Saturday, October 30, 2010

Loss of Painting Magazines

It has been a sad day in the painting industry to hear of yet again another painting magazine being eliminated. I was in the process of developing two new projects that the editor and I were discussing, this morning I received an email answering an inquiry that I had sent concerning one project and then this evening finding out that the company had chosen to eliminate this magazine as well as their other craft magazines. After receiving this email that I know many of you also received I could hear the sadness and shock that the editor must have felt. I know that this was probably an economy based decision but it makes me feel so sad for the jobs that were lost due to this decision as well as the loss for the artists/designers that developed such lovely designs for the industry.

We as painters need to band together to keep the industry alive and we can do that by communicating with each other on the painting forums, frequenting the blogs that we enjoy, and communicating with the editors and owners of the magazine companies not only our complaints about the magazine issues but also what we like and appreciate about the job that they are doing. I know many of you already interact with online painting groups, I personally belong to a number of them and post as often as my schedule allows.

I've heard talk that online magazines may be the wave of the future with subscribers downloading their magazines to home computers or personal devices. Currently I receive an educational magazine in a digital copy and must say that I miss the smell and feel of holding the magazine in my hands. To keep this from happening we need to speak up and help the industry by being proactive to keep an artform that we love alive.

On the front page of my website I've suggested that you leave comments and interact with the blogs that you enjoy, I know that I would like to have that type of feedback to provide my customers with the best quality service that I can.

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