Hello everyone,
It’s hard to believe we are nearly in February.
There was no directors meeting in December… in case anyone was wondering what happened to the December newsletter.
As there have been so many developments with the Fort Edward Gallery, it’s a pretty good place to start the newsletter.
Fort Edward Gallery (FEG)
The Hants County Arts Council’s permanent display space in Windsor Home Furniture is continuing to grow and improve.
New Gallery Sign The new gallery sign is now on the wall. It is a little small but does look good and add a nice finishing touch to the main display space.
Display Space We now have a small wall display unit for the artist having a solo exhibition to use to promote their work. This is a great thing for members to take advantage of during their shows. Those having group shows should also take advantage of this.
Revisions We are working on revisions to the FEG application to include the "Gallery Standards”.
Self-Promotion Your show is all about self-promotion… don’t forget to bring your business cards and/or brochures to your opening. These can be left on display throughout your exhibition for visitors to take. If you are offering classes or workshops or have other upcoming shows you would like to advertise, this is a great place to let everybody know.
Binder for Biographies The HCAC’s binder containing the bios of our members (previously part of our display table at our Festival of Art shows) is now on permanent display for everyone to see at the FEG. If your bio isn’t there, what are you waiting for. What you do to represent\promote you and your work is often all the public has to form a perception of you - when you are not there to speak for your work. With today’s technology, it’s very easy to put together simple and effective professional marketing\promotional materials.
Waiver We will be having a waiver for art shown at the FEG. Pat is exploring this for us.
Saving the most important thing about the gallery for last…the shows!
Solo Exhibition Jaki Durocher put on a great show. If I remember correctly, the show was perfectly symmetrical. The large pieces worked well together, the sizes and arrangement were planned ‘to the T’ and the wiring job was so precise (Phil told me) that it took no time for them to hang the show. The two portraits really shone. Great job Jaki!
Group Exhibition The group show is now on until February 2. Tacha, Kristie and Jaki did quite a job managing to include so many pieces in the show. It’s a great feeling…seeing so many people participating in it. I hope all those involved have enjoyed being part of this show.
Next Solo Exhibition Tacha has already sent out a thorough e-mail regarding June’s solo exhibition so this is just a brief reminder:
The next solo show is of June Brown’s work.
The show will open from 7 to 9 PM on February 3.
The show runs from February 3 to March 2
This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some lovely watercolours.
Please join us in supporting June at her opening.
Upcoming Exhibition (also a reminder as Tacha’s e-mail covered this)
Carlos Da Rosa will be having a solo show from March 3 to April 6.
The opening will be from 7 to 9 PM.
What great back-to-back solo exhibitions to launch this year at the gallery. I’m really excited about both of these shows. Good luck to both of you!
If artists having shows would like the digital files of Tacha’s promotional event flyer (to print off and help promote their own show) please let Tacha know.
From Tacha’s e-mail: “Here at the FEG we are proud to announce our new blog chronically exhibits past and present. Going forward every artist who displays at the FEG will have their biography highlighted online as well as at the gallery: fortedwardgallery.blogspot.com”
There are already two or three artists not mentioned here lined up for solo exhibitions this year, though dates have yet to be set. Please contact Tacha, Kristie or Jaki for information about having your own solo exhibition or being in a group show. Group Shows are ideal for those not having enough work for a solo show.
A pause for credit….
Between the dedication, professionalism and computer savvy of the likes of Andrew and Tacha, we’re looking good.
Our websites looks good and works well. Where it is lacking, it is most often due to lack of images provided to Andrew. We are working on this. I have offered to do the photography at the openings of the next few shows. If you would like to take on this small task, please let me know.
As you probably already know, Tacha does the layouts for all of the exhibitions at the FEG and is now setting up and managing our new website at:: fortedwardgallery.blogspot.com
Tacha will keep everyone posted about this. The FEG will have its own page on Windsor Home Hardware/Home Furniture’s website with pictures. This is a work in progress.
Speaking of looking good, I’d like to remind everyone that our wonderful logo was designed by our quiet leader Pat. A fitting touch.
Our own calendars:
Kristie was unable to attend our last meeting, but I thought I would just remind everyone about something (lifted) from our last letter: Kristie Sheehy pitched the idea of the arts council putting out its own calendars using the artwork of our members. A vote was taken on this and we decided to move forward with it. Kristie has put together a framework for this project and now, with Tacha’s help, is going to pursue this further getting some hard numbers for us. This will not be replacing our Arts Digest. It is intended to complement it. They will have very different audiences and serve different purposes.
FEG fundraiser (organized by Kristie, Tacha & Jaki)
An excerpt from an e-mail from Tacha:
As a last minute attempt to raise funds to cover the rising costs of the FEG we organized a raffle containing an assortment of donations from members of the group show and a few additional members of the arts council (Tacha Reed, Dora Davis, Terrie Greencorn, June Brown, David Howells, Andrew Harvie, Sue Robinson and Jaki Durocher)
Dora Davis and Terrie Greencorn were overly generous in their donations. We considered saving some of the items for a future draw - we ended up having 5 gifts baskets altogether - but the gals insisted we raffle them all off at the time. The draw ended up bringing in $150, which is good considering that we only had two time slots in which to sell the tickets. It was a valuable learning experience and it is good to know that as a not-for-profit we can book that spot at Home Hardware in the future for other fundraising events.
As a great stroke of luck both Dora and Terrie were selected as winners in the random draw, so their generosity was instantly rewarded.
The list of winners are as follows (I have pictures of the baskets should need them)
• Lisa Church
• Donna Slaunwhite
• Dora Davis
• Terrie Greencorn
• Claire Surette
Thanks again to everyone who contributed to the gift baskets. A lot of work went into this fundraiser and it certainly showed.
Festival of Art
We have staged this annual show for four years now. Each year it has grown and continued to improve. I think I’m safe in speaking for all of those involved when I say that we are proud of what we have accomplished and what the show has become.
A part of the reason for having this show in the first place was the fact that there was no local venue for artists and we felt that, as an arts council, we should be doing something to create one. Now that we have a permanent gallery space, the future of the show is undecided at this time. Further discussions will be held regarding the future of this show. The most important thing about the future of the show (should it continue) is that it can only continue if members are willing to help make it happen. More specifically, we would need someone (new) to coordinate it. I would be happy to discuss the details regarding coordinating this show with anyone interested.
This is your arts council and we would really appreciate your feedback about the future of this event, what it means to you and if you are interested in getting involved.
If we were to have a show this year, we would need to establish a date and location very soon.
Gifts from the RDA
Pat Gould-Thorpe is going to look into the possibility of getting a laptop (being retired from the RDA…I believe) for the HCAC. As the arts council has a nonprofit status, we may be in the running. Should we get this, it will be put to good use by our dedicated secretary Karen.
Karen handles all of our advertising for the shows. We apologize for the mistake made in the last printing of What’s Going On. As it was the publisher’s fault, we are hoping that with the correction in the next printing, perhaps they might offer adding a free image.
Arts Digest
Pat Gould-Thorpe is getting some quotes for us on the printing job.
Our next Arts Digest will be 2012.
Listings will be free to members. Paid colour advertisements will be offered in a range of sizes.
These costs and other specifics have not been finalized yet.
As mentioned in the last newsletter, we will be applying for a grant to help pay for this. Tacha and I will be working on this.
Again, this is a big project and volunteers would be greatly appreciated. A few of the jobs will be contacting artists regarding paid advertising, compiling the listing of members to be included (and doublechecking all the information) and helping with the layout.
New Members
I’d like to welcome our newest members, Ken Spearing and Kelly Morehouse.
Next Social
There will be a social at Susan and Andrew Harvie’s home on February 12 at 7 PM. Andrew will be sending out information about this. I’ll leave it to Andrew to try and navigate people to his house. Who knows, maybe Susan could be coerced into playing her harp.
Next Meeting: Our next meeting is at Craving’s Café in Upper Rawdon on February 23. Our meetings start at 6:30 PM and members are invited to join us. This is a great time for members to learn more about what the directors are doing from month to month and to get involved. We have great opportunities to get involved that range from helping with the arts digest and helping hang shows, to roles on the Board of Directors.
Visit our site: www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
A reminder that all past Newsletters can be seen at: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
Happy creating!
Cheers,
David
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Newsletter October, 2010
Hi all,
I hope everyone had a great summer.
Alive & Well! In case you’re wondering what the arts council is up to and what happened to the newsletters, our first meeting following this year’s Festival of Art was in September. The arts council’s directors took the summer off, but have been extremely busy over the past two months; working primarily on the new gallery (the Fort Edward Art Gallery) in Windsor Home Furniture.
Fort Edward Art Gallery - update
First solo exhibition: the first solo exhibition, which launched the Fort Edward Art Gallery, featured Guenter Burr’s paintings. He opened the show with a short but nice talk, commenting on the dynamics between art and everyday life. This was well received. The show was a great success; sales and feedback both being strong. Guenter’s large, colourful works filled our new display space well and brought it to life. Congratulations again to Guenter on a show well done.
Second solo exhibition: the second solo exhibition is of yours truly. I’d like to thank all of the members who attended the opening. I never realized it could take three people almost three hours to hang twelve paintings. My show runs until November 17. We are learning and improving as we go. From now on we will have standard signage on the main wall for the artist having a solo exhibition.
Next solo exhibition: The next show is Jaki Durocher’s. Jaki’s opening is November 18 from
7 PM to 9 PM. It would be great to have as many members as possible be there in support of her show. Jaki’s show runs until December 15.
Group Show: Tacha has been handling all of the applications for the Group Show and upcoming solo exhibitions. The deadline for the group show is October 29. Application forms for this event, along with solo exhibitions, are on our website. www.hantscountyartscouncil.com Thanks to all the artists that have responded to the request for applications for the show. We have eight so far.
Gallery Sign - We still do not have our main gallery sign. This is out of our hands though it is being worked on.
- We will be having our binder with members biographies in it on permanent display at the gallery.
- We will also be taking our guestbook so that we can develop a mailing list for our events.
- We have decided to put up a cork board display panel. This will be for artists having a solo exhibition to use to promote themselves and their artwork throughout their show. Some ideas for starters: you could promote your studio or galleries you are with, other exhibitions you are having, additional works or prints for sale, etc. How about starting a mailing list if you haven’t already got one! This is your space. It should read as a professional display space.
