Susan Paquette | Boston | Artist

 

April 4 2018

I Paint. I’m Angry At Myself. The Future Is Wide Open

     I’m painting. Buying painting supplies. Imagining painted images.
I may create a second Facebook Artist page. I may create a second website. I’m looking for local events that are willing to let me paint for an hour or two so I can take photos and video of myself painting.
     I had been feeling severely frustrated with myself. I began a part time office job search about a month ago. I got three offers for interviews. I didn’t want to to them. I was dreading it. In hindsight I realize I felt that way because I didn’t want the job.
     What do I want? Creativity. Social interaction. Higher pay.
You know. The simple things.
Because when you get on Craigslist they have a plethora of jobs just like that.
My conclusion: There isn’t a job that fits me.
How else can I think about it?

 

March 31 2018

My Emotional Thoughts on Art, Working, Projects, Social Media and Failure

          I continue to post my sketches of chihuahuas and bunnies on my Facebook Artist Page and Instagram. I always get immediate responses and feedback.
          I also have a secret project I’m putting together. I bought supplies and have written everything out like a map. It’s something that I already know how to do but still has an exciting newness to it. I guess I could venture to say it is larger scale than usual for me. I always thought of myself as smaller scale because that’s all I’ve been able to do. It’s so weird when an idea presents itself. Either it sticks to you or it doesn’t. Not every idea fits everyone.
          I’m always reluctant to share what is next for me because there is always such a high chance of risk and failure or a client not following through.
          I have less fear than ever before.

​

​

March 25  2018

Vegan T-shirts of Sea Turtles, bunnies and an anti-Trump Cat

When I finally managed to eat a vegan diet permanently, I felt so relieved. I felt so proud of what I had accomplished. It took about two years off and on vegetarian/vegan. Essential fatty acids, cravings, eating enough calories and on and on. I figured it out. My latest addition to the Shop is Vegan tees and other goodies like tote bags, notebooks and mugs. The peeking “Weekend are you here yet?” bunny has made his debut on items. The anti-Trump “Troomp” kitty has found her/his place on some pastel tees as well. I added a vegan sea turtle t-shirt and tote bag to round it out. Finally merchandise with “Vegan” on it!

 

March 21 2018

​

Tattoo Artwork by Really Good Artist

  Recently a Facebook friend asked me if I could design a tattoo for her. I said yes and than she said she’s still deciding what she wants. I hadn’t considered my artwork to be suitable for tattoos but apparently the amount of detail in my drawings is appealing to people who want tattoos. I put my artwork on “products” because it just wasn’t selling on it’s own. People need to see the art on something or something that serves a function like a purse or phone case. Tattoo art is something people need and search for. How do you market your art as tattoo art? Join Facebook tattoo groups? Facebook ads that target people who are consistently getting tattoos? Google Ads?

 

March 17 2018

​

Stickers GIVEAWAY

The animals on the stickers are pigs, cats, a fox, a sea turtle, bunny and Lil' Bub.

     I woke up this morning and decided I was going to make stickers for myself. Just because I really like stickers. I had a big sticker collection when I was 11 or 12 and also note cards and Hello Kitty stationary, Strawberry Shortcake pens and erasers and lots of other things. I remember I had rainbow and unicorn stickers. Scratch and Sniff stickers that smelled like band-aids and vinyl records. I had some bubble gum ones too. Bazooka scented. I never thought then that I could make my own stickers. I have the artwork so all I need is plain “sticker paper”. I looked at Staples online and they had a package of sticker paper for about $14. Good enough. I went to the physical store this morning. I was so excited to go get it. Just for me. I was thinking I want to do this for myself. Like my own secret happy project. They only had one kind of paper I could use and it was $20. I bit the bullet and got it. How could I give up now? I went home and printed the stickers immediately. They came out better than I expected. I set up a special “GIVEAWAY” on my Facebook Artist page. The first five people to comment on my stickers post will receive five stickers free. I posted the same photo on Instagram and Twitter.

