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Studio News: New Features Now and Soon

Jen

Okay, so I’ve mentioned that I recently launched a Patreon for my studio, and today I have an announcement about new and exciting features on that platform!

As of today, anyone may join my community on Patreon for free, with the option to upgrade to a Friend of the Studio paid membership at any time for just $5.00 per month.

And in the near future, it will be possible for anyone to purchase digital downloads of select artworks and writings via Patreon, even without a paid membership.

Now, this is all brand-spanking new at Patreon, and I’m not entirely sure how it’s going to go. My hope is that these changes will fill certain key gaps in my creative set-up. For example:

Outreach:

Social media is not my scene. I’m sorry, I loathe all the platforms so much. I just cannot with the You-Twit-Face nonsense, and the hopeful competitors desperately winging it, and none of it makes any damn sense except that the algorithm thinks you’re posting the wrong stuff and not enough of it. Ugh.

Don’t get me wrong. Half of the very exclusive club of my beloved followers are on Facebook. But I’m pretty certain most of them know me offline and/or found me on that site from this site. I’m sure as hell not getting any visibility from FB itself because I don’t play to the algorithm.

Patreon doesn’t use an algorithm to dictate who gets seen and who doesn’t. I will rise or fall through my own outreach efforts. Sounds kinda like some old-school internet stuff. I like it.

Community:

This is another, ironic way social media fails me, because if you don’t feed the platforms the way they like, the algorithms will make it very hard for even a hand-built community to work, let alone grow.

WordPress, my gracious web hosts whom I adore, do offer chat and forum plug-ins, but I would need to purchase a higher service tier to add them to Jen Fries Arts, and I can’t afford it right now.

Patreon is charging nothing – a whopping $0.00 – for tools to build a community with people who like my work. And as a platform, it’s not full of extraneous junk, bots, and trolls. It is directed towards fans of the creative arts, so I am hoping it will be a lot less daunting and a lot more constructive to do outreach there than on social media.

A Helping Hand for Writer Jen:

Artrepreneur hosts my online shop for original artworks. It’s fantastic. I love it. You guys need to check it out.

But it’s just for the artwork side of the studio, especially, the physical pieces of art. (I will offer giclee prints once I (a) find a domestic, unionized, green printer I can afford and (b) learn how to prep images properly.)

I have had no similar outlet for my writing to connect with an audience, to promote my projects, and to earn some income. Patreon offers that, so the writing projects such as An Alchemy of Dragons will be prominent there.

Downloads:

It is surprisingly tricky to sell downloadable art and writing online – like, technically challenging. You end up with a lot of half-assed not-quite-right tools cobbled together with cyber-spit and string.

Patreon is now enabling me to sell art and writing in digital formats with, we hope, very few headaches. I’ve wanted to do this with some of my works for a long time but couldn’t get it set up right, with proper security, etc., on my own website. Artrepreneur doesn’t handle this kind of thing at all. So I’m eager to get started with this.

Be on the lookout for printable cards and booklets, images to use on your screens, etc.

I am building some redundancy into my system with Patreon. Its interface is very similar to social media and this very blog. There will be exclusive content on Patreon for paying Friends of the Studio, but most of the public content there will mirror or just link back to Jen Fries Arts, to reduce duplication of labor.

If you already follow this website, you don’t need also to join the Community on Patreon, unless you would like to sign up for a paid membership. But if you wish to sign up there for free to help me get the ball rolling, you might want to tweak your email notifications from this website. Patreon will automatically send you email notifications of new posts, and I don’t want you to get double notifications.

In any event, Patreon is a new addition to the JFA system, and I hope it will be fun and useful!

Visit my Patreon here or via the button at the bottom of the page, and see what you think.

-Jen

Summer Series: Abstract Landscape 5

Jen

Jen Fries, Abstract Landscape 5, Mystic estuary at Charlestown. Oil pastel monoprint with watercolor on paper, 5.75 x 9 inches. A little stylistic departure.

Summer Series: Midsummer

Jen
JFries Midsummer

Jen Fries, Midsummer, collage on paper using copies of 19th century prints.

Summer Series: The Diver

Jen

Jen Fries, The Diver, collage with artificial flowers on board, 16 x 20 inches.
Inspired by the Olympic Games.

I want to hear from you

Jen

I have posted my very first online poll. It’s on my shiny, new, barely scuffed Patreon, and I would like very much if you would check it out. If I’ve done it right, you should be able to vote for free, without setting up a new account or becoming a patron. You can see it here: Jen’s Patreon – Public Poll.