Andrew Harvie will be updating our website soon. Photos from the first two showings will be posted.
I’d like to thank Tish (Patricia) Jackson (with Windsor Home Furniture) for her help with the arts council and the gallery. She has been very helpful, great to work with and has given wonderful short introductory talks prior to each opening.
We have just learned that we will not be able to have wine at any future openings as alcoholic beverages cannot be served during store hours. Anybody heard of punch and cheese?
If you haven’t seen our new gallery space I would urge you to check it out. Jeff Redden has had professional hanging hardware installed and lighting that is actually better than most of the track lighting I have ever seen in any commercial gallery.
Festival of Art - as we now have a gallery space to work with year-round, we will be having a discussion in the near future regarding the future of this event. Stay tuned!
The Hants County Arts Council did receive a $350 grant for Events and Festivals Marketing from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.
Our own calendars: At our meeting last night, Kristie Sheehy pitched the idea of the arts council putting out its own calendars using the artwork of our members. A vote was taken on this and we decided to move forward with it. Kristie has put together a framework for this project and now, with Tacha’s help, is going to pursue this further getting some hard numbers for us. This will not be replacing our Arts Digest. It is intended to complement it. They will have very different audiences and serve different purposes.
Arts Digest: We will need funding to put out an Arts Digest. Pat Gould-Thorpe has looked into this for us. Pat has a copy of our original application for the Cultural Activities Program…which we intend to use as a template for a future application for funding. It is uncertain as to the timing of the release of the next digest due to what is involved in putting it together/out. We will soon be contacting artists regarding their interest in advertising in it. Further discussions on the exact format of the next Arts Digest need to be sorted out before any specifics can be given. This is a big project and if any members would like to get involved, helping put it together, we can certainly use the help.
John Webb has stepped down as a director. A big thanks to John for handling our annual PR for the Festival of Art.
Any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Why not write an article or start a dialogue.
Next Meeting: Our next meeting is at Craving’s Café in Upper Rawdon on November 24. Our meetings start at 6:30 PM and members are invited to join us. This is a great time for members to learn more about what the directors are doing from month to month and to get involved.
Visit our site: www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
A reminder that all past Newsletters can be seen at: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
Happy creating!
Cheers,
David
I hope everyone had a great summer.
Alive & Well! In case you’re wondering what the arts council is up to and what happened to the newsletters, our first meeting following this year’s Festival of Art was in September. The arts council’s directors took the summer off, but have been extremely busy over the past two months; working primarily on the new gallery (the Fort Edward Art Gallery) in Windsor Home Furniture.
Fort Edward Art Gallery - update
First solo exhibition: the first solo exhibition, which launched the Fort Edward Art Gallery, featured Guenter Burr’s paintings. He opened the show with a short but nice talk, commenting on the dynamics between art and everyday life. This was well received. The show was a great success; sales and feedback both being strong. Guenter’s large, colourful works filled our new display space well and brought it to life. Congratulations again to Guenter on a show well done.
Second solo exhibition: the second solo exhibition is of yours truly. I’d like to thank all of the members who attended the opening. I never realized it could take three people almost three hours to hang twelve paintings. My show runs until November 17. We are learning and improving as we go. From now on we will have standard signage on the main wall for the artist having a solo exhibition.
Next solo exhibition: The next show is Jaki Durocher’s. Jaki’s opening is November 18 from
7 PM to 9 PM. It would be great to have as many members as possible be there in support of her show. Jaki’s show runs until December 15.
Group Show: Tacha has been handling all of the applications for the Group Show and upcoming solo exhibitions. The deadline for the group show is October 29. Application forms for this event, along with solo exhibitions, are on our website. www.hantscountyartscouncil.com Thanks to all the artists that have responded to the request for applications for the show. We have eight so far.
Gallery Sign - We still do not have our main gallery sign. This is out of our hands though it is being worked on.
- We will be having our binder with members biographies in it on permanent display at the gallery.
- We will also be taking our guestbook so that we can develop a mailing list for our events.
- We have decided to put up a cork board display panel. This will be for artists having a solo exhibition to use to promote themselves and their artwork throughout their show. Some ideas for starters: you could promote your studio or galleries you are with, other exhibitions you are having, additional works or prints for sale, etc. How about starting a mailing list if you haven’t already got one! This is your space. It should read as a professional display space.
Andrew Harvie will be updating our website soon. Photos from the first two showings will be posted.
I’d like to thank Tish (Patricia) Jackson (with Windsor Home Furniture) for her help with the arts council and the gallery. She has been very helpful, great to work with and has given wonderful short introductory talks prior to each opening.
We have just learned that we will not be able to have wine at any future openings as alcoholic beverages cannot be served during store hours. Anybody heard of punch and cheese?
If you haven’t seen our new gallery space I would urge you to check it out. Jeff Redden has had professional hanging hardware installed and lighting that is actually better than most of the track lighting I have ever seen in any commercial gallery.
Festival of Art - as we now have a gallery space to work with year-round, we will be having a discussion in the near future regarding the future of this event. Stay tuned!
The Hants County Arts Council did receive a $350 grant for Events and Festivals Marketing from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.
Our own calendars: At our meeting last night, Kristie Sheehy pitched the idea of the arts council putting out its own calendars using the artwork of our members. A vote was taken on this and we decided to move forward with it. Kristie has put together a framework for this project and now, with Tacha’s help, is going to pursue this further getting some hard numbers for us. This will not be replacing our Arts Digest. It is intended to complement it. They will have very different audiences and serve different purposes.
Arts Digest: We will need funding to put out an Arts Digest. Pat Gould-Thorpe has looked into this for us. Pat has a copy of our original application for the Cultural Activities Program…which we intend to use as a template for a future application for funding. It is uncertain as to the timing of the release of the next digest due to what is involved in putting it together/out. We will soon be contacting artists regarding their interest in advertising in it. Further discussions on the exact format of the next Arts Digest need to be sorted out before any specifics can be given. This is a big project and if any members would like to get involved, helping put it together, we can certainly use the help.
John Webb has stepped down as a director. A big thanks to John for handling our annual PR for the Festival of Art.
Any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. Why not write an article or start a dialogue.
Next Meeting: Our next meeting is at Craving’s Café in Upper Rawdon on November 24. Our meetings start at 6:30 PM and members are invited to join us. This is a great time for members to learn more about what the directors are doing from month to month and to get involved.
Visit our site: www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
A reminder that all past Newsletters can be seen at: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
Happy creating!
Cheers,
David
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Newsletter - May, 2010
Another month has flown by!
WEBSITE:
Our website has been completely revamped by Andrew Harvie. If you are having trouble accessing our website, previously ‘bookmarked\favorited’, please visit and favorite it at: www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
If you experience any difficulties, see any errors or anything missing with our new website please let me or Andrew Harvie know.
4th annual FESTIVAL OF ART
We are now less than three weeks from the 4th annual Festival of Art; May 28-30. To sure up numbers so that we know how much work we need to accommodate, we will be calling members and past members to confirm whether or not they intend to participate this year.
If you will be participating in this year’s show (regardless of whether or not you have already sent in your application form) would you please reply to this e-mail and let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.
We ran a quarter page ad (Call to Artist) in the Hants Journal a few weeks ago. This will be followed up by a quarter page ad and feature article (in the Hants Journal) in the two weeks prior to the show. Additionally, Nadine surprised us with two free promotional articles in recent Hants Journals.
Special event
The presentation given by sculptors Joseph Landry and Brian Gazeley was well attended and
made for an informative, interesting and colourful evening. Free brochures on Art Marketing were given out. Thanks again to Sandra MacDonald who donated one of her pieces to their foundation so that we could be given this presentation.
What happened at our AGM?
Nomination of Directors
The following were nominated as Directors:
Sandra MacDonald
David Howells
John Webb
Kristie Sheehy
Andrew Harvie
Tacha Reed
Election of Officers
The following were nominated as Officers:
Sandra MacDonald - President
David Howells - VP
Karen Harvie - Secretary & Treasurer
New Gallery
Jeff Redden (Home Hardware - Windsor) attended our AGM to talk about the partnering between Home Hardware and the HCAC regarding the gallery space at Home Hardware. Here are some of the details.
- the name will be Fort Edward Art Gallery
- the grand opening will be September 23 (this is for the gallery and the new expansion)
- it will open with a solo exhibition of Guenter Burr’s work
- the gallery will have its own sign
- as you know, an e-mail (‘logo competition‘) was sent out to all members inviting them to submit up to three designs for the new logo for this sign
- the plan is to have all artists that participated in the logo design competition on hand at the grand opening, to acknowledge their participation, publicly announce the winner and have the grand unveiling of the new sign
- the plan is to hold solo exhibitions throughout the year, with group exhibitions every six months
- the group shows would be for emerging artists
- solo shows would be for more established artists
- each show will be for four weeks
- Jeff will make the final call regarding the caliber of the work and suitability for a solo exhibition
- Jeff will be having a monthly flyer distribution of 20,000 to promote each show (these flyers will cover Hants County and other areas including; Chester, Wolfville, Canning, Port Williams, Mount Uniacke, Sackville)
- as previously mentioned, there will be a 30% commission (5% will go to the HCAC, Jeff’s 25% will be taken in artwork…and will be put on permanent display in the hallways and offices at Home Hardware)
- the Gallery Committee (dealing with Jeff) is: Tacha Reed, Kristie Sheehy, Jaki Durocher and David
Culture Days
At our AGM it was unanimous that the arts council participate in Culture Days (a national governmental initiative), September 24-26. The Hants County Arts Council (HCAC) has registered Guenter Burr’s solo exhibition (to be held at the Fort Edward Art Gallery, Windsor - opening September 23rd), as the HCAC’s participation in this event.
Event Registration heading is: Fort Edward Art Gallery grand opening - solo exhibition of Guenter Burr.
For more information about this event please visit: http://www.culturedays.ca/
Members Kelly Mitchelmore and Gerald Jank staged a very nice joint exhibition of their work at Phoenix Hollow B&B. Congratulations on a show well done!
OUR HOME...the new and improved look:
www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
For past Newsletters, please visit: http://www.hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com/
Suggestions regarding our current Newsletters are always welcome. If you would like to suggest a topic for discussion, write something or have an article that you think others should know about, please send them to me.
