We sat down with Jenny Okamura, a Contemporary Artist here in Boston to discuss using social media to connect with other artists offline, letting your personality shine through in your posts without being too personal, and the connection between Instagram and Arthur Rambauld
The Stats:
Instagram
@Jennyjean25
12.8k followers
On the surface, Jenny Okumura paints beautifully moving fine art. But beyond that, she’s also a poet, she’s the President of the National Association of Women’s Artists MA Chapter, she manages Gallatea where she brings women artists together. And she has a story to tell.
When it comes to sharing that story on social media, it can be a fine line between giving followers a glimpse into a more personal side of herself and her art, while focusing on running it like a business. Jenny does an amazing job with this balance - so much so that she’s racked up almost 13k followers in the year and a half since she started using Instagram.
Whether you’re a professional artist, a small business owner, or just a fan, this week’s interview shines a light onto some really cool insights we haven’t talked about yet. Enjoy!
Tell us a little about yourself, the work that you do, and how you use social media
For myself, I got on Instagram probably about a year and a half ago, so I’ve really only been on it for not that long. I don’t have a lot of posts! And I used to try to post on Sunday, because it’s my off day, I kind of have the time to think. I had a friend that said you have to post three times a week or twice a week, and what I’ve realized is that the most important thing, more so than how often you post, is posting things that are relevant to your story.
When we talk about the social site, the reason I started Instagram, was, one of my friends Soren, was like, you need to get on Instagram, you need to start something. And I was like, what am I going to post? So when I started, I think my first post had to do with a show that I was involved in. And its amazing how many likes you get, and you don’t know these people. You’re like, why are they liking something if they don’t know you? But I was like, okay that’s great!
What I have learned from it is, you have to decide whether or not you want it to be a business venture you’re showing on Instagram, or whether you'd have it show every aspect of your life. For me, I’ve done only business. I’ve shown things I do with the arts. You don’t really see my personal side because I feel like it’s personal and I don’t think think it’s necessary. And from what I’ve learned from other artists I admire, they do the same thing.
It seems like you’re very involved in the SOWA community and you’re involved in more than just you’re own art.
For Sowa, I sit on the board for Galatea, it’s a Co op gallery. I also just became the President of a women’s organization out of NY, and I’m the President of their their MA chapter, and I’ very honored to be part of it. It’s a women’s group that started in 1889 by these 5 women that wanted to exhibit with these men. And, basically it was male dominated and they said, no, not gonna happen - we are going to start our own group! And they built this thing that grew to a large number of artists. They built the MA chapter 5 years ago because there’s so many artists from the area that are part of that group.
With Galatea I’ve been able to put together shows that bring women artists together. I love writing proposals, so that’s usually what I end up doing. And then I’m here painting and exhibiting. I love this neighborhood. I love the fact that my background has been on Newbury Street and so many of the galleries from Newbury Street have moved here. And just to see, it’s a small community - seeing their familiar faces again. All the galleries that are here - they all used to be on Newbury Street.
Have you been able to connect with other artists and collaborate through social media?
One of the artists from Instagram that I’m really happy to have been in touch with was Tim Okamura (we have similar last names). His work is absolutely amazing! He’s a Canadian artist, and he’s basically Rembrandt meets the streets of Brooklyn. He does these beautiful portraitures of empowering women; and then he brings the Brooklyn flare into it. It’s really incredible! He was one of the first people I contacted - I knew he had a birthday, and I had a piece that I sent to him. I said, I really admire you, I love your work. And he wrote back to me right away from Instagram. And then he started following me and we built this friendship. And I’m now going to be going to Red Dot Miami - he’s going to be exhibiting over at Scope. And it’s somebody that you’d never think would contact you in a million years - he’s a celebrity artist. And I’m kind of small town in a way. But through this, he’s become a mentor and a friend. He had a show at Mass MoCa and he invited me to a private showing. I got to meet the curator, I went to a dinner with other artists, and I met the President of Mass MoCa. And it all happened from Instagram; just from me reaching out to him. And I just feel like that platform, like normally, I don't think I would have ever met him really.
You build this relationship that’s more organic in a way. It starts from being social, from the social media site. But then you can weed out the people that you want to know. It’s been a wonderful journey for me so far.
We connected because you likes one of my posts. How did you find us?
