Sell Hard

Am I revealing too much? Am I dealing too much?
Am I revealing my dealings too much?
Three a day I must get paid, if supporting my family
with my art someday. So I sell hard.

Quite awhile back one told me I should
write like I paint, with music that is good
playing behind, driving my mind.
Letting it flow down my spine. So I sell hard.

Trivial pursuits in pursuit of being known,
man if it were that easy, to get shown. Alone
sitting in front of the box, taking hard knocks,
but persisting for little Abbey. So I sell hard.

Yep, the little one on the way, can't wait for
the day. She'll turn my life upside down, more-
over make it whole. But I gotta stay in control
of it to make a go of it. So I sell hard.

But do I hard sell?

Peace.

ON CONSIGNMENT - 08/25/09

Someday We'll Move There, You'll See

2 paintings, clear-coating 4, wrapping and shipping all in one day! Whew. Well, I want to make the deadline!

See, I just found out about an invitation only, art on vinyl show in London next month. London! I was tagged recently on Facebook to do a list of concerts I've seen. Turned out most were British bands, Peter Gabriel, Arctic Monkeys, Verve, Oasis, Kasabian, Gomez, Stereophonics... Heck we even WENT to London to see the Verve. Best show my wife and I have seen, and she's seen over 50 bands!

I WISH I could've seen Pink Floyd. One of the few bands I've sought out live bootlegs on vinyl, to be engulfed by their show would've been incredible. Like Jeff, who entered my contest with his story about "Wish You Were Here", Floyd was the first prog rock band I got into.

So I've been waiting for a show in London. These are the pieces I sent today, having painted Page and Lennon this morning. Strummer I'd painted before, as well as Hendrix. It should be a cool show, with some artists I've met on Flickr. We'll see how it goes and I'll share any pictures I get of the event.

Peace.

David Gilmour 08/08/09

Led Zeppelin Vinyl Art Timelapse

"So what can I say? It's all about the 'Immigrant Song'." - Icky on "Sarsippius' Ark" by Infectious Grooves.

Peace.

Thankfully Speechless

Other than to say thanks, I really don't know how to respond to a compliment.

Brian Clark posted an article today on Copyblogger using me as an example of how the golden rule can work in marketing and social media. Then he posted this tweet:

Wow. Yeah. Wow. Um, so I don't know what to say.

Brian has over 23,000 followers. Heeeeewack, as Zonker from Doonesbury used to say.

Peace.

Jimmy Page 05/26/09

Limited Time

Yesterday I talked about abundance of value. The counterpoint is time, its value in its uniqueness AND scarcity. Our time as individuals is limited. Attention is precious. Thus my overwhelming gratitude at your sharing yours with me, spending it on me.

So, to those paying attention, a return more than expected. I'm going to introduce framed double albums with a limited time offer. My framed single portraits go for $175 plus shipping ($10 US, $40 int'l) currently. For commissions paid for through the end of February, double portraits framed in the same type of frame, just a double-wide, will be $300 plus the same shipping.

I've done three examples. Sorry the picture above is a wee bit blurry. Here are closeups of the Kings Of Leon: Caleb and Jared and Matthew and Nathan. I also painted Smashing Pumpkins and Pink Floyd. The Kings Of Leon and Smashing Pumpkins do have 4 portraits, so they would be an additional $20 ($10 per added portrait).

A last detail: if you want 2 single albums each with a portrait, framed side-by-side, you can do that too for the same cost. So, for instance: Page and Plant of Led Zeppelin.

When you Email me I can send you a PayPal invoice or I do accept personal checks. Thank you so much for your time.

Peace.

Take A Bow (Or Today's Vocabulary Lesson)

Jeff left a comment on my post about Biggie Smalls that brings up a point about music. It's a form of communication, just like speech. It has different languages, usually differentiated as genres. Jeff stated that he's not a fan of rap. I didn't connect with the genre either until recently as my musical taste continues to morph and envelop more of the world's music.

Take Sigur Ros. Only the second band that I've seen the lead guitarist create a reverb drone with a bow from an orchestral instrument, they speak a different musical language than, say, Eminem. They really even differ from their progressive avant-garde influences, yet they follow from them, linguistically. I'm not an expert on the group, so maybe Jeff could chime in with a comment giving some more about them.

But, for me, even though very different in language, my interest in both hip-hop and avant-garde aural landscapes can be traced back, in part, to Bob Green's The Grassy Knoll. His music is trip-hop/instrumental rock using orchestral and rock instruments along with electronic sampling. Crazy amazing stuff. But you have to understand the language spoken.

Have you ever heard something that just sounded like noise? Of course. Ok. Have you ever heard the same thing some time later and you could understand it then? That's because you learned a new language. Mind expanding (didja catch Jimi in there?).

Here's a listing of all the pieces from Green's first 3 albums. I can't get Realplayer to work for me, but they are worth a listen if it works for you.

Peace.

Jimmy Page 10/22/08

Keyword Conundrum

When people go into Wild About Music and see this painting of Page and Plant, they're already in the frame of mind to see music-related merch and art. When visitors land on my site and particularly my blog, I suspect they aren't as prepared for what they see.

Keywords are causing this to happen. For example, when E! reruns its 101 top moments of Saturday Night Live, my 2 posts about it get a bunch of hits from people looking for information about the show, not my list of favorite comedians or review of Knocked Up. I don't know if this is a problem to be resolved or just a normal occurence for blogs, but I'm always trying to fine tune my keywords.

How did you find me?

Now that you've found me, what words would you think to use to find me intentionally through a search?

Though artwork on record albums is becoming a bit more popular, I don't think most people would even think of the concept when looking for a gift for a music-lover or for cool unique things to add to their own collection of music-related stuff. I get a lot of people searching for "vinyl art", when they're really looking for vinyl art toys or vinyl window stickers, so I also get a lot of people not even remotely looking for what I do.

So can you help the right people find me?

Peace.

SOLD - Page and Plant 08/22/08

Best 3 Things About Austin, TX

1. My brother-in-law Jason lives near there.

2. http://www.keepaustinweird.com/

3. Wild About Music, the first gallery to show my work, has sold yet another Led Zeppelin! They took a chance on me and sold a Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, and a bunch of Zeppelins. So if you're in the Austin area checking out 6th Street, drop in and say hello!

And, if you want to see more examples of pieces like Page and Plant:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Now I can buy more records and frames!