Debra Keirce

A few days ago, I had it! Crazy idea #999! Most of my crazy ideas aren't noteworthy. But I thought this one was, so I'll share it with you here.

 

I got my coffee pot ready.

 

I had one of those moments where I saw an opportunity to multitask, and I jumped on it. There were deadlines for two shows looming. I had been wanting to find a way to connect with friends in other countries I have not seen in awhile. I wanted to practice a live demo, because I have one coming up November 7th at Seaside Art Gallery in Nags Head, NC. So I did it. I hosted a marathon painting session on Google Hangout. I opened the hangout and then posted the link on social media. 

 

 

Then a really unexpected thing happened. I had SO much fun, I started wondering why we don't ALL do this.

 

- It's free

- It's great marketing

- It's great for networking. 

- It's easy - You can use your desktop, your tablet, OR your phone.

- It's a safe way to invite complete strangers into your studio.

- It's a way to interact with people where they can choose to activate their camera and microphone. If they don't want to be seen or heard, they can just watch.

- It's convenient. You can do it anytime, and as often as you like. I held mine from 2pm to 2am EST, to include California, Japan, UK and Australia time  zones, where I have friends.

 

I purposely didn't advertise or promote this open studio, because I wanted to test how successful it would be with no preparation. I have to say, I was really surprised. I posted initially at 2pm on Facebook, which for me is the time when my page has the least activity. I tagged a few friends, and did nothing more. Throughout the next 12 hours, I had a steady stream of 1 to 4 people in the hangout. There was only about an hour total where I was painting by myself. Even when I was alone, I continued painting because I had promised I would. There was a sort of contract I couldn't renege on, so I finished one painting and almost finished a second. It was a very productive painting session - more productive than if I had no audience, I am sure. 

 

I posted this photo of the work I currently have available in my studio, with rulers for sizing since with me, you never know if you are looking at 2 inches or 2 feet.

 

Some friends were painting, others were watching and asking questions. One friend sat and chatted while she enjoyed a glass of wine. People from different countries were thrilled to meet each other. I felt like I was hosting a party, without having to worry about feeding the guests.

 

Of course, I will improve on some things when I do this again. I started out by myself, so I had the camera set up to show me, and I was talking through what I was doing. As people joined the hangout, conversation switched to all different topics. But I had requests to see what I was painting. That was odd to me. People wanted to just chat, but they wanted to have a view of what I was working on, even though I wasn't talking about it. That's a different format from when you meet with friends on FaceTime or a Google Hangout and chat, looking at each other. It's also different from when you do a painting demonstration and people are looking at your painting progress, while you describe what you are painting. 

 

Thank you to Helen Beacham for sending me this photo of her laptop in South Carolina, during my hangout.

 

If you want to try this, and I hope you do, here are some suggestions I would make if you asked me:

 

1. Go to GooglePlus.com and start a hangout on your device.

2. Post the link on social media, with the hours you will be present.

3. Along with that link, post a photo of some of the work you have available for sale in your studio. You never know who might be interested, especially once they see you at work.

4. Set up your phone or tablet so it is facing your painting. I clamped my iPad to a stand. If you can arrange your laptop or desktop to get a view of your painting with it, that would work too. For me, the iPad was the simplest option.

5. Invite a few friends and ask them to share your link. Invite me. I'll come if I can!

6. Have fun.

 

Thanks to Carrie Waller for this photo of me painting. It's a picture of her computer in Tokyo

 

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#GoogleHangout #GooglePlus #OpenStudio #OpenStudioOnline