SLART: Weekly Insights from the Outsider Artist's Creative Journey
The Outsider Artist known as SLART: Weekly art practice 56.
Greetings from sunny Swindon Town on this wonderful Saturday afternoon!
Hi, I'm
, an Outsider Artist based in Swindon, UK.Here's what you'll find in my newsletter:
→ My Top-notch art
→ Behind-the-scenes access to my studio and art practice
→ Weekly advice column 'Drei Fragen' interviews with other successful artists
→ Lessons learned and personal development insights
Are you interested in Art, Personal Development and Creativity? Come say hi and join our 841-strong community of Outsiders, square-pegs-in-round-holes, non-conformists, misfits, rebels, rule-breakers, mavericks, free spirits, dreamers, visionaries, flâneurs, freaks & weirdos!
📌 NEW HERE? WHAT'S THIS WEEKLY ART PRACTICE ALL ABOUT?
Every Saturday, I share my weekly art practice journey. I'm captivated by the whole process – not just the finished pieces, but everything from influences to materials. It's like getting a behind-the-scenes peek at an artist's world.
[If this masterpiece is too long for email, you can read Cream of the Crop in Substack. Or download the Substack app.]
💡 SLART | INSIGHT OF THE WEEK
Doing too many things at once might seem productive, but it can distract you from what really matters. In my case, it’s taking my focus away from Memento Vivere. Being busy and being productive doesn’t mean that you’re being effective.
⏳ MEMENTO VIVERE ART EXHIBITION UPDATE (Coming in September 2025)
I paid the Crypt Gallery venue for the booking a month early, and it all seemed to happen serendipitously.
I mentioned previously that I received a $1000 cheque from a contact I’ve known for over ten years, I’ll call her S. I helped her with some website work, and we’ve kept in touch ever since. I’m delighted that she and her husband (P) will be my esteemed guests for the ‘Memento Vivere’ exhibition.
However, the cheque was made out to ‘Steven Light’ instead of ‘Steve Light’, which is how my name appears on my bank account, so the bank returned it. I tried to change my name on the account, but the process was long and convoluted. With my tail between my legs, I had to go back to S and apologise for the inconvenience. She kindly offered to pay by wire transfer instead. They’re in the US, so international payments can be a bit of a hassle—hence the original cheque.
In the end, S and P contributed £1000 towards the exhibition, instead of the original $1000 (about £800). Since the gallery hire fee is £950, that covered the total cost, leaving £50 to put towards other exhibition expenses!
I’m incredibly grateful to S and P for their generosity, and I can’t wait to see you in person this September!
Next week, you’ll hear about how I’ve been promoting the Memento Vivere sign-up page.
Search Engine Optimisation for SLART
I’m not sure how compelling this data segment will be, but I’ll outline a few highlights from the week. I'll do my best to keep it engaging! (I find it interesting at least!)
So, people who searched for
in Google, saw this post of mine, well, one person did.
83 people who searched for
, 3 of them clicked on this post in Google’s search results.
Now, for the SLART website…
The term SLART is getting quite a few impressions, SLART is also a slang term that people search for. I’ll let you look for that one haha!
It’s also good to see the term “Outsider Art” linked with my website appearing in Google search. Let’s see how I can bump this up in the coming weeks.
Finally, I got this cute little certificate from Google:
Zine Mania: Part 4:
I have learned a lot this week in working with 129 other people. Communicating with everyone can be challenging without becoming overwhelmed, such as when introducing new apps like Discord, it’s just another app that we have to think about in our already busy lives.
This isn't a criticism; I'm truly enjoying this project. The key point is not to get bogged down in the minutiae. Let's all have fun, work out any kinks together, and not worry if communications are a bit messy. The result will be a wonderful finished zine! The main thing is we have a group of wonderful people who all want to work on this.
We’ve already had a few page submissions - exciting!
To everyone on this project, please bear with me! We’ll get there! :-)
I'll be sharing more progress updates every week, so stay tuned!
🎨 THIS WEEK IN MY ART STUDIO
My artist friend Rory said he’d help me build a large shelf so I can store my finished paintings. My space is feeling a bit overwhelming, and my goal is to have it looking neat before I move closer to the studio. It’ll be a fresh start!
I was chatting to Rory on WhatsApp and he baffled me with his instructions on what to buy, my mind shuts down with any mention to DIY!
I replied…
“That doesn't make any sense to me, can you show me what those are and I can order them please? 😀”
So he sent this!
That’s me at the bottom of the drawing! LOL!! He’s so bloody clever! But I’m none the wiser, but we’ll figure it out!
Weirdly, or maybe just serendipitously,
was talking about arranging his studio space for work and peace. You can read it here if you wish:
That’s all for now.
Have a great Saturday.
Best wishes,
SLART.
P.S. One more thing, could you please leave a 4 or 5-star (Hopefully not 1,2 or 2) review on my SLART Google page? I'm trying to boost my online visibility as an artist and this tiny, simple action would greatly help me. Many thanks! :)
Oh, Here’s my last Drei Fragen post, if you missed it.
It’s with
Terrific post! I love the description - and drawing! - of the materials you'd been tasked to get!
And your MV sign-up page is super - I loved the video.
Haven't been around for a bit but so nice to catch up with this great read. Thank you.
Thanks for the shout out, Man! I appreciate it.