It’s kind of a focus-group thing. An Alchemy of Dragons is my biggest current project and the one I’ll be talking about the most on Patreon – and increasingly here, too, fair warning. So to help me get organized, I’m tapping all you fans of writing, fantasy, and world-building to let me know which parts of the process you’re most curious or enthusiastic about. The options are:

  • World Building
  • Character Design
  • Magic System
  • Art and Illustration

Choose as many as you like.

Becoming a patron, aka a Friend of the Studio, is entirely optional.

Some content will be reserved for patrons only, such as video projects, podcasts, tutorials, etc. Those kinds of projects are high on my future plans list, but they cost quite a lot to make in both money and time, so I really can’t do them on spec, as it were. They will need to be paid for. And there will be other thank-you perks for people who like my work enough to want to support my studio with a monthly pledge.

But I’m about selling finished work – art, books, poems, etc. That’s how I would ideally like to earn my living. So this site will always be a place where people can keep up with me and enjoy what I do and have the option to make a purchase.

But if you would like to become a Friend of the Studio by supporting me, you can sign up for a monthly subscription via Patreon, or make a one-time donation via Paypal, using the buttons in the website footer.

For now, though, please check out what should be a free poll, especially if you are a fan of An Alchemy of Dragons.

XIX. The Sun

Jen
XIX The Sun

Another post in this year’s Summer Series postings of seasonal-themed works from my portfolio.

XIX The Sun is a new piece, currently being exhibited in the show “Carnival” at the Brickbottom Gallery.

Common Terns

Jen
JFries MysticBirds2 Common Terns 4.2.19

Common Terns, collage on canvas, using the artist’s photos of common terns and the Mystic River Estuary, Charlestown, MA.

Terns nest on a barge set out for them in the estuary every summer.

Posted in Art

For the Record, Jen Fries Arts is an AI-free studio

Jen1 Comment

Well, I guess it’s time for an official Jen Fries statement on generative AI. Here it is:

AI doesn’t live here.

There is no AI in my work, and there never will be. I do not use AI, and I do not authorize any AI app to “train” on my work. I can’t stop it until some proper legislation happens, but I do not give permission for it.  I will support my fellow creatives’ copyrights by never posting any AI-generated content on my website or social media, as well.

I have strong and detailed opinions about AI that I won’t get into right now. Maybe later. If you’ve read this far, you can tell I’m in the anti camp. I agree with the many well-articulated arguments about copyright, privacy, energy consumption, misinformation, and unethical business practices. Some of my loved ones feel differently. We’re working on peaceful co-existence.

The thing is, my work is analog. I make art with physical materials. I write words on physical paper. I drafted this statement in pencil while drinking tea on my porch and watching storm clouds break up. I have no use for AI, and there is no way it can be relevant to what I do.

I don’t hate the technology, per se. AI shows great promise in the sciences, medicine, space exploration, robotics, and other typically unprofitable R&D fields. 

Unfortunately, the short-term profit is in what I’m calling Liberal Arts AI in entertainment, journalism, art, and other fields for which it is singularly ill-suited. That’s what all the hype is about, and the effect of AI on these fields has been, um — not good. Bad. Actively worse than useless.

Hopefully, the novelty of Liberal Arts AI will soon wear off, and it will go the way of NFT’s. Anyone remember those?

Full disclosure: I do use randomization. I like to brainstorm with simple word and prompt generators. I toss coins, throw dice, and pull Tarot cards. As a collagist, I combine random materials and appropriated vintage images – all public domain, of course, I might add.

But I don’t outsource my creativity. I don’t ask someone else to draft my stories, do my research, lay out my compositions, or even make the actual piece for me to sign and take credit for. I express my ideas myself.

What does that mean for you? It means I can promise the following:

  • All works with my name on them are 100% my original creation.
  • All my communications are 100% me talking and writing.

If you find me inconsistent, unpunctual, and other annoying things, it’s because I’m a human. You can take my moody, messy imperfections as proof of reality.

And since AI is already causing trouble with misrepresentation and fraud, I want to highlight some important, practical guidelines to protect you and me both:

  • There is only one source for Jen Fries art and writing, and I’m it. All my work is represented on my website, Jen Fries Arts. That is the hub for everything that comes out of my studio.
  • I decide where my work is sold. All authorized vendors and platforms are linked on my website. 
  • If you find my work for sale or giveaway on any site not linked on my website, it is not authorized and might be counterfeit. Please contact me.
  • If you see any work in a style similar to mine but not represented on my website, that is someone else’s work. Whether legit or not, it is not mine. Please contact me.
  • If you see any kind of work claiming to be made by me but not represented on my website, that’s a fake. Please alert me immediately.
  • If in doubt about the authenticity of any work, check this site and/or contact me at jenfries.artist@gmail.com.