 

March 13, 2018

   
New Drawings of Cats, Dogs, Ferrets and Sea Turtles in pencil on t-shirts, tote bags and pillows

       Drawing animals is the most fun for me. These days I don’t want to draw anything else. You should draw what you love so I draw Moggie. She’s a sweet kitty. I have to be strategic when it comes to finding her very still for a few minutes. When I’m sketching her and she jumps up, it’s all over.
       The other animals I like to draw usually are from an interesting or quirky photo I’ve found. I discovered that ferrets are quite cute, sea turtles are mysterious and dogs are humble.
       I’ve been making one minute videos of me sketching and I’ve concluded that I draw more slowly than I’d thought. My next challenge is to figure out how to speed up the video :) .
I’m trying some new animals like pigs and chihuahuas in my sketchbook and adding small amounts of color. I prefer just the pencil though. Even in art school I preferred to sketch with a pencil more than anything else. I like the preciseness of it and the richness of the line quality. I believe that’s my strength as an artist. More animal drawings coming soon…

​

​

March 1, 2018

Obviously I managed to create a blog post area on my Shop page. Key words and linked words to my artwork were important to me so there they are. I still have plenty of space on the page to add more artwork which I feel relieved about.
     I promoted one post on Facebook yesterday. I had gotten home from yet another dental appointment and just went for it. I’d felt apprehensive for weeks to promote or buy a Facebook ad but I just did it. Sometimes I get it in my head that I’ve nothing to lose. What am I waiting for? I’ve been channeling the stress I feel about dental issues into marketing my artwork. Who knew dental problems would turn out to be helpful. As a result of the promotion I now have ten more likes on my FB Artist page and several new Facebook friends. They are Vegans and animal lovers. Just like me.

     I may promote my Shop website next. I really like how some people are so generous with their time and comments. They share what is closest to their heart and let the rest of us know what is important to them. I feel lucky to be amongst online friends and followers who are like that.

      My next blog post will be about how I choose an animal to draw and how I turn it into a meme.

​

February 25, 2018     

      The work I've been doing the last few months has been really slow. Really confusing. I feel my efforts are scattered. Every day I learn something new to market my art. Some other internet strategy. Another angle, another site. Another social media platform. Something else to include on this page, that page. It seems endless at times. But really when I look back at what I’ve done since November, it begins to look remotely cohesive.  I started with an Instagram account. I got more “likes” than I ever got on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It made me feel so excited. I began drawing every day and my ideas for more sketches just kept coming. I felt like I did in art school. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn I’d been active on for many years. At least since 2009. I used them for entertainment really.

      When I got a bigger response on Instagram posting several times a week, I began posting the same images at the same time to the other three platforms. I wanted at least five hundred Insta followers before putting my artwork on products. I looked at a few sites that put your art on merchandise and I liked Fine Art America the best. I liked their tote bags. I ordered my art on two items. A pillow and a tote bag. I wanted to see what the quality was in person so that I would know what my customers would be getting.

      Once I had the two sample items in my hands, I felt excited to put a shop together. I put the shop on my website which I’ve had for several years too. I linked the item images to the Fine Art America shopping cart.
      It took me about three days to put sixteen items up. I still need to add more items like the fox, bunny and terrier sketches. There's one of Moggie peeking around a corner that I want to be sure to include too. I can't forget the llama either. I liked working on the shop’s design. Each day I woke up looking forward to working on it. It was a good focus that distracted me from the two root canals I was experiencing. Not to mention a smoothie diet.  

      The first people I showed my shop site to were my parents. They really liked it. My mum said, “Oh! Christmas presents for everybody!” My cousin saw the site and told me she wanted “one of each” and couldn’t decide. I told her,”Yes, you and I are definitely related”.
      Yesterday I created a Facebook Artist page. I invited all my current Facebook friends to “like” it. It felt wonderful to witness everyone “liking” it in real time. Like an influx of love. I have only two posts of my art on the FB Artist page so far. I enabled a shopping button that links to my online shop.
      I finished my Patreon account yesterday too. It took me a while to decide what to include on it for rewards. It took me weeks to decide on a goal. My current goal on the Patreon is a children’s picture book featuring animal characters of course. I created a link on all of the pages of my website for Patreon with a cool Patreon logo.
My next effort is include a blog in the page design of my shop.