Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 28 of 100

I’ve made 2 sales and one potential sale in the past 24 hours–a record for me outside of the Venice Beach vendor spots. This is important because the sales were done through three sources: word-of-mouth, social media, and physical location. The word-of-mouth happened when one brother noticed a print that his brother had purchased from me. The social media sale happened when a coworker saw the Facebook live video I had posted and wanted one of the prints used in the broadcast for his house. The physical location sale happened at the Coffee Cartel, which has metal prints of mine up on the wall (just like the picture posted on this blog entry).

As I mentioned on a different blog entry, I have good days and difficult days when it comes to sales. I don’t expect this to change. I do hope, however, that I can make my sales sustainable enough to justify doing my business for a lot longer than 100 days.

Time to get to work again.

-Vincent Lowry (Author of American Vineyard and #LucysLetter)

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 27 of 100

Just a pretty post today from Palos Verdes. I’ll add more in a bit. 🙂

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 26 of 100

The back cover description for American Vineyard is now finished! I’m proud to share it on this blog:

A Timeless Story of Love, Loss, and Friendship

In 1980s America, six adolescents struggle to secretly build a ranch fence to repay a large debt caused by their own carelessness. As the fence construction nears completion, an unexpected evil strikes the children, testing their character and resolve to right an unfathomable wrong.

American Vineyard is Vincent Lowry’s finest coming-of-age novel about youth and innocence. Vincent’s other works are #LucysLetter – The Children of the Greenhouse Age, Surfing the Seconds, Dreams Reign Supreme, and Constellation Chronicles – The Lost Civilization of Aries. Vincent was educated at Tulane University in New Orleans, and he lives in Southern California with his son.

Praise for Vincent Lowry’s Books

#LucysLetter – The Children of the Greenhouse Age  

“Well written. A lovely little story with a big message.”

-Doreen Ashbrook

Surfing the Seconds

“I love the way Vincent Lowry writes, each word a picture, each line a memory waiting to be revisited. I have so many bookmarks and underlines in this Kindle edition that I found it hard to pick one line to share.”

-Pamela Barrett

Dreams Reign Supreme

“This was a fantastic short read. An excellent balance of short stories and poems.”

-Jeanette Glazewski

 

Constellation Chronicles – The Lost Civilization of Aries

“Vincent Lowry has created a science fiction book that held my attention from the very start.”

-Sandra Stiles

 

 

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 25 of 100

I have a lot of friends dropping Facebook because the site has become too argumentative and hostile. They’ve been FB members for years, but they’ve gotten to the point where the costs of using the site (namely the constant disputes and trolling) outweigh the benefits (catching up with family and friends). I understand this fatigue all too well. I’ve encountered posts and pictures on my own updates that I really didn’t want there in the first place, but I’m not going to waste my time on the hassle of deleting them or unfriending the person who caused the situation (both actions make me look like a jerk). Yes, I can change the security settings, but I really don’t care to fiddle with buttons for an hour or two to find out that not much will change as a result.

I guess I’ll continue to deal with the site for now. Others, not so much.

-Vincent Lowry (Author of American Vineyard and #LucysLetter)

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 24 of 100

I did my first fine art metal print live video today on Facebook with my girlfriend. It turned out pretty good considering that we have never done a video before showcase the fine art. I wanted to post the video on this blog, but I need to upgrade my service in order to do so. Instead, all I can post is a link: https://www.facebook.com/VincentLowryPhotography/.

I hope you enjoy it! My girlfriend did a wonderful job with the water and ketchup on the print!

(Vincent Lowry – Author of American Vineyard and #LucysLetter)

 

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 23 of 100

I happily read that two more National Parks have defied the gag order placed upon them: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/two-more-national-parks-appear-to-defy-donald-trump-on-twitter/ar-AAmfl6f?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

#Resist

And I’m proud to add my excerpt from #LucysLetter – The Children of the Greenhouse Age

A House on Fire Cannot Stand

From the Children of Tomorrow:

Many score years will pile as high as a mountain and stretch as wide as a great river in the eras following your generation. The decisions you make during your brief stay on this borrowed planet determine whether that mountain, in the lens of time, is capped with snow and embraced by the beauty of scented evergreens, and whether that river is pure with fresh rain and flowing in abundance for tomorrow’s farms and communities. The statutes and policies you set regarding the health of our shared home is not confined to the age in which you live. Those laws are stones thrown into the lake of Earth’s history. The ripples spread with each succeeding generation—widening, growing, influencing—and become precedence for the subsequently tossed stones of legislation.

