Cindy Baron: 0:00

I had it not been for my easel, my paint brushes and my paints, I could not write this story, because that is what got me from point A to point B, and I didn't give up. But I painted. I painted all day long. If I couldn't sleep at night, I painted, you know, you name it, I paint it. I painted my way through the whole thing, and that is one of the best medicines art.

Laura Arango Baier: 0:29

Welcome to the BoldBrush show, where we believe that fortune favors the gold brush. My name is Laura Baier, and I'm your host. For those of you who are new to the podcast, we are a podcast that covers art marketing techniques and all sorts of business tips specifically to help artists learn to better sell their work. We interview artists at all stages of their careers, as well as others who are in careers tied to the art world, in order to hear their advice and insights. For today's episode, we sat down with Cindy Barron, a Rhode Island based landscape painter with mastery in both water color and oil paint. Cindy shares how she identifies first as a mother and grandmother and then as an artist. She emphasizes that passion and continual growth are the foundations of her creative life. She explains her methodical problem solving approach to painting, how she embraces mistakes as essential teachers and even uses dancing and exercise in front of her works to resolve artistic decisions, Cindy reveals deeply personal health struggles and describes how her easel, brushes and paints became the lifeline that carried her through pain, and how for her, art is the best medicine on the professional side, Cindy offers business and marketing advice for artists, staying professional, online, regularly creating new work, building relationships with galleries, and using shows, magazines and social media strategically, she closes by urging aspiring artists not to procrastinate, to just do it despite fear of failure, and mentions her upcoming solo show, workshops, travels and that her in progress Book, the guilt box, will further share her story. You. You welcome Cindy to the BoldBrush show. How are you today?

Cindy Baron: 2:07

I am great. It's a wintry day here, but it's it's beautiful, so I'm great. I hope you're doing good. You're far away, so I know it's winter for you, too, and night,

Laura Arango Baier: 2:19

yes, yes, although it's probably much colder where you are, funny enough, since you guys had a crazy snowstorm, we actually just lost color snow here. But I'm excited to have you, because you are so masterful in two mediums in such an equal manner, and I love the way that you work your atmospheric perspective and the use of composition and tone and your landscapes is absolutely delicious to look at. It is something to study. I was actually staring at your work for that reason.

Cindy Baron: 2:55

Thank you. You're

Laura Arango Baier: 2:56

welcome. And of course, that's a ton of hard work that I can tell went into that and continues to go into your work. So I I admire you, and we're gonna have even more reasons to admire you, both me and the listeners, shortly, but before we dive into all of that, do you mind telling us a bit about who you are and what you do?

Cindy Baron: 3:20

Okay, so everybody would like to me to say that I'm an artist first, but I'm not. I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother, and then I'm an artist. I put all of that in perspective in the same the way I said it, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother, and I'm an artist and an entrepreneur, and soon to the author, I'm working on that, so I'm adding some titles as I go go along. But that's me. I live in Rhode Island. Most people think I live out west because I'm out there so much. But no, my home is actually Rhode Island. I'm from Indiana, and I have lived all over the place, so I decided to keep my home here in Rhode Island. My kids love it, so I have a great studio, and it's been a lot of it's been hard, and it's been a long time in waiting, but it's here. So that's who I am. I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother and an artist,

Laura Arango Baier: 4:23

perfect, yes, and, you know, and that's something that I'm pretty sure a lot of artists listening to this podcast can relate to, having that sort of tier of, you know, my children, my family, and then, of course, my creative job, or creative, I guess endeavor work, because it doesn't really feel like a job. I think for a lot of artists, it feels more like invocation calling passion.

Cindy Baron: 4:51

Yes, it's, it's, it's all of that. I have a deep passion for what I'm doing and for all three of my jobs I'm. Mother, grandmother, artists, I have a deep passion for all of that, because you only get this one life. And you know what? I give it all as much as I can and without passion, no, but you don't go anywhere, you know? And I will tell you know, let's start it off this way. You could have the most famous athlete, and he could be so talented if he didn't have the passion, the talent doesn't go with him. So the same with art, if you don't have the passion, you can have the talent. But if you don't have the passion, you don't have you don't have the movement that you want to portray with people. So that's my my number one thing I go on, it's all about passion.

Laura Arango Baier: 5:47

Yes, and I totally agree. I think it's really interesting, because I it's very rare to find an artist who isn't passionate, at least successful one. I think it's a lot easier to find it an artist who are maybe still finding their way, finding their footing, or figuring stuff out, but once you know, you reach that point of like you have found the passion that's, I think, when a lot of the career aspects really start to kick in. You know,

Cindy Baron: 6:13

just mind you, you can, you know, we're still an artist is always evolving. It does not, you know, have I figured everything out yet? No, if I had, it'd be a whole lot easier than it is. But no, I have not figured everything out. I don't want to figure everything out, because, guess what, when you grow, it just makes that passion even more passionate. So we're always growing. We always need to be stimulated. We always need new locations or new things to paint or museums. We need other artists, you know, that we admire. I just listened to Eric growth. Had someone on the other day with aspavic. Clyde aspavic, and you know what? You're never too old, you're never too famous, you're never too talented to just sit in and listen to other artists. And so you know that you're always growing, you're always evolving, and that's why, you know you don't want to learn everything yet. You know, hopefully I make it to 90, you know, and in good shape, and whatever, I will still be listening and, you know, growing at 90. So that's the one, the other key thing you need to remember, you always got to grow

Laura Arango Baier: 7:28

Yes, yes, yes, yes. I think that's one of the most important factors. And I think, I think artists can see it a lot more clearly, maybe than other professions, like, maybe, like, office jobs or, you know, like the more difficult path that someone might take. I think growth is a little bit more it's seen in a little bit of a different way. But I think for artists, it's so obvious to us, like, because it's directly on the canvas, we're just like, Oh man, I really don't know how to describe this part of this tree, or I really don't know how to do this, and you have to figure it out in order to complete the image, you know, versus, oh, I have to learn something new on Excel, which, if someone wants to do that, they can. But I think with art, it's so I feel like there's a certain tenacity that we have to face, or we have to have within us to really face the problem head first on the canvas, because it's such a direct representation of our skills, our knowledge, our our use of color, use of composition, that it's it can defeat you so easily. You know, when it's

