As I mentioned in my very first blog post, when I was working at Hagan Fine Art in Charleston I met a lot of artists and answered a lot of questions and offered free advice. 

There was one particular artist that I met during that time. She was energized about being an artist and had big goals for herself. Like so many artists, though, she knew there was a lot to figure out to fulfill those goals. It was actually talking with her on that slow and hot summer day in the gallery that made me think I could create what later would become Legacy Art Management.

Well... I am thrilled to share that I have teamed up with that artist and am excited to introduce you to DEB HAUSER:

My first goal to help Deb expand her success was to build out a new website for her. Her site was create on my favorite platform (of course): Artcloud.

​Now, we are working together to create her marketing plans, find gallery representation, and grow her following and clientele. 

Visit her site to learn more about her background and her work. Subscribe to her newletter and follow her on IG at @debhauserstudio

The election is over. Half the country is happy. The other half is not. I'm not going to get into the politics. I have my beliefs and opinions, but that's not why I'm here today. I'm not going to change anyone's mind that disagrees with me, and no one is going to change mine.
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I just want to share the wisdom of Toni Morrison with all my artist friends and peers. No matter if you're a writer, a dancer, a painter, a sculptor, or whatever your creative nature may be:

Be creative. Make your own statement. And hope... hope that you are on the right side of history. I know I am. Peace.

​On September 25, 2024, rain started coming down on my little town of Saluda and over 500 square miles of Western North Carolina. When it started, the hurricane hadn't even made it to land... it was still out in the Gulf. 

By 7am the next morning Helene made her way up here. Our power went out, and stayed out for almost 9 days. We lost internet connection at home for even longer. The loss of such creature comforts, like a hot shower or even just flushing the toilet without having to collect buckets of water from the pond, was not lost on us and are extremely appreciated. 

I grew up with numerous hurricanes down in Louisiana. I experienced Irene and Sandy while in NYC. And then there were a handful we also experienced during our time in Charleston.

But Helene... this was something totally different.

When we moved to the mountains, the one thing we were both happy about was not having to worry about hurricanes anymore. When we saw this coming, we figured we would get some heavy rains and maybe some wind gusts but nothing we weren't used to seeing on occasion here. 

I forgot to start the dishwasher the night before. I didn't wash that load of clothes I had prepped. Didn't take a shower before bed. Didn't get any water in the tubs. Didn't batten down any hatches. Lesson learned that hurricanes can reach this far.

Our town, for the most part, was lucky. There was one fatality (they we are aware of as of now), but all things considered it's amazing there weren't more.  The resilience I have seen and the way our community immediately came together to help create a support system to anyone that needed it has been awe-inspiring. 

We're a town of 800, and I think after this experience I've met at least 400 of them. I love where I live and all the work we all put in the help make it as special a place as it is.

When we made the decision to move from Charleston, really the only difficult part of that decision was leaving Hagan Fine Art and its owner, Karen Hewitt Hagan. I spent close to ten years working with Karen in helping her grow her gallery business, her artist roster, and selling millions of dollars worth of wonderful art. It was a proud period of my life.

At the beginning of August, some news came out. After fourteen years, Karen sold her gallery. WHOA! 

And, so... with every chapter that ends, a new one begins. I'm so happy Karen will be focusing on painting more and sharing her knowledge through workshops. I'm also thrilled to now include her as an independent artist and Legacy Art Mgt. client. I just finished building her an artist website on Artcloud. Check it out:

www.KarenHewittHagan.com

Welcome Karen! Thank you for choosing Legacy Art Management to help you grow your online presence for your art!

My career as an archivist has introduced me to so many different database system. I've enjoyed learning different systems, and even have been a beta tester for a couple. As an archivist, the #1 Rule I can give any artist is this:

A spreadsheet is not an inventory management system!

As technology has grown, so have the options on keeping yourself organized. It can be very overwhelming for anyone to choose a way to manage your artwork - both the physical and the digital records of said artwork... especially if you're not technically savvy.  

During the first couple of years at Hagan Fine Art, Karen and I had a heck of time trying to decide on what was the best system for us. We finally found it in a small Atlanta-based company called Artcloud.

Since the gallery signed up with them in 2016, I have been a self-proclaimed cheerleader for this company. I loved the system so much, I immediately started using them for my own website and management system. 
(Disclaimer: I am not being paid by Artcloud to say any of this.) 

Over the years, I've watched the system grow exponentially, with a lot of growth and improvement specially from learning what their users want. A company that listens to its clients and gives them what they want is a company that will always be successful, because they are helping their clients be successful.

So, as an artist, why would you choose Artcloud over one of the others?

Without breaking it all down, I'll just give you my top three reasons I recommend Artcloud over all others:

• Combining your inventory management with your website. One place to record and display your work.
  
• But that's not all! You also get organization for your gallery relations, Client CRM, marketing campaigns, invoicing, and online selling... to name a few, but not all. It's a robust system.
  
• Finally, the people. The Artcloud team are some of the hardest working, kindest, most hospitable people I've ever worked with. Not only that, but their support team is top notch AND they are always ALWAYS improving the system. They want to hear form their clients on what they can do to make your user experience better.

I could go on... truly. But, if you're serious about your art career, I recommend you check them out, yourself. And, if you need help organizing your digital inventory and/or building out your website, give me a holler. I love using their system and would love to help you get started using them, too.

