Truth be told, the painting idea was just that, an idea. Frankly with how sets go here, there are only a handful of painters anyway, so getting a bunch of people on board with them would be a tough ask.
I think Tigger is on to something, posting on the groups on Facebook could not only bring more traffic, but more participants. I used to be all-in on Hotlaps, then baseball season started, so I've been using most of my spare "gaming time" on other titles. That's not to say I have no interest in them, I've just been spending it elsewhere.