NEWSLETTERS (AND BLOGS) 101 #25: Share Your Wonder!

And we get used to ‘normal’, we don’t think of it as unusual at all. Swift birds bring songs of hope from the far corners of the earth. They urge me to tell more stories.

2/16/2021 by Luann Udell
This post is by Luann Udell, regular contributing author for FineArtViews. She’s blogged since 2002 about the business side–and the spiritual inside–of art. She says, “I share my experiences so you won’t have to make ALL the same mistakes I did….”  For ten years, Luann also wrote a column (“Craft Matters”) for The Crafts Report magazine (a monthly business resource for the crafts professional) where she explored the funnier side of her life in craft. She’s a double-juried member of the prestigious League of New Hampshire Craftsmen (fiber & art jewelry). Her work has appeared in books, magazines, and newspapers across the country and she is a published writer.

You may offer new joy to those who take such things for granted!
(4 minute read)

 I have lived in the Midwest, the East Coast, New England, as far north as New Hampshire and as far south as Baltimore.

In over sixty years, I never saw a hummingbird at rest. Never once.

Oh, I get there could be “reasons”. We’ve had bird feeders, but never hummer feeders. I don’t think they winter over in places like Michigan, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire, though I could be wrong. (I could stop to research this, but that’s not the point of this article. You can, though! And let me know.) (Never mind, I did look it up, and no, they don’t winter over in northern climates.)

Then we moved to California six years ago, and that changed.

The first house we lived in, we still had no feeder. But we soon learned that a hummingbird came to a tree in front of our porch, every single night, at the exact same time (relative to sunset) to sleep for the night. He sat in exactly the same spot, too, though he would take different routes/paths to get there every night, too.

We could set our watches by his pattern, and we often ran to the porch to see him “turn in” for the night.

Then in October, our little neighborhood had a Halloween parade. It was joyful and noisy. It annoyed the hummer, and he left for the rest of the winter.

Now, in our new rental home, we have feeders, and so do neighbors. I see hummingbirds all day, every day, at rest—and everywhere else!
They perch on telephone wires. They rest in trees, one that’s outside our bathroom window. I get to brush my teeth and watch the little guy groom, scritch, hop around from branch to branch, and fend off intruders and rivals regularly. One had residence in a shrubby space outside my old studio door. He would duke it out regularly with the California scrub jay and the mated pair of Steller’s jays that hung out there, too.

A little bird that used to be a complete (visual) mystery has now become a wonderful part of our everyday life here.

Others have even more intimate experiences. A hummer-lover here has one of those hand-feeders, and the patience to get hummers to sip the nectar from her hand!

Sharing that here in California, maybe that would get a “meh” reaction. Because it’s ‘normal’ here. But I’m guessing much of my audience back in those states we used to call home? Would be gaga at what I’m sharing today.

Now, if you are someone who paints/draws/writes about birds regularly, you might already be sharing stories like these.

But if you’ve relocated once/twice/a heckuva lot in your life, you have a powerful access to what is unusual, intriguing, and different. You experience first-hand a whole slew of little miracles, every day. (My first was having to go for a run in Baltimore at 6 a.m., in April, to avoid the heat. IN APRIL. If you grew up in Michigan, like I did, your jaw may be dropping right now.)

Every place/time/state/city/etc. has its own ‘normal’. And we get used to ‘normal’, we don’t think of it as unusual at all.

When we realize what we’re experiencing is special, in and of itself, it widens our appreciation of life. It lifts our heart. It can bring joy in hard times. (Remember that little maple seed pod in SOUL?)

And what better way to share that little insight in our social media? In our email newsletters, our blog posts, our Facebook and Instagram posts?

Bonus feature: Do you hate starlings and pigeons because they are ‘useless, annoying city birds”? You might have more respect for pigeons after reading this article and more awe for starlings after watching this stunning video. (Watch this full-screen for the best experience.)

Your shares and comments are always welcomed!

Share this link from FineArtViews.com or view my blog at luannudell.wordpress.com.