Cindy Baron: 8:33

it can take, yes, it can take you down really fast. You can think, wow, you know, you can do for me. I can do a drawing and then a transport, you know, to start a painting. And you look at and go, Well, this isn't the way it's supposed to come out, you know. So it there, it's both sides. I have a lot of failures, you know, and, and I have, I call them some successes, because I've yet to paint my best painting yet, you know, I, that's the way I, I like to say it. I'm in competition with myself, not with anybody else, you know, it's, I'm just in competition to grow and be better and paint better, and learn and and, you know, so the only competition I have is with me, myself and I but it's, it's, it's, art is so subjective. Your painting is so subjective. You know, reading a book is so subject. Everything has you can interpret it so many different ways, but it's showing your creative side. So you have to get your mind to think this will work out. This will be fine. Let me go back into my mind to figure out how to get it on canvas so it's very subjective. And then you get very sensitive to what people might portray your painting as, or your book as, or whatever. But you have to remember you're painting for you right now. Know, you know, yes, you're painting for a gallery, or you're painting for a show, but you're, you're more or less painting for yourself, because if it doesn't please you, it's not going in the gallery, it's not going in the show. So I'm painting for me, then it can go to other, you know, the other events, or the other venues. So it, yeah, it's very subjective. It's a very solitaire job. You know, I love my job. I spend, I would say, a good 10 to 12 hours in my studio. I can go upstairs and cook dinner, because I love to cook. I love to make big soups and pots of this and pots of that, and to have that smell going through the house, wine down in my studio is like a stimulant for me. I love stuff like that, so I multitask. But I'm in my studio 10 to 12 hours a day, and I'll bring my dinner down here and sit in front of my paintings. I'll give you another thing I do in my studio, and I exercise in front of my paintings, so they're all lined up in the wall over here, and I exercise in front of like, four or five paintings, because those four or five paintings haven't gotten to where they need to be. So this is a little secret that you got. Might want to try, but I have some really funky music I put on, and I have the most ugliest fun. You know, I'm trying to get better at dancing. And I dance, and I do this for a good 30 minutes, and it's not a slow dance or whatever. I mean, I am dancing and doing the whole thing, and I do it in front of my paintings, and that is where I make the remainder of the decisions on how to finish that painting, is by exercising. And then after that, you know, I get ready to paint, and then I stop and go cook, and then I come down. So it's, you know, I spend a lot of time here by myself doing that, but it works. And then every now and then I gotta take myself out to dinner. So that's my reward, if something goes good. So I don't know, I don't know, you know we were, we were talking about it. We've gone off and all these little angles, and I just sit here and I'm like, Oh my God. People are gonna think she is weird, but now I dance in front of my paintings. Try it. You like it? Yes.

Laura Arango Baier: 12:28

And you know what? I love that you mentioned exercise, because I love going to the gym, and I have actually found that exercise, or even dancing like how you're describing sometimes leads to a very random epiphany in my work where, like, I'll be, you know, working out, and suddenly, during my my rest time between sets, I'm like, Oh my gosh, this thing, of course, I'm gonna have to try that, you know, and then, you know, go back to the studio and then try it out. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but oftentimes it's a great epiphany.

Cindy Baron: 13:01

Well, I'm not a doctor, but I swear it releases something in your brain, you know. And plus, it puts you in a better mood, you know, especially if you're dancing like me, you know. So it puts you in a better mood. And you things just, you just figure things out, you know, you get it. Just works. Just try it. Everybody dance in front of your paintings through really funky music the way you want to dance. Nobody has to watch you, but you can figure things out in your paintings and in life and in work and in everything. It just works. You gotta do the little happy dance.

Laura Arango Baier: 13:36

Yes? Oh my gosh, yes.

Cindy Baron: 13:41

I'm all fun. Exercise is, is a big form of my days and and the reason why that is is because I have to stay healthy. That will again, I'm going to touch base on later, but it's, it's, it's also become an addiction. It's a good addiction, because, like I said, it helps the mind, it helps life. It helps your mood, it helps your paintings, you know, it helps, it helps everything, plus it makes you hungry to eat good soup that I just made on the stove, you know. So it's, it's a little it does everything. Exercise is key to everything. It really is. And painting, I totally agree.

Laura Arango Baier: 14:22

I totally agree, especially because painting can be such a sedentary job, and it can be exhausting to be sitting for so many hours, and it's very important, like you said, to to move around. It's, it's the healthiest thing you can do. And actually wanted to ask you, when did you realize, or when was it, you know you, when was the moment that you noticed? Okay, I am going to follow the path of the artist.

Cindy Baron: 14:49

Oh, I was young. Oh, very young. When, as far as if talking about age, I knew very early that I was an artist. And, um. Actually my teachers in elementary school did my high my high school teacher actually had me a system in the local art center on weekends to help students learn to draw. My my strength was in drawing. Painting was hard, but my strength was in drawing. But I knew very, very early I was, I was very young, and I come from an eclectic, artsy family, and so we all do something a little bit different. My older brother is an amazing you know, he was every what everybody focused on, because he was so good, I had to work hard to get from point A to point B. But I knew very early on. And then I threw myself out there into local art shows. You know where you paint, and there are art shows that in the summertime. And then I threw myself into galleries. And you know, it was all trial and error, but I was, you know, from elementary school. By the time I'm in my 20s, I was professional. I was selling, but, you know, it's in my work has evolved a lot since then. But no, I knew very early. I mean, the schools would have me call Cindy. She can do it, you know, bring Cindy into the office, she can do that mural on the wall. And it was me, or my older brother, who was very talented, so we were known in school to do that. So it was, it was early. I see it in my son's, you know, because we all, we have that little drawing skills. And I see it in my grandchildren. There's something, you know, a little artsy with them. Plus we have music in my family. So, you know, we all, we're all little eclectic, all a little strange, you know, little art. You know, artsy, but I see it, you know, I can see it in my younger, the younger generation, and that's so exciting to art. But now it was early, and I made the leap to become professional in my 20s, and then it just, it just grew from there. But I knew, you know, I knew early on, I knew I wanted to be an artist. I just, I just did. I just didn't know where it would take me,

Laura Arango Baier: 17:22

yes, and you know what? That's a great point. I think a lot of people who embark on this artistic path journey, they don't really know where the where it takes you, and it can take you to so many different places, because oftentimes, you know, we start with one idea of what we think we want to paint, or what genre we might want to dive into. And then as time goes on, you know, all these influences come in. We have experiences in life. We have, you know, we come across a color that we suddenly feel like, wow, this color is amazing. I want to play with this. And actually, that brings me to my next question, which is, since you've had such a very long time to work on your craft and your skill. How have you noticed, or how did you notice how your process evolved? And how did you start to get to know how your brain works?

