No matter your artistic vision, preferred subject matter and style, when it comes to hanging your art in a booth at an art show, less is more. Conventional wisdom might suggest that the more artwork you display, the more likely you are to make a sale; however, the opposite can be true. Hanging too many pieces on the walls or…
Have patience with all things unresolved and learn to love the questions themselves. – Rainier Maria Rilke Artists are endlessly curious. But in life, we spend a lot of our time running away from questions. We want to know everything right now. Yet it’s only by following the questions that we find where the true answers lie. Artists are often…
“I used to have a band,” he told me. He had played lead guitar and sang. It was the 1980s, and he worked hard, touring the country and gaining a small following. But he never broke through. When he turned 30, he got a chance to play one of the biggest music festivals in Great Britain. His brother ran the…
Art is more than just pretty pictures. The best art explores ideas, and ideas need time to develop and to grow. In fact, they demand it. Respect the process and give yourself permission to take time for your work. Schedule it—or, better yet, make it a part of your daily routine. Each day I take an hour or so to…
Any artist worth his or her salt is part of a larger arts community. Other artists are not your competition; other artists are your colleagues—and, I think you’ll find, your best friends. I once lived in a town with lots of artists but no community. Everyone worked in their own frustrated little bubble. I tried to begin a monthly get-together,…
When I worked in the art business, I talked on the telephone constantly. So much for the glamorous life! Who knew that cauliflower ear was an occupational hazard for art dealers? But I was moving and shaking, baby! I needed to be on that phone. I couldn’t be disconnected! My phone defined my life. I recently read a study suggesting…
Maximizing trade sales to broaden your distribution and give you more time to create art The traditional way of selling art through brick-and-mortar galleries works. But if you find yourself creating marketing materials, building websites, packing boxes, and accounting for your sales when you’d rather be painting, sculpting, or blowing glass, then it’s time to consider selling to the trade.…
Aspiring to be an art dealer? Eric Smith, CEO of Redwood Media Group gives us the scoop on how to be the next best art dealer. “So, you’ve decided to become an art dealer. What’s next? Well, let me tell you, it takes a lot of hard work, long hours, and knowledge to make it as a professional, but if…
It happened again. An artist wrote to me about a project she was offered, excited by the opportunity. She wasn’t going to be paid, mind you, but it would be “good exposure.” Ah good exposure! The two words that should make every artist cringe. I get it. Trust me, I still do things for good exposure. And I find it…
Here are a few of the ways that I’ve found artists price their work: By being so traumatized by the very question of pricing that you decide to wait for posthumous fame and hide your work – lest anyone ask the price. By having angst about it until, fortified by chardonnay, you finally decide on a number. Any number. Just…