If someone shared this article with you, and you’d like to read more in this series, visit my articles at FineArtViews.com.

PS:  Help stop the Salmonella epidemic during migration season!

NEWSLETTERS (AND BLOGS) 101 #24 and a half: Don’t Do This!

2/9/2021 by Luann Udell

This post is by Luann Udell, regular contributing author for FineArtViews. She’s blogged since 2002 about the business side–and the spiritual inside–of art. She says, “I share my experiences so you won’t have to make ALL the same mistakes I did….”  For ten years, Luann also wrote a column (“Craft Matters”) for The Crafts Report magazine (a monthly business resource for the crafts professional) where she explored the funnier side of her life in craft. She’s a double-juried member of the prestigious League of New Hampshire Craftsmen (fiber & art jewelry). Her work has appeared in books, magazines, and newspapers across the country and she is a published writer.

When it comes to email newsletters, asking for permission is a heckuva lot more professional than asking for forgiveness!

(4 minute read)

A couple of things that really bug me popped up in my email inbox lately. They are related, but separate.

And I realized, if they annoy me, they will probably annoy your fans, too.

The first one is:

Don’t cc everyone on your email list! Use bcc instead, please!

Lately, I’ve been added to some unusual email lists, ones I didn’t sign up for. (More on that below.) They were mostly friends who wanted to ‘get the word out’ about something specific.

They included everyone’s email address in the “cc” section.

This may seem like a harmless issue, or perhaps even too picky.

But this IS an issue for several reasons:

• Some of those people might be very protective of their privacy and contact info. And you just shared it with dozens, maybe hundreds of people they don’t even know.
• Someone may be protective of their privacy because of abuse, physical harm they’ve suffered, scammers, etc.
• There may be someone in that group they want to avoid, for many reasons, large and small.
• And some people may be tempted to do the second thing I hate:

Please don’t sign me up for your email newsletters unless I specifically ASK to be signed up.

When people ask a question about my articles, I usually ask them to send an example. And since I’ve been writing about email newsletters, that’s what I get.

Except, many people signed me up for their newsletters, permanently.

And other people included in that “cc list” may do that, too.

I know for sure this is what happened to me. I signed up for a workshop a couple years ago, with a local artist hosting a meet-up for a nationally-based art consultant. The consultant and the host sent updates. I ended up not being able to attend.

But the host added me to their email newsletter. And that really, really annoyed me! I signed up for something they were hosting, not for their work.

Now, emails don’t take up much space on our desktops, nor even our laptops. They are usually very small in size. So deleting them doesn’t really save any space.

And I’m not one of those people who deletes everything (except accidentally!), and I usually keep stuff I think I might want to refer back to someday.

But:

• It’s still a lot of stuff in my inbox, and can be distracting if I don’t have time to read them.
• Though I support everyone’s creative work, that doesn’t mean I want to hear from them every week.
• And there are people I simply don’t like, who I’d rather not hear from.
• I hesitate to unsubscribe, for the reasons I listed above. Though I know I shouldn’t get upset when some people unsubscribe from MY newsletters, it makes me hesitate to unsubscribe, even from the folks I don’t like.

So don’t put your email subscribers in this position.

I know sometimes we have to go out on a limb in order to build our email list, especially at the beginning. Every article about email newsletters suggests great ways to get people on board, telling us reaching out to friends, family, customers, studio visitors, etc.

I know it’s easy to unsubscribe, too.

I know it’s easy to ask for forgiveness rather than to ask for permission.

But there are consequences.

FASO’s email newsletter service is very ethical. Even when you add someone who’s TOLD me they want to sign up, it will still ask that person if I have that permission. Unsubscribing is clear and easy, and sometimes people will even share why they’ve made that decision.

Most of the ‘professional level’ email programs follow the same guidelines.

But when it comes to forgiveness vs. permission, go with the latter. Please.

Protect your followers’ privacy, and respect their boundaries.

Use “bcc”, and only sign up those who ASK.

As always, your shares and comments are welcome!