I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful spring weather.
David
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Here’s some food for thought!
Practicing Quiet Confidence
by Lori Woodward
I am not a confident person by nature, and I suspect that it's human nature to worry about our actions, words and abilities from time to time. However, over the years, I have learned the art of displaying an attitude of quiet confidence - especially while showing my artwork to collectors.
In order to attain quiet confidence, I must first understand how "confidence" differs from "arrogance" or "false humility". Ultimately, the quality of my work is what will lead me to sales, but I must also avoid negative body language and phrases -- so that I don't unconsciously talk someone out of buying a painting they love.
Years ago, I took a collector friend to another artist's studio. This collector, let's call her Elizabeth, already loved the artist's work - I'll call the artist Robert. When we entered Robert's studio, Elizabeth was immediately taken by a painting of an interior with a woman sitting at a table. This collector had the means to buy practically any painting in the studio - so she inquired about the painting saying that it was lovely. However, Robert responded with, "I'm not really very happy with that painting". Needless to say, he lost the sale, and at the same time insulted Elizabeth's taste.
Avoiding False Humility and Arrogance
Many of us artists ruin our chances for a sale because we hold extreme attitudes - either being arrogant or else downplaying our work with false humility. Most of the time, we know when our painting has hit the mark, and we also are aware when we've missed that mark. As we become more experienced technically, our standards rise, and we begin to think some our paintings are less than worthy - when in reality, they are still very good. If someone obviously responds to a painting, who are we to deny them the joy of that experience just because we don't think it's that great? When a collector decides to lay money out for a work of art, the worst thing the artist can do is tell the potential client what's wrong with the painting.
Alternately, some artists cover up their insecurities with arrogance. This attitude can be just as destructive to sales. No one likes to buy from an artist who belittles other artists or boasts continually in order to build him or herself up. Never, and I say again, NEVER put down another artist's work in a sales setting. Let the collectors decide for themselves.
Displaying Quiet Confidence at Your Opening Reception
Whether you're showing at an outdoor show or at a gallery opening, it's your turn to shine. Your main objective here is to start conversations - just as Clint has recommended in his posts. When an art lover stops in her tracks in front of your painting, it's time to find out what it is that she responded to. When she responds, I agree with her - and I avoid blurting out what the painting means to me, because it may have an entirely different meaning for the viewer.
When someone compliments your work, the best response is a hardy "Thank You" backed up with a confident smile. Avoid using words like, "I tried" or "my attempt". The piece has obviously touched the viewer, and it would be a grave mistake to downplay their enthusiasm with any negative indication. If you feel highly insecure about the work, you probably shouldn't be showing it in the first place. Always show your very best work, because folks will likely judge your overall ability by your least successful piece. But, if the work proves to be worthy of positive attention, who are you to inform the viewer otherwise? If you must, pretend that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Don't rob your potential collectors from joy. If they love it, it is worthy of love.
Confident Body Language
Body language communicates more accurately than words do. If your stance and words don't align, people will believe your body language before they'll believe your words. This is a proven fact. So be sure that you learn to take on a look of confidence. Dress the part, I like to wear something a little special. I find that I sell more artwork when I wear a long skirt and nice jacket. I remind myself to stand up straight and keep a pleasant look on my face - smiling easily at anyone who approaches me.
I immediately take interest in the lives of anyone who takes interest in my art. I don't talk about myself constantly - I leave room for a two-way conversation. It's easy to get the conversation rolling if you ask open ended questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no. I like to ask where people are from as an ice-breaker. I introduce myself to them - and don't judge whether they are potential buyers or not. Sometimes the folks who look the least like they have any money, are avid collectors. Besides it's rude to ignore anyone who takes interest in your work - whether they can afford to buy or not. Furthermore, giving preference to some while ignoring others is unethical. You never know who they know or whether they'll save up for a purchase later.
Avoid Being Long Winded
If you talk a lot when you get nervous, try to curtail your long-windedness. This is one I have trouble with. I become a motor mouth. Nobody wants to stand there and hear me endlessly go on and on about my credentials. If I were amazingly famous... maybe they would, but I am not. My bio and accomplishments are posted next to my guest book. Learn to read the body language of others, and see whether they are wanting to escape. Yes, I always tell them a bit about my work, but I deliver information in short spurts and then see what their response is.
While they look at my paintings, I leave them alone to be at peace with the work. But the important thing is that I practice the demeanor that silently says I expect my work to sell and am not surprised when someone wants to buy it. Collectors need to know that they are making a good decision. Assist them by conveying that you know your artwork is worthy of their attention. Be available to answer questions and ask for the sale if you sense they are sitting on the fence. You must learn when and how to politely ask for the sale. It will make a huge difference in your income.
Last night, at the B&B where I stay in Tucson, one of the guests was chatting with me about my work, and said her sister - whom she was visiting with, was interested in one of my desert watercolors. Then next morning at breakfast, I walked over and mentioned that her sister had said she was interested and then I quietly stated the price. Then I left her alone for a few minutes after which she announced that she wanted to buy the painting. By quietly and personally letting her know the price, I essentially was asking for the sale. We discussed the payment terms, and I asked for her mailing info and if I might add her to my e-newsletter. She said yes with excitement in her eyes. Not only have I sold a painting, but now I have set up occasions for future conversations, and perhaps, a lifelong collector of my work.
Express confidence in yourself and your work, and those who love it will feel secure in their purchase.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Newsletter - April, 2010
Hi all,
Happy Easter!
Guest Speaker - Since the last newsletter, I received an e-mail from Mayor Beazley to say that he wouldn’t be available during this year‘s Festival of Art; at which he was looking forward to being the guest speaker. He later realized that he was already scheduled to be in Ontario at a special event for Mayors. He suggested that I ask Windsor’s deputy mayor Laurie Murley. I have spoken with Laurie and she said she’d be pleased to be our guest speaker.
Display Space/Gallery at Home Hardware: a committee has been formed to handle all arrangements between Home Hardware and the HCAC. The members are: Jaki Durocher, Kristie Sheehy, Tacha Reed and David Howells. Last Wednesday, the four of us met at Tacha's home where we dubbed ourselves ‘The Gallery Committee‘. Many things were discussed. I’ll be able to provide the details about our arrangements with Jeff (Home Hardware) after we have met with him as a committee. Jeff will be at our AGM, but we are hoping to have a meeting with him before then. I’m excited about this new relationship and the possibilities this allows for the arts council and look forward to bringing you the details.
AGM - Our next meeting is our AGM (Annual General Meeting) and will be held on May 28 at 7 PM. All members are invited to attend.
It will be in a boardroom in the Enterprise Centre on Water Street in Windsor. The Enterprise Centre is inside the mall where Scotiabank is. Once you enter, follow the hallway to your right and you will find us or…home in on the smell of food and sound. We are having a potluck. Pat Gould-Thorpe has reserved two rooms for us. The one we use will be based on numbers, it would help if you could let me know if you plan to attend. The food will be kept simple (finger foods…sandwiches or sweets) but if you would like to bring shrimp or lobster, please do.
All members will receive a notice by e-mail 20 days before our AGM, in accordance with the Societies Act.
HCAC Donation - At our last meeting, the directors of the HCAC made the decision to donate $100 to the Hants North Drama Group. This drama group has been selected to perform in the world's largest and most prestigious arts festival, as part of the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF). Each August, Edinburgh, Scotland hosts performing artists from around the world for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Hants North Rural High was the only school nominated in Nova Scotia during the first year Canada has been invited to attend and participate in the program.
Special Event - Free seminar on marketing art
Guenter Burr contacted Joe Landry about putting on a presentation on marketing art for us.
Sandra has followed up on this and made the arrangements. Although admission is free, a donation to the Landry Foundation was required and Sandra offered to donate a piece of her work at the time of booking Mr. Landry. A big Thank You to Sandra on behalf of all members of the arts Council. Guenter attended this presentation when it was given at the Art and Jules Gallery in Halifax. There were free information handouts at that presentation, which we understand Joe will be bringing to this seminar.
When: at 7 PM on Friday evening, April 16
Where: a boardroom in the Enterprise Centre, Water Street, Windsor
(the same place as our AGM… see details above)
Admission: Free
This newsletter will be added to: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
If you have any questions about anything in the Newsletters, just let me know. Please send any complaints to our president or the Easter Bunny.
All the best,
David
www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
Get motivated…here’s a little prod many of us often need. Enjoy!
Make Your Art a Priority
by Keith Bond
I enjoy swimming laps 2 to 3 times a week. When I first started, I was frustratingly slow and I needed many rests. It was almost embarrassing to have swimmers twice my age lap me over and over. Yet, I had made goals and over time I improved. I reached several milestones and would then set my sights on new goals. I won't be winning any swim competitions any time soon, but I look back on where I started and I see tremendous improvement.
This past week, however, I have had a cold. Prior to my cold, I had a few conflicts which prevented me from swimming. So this morning was my first time swimming laps in a couple of weeks. I noticed a marked difference in my performance. I could not swim as far nor as quickly as I had just two weeks ago. Granted, I may still not be totally recovered from my bout with the little virus, but it is also true that when you stop exercising for a period of time, you lose ground. The longer the absence, the more is lost.
The same holds true with art.
Neglecting Your Art Results in Lost Ability
Perhaps you have devoted years to your art. Maybe it's been only a few months. Don't risk losing the progress you have made by neglecting your art for a period of time. You must continue to work at your art or you will lose it bit by bit. This is true of both the technical skills and creativity. You must work on both constantly, just like exercise.
Have a Productive Routine
Also, just like with physical exercise, the rate of improvement will depend upon your routine. Do you spend adequate time? Do you practice specific exercises to work on certain areas which need improvement? Do you have somewhere to do it? Is the set-up hindering your ability? Are you giving it your all? Do you push yourself? Or do you just dabble here and there once in a while?
Even When You Don't Want To
Some mornings I didn't want to swim because I wasn't up to it or I didn't feel like it. But when I made myself do it, I found that I got into it within a short time. Even if I didn't get all the way into it, I felt better afterwards and it helped me maintain what I had worked so hard for.
Likewise, you may have those days when you just can't find your muse or you just aren't in the mood. But if you just make yourself do something, you will find that you will usually get into it and your creative juices will begin to flow. At least do something related to your art.
