I know I have not posted much lately, but then I have also not painted much either. I seem to spend my days running around to galleries, organising framing, shipping and every other aspect of my art, but what I enjoy the most and that is sitting down and painting.
I must be honest its not the hectic running around I had in mind for myself. I suppose though once the hard work is done things will settle down and I will be able to concentrate on painting. I brought about 50 paintings with me and the new ones I have painted and I supposed its just been a long hard slog to find suitable outlets for all of them.
This oil painting I have titled sunset on the lake. Compared to SA the sun sets much later here which I supposed is also helped by daylight saving. Auckland is a city with ocean and waterways just every where. Though this is not a particular Auckland scene its just my imagination of a tranquil home on a lake.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Sunset on the Lake
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Blog Awards
If "The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions" , then I must be teetering on the very edge of that fiery inferno.
In recent months a number of people have bestowed awards on me, to which I have not adequately responded. It has been my intention to reply to all and express my appreciation publicly. As a mere mortal who every now and then appreciates a pat on the back to say well done the awards go a long way to encourage me and spur me on to try harder. Thank you to all for honouring me in this way. I feel really awful for not replying sooner but time has not been on my side.
The move from South Africa has not been without its challenges, the most difficult of all being the financial consideration. The South African currency is approx R6 to one NZ $ and I had to convert my Rands to NZ $. Whilst I don't think NZ is that much more expensive than other countries I can't seem to shake the habit of converting all the prices to Rands and doing a comparison before purchasing anything.
When you earn local currency its a reasonable place to live, but when you use Rands then things get a tad expensive. I had to have some paintings framed the other day and the average cost was about $250 per frame.
These were not large paintings that had to be framed but I found it really expensive. That is the equivalent of about R1500 in South African currency. The same quality of framing there would probably only have cost about R500, so its about three times as much per frame. This all affects the sale price and I had to increase the prices drastically. The same applies to many other things I have had to purchase here.
Financial survival is paramount so I have had to concentrate my efforts on earning some local currency by selling my art here in NZ.. My blog has been running now for 8 months and if I consider the income earned for the time spent then my priority has to be focused on the traditional methods of selling my art.
My total income to date from blog adverts has been $899 from all sources including including AdSense, affiliates and click bank which amounts to a little over $100 per month. Whilst the extra income has been most welcome it does not pay the monthly bills.
I know there are many other sources of online income to explore, I read all about them every day when I do my entre card drops. I don't however have the time to fully explore all the options. During this time I have also managed to sell 2 paintings as a result of direct enquiries from my blog.
All said and done I am reasonably happy with my blogging results but have to keep a proper perspective on things and blogging has for now been relegated to second place in my busy life.
So there you have it!! I make time every day to drop 300 cards and will continue to do so as it is good for traffic and there are numerous blogs that I thoroughly enjoy reading which gives a bit of meaning to the ritual.
Today is one of those cold wet and miserable days here so my plans were changed and I am using this time to catch up on some blogging. As for following the rules of each award, this is often time consuming and when I do identify recipients I feel worthy of the award more often than not they already have it. I can't see the point of giving them the award again.
In recent months a number of people have bestowed awards on me, to which I have not adequately responded. It has been my intention to reply to all and express my appreciation publicly. As a mere mortal who every now and then appreciates a pat on the back to say well done the awards go a long way to encourage me and spur me on to try harder. Thank you to all for honouring me in this way. I feel really awful for not replying sooner but time has not been on my side.
The move from South Africa has not been without its challenges, the most difficult of all being the financial consideration. The South African currency is approx R6 to one NZ $ and I had to convert my Rands to NZ $. Whilst I don't think NZ is that much more expensive than other countries I can't seem to shake the habit of converting all the prices to Rands and doing a comparison before purchasing anything.
When you earn local currency its a reasonable place to live, but when you use Rands then things get a tad expensive. I had to have some paintings framed the other day and the average cost was about $250 per frame.
These were not large paintings that had to be framed but I found it really expensive. That is the equivalent of about R1500 in South African currency. The same quality of framing there would probably only have cost about R500, so its about three times as much per frame. This all affects the sale price and I had to increase the prices drastically. The same applies to many other things I have had to purchase here.
Financial survival is paramount so I have had to concentrate my efforts on earning some local currency by selling my art here in NZ.. My blog has been running now for 8 months and if I consider the income earned for the time spent then my priority has to be focused on the traditional methods of selling my art.
My total income to date from blog adverts has been $899 from all sources including including AdSense, affiliates and click bank which amounts to a little over $100 per month. Whilst the extra income has been most welcome it does not pay the monthly bills.
I know there are many other sources of online income to explore, I read all about them every day when I do my entre card drops. I don't however have the time to fully explore all the options. During this time I have also managed to sell 2 paintings as a result of direct enquiries from my blog.
All said and done I am reasonably happy with my blogging results but have to keep a proper perspective on things and blogging has for now been relegated to second place in my busy life.
So there you have it!! I make time every day to drop 300 cards and will continue to do so as it is good for traffic and there are numerous blogs that I thoroughly enjoy reading which gives a bit of meaning to the ritual.
Today is one of those cold wet and miserable days here so my plans were changed and I am using this time to catch up on some blogging. As for following the rules of each award, this is often time consuming and when I do identify recipients I feel worthy of the award more often than not they already have it. I can't see the point of giving them the award again.
Now back to the awards.
Sweet Home blog awards
I feel honoured that Louise from Island Wench feels that through my blog I have been able to share some of the beauty love and joy in the world around us with my readers.
Arte Y Pico Award
Thank you to SueEllen a talented Canadian whose fine art on the Creaky Easel has always inspired me.
My thanks also to Tink from the Netherlands whose site Tinkerbell always makes for some interesting reading.
My thanks also to Tink from the Netherlands whose site Tinkerbell always makes for some interesting reading.
The Brilliant Blog Award
To Durano from the Spitting Vessel, a site I try to make a point of visiting daily because of the brilliant writing and great content, thank you for honouring me this way.
The fashion site from California The Mommy and me Boutique whose array of beautiful aprons make being seen in the kitchen more exciting is worth checking out, thank you for this award.
"I Love Your Blog" award from Lea but unfortunately no link was left to help identify the site, or the actual award. My humble thanks for the award, it is always pleasing to know someone derives a bit of pleasure from my efforts.
Last but not least there are about 60 comments still to be published and attended to. The problem with procrastinating is that it compounds the work load and I must make an effort to attend to these daily. Thank you to all who have left comments I do appreciate them.
The fashion site from California The Mommy and me Boutique whose array of beautiful aprons make being seen in the kitchen more exciting is worth checking out, thank you for this award.
"I Love Your Blog" award from Lea but unfortunately no link was left to help identify the site, or the actual award. My humble thanks for the award, it is always pleasing to know someone derives a bit of pleasure from my efforts.
Last but not least there are about 60 comments still to be published and attended to. The problem with procrastinating is that it compounds the work load and I must make an effort to attend to these daily. Thank you to all who have left comments I do appreciate them.
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