I’m pretty sure my work has not been added to any AI data set, but the way the apps scrape the whole internet, it’s only a matter of time. Don’t be misled. Always check with me.

The bottom line is Jen Fries makes and sells Jen Fries work. If you’re not getting it from Jen Fries, then you’re not getting Jen Fries. Simple as. Caveat Emptor.

No AI here, thanks.

-Jen

I’m back! Miss me? Remember me?

Jen

As my long-time subscribers know, when I run into a creative problem, I tend to retreat into my burrow and gnaw on it – and gnaw and gnaw like a determined squirrel – until it’s dealt with. Then I come back and tell you a bunch of new stuff and resume posting.

Well, I’ve just finished another round of gnawing, and I am now emerging from the burrow.

The tough nut this time was Chapter 5 of An Alchemy of Dragons, appropriately enough. In Tarot, 5 is the number of struggle, complications, and finding one’s way, all of which describes the part of the story where Protagonist 1 finally meets Protagonist 2, and the perfectionist author has to obsess over every single freaking word and comma and every possible plot permutation over and over again.

I finally cracked it. Vistas have opened before me. The plot is improved all down the line. Necessary world-building edits for continuity are identified. Research has been done and decisions made about how to handle things that will come up later.

Plus, a lot of new writing and art projects were spawned in the process. Ideas a-poppin’ all over.

While I was at it … I launched a Patreon!

Now, don’t get nervous. Yes, I’m asking for money. I’ve been asking for money. There are donation buttons all over the website. Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed them. I have an online shop at Artrepreneur with its very own link in the navigation tabs. I know you’ve been avoiding it.

All I’ve done is add another support option. Jen Fries Arts is not going to change.

So why a Patreon, then?

Because Patreon will provide a secure system for subscribers who wish to become monthly supporters, and it will, I hope, help me manage my time and work flow and offer projects that would be hard to do on the WordPress website, as it’s currently set up.

Patreon demands consistent engagement by me, the creator, which should address that whole burrow-retreat problem. No more only hearing from me after you’ve started thinking I must have died. With Patreon, I’ll be getting paid to produce work on a real schedule, so I’d better do it.

Also, Patreon provides tools and a platform for things I really want to do in future, such as invitational social events, interactive online projects, discussion groups, and so forth.

Supporting my studio is completely optional, but it is deeply appreciated. 

I will always strive to make my money by selling my creative works, but we all know how the world is today. Sales lag desperately behind basic living costs. A creator can easily go utterly broke before their career can catch up with their rent. If I want to keep doing what I’m good at, I need to monetize it.

I refuse to put ads on my site and turn Jen Fries Arts into just another corporate marketing page. The only alternative is to encourage people who like what I do to pay for it, whether by purchasing the finished works or by patronage.

In an upcoming post, I’ll explain the details of the options I’ve set up. Please watch for that. It will be added to the About section, as well.

Click here to check out my Patreon now: Jen’s Patreon.

More upcoming posts will include a statement regarding generative AI because all the cool kids are doing it, and my big-picture plans for the Alchemy project, which is getting pretty ambitious.

In additional studio news, I have a new artwork on display in the summer show at the Brickbottom Gallery in scenic Somerville, MA. The exhibition is called “Carnival,” and it is running now through July 29th. Click here for gallery details. I will post notes about the new piece soon. The snakes are part of it.

So that’s the update. I’m back, sleeves rolled up, getting down to business, and I’m really glad to see you all again.

Happy Summer!

– Jen

An Alchemy of Dragons, Ch. 4, is published

Jen


Read it here: An Alchemy of Dragons, Ch. 4.

In the early dawn of the fourth day, Erran was awakened by a puff of warm air across his cheek. 

He rolled over and found himself gazing into the dark eyes of a young woman. Waves of brown hair fell over her shoulders and around his face as she smiled at him.

“Good morning,” she murmured.

Well, the Circuit Minister finally arrived.

And so has Chapter 4, after a hiatus for backstage issues. It tells the story of Erran Fox’s roughest day so far – and was this writer’s roughest chapter so far as well. Questions fill Erran’s head as discrepancies emerge in the villagers’ claims, and the pressure on him mounts.

It’s been a while, so visit the Index to revisit the earlier chapters here: Index of Chapters.

Posted in Art