How and When I started to blog:
In a web search for info on the Philadelphia art scene last spring, I contacted the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the pr director sent me to the Fallon and Rosoff blog (http://fallonandrosof.blogspot.com/) where I tapped into the Philly scene and discovered blogging. I was doing this because Mark Borghi Fine Art (where I work part time) was exhibiting in a Philadelphia art fair at the time.

Fallon and Rosoff produce an art blog which is highly respected well beyond the Philadelphia market. They are two artists who are writers and curators as well. In perusing the Fallon and Rosoff site I found Vincent Romaniello’s blog (http://romanblog2.blogspot.com/) which lead me to http://anaba.blogspot.com/, http://modernartobsession.blogs.com
and http://www.artmostfierce.blogspot.com/ among many others and I became inspired. I even came across Gregory Coates, an artist with a resume and credentials a mile long without a web site or representation so I made him a blog (no charge). I just want to do good work. I don’t envision ever turning the blog into a profit center where I would charge for advertising. It is a goodwill effort to connect artists with resources and help with promotion. The link I have on my site which is a money maker is the Amazon widget which is designed to pay me 4% of sales coming through my blog portal. So far I think I’ve accrued about $25 in commissions! The main reason I have Amazon on the site is so I can recommend books and dvd’s related to the articles I post.

Why I got started:
I wanted to build a site in an interactive environment with informative links and posts I could access all in one place and share to help other artists (mostly emerging). I wanted to be able to connect with other artists so a static web site wouldn’t do. Also I have no knowledge of web design code. The “google blogger” method of blogging (https://www.blogger.com/start2) is very intuitive. Anyone can build a blog although I suppose it helps to have an art background of some kind. Although I have become a painter, I was schooled at Pratt Institute in graphic design and illustration.

My blog, www.lynndunham.blogspot.com is an un locked diary of sorts with an address book I share with like-minded people world-wide. I guess I am sort of an artist’s concierge at heart. Artists, collectors and curators can frequent my site to see videos I have posted and articles I have excerpted (with acknowledgements given). There are no copyright infringements. In addition to sharing work of other writers, I write myself and to share easy access to links specifically geared to emerging artists to provide assistance to unrepresented artists seeking representation. For example I posted the Guild Hall “Call for Entries” for the annual member’s show and was responsible for signing new members to the museum who exhibited. I posted and the call for entries to the Parrish Art Museum Mixed Greens which is an exhibition where established artists chose Alesses established or emerging artists on the East End to be exhibited together April 26 – June 14, 2009. I have promoted the new “Local Art Rag”, an east end publication in which unrepresented artists can advertise. There is also an impressive list of links featuring resources like artists materials suppliers, museums, galleries, art fairs, emerging artist on-line web sites, other art blogs and how to blog sites which I found helpful in getting started You would be hard pressed to find an artist who believes more strongly than I do in the value of gallery representation. I am not interested in making sales from my presence on the web. There is no a shopping cart with the exception of the Amazon widget which I use to recommend books and dvd’s related to the posts. It is not meant to be a profit center. The very purpose of art blogging in my opinion is to just make the art community larger. I have met artists from around the globe through the blog. “Why sit in a bar with a small group of artist (i.e. cedar tavern) when you can connect to the world with a computer. There’s just one catch…you can’t be afraid to talk to strangers!”

I am more interested in promoting work I am moved by and sharing interesting articles and links (and also my own in a very passive way – there are two slide shows of my work on the site) because many artists don’t have the financial means necessary to employ an agent or pr firm.

Favorite Posts:
One of my most popular posts was about marketing for emerging artists. I also recently posted a www.badatsports.com pod-cast of an interview with Chelsea gallery owner, Ed Winkleman who shares my emerging artist marketing philosophy and is interested in blogging for the purpose of sharing. I could not speak more highly of the gallery and the integrity of Winkleman. He admits he started the blog for self-promotion but it has grown into a site with a large following of artists as well as collectors to connect.

What google and blogging has lead to:
I found Art Rent and Lease last June in a google search when Bridgehampton gallery owner, Gideon Stein and I had a conversation about renting art in a soft buyers market. When I searched the topic I was lead to a start-up company based in Portland OR which now has over 700 works in inventory thanks partially to spreading the word through my blog.
I have paintings exhibited in the Art Rent and Lease on-line gallery (www.artrentandlease.com) and currently 20 paintings of mine are now in offices in NYC all earning a monthly income. While the corporations enjoy a monthly tax exemption, my work is in the public eye and providing an income so I can afford to work part-time in the MBFA gallery and have more time to continue work in the studio and share my thoughts and resources in the blogosphere.

That's it in a nutshell, wthe how and why of blooging for me. Look for Pat Rogeers article in this week's Southampton Press about the internet and how it touches the lives of artists.