Getting My Sh#t Together

Fallen Leaf Held To Sky/©2012 Tony Novak-Clifford

The past several days here on Maui have been spectacular weather-wise. Warm, nearly still winds, comfortable evenings at my lofty elevation. The still winds, however, mean that noxious gasses from the volcanic eruptions on the Big Island, more than 80 miles away, drift our way... haze our skies and after a few days of no wind, the gasses have really built up to eye-irritating levels. The bright side is that these gasses also lend themselves to producing incredible sunsets.


And speaking of irritated eyes, the last three days have been spent rebuilding, updating and expanding my client contact database. A newly acquired subscription list service has kept me busy pouring over potential art/photo buyer contacts at agencies, resorts & publications all over the US mainland & Canada... checking each one carefully to see if my work might be a match for theirs. If so, they get added to my existing list of contacts. After three days of careful scrutiny, another 500+ potential contacts have been selected & added to my existing contact file.


The list service also provides a convenient method of designing simple email promo designs & an automated delivery scheduler. The bad news is that I have also had to enter my existing list of contacts into the new service manually in order for them to get the automated email blasts. That task has also just been completed, the next e-promo was finished just moments ago and set up to blast out over the interwebs at midnight tonight.


In between all of this activity, I continue to pour thru 1000's of images for the ongoing website & print portfolio update. As there are some minor signs that the economy might actually being showing some slight signs of rejuvenation, I want to be ready and at the top of every art buyer's mind when the 2012 budgets start kicking in sometime next month. With anyluck, both the print portfolio & website will be completed sometime in the next two weeks so that I can hit the bricks in H'lulu mid-February with new work to show and a good excuse to renew existing connections and a few new ones with some much needed face-time. (Yes, those of you reading that are accustomed to my shameless portfolio floggings... I will be bringing the customary boxes of Krispee Creme donuts as usual. Get your favorite flavor requests in soon...)