Cindy Baron: 18:14

Oh, my gosh, my brain. Oh, anybody that gets in my brain is they're going, Wow, I I have a different thought process than most other artists now. I am not traditionally changed. I worked in a tool and dye company. I have no higher education. I have to tell you, through trial and error, through mistakes, through certain artists that really inspired me when I was young, and I've tried them all. I've done charcoal, pastels, watercolors, oils. It's, it's all through trial and error. It's, it's, you got to make the mistakes. You've got to experiment. You have to do it all. You got to try different surfaces to find out what your style is. I am very comfortable in my style now, but I don't want it to become. How do I want to say I still want it to grow, you know? But I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing. I love teaching my style, because it's different than most artists. I am different than most artists. I'm a more methodical thinker painter. I have to draw things out and then think about it and then paint. I do it in stages. I work with what, especially with the watercolor, what might happen with them. You know, if you have a mistake on a watercolor, which is very easy to do, I learned how to conquer that mistake and turn it into something beautiful. And the only way I learned this is because I made a ton of mistakes. I. Still making mistakes. There can still be a dud on a on a oil painting here that I just literally throw the canvas across the room and start all over. Because my thinking is, oh, that Canvas has bad, bad vibes on it. It's got to go out the door. You know, I just get rid of the whole thing instead of painting over it later. It's all through trial and error. You have to put the steps in just like an athlete. My sons were shooters, and they had, every day they had to make 100 straight shots. And guess what? If they missed one at number 79 they started over again with at one to get to 100 and they did it, and they succeeded. They were they overachieved, and what they were doing. And I look at myself that way. I am still evolving. I am still, you know what I call myself, an overachiever? No, no, but I do know that I have so much room up here in my brain to learn something new. Don't give me a computer to learn on. That is, I can come and build you a garage. That's the way my brain works. So I'm giving you a little insight to my brain. My friends com me over. I come with tools. You know, don't count me to don't bring me over to fix your phone, as you may notice, or the computer, or this or that, because that is I just something happens and I short circuit. But if you said I have a wall that just fell down, I said, I'll be right over. I got a toolbox, I can fix it. It's just, it's, my brain is like a carpenter. It knows how to to build, repair, fix, rethink. That's how my brain is. It's, it's, it's, it's a different brain. But I am still, you know, I'm still evolving. I'm still learning. I think that's the great thing. We have a big capacity to learn so much more. So that's how it works. It's, it's, I'm different. I'm just different, and that's okay to be different. You know, every artist is different. Every artist can do things, handle things a little bit different, different way. I'm very methodical. I'm very slow thinking. I'm very like, Okay, what if I do it this way? Can I conquer that part? If I do this? Can I do you know? So that's, that's the way my brain works. So that's the best way can tell you, you know, the art is in there. I don't know what part it's in, or the creativity, you know, because I'm not a doctor, you know, I don't or neural again, I know none of that is just that. I know I can build, and that's part of a painting. I can build a painting. So that's the way my brain is, my brain can build. So that's, that's the best way I can tell you about my my brain and how I do things,

Laura Arango Baier: 23:09

yeah, yeah. And I think what, what is very highlighted in how you describe yourself is that you are very much a proactive problem solver. But also, I think you you have something that I think our listeners should probably emulate, because there's nothing better than talking to someone who has, you know, that self confidence in their skill, right? It's very different to be like, Oh, I don't know what I'm doing, and to like, you know, plummet down into depression, but when you know it's like, I mean, I don't know how to do it, but I'm going to figure it out, because I trust myself to figure things out, that's, I think, one of the biggest ways to determine how much a person can grow. And you definitely have that.

Cindy Baron: 23:56

And the thing is, you don't put a time limit on yourself. Well, I need to grow by tomorrow. You know? I need to have this painting by tomorrow. That doesn't happen for me. I, you know, I'm a slow process, and I figured things out, and at my speed, case of, case in point, at plein air competitions, you know, they say, Well, you need five paintings for this. You need to do that. You need to paint here. You need to paint that there. And mind you, that's all good. I've done a ton of them. I had to take when you tell me, like, there's artists out there doing three, four paintings a day, and I'm like, and no, I had to take myself out of the equation and go, wait. I'm going to get one painting done today. And how many do I need by the end of the week? I need four. Okay, then my brain is okay. But if you tell me, you know, I gotta build a library, I gotta do this, and I gotta do that, it's like panic. And then I need to go have a scotch. You know, it's something in my that happens to me. So then I decided, no, you have your four by the end of the week. Five. It's not going to be 56789, 10. There will be four, but those four paintings are going to be quality paintings. So that's how I I, you know how I work? Because it if the last thing I want to do is 10 years down the road, go to somebody that purchased a painting at a plane air event, and I sit there go, oh my god, I'm so sorry. And you bought that, you know, I don't want that part. So that's why I made that rule up. Now I don't do any more plein air competitions. It those are hard, and God bless every artist. And I've met a ton of friends, but it doesn't work for me. My my my mind is I'm stressed, I have anxiety, and it's just like, No, so

Laura Arango Baier: 25:47

yeah, that's a good point. Every artist like you said, is different, and some artists do really great with that level of stress and anxiety and pressure. I'm very much like you. I crumble and I have a breakdown, and then I need to probably have a Scotch with you, because it's, it's too much. It's too much. It's I, and I relate to with the methodicalness, right? Because sometimes you know you have to understand what you're looking at properly and solve it through drawing it, sketching it, making studies of it in order to really hit that note that you want to hit with the painting. Yes, which you certainly do. So it counts for something. I mean, your process definitely works for you, and that's the important part.

Cindy Baron: 26:36

Yeah, it doesn't, and that's what makes us all unique. That's what makes every artist unique? We all have our own process, and it's okay. You want, you know, you want to take that long. It's okay. You want to paint faster. It's okay, you know. But you got to find what works for you. I know what works for me, and so you got to find that that. And at once you find that, then you know, you're set go. You know, paint as much as you can, make as many mistakes as you can, because you learn from your duds. And I have a lot of duds, and I call I tell all my students, those duds are a blessing. And here's the reason why you learn more from your mistakes and your duds than you do anything that's successful. My sons would say, you know, they would look at if they had a bad game, they would they would learn from that bad game. They're not going to look in the game that they made 30 points and made all these foul shots, because guess what? You know that happened, and it was great, but they learn from their mistakes. So they could get to those games to do the, you know, to make the 30 points or whatever. So you know, you learn from your mistakes.

Laura Arango Baier: 27:52

At BoldBrush, we inspire artists to inspire the world, because creating art creates magic, and the world is currently in desperate need of magic. BoldBrush provides artists with free art marketing, creativity and business ideas and information. This show is an example. We also offer written resources, articles and a free monthly art contest open to all visual artists. We believe that fortune favors the bold brush, and if you believe that too, sign up completely free at BoldBrush show.com that's B, O, L, d, b, r, U, S, H show.com. The BoldBrush Show is sponsored by Faso. Now, more than ever, it's crucial to have a website when you're an artist, especially if you want to be a professional in your career. Thankfully, with our special link, faso.com, forward slash podcast, you can make that come true and also get over 50% off your first year on your artist website. Yes, that's basically the price of 12 lattes in one year, which I think is a really great deal, considering that you get sleek and beautiful website templates that are also mobile friendly, e commerce, print on demand in certain countries, as well as access to our marketing center that has our brand new art marketing calendar. And the art marketing calendar is something that you won't get with our competitor. The art marketing calendar gives you, day by day, step by step, guides on what you should be doing today right now, in order to get your artwork out there and seen by the right eyes, so that you can make more sales this year. So if you want to change your life and actually meet your sales goal this year, then start now by going to our special link, faso.com forward slash podcast, that's faso.com forward slash podcast, absolutely yes, yes, yes. And I love that. You know, seeing the mistakes is as a blessing, like you said, instead of seeing them as you know, something that haunts you every night before bed. Maybe it's just me, though, but

Cindy Baron: 29:49

that sometimes happens, but dance in front of that painting the next day, and then you go, wait, I think I feel better about it.

