01.27.2015 Oh the Challenges...

Well it has been almost two months since I last posted. Christmas is always busy but still no excuse. I knew it would be a challenge for me to keep up a blog - I'm learning something I have always known...I have a procrastination problem. It is not really a big problem just a minor problem. The main problem I have is I'm too busy as always. I like to keep it this way. This keeps my creative juices flowing.

I'm figuring out things as I go since I have never shipped anything other than a painting all my products are a challenge.  Once I get all the sizes and packing materials set this should be no problem but for now it is since orders are coming in before my supplies are even ordered.  

So much for my problems but every once in a while I must "vent" or as many of my friends say "whine".

Today I bought a 36" x 36" canvas for my next painting. This too will be a challenge since I have no idea what I want to paint. Always searching for MY STYLE since I don't have one - I just create and hope for the best. I'm always learning and trying new things. Artists cannot grow if they don't experiment. Experimentation is probably the thing I like best about being an artist.

I see a trend with me lately. Painting on normal size canvas or board, nothing ever over a 16" x 20" for a painting was pretty much what I stuck with. As always I push my boundaries but lately the canvas sizes are growing, I'm finding bigger is better and I'm liking it! Last year was allegories for me (I only painted two to sell and the rest were commissions).  This year I really want to change things big time so the experiments will go on.

I've been challenged twice this week for the Artist Challenge on Facebook. This is fun for me because the challenge is to post three of your works everyday and nominate one artist for the challenge. This gives me a chance to post my work which I always enjoy but it also gives me a chance to let the world know my favorite artists and photographers. It is fun to see all the art on Facebook and it gives us all a chance to shine.

Now my last challenge for the day.... Can I shut down the studio and make it to dinner in 10 minutes? 

Opening Date 12.01.Two Thousand Fourteen...

Tis Cyber Monday, bybobbyjones.com is up, the store is OPEN and I'm Happy, Happy, Happy! The site still is not complete but if I wait for that day it may never happen... since my art, products and the page will be constantly changing. I made a new facebook fan page as I opened the new site and store and as a few minutes ago it had 57 likes (in about a hour) so this is very nice.

The bobbyjonesart.com and straightlinez.com all point to the bybobbyjones page. I know I am forgetting something somewhere but I'm sure I'll find whatever I have missed. I'm just happy I finally have a online store!

I have thoroughly amazed myself without pulling my hair out. Now if everybody can help me out a bit by re-posting everything the site should get quite a few views. 

Design Date 11.23.2014

Well all I can say is this has been a learning experience... 

I'm still missing the Coolies and Mouse Pads but I may make the site live before I get all those posted. I had no idea how many products and designs I have - this is both good and bad. All this art all lot to keep up with. Some designs I forgot I even had and many of these everyone loves but I sold what I had and I never replaced them. 

I am finding out where all my originals are... and this is a good thing! 

The biggest problem now is getting this shipping the way I'd like for it to be. I don't want to make a penny from shipping and I never want a customer to pay more than they need to.

At this point I've studied too many websites to count. I'd like to make this the easiest site to navigate. I want this site clean and neat with no clutter (unlike my desk). I want everyone to find what they need without any problems and I want my art to shine.

The day is coming soon when this little blog is open to the world (you know the day I look back and say "What was I thinking") and the Design Date... will be rarely used. I don't know The Artist Log - design date... sounds good. All I know is right now this is causing a power drain on my creative engines.

I'm ready to get back up to warp speed and go where no artist  has gone before!

Design Date 11.15.14

I'm taking a break for a moment since this is the one month anniversary of my first post and this page is STILL not complete. This is not a bad thing since I've made a lot of changes to steam line everything as much as I can. The problem is changes take time and life just keeps throwing me curves to slow down my process and progress. However, I have finished and installed 75-80% of all the product photos, fun but very time consuming.

The page will be posted as soon as I get all the shipping and payment information installed. The page will start minus a few things like the mouse pad and coosie photos but that should not hurt anything. I'm sure this page will be constantly changing. This is exciting for me since I planned to have the online store up before the five year anniversary. The anniversary date is January 10, 2014 so I'll beat that deadline.

I've been changing my focus, the way I do things and the many things that did little more than slow me down. Hopefully the next post will be for the grand opening!

Design Date 10.20.2014

I exhausted my free time building the site and it was time to pay. According to my Mother Ms. Glenda, my company name is too hard to remember, people can't remember how to spell it and she just doesn't like it. SO, I added a domain name - the site is now officially "bybobbyjones.com". One would think this would be an easy thing, but not with a name like Bobby Jones. Every version of Robert, R, B, Bobby, BJones are all gone unless it is some weird ending besides .com.

If that was not bad enough I am competing with the big boys, Bobby Jones the golfer, the gospel singer, and the basket ball player for the first four or more search pages on Google. All of these guys have or do some sort of art which is no help, but I have a goal to climb those pages and be on that first page at least.

Back to work this site can't finish it's self.

Design Date 10.15.2014

I think I've been at this for two weeks and now and the website is finally shaping up! The design is down all pages ready. I've about used up my 14 day trial period and soon I'll need to pay for the site. Once I pay for it I can add the rest of my products since space is limited for the trial. So far I only have about 20 prints setup but I got the hang of all the variables at least. Next I'll be attacking the shipping portion and taxes, More product shots and that takes a long time since I'm just one person with all the jobs. Artist, Photographer, Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Writer, Research, Marketing, Sales, Accountant, Production, Shipping and everything else too.

I knew this would be some more work but it is fun and  I may soon have my own store at last!