Conquer Your Excuses
There are many, many reasons why we put off doing things. Why do you neglect your art? What prevents you from getting into your studio? Identify what obstacles you have and then set up a plan to conquer them. If art is truly a priority in your life, you owe it to yourself to let it take its rightful place. Don't use excuses. Conquer them. Rearrange your life to make art a more prominent part of it.
Make Time
If you truly want to make progress with your art; if you truly want to improve; you must set aside time to work on it. You must make those times productive. We could all use more time. But consider everything you do in the day. EVERYTHING. I'll bet you could find things that occupy your time that aren't as important to you as art. Some tasks you cannot remove from your to-do list right now. But many can be removed. Artist Scott Christensen wrote:
Don't use [time] as an excuse! I really advanced as a painter when I was "distracted" by another job! I taught in a public school and coached two sports. Athletics took up most of my time on weekends and my family was very important to me, but I painted.
I want to take away your excuse by giving you one simple truth: we all have the same amount of time at our disposal. How we use that time is very important! (Note: I cut this quote out of a magazine several years ago. I wish I knew which magazine, so I could give proper credit. I want to say that it was International Artist, but I may be wrong.)
"Yes," you say, "but my situation is different." STOP! That is another excuse! Don't use excuses. If art is truly important to you, you will find the time. If everything else on your list is more important, then focus on them, not art. Either way, don't use excuses! Yes, I am being blunt. Sometimes we need a kick in the behind. Sometimes we need to hear it like it is. Do you want to improve in your art? Do you want to maintain what you have worked years to achieve? Then make your art a priority.
Happy Easter!
Guest Speaker - Since the last newsletter, I received an e-mail from Mayor Beazley to say that he wouldn’t be available during this year‘s Festival of Art; at which he was looking forward to being the guest speaker. He later realized that he was already scheduled to be in Ontario at a special event for Mayors. He suggested that I ask Windsor’s deputy mayor Laurie Murley. I have spoken with Laurie and she said she’d be pleased to be our guest speaker.
Display Space/Gallery at Home Hardware: a committee has been formed to handle all arrangements between Home Hardware and the HCAC. The members are: Jaki Durocher, Kristie Sheehy, Tacha Reed and David Howells. Last Wednesday, the four of us met at Tacha's home where we dubbed ourselves ‘The Gallery Committee‘. Many things were discussed. I’ll be able to provide the details about our arrangements with Jeff (Home Hardware) after we have met with him as a committee. Jeff will be at our AGM, but we are hoping to have a meeting with him before then. I’m excited about this new relationship and the possibilities this allows for the arts council and look forward to bringing you the details.
AGM - Our next meeting is our AGM (Annual General Meeting) and will be held on May 28 at 7 PM. All members are invited to attend.
It will be in a boardroom in the Enterprise Centre on Water Street in Windsor. The Enterprise Centre is inside the mall where Scotiabank is. Once you enter, follow the hallway to your right and you will find us or…home in on the smell of food and sound. We are having a potluck. Pat Gould-Thorpe has reserved two rooms for us. The one we use will be based on numbers, it would help if you could let me know if you plan to attend. The food will be kept simple (finger foods…sandwiches or sweets) but if you would like to bring shrimp or lobster, please do.
All members will receive a notice by e-mail 20 days before our AGM, in accordance with the Societies Act.
HCAC Donation - At our last meeting, the directors of the HCAC made the decision to donate $100 to the Hants North Drama Group. This drama group has been selected to perform in the world's largest and most prestigious arts festival, as part of the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF). Each August, Edinburgh, Scotland hosts performing artists from around the world for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Hants North Rural High was the only school nominated in Nova Scotia during the first year Canada has been invited to attend and participate in the program.
Special Event - Free seminar on marketing art
Guenter Burr contacted Joe Landry about putting on a presentation on marketing art for us.
Sandra has followed up on this and made the arrangements. Although admission is free, a donation to the Landry Foundation was required and Sandra offered to donate a piece of her work at the time of booking Mr. Landry. A big Thank You to Sandra on behalf of all members of the arts Council. Guenter attended this presentation when it was given at the Art and Jules Gallery in Halifax. There were free information handouts at that presentation, which we understand Joe will be bringing to this seminar.
When: at 7 PM on Friday evening, April 16
Where: a boardroom in the Enterprise Centre, Water Street, Windsor
(the same place as our AGM… see details above)
Admission: Free
This newsletter will be added to: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
If you have any questions about anything in the Newsletters, just let me know. Please send any complaints to our president or the Easter Bunny.
All the best,
David
www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
Get motivated…here’s a little prod many of us often need. Enjoy!
Make Your Art a Priority
by Keith Bond
I enjoy swimming laps 2 to 3 times a week. When I first started, I was frustratingly slow and I needed many rests. It was almost embarrassing to have swimmers twice my age lap me over and over. Yet, I had made goals and over time I improved. I reached several milestones and would then set my sights on new goals. I won't be winning any swim competitions any time soon, but I look back on where I started and I see tremendous improvement.
This past week, however, I have had a cold. Prior to my cold, I had a few conflicts which prevented me from swimming. So this morning was my first time swimming laps in a couple of weeks. I noticed a marked difference in my performance. I could not swim as far nor as quickly as I had just two weeks ago. Granted, I may still not be totally recovered from my bout with the little virus, but it is also true that when you stop exercising for a period of time, you lose ground. The longer the absence, the more is lost.
The same holds true with art.
Neglecting Your Art Results in Lost Ability
Perhaps you have devoted years to your art. Maybe it's been only a few months. Don't risk losing the progress you have made by neglecting your art for a period of time. You must continue to work at your art or you will lose it bit by bit. This is true of both the technical skills and creativity. You must work on both constantly, just like exercise.
Have a Productive Routine
Also, just like with physical exercise, the rate of improvement will depend upon your routine. Do you spend adequate time? Do you practice specific exercises to work on certain areas which need improvement? Do you have somewhere to do it? Is the set-up hindering your ability? Are you giving it your all? Do you push yourself? Or do you just dabble here and there once in a while?
Even When You Don't Want To
Some mornings I didn't want to swim because I wasn't up to it or I didn't feel like it. But when I made myself do it, I found that I got into it within a short time. Even if I didn't get all the way into it, I felt better afterwards and it helped me maintain what I had worked so hard for.
Likewise, you may have those days when you just can't find your muse or you just aren't in the mood. But if you just make yourself do something, you will find that you will usually get into it and your creative juices will begin to flow. At least do something related to your art.
Conquer Your Excuses
There are many, many reasons why we put off doing things. Why do you neglect your art? What prevents you from getting into your studio? Identify what obstacles you have and then set up a plan to conquer them. If art is truly a priority in your life, you owe it to yourself to let it take its rightful place. Don't use excuses. Conquer them. Rearrange your life to make art a more prominent part of it.
Make Time
If you truly want to make progress with your art; if you truly want to improve; you must set aside time to work on it. You must make those times productive. We could all use more time. But consider everything you do in the day. EVERYTHING. I'll bet you could find things that occupy your time that aren't as important to you as art. Some tasks you cannot remove from your to-do list right now. But many can be removed. Artist Scott Christensen wrote:
Don't use [time] as an excuse! I really advanced as a painter when I was "distracted" by another job! I taught in a public school and coached two sports. Athletics took up most of my time on weekends and my family was very important to me, but I painted.
I want to take away your excuse by giving you one simple truth: we all have the same amount of time at our disposal. How we use that time is very important! (Note: I cut this quote out of a magazine several years ago. I wish I knew which magazine, so I could give proper credit. I want to say that it was International Artist, but I may be wrong.)
"Yes," you say, "but my situation is different." STOP! That is another excuse! Don't use excuses. If art is truly important to you, you will find the time. If everything else on your list is more important, then focus on them, not art. Either way, don't use excuses! Yes, I am being blunt. Sometimes we need a kick in the behind. Sometimes we need to hear it like it is. Do you want to improve in your art? Do you want to maintain what you have worked years to achieve? Then make your art a priority.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Newsletter - March, 2010
Hi all,
What's new!
We now have a new secretary. A big thank you goes to Karen Harvie for taking on the task of deciphering what goes on at our meetings, putting pen to paper and recording it for us.
I'd like to welcome our newest member, Tacha Reed. Tacha sent us a wonderful letter of introduction which also outlined her background; colourful, diverse and accomplished. For a little information about Tacha, you can visit the websites: www.artslant.com & www.linkedin.com
This week, Sandra will be mailing out entry forms for this year's 4th annual Festival of Art.
If you don't receive one of these entry forms by March 10, please let either Sandra, Kristie or me know.
Sandra MacDonald: cstudio@ns.sympatico.ca
Kristie Sheehy: ksheehy58@hotmail.com
David Howells: davidh@eastlink.ca
On the website front, Andrew Harvie has just begun tackling our website. When he has finished strutting his stuff, the website will look completely new.
Here's a little information about this year's show, along with some reminders:
Please note that corrections are being made on the Entry Guidelines link on our website.
All works should be dropped off at the Pisiquid Canoe Club on the Windsor waterfront on Thursday, May 27 from 10 AM - 8 PM
The opening for the show will be Friday, May 28 from 7 PM to 9 PM. Admission is free - with goodwill offerings accepted - and there will be a cash bar. Mayor Paul Beazley had said he would be our Guest Speaker, but just realized he'll be away that weekend. He is going to see if the Deputy Mayor, Laurie Murley can stand in for him.
The show continues throughout the weekend, May 29 and 30.
Hours: Saturday, 10 AM - 5 PM and Sunday 10 AM - 3 PM
All artwork should be picked up between 3 PM and 5 PM on Sunday
A reminder...the Entry Form needs to be sent to us before May 26 so that we can put the information into our program for the show.
The Hants Journal has been approached regarding sponsorship in the form of advertising. We are waiting to hear back from them. With or without sponsorship, we will be taking out a quarter page ad in the Journal. Thanks to Kristie's legwork, CBC radio host Olga Milosovich has offered to help promote the show on CBC. (Pat...your spelling of Olga's surname was correct...top marks). Regarding promotion and advertising, our event will also be integrated as being part of this year's Apple Blossom Festival (ABF) weekend. The ABF's organising committee are doing something special during this year's Apple Blossom Festival called AgriFun, which it looks like our event may also be able to be tied into; again, with regards to advertising and promotion. This is really good news for us. For more information about AgriFun, please see attachment.
