here are some of my favorites that I am sure would rock and add to your creative world:
Design Sponge: Founded by Grace Bonney of Brooklyn, NY, this fun hangout celebrates all things lovely in the world of art and design. Her site is frequently punctuated by beautiful photographs of wonderfully decorated interiors, funky and quirky art by emerging artists and creative DIY projects. My favorite feature of her blog is the weekly “Biz Ladies” colum that offers practical, down-to-earth advice for aspiring art entrepreneurs. I’ve learned so much from this column and thanks to it, I now know about great sites like Moo (terrific for biz cards), Big Cartel and Etsy, all of which have helped to further my art business.
Moo: And speaking of Moo, I ADORE their products. I used them to generate new business cards and I must say I’m very addicted. The great thing about Moo is that you can customize your design to your heart’s content. I like to put images of my paintings on the back of each card, which is printed on lovely, hefty card stock that will make other business cards look like wussies! Moo cards are truly the way to go when you want to promote your product and I get lots of compliments on the little gems that I hand out. Now I’m geeked because they just started selling customizable stickers. All hail the Moo! But now back to business…
Art Biz Blog: This is another tremendously resourceful site that was created by Alyson Stanfield. Alyson is a former museum curator turned entrepreneur/consultant/teacher. She frequently travels around the country to conduct seminars on how you can bolster your art career through tips on marketing, networking, brainstorming, you name it. Her Art Biz Blog is an extension of that. This is such a fantastic resource for emerging and estabilshed artists and what’s especially nice about it is that has fostered a very generous community of artists that are mutually supportive and unsparing in advice and enthusiasm.
The 99 Percent: I recently discovered this site a few months ago and have been sucked in by it. Just now when I went to double-check the link of that site, I started getting engrossed in the articles. It’s truly a goldmine for the creative mind. Not only does it offer practical tips on marketing and entrepreneurial topics, but it also gives advice and no-nonsense articles about keeping the creative momentum going. One of the first articles that I read by them was entitled “99 Excuses For Not Making Ideas Happen”. I told you they were no-nonsense…
Black Art In America: This site is especially wonderful in that it’s like a homecoming for black artists who wish to share their work within a community that fosters support, education and diversity. The talented Laura James (who is a frequent and generous contributor to the site) turned me onto this networking community and it has been a wonderful experience. BAIA has a similar set-up to Facebook/Myspace (but not as life-consuming, which is a good thing) My favorite part of the site is being able to see pictures of all the incredible artwork that is shared by fellow BAIA artists, who range from the upcoming to the well-known. Being able to view the artwork of all the members also makes it a fantastic resource for art collectors.
So there you have it; some of my favorite things in internet land. I hope you enjoy the sites as much I enjoyed writing about them. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go and surf.