Jessica Mahan — social media as a virtual art gallery

An apple a day, a dollar a day, a one-a-day vitamin — or maybe a painting a day.

That's what artist Jessica Mahan decided to do during the month of September — every day, she painted an 11-by-14-inch watercolor of a different animal. By using her talent and a little online marketing, Mahan was able to sell all her work, raise some money for her school and get some name recognition as well.

Like lots of kids, the Berryville native spent many childhood hours drawing. She was also inspired by her great-grandmother, who was both an artist and art collector, and by her high school art teacher.

In college (at Evangel and College of the Ozarks), things changed a bit. "I never really found my style in college like my professors wanted me to," she said.

After graduation, Mahan continued with what she called her "very eclectic" work, but she never thought seriously about trying to sell her artwork. "Everything I had painted up this point was for myself or gifts to family and friends," she said. "I wasn't sure I would be successful."

Teaching began to take up a lot of her time, and for awhile, Mahan's personal art took a back seat.

"Before September, I went through a period of time where I wasn't creating," Mahan explained. An elementary school art teacher in her fifth year at Republic, Mahan said she was working on a large abstract piece but couldn't get it the way she liked. She also felt she couldn't move on to something else, however, until she completed the work.

Then, one day, things changed.

"My boyfriend and I went to the zoo ... and I got the idea I should go home afterwards and just try to enjoy painting. I had never painted animals before and I wanted to try something new to get away from the frustration of trying to finish something unsuccessfully."

Mahan began posting her work, done in watercolor and white acrylic, on Facebook, and it started selling. Her first two paintings, a raven and a rabbit, sold quickly. "Actually, my boyfriend's cousin's wife bought them," she said. "I decided I would challenge myself to paint one animal a day."

In the beginning, friends were mostly buying Mahan's work, but as they began to share her Facebook images, it "kind of mushroomed out," she said. In the end, every September painting sold, and Mahan had more than 700 likes on her Facebook page.

In addition, Mahan also painted a 24-by-36-inch tiger and sold raffle tickets to raise money to buy clay for her elementary students, raising $330. "The painting went to a wonderful Republic family," she said.

This month, Mahan will begin selling prints of the paintings she sold during September. To view these works and other examples of her paintings, go to www.facebook.com/JessicaMahanArt.

Now that she's had some success and learned a little about online marketing, Mahan said she plans to continue, but she also wants to show her paintings in the real world as well as the virtual one. "I hope to get into some galleries on First Friday Art Walk," she said. "I want to put my work out there."