Link back to it here on Fine Art Views, or my blog at luannudell.wordpress.com. I repost my FAV articles on my blog, so if you have trouble leaving a comment at FAV, you can subscribe to my blog here and/or leave a comment on my blog.

If someone shared this article with you, and you’d like to read more in this series, here are all my articles at FineArtViews.com.

NEWSLETTERS (AND BLOGS) 101 #24: Share the Generosity of Others!

Natalia’s necklace

2/5/2021 by Luann Udell
This post is by Luann Udell, regular contributing author for FineArtViews. She’s blogged since 2002 about the business side–and the spiritual inside–of art. She says, “I share my experiences so you won’t have to make ALL the same mistakes I did….”  For ten years, Luann also wrote a column (“Craft Matters”) for The Crafts Report magazine (a monthly business resource for the crafts professional) where she explored the funnier side of her life in craft. She’s a double-juried member of the prestigious League of New Hampshire Craftsmen (fiber & art jewelry). Her work has appeared in books, magazines, and newspapers across the country and she is a published writer.

It’s a powerful way to honor the kindness of others.

(3 minute read)

In an earlier article, I mentioned that a friend back in New Hampshire reached out to me re: my newest series of box shrines. She had one of those beloved handmade parts storage boxes, so common on the East Coast. (Maybe other places, but that’s where I’ve spent most of my life, and that’s where I collected most of them.)

These are little boxes, usually made with scrap wood: Cheese boxes, pallets, cut up and nailed together to make tiny drawers.

She sent me a photo and asked if I’d be interested. Me? YES PLEASE.

Natalia’s little box drawers, repaired, painted, waxed.

I asked her how much $ she wanted for them, and she said they were free. Then she said shipping was free, too.

I was gob-smacked. I protested that was TOO generous. She told me I’d given her a beloved wooden horse marionette (from Bali, I think) which I’d totally forgotten about. She treasured it, and wanted to reciprocate in a way that would help me move my artwork forward.

So she sent me the little drawers, and I sent her a horse necklace as a thank-you. (See how that circle keeps on giving?)

Insights: When WE are generous, it sparks kindness and generosity in others.

When WE are the benefactors of the generosity of others, it sparks the same in US.

Caveat: Not all gifts/generosity/kindness is directly reciprocal. As a very good friend told me years ago, when we give others our love and generosity, the UNIVERSE will give it back. That is, the person we helped then, may not be the person who helps us now. Someone else may step in. (Hence, the universe/whatever higher power you have faith in.) It may not be the same person, it may not be the same kind of help, it may take a while. But accepting this wider definition of give-and-get can help overcome any resentment or sadness we may take on. It REALLY helped me during a hard time in my life, when people I thought would show up, didn’t. And people I never expected to show up, did. (Thank you, Roma!)

In this case, Natalia and I are in a circle of kindness. It doesn’t have to go on forever, of course. But this month, it was exactly what I needed, just in time.

So a shout-out to Natalia Gorwalski of Walpole, NH! We met through a mutual friend, and we all share a love of horses. Natalia owns a horse, our mutual friend rescued/adopted a horse from the riding stable I rode at, where I leased a horse. Those long, long rides we took along the Connecticut River trail, from farm to farm, were among the best times of my life. (Natalia is working on her own art project, and sent me a lovely image of her first metal horse sculpture!)

I’m sharing this because a) this is someone who helped me move (literally!) and b) has now helped me move forward with my art. People who love my work might be happy to hear that story.

And I love the opportunity to share that love with my readers.

Cheese boxes.

Shrine series, with a big thank-you to Gary Spykman for HIS generosity!

I bet YOUR audience will enjoy hearing about YOUR story of generosity, too! And sharing it in our email newsletters, on our blog, on social media platforms, will help spread the joy.

Your shares and comments are always welcomed!

Share this link FineArtViews.com or view my blog at luannudell.wordpress.com.

If someone shared this article with you, and you’d like to read more in this series, visit my articles at FineArtViews.com.