Greetings & Salutations.
If you are a new subscriber this is my monthly newsletter. This is where I update subscribers about what/where/when/how/why of my art. I’ll let you know about exhibits, fairs, new available works and other projects.
I want each Newsletter to have value for my Subscribers beyond updates about my work. I’ll answer art related questions and share book recommendations I may have.
News - Not Much This Month!
Website Updated
I have moved my website into a higher tier of service. With this change I expect a faster more reliable website. If you’ve ever attempted visiting it and it was unavailable- it was often because of the type of shared service I used. And now I’m not sharing.
Online Shops In Vacation Mode & How to Contact Me
My Website Shop & Etsy Shop are still in vacation mode. I expect to return to online operations in August. If you want to arrange for a commission it’ll be case by case. Otherwise: I’ll have a waiting list you can get on until I return. Send me an email CharleyLakesStudio@gmail.com. There’s an info page on my website for how I handle commissions and you can always email me with questions.
Where You Can Currently See & Purchase My Art
You can find my art in Marquette, MI.
You can also find select note cards, prints and originals at Blackbird Boutique on Third Street.
Presque Isle Station Studio & Gallery, by Presque Isle, has the largest inventory of my original paintings and reproductions.
You can also see a few select originals next door to Presque Isle at Niik Creative.
July Art Fair
I’ll be a returning artist for Art on the Rocks: July 27 & 28. (Marquette, MI). I’m bringing the cat paintings and their reproductions along with a selection of other works.
If you are interested in your own cat portrait I’ll have some information packets available to take home.
My pet portraits treat beloved pets with the attention to detail expected with a human portrait. This is what will set my work apart from other artists you might commission.
Questions & Answers
Did you change your Substack Name?
I did! I was struggling with the name from the beginning. I tried: Visual Artist Journal, too bland. Then I tried: Taryn’s Substack, and that didn’t describe what I was about.
I came across a Substack advice describing their process of making a name and it shook loose the idea. On Facebook I was making a “day in the life of an unknown artist” posts. That’s me. That’s a lot of us. That’s thousands of incredible artists trying to get their work SEEN. It describes what I’m about more than anything else- another unknown artist here doing the work.
Why should I hire an artist when I could use ai?
Short answer: it’s your project and you can do what you want to do.
In the end we all get exactly what we pay for and what we accept. If we accept ai as good enough to save money as a whole society we lose out on the creative minds not being supported. If technology takes all the creative jobs, what happens to creativity?
I feel strongly that there are ethical ways for artists to use ai creatively with their work. But I feel as strongly that dialing in prompts and retrieving images isn’t it. In the long run the hype will pass and people will see it for what it is.
Are artists leaving instagram?
Some are and some are hedging their bets. Others are sticking it out for now. Over the last 1-2 years the organic reach to an accounts followers has plummeted. As has an individual account‘s ability to reach new followers. Instagram is also rolling out new programs for paying up to $300 for a verified account while those who have had the original paid verified accounts report little difference.
Additionally, without an easy opt out for most users, instagram scraped user images to train its new Ai.
It also looks like the future may be Instagram forcing us to watch ads.
Meta offers little assistance to anyone who’s had their account stolen or cloned. This is the most unforgivable sin this company commits in my opinion. Meta has financial information and personal information in these business accounts. Once compromised, the infiltrated accounts are used to attack the trusting followers of that account.
Many artists have used the Threads platform to debate their position on Instagram and Ai and what to do next. So many artists opened an account with the new social media app Cara that it was crashing over the weekend. Other social media apps being looked at by artists and photographers are Artfol and Foto.
Foto is in beta testing and it’s my personal favorite along with Substack to replace Meta with.
I am pulling the content I want off of Meta and leaving a minimal presence. If you are reading this and you haven’t subscribed, please do so, so we can keep in touch▪️
Some other views on Ai