The Power of Blogs

   

 

I just came up with a line I really like in an email to a friend:

My life continues to be a huge drama on the world stage with a small, ratty and low budget set.

In other words, a lot of exciting things are happening and yet, I never leave the house. Well, not much anyway.

I've been getting quite a lot of press and sales and commission inquiries this winter, from pretty much all over the country. Right now I'm working on drawings for 10-12 sculptures to adorn the courtyard of a 17 story Chelsea highrise in NYC. I'm waiting to hear back from an architect in Topeka, Kansas about three Great Bowls O Fire that he'd like to fit out with gas flames and install on stone pillars in a new restaurant. I just got off the phone with a client who bought a Great Bowl earlier this winter and now wants to surround his pool with some of my torches. Rock on.

I've done three interviews for magazines and websites this week. The Sprint Ambassador Program is sending me a free cell phone with six months of free service. School children write emails from overseas asking about my art for school reports they're doing. HGTV contacted me a while back about possibly featuring my work on their show, Offbeat America (it doesn't look like it will happen this time, but it's still pretty cool to be asked). I've also met a lot of incredibly cool people this year that I consider to be good friends despite never having seen them in person.

Almost all of this has come about because of the time I've put in writing blogs. The only drawback has been that at times, the response becomes so overwhelming that I don't take the time to post about it here. I'm working on that. And if things keep going the way they're going, maybe this will be the year that my "small, ratty and low budget set" gets a significant facelift and becomes the theater of my dreams.

Tags: johntunger, art, globalmicrobrand, blog, marketing, branding, blogging, business, design,

Comments

[Mary Anne Davis]

Very inspiring. Good to meet you!

[Robert Bruce]

John, just found you via gapingvoid... you've got a killer story here man. I look forward to seeing how this shakes out for you.

Even better, you've got some killer art... thanks for writing up your experiences.

[johntunger]

Mary Anne,

Thanks! I love the nested vases set on your blog… very nice. I'll definitely look deeper when I finish the drawings due today!

Robert,

I'll continue posting as the story develops. It's been an amazing ride and a lot of fun. Thanks for the kind words about the art, and do tell your friends.

BTW, as a former poet, I'm a picky bastard (heartless, in fact) but I really do like your Sartre piece. And the layout you've chosen for your blog really displays the work well. I get a bit giddy when I see someone experiment successfully with a radically diffferent layout style. It not only gives you a way to stand out, but in this case it also suits your purpose well. Nice work.

[Robert Bruce]

Thanks much John.

I did read in your bio about your former life as a poet. Any way you'd let some of it out of the bag? I'd love to give it a read if possible.

Also, you've almost convinced me to set up for a little skyping (I'm a recovering luddite, the computer/email/blogging thing was a BIG jump off a cliff for me).

[johntunger]

Robert,

Poetry likes laptops as much as it likes an open fire… just different flavors, really.

There's a link to the poetry and prose blog in the lefthand column: It's called "I Got No Zen"

or you can just go to http://johntunger.typepad.com/i_got_no_zen/

The poems unfortunately show up in the reverse order on the index page, but I have them organized properly if you read them using the category archives.

[Alan Gutierrez]

John

Thanks for writing about your experience. I'm helping an art gallery in New Orleans start their blog, probably the only artist blog in this city. It is going to be great to show them this example of success.

[frosty]

I'm also here from gapingvoid. Interesting stuff, and I may buy some later. ;-)

By the way, I think you should have more outdoor/action shots of the torches. The "gothic" stairwell pic is nice but doesn't give me a very good sense of how it would look in a garden. Whereas, say, the can pieces are pretty easy to figure out based on the pics you have up.

My first thought with the Bowl o' Fire was "Hey, I could roast an animal on this!" But actually that might be a little dangerous, in that it looks like it could tip over. So you might want to consider something like a stabilizer/spit combo as an add-on option (as opposed to a separate version). And then of course you can blog about roasting the goat.

What else? Great that you have sort of entry-level things (ie, the cans) -- that should play extremely well in blogville and will probably get you a lot of good coverage.

It'd be nice to see shipping info (or maybe I just missed it) -- the big steel things have got to be pretty heavy.

Um, also, the stick-people-thingies in your header and in the snowy pics look fun, but they don't look nearly as cool as the firepit, torches and lamps. For what it's worth, I think you'd do better "branding" the site with those. (pun intended, if awful)

Oh yeah, and are you and Hugh in cahoots about this whole "rock on" thing?

http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=3

cheers

-- frosty

[johntunger]

Alan: Good to hear from you… glad you're busy.

Frosty: Thanks for your thoughts. A few notes in response…

RE The Great Bowl O Fire:

Although I know it does look like it could tip, it is actually quite stable. The curve of the bowl fits into the stand and the weight keeps it from moving. I've tested it thoroughly with some fairly vicious kicks. That said, any time you play with fire, well… I would advocate caution around any fire pit.

As far as shipping goes, the rates change pretty much daily because of fuel surcharges. I had posted the rates, but on my last order I ate $40, so I've decided the best option is to prepare shipping quotes on an individual basis. In the US, the freight for the Great Bowl is currently in the ballpark of $200.

RE entry level stuff:

Although it seems like a good idea, most of my sales have been the big ticket items. The cans do well for me at shows, but haven't really sold from the web.

RE the Dancers (stick figures): I've sold 5 from a local gallery since December. The drawings I was working on yesterday were for 10-12 that will be the main feature of the courtyard garden in a new 17 story high rise in NYC… So, I don't think they're hurting the brand much. A large part of my work is figurative. The more product driven stuff like the Great Bowl are more of a sideline, though a very successful sideline that I'm glad to do.

[Alvin]

Hi John!

Came from Gaping Void too. Just wanted to say congrats on your blogging success and that things are working out for you. Maybe you'd like to drop a note about your success story by problogger.net too.

[johntunger]

Thanks for the tip Alvin.

I've got some new tricks up my sleeve that I'm working on bringing to launch this week… I might drop a note when I get those up and running.

[Moise Levi]

Hello from Brussels

Amazing work, hope to see them in stores in Europe soon :)

[Angela Hunt]

Beautiful work! Also here from gapingvoid and now I desperately want one of your bowls.

It's also really wonderful to see someone succeeding with this whole art on the internet thing. I'm working on it myself with my photography. You and Hugh are great inspirations.