Pinterest

I have a new love for Pinterest.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a new account or a big following.
Instead, my account is so inspiring and creating my own pins to share with others is bringing me so much satisfaction.
So, a little back history. Starting Pinterest easily 10years ago with only a few friends following me and me them. These people were teachers, other creatives and planners.
I used my boards to collect pretty images that made me want to pick up the paint brush. It was only 3 years ago I started to use it as a way of showing off my murals as appose to getting references for painting them.
This later has led into a showcase of all the artwork I do and create.

According to my analytics I had a spike of interest January last year, which is when I started my abstract art and posting more regularly. As a user I look more in January too. To make up mood boards for New Year Goals.
 
What I wanted to share was my new system. The key was to keep it simple. Goodness knows I didn’t want another task to try top keep up with. So, on my mobile when I do a post on Instagram, I do the post on Pinterest too. Good news is I don’t need a caption, just a description and a link to my website and shop. To date I have 4856 pins saved, but 480 pins are ones I have created. It sounds like a lot but my Instagram has near 600 posts and that’s just my paintings not the murals I have done over the past 8years.

Pinterest is a search engine like google and so it is brilliant for building your SEOs. What’s that you say? Search engine optimization: the process of making your site better for search engines. This is a way for your customers to find you and your work.
Basically, a customer can scroll, find an image click on it to link to your website, Instagram, YouTube, etc. They can also save it on there boards and other people may find it through their collection, but the link will follow the original pin.
To see any real results takes ages in fact that is why I am posting. It has been almost a year and I am finally starting to see some growth. Not a lot. Just a new follower every 2 days on average. This is just the motivation I needed to keep posting.

My most popular pin to date is a short video showcasing my painting collection of abstract circles. A close second is of my painting process. Even though these videos were posted early last year they are still being seen today. The algorithm values good quality pins that are of interest and provide knowledge or skills or entertainment regardless of when they where posted. Social media platforms have a short time when people can see it, yes, it’s always there but their algorithm will not push that content out to others. Pinterest wants to serve and will share things of interest to the user.
 
Downside to Pinterest
It can be a bit overwhelming all the images that you are sent and so an image really has to pop to grab your attention. Pinterest tends to send images that are similar in style so I see other artists who paint similar to my style in circles. This does not help my imposter syndrome. I regularly see work of super talented artist Rachelle Kearns and her stunning circle paintings of chandeliers and flowers. She also does some abstract paintings that Pinterest recognizes similar to my work. As she has been painting since 2006 her following on all platforms is massive. She has said her artwork is inspired by light and water. She mentions her faith and how flowers bring her joy.
Although I can see her inspiration in her paintings, I know that my inspiration source is very different. I love buildings, satellite photos from space, colourful colour combinations that I see on my son’s video games or on gift cards.
Yet I would dread to think that people would think I was coping her. This led to my development in adding more texture to my pieces and elements such as gold leaf and iridescent paint. So far, I can now see there is no other artist that is producing work like me and that brings me great pleasure for I feel like I have found my voice and my style. So what started as a negative I used it to push my work and develop it further. Resulting in a better outcome.
 

Many other artists would advise to have boards of topics not on art related to your work, so it does not get influenced by others. I would agree to this, we never really know what our brain steels and stores away for later.
Boards I like to keep are of photography. Digital images made up on the computer. Colour palettes and interior design. My boards are a real insight into my interests outside of my painting practice. My home, my goals, or things of great beauty that light me up.

I hope next year to give a further update on this platform and more importantly if any good leads ever come of it.
Even if they don’t I believe sharing will inspire others and beautiful things need to be seen in as many ways as possible.
My link will be below to view for yourself

Pinterest account