Art Career Experts » art gallery

What art to take to an outdoor show

ace — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:28:32 +0000

The following is my answer to a long questions about what to bring art-wise, hang a few pieces, a lot, display pieces, hauling it, etc…all good questions but a little impossible to reply to in just one post BUT the basics are here!

Go into any mall and look at the window displays. They did not drag someone off the floor to set up a window display-a professional does that.

Same with a grocery store. Sellers of the products to the stores will pay the store more to display at “end caps” and at eye level. It is also one reason that certain colors are used in products to market. Many years and lots of money goes into research that helps companies learn what attracts consumers.

So at an art show:

I make sure my walls have my art on them. Nothing displayed below waist high if possible. The medium and price are clearly marked (that does not mean they see them!) A small amount of space between them, but not much .

Prints in a separate rack, complimentary colors with any drapery in the booth. Ideally tables should be high enough so people are not bending over them (stick 6″ PVC pipe on bottom of legs to raise them ) Any written material set out clearly. You out of your chair and available to chat with prospects.

There is always a learning curve! We have been at beach shows where people remarked more over the horse paintings than the beach paintings.

Much will also depend on the show you attend. One or two paintings on each wall of your booth with high end lights, drapery, etc….may work fine in a very exclusive show. But frankly the average artist at an average juried show is there to sell and it does not unfortunately help to say “I have one at home in the studio.” The best decision is to make every effort to streamline your carry in/carry out. Hand carts are a must, plastic bins are a must…anything with wheels will make your day.

Finding a travel/show buddy is an excellent idea (as mentioned earlier) as two can spread the labor. I suspect that checking around will find more people than an artist thinks in her area that have wished for a sharing the load situation.

I cannot emphasize more bluntly than to say don’t put up a crappy exhibit. Make bags to insert your framed images so they don’t get banged up. Be able to alternate exhibits and always have your stuff “road ready”….which also means that you have to be the type of person who knows where your insurance info is, your bills, your client list, etc etc.

Know your organizational weaknesses and make a decision to overcome them because if you do not, then every show will become an ordeal……very often it is not the work that is the biggest issue but how we are seeing it and handling it!.

A show is work but taking your “gallery” to the public is an excellent way to become known….use common sense-hit the shows in your immediate area as much as you can!

Theresa

Rainy Days…….and the artist life

ace — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:14:26 +0000

Rainy days and ……

It has rained steadily for two days. I’m not complaining. September in NC has been hot and dry. So the first day of rain saw us standing on the front porch with the wind blowing the rain in our faces and we enjoyed it to the max! Of course on this, the following day, the perspective changes a bit. I am now preparing to go outside and re-dig the trench from behind the ponies shed so that the water run off does not pool and run into their dry space. The goats are very unhappy. They do not like rain.

Still, the steady rain the second day has not dampened my spirits….in fact with Fall finally beginning to be felt, it is more that cozy feeling of expectations that always, as a kid, meant that all those glorious activities of the fall months were laid out in a long stretch!

It also means a heightened activity in the studio, with art classes, plenty of commissioned artwork and the general “getting ready for winter” feeling. I love it!

The dogs are a little confused. DaVinci, the Rottweiler, has an insatiable appetite and the dark afternoon has confused him into thinking that 3:30 means dinnertime. I ignore him. So he sits with his big head in my lap while I try to type, slopping a wet kiss on my hand if I put it near his mouth and his big eyes say “Feed me.”

An artist’s life in regards to hours and paychecks is not a real predictable affair. We work when other do not and do not work when others are at work. We get paid sporadically and in terms of income, it can be far more or far less than what someone who is not an artist may make.

It’s a good life in its unpredictability.

Steve on a sunny day!

3 Rules concerning Galleries

theresa — Sun, 30 May 2010 16:05:34 +0000

A quick note on this Memorial Day weekend!

We are constantly advising artists that if they are displaying work at an Art Gallery (or frankly ANYWHERE) there are THREE rules to observe:
1. Work with locations that are a comfortable day’s drive or less from you.
2. Visit the Gallery before you send anything
3. Do an online search to see if there are any negative problems with the Gallery

The following blog has an interesting twist on an all too familiar story:

http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/2010/05/marketing-mondays-when-bad-things.html

A Gallery wants money to represent me….

theresa — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:59:33 +0000

The Question:

> I just had my second offer for gallery representation…the first was a few years ago and I didn’t like the gallery or the owner so would not have done it anyway, but that one also was offered at a cost to me. This one wants almost $3,000 to represent me. Of course I am not doing that, but my question is, is this, how all of the galleries are? Do they all charge the artist before hanging/selling any of their work?

Our answer:

The answer is no. You don’t pay to be represented.

The basic idea is that the gallery sells your work and takes a percentage. The gallery makes no money unless they sell art. The gallery and the artist both make money from the sale of art. The artist and the gallery both make money from the same source. They both have the same goal. (Sell art)

The idea of paying the gallery to represent you is a totally different scenario. That gallery makes money by signing up artists. YOU are the source. The gallery doesn’t need to sell your art, just sign up more artists.

This has been the model for online galleries. We were first approached years ago. We would pay a couple of hundred dollars plus a monthly fee to have a web page on an online gallery with hundreds of other artists. Again, their goal was to sign ups artists, not sell the artists work. The artist is the source of the money for them.

Steve

A Saturday work day!

theresa — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 01:30:36 +0000

Yes, a self employed artist DOES work on a weekend! If it is not a show, it is meeting a client, marketing at a local gallery or painting our commissions.

It is very nice to be off the road for a bit! The deserts of the west have made this North Carolina spring seem LUSH!

Today, on this lovely sunny Saturday, I bundled up a pastel that I had started to work on at the California shows and headed into the city to work at a Gallery. When I started this pastel of two sisters while in California, I had to put it up when the winds became too strong at the outdoor show.

My client, whom I was to originally meet, was ill and rescheduled for Monday. But not to worry. I had the pastel to work on and the Gallery is located in a busy mall. Malls are a great place for people traffic. I first started working in front of a large clothing retailer ack in 1996. It was great money! 2 years later I went to an fine arts gallery but when they closed down, I moved a few doors down to a framing store. It’s been a win win situation since 1998. I have examples hanging in their place of business and I send my clients to them for framing! I try to be there once a week. Obviously I had nor made it the past few weeks because of our California trip.

So from 10 am until 3:30, I worked on (and completed) my pastel. All the while I chatted with passerbys and made several great contacts. That is the whole point. To be where the client can find you!

While I was at the mall, Steve drove to a farm where we have completed a number of different pieces for the client. Now she wanted Steve to paint 5 of the old barns as they stood now befoe the renovations took place. So he set up his easel, oils and completed one plein air painting. He photographed several of the others as it may rain tomorrow and this way he can work in the studio.

I don’t have a photo of what he completed today but below is one from last year of the same client’s old indoor ring. There is nostalgia in the old places even as we embrace the new!

View from inside the old barn

Theresa