Germany and all my readers Rock!!

Jagged Edges oil by Jean Bourque

Hi there,

I know in my last post I quoted what my stats were on facebook.
The article was published and then I realized I had not checked
the stats for the blog. After all, this is something I have been doing
for 8 years now. I believe the blog has stood the test of time.

Other than Americans; my readers are in this order with
these countries, which shows a big difference between blog
and facebook.

1. GERMANY Thank you to all my German readers!! I will be studying German next year
thanks to all of you and the people from the galleries in Berlin that have taken the time
to invite me to show in their galleries. I am very excited about this!

2. Russia

3. Ireland

4. Japan

5. Serbia

6. Ukraine

7. China

8. Netherlands

9. France

All of these countries are higher than any other English speaking countries and higher than any Spanish speaking countries,  It is here, I find my fans from Japan and China.  I thank you all very much. I had a gut level feeling that was telling me to learn German and now, I am convinced this is my best career move.

Yours Truly,
Jeanee

Silk Collage by Jean Bourque

My Guitar and Foreign Languages?

Hi ya'll,

As you can see I am holding a guitar. It's not mine. It is an electric and I like the look and size of it. My guitar is a Cordoba classical guitar. I love the flamenco sound of my guitar. It does not have a shoulder strap, nor do I plan to get one. I play sitting down and use a foot step to raise my leg for holding the guitar in it's higher up than electric guitar position.  I was chatting with my guitar teacher and asked him about foreign languages, I asked my BF about languages too. I made consultation appointments with various USC staff members in the research dept and in fellowships and asked all them, the same question.

 "What is the best language for an artist to take?"

At first, I thought I would just go to summer school and take Spanish. I had signed up for both classes. Then I got thinking about it. What countries have requested my art for shows? What countries do I have customers in, already? Where are my non USA followers mostly located? After thinking this through, I realized I didn't really have a "Spanish" following. Of course, I do want to go to Costa Rica and I have been to Mexico, but it is really not necessary to speak much Spanish in either country.

Photo by Julie Cooper, Columbia, SC USA

I remembered my art was requested for a show in San Paulo, Brazil, and they speak Portuguese there. That is a language they teach at USC. Galleries in Berlin, Germany have made several offers to show my work and represent me in their galleries. I have never been there and would like to see these places before I choose who to put my art with for the best selling venue possibilities. I would definitely need to speak the language according to friends that have been there, if I wanted to attend art shows and have an art workshop while there. I hadn't really looked at my stats in a while, last I remembered my biggest followings were in Canada and England with a few German and Italians in the mix. They teach German at USC. Germany is very cultural and I have been considering going to Berlin as my study abroad and to do research on artists and galleries.

                                                Silk Collage by Jean Bourque

My guitar teacher thought German would be good. I do not personally know anyone that can speak German, other than the German professor at USC. I don't actually know her, so I am hoping someone I know does speak German as I am seriously considering signing up for it this fall. It would be great to have someone to practice with besides class.  Since the other students are a lot younger even though I reach out, it's rare that any have studied with me or worked on a project.  

I did go thru all my profiles and found of course English speaking countries are my highest number of fans, followed by French, Italian and then German. India and Portuguese speaking countries where next, after them there was a big tie with Russian, Uganda, Pakistan and Ukraine. Much to my surprise, I had a few from Egypt, Turkey, Taiwan and S Korea but none from China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand or Japan. I had thought about learning Chinese so I could learn the alphabet and use it in art, but now I have decided besides my English speaking fans in Australia, Bermuda, The Netherlands, England, Ireland and Canada; I need to focus on learning a language that will benefit me in my art career. After all that is why I am back in college. German it is. Do any of you speak German? If you do, please let me know. You may also contact me regarding Private Painting Lessons in the privacy of your home for you or your child(ren). Reasonable rates. See email link below signature. Thank you!

Yours Truly,
Jeanee
. Contact Jeanee via email by clicking here!
Thank you!!

Download To Clear a Cluttered Mind!

Sometimes, I have so much to say that I don't know where to begin. As I say that, I realize this applies to many things in my life. Somehow life has become very cluttered. Being sick and having multiple surgeries has made for a messy house and a cluttered one at that. Did you ever notice, with every activity one does it all creates it's own clutter. This may sound crazy for an artist to say. Aren't we the creative ones that can find a solution to every little problem? Especially when it comes to being organized and keeping track of things? I was, I really was very organized, everything had it's place.

I guess the secret is to write that statement and let it flow. Just as with painting, I grab the brush and load with a color and let it go. The secret to artistry in my book, is being able to let it flow!! Take a chance, step out with a few words or a few colors
AND GO FOR IT. But to do so means to ignore the piles of clutter everywhere. I was the type that had a really clean car, but when I was sick that all went out the window.

How many different forms of clutter can one person have? It's actually embarrassing to be such a mess. So I am confronting it head on. I have fallen behind at least 2 years in every area. Can you imagine? I hope to at least remedy my car today. My list of things to do and events to go to is so over loaded it's actually insane. The clutter keeps me chained down like a dog with a short rope unable to reach the dog dish for food. But my creative mind does not care, she wants to be free to paint, to sew, to color, to play with clay, to listen to music, to hang out with friends, to play with my dogs and take them for walks, to have a clean house and a clean car even if it is only in my mind, so I can write, so I can paint, so I can research the crap out of every word my doctor's say, so I will know, what it all means. And yet, here I am confessing to the world what a mess I am. Just open my Mondrian door and see into this cluttered mind.

Here is the real dilemma...

Can I ignore the laundry baskets of clean clothes longing to be put away? (yes) Can I ignore the mail, that sits unopened on my table?(yes) Do I often buy cards for people in advance then later can not find them to send? (yes) In fact yesterday, I found a Christmas card all filled out in an addressed envelope that never got mailed. It even had a stamp on it!  Can I find a paper my boss sent me last week?(No) Can I find the entry forms to enter any of the competitions or painting shows? The answer is NO. So here I sit lamenting on my clutter. Every weekend I start fresh in my mind of what I hope to get done... and time passes and the week is here again with work and very little accomplished. Maybe, I am just a bit tired, perhaps.

I am going for a sleep study to find the answers to why, I am so tired and fall asleep during the day.

So I take my art stuff out of the house where I can create and not look at any messes. I can give you or your child, private painting lessons, I have my to go trunk of art stuff perfectly organized, because.... that is what I care about the most. Thru it all, thru chemo and everything the one thing I have is my art and with art, I can put my blinders on and escape into art land and not see the destruction all around me. I can be having a very painful day (as I am a chronic pain sufferer) I start doing art, be it painting, playing my guitar, listening to a band, writing in my journal or publicly humiliating myself on my blog.... Here I am.... as I get better in  all the disciplines of art, it seems I get worse in all the duties of  "life".

I must say I am very thankful to be here and to all the people that helped me thru, I will always be deeply grateful for your help and love!!  I have no great big answers to any of these issues, although it does dawn on me, perhaps all I really need is a good domestic goddess. I have everything else I need! I hope I made you laugh or look at life from another angle with my off beat humor.

My dog Toffee delivering me my paint tube that fell on ground. Isn't she sweet?

Yours Truly,
Jeanee
http://artsails1.blogspot.com