When we bought our home in Saluda, I knew there were a handful of artists and galleries in the area, but I didn't realize exactly how big of an art community this town is. Saluda has a population of just under 650 residents. So, it was a great surprise to see 9 brick-and-mortar gallery/studio locations and over a dozen working artists living here. That's 3% of the population!

I have gotten to know and worked with a number of these artists and galleries over the past two years. Being a printmaking artist, myself, I see the need to help my art community market itself to become an art destination the way Charleston, Naples, and even Asheville are.

During my time in Charleston, I was the Secretary then Vice President and finally the President of the Charleston Gallery Association. I just saw it as helping out my art community and the gallerists I had gotten to know over the years. I never thought I would use this experience to help another community.

But... here I am, and enjoying every minute of it.

Together with a number of the Saluda gallerists, we started brainstorming how to bring more attention (and sales) to the art community. So, we have created a walking map  to put a spotlight on the galleries as well as list a number of artists' websites to introduce visitors to Saluda to even more art. I've also added a page called Saluda Arts to Legacy's website to help people visit 

When you move into a new community, especially one so small and quaint as this one, you want to participate and give to the community to feel a part of it. I never thought when I was building Legacy Art Management that I would use my consulting company to give to my new found community. I'm all for it!

It's amazing how quickly April turns into October, especially when you have a business to run. Prioritizing does not always help you fit in the little things that you want to do - like adding to your blog. 

So, what has been happening? Just as this blog post's title says - it's been a whirlwind few months. All the focus has been on my amazingly talented client, Alice Williams. We had been planning on a month-long trip she was making back home in the States, and decided to add two 3-day workshops and an exhibition in two different cities to the tail end of her trip. 

This called for Alice to paint an entire body of work, which we titled "A Good Year" (named after and inspired by one of her favorite movies) on top of also painting for this month's upcoming exhibition "French Daydreams" at my former Charleston gallery Hagan Fine Art.

​The workshops came and went without a hitch with many happy students, and I am proud to say I sold more than half of the exhibition. It was such a wonderful experience to see Alice working with so many talented artists and newcomers to painting, as well as pair her beautiful work with collectors.

So, what next? A BOOK! 

In addition to being a wonderful painter, Alice also has a passion for writing and has been writing stories to include in a big, beautiful coffee table book we hope to have published in 2024.

In addition, Alice's daughter - Christine Williams Mann - has a dream job of providing unimaginable safari experiences in Africa. Alice and her charming husband, Don Williams, will be hosting a special safari and painting opportunity to a limited number of artists. Click HERE to learn more and sign up for this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

I had my sights set on the ground floor to turn it into a studio. Of course, I also needed to figure out where I was going to find the equipment and whatnot to actually have a studio, but as they say:

                                   IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME.

My former gallery, Hagan Fine Art, was making a move to a wonderful new location back in the heart of Charleston's French Quarter. Their landlords were a couple that included an artist named Margaret Peterson... 

...and she just so happened to have an entire printmaking studio she was planning to sell. I was blown away by what I was purchasing and how generous both she and her husband, Harold, were to help me make this ​happen.

And so, with a deadline to get the equipment moved, Ethan and I busted our butts to get the downstairs space emptied of all we'd been storing it in, lay down subfloors, put up insulation and walls, and get the place ready for a printmaker's dream studio. 

My educational background was Art History and Studio Art with a focus on Printmaking. For years (over a decade!) after college, I didn't do any printmaking. I didn't have the money to rent a studio, a space in my home to create a proper, and didn't make the time. 

My husband, Ethan, has always been rooting for me to get back into it. The first (and only) print I did while still living in New York was an abstract view looking down the bike path of the Manhattan Bridge. This was his commute every day for the thirteen years he lived in Brooklyn. He used it for the cover of a chapbook he wrote called Cadence. 

Well, I finally got the studio of my dreams. But, you'll have to keep reading in Part 2 to find out exactly what that means...

Fun Fact: Oscar Wilde was not the originator of the first half of this quote. He did add the bit about mediocrity, though. I always thought this was quite the burn.

An artist friend of mine recently sent me an image of a post another artist posted on their social media of a couple different pieces that were extremely similar to my friend's work. No, they weren't exact copies of any specific pieces, but they were distinctly my friend's style, palette and compositions. The sting, I think, is that they know each other.

The first half of Wilde's quote, the original proverb, was the first thing I said to my friend in hopes to lessen the frustration and insult she felt. But, I think the second half is more important for the other artist:

Don't be mediocre. Be the great one.
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I'm not going to get into the whole copyright infringement issue in this post. That's a beast in and of itself. I do want to talk about being your own artist and finding your own style. Yes, artists out there paint in the style of Impressionism, Realism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, on and on. There's a difference between influence and copy. But, a Hirst is a Hirst, a Slonem is a Slonem. Do start carving up sharks or doing quick paints of bunnies and call it your own.

Another impressionist-style artist friend of mine took a private class from an abstract artist and walked away enriched from the experience. She didn't turn into an abstract artist, but she did incorporate different tricks and tools to create pattern and texture. 

I always encourage artists that are learning their craft to take workshops and classes from other artists. These opportunities, though, are to walk away with nuggets of information and different ways that artist creates.

Find the inspiration of who you admire and see how you can apply it to your work... but don't copy.

(How did my friend handle it, you may be curious? She was the bigger person. She left it be and moved on, knowing that she has established herself and her work to be something not only sought after by collectors but by artists as well.)