ArtSpirit7

What’s in Your Queue?

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I am really enjoying the unlimited streaming feature Netflix introduced on November 22nd for only $8 a month. As you may know from yesterday’s posting, I like how user-friendly the website is. And especially the ease of the queue concept.

What about you. Do you have a queue for what’s next in your creative expression? the next painting, the next trip, the next book, the next script? and what’s after that… How many items are in your queue? Want to change the order?

What can the next streaming Netflix movie teach you?

I recommend “Seraphine”!

The Art of the Perfect On-Line Experience

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I am really liking the design of the Netflix internet-user experience. It asks me what I want and promises to then deliver more of it. It keeps tabs on what I like and what I want next — which is easily changeable. I love this.

Netflix, I’m yours!

(See the trailer for “Seraphine“.)

Thank You, Seraphine (a Modern Primitive Painter)

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By Seraphine de Senlis

Painting by Seraphine de Senlis

The first movie I streamed from Netflix was “Seraphine.” The critically acclaimed movie’s gentle pace was well-worth the patience it demanded. I loved the quality of light and the passionate sensitivity of this French film.

Seraphine Louis, also known as Seraphine de Senlis, was born in 1864. Her mother died when she was one, and her father died when she was seven. In 1881 she was employed as a domestic worker at a convent, where she received a divine message to create art.

By 1901 she was working as a housecleaner in Senlis. Her talent was recognized in 1912 when a neighbor was showing her work and her employer, German art critic Wilhelm Uhde, realized the artist was his housecleaner. Seraphine painted mostly by candlelight. Click here to read more about her life.

This is one of the few recent films around that I have found about heroic female artists (heroic in the sense of an indomitable spirit). If you’re looking for artistic inspiration watch Seraphine express her irrepresible urge to create.

Tell Your Story Quickly

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According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of the bestselling book Blink, humans make decisions often with little or no data. Marketing guru Seth Godin mentions Gladwell’s book in All Marketers Are Liars. Godin says that we can’t function without a story and “consumers make up a theory about what’s going on and then work hard to refine that theory.”

Since we may never get the chance to make a good first impression, what’s the best way to tell your story since the window of impressionability is so short?  Godin says the best way is: 

1. Tell a true story.

2. Make a promise.

3. Be subtle.

4. Engage the customer (it happens fast).

5. Appeal to the senses, not logic.

6. Appeal to your specific audience (not to everyone).

All this points to the best way Godin says to market yourself which is to be authentic.