My viral zebra video

People keep asking me "how did you get it to go viral?" "what did you do?" and my answer is, I have no real idea. I posted a 21 second video that's similar to dozens of other videos I posted, with the same hashtags I've used dozens of times before. Yet, this one video has almost a million views in a mere 48 hours. What did I do? That is the question. I framed it with my head off to the side of the frame, it's a time lapse, and it has dramatic change, and people know what they are looking at. That's it, folks. That's all I have.

I had one other video go viral, it was a playful one of me pretending to take off a piece of clothing with a surprise ending, I held up a sign that said "follow me". Obviously it was a fun video, people got a funny ending, they enjoyed it. What do the two have in common? me? It's all a mystery. I paint, it dries, people love watching. If anyone can figure it out, let me know so I can repeat it.

What's not happened yet is any art sales, which I'd love this very slow time of year. My bank account is nearly empty (been here, done this before), so some sales would be most welcome. I'll be ok, no worries, I have a modest paycheck headed my way from the carousel, and after that, a dozen pinstripe jobs waiting. It's a roller coaster ride, for sure! Stay safe out there, my lovlies. Hugs!

Another year at the carousel wrapped up!

This year's carousel touch ups have come to an end. I had the opportunity to add back some missing flourishes, as well as do more restoration work on the Armored Horse, and the Stork. 200,000 riders per year enjoy this carousel, and I love making it look new again for them! Restoring these treasured animals is something I look forward to every year in Greenfield Village's off season. If you're a fan of this carousel, please feel free to write the museum and let them know what you think of my work on it! I'm fairly anonymous otherwise. Knowing that so many people make lifelong memories is very special. I've posted several videos of the painting of the different animals on youtube, I'm easy to find there at juliekfournier. I hope you enjoy them! Make sure to like and follow me there and on facebook, it all helps me to continue to make art that makes people happy! You're special and deserve to be happy. I am honored to play my small part!

Let me know what you think of the Sea Monster in the comments below.

Sunday again already?

Sunday again, and I'm thinking about the carousel that I have been working on at The Henry Ford museum aka Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI.

People really love carousels, it brings so much joy! I'm very lucky that I was chosen over ten years ago to be the one to keep it looking "new". I've had the chance to restore many of the animals and repaint them so that they're closer to their original 1913 appearance.

I post to over a dozen social media sites, so as many people as possible can enjoy this carousel; there are very few wooden antique carousels left in the world now, most are fiberglass and mass produced. The one I work on is art. I'm looking forward to going in to work tomorrow and doing more paint repairs on these precious artworks carved over a century ago. Let me know which your favorite animal is!

I have to go finish posting videos of the painting process. See it all on youtube!

Ever get a rejection notice but not the reason WHY?

Yup, it's frustrating to get a notice saying your blog or page or whatever "violated" some policy, but then have NO IDEA what violates what. How hard would it be for say, google, to tell you what you did wrong that they find offensive and won't allow you to put ads in your blog.

That's my evening. I hope yours is relaxing, and without frustration. My favorite way to unwind is to play pool, or catch up on emails, there's nothing like cleaning something to give a nice sense of satisfaction! Take out the frustration on piles of papers, and feel good after. Am I venting right now? you betcha. That's another way I release pent up frustration. As an artist, I need to be relaxed to let inspiration and ideas flow, but just like you, life happens and I have to deal with it, too. Sometimes that involves a glass of wine, most of the time my go to is chocolate, oh my poor hips hah!

Have a great evening, and share your tips for relaxing in the comments!

Creating with low tech and what's on hand

I find myself making videos of paintings for the various social media sites using what I have on hand usually. Since I'm not a photographer, but I have to be one anyway to take good photos of my work to post, I've had to get very creative with how I create postable photos.

I love natural sunlight and cloudy days are especially good for providing nice even diffuse light on the subjects I photograph. I have used bedsheets in the past, but recently I did invest in a piece of 36 inch white paper from the art store to use as a backdrop. Backgrounds are just as important as foregrounds, since we want the focus of our images to be on the image, and not whatever is distracting in the background.

I set up the backdrop in a way so I am not blocking my natural light source when I stand behind the camera (usually my iphone). If it's a still shot, or a timelapse, I'll use my tripod. If it's a video, I steady myself by leaning on whatever is near, usually a chair. Then I pan slowly, zoom slowly, and do a voice over since so many sites take down videos that use music they provide! Better to do your own original sound when possible.

