Most of the material for the twice-weekly letters comes from subscriber input, my own studio concerns, and a lifetime of painting. I like the idea of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Artists, a worldwide community of creative folks with a lot of the same concerns. While ours seems a simple business, there's just so much worth knowing. I'm finding a great deal of it has never been properly expressed before. I hope you'll stay around for the adventure.
One of the great values of this letter is the tremendous interactive responses we're seeing in the live comments written by our readers. In earlier letters, we have called these our “clickbacks.” Recently, we've evolved to a more enriched, interactive forum where readers can respond, share, like and reply to one another’s input. We're truly excited to see our Painter’s Keys Community so vibrant and full of valuable insights. Readers offer alternate ideas and systems--information, inspiration, art research, experience, stories, or arguments. You can access these responses by scrolling to the bottom of each twice-weekly letter online. You can also see earlier clickbacks and selected responses December 20, 2013 and earlier through our clickbacks archive. If you wish to correspond, simply go to the comments area below the letter online and add your remarks. You are also invited to write to me personally by replying to any letter or dropping me a line at rgenn@saraphina.com. All your letters, remarks and input, whether immediately published or not, are carefully archived for potential later use. Time and again artists write to remark on the value, quality and timeliness of these responses. For those who see fit to respond, readers appreciate if you include where you're located. Inclusion of your email address may invite others, including possible collectors, to write to you.
The most popular page on The Painter's Keys site is the Resource of Art Quotations. For researchers, or artists just looking for inspiration, this is the world's largest art quote collection--online or in a book. It's entirely the work of volunteer subscribers and new quotes are going in almost daily. All entries are searchable by author and subject.
Other valuable resources on our site are Art Studios Worldwide--rental locations suitable for artists or writers. There are castles, monasteries, retreats, and picturesque and economical B&B's--for the most part they have been discovered and used by myself or recommended by trusted colleagues and members of this community.
We also include an Art Show Calendar and a Workshop Calendar. These are inexpensive ways of attracting clients and keeping the art world informed of what you're doing.
Also, a page called Bob's Best is dedicated to DVDs, online tutorials and digital downloads by artists and educators that I personally recommend. People send us material every day and most of it is checked out. The ones featured on this page have been studied and determined by us to be the best currently offered.
Our Premium Listings offer mini Web pages that get very high rankings on search engines. We charge $200 per year for this service and we do all the set-up and maintenance. A Premium Listing on the Painter's Keys site will make thousands of people aware of you and will definitely drive more visitors to your own website, if you have one. Sarah Garland is the one who looks after this. She's at sarah@saraphina.com. Feel free to drop her a note to find out about it.
In comparing ourselves with other art websites, we are far ahead of the pack in attracting the repeat attention of search engines. This is because there are so many artists' names, constantly new material, and so much non-commercial and valuable content on our site.
In the letters and responses, the only time we put a directive to someone's commercial site is when it's thought to be of direct value to other artists.
At no time will we give or sell your name or address to anyone for any purpose. If you forward the twice-weekly letter or any part of our site to a friend or fellow artist, they will not be automatically subscribed. They have to do that voluntarily at http://www.painterskeys.com/subscribe/.
If you don't receive your letter regularly, please let us know. Emails can sometimes "bounce back" for various reasons by Internet Service Providers (ISP's) and subscriptions get chopped. If you change your email address, please don't forget to let us know--click on UpdateProfile/EmailAddress at the bottom of the twice-weekly letter or drop me a note at rgenn@saraphina.com. Also, when you subscribe and fail to get the letter right away, you need to check the spam folder on your computer.
The Painter's Keys website is managed by a terrific team of dedicated creative people. Sarah Garland ships, shops, manages studio business, and keep me on my toes. She’s a terrific responder to emails and general ambassador to our Painter’s Keys Community. Marilyn Hurd neutralizes the worry of fiscal imbalance. Sam Kaczur is our cheerful social networking coordinator and computer problem solver. Shawn Jackson is steadfast in her role as editor in chief, quote-manager, and guardian of our subscriber list. Judi Birnberg is our long-suffering letter editor, who removes my redundant commas and puts crutches under my wonky gerunds. My daughter, Sara Genn, a painter and musician living in New York, has recently begun to write some of these letters on my behalf. Without these helpers, it would be impossible to make The Painter’s Keys and the Twice-Weekly Letters happen.
About myself: I'm a full-time professional painter--always have been. Our Painter's Keys terminal is in my studio near Vancouver, B.C. Canada. When I travel I send my letters back to the studio from my laptop. I've written books on art and from time to time I give seminars and workshops. The letter and the website are subsidized by my painting. The twice-weekly letters are written by myself and are not contracted out to others. The whole thing is a joy. I'm deeply honoured to have so many friends with the same concerns. If you're interested, you can see examples of my current work by going to www.robertgenn.com.
That's about it. If you have any questions, suggestions, or further input, please don't hesitate to contact me at rgenn@saraphina.com. I'd love to hear from you.
Robert Genn
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