Laura Arango Baier: 29:58

Yes, definitely. Me, and then I wanted to ask you, because you have something very special in store for us today, and I'm very excited to hear about it. Do you mind telling us how you have leaned on your easel?

Cindy Baron: 30:13

Okay, so this is a very personal story, and like I told you, you're the first person I'm coming out public with it, but it's a very personal story. I have been writing for years on it, and it will be part of my book. Well, it will be a big part of my book when it happens, because I think it's instrumental in helping every single person out there. It really is, and it's, you know, I'm going to give you a quick little outline and then tell you why I leaned on the easel. I grew when, you know, as a child, I we had a very unstable home, so it wasn't, you know, that was the hard part. And then meeting somebody that literally destroyed. I met a bad person, and I'll leave it at that. And then I married and had two wonderful sons, and we were in the sports world. We it. My job was tied to making them succeed. My husband was a division one basketball coach, and my sons were professional basketball players, but the reason why they got to do all that is I had to devote my time to them. And then my art was last, which was usually in the middle of the night. It doesn't make for a good mood for you sometimes. So every chance I could get, I would get to the easel. And so finally, you know that my career is going good, and my kids are, you know, off playing games, and I had shows lined up, and I knew I had a heart defect. I was born with a heart defect. So they basically told me, at this is at the young age of 50 that I was going into heart failure, and I let yo I haven't done everything yet. You know, that was my first response. And and he goes, Well, you know, we have to, you don't have a choice. So I said, Okay, can we do it tomorrow? You know, that's how I am. So, you know, I don't let me sleep on this. Well, it took a month for them to map out what they were going to do to my heart. My heart basically wasn't formed right, and was basically working backwards. And I developed pulmonary hypertension. And it was it. I felt it because I'd been on heart meds for, oh my gosh, 20 years and so, and that's the way they were controlling, you know, all the arrhythmias and stuff that was going on. But I still ran, I still I jog, I exercise, I would walk the sand dunes, I would climb the mountains. I still did everything, you know. I'm just thinking, hey, you know everything's fine, until they said, No, you're not fine. And so, you know it, it was in the middle of basketball season, and it was the wrong time to have the heart surgery. But there was, there wasn't anything we we could do. I so I had to go do it. I had a seizure that ruined my motor skills, so, but that was short lived, and so then the I got that, I slowly got that back, along with my eyesight. Yeah, it was, it was something that just happened, low complication, and then I got pneumonia. And so I didn't leave ICU for seven days, and it was, there was a point where it was like, Yeah, this isn't going well. So instead, you know, they take the tubes out, and next thing you know, they're putting the tubes back in. And so it was a long six month rehab, but during that, I also got a huge depression. It was and and that will happen after, you know, heart surgery. So the lucky thing is, is my studio was in the living room of our house, and what I did is I painted, I painted, I painted, and it took me out of my head. It took me out of the discomfort. I did my rehab, I did my walking, I did everything. And if you do everything, they tell you to do, you improve each day. And then, you know, I leaned on some medication to get the, get the depression, you know, better. And then I went off of it, because I'm one of these, like, Don't keep me on too long, you know, I'll do this. When I went in for heart surgery, I said, Yeah, I'm gonna be out in three days. The big guy upstairs said, Guess what? I got something to teach you. And so that was a long I had to cancel shows. I had to cancel workshops. I had no air. Could not walk and talk and breathe at the same time, I had to choose one thing. I had a little lung bag on to help drain the lungs. It's only because they were making my heart work the right way. So they rebuilt my heart. And the cardiologist that did it, or the surgeon that did it, actually wrote about me in his book, because I was a pediatric adult anomaly. And once they got in, he had to read map the way he was going to do the surgery, because he found other stuff. So I was one of those, those I teaching like, you know, students, you know, they had everybody in there. And the funny thing is, I say this as a joke, because you can tell I'm upbeat about it, but I said I've had more men's hands on my chest that I wish it felt good, but it didn't. But guess what? It was education. Once again, I'm going back everybody's learning, and they had to learn last minute How to revamp once they got in there. So it was Major. Major wasn't your your bypass surgery or anything like that. It was Major. They were trying to save my life, you know, basically. So I get through the Depression, and I fly to it's six months later, and I fly to Jackson, hole Wyoming to have a show, the show that had to be canceled a little bit, and then put back in. And I went with a girlfriend of mine. And here's the biggest and I would love to send you that photo. It's we climbed, we did a hike, and I got up to Lake solitude, and I just did, I did it, and I danced on the rocks and and it was, you know, but guess what? I did it. It just took me a while to do it, but I did it, and I got off all meds. I'm now med free, no heart meds, no nothing, because they made my heart work the way it's supposed to work. But had it not been for my easel, my paint brushes and my paints, I could not write this story, because that is what got me from point A to point B, and I didn't give up. But I painted. I painted all day long. If I couldn't sleep at night, I painted, you know, you name it. I painted. I painted my way through the whole thing. And that is one of the best medicines art, your books, your create, your My I had all my art books out. I had, you name it, Scott Christensen, I had two of his books. I'm just laying them on the floor, and I'm looking at them, and I'm like, you know, and then I could go to the easel, and then I felt good, you know, it's just that was the best medicine that you could ever ask for. Is the paintbrush, the paints and the easel. It just, you know, it's, it's, it's, I needed, my mind, the depression, everything, everything was gone. And I'm back to hiking, and I'm just doing my I'm doing it all the way I wanted to do and so, but it just, you know, a little detour. And then after that, my marriage failed, and that was 30 years plus. And so once again, I entered all those plein air competitions, and I got in them, and then I went, Oh, my God, I'm doing it. And you know what? The roadmap and my traveling art studio was the best medicine I could do to get through that. So once again, I leaned on art. You know, there's a common theme here. I just turned my attention to the art and took myself out of me. You know, I took vacations from me with my art, you know, I It's like, I don't talk about me, I don't do this, I don't do that. I'm just painting. And because I had, I'm not I'm a person doesn't like to be sad or depressed. I, you know, I just like upbeat things. So and you know, that was that was difficult to be honest. I would not want that on anybody ever and so now I'm back. My career is booming. I'm doing everything that, you name it. I was going to move to Colorado, and so I was going to leave Rhode Island, and I thought my kids were on their own. They're working overseas, you know, everybody's happy I did my job. So I was going to move to Colorado, and I put my home in a pod, sold a bunch of stuff, and in my car were three colors of suitcases, winter, spring and like, in between. So I knew, you know, the