Updates from Terri on Her Art Journey
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Back in my Connecticut loft studio, I’m reminiscing about my Greek sojourn. Just two weeks ago today, I woke up in Athens, Greece. Spent two very busy days and nights in that ancient city; flew to the island of Crete, where I enjoyed the sights of Chania and nearby villages for four days; then flew to my final destination, the magnificently beautiful island of Santorini, where I was treated to four nights of luxury overlooking the Aegean Sea.
It was an incredible ten days! A fantastic vacation I shall never forget. It was all arranged by a lovely tour guide, Carol Ketelson of Delectable Destinations, with whom I’ve previously traveled and, God willing, shall travel with to Italy next year. While I enjoyed this trip like any enthusiastic tourist, from climbing to the top of the Acropolis in Athens; to eating, drinking and shopping myself silly on Crete’s Venetian Harbor; and finally sailing into the breathtaking Santorini sunset. . . . . . it was also a bit of a working holiday for me. As planned, I documented the trip by taking hundreds of photographs and posting each day’s activity on Social Media, primarily FaceBook and Instagram. I also sketched my way through Greece, drawing some of the more iconic scenes I came across. I still have my work cut out for me. Editing and curating my photographs and figuring out which of them will be references for future paintings will take days, possibly even weeks. But it’s a job I look forward to. And I certainly have enough material to start another series!
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God willing, I will be flying tomorrow to Athens, Greece. My bag is packed with iPhone/camera (for reference photos), sketch pad and colored pencils (in case I get the urge to do some en plein air drawing).
I’ve been looking forward to this trip for many months. I hope I can gather enough material to perhaps do another series of paintings. My tour guide, Carol Ketelson of Delectable Destinations, has planned visits to a variety of locations in Athens and on the islands of Crete and Santorini. So there should be lots of gorgeous scenes for me to capture. Check out Carol’s website at www.delectabledestinations.com Because I don’t know what the internet service will be like in Greece, I’m posting this blog today rather than on Monday, as I usually do. If the service isn’t too bad, I shall post photos and possibly sketches during my travels. I’ll be back in two weeks. In the meantime, please pray for traveling mercies. My mentor, art instructor and founder of the Artists Business Academy, Rod Moore, recently advised his students that if we want to attract customers for our artwork, we need to use social media to engage them.
I’ve been pretty faithful about using Facebook to post photos of my paintings. But Rod says I need to do more than that. He suggests doing livestreams and videos and posting stories and reels. And, by the way, posting at least two or three times a day. So, last week I tried to do more. I posted a couple of videos on Facebook, and I did my first reel. I’ve tried to engage my followers by asking them to vote for their favorite painting in my 31TREES series which I shared on Facebook during the month of August. And with the help of my friend, Aimee, I dusted off my Instagram, and for the first time ever posted a video. Later today she’s going to show me how to create a poll, inviting my 335 followers to vote for their favorite tree painting. So, I’m off to a slow start. And I say slow, because as an old dog, I’m not a quick study! |
AuthorTerri Thompson is a journalist-turned-visual artist, who is on an "art journey" and exploring how to tell her stories through her watercolor and acrylic paintings and photographs. Categories |