Happy artist, Misty Lemons, smiling in front of her artwork displayed at her solo show, Musings
From now through November 8th, my solo art show Musings is on display at The Flying Squirrel Coffee Shop in Crowley, Texas, hosted through the Mansfield Tournique Art Collective.
Musings features acrylic and watercolor paintings of whimsical animals and themed pieces bursting with color and personality. For me, art is more than paint on paper, it’s a way to heal, cope, and process life’s challenges.
Here I am striking a happy pose in front of my art show
These colorful, lighthearted themes reflect my desire to brighten the world, even when things feel heavy. Every brushstroke is a reminder of resilience, hope, and the small moments of joy that can transform difficult experiences.
Come with me to set up my solo art show, Musings at Flying Squirrel Coffee in Crowley, Texas. Watch and subscribe to my YouTube
If you’re in the area, I’d love for you to stop by, sip some coffee, and see the work in person. Maybe you’ll leave with a smile or even a favorite piece to take home.
Exhibit Dates: Now through November 8th, 2025 Location: The Flying Squirrel Coffee Shop, Crowley, TX Presented by: Mansfield Tournique Art Collective
To Learn More About My Art & To Shop, Visit My LinkTree You Can Also Subscribe To My YouTube For Behind The Scenes Fun & More
Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To The Artist, Misty Lemons/Misty Blue Arts Do Not Copy Or Reproduce
After years of hard work, some doubt about the algorithm, and posting consistently (posting up to a few videos a week), one of my YouTube shorts finally got over ten thousand views. It didn’t happen overnight. It took a few days, but it reached twentyfour thousand views altogether. It’s my most viewed video to date. It’s not exactly a viralvideo, but it is to me!
You can watch the video here and please feel free to subscribe. It helps with my dream to be able to support my family with my art. Thank you.
“Inner Strength” is a abstract mixed media art piece created by award winning artist, Misty Lemons of Designs By Misty Blue Art. It’s made from watercolor paper and paint and polymer clay.
The video is ten seconds long and starts with me putting watercolor paint onto the rim of a disposable cup and finishes with a photo of me holding the completed art piece. I used a popular sound that would be familiar to many. I used text overlay on the video and made sure to have a detailed description and hashtags.
The beginning of the video was just a small snippet I took from my previous YouTube livestream that I sped up for time. The quick movements capture the eye and holds attention.
In my description I detailed the name of the piece (“Inner Strength”), the art materials used, and some of the process it took to create it. I also connected the livestream video where I worked on the piece as a related video.
All of this combined with consistency and a little bit of luck are what I believe helped the video get the views it has. I also recently reached over 1,000 subscribers and have heard this helps open up the algorithm more as well.
The algorithm on social media platforms can be incredibly daunting to overcome for so many, myself included. It seems fickle at best. Some people get lucky and strike gold immediately. Others can work for years with little or no returns. I always said if I can figure it out, I wouldn’t gatekeep, so I’m sharing what I learn and hope it helps others. I by no means of any stretch of the imagination have it figured out and can offer absolutely no guarantees, but this is what I’ve learned and believe it has helped me.
Above everything, stay consistent, but remember to add a description and several tags. I hope your hard work pays off for you. I’m wishing you the best and I’m rooting for you!
*UPDATE: A few days after having two shorts hit over 20,000 views in the same week, my views tanked. This happened immediately after YouTube wanted me to promote my channel. I’m thinking this is no coincidence. They seemingly opened my views to only shut it off to entice me to promote my channel. I believe this is what happened. The timing of it makes sense, unfortunately and I’ve heard of other social media platforms doing the same sort of thing to people. But I will do what I always do. Carry on. It’s a let down, but not surprising. My advice, remains the same, though. Stay consistent, but not for an algorithm. Do it for yourself. Do it for the love of your art and content. Do it because you wanna make a positive difference. Do it because it matters and means something to you, whether you have a large audience or not.*
To Learn More About Me, Shop My Art & Commissions, Please Visit My Link Tree. Thank You.
*For Educational Purposes Only
Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To Misty R. Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Do Not Copy Or Reproduce
Everyone deserves to collect a paycheck from the work they do and just like any other industry, you pay for material, labor, skills, and time. Whether or not one can budget for something doesn’t make it any less valuable. And though you typically can’t eat art, it provides sustenance to the mind and soul, which physically supports the body, especially during trying times. A good example of this is that art therapy helps heal and soothe minds. It helps calm and regulate the nervous system. Art is a tool used by therapists and psychologists to treat patients with Complex PTSD, anxiety, grief, and a whole host of other debilitating issues. Art gives purpose and hope. It also fosters community and emotional intelligence. Both of which, benefits society.
After my mother passed away, I used art to process my grief and heal childhood trauma. Here I am painting a pumpkin during a visit to my favorite park.
Simply by acknowledging people can “just use AI” to create “art”, proves how necessary art truly is. It proves how invaluable art is. That art in general fulfills an important purpose and role in society.
It’s apparent that AI’s easy access will and has already taken jobs away from artists, that huge cooperations want free labor to boost their profit margins, and that it hurts regular people, hurts families. It’s taken away vital money from human artists and their families, making it more difficult for them to live, survive, and thrive in an already challenging society.
To place little or no value on the importance of art is uninformed at best, callous at worst. Art is everywhere. It’s on the shirts we wear, the packaging on our favorite products, it’s in the cars you drive, the decorations we put in our homes, the movies you watch, the music you listen to. All touched by human hands at some point. Life is art and for many, art is life.
In my opinion, it’s foolhardy to believe AI “art” could or should ever truly take the place of human created art that comes from skilled hands, minds, and souls. Art that comes from lived experiences and deep wells of emotion and thought. Art is passion.
AI “art” lacks humanity, nuance, and soul and was built off the backs of human artists by being trained off of stolen art from human artists on the internet. Artists not paid for their work by these questionable practices. Art they’d tell you has no value or meaning and yet, they absolutely need it to feed their machine and make money off of.
Supporting AI “art” is supporting theft by the predatory corporations who are pushing it out to the masses. Not to mention how destructive AI is to the planet by gulping up one of our most precious resources, water, to cool the servers and all the power it needs taxes an already heavily taxed, fragile power grid.
AI may not be going away, but it absolutely should be regulated to protect humanity and the planet. Everyone needs to be made aware of the impact it has on themselves, their friends, neighbors, and loved ones.
For Human Made Art & Tutorials, Please Visit My LinkTree
Copyrights & Reproduction Rights Belong Solely To Misty R. Lemons/Designs By Misty Blue Do Not Copy Or Reproduce
*For Educational Purposes Only. Statements Made Here Contain Opinions. To Learn More, Please Talk To Artists. Do Research. Thank You.*