pink suitcase was summer and this and that. So I had everything, you know, color coordinated, and I had my little art studio thing. And I'm driving to I'm on my way to Colorado. I had no home, absolutely no home now. So I'm going to Colorado to find something, you know. And I stopped in Indiana to see my mom, and she was very. Ill. Next thing you know, I spent six months in Indiana because she had cancer, and so going to Colorado. Guess what? Just got I was like, okay, you know, it just, yeah, it just didn't happen. So my kids were coming home for the summer. So I drive back to Rhode Island. I have no home. So my girlfriend, my girlfriend, her husband, I mean, they are like my family, so I stayed with them for a few months until I could, you know, purchase a home. Because my kids came home, I thought, Okay, I'll purchase a home. So I had went to my doctors, I did the cardiologist, and it was time for your colonoscopy. So I'm very upfront about this. I have my colonoscopy. I have cancer. I had no idea I had cancer. And taking care of my mom, she lived in a housing authority type place, and I had a little easel set up in her room. So that was my traveling easel. So once again, I'm setting up my traveling easel, and I sat there and I had the biggest, baddest, worst talk with the big guy upstairs, because I was like, this isn't supposed to happen this way. It's this isn't I did all my jobs. I did everything was supposed to do. My career is great. Everything's booming. I'm so excited. And guess what? Cancer didn't care. Does not care. That was hard, and I went through, you know, once again, that was a long process, and I did chemo and radiation every day for eight weeks, and it then I have little surgeries for the next couple of years and but then my immune system took a hit, a hit, a big hit. So once again, I did seven years to repair my immune system from the chemo and cancer. But guess what I did? You're going to see the common theme I painted. I turned to my easel, and guess what? I painted some most like it. I'm thrilled to talk about that, even though I had a lot of long, tough experiences, painting brings me joy. So I, you know, if, if you can give me a paintbrush and an easel, I'm I'm happy, I really am. So that's the common theme. I turn my pain, my anxiety, everything I had to go through, I turned to the easel. The easel has never let me down. Now it may paint a bad painting from time to time, but it's still standing. It's wooden. It's still standing. It's not going anywhere. And so guess what? You have to stand with it. And I paint it every day, especially with cancer. There are nights like you just don't sleep. So I would paint. I just, I just, would, you know, I go to my studio was in the basement, and I went to the basement, and I would just paint and paint and that that was, that was, that was a good thing. And then, you know, you know, you got covid, you get everything else, and nobody's doing anything. So I painted, and I got a whole lot done, you know. So I'm trying to tell everybody here. And once again, I'm still turning to my easel, you know, to get through, you know, the little things. But I'm trying to tell everybody here that write a book. Go cook. Turn to cooking. Turn to whatever, turn to paint, turn to something that art that brings joy and stimulates that creative mind. Because once you do that, it will take you out of your pain, in your agony, because you have something else. You have a new best friend. You know that best friend is going to help you through all of this. And you don't, you know. And the other thing you know, like, I want my friend, I got have a lot of friends, and I go out with them. I tell them, I said, I'm on vacation from me. You know, we're going out to have fun. So I don't, you know. Every now and then, you know, I have a nice little talk with a friend. But other than that, no, no, I work it out in my studio. I exercise. I beat my brushes up, I get the canvases going, I make mistakes, and I do it all to get out of to get into here, but to get out of here. So I get all the bad stuff out by exercising. I get all the good stuff in by painting. And so those are the things that you know, I've, yeah, there's, there's other things in there, but that's going to be left for the for the reader, but it's been a I've had a challenge. I have had a challenge, but it didn't destroy me. You know, cancer. I'm a cancer survivor now, you know, and I am very proactive on everything. Thing. If they said, Oh, you know, we got to go in and fix something. I have a pacemaker that makes me climb all the mountains, you know. And, yes, will we be tweaking me some more? Yes, the heart is something now. I beat cancer, but the heart is something I still, we still have to fine tune every now and then and but it didn't stop me. What it did was actually make me fight harder. It actually made me work harder. It actually gave me discipline. It gave me a purpose. It gave me goals, because that's the way my brain works. Again, we talked about the brain. My brain can build things. So I know I can succeed, you know, I know I can do these things, you know, because I've had to turn to what is important to me, family, my, you know, my family, my grandkids, my and my art. So I keep and I'm very spiritual. You know, I turn, you know, I have my prayers, with with, with everybody. I've saints, gods, Jesus, you name it, I say my prayers, you know, and and I I'm grateful for a lot of things, but I've also had a lot of stuff thrown at me that I had to fight for, and I had to figure out why the big guy upstairs gave me this walking path. But he did, you know, he did. And my mom died a couple of months ago, and I was her hospice care person, and I went to I'm emotional about this. You can tell so and my mom didn't like me too much. And I'm saying this laughing. She just had her reasons. And I think the reason why is I left home? I just left, you know, I left Indiana and, and which was good, I was breaking a cycle, to be totally honest, I broke a cycle. And so I went, but I was the one that held her when she died, you know, so I was the one that was there for but this is what I did. Guess what I did? Doing this, being there with her, I had my little plein air easel beside her bed, and I painted. And she would call out every now and then. I go, Mom, I'm still here. You know, I'm painting. And I painted beside her, her bed, because, guess what? I turned to the brush again. I turned to the paints again. So you might see that in my paintings, I put a lot of emotion, I put a lot of atmosphere, I put a lot of that in. It's because I'm going on all the stuff I went through to get from point A to point B. I don't know what's coming down the road. All I know is I have healthy kids, everybody's on their own, and I can tackle it. And I will have my paintbrush. I will have my easel. It comes in many sizes. I got the big easels and I got the traveling easels, but I will have those, because that is what is going to save me. So that's this little story that you're getting a little snippet of it. There's a lot of ugly stuff in between some of that, but it's that's my story on why I paint. I paint because I love it. I paint because someone gave me a blessing, someone gave me a talent. I paint because I feel it. I paint because I want to share it, and I want to share my story, because I think it will help people along the way that that this is just too hard. I can't do it or whatever. You can do it. You can do it in Jimmy valvano's favorite sayings, never, never, ever give up. And that is the one thing I always remember. It's not my saying, you know, but it's, it's, it's something you got, you know, you got to give your best. You really do. You got to give your most, the most that you can. So I'm very passionate about it. This book has taken me a long time. I've had an A writer look at and like, yeah, don't quit your day job yet. But I should guess what, I'll get there. So now it's, it's, it's coming along. So I gave you a short little outline of why I'm passionate about the things I do.