If a house divided against itself cannot stand, than neither can a house on fire. You must not turn a blind eye to the smoke signs of rising temperatures, melting glaciers, violent storms, diminishing reservoirs, burning forests. You must look with courage at the emergency which threatens our communal abode, and dedicate an unwavering, immediate focus—united in principle and policy—in snuffing out the peril smoldering in our midst. The hour of action is upon your generation. A newborn flame is manageable, but a mature inferno fed by the winds of denial, delay and indecisiveness becomes unstoppable. The great test of humanity’s fate shall unfold in your lifetime, determining whether the children of tomorrow will inherit the embers of a lost paradise once ample with diversity and beauty, or whether they will live in comfort and peace in a house, a world, saved and preserved.

With love for all,

-Lucy Gold & The Children of Tomorrow

(Vincent Lowry – Author of #LucysLetter and American Vineyard)

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 22 of 100

Two of my customers received 24×36″ metal prints today, and both customers praised the quality and look of the prints. They were very pleased about their purchase, which will serve well when friends and family ask about the new art in their house. I try my best to produce quality work when it comes to my prints and books. If my art ever falls short of that desired goal (even in blog posts that contain typos), I will always try to do better next time to fix my mistakes.

It’s time for dinner now. I’m making myself salmon with veggie soup. It’s still very cold outside because of the rain (I saw frost this morning!), so eating something warm sounds amazing right now. 🙂

-Vincent Lowry (Author of American Vineyard and #LucysLetter)

 

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 21 of 100

Today I saw a Ring Bomb Party video on Facebook. The video was shot live on the social media site, and I was surprised by how many people it engaged in such a short period of time. I saw such an abundance of reactions–likes, happy faces, hearts, comments–that it got me thinking perhaps I should consider taking a lesson from it for my own business.

What is a ring bomb? Well, from what I read it’s a ring that is placed inside a dissolvable package that the customer buys ($14.95, in this case) and when the ring is taken out at a ring bomb party, it can be worth well over the initial price tag. Because I’ve never tried it, nor have I spoken to anyone who has, I won’t go beyond what I’ve said to confirm or criticize the product/service. All I know is that the video was fun and interactive.

Am I planning on putting my prints in a dissolvable package and throw photography bomb parties on Facebook? No, I’m not. I don’t believe that sort of product would sell, and I’m pretty sure I’d look quite foolish attempting to get people to buy my prints by putting on an odd science experiment-type show. While it might get some people to watch, I doubt many of them would buy.

But that ring bomb video has crossed my paths twice for a reason, so I’m bound to see how I can take a lesson from it to improve my marketing.

(Vincent Lowry – Author of American Vineyard and #LucysLetter)

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 20 of 100

The rain! Oh my, the rain here in California has been crazy today and for the last few weeks! My cell was buzzing with flash-flood warnings. The streets were shallow rivers in some places, and hazardous ponds in others. The city’s culverts looked like large raging rapids rides, where one could ride down them in a raft at one’s own risk.

But it’s all good. California is still in a drought by historical standards, and wet days are welcome days as far as anyone here is concerned. In fact, that attitude is something that is rather nice to see around Los Angeles. More often than not on a rainy day such as this, comments about the crummy weather are typically offset with remarks about how it is still nice to receive the much needed precipitation.

And when it rains, the photographer inside of me thinks two things: great sunsets and splendid green hills. When the rain eventually tapers off, and it will one of these days, the scattered clouds over the Pacific will reflect the setting sunlight in brilliant oranges, pinks, and purples. I’ve witnessed it enough to really know that I can schedule my shots to capture it. The same hold true for the bright greens I will see near the Getty Center and the Hollywood Hills when the sun comes out to illuminate the grass. Even on cloudy, misty days I can see how much greener it is outside verses how it was only months earlier.

(Vincent Lowry – Author of American Vineyard and #LucysLetter)

Following a Dream in 2017 – Day 19 of 100

(Do you like color or black and white photographs?)

The Women’s March was in full swing today in Washington D.C. and in other cities around the nation. Today’s picture, a shot of an abandoned house in Nebraska, was taken last year during a photography trip I took to see two states. I captured it in the morning. The sky had this soft blue to it that really seemed like a wonderful offset to the browns of the land that surrounded me. I didn’t see a single person or car while I was there, giving me the feeling that I was a million miles away from LA.

What’s neat about this blog is that I can also showcase how this print looks in black and white:

What are your thoughts about the bottom one?

Which do you prefer?

I’m trying Facebook advertising today to test an idea I had about specializing in bathroom artwork (metal prints). It makes sense because my medium isn’t impacted by moisture or stains. It remains to be seen if FB ads will pull business.

(Vincent Lowry – Author of American Vineyard and #LucysLetter)