Naming art - Poseidon's Realm #2

Poseidon's Realm #2 - 2018 by Teresa Navajo

I love how my work can be seen through many eyes and tell a unique story to each person who gazes. That's really my sweet spot I think... that's what feeds me.

I shared this painting on my facebook page recently in a post that said "currently untitled - what do you see" and the response was amazing. I loved each one so much I wanted to share them here:

This piece ended up being called Poseidon's Realm (#2) and is currently available in my shop. It's a mini, only ranking in at 8"x8" - but wow, look at how mighty that tiny thing is! So many people saw so many different, powerful things in that little square.

Creating a "pin-it" button for your blog

Aside from my own website and newsletter, Pinterest is my favorite form of social media. I love browsing it for inspiration, looking up healthy food ideas/recipes and also tend to gravitate to pinterest before any clothing shopping. I realize that Pinterest is technically a search engine and not really "social" media but still - it's my favorite and it is the platform that drives more traffic to my website than all of my other social accounts combined.

After all of the pretty curated boards, the next best thing about Pinterest is that it doesn't take much effort to pump up your feeds and get people to see your stuff. As an artist, I post my artwork, share blog posts (yep, this one!) and create relevant boards that make sense for me. The beauty in this - people search and find you based on what you are already doing and enjoying... Im sure there is an algorithm but it's NOTHING like instagram's crazy roller coaster! I maybe spend about 1 to 2 hours a WEEK on my Pinterst feed and I consistently hit 24-26K in views.

Now, if you know me... I am always trying to make things ultra efficient. So this really simple add on that Pinterest offers makes the easiest and more fruitful social media even easier. It's a "PIN IT" button. You dont have to be tech-savvy to make one either.
Creating a PIN IT button, here's how I did it in less than 2 minutes:

Visit the Pinterest Widget Builder
Select your preferences on how you want your button to look using very simply to use drop downs.
Copy and Paste the code that Pinterest writes for you - it will be located under the example of your Pin It button and clearly says - paste this code!

Once you have the code copied, head over to your website's editor and locate the HEADER of your site. It's usually very clearly marked and often you have to find it by clicking on something like "SEO" or "SETTINGS"

Once you find it - simply paste that code, hit save, then refresh your website in your web browser and hover your mouse over an image already embedded on your blog or website gallery. You should now see a Pin-It button that will allow you AND your visitors to easily post your content to Pinterest.

Best Foot Forward - Fringe Art Show at 7venth Sun Brewery in Seminole Heights

JP DiCarlo, Teresa Navajo + Mark Williams 

A few of the crew from Fringe Art Show helped me install a new show at 7venth Sun Brewery in Seminole Heights called Best Foot Forward... it's probably not a coincidence that this show's initials are BFF - all of the Fringys are seriously like family.

I am so excited to celebrate this show on Friday, July 13th.
Join us at 7venth Sun for a beer and some hang out feels. We will be there starting at 7pm.
The show will hang into August, so if you can't make it - pop in when you can and snap a selfie in front of our art show.

SHOW DETAILS:
7venth Sun Brewery
6809 N Nebraska Ave,
Tampa, FL 33604
7pm - 10pm (opening reception)
On view: Teri Navajo, Mark Williams, JP DiCarlo, Kara Voorhees Reynolds, Hoolie Rowe, Curtis Whitwam, Mria's Mezzanine, Macy Higgins and Mark Stevens.

Take me to The Castle - 2018 by Teresa Navajo

Liquitex painting class at Blick (Tampa)

Last weekend I taught a Liquitex painting class at my favorite art supply store, Blick.

Winding Road - 2018 by Teresa Navajo

If you hang out with me on instagram, you know that my typical style is abstract so this was totally out side of what I've been creating lately... but it was a ton of fun to dive back into my college days of painting and sharpen those skills related to creating more realistic works. 

My group of ladies were all artistically inclined in some way and we had a blast getting messy, making lots of dirty paint water and eventually creating a Liquitex masterpiece. Take a look at all of this beauty guys! For me, the best part of this workshop was the push, for the last 5 years I have been working on mostly abstract styles - so creating something that forced me to get out of my comfort zone was really a treat. Now, I am inspired in a new way and this past week, I've caught myself looking at botanicals, sunsets and wild surroundings in a new way. Thank you Liquitex for sponsoring this event and for helping me see some new beauty in my everyday world.

If you'd like to take a class with me, I'm currently teaching kids workshops on most Saturdays at both the Tampa Museum of Art and Imagine Museum. I'm looking for locations to host pop up adult classes in the Fall, so if you have a favorite wine bar or coffee shop that you think would be a fun spot to hang out and get creative, shoot me a comment below or email me at TERESANAVAJO@GMAIL.COM

Blick also offers FREE workshops every Saturday, so be sure to follow them on instagram at @BLICK_TAMPA to catch the next one!

OPUS 2018

OPUS 2018 - Kara Voorhees Reynolds, Mark Williams & Teresa Navajo

I recently exhibited in OPUS and it was somewhat of a surreal experience. Here, I got to be the artist and didn't have to do anything other than show up, install and be present in the moment during the event. It was pretty great honestly.

Typically I am the one running around like crazy, setting up, promoting and getting everything juuuuust right for a troupe of artists to come in and shine. Fringe keeps me busy so I hardly ever get to make enough artwork to participate in shows. At the start of this year, I made a vow to make more time for me... I wanted to make one piece of new art each week (obviously that didn't happen, but leave it to me to be overly ambitious!) but I did have 12 new pieces when the call for artists for OPUS came out.

I went back and forth on if I should even apply... I feel so "rusty" in my practice lately that honestly, most of the work I am producing doesn't feel perfect enough to share. I pushed it off and allowed my schedule to fill up and then, before I knew it, the deadline was just about over... then, surprise! Extension! Well, now I guess I had no excuse and under the advice of Kara ( Art by Kara Voorhees Reynolds) I applied and was warmly invited into show.

So how was OPUS?
Well, the people running the event were very kind and it was a pleasure to meet them. The event had great attendance and the selections on display were expertly curated. It was a great night overall and I'd love to show again or even be part of the jury panel.

I know that what you really want to know is if the event was profitable - I did not sell any work, but I didn't expect to. The collection I showed featured larger works that had pricing to fit their scale. With that said, there were three other Fringe artists there and all three of them sold at least one piece of art. That's pretty great if you ask me. It was also great to dip my toe back into this side of the art world, I am definitely bitten and eager to show again soon.

Here are some (very candid) photos from the evening.

Did you attend OPUS? If so, who was your favorite artist on view? I'd love to connect with you about this show and others in Tampa!