Having lived as an independent artist for 28 years I can tell you that it takes a serious commitment to yourself if you want critical and financial success.

Lots of talented people over the years have told me how they really wanted to focus on making their own art, but could not live on that income. So they decided they would do some illustration, concept design work, or teach to pay their bills while creating their personal art on the side with the hopes of finding a gallery. These artists have become part of the corporate machine, are still struggling, or have dropped out altogether.

The amount of time, energy and promo it takes to make your mark in any one of those industries is extensive.Doubling them up makes it difficult to find the extra time and creative focus necessary to make sophisticated meaningful art that you love.

Even fine artists who have always relied on galleries or curators to bring in the right collectors complain that even though they do all the right things sales are dismal. I can tell you that playing the role of what licensing expert Maria Brophy calls an art banker (a person who spends their own money and time creating artwork that they then “loan” on consignment) is not good business. There are other ways to sell your work.

Where do you want to place your time, energy and artistic genius? How old will you be when you decide to finally pursue your dream of artist freedom?

Are you serving a design firm, publication, or film/game company to help them build their corporate empire? How about investing in your own unique art empire instead?

Let me show you how to build your own in two and a half days at the Artist As Brand Workshop. See exactly what you will learn on the ABOUT page.

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WOODLAND HILLS WORKSHOP

SILA MEMBERS! IT'S TIME TO STEP OUT OF THE CAVE AND INTO YOUR POWER! I KNOW IT'S A DIFFICULT TIME FINANCIALLY FOR MANY OF YOU. THIS IS WHY I AM OFFERING THE WORKSHOP AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE. IF YOU USE THE PRINCIPLES TAUGHT IN THE CLASS YOU SHOULD SEE A RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT MANY TIMES  OVER WITHIN THE FIRST YEAR. COME ON TEAM, PUMP UP YOUR FORTUNE AND HAPPINESS.

September 17, 18, 19 Friday-2:00-9:00, Saturday & Sunday 10AM- 8PM

With special guest lectures!

Register now for this one time special offer of $225 for SILA members and students.$295 for all others. Enrollment is limited to 20 participants.Sign up ends September 12.All credit cards accepted, payment plans available.

Held at the Holiday Inn21101 Ventura Blvd. Woodland Hills, CA 913641-818-883-6110Special room rates for overnight guests$99.00 a night with breakfast or $89.00 without.

Society of Illustrator Members and students only

$225.00!

Others $295.00

Please read the REGISTER page before signing up.

Bee Prosperity for Flowers of Fortune Art Card Set & Game

It's that time of year again when the world of popular art culture collides with the city of San Diego. I have been frequenting this event since 1990. I was part of Allen Spiegel's booth ASFA for many years and then decided to trek out on my own and acquired a booth. Preparing for this event takes weeks sometimes months, and when it is over takes a solid week to recover. It costs money to create product, pay for the booth, hotel, meals, etc. hence the investment can be large. Not much sleep is allowed, everyone is running on reserves of nerve energy as meetings and parties go into the wee hours. Then you get up early to man your booth, sell your wares and conjure up new fans and patrons. The cycle starts up again for four days straight.

Even though Comic Con is a lot of work most exhibitors return year after year, because of the events vitality. Seeing my artist friends come from all over the world to hang out for a week is inspiring. I love the show and tell facet.

Gracing the Dawn for Flowers of Fortune Art Card Set & Game

Setting up a booth is an art unto itself. Read this article on Roxana's Illuminated Perfume Blog about our strategy for this years booth. Every year we strive to make it more interesting than the last. My other goal is to out do what I manifested the year before in art. This time I have created and devised a Limited Edition Art Card Game! Called Flowers of Fortune (website coming soon) there is a scratch off game facet where participants can receive my posters, prints, card sets, and cash. The odds are very good in that there is a prize for every 40 cards. However everyone is winner as fortunes and special quotes are waiting beneath the scratch off designs.

Roxana formulated a beautiful perfume to accompany the Gracing The Dawn card. Come to the booth 5553 and experience this exquisite essence. You will swoon. (Illustrators area) Enter through the double doors of Lobby G, near Starbucks, the booth is on the right front wall. Look for the Shabby Chic booth with the Gracing the Dawn banner.

Don't forget to attend this! I am moderating an Artist As Brand panel discussion Friday 23, 6:00-7:00 RM 8, with Arnie Fenner, Mark Murphy, Ciruelo, Tara McPherson, Donato.

See you all soon!

Art and Empowerment

Greg

Produce Your Own Unique Art Empire!

See what Art Professors, Professionals, and College Students are saying about the Artist As Brand Workshop Here.

FIND ART GALLERYAugust 6, 7, 8 Friday-Sunday 10AM- 8PM1640 Superior Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92627

With Special Guest Lectures by writer and art critic Peter Clothier, licensing expert Maria Brophy, social media master & botanical perfumer Roxana Villa.

Please read the REGISTER page before signing up.

Learn more about Artist As Brand on the ABOUT page.

Scholar and mythologist Joseph Campbell called serendipity “a thousand unseen helping hands.”“..namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you... When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”

When the doors of perception open it's fascinating to see what flies in! Roxana Villa my lovely wife started Illuminated Perfume after many years as a professional illustrator and certified aromatherapist. Growing up with asthma and being chemically sensitive inspired her to create botanical perfumes made from pure essential oils. When she was designing the imagery and other symbols that would define her company brand, nature and its pagan spirit resonated deeply within. Hence the key element in the Illuminated Perfume logo became a bee.