Anything you can do to help 'get the word out' and promote our event would be greatly appreciated. We can use your help during the show. If you have a little free time and would like to get involved, please let Kristie or me know.
Guenter Burr has an article titled ‘The Business of Art’ - The Art of Conducting Business in the Art World by Joseph Landry. Sandra is looking into the possibility of having Joseph give a presentation on this for us. My understanding, after speaking with Guenter, is that it will be free of charge and last about 2 hours.
An offer has been extended to the HCAC by Jeff Redden - Home Hardware, Windsor
All of the following came about as a result of Kelly's talks with Jeff. Thanks Kelly!
Jeff is expanding his business (Windsor Home Hardware) into much of the Fort Edward Mall…a 22,000 square foot expansion. Most of the additional space will be for furniture. Within this space, Jeff plans to create one space, 16’ x 20’, for higher-end furniture. Within this space, the bottom 4’ of wall space will be used for fabric samples. The ceiling is 14 feet high and Jeff is offering the arts council all the wall space above the 4’ line to use as a permanent sale space…helping to showcase artwork by artists from Hants County. Jeff has yet to meet with the arts council’s directors so what follows is only what has come out of my conversations with him. All decisions made regarding this partnership will have to be decided by all directors and Jeff. Of course, before deciding anything we would need to see the finished space.
The foot traffic through Home Hardware is approximately 500,000 visits per year; obviously not all different people, but very busy nonetheless. This would give the HCAC a permanent home which Jeff would be very pleased for us to advertise as such.
I asked Jeff what type of price range he envisioned. He thought that $300 to $3000 would be a good range. This was an off-the-cuff answer to a question that was out-of-the-blue. There will be a special place for sculptures below a skylight. Kristie mentioned that having sculptures in an area where there will be lots of children likely to touch them would be a big consideration.
We have discussed having a 25% commission. Sales would be put through Home Hardware. The directors and Jeff would need to discuss whether tax needed to be charged; appreciating that most artists do not need to charge tax, though it is unlikely for Jeff to have a tax exempt section in the store - complicating things at his end.
Jeff mentioned that he would need to be part of the Hants County Arts Council in order for this to work smoothly. I have made a note to invite him to our next meeting. He has created an area within this new space for a group of offices. Jeff mentioned that instead of cash, he would use his 25% commission to buy artwork. The artwork purchased by him would then be put on permanent display, furnishing these new offices and the walls of the hallways created by them. This will be an area that the public will be invited to walk through so it will be an additional display case for our artwork. This is such a generous offer of Jeff's that, should we go ahead with it, I think it would be a great idea for us to promote this partnership thanking Jeff and drawing attention not only to this permanent display case of our work but to the nature of it - Jeff's commitment and support of the local arts. This promotion would be in addition to the fact that the artwork of artists from Hants County would be featured permanently on an ongoing basis in the gallery area.
Jeff will pay to have professional gallery hanging hardware, lighting and advertising. As a solution to certain inevitable challenges that we would face using this space, Jeff proposed the idea of having back-to-back solo exhibitions lasting from one to two months; each show having a wine and cheese opening and being advertised…which I believe Jeff will help with.
Regarding professional development, whether or not this is right for any individual artist, will need to be considered on an individual level. There are many things that need to be considered, but this is very important and too complicated to address here.
Our next meeting is at 7 PM at Cravings Cafe, 3816 Hwy. 14, Upper Rawdon. Members are invited to attend any of our monthly meetings.
This newsletter will be added to: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
The only website you need to know is :) www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
I hope the articles below are helpful.
Last but not least, one of our members, a friend and fellow artist, Al Bergin, underwent a total shoulder replacement for his right shoulder (his painting arm) this past Sunday. On behalf of all the members of the arts council I'd like to wish Al a full and speedy recovery. I hope Al is able to participate in this year's Festival of Art.
Only three weeks to spring!
Happy Creating,
David
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This months articles:
Art Marketing Is Conversations: by Cliff Watson
Branding for Artists (from Emptyeasel.com)
Entice Me: by Alyson B. Stanfield
Please send any thoughts that you would like to share on these topics to me and I'll add them to our blog.
Art Marketing is Conversations
by Clint Watson
http://clintwatson.net/blog/7977/art-marketing-is-conversations
This article is by Clint Watson, founder of FineArtViews.
Since writing about Art Marketing for Artists Who Want to Change the World, I've had some more thoughts about art marketing: Art marketing is conversations.
Ignore your friendly magazine salesperson and/or marketing "guru" who tells you marketing is all about "branding:" "branding" is for sissies, branding is dead - MARKETING. IS. CONVERSATIONS. (Hint: If you're having conversations, you'll "automatically" develop a "brand").
Conversations are going to happen with or without your participation.
There's an old saying in advertising, "Tell your story, or someone else will tell it for you." But, if you don't participate in the process, the story that gets told may not be the one you want told.
Consider what Brian Clark, of Copyblogger wrote, "People tell stories about themselves. They even buy things in order to say something about themselves. They don’t give a hoot about your story unless it furthers their own personal narrative. If it does, your story comes along for the ride. If not… too bad for you. You’re not the star of this story. Smart marketers don’t even try to be the star. Smart marketers want to be indispensable supporting characters...People respond to marketing stories when they either identify with the hero, or desire to become the hero. Your story must put the prospect front and center as that hero."
This is another way of describing Hugh MacLeod's Blue Monster idea. People want to tell their OWN stories to each other and connect with each other. You just want to become part of that conversation and have your story.....your art, your artist story "come along for the ride."
Your followers are going to talk to each other and you want to be able to encourage that behavior. Helping them connect with one another is a good thing.
Hindering conversations is a bad thing. And this is where we turn to the subject of art galleries.
"Marketing is conversations" applies to you art galleries as well. I'm speaking to art galleries now. Art galleries listen - get this fact in your mind and accept it: Your clients ARE going to talk directly to your artists. Be part of the conversation or bury your head in the sand and ignore it (and be excluded). The Internet has changed the equation. This subject came up recently in my twitter stream and artist John T. Unger said, "Making the intro (of the collector to the artist) insures the gallery stays in the loop. NOT making the intro has more potential to hurt their sales." John's exactly right: If you introduce your clients to your artists, you're guaranteed to be part of the conversation. If you don't, you're guaranteed to be excluded. Which option do you want?
Art is all about communication. When a buyer purchases artwork, he/she is “purchasing” the artist as well as the artwork. The stronger the client-artist connection, the more likely the person will become an ongoing collector. The progressive art dealer realizes that instead of hindering these connections, he should foster and encourage them. My thoughts: This sounds great in theory but is arguably detached from the reality of the market place. But, it is also true that as people can now Google an artist's name and contact them directly, the gallery can now be bypassed in a way that it could not be before.
Indeed, building relationships is the essence of the dealer’s job. Instead of hiding the artist’s web site, why not enthusiastically share it with clients and encourage them to visit it? Instead of blocking access to an artist, why not pick up the phone and introduce the prospect to that artist? Heck, why not even give the artist’s phone number to prospects? Each of these actions would make a sale more likely; after all, wouldn’t YOU feel special if you were invited to personally call the artist? Galleries and artists need to quit playing games and work together as a team and trust each other.
My thoughts: A gallery owner in Toronto once said to me (as I was doing the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition at the time) that a gallery cannot compete in selling artists work, that " the buyer would always prefer to buy directly from the artist". I believe that this is correct. If gallery owners used the advice above, they'd be hard pressed to have anybody buy from them when artists could sell directly to clients(brought their way by the gallery) and give a discount to the buyer and still make considerably more than they would have selling through the gallery. This would be a losing proposition for the gallery.
If I were an artist today, I wouldn't work with any gallery that tried to limit my freedom to have conversations directly with collectors online and offline. I also wouldn't work with any gallery that didn't agree to provide me with contact info of people who purchased my work so that I could strengthen my connection with my collectors.....my collector clan. To reciprocate, I would make sure that each of my galleries trusted me completely. I would NEVER, NEVER, EVER sell directly to collectors that discovered me through my galleries. I would NEVER sell my artwork for a price lower than what it would sell for in a gallery.
My thoughts: This shows a complete disconnect and lack of understanding of the reality of the relationships between gallery owners and artists. My experience is is that as you climb the ladder, the willingness of the gallery owners/directors to tell you the names of the customers who have purchased your work, is directly proportionate; the bigger/better the gallery, the less likely they are to share this information. I can say from experience that in some of the top galleries in Yorkville, Toronto, this information would never be given out.
PS - If you ever break trust with your galleries, realize that the story surrounding you may no longer be the one you want told. Remember conversations are going to happen with our without your participation.
My thoughts: something very valid is being pointed out here, but keep in mind it is only a tiny part of a very big picture about marketing art. I'd question the emphasis put on all of this, but it is something to consider.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My thoughts: Here is the other side of the argument about branding. Branding for its own sake is a risky thing to do. If someone is going to do this, they should understand thoroughly what they are getting themselves into...what are the consequences of any action taken. Remember, all things don't apply to all people. Take what works for you!
(From Emptyeasel.com) An artist’s “brand” is not just a label, a logo, or a signature—instead, it is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have. What do I mean? Read on.
What is branding, exactly?
Your brand is what you’re known for. Good branding is the act of becoming known for something that you do, above any other competitor. As an individual artist it is very likely that you don’t have an established brand like large companies do—which means if you want to gain customers, you must create a brand of your own.
Your brand, however, should not be focused on you. It should be focused on attracting customers. My brand is “Artwork that Begs to Be Touched” which immediately says something unique, and connects with potential buyers more than just a logo.
Some brand phrases are too generic, too vague to set you apart. You can call yourself the “Best western artist in America” but so what? Who compared you to whom? Does that even connect with potential buyers?
On the other hand, if you guarantee your western art by saying, “My brand is burned onto every painting,” then that’s something tangible for people to remember. You’re the artist who uses a branding iron to sign your work. Now that would certainly set you apart from the herd! My thought: I feel that using the word branding in this way is also risky. It runs the risk of having the public's primary response to the art being about the commercialisation of the product instead of about the intrinsic value and beauty of the artwork. Many ideas have the potential of being good, it's often how you use them.
