Wednesday, March 21, 2012

INSPIRE: Mixed media


By REBECCA MEANY
Express Staff Writer

When the economy stalled her real world career, fine artist Lori McNee embraced a virtual one.

Sun Valley resident Lori McNee's challenges several years ago were the same as many people's. What she did about them changed her life.

McNee, an artist, writer and blogger, was listed as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women on Twitter, according to www.tweet.grader.com, and was featured as part of The Huffington Post's TwitterPowerhouses series.

Her initial glimpse of Twitter, however, was not auspicious.

"I didn't understand it," she said. "I thought it was silly."

Just a few short years ago, McNee went through a period of reinvention.

"I found myself divorced and an empty-nester," she said. "My life as I knew it went through a dramatic change. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to give something back."

McNee, who had been doing art in some form since an early age, began offering fine-arts tips to fellow artists and aspiring artists.

"I joined Facebook and my kids were totally upset," she recalled with a laugh.

Further web surfing led her to Twitter.

"When I started blogging, the light bulb went on and I got it," she said.

As the economy soured, being a working artist grew more challenging. Social media became increasingly valuable to McNee to showcase her work, as well as to communicate with the arts community and beyond.

"Blogging is really important for artists," she said. "It's how we show our artwork. It's how we connect. The world is going back to a direct marketing approach in business. [Customers] really want to get to know the person they're doing business with. It's returning to the marketplace, but it's online. Social media and blogging allow the artist to connect, through direct marketing, with their clients and collectors."

McNee's online presence helped her to promote herself and her work outside the resort community as the housing market, and consequently the art market, continued to drop.

"I've been able to keep my head above water," she said. "I'm really grateful to social media."

Though a relatively recent convert to Twitter, McNee has been creating art nearly her entire life.

"My parents said I was born with a pencil in my hand," she said. "But I didn't really settle on art until I had children. My art career developed between loads of laundry and my kids' naptime. Once my kids were older, I could really devote my time to being a full-time artist."

She specializes in still-life and landscape oil paintings, and loved birds well before the Twitter bird logo caught her eye.

She has been a talk show host for Plum TV and has written for publications including Artist's Magazine, Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market, Photographer's Market, and Zero to 100,000: Social Media Tips & Tricks for Small Businesses. She also serves on the board of advisors to Plein Air Magazine.

She is an exhibiting member of Oil Painters of America and Plein Air Painters of Idaho. She has been represented by Ketchum's Kneeland Gallery for the past 10 years.

"During this time, I've been fortunate to watch her work evolve to the point of excellence we see today, where her still life paintings occupy a unique niche at Kneeland Gallery, and are sought after by collectors both locally and across the country," said gallery director Carey Molter.

Though McNee has made a significant impact on social media within the arts community, she readily admits that social media have had a huge impact on her.

"I'm having the most amazing experiences on it," she said. "All of this has been made possible because of social media. It's changed my life."

Artist and blogger Lori McNee sends out a tweet at Perry’s restaurant in Ketchum. “It’s pretty isolated being in my studio,” she said. “It’s nice to get out.” McNee spends time nearly every day at the restaurant, and also makes time for social media activity, fine art and physical exercise to maintain balance in her life.
Courtesy photo

Despite what social media have done for her, she's always on alert to make sure they don't bleed into every area of her life.

"One of the main challenges is time management," she said. "In order to create, you need to have quiet and [be able] to turn off. Inspiration comes when you're not distracted."

She's established a structure for herself that includes social media interaction in the mornings, physical exercise, time at a favorite lunch spot and afternoons for her art.

"Otherwise, social media is a time suck," she said.

Another potential pitfall with social media is having one's work copied, which can be hard, if not impossible at times, to prevent.

"Any time you put yourself out there, you're going to be copied if you have a quality product," she said.

McNee was the victim of artistic copyright infringement on a social networking site. Because the person who copied her artwork was traced to another country, she had little legal recourse.

Now, she uploads only low-resolution images, 72 dpi, to inhibit easy reproduction.

"You can still see the image but they can't blow it up and reproduce it easily," she said.

Though much of her interaction with the arts community online pertains to social media, at heart she is and will remain an artist.

"If I stopped painting, then I wouldn't be as authentic, plus, I love painting. I would never want to give up my painting. That comes first."

Sharing her love of art, too, will always factor into her life. She hopes to teach social media and art and stay involved in causes for social good, especially through social media channels.

"I think I'm on the path I'm supposed to be on," she said. "I'm able to give back to the community. I'm helping others through my work. That's the meaning of life, in a way."

__________________________________________________

Quick tips for better social media presence

McNee said two of the biggest mistakes people make while using social media to interact with people are poor relationships with their following and poor content.

"The one thing about social media is it's about sharing, not just about yourself," she said. "It's boring if all someone does is talk about themselves."

She uses the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of her content is about her profession, other artists or related information. Just 20 percent is about her. That goes for any profession.

"What I've done in my own art niche, they can do for their own small business," she said. "It's the fastest way to market yourself. But it does take sweat equity. You reap what you're willing to sow."




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