The bee has been a powerful symbol throughout history connected to the environment, fertility, prosperity, knowledge, wisdom. The little beings are responsible for the propagation of our food, garden flowers, and fruit trees. In addition Roxana uses beeswax in her solid perfumes. Roxana is an awesome model of Artist As Brand principles and in fact gives a presentation during my workshops where you see her progression from visual artist to aromatic artisan. To see how her company continues to grow is astounding considering she sells a product online that cannot be experienced directly!

At my workshops you actually get to experience many of these magnificent scents. An important facet of marketing is understanding how to make alignments with other like minded individuals and companies. Roxana is a connector and so keeps her eyes on the look out for these alliances.

On one occasion she came across an online story that talked  about the Backwards Beekeepers. They are a group of organic beekeepers in Los Angeles who rely on observation and natural practices rather than pesticides and other chemicals to keep their bees thriving. The BB gang saves bees from the exterminator when someone encounters a swarm that lands in their yard or ends up in the walls etc. They come in and swoop up the swarm (for free) and make new beehives or relocate them whilst inspiring others to do the same. It's actually more simple and safe than you think! Roxana went to a meeting and loved the people and their mission.

I was smitten too and soon we were contemplating the concept of having our own hive! Crazy, huh? Well, we would be helping the bees exist, have access to free honey and beeswax for Roxana’s perfumes. Of course I was not planning to run out to get equipment and purchase bees any time soon. I am way too busy for that.

One day I looked outside the studio windows and notice a swarm of bees. It’s amazing to see a swarm up close. Hundreds of bees swirling in space, knocking against the glass. The sun was low so there was a luminescence about them in that golden light. They decided to take up residence in our composter!

The next day we stopped by the Los Angeles Bee Company, picked up the necessary equipment, wooden hives, etc. Then an Irish gentleman named John Lyons (of Backwards Beekeepers) stopped by our house and showed us how to transfer these amazingly gentle bees into a specially designed cardboard box. They will then be transferred to a wooden hive, which I am building now. Roxana got her wish!  We are now bee keepers.

Photos by Eve Villa Neuhart

1. bees on compost bin. 2. frames inside cardboard bee box for temporary home. 3. pouring honey on the hive frames. 4. most of bees including the queen were clustered in the compost lid. John tapped them into the hive box. 5. John with fashionable headgear 6. most bees follow the queen into the box, stragglers are helped into the hive's opening with gloved hands and trowel.

When your intentions are clear and strong, and you put that vibration out into the world it will resonate with like minded individuals. This means aligning with people who will support your vision, morally and financially. Start looking and put out the call. Roxana did and received her bees! What do you desire?

Bee Empowered,

Greg

Greg Spalenka

In the spirit of supporting common visions this post is part of a May Flowers blogging extravaganza at Roxana’s Illuminated Perfume Journal.

Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.  They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.~Lydia M. ChildThe purpose behind a flower, as seen from a purely scientific perspective, is only for the propagation and survival of the species. Yet humans have placed meaning upon these botanical delights for eons. A flower’s virtue may be overt or covert but never denied. These petaled entities have sparked the imagination throughout history in the realms of desire, love, purity, sensuality, elegance, sacredness, sadness, happiness, power, magic, and ethereal worlds. Some blossoms have become timeless symbols.The Fleur de lis is one such emblem. It is a stylized lily (in French, fleur means flower,  lis means lily) or iris, and is widely thought to be a conventionalize version of the species Iris pseudacorus. A few scholars believe it represents a trident, arrowhead, double axe, dove, pigeon, or bee, but most agree it is of a botanical nature.Decorative ornaments that resemble the fleur-de-lis have appeared in artwork from the earliest human civilizations. The image is found on Mesopotamian cylinders, Egyptian bas-reliefs, Mycenaean pottery, Sassanid textiles, Gaulish and Mameluk coins, Indonesian clothes, Japanese emblems, and Dogon totems. It has consistently been used as a royal emblem, though different cultures have interpreted its meaning in varying ways.While the fleur-de-lis has appeared on countless European coats of arms and flags over the centuries, it is particularly associated with the French monarchy.This symbol was used to support the claim of anointed Kings of France that their authority came directly from God. It can be traced to an ancient image evoking the rising sun which had the form of a Greek cross with the horizontals curved upwards on either side.Legends enhanced the mystique of royalty with stories of a vial filled with oil brought by a dove from heaven to anoint and sanctify King Clovis (493AD) at his coronation. Another variation says a lily appeared at the Kings baptismal ceremony as a gift of blessing from an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is often associated with the flower.During the reign of King Louis IX (St. Louis) the three petals of the flower were said to represent faith, wisdom and chivalry, and to be a sign of divine favour bestowed on France. During the 14th century, the tradition of Trinity symbolism was established in France and then spread to other parts of the globe.What is mysterious and amazing is that a flower symbol could resonate so deeply with people that it took on a new life. The image became a brand of its own. Mother nature is full of these icons because she is an awesome designer. Imbue those petaled wonders with meaning and Voila! we have a timeless combination.To flower power,GregCredits-WikipediaThe Secret Teachings of All Ages, by Manly P. Hall