Heron Walking

 This week one of the artists at our church is hosting a show of pieces bespeaking Peace, and I selected Heron Walking from the Spring class Awakening our Mythic Legend.

On the train headed from Oregon to my Color of Woman Graduation celebration in California in the fall of 2015, I began seeing herons in the wetlands, and later heard they were much loved by our teacher Shiloh's mentor Sue Hoya Sellers!

Heron stands tall and silent, rooted in the watery depths, watching, waiting for a day we can gather with our artful crafts of music, dance and storytelling, sharing in wonder and the inspiration of creativity.

Heron Walking - 2021

Crossing the threshold

we are enough, 

each of us, all of us.

We can be heard

singing our songs

calling for change

for respect

choosing to rise.

Rose petals on the path

and waiting, in still waters

Diving deep

Emerging

with hidden treasures.

Nadya Vestella King, 2021

Insta-Magic

 Wow - I now have 1300 followers on Instagram! 

I began posting on Instagram three years ago, after Maestra Shiloh Sophia suggested we  use the #intentionalcreativity, and see if we could boost the numbers of posts over a thousand or so tagging our brand! We are now at 18.5K!

I love the visual focus of Instagram, which is ideal for our artist selves.

In those early days, I wrote, "It's been fun playing with my pictures for posts, making little montages (which don't always behave!) And meeting new virtual friends! I love the journal pages @quantummemoir does, and ... I'm @nadyakingartist ❤"

• When you start typing a tag, suggestions will come up - bypass ones that have over a million, and look for ones in the 50 - 500k range or lower
• Check out the tags your colleagues use - make a note of those which fit! 
• Choose a few that are unique to you, or your small group. Recently I added red thread Creatives, as that's the name of my Facebook group. 
• It's a good idea to check out the tag, and see how the posts match your intention - I usually click "recent" as well 💖
• If you're collaborating on a class or other offering with someone, choose a tag together, and use it with your posts. I was recently the Art Doc for a class two Pete's offered, and they chose #AwakeningMythicLegend for our class posts.
• When you have a bit of extra time, visit some of the folks who liked recent posts, and choose several which appeal to interact with and comment on.  
• While we can use up to 30 tags in a post, the magic number is 11 - I generally use a few more.
• The Magic formula is to choose 5-8 'popular' tags that have been used 100-500k times
• 5-8 moderate 50-100k
• Several specific (like intentional creativity)
• And a few niche - personal to you!

Instagram allows one "active link" in your profile, so many folks create a link list (like Linktree) with link to classes, free offers, their main website, blogs. Check our accounts, and see which are most appealing. 

Whilst researching link options, I came across a YouTube tutorial from Canva on creating active web pages and decided to that for my profile link! I often use Canva for graphics, so that was an easy choice! 

• Post a link to your website or blog in your bio, and update your site regularly. 
• If you're promoting an event, make registration easy to find! (I often check these in colleagues' posts, and have to poke around for their current offer!)
• If you have several distinct business, you may want to add other accounts
• Post your bio link at the end of your text "click the link in my bio to register -@nadyakingartist 

Here's a recent post with in depth suggestions on using hashtags! 

Are you on Instagram? You're invited to post the link to your account, and share an tips you've discovered. 

Happy Paint Party Friday!