I can edit the video into shorter clips if I want, right on my iphone, then upload them as "multiples" in a combined video on whatever site I upload them to. It's time consuming and pretty tedious for a painter to become a cinematographer and video editor and.. and... and... but that's the modern age, n'est pas?

Find me on you tube, instagram, facebook, or whatever your favorite site is at juliekfournier. Like and share and follow and that all supports me so I can keep on making cool art for you! Until next time, stay safe out there!

Finding space where there is none

Do you often wonder where you can store something, look around and throw your arms up exasperated? Look UP. Most everything is on the floor, bookshelves, dressers, etc. Try putting shelving near the ceiling, above your head. Over doorways are a great spot to put a shelf, too. Now you have more space to put books, or knick-knacks!

Leave comments below for any questions on how to organize, or find room for your home! I'll help you.

#howto

How to Get the most out of Small Spaces!

We all struggle with finding places to store and display our belongings. Do you ever get the feeling you own 12 things and have only ten spots? I go through this daily!

As an artist working from home, I have had to come up with some very creative ways to maximize my small space. I have a 742 square foot home, and I work from that space and store all my art stuff which adds up in a hurrry! I found ways to keep my space clutter free, well organized, and aesthetically pleasing, and I want to share these tips and tricks with you. I'll write specific blogs that focus on one area at a time, and I hope you find them as useful as I did! The concepts can be applied to any size living area from a van, to a larger home. Take what you can, and you can leave the rest! I look forward to helping you find new and better ways to make your home your own in cost effective and satisfying ways! If you have any requests on what areas you'd like to see me focus on, leave them in a comment below! I'm always happy to help out and answer all questions! Remember, we don't have to throw out lots of stuff to make our homes organized and beloved, so if you're not a stage five hoarder, this is for you!

Here's a picture of what might be one of the smallest vanity's ever, yet I have a lot of stuff in that small space, all organized, and accessible. I'll talk about that in my next blog!

Sunday Musings

Sundays are quiet, since I try not to schedule jobs on my "day of rest". I wind up working anyway, of course; today it was reworking my art fair booth layout for a four day show in July, the Wyandotte Art Fair. I'm hiding a cheap excercise bike inside my 10' square tent so I can "move" around. I usally stand for about 20 hours a day for the event, which my ankles are not fond of, ha! Moving really is great for blood flow.

I've actually been working on the display and layout for a few weeks now, but I think I finally have a working design I feel great about! It's open and inviting, and my work is displayed as well as I can in that 10 foot square space without it looking cluttered.

I've tripled my jewelry display area, I've curated how the paintings will hang, and I'm adding ornaments for this show this year. It took some work to arrange it all so it doesn't look crowded or cluttered, but I finally did it, whew! I can focus now on all the sewing of walls and rain sides, etc. that I have to do to make it all weatherproof and aesthetically pleasing. I'd like to get that all done before spring while it's comfortable to do it. I'm confident I will.

It's dinner time, time for me to go now.

Artists suffer?

Generally, yes, but how? It's variable. In my case I had abusive parents (a product of a Victorian mindset plus trauma of WWII) that set me up to not see red flags in relationships until it was way too late. I could give a TED talk on the easily missed signs early on in domestic violence relationships.

How does this relate to producing art? Good question, if you know the answer to why emotionally tormented people make great art, tell me.

I have a point here, though, I promise. As an artist, my income is "challenged". Which has trapped me in more than one awful relationship. You, dear reader, can easily do something that does NOT involve me asking you for money. Nope. I am going to ask you to give a thumbs up, a like, a follow. A mouse click. That's it! a mouse click. See, the algorithms love popularity, and they'll show my work to more viewers (and they'll give me money for my work and THEN I can support myself and get out of another abusive relationship once and for all). Because being abused sucks. I was lied to, I didn't sign up for it, and I want out. So help me get out by clicking the mouse and getting the internet algorithms working for me. It's a HUGE thing you can do, help me get more eyes on my art. That puts money in my pocket, and I get to keep on making everyone happy with my work. We all need art, and I make art. I don't want to give up, and you don't want me to give up. I can't do it alone in a vacuum, I need the support (mouseclicks) of friends, fans, and supporters. Let's do this!

Thanks in advance! I gotta run and go post videos to about 13 different social media sites now. Promotion never ends!