Laura Arango Baier: 49:17

Yes, so thank you so much for sharing that is, it is so inspiring to have you, of course, on the other side of the screen, and to hear this because you're such like you're saying, you're very upbeat, you're a go getter, you're so like you would never imagine that you have gone through so many trials and tribulations in life. So thank you for sharing that. I'm sure one of our listeners out there might, you know, find themselves in a similar position, and will definitely need your words.

Cindy Baron: 49:49

And guess what, I still have bad days I go shopping. Yeah, I do something, you know, like, I'm like, Okay, it's time for me to go have a steak. Dinner somewhere, you know. I mean, this is just me, you know, I don't like to stay in the funky area of the of that. I have to, I have to go, No, I got to get out of this. Just, just go. I tackle, you know, the issues I need to tackle. But so does my easel. I sit with my easel and I tackle it with my easel. You know, I, you know, that's my best friend, you know. So it did. You know, my kids are on their own, you know, they got, they're doing their things, but, you know, the easel is always with me.

Laura Arango Baier: 50:31

Yeah, it's all reliable. I hope it helps. Yes, I would say so I'm, I'm very inspired. It's really great too, because it also puts things in perspective. Of like, you know, if, if someone such as you, for example, would go through a moment where suddenly you can lose the rest of your time, right, the time that you thought you had left to live, suddenly you're told, Oh, it's going to be cut short or you might not make it. I think that really highlights what your priorities are in life, right? Like what means so much to me? What do I want to do with the time that has been given to me? And what would I do now if I knew tomorrow was my last day? You know, I think those are very important things to consider, right?

Cindy Baron: 51:16

Right now, seriously, I've had two major obstacles that I had to fight for my life, you know, that's, that's basically, you know, I, it's, I had to fight. I've always been in survival mode and but I turn it into a good survival mode instead of a bad survival mode, you know? And it does, it does shape you as a human being. It shapes you as an artist, you know what? What this has shaped me is, what the reason why I paint the way I paint, and I'm not done yet, you know? I want to travel. I want to paint Switzerland. So I've got to keep my heart in shape, because I'm climbing and painting. That's, you know? Those are things. Those are goals. I have goals that I'm going to do. So those are things, those are things I look at, beautiful.

Laura Arango Baier: 52:05

Yes, yes, yes. And then I'm curious, do you know more or less when your book might, might be out?

Cindy Baron: 52:13

Oh, it's in the process writing. It's gonna, it's, it's, the title of the book is going to be called the guilt box, but there's a little segment in the in the book that's about the ever changing palette, and the in that refers to life and your artwork. So, you know, life is an ever changing palette, but so is your artwork, you know. So it's got a double, whatever that word is, it's got a double meaning to it. But no, it's, it's, it's good, it's gonna be, it's, I want to help people. It's a real life story. And I've had some nice, not nice things, you know, growing up, and I just, I want to share it that it doesn't that part doesn't have to define you, but it does define you, but you got to turn that defining into what you really want the people to see you defined as, not what you know you think you should be defined as, like, Oh, I just can't do it, you know, with my heart surgery. Do you think, you know, the average person out there is under and go hike the Tetons. They're going to go, nah, stay low. Now, I'm not even going to leave my house. I did it, and they I had major construction work. It's like bridges and you name it. It's like overpasses. You know, that's how much construction work they did. But I could, I did I like, no, I need to climb that mountain. I need to get there. It was the most exhilarating thing I'd ever experienced. It was, and I'm going to send you that photo when we hang up. It was exhilarating, mind you, I lost like, 20 pounds, you know. And I shouldn't lose 20 pounds, you know, I'd and it was, it was, it was hard, but it was, it was good, but I painted, I did. I hiked it, I painted. I had an show at a gallery in town, and I had the best time of my life. I did, best time of my life.

Laura Arango Baier: 54:20

Yes, wow. I think I also really love how you're very much expressing, you know, this, this dark side that has happened, but then you're so full of light, You're so bright, you're so like, you know, really making lemonade out of the lemons. As much as I can't

Cindy Baron: 54:36

change anything, you can't change a thing, but you can change this. Can't change a thing. I can't change any other thing to make it better, or whatever, you know, but you can change this, and this has changed to art. My painting, so paint,

Unknown: 54:56

I want to say I don't have time. No, you have time. Fine, go paint. No, I don't have time. Don't do that.

Laura Arango Baier: 55:05

Yes, totally. And I also really admire your discipline, which, of course, having had worked with athletes and in athletic fields, I think it's, it's excellent to have built that discipline as well, which actually kind of leads me into my next question, because you were very busy being a mother as well being a family woman, helping your sons, working alongside them in their basketball careers. When did you notice or when did you finally make the jump into becoming a full time artist, and then what was that jump like for you?

Cindy Baron: 55:49

The jump? Well, everybody would say you were a full time artist, you know, raising your kids because I'd paint at night. You know, the jump came slowly, because I was already gradually getting into being more full time. Right now you can I'm labeled full time and overtime. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's the jump wasn't bad. Paying your bills is what helps you jump even a little bit more. It's like, okay, I got bills. I bought a home. You know, I've got a beautiful home, and I've got things I'm doing to it, but the jump was slow, methodical again, and I had to pay bills. And so, you know what? It's just like, okay, you know, I'm going, I'm gonna pay the bills. I can do this. And I was already there because I had gallery representations. I had, you know, so I had things that had to be somewhere. I just got to do it more like my sons were overseas, and I was single, so therefore, you know, what, I had all the time in the world. So it was, it was slow and methodical, but so it really wasn't hard for me, you know, making sure the bills were paid were you know, that gives you a whole lot of discipline. You can't tell the electric company. Sorry, I can't pay you this month, you know. So it's, it's, it's, it's, you know, paying the bills is a big goal. And guess what, I had a little cushion, you know, I could, I could go full time, because being married, you know, I still, you know, he didn't rely on my income. My income actually hurt us. So, you know, I we got to rely on on his income. And it, he did very good. You know that that's an art in itself. And we're and we're good friends, but, um, so, like I said, it was a slow, methodical, so it was very easy for me to do. It really was. It was very easy. I know for other people it's hard, you know, because you might not have the cushion behind you. I have, I had a cushion behind me, and so I couldn't use a lot of the cushions, but, you know, I still had to, I still had to make a, you know, I still had to get out there and make a living, so and, and it worked. Now I have a nice cushion because I'm on Social Security. Yeah, so, guess what? I love it.

Laura Arango Baier: 58:39

Yes, it's definitely, it takes a lot of pressure off, and it is, it is useful and helpful to have, you know, have had spousal support when you had it, then it's right that, yeah, continue.

