Artist Nancy Bea Miller wrote me recently with something I just had to share here (read on–it applies to you!):
In a recent marketing e-mail you referred to an earlier piece called Entice Me. I clicked the link, read it and tried to follow your advice as best as I could on short notice. I was in the process of sending out last-minute e-mail blasts about an upcoming show. I hastily re-wrote the piece to make it more interesting (I had used almost all the phrases you listed as dull) and created a .doc with images that could be printed out and went ahead with it. I want to tell you, I have never had so many replies to a "mass blast" in my life! People were amused and interested, and the blast even resulted in a sale: someone bought a piece off the gallery link I provided before the show even opened!
Thank you so much! I was WAY impressed with your advice I can tell you.
Here is what I sent out to friends, slightly altered for family and then altered again for patrons and other people who signed up for my mailing list.
The Subject line in all read: The Cake Frenzy!
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Dear Friends,
My new body of work does not have an official name, but I am thinking of it as "The Cake Frenzy". Come to the show and you will see why! I have about sixteen pieces of new work, most of which involve cake and other baked goods. This is certainly not new subject matter for me, as you know, but I think I may have taken it to a new level of obsession. Oh well! I'm sorry this past month has been too busy for me to mail
out conventional invitations. But I've attached an e-invitation which you can download and print out if you wish. 
"Recent Work"
October 4 – 29, 2006
Artists' House Gallery
57 North Second Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
http://www.artistshouse.com
First Friday: October 6, 5-8:30 pm
Sunday Reception: October 8, 1-4 pm
I will be briefly at the First Friday opening, but I will be at the gallery THE ENTIRE TIME for the Sunday reception. And if you come to the Sunday reception please be aware that cake will be served! Coffee and tea too and live classical guitar music. Bring a friend and bring your appetite and come see the show! I'll be standing by the refreshment table, of course.
Come stop me from eating all the cake by myself!
Thanks, Nancy. This is fantastic! It looks like a lot of fun even for a gluten-free gal llike me. I'm thrilled you received such positive response AND made a sale. Now we need to get you (and so many other artists out there) to work on your exhibit titles. 🙂
Next time, you'll title your exhibit "Nancy Bea Miller is in a Cake Frenzy." Yes?
Image: Nancy Bea Miller, Party Cake. Oil on wood panel, 6 x 8 inches. (c) The Artist.
7 thoughts on “This Artist is in a Cake Frenzy”
That’s fantastic! I would love to see more of your cake paintings (consider me enticed too) Do you have a website link?
Nancy Bea’s name is linked to her website in the first paragraph.
Thank you for sharing this update on your Entice Me piece. I will soon be launching my first ever web-site and you have given me just the reminder boost I need to announce my site to all. How fun … it will not be just another web-site announcement thanks to you. I am wondering what Nancy meant when she said “created a .doc with images” … what kind of document would this be. How would I do this? Thanks Allison, what a wonderful service you provide to us all. Nancy Van Blaricom
Thanks Alyson for pointing out the link, I’m not blind really! Personally I loved the entice me piece and would love to read more of your wording ideas Alyson, very inspiring for those of us who look blankly at the screen with no ideas.
It’s just a Word document that had three images and the details of her opening. She attached it to her emails.
Thank you Allison, I think I understand now.
Thank you so much for the up-date to “ENTICE ME”. It was so timely. Today I launched my new web-site. Although it’s not perfect, I feel great about the response my notice has received. Below is the note I sent to all. The subject line was…… Nancy Van Blaricom’s STARTLING NEWS: Dear Family and Friends, I can hardly believe it. After all this time of me talking about getting my own web-site, I’ve finally done it. You can click on http://nancyvanblaricom.com/ to see the newly finished site. Whew, it was a lot of work, but now with all that complicated computer language written I’m finally free to do some painting. Yippee! Look out easel, here I come. You’ll see I only have approximately 9 pieces of work on my site for now, but its a start. Don’t be surprised if you see new work soon. Make sure and bookmark my site ……. the name is a tough one to spell correctly.