I think it was a hashtag. Usually I look through my Instagram at night. Things that interest me, I’ll stop and I’ll read it. I looked at the video with Evy Tea, I thought she was wonderful! I watched it and I liked where she was coming from where her point of view for Instagram was. She wasn’t trying to be glitzy. That’s where it comes back to deciding between making it the business side of making it personal. I think you need to decide early on which way to go. You need a human aspect to it, but I don’t think a little mystery is bad. I like the way Evy was talking about adding the human aspect to it, but also adding the fact that this is a business for her and she's running it like a business. And I feel like the artists I’ve connected with, they run it as a business too. And that’s how I feel about my art too. You don’t know what social media is going to look like years to come, and you don’t want to look back and be like, “why did I do that”?
Just from checking out your channels, it really seems that you’re able to display your work and run it as a business, but your personality really shines through.
You need that. Whoever is going to follow you - they’re not just going to follow you for your art, they’re following because they like you. There’s something that draws you to that person and what they’re doing.
I love writing also, and another connection I’ve made are with writers and poets, since I love poetry. People have reached out and asked, what other things I like. I love Arthur Rambauld poems. He was this artist that was out of Paris - he died really young. And his poetry was just so raw and he talked about his relationship where he broke up this beautiful family and how they moved to London then back to Paris. And it’s just raw and real, and I feel like thats what poetry is. Poetry tells the truth. And I feel like Instagram has to have some truth - and that’s where you have to bring in that human side to it. Because if you don’t it’s just images after images, and I know for myself I’d be bored. Even if I loved the artist, you need to see a deeper side of them to have that connection.
Have you tried any other channels, like Twitter or Pinterest?
All of my friends love Pinterest; I am not a Martha Stuart, really though! I have to say, I think Pinterest could be wonderful. I haven't tried it, my interest hasn't gone that route yet, I’m not sure if it ever will. I’m someone that likes seeing things more instant. For me, I feel like Pinterest is more like, building up for something. And, you’re just liking things instead of actually creating it. In my mind, I feel like it’s great for a reference, but for me I’d rather look through books and magazines; things that are a little more tangible.
One of the galleries that has taken me on, over in Westport, CT. They had me on for 6 months and they just continued on for the next year which is great. He found me from Instagram; he’s an SU Alumni (Syracuse University). So that’s another thing that happens with IG - if you say your a graduate from here, you’ll never know who’ll support you. He basically has a Pinterest page for me - he goes, “I’m sure you’re already on Pinterest, but I’m just going to create another page so my clients can find you more easily”. And I told him, I don't have Pinterest. An he was like, “What, what is wrong with you”! So I do have a page, it’s from the gallery - I don’t think I’ll ever create one for myself. And Twitter - I haven’t had the interest. I’m more private - to give thoughts here and there, it’s not really my personality. If I want to get information out, I can do it through Instagram - and I feel like my audience is more so there.
Do you have a Target Audience on Instagram?
I hope it’s people that love art! There’s a core group that always respond, so I know that they love art; they’re usually artists over at SOWA or artists I’ve met over the years in the art world. They follow and have comments here and there, things like that.
Art has a way of elevating and touching people... not just visually, but it touches everything about you. Your core; its your soul. And I hope whoever is following gets some sense of that. And that’s why I try to personalize it a little bit with my words and things. That’s who I hope the target is. I hope it’s not anyone creepy haha!
My buyer base is people in their 20s to 30s, that’s my target base - and that’s why I feel that Instagram is really the core for that group.
What advice would you give to a small business owner or artist just getting start marketing themselves on social media?
The first thing is, decide how you want to be perceived on Instagram. So, if you’re running your business - do you want to make it really personal, or do you want to make it about the product. And from there I would just basically try to post when you have something interesting to post. To start, maybe try to post something once a week. Just to keep interest there. And add some context to it. Even if it’s just a back story of how you got started; it’s just adds another element.
Also, use social media as a tool. What I do is, galleries or artists that I really admire, I look at their page and see who they’re following. And then what hashtags they use. I usually get my hashtags from theirs - they've already done the research, why do double research? There’s a reason why they're using those hashtags. I keep it in my notes and then copy and paste. I would say the same thing for businesses - look at business you admire, see what works well, use the same hashtags. Reach out to them, maybe go and meet them. Maybe do a zoom call if they’re in a different city. The worst thing that could happen is they don’t respond to you and then you’re still in the same boat you were at the beginning.
Artists are risk takers. The people who are entrepreneurs and starting a business, they're the people you're going to want to know. They are the people putting it all out there and taking that risk. So I think, you have this social site, use it to your advantage.
Thanks for speaking with us Jenny
MENTIONS
Galatea on Insta
@galateafineart
SoWa on Insta
@sowaboston @sowaartistsguild
Tim Okomura on Insta
@timokamura
National Association of Women Artists on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/TheNAWA
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