Here’s another stand-out brand: “The artist who provides a lifetime guarantee.” Also, “Art made from 100% recycled materials.” Both of these brands speak directly to the customers’ interests while setting you up as different from the norm.
Putting yourself in your brand
Is there something unique or otherwise notable about your artwork that’s worth mentioning to someone? Then don’t just mention it—shout it from the rooftops!
What do you think of when you hear, “Have it your way”? How about, “The real thing”? If you said Burger King and Coke, you’ve already been swayed by the lure of branding.
Effective companies constantly reinforce public awareness of their brands to achieve long-lasting recognition. Your own brand should encompass something unique about your art, or about you, so that potential customers learn to recognize your style.
In the art world Thomas Kinkade uses the brand “Painter of Light” as his defining statement. His brand explains him and his art in a short, powerful sentence—and because of he’s so well branded, everyone knows who he is!
When we think of brands, we often think of just an image but that’s actually not the case. While most of us are familiar with the Taco “Bell” or the Nike Swoosh, good branding is usually more of a catch phrase that states a purpose or reason for being (like Kinkade’s brand) rather than a logo.
How to create a strong brand
To create an effective brand you must first define the type of customer you have. Second, you should create and refine your brand to as simple an item or phrase as possible, and third, you have to promote your brand constantly.
Assuming you already know your customers, or who you’re trying to appeal to, let’s talk about the second phase: creating and refining your brand.
1. Define your key core competency or best thing you offer
Take some time, sit down and really apply yourself to defining the single best thing that you do. Often this will be what people already mention when they discuss you or your art—after all, it’s what you’re good at.
Other times, what makes you unique is the reason you create your art, or the life experiences you’ve had which have shaped you as an artist. There is no wrong answer. Simply find that unique element that is you and move on to step two.
2. Create a key phrase built around your core competency
There will probably be many ways to describe yourself and your unique abilities, but remember that a key phrase should be short and very concise. Work towards that.
Don’t ever use ambiguous statements like “The low priced leader.” Of what exactly? For whom? Compared to whom? Do you see the problem?
Look around and see what statements are being used by other artists and learn from them. Learn from their mistakes or successes, and then when you create your own key phrase, be different!
3. Draft a symbol or logo to reinforce the message visually
Sometimes having a symbol or visual identity to go along with your branding statement can be very effective. . . but it isn’t always necessary. However, if you feel the need for a logo to reinforce your key statement, then create one, or perhaps adapt one.
What I mean by “adapt one” is that logos are often created simply by consistently using a unique font. Stick with one type-face every time you use your statement, and that will become the symbol you are known for.
For example, the old UPS label wasn’t fancy at all, but through simplicity and repeated use, it became widely recognizable.
Perhaps your hand-written signature is the symbology you’re looking for. Is it a strong, recognizable mark? Does it reflect the rest of your art? Norman Rockwell used his signature as a logo. . . could you do the same?
Effectively promoting your brand
Large companies with deep-pockets can launch massive campaigns utilizing every form of media. Most of us will not have the resources for that, so each piece of information we produce must be effective. Consistently using your brand statement and/or brand symbol wll help you get the most bang for your buck.
This means putting your brand on everything you create. If you send e-mails, use your brand phrase or statement below your signature line. If you produce postcards or flyers, place the statement prominently. Also, don’t forget to put your brand on your web site and business cards.
Ideally you’ll have a well-balanced mix of online and offline promotion, and through repeated use you will begin to forge an identity based upon your defining statement. You may even become “one” with the brand, like Nike has with “Just Do It.” You know when this “oneness” is achieved by the fact that people know instantly who you are when your symbol is displayed or your phrase is written or spoken.
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Entice Me: Alyson B. Stanfield
Over the years, I've seen a lot of marketing mistakes from artists. One of the biggest mistakes is easy to correct if you take the time. Here's what I'm talking about . . .
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how to find the right language about your art (read Art Marketing Action: Play Offense). You can't stop there. You must also find the right words for your marketing messages. I see postcards, emails and Web sites with some version of the following:
"Please visit my new Web site at www.isntmyartwonderful?.com"
"Please come to my new show."
"I hope you'll drop in to see my work at my new gallery."
"In case you can't make it, there's plenty to buy in my online store."
Not very enticing, are they? Without any other text with them, these are lousy, half-baked attempts to get me interested in your work. I'm busy! Tell me what I'm going to get! What, exactly, is in it for me? And could you insert a little humor? I've had a rough day and need something to smile about.
If I had a dollar for every artist that sent me an email saying "please visit my new Web site," I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Okay, maybe not rich, but I'd definitely have a new outfit with matching shoes.
If you want to get an audience for your opening, send an email blast:
"I know you have probably already framed, hung, and forgotten about the postcard invitation to my upcoming opening, so I thought I'd send this as a reminder. Everyone who is anyone will be at Star Gallery on Friday, February 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. I'm going to be premiering a new body of work inspired by my recent trip to Japan. Wear a kimono and obi and come enjoy some sushi with us. (I'm giving you permission to be fashionably late and arrive at 6:10! I sure hope you can make it.)"
If you want to announce a new Web site or an update to an old one, try this in an email:
"You may have thought you've lived long enough to see everything, but you were wrong. I have created the ultimate mobiles for today's contemporary home. They're bigger than a breadbox--filling up that entryway that no one knows what to do with. Just imagine the look on your guests' faces when you open the door and reveal this baby! Curious? Visit www.isntmyartwonderful?.com for the latest photos."
Now, aren't those two examples a little more enticing than, "come see my new work"? Language is magical.
We're blogging about it at ArtBizBlog.com
KNOW THIS
Like everyone else, I'm busy. You'd better choose the right words to get me to do what you want.
THINK ABOUT THIS
Your promotional language is too important to send something to which you gave less than 100%.
DO THIS
Pull out all of those old emails, letters, and postcards you have sent. Knowing that hindsight is 20/20, how would you have written them differently if you had a second chance?
Last note: About the art market. Many galleries traditionally taking a 40% commission are now taking 50%. I assume that this is in response to the blow the markets have taken over the past two years.
According to a letter from Peter Gregory, Boundless Gallery's founder, that was republished on Empty Easel, Boundless Gallery (an online gallery) decided to close because:
"[Our] business model doesn't make sense on today's internet...Since the "Great Recession" started, BoundlessGallery.com has been losing money. The art market as a whole is off 50 to 80%.
What's new!
We now have a new secretary. A big thank you goes to Karen Harvie for taking on the task of deciphering what goes on at our meetings, putting pen to paper and recording it for us.
I'd like to welcome our newest member, Tacha Reed. Tacha sent us a wonderful letter of introduction which also outlined her background; colourful, diverse and accomplished. For a little information about Tacha, you can visit the websites: www.artslant.com & www.linkedin.com
This week, Sandra will be mailing out entry forms for this year's 4th annual Festival of Art.
If you don't receive one of these entry forms by March 10, please let either Sandra, Kristie or me know.
Sandra MacDonald: cstudio@ns.sympatico.ca
Kristie Sheehy: ksheehy58@hotmail.com
David Howells: davidh@eastlink.ca
On the website front, Andrew Harvie has just begun tackling our website. When he has finished strutting his stuff, the website will look completely new.
Here's a little information about this year's show, along with some reminders:
Please note that corrections are being made on the Entry Guidelines link on our website.
All works should be dropped off at the Pisiquid Canoe Club on the Windsor waterfront on Thursday, May 27 from 10 AM - 8 PM
The opening for the show will be Friday, May 28 from 7 PM to 9 PM. Admission is free - with goodwill offerings accepted - and there will be a cash bar. Mayor Paul Beazley had said he would be our Guest Speaker, but just realized he'll be away that weekend. He is going to see if the Deputy Mayor, Laurie Murley can stand in for him.
The show continues throughout the weekend, May 29 and 30.
Hours: Saturday, 10 AM - 5 PM and Sunday 10 AM - 3 PM
All artwork should be picked up between 3 PM and 5 PM on Sunday
A reminder...the Entry Form needs to be sent to us before May 26 so that we can put the information into our program for the show.
The Hants Journal has been approached regarding sponsorship in the form of advertising. We are waiting to hear back from them. With or without sponsorship, we will be taking out a quarter page ad in the Journal. Thanks to Kristie's legwork, CBC radio host Olga Milosovich has offered to help promote the show on CBC. (Pat...your spelling of Olga's surname was correct...top marks). Regarding promotion and advertising, our event will also be integrated as being part of this year's Apple Blossom Festival (ABF) weekend. The ABF's organising committee are doing something special during this year's Apple Blossom Festival called AgriFun, which it looks like our event may also be able to be tied into; again, with regards to advertising and promotion. This is really good news for us. For more information about AgriFun, please see attachment.
Anything you can do to help 'get the word out' and promote our event would be greatly appreciated. We can use your help during the show. If you have a little free time and would like to get involved, please let Kristie or me know.
Guenter Burr has an article titled ‘The Business of Art’ - The Art of Conducting Business in the Art World by Joseph Landry. Sandra is looking into the possibility of having Joseph give a presentation on this for us. My understanding, after speaking with Guenter, is that it will be free of charge and last about 2 hours.
An offer has been extended to the HCAC by Jeff Redden - Home Hardware, Windsor
All of the following came about as a result of Kelly's talks with Jeff. Thanks Kelly!
Jeff is expanding his business (Windsor Home Hardware) into much of the Fort Edward Mall…a 22,000 square foot expansion. Most of the additional space will be for furniture. Within this space, Jeff plans to create one space, 16’ x 20’, for higher-end furniture. Within this space, the bottom 4’ of wall space will be used for fabric samples. The ceiling is 14 feet high and Jeff is offering the arts council all the wall space above the 4’ line to use as a permanent sale space…helping to showcase artwork by artists from Hants County. Jeff has yet to meet with the arts council’s directors so what follows is only what has come out of my conversations with him. All decisions made regarding this partnership will have to be decided by all directors and Jeff. Of course, before deciding anything we would need to see the finished space.
The foot traffic through Home Hardware is approximately 500,000 visits per year; obviously not all different people, but very busy nonetheless. This would give the HCAC a permanent home which Jeff would be very pleased for us to advertise as such.
I asked Jeff what type of price range he envisioned. He thought that $300 to $3000 would be a good range. This was an off-the-cuff answer to a question that was out-of-the-blue. There will be a special place for sculptures below a skylight. Kristie mentioned that having sculptures in an area where there will be lots of children likely to touch them would be a big consideration.