Cindy Baron: 58:50

I'm sorry I should never interrupted you. But guess what? You know, you do need that support system. You know, people out there have family you know, or friends, or whatever you know. You you do need that support system without a shadow of a doubt.

Laura Arango Baier: 59:05

So, yes, yes, yes. I think also because it really does alleviate a lot of the pressure, which, as we were saying before, sometimes, for some artists, it might be hard to have that financial pressure behind you, you know, like, oh, gosh, I got to pay the bills, and I haven't sold anything. Because, as you know, you know, with this career, it's highs and lows, highs and lows, highs and lows, and it's very much planning for the future. You got a high moment where, oh, I made a good amount of money. Okay, I need to make sure that I'm putting a good portion of that into a backup account, because I don't know if I'm going to sell anything for six months straight, and if I don't sell anything for six months straight, I don't want to be worried that, oh no, I'm going to get kicked out of my house. Absolutely yes. And I think that's also a lot of artists also tend to have day jobs, or they have other, you know, reliable sources of income, especially today. And.

Cindy Baron: 1:00:00

I think, you know, yes, especially today and and the younger artists coming up without any support system. I know it's hard, you know, and I'm a, I'm a big advocate for them. I love to to buy other artists, paintings, Christmas gifts. I buy from artists, because it's great to support them. So, you know, at times are tough, even though you know it's, it's, I am okay. But today, you know, everybody is holding on a little bit, you know, tighter. So you need that, you know you need that other job, or you need something and that, you know, it's, it's, um, it's, it's hard right now, until things like stable out, you know, it's hard right now, I have to tell you, during covid, I had a great year, because I think everybody redesigned their homes. It was buying art, you know, was a really weird thing. You would think nobody, you know, would be buying that. Was weird. But, you know, today, you know everything, it's hard, you know. And I'm at a different stage in my life, so it's different. But for the younger artists, yeah, it's hard, you know, you may, you know, if I had to get out there, I would be the best waitress in the most expensive restaurant, or I would be a bartender, and I would do a great job. That's what I would do, just so I don't, you know, tax my mind or something like that, but no, I would turn it around like, no, no, I'll be the best at that, but I can still paint at night or something like that, or during the day? Yes, so no, but it's hard now, it really is, and I feel, I feel for that, and I buy when I can, I buy from artists. Yes.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:01:54

And actually, this leads very well into my next question, which obviously, you know now things are a little bit different. But is there anything that you've noticed and in general, I think a lot of the things that have worked in business and marketing in the past can still work, especially in the art world, since a lot of it is very much still in person, networking or real life, meeting other people or connecting with other people. What would you say is the biggest marketing or business advice that has helped you in your career?

Cindy Baron: 1:02:30

It's changed over the years. The biggest marketing advice you know at a time you know Facebook and Instagram is, is a great freebie, you know. And that's changing now for artists, because, you know, you used to get all these, you know, exposure and all this kind of stuff. So they're changing that, too, and they're now wanting money to boost things and the blah blah, blah. And to be honest, we all knew this would probably come because it's been many years of just free online exposure and all that kind of stuff. And I'm a big advocate. When you do that, you stay very business. Don't go down any other avenue, you know. Don't bring in anything else every now and then, on Facebook, Instagram, it's all my paintings. On Facebook, I did find collectors and gallery do like to know a little bit about who you are. Like, I'll post something about my sons, you know, or it would be something like that. They like to know there's that little personal side, but don't go under any other avenue, and you keep it very business like and the reason why galleries want they need to know. They don't. They don't want to know, you know, what your belief is in this and blah, blah, blah, they want to know how well they can rely on you to get them the paintings they need to talk to their collectors to it, you know, go meet their collectors. They want to know that very business side of you and that little bit of personal you know, whether it's your your kids or something else. But galleries watch this. You know, you may not know that the galleries do watch that also, you know, another good marketing thing. And I am a signature member with planar painters of America. And I'm also a master with oil painters of America and American impressionist society and Laguna plein air painters, and there's a couple others on there. I keep very professional with them. My paintings, they go in those shows. Now this is another good marketing thing, but yet professional thing you need to do is you. I see out there, because I judge a lot of these shows that an artist gets one painting and that's a, you know, it's in all these the same shows. No, you need to make sure that you produce something new for them. Because galleries, once again, and artists and professionals like to see that you can create something you know, new. They need to know you're just not a how do I want to a one painting person, or what, whatever I'm trying to say with that one? But you need to, your website needs to be updated. I, you know, I'm very lacks in that. And I take, I take note to myself to make sure I keep that one updated. Your resume needs to be updated, and you need to treat these shows very professional. And if you get involved with an art group, I you need to make sure your dues are paid, because they look at that too. You need to make sure everything is in line so they know you're professional. And then you'll be invited to maybe demo at a show or something like that. So all these things are little marketing skills that you need to keep very professional. And then you just have to get out there. You just have to, you know, go to a local restaurant or something and look at their walls and say, Listen, do you mind if I just hang a painting in here and and, you know, that's exposure. There's all these different little marketing skills. Get your business card, your little brochure, a little booklet. I do little postcards. When I meet somebody, I have clients that call me, and I have to be very professional with them and send photos, and yet, respect their privacy and yet, but that's all marketing skills, because that person goes to the next person said, you need a painting you go to this person. So these are all those social skills that you need to keep up to date or in good, good favor. I'm looking for the right word for that. I when I was younger, I did all these outdoor part shows, and I had a trailer. I had it all, and I would drive to all these shows all through the Midwest and the East Coast and and I did very well. I would paint all winter, and did about six shows in the summertime. And then it came a time where, you know, I had to stop doing that so I could travel with my sons. But those outdoor park shows, I still have people coming to me because, oh, I have this painting. Do you have anything else, or whatever? So these are things, you know, it may come back from way back when to to now, but just stay very professional with what you do. And once again, the internet is great with that. I know nothing of Tiktok or any of the other kind of stuff. I don't know that. I'm just on Instagram and Facebook, and I post every now and then. You don't have to post every day, but when you do post, make sure it you have a little story about that piece of art or whatever, how something relates to this or relates to that, and that's another great marketing skill. Go to galleries. I you know, in the I'm in about five galleries now, and that I can't handle anymore, but one of the galleries, Cheryl at Highlands art gallery in Lambertville, New Jersey. I was at a basketball tournament with my son, and I went, Oh, that's only an hour that way. I'm going to drive over there and go to the gallery, because I, you know, I always knew about her gallery. And I went in there and I introduced myself. I didn't say, Hey, I'm looking for representation. I didn't bring in art or anything like that. I just went to introduce myself. I and you know what? That was great. Guess what? A year later, she called me, she goes, I'd like to represent you, but she also follows to make sure, this is why I'm going back to that your postings and all that, you know, they follow to make sure you can create new work. You're not just creating one piece of work and taking it five different six different areas. You know, they they look at the work you're creating, and they don't want to hold your hand or beg you for a painting or walk you through something. They need to know that you just like, I'll get it. I have a gallery in California. Car just fine art. And they keep me tied to the easel. So, I mean, that's, it's really good. So I know when something goes out the door, I've got another one going on, on the easel So, and I go out there for, you know, a month or so at a time, and I paint, I plein air paint, so, and I stop in and I see them and talk to them. I'll be out there again in the spring, but I got to go north. They have people I've got to go see, and I got to paint up north in California. So it's as far as marketing, try everything. I'm quite sure there's going to be something new coming down the road. And stay very professional. Go out and meet gallery owners. Don't go carrying a painting in like in the old days. Just go in and meet them and you know. And then you can tell them, Well, I'm an artist, and you know what? You never know what will come with that. And there's, there's new things. I think there's a new avenue on the internet, and I can't remember what it was called. Somebody wrote about it, and I can't remember it was called, but there's going to be a ton of new things coming down the road, so you gotta try it all. Just stay very professional. Introduce yourself and stay very professional.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:11:19