We have discussed having a 25% commission. Sales would be put through Home Hardware. The directors and Jeff would need to discuss whether tax needed to be charged; appreciating that most artists do not need to charge tax, though it is unlikely for Jeff to have a tax exempt section in the store - complicating things at his end.
Jeff mentioned that he would need to be part of the Hants County Arts Council in order for this to work smoothly. I have made a note to invite him to our next meeting. He has created an area within this new space for a group of offices. Jeff mentioned that instead of cash, he would use his 25% commission to buy artwork. The artwork purchased by him would then be put on permanent display, furnishing these new offices and the walls of the hallways created by them. This will be an area that the public will be invited to walk through so it will be an additional display case for our artwork. This is such a generous offer of Jeff's that, should we go ahead with it, I think it would be a great idea for us to promote this partnership thanking Jeff and drawing attention not only to this permanent display case of our work but to the nature of it - Jeff's commitment and support of the local arts. This promotion would be in addition to the fact that the artwork of artists from Hants County would be featured permanently on an ongoing basis in the gallery area.
Jeff will pay to have professional gallery hanging hardware, lighting and advertising. As a solution to certain inevitable challenges that we would face using this space, Jeff proposed the idea of having back-to-back solo exhibitions lasting from one to two months; each show having a wine and cheese opening and being advertised…which I believe Jeff will help with.
Regarding professional development, whether or not this is right for any individual artist, will need to be considered on an individual level. There are many things that need to be considered, but this is very important and too complicated to address here.
Our next meeting is at 7 PM at Cravings Cafe, 3816 Hwy. 14, Upper Rawdon. Members are invited to attend any of our monthly meetings.
This newsletter will be added to: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
The only website you need to know is :) www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
I hope the articles below are helpful.
Last but not least, one of our members, a friend and fellow artist, Al Bergin, underwent a total shoulder replacement for his right shoulder (his painting arm) this past Sunday. On behalf of all the members of the arts council I'd like to wish Al a full and speedy recovery. I hope Al is able to participate in this year's Festival of Art.
Only three weeks to spring!
Happy Creating,
David
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This months articles:
Art Marketing Is Conversations: by Cliff Watson
Branding for Artists (from Emptyeasel.com)
Entice Me: by Alyson B. Stanfield
Please send any thoughts that you would like to share on these topics to me and I'll add them to our blog.
Art Marketing is Conversations
by Clint Watson
http://clintwatson.net/blog/7977/art-marketing-is-conversations
This article is by Clint Watson, founder of FineArtViews.
Since writing about Art Marketing for Artists Who Want to Change the World, I've had some more thoughts about art marketing: Art marketing is conversations.
Ignore your friendly magazine salesperson and/or marketing "guru" who tells you marketing is all about "branding:" "branding" is for sissies, branding is dead - MARKETING. IS. CONVERSATIONS. (Hint: If you're having conversations, you'll "automatically" develop a "brand").
Conversations are going to happen with or without your participation.
There's an old saying in advertising, "Tell your story, or someone else will tell it for you." But, if you don't participate in the process, the story that gets told may not be the one you want told.
Consider what Brian Clark, of Copyblogger wrote, "People tell stories about themselves. They even buy things in order to say something about themselves. They don’t give a hoot about your story unless it furthers their own personal narrative. If it does, your story comes along for the ride. If not… too bad for you. You’re not the star of this story. Smart marketers don’t even try to be the star. Smart marketers want to be indispensable supporting characters...People respond to marketing stories when they either identify with the hero, or desire to become the hero. Your story must put the prospect front and center as that hero."
This is another way of describing Hugh MacLeod's Blue Monster idea. People want to tell their OWN stories to each other and connect with each other. You just want to become part of that conversation and have your story.....your art, your artist story "come along for the ride."
Your followers are going to talk to each other and you want to be able to encourage that behavior. Helping them connect with one another is a good thing.
Hindering conversations is a bad thing. And this is where we turn to the subject of art galleries.
"Marketing is conversations" applies to you art galleries as well. I'm speaking to art galleries now. Art galleries listen - get this fact in your mind and accept it: Your clients ARE going to talk directly to your artists. Be part of the conversation or bury your head in the sand and ignore it (and be excluded). The Internet has changed the equation. This subject came up recently in my twitter stream and artist John T. Unger said, "Making the intro (of the collector to the artist) insures the gallery stays in the loop. NOT making the intro has more potential to hurt their sales." John's exactly right: If you introduce your clients to your artists, you're guaranteed to be part of the conversation. If you don't, you're guaranteed to be excluded. Which option do you want?
Art is all about communication. When a buyer purchases artwork, he/she is “purchasing” the artist as well as the artwork. The stronger the client-artist connection, the more likely the person will become an ongoing collector. The progressive art dealer realizes that instead of hindering these connections, he should foster and encourage them. My thoughts: This sounds great in theory but is arguably detached from the reality of the market place. But, it is also true that as people can now Google an artist's name and contact them directly, the gallery can now be bypassed in a way that it could not be before.
Indeed, building relationships is the essence of the dealer’s job. Instead of hiding the artist’s web site, why not enthusiastically share it with clients and encourage them to visit it? Instead of blocking access to an artist, why not pick up the phone and introduce the prospect to that artist? Heck, why not even give the artist’s phone number to prospects? Each of these actions would make a sale more likely; after all, wouldn’t YOU feel special if you were invited to personally call the artist? Galleries and artists need to quit playing games and work together as a team and trust each other.
My thoughts: A gallery owner in Toronto once said to me (as I was doing the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition at the time) that a gallery cannot compete in selling artists work, that " the buyer would always prefer to buy directly from the artist". I believe that this is correct. If gallery owners used the advice above, they'd be hard pressed to have anybody buy from them when artists could sell directly to clients(brought their way by the gallery) and give a discount to the buyer and still make considerably more than they would have selling through the gallery. This would be a losing proposition for the gallery.
If I were an artist today, I wouldn't work with any gallery that tried to limit my freedom to have conversations directly with collectors online and offline. I also wouldn't work with any gallery that didn't agree to provide me with contact info of people who purchased my work so that I could strengthen my connection with my collectors.....my collector clan. To reciprocate, I would make sure that each of my galleries trusted me completely. I would NEVER, NEVER, EVER sell directly to collectors that discovered me through my galleries. I would NEVER sell my artwork for a price lower than what it would sell for in a gallery.
My thoughts: This shows a complete disconnect and lack of understanding of the reality of the relationships between gallery owners and artists. My experience is is that as you climb the ladder, the willingness of the gallery owners/directors to tell you the names of the customers who have purchased your work, is directly proportionate; the bigger/better the gallery, the less likely they are to share this information. I can say from experience that in some of the top galleries in Yorkville, Toronto, this information would never be given out.
PS - If you ever break trust with your galleries, realize that the story surrounding you may no longer be the one you want told. Remember conversations are going to happen with our without your participation.
My thoughts: something very valid is being pointed out here, but keep in mind it is only a tiny part of a very big picture about marketing art. I'd question the emphasis put on all of this, but it is something to consider.
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My thoughts: Here is the other side of the argument about branding. Branding for its own sake is a risky thing to do. If someone is going to do this, they should understand thoroughly what they are getting themselves into...what are the consequences of any action taken. Remember, all things don't apply to all people. Take what works for you!
(From Emptyeasel.com) An artist’s “brand” is not just a label, a logo, or a signature—instead, it is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have. What do I mean? Read on.
What is branding, exactly?
Your brand is what you’re known for. Good branding is the act of becoming known for something that you do, above any other competitor. As an individual artist it is very likely that you don’t have an established brand like large companies do—which means if you want to gain customers, you must create a brand of your own.
Your brand, however, should not be focused on you. It should be focused on attracting customers. My brand is “Artwork that Begs to Be Touched” which immediately says something unique, and connects with potential buyers more than just a logo.
Some brand phrases are too generic, too vague to set you apart. You can call yourself the “Best western artist in America” but so what? Who compared you to whom? Does that even connect with potential buyers?
On the other hand, if you guarantee your western art by saying, “My brand is burned onto every painting,” then that’s something tangible for people to remember. You’re the artist who uses a branding iron to sign your work. Now that would certainly set you apart from the herd! My thought: I feel that using the word branding in this way is also risky. It runs the risk of having the public's primary response to the art being about the commercialisation of the product instead of about the intrinsic value and beauty of the artwork. Many ideas have the potential of being good, it's often how you use them.
Here’s another stand-out brand: “The artist who provides a lifetime guarantee.” Also, “Art made from 100% recycled materials.” Both of these brands speak directly to the customers’ interests while setting you up as different from the norm.
Putting yourself in your brand
Is there something unique or otherwise notable about your artwork that’s worth mentioning to someone? Then don’t just mention it—shout it from the rooftops!
What do you think of when you hear, “Have it your way”? How about, “The real thing”? If you said Burger King and Coke, you’ve already been swayed by the lure of branding.
Effective companies constantly reinforce public awareness of their brands to achieve long-lasting recognition. Your own brand should encompass something unique about your art, or about you, so that potential customers learn to recognize your style.
In the art world Thomas Kinkade uses the brand “Painter of Light” as his defining statement. His brand explains him and his art in a short, powerful sentence—and because of he’s so well branded, everyone knows who he is!
When we think of brands, we often think of just an image but that’s actually not the case. While most of us are familiar with the Taco “Bell” or the Nike Swoosh, good branding is usually more of a catch phrase that states a purpose or reason for being (like Kinkade’s brand) rather than a logo.
How to create a strong brand
To create an effective brand you must first define the type of customer you have. Second, you should create and refine your brand to as simple an item or phrase as possible, and third, you have to promote your brand constantly.
Assuming you already know your customers, or who you’re trying to appeal to, let’s talk about the second phase: creating and refining your brand.
1. Define your key core competency or best thing you offer
Take some time, sit down and really apply yourself to defining the single best thing that you do. Often this will be what people already mention when they discuss you or your art—after all, it’s what you’re good at.
Other times, what makes you unique is the reason you create your art, or the life experiences you’ve had which have shaped you as an artist. There is no wrong answer. Simply find that unique element that is you and move on to step two.