Yeah, you know, you make some excellent points about the art world, because a lot of it has become very online, stuff, like Facebook, Instagram, and that is very useful, but it's still at its core, a very people focused career. You have, like you said, you have to go and introduce yourself. You have to, you know, talk to people. You have to be basically, you have to present yourself, to be in front of mind, right? If you want to work with a gallery, a gallery is not going to know who the heck you are if you don't go up to them and present yourself, and, you know, obviously not with the sole intent of working, you know, using them, right? Because they're people, too, and they're a lot of artists have described galleries and working with galleries as a relationship, whether it's family or a marriage, either one. So it is a very people focused thing. And talking to other artists, you know, going to shows, going to any event that has other artists and galleries and collectors, it is so people focused, you would be surprised, since it's such a lonely career. You know.

Cindy Baron: 1:12:22

One other avenue is the gallery in California, cargu, fine art. He saw a painting of mine because I won an award at Laguna, and he saw it, and he called me. He goes, I'd like to represent you, because it was in a magazine. So that's the other avenues. The magazines are good too, you know. So yeah, and they have great programs for artists and payment plans and whatever. So you know that the magazines will work well for you. And that's how I got into some of the galleries, is they saw my paintings and called so that's another avenue, and they it gets expensive, but, you know, ask the Ask the magazine and the advertisers. Can you work with me? I need help. So it doesn't hurt to ask,

Laura Arango Baier: 1:13:12

No, exactly, and you have to have the, you know, just the worst thing they can say is no, you know, like, just ask. That's what. That's also one of my favorite things to think about. It's like, well, what have I got to lose? I already am not in the magazine, so might as well ask, you know. But yeah. And then I wanted to ask you if you have any final advice for anyone listening out there who wants to be either a full time artist or make a living from their work.

Cindy Baron: 1:13:41

Okay, you get, just got to do it. You know, there's, there's a famous look. It's not my slogan, but, you know, it's a Nike slogan that says, Just do it. You just got to do it. But don't procrastinate. Because guess what? You might not be able to paint tomorrow, you know, so you got to do it today. So don't procrastinate. We made that word as artists, try to try to eliminate, eliminate that in your vocabulary. So you just got to go, you just got to do it, and don't prepare, procrastinate and just know there's a space for you somewhere. There's a lot of artists out there, there's a space for you. You can find that space. You know, it's it's it, it will happen if you work hard enough for it. I have a great work ethic, and I have goals. I have my faith and I have my family. So, you know, I put everything in the proper order and just do it. Tomorrow is not promised. I didn't make that slogan, but Tomorrow is not promised for anybody you know, so do it today. So that's, that's the best advice I can give you. And don't worry about failure. I'm still failing. So that's, that's my advice. Is just going to do it perfect.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:15:03

And then do you have any upcoming shows or exhibitions or workshops that you would like to promote?

Cindy Baron: 1:15:09

Last year, I was on the road so much, and I said, I'm not going to do that this year. Guess what? I'm looking at my chalkboard because I'm little old school here, but I have an solo show at the Providence art club in Providence, Rhode Island, coming up in May. But I have two workshops, one in Atlanta. It's two workshops. One's an oil and one's a watercolor. And guess what? It's all on my website, if you want to find it. And then I have, I'm teaching two again in Scottsdale, Arizona. Love that area, in April, the end of April, and that is a what, one week is a watercolor, and one week is an oil. And then I'm, once again, just like last year, I'm running a car. And I drove through the canyons and painted all solo. And I went to Sedona and painted. I went to the Grand Canyon and painted. I went to the vermilion cliffs and painted. I'm doing the same thing, but I gotta be in Utah at, um, oh my gosh, I'm not quite sure, and that will be in May. And so I'm going to be on the road again for another, oh, three weeks. And I said I wasn't going to do this, but it just looks so appetizing that I went, I gotta go, so I'm doing that. And then in September, I'm with a group of very talented, amazing women, and we're called the wild women of the West, but they live on the east too, so it's a show, and that will be in September, which will be on my website. And so, yes, I have a lot coming up. And then July and August, I'm it's Gigi camp. I get my grandkids, and it's, they call it Gigi camp. So we, we, we have fun. So I devote that time to family, and then September, it's back to work. So beautiful. That's it, but I'll have it all on my website. I can't list all the dates, but it will be up on my website, perfect.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:17:15

And do you mind telling us what your website is and also on social media? Okay?

Cindy Baron: 1:17:20

Um, is Cindy barron.com and then it's basically Cindy Barron art, Cindy Barron. Just Google Cindy Barron, and it's right there. My kids kept it. My kids set that up. So they kept it very easy for me to get it. So it's just Cindy barron.com so you can look at, you can go there on my website. I have, I just update it with the coming workshops, and I got a update with the shows coming up. And then I do the Coeur d'Alene art auction. I'm an invited artist, so I paint for that, and that's in May too. So these are all things that will keep me tied to the easels behind me.

Laura Arango Baier: 1:18:05

Yes. All reliable. Yes, yes. Well, awesome. Thank you so much, Cindy for sharing your incredible story. I am so looking forward to your book. I think I would, I would definitely love to read a copy of it in the future, so I will also, I will sign up to your newsletter so you can notify me when it's ready, because I'm I'm so down to read it, but thank you so much for being here on the show today.

Cindy Baron: 1:18:33

Thank you. I so appreciate you thinking of me, and I appreciate that so much. And I wish the belt best for you and and your endeavors, and just

Laura Arango Baier: 1:18:45

paint Yes. Thank you. Thank you to everyone out there for listening to the podcast. Your continued support means a lot to us. If you've enjoyed the episode, please leave a review for the podcast on Apple podcast Spotify, or leave us a comment on YouTube. This helps us reach others who might also benefit from the excellent advice that our guests provide. Thank you.