2. Create a key phrase built around your core competency
There will probably be many ways to describe yourself and your unique abilities, but remember that a key phrase should be short and very concise. Work towards that.
Don’t ever use ambiguous statements like “The low priced leader.” Of what exactly? For whom? Compared to whom? Do you see the problem?
Look around and see what statements are being used by other artists and learn from them. Learn from their mistakes or successes, and then when you create your own key phrase, be different!
3. Draft a symbol or logo to reinforce the message visually
Sometimes having a symbol or visual identity to go along with your branding statement can be very effective. . . but it isn’t always necessary. However, if you feel the need for a logo to reinforce your key statement, then create one, or perhaps adapt one.
What I mean by “adapt one” is that logos are often created simply by consistently using a unique font. Stick with one type-face every time you use your statement, and that will become the symbol you are known for.
For example, the old UPS label wasn’t fancy at all, but through simplicity and repeated use, it became widely recognizable.
Perhaps your hand-written signature is the symbology you’re looking for. Is it a strong, recognizable mark? Does it reflect the rest of your art? Norman Rockwell used his signature as a logo. . . could you do the same?
Effectively promoting your brand
Large companies with deep-pockets can launch massive campaigns utilizing every form of media. Most of us will not have the resources for that, so each piece of information we produce must be effective. Consistently using your brand statement and/or brand symbol wll help you get the most bang for your buck.
This means putting your brand on everything you create. If you send e-mails, use your brand phrase or statement below your signature line. If you produce postcards or flyers, place the statement prominently. Also, don’t forget to put your brand on your web site and business cards.
Ideally you’ll have a well-balanced mix of online and offline promotion, and through repeated use you will begin to forge an identity based upon your defining statement. You may even become “one” with the brand, like Nike has with “Just Do It.” You know when this “oneness” is achieved by the fact that people know instantly who you are when your symbol is displayed or your phrase is written or spoken.
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Entice Me: Alyson B. Stanfield
Over the years, I've seen a lot of marketing mistakes from artists. One of the biggest mistakes is easy to correct if you take the time. Here's what I'm talking about . . .
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how to find the right language about your art (read Art Marketing Action: Play Offense). You can't stop there. You must also find the right words for your marketing messages. I see postcards, emails and Web sites with some version of the following:
"Please visit my new Web site at www.isntmyartwonderful?.com"
"Please come to my new show."
"I hope you'll drop in to see my work at my new gallery."
"In case you can't make it, there's plenty to buy in my online store."
Not very enticing, are they? Without any other text with them, these are lousy, half-baked attempts to get me interested in your work. I'm busy! Tell me what I'm going to get! What, exactly, is in it for me? And could you insert a little humor? I've had a rough day and need something to smile about.
If I had a dollar for every artist that sent me an email saying "please visit my new Web site," I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Okay, maybe not rich, but I'd definitely have a new outfit with matching shoes.
If you want to get an audience for your opening, send an email blast:
"I know you have probably already framed, hung, and forgotten about the postcard invitation to my upcoming opening, so I thought I'd send this as a reminder. Everyone who is anyone will be at Star Gallery on Friday, February 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. I'm going to be premiering a new body of work inspired by my recent trip to Japan. Wear a kimono and obi and come enjoy some sushi with us. (I'm giving you permission to be fashionably late and arrive at 6:10! I sure hope you can make it.)"
If you want to announce a new Web site or an update to an old one, try this in an email:
"You may have thought you've lived long enough to see everything, but you were wrong. I have created the ultimate mobiles for today's contemporary home. They're bigger than a breadbox--filling up that entryway that no one knows what to do with. Just imagine the look on your guests' faces when you open the door and reveal this baby! Curious? Visit www.isntmyartwonderful?.com for the latest photos."
Now, aren't those two examples a little more enticing than, "come see my new work"? Language is magical.
We're blogging about it at ArtBizBlog.com
KNOW THIS
Like everyone else, I'm busy. You'd better choose the right words to get me to do what you want.
THINK ABOUT THIS
Your promotional language is too important to send something to which you gave less than 100%.
DO THIS
Pull out all of those old emails, letters, and postcards you have sent. Knowing that hindsight is 20/20, how would you have written them differently if you had a second chance?
Last note: About the art market. Many galleries traditionally taking a 40% commission are now taking 50%. I assume that this is in response to the blow the markets have taken over the past two years.
According to a letter from Peter Gregory, Boundless Gallery's founder, that was republished on Empty Easel, Boundless Gallery (an online gallery) decided to close because:
"[Our] business model doesn't make sense on today's internet...Since the "Great Recession" started, BoundlessGallery.com has been losing money. The art market as a whole is off 50 to 80%.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Newsletter, February, 2010
NEWSLETTER ……..February, 2010
Greeting to all Hants County Arts Council (HCAC) members.
The arts council did not have a meeting in December so I decided to wait until after our January meeting to send out this Newsletter.
Next Meeting:
Members are invited to attend any of our monthly meetings. Our next meeting is on February 24 at 7 PM at Cravings Cafe, 3816 Hwy 14, Upper Rawdon.
If you intend to attend one of our meetings, would you please notify Sandra MacDonald. This is so that she can contact you should a meeting be cancelled due to weather or unforeseen circumstances. Sandra’s e-mail address is: cstudio@ns.sympatico.ca
Our AGM:
The Hants County Arts Council’s Annual General Meeting for 2010 will be held on April 28.
It will be at the ECHCo Boardroom at 7 PM.
This is located in the Scotiabank building on Water Street in Windsor. The entrance is to the right of the dollar shop. Once inside, just follow the hallway and you will find the room we are using.
Members are invited to attend. This is a great time to get involved; give us feedback and share your ideas and suggestions. As this space has all of the excitement of a standard board room, we rely on our personalities to liven it up.
Thanks to Pat Gould-Thorpe for reserving the room for us.
Arts Digest:
Due to timing, we have decided not to put out an arts digests this year. A great deal of interest has been expressed in continuing to put out arts digests and we are looking forward to putting our second one out next year. Greater involvement will help us overcome time constraints with great project’s like this, which all members benefit from. I know, you’re thinking ‘is this a less than subliminal hint for me to get involved‘, yes it is :)
The 4th Annual Festival of Art
This year’s Festival of Art will be May 28, 29 & 30th. Location and guest speaker to be announced.
This event is a great opportunity to get involved. We can use, and certainly appreciate, all the help we can get during this show. If you are interested in helping out this year, please drop me a line. We need volunteers to receive artworks two days prior to the show. We have always arranged to have a timeslot for drop-offs during working hours and evening hours.
The arts council is represented on the Mayor’s Task Force on the Arts, by yours truly. This is a work in progress and I will keep members updated as to any developments.
In addition to continuing to send the Newsletters to all members, they will be posted at: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com should you wish to check previous Newsletters.
Please send me your thoughts, concerns, questions etc. regarding the monthly articles in newsletters. By using the site listed above (blogspot.com), it will be possible for us to have a running dialogue, with all feedback on any given article posted in the order that they were received under the relevant topic.
This month’s art articles:
How to write an Artist Statement
Pricing your art
How to write an Artist's Statement
Different perspectives from different sources - review and choose your preferred approach
An artist's statement is a short document written by the artist which provides a window into the artist's world. It offers insight into a single piece or an entire body of work and by describing the artist's creative process, philosophy, vision, and passion. It enlightens and engages while at the same time giving the audience - potential buyers, exhibition curators, critics, fellow artists, or casual browsers - the freedom to draw their own conclusions. An artist's statement reads easily, is informative, and adds to the understanding of the artist.
There is no one right answer to how to write an artist's statement - you need to work out what's right for you and your work and what resources you have to help you.As you review the different articles you'll find some common pointers - and some different perspectives about how to approach the task of writing an artist's statement.
Why you need an Artist's Statement
...for exhibitions, on your website, in promotional material...
Making a Mark: Marketing art - people buy you as well as your art #1
As an artist, how often do you regard yourself as part of the selling experience?Do you regard yourself as personally relevant to whether or not people collect or buy your art - or not?This post is about the notion that people buy YOU as well as your art....today - About the Artist: the background details, sometimes called the CV (if you're in the UK) or resume (if in the USA) - and I haven't got a clue what other people call it!
Making a Mark: Marketing Art - How to write an Artist's Statement
How to write an Artist Statement
Writing an artist statement sometimes can be harder than making the actual work.
When faced with a blank page, the best thing to do is write down words that you would use to describe your work. Do the same for the process(es) you use to make your work- list out the processes you use. The next step is to start to link the words into sentences. After you write the sentences, see if you can put them together into paragraphs. If you have several bodies of work you might do this process for each body of work.
It is best to start with a long version of your artist statement, that way you can edit it down to a manageable size. Be careful not to over use "art speak" terms/language and write for an audience who has never interacted with/seen your work. In other words, keep it simple, clear, and straight forward. It might be best to start with a general paragraph about your work and then get more specific regarding your bodies of work (if you are showing several bodies of work in an exhibition or submitting them for a proposal).
Those reading your statement need to understand it the first time they read it. You should also write in the first person, not in third person (ie I made, My work, etc.) You may also want to review past articles and reviews of your work. This info can help in the writing of your artist statement and might provide some quotes to include in your statement. If you do include quotes, you must footnote the source!!
An artist statement should not be longer than one page in length (unless you are have been asked specifically to write a long one!). Some good artists statements have only been 3 to 4 sentences! Have at least one person proof read your statement. It might be best to have two people read it; one who is familiar with your work and one who is not familiar with your work.
We have managed to extract several artist statements from our executive director to serve as examples. You should also start to read other artist's statements when you go to exhibitions to get more examples (ask for a copy of a person's statement you really liked - remember not to plagiarize).
3 Examples of Artist Statements
______________________________
Example #1 explaining all of her bodies of work
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist Statement & Explanation of Bodies of work
Since the early 1990s, my work has involved the creation of conceptually based sociopolitical objects and installations. In 1992 I began stenciling text by hand onto objects. Hand stenciled text/language has now become a very prominent feature in my work and I continue to use the same stencil and medium (graphite) that I used in 1992.
In my work, I deconstruct the American dream, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and lullabies that are part of our childhood and adult culture. My work also addresses gender roles/gender assignment, the fragility of family dynamics, domestic violence and the underlying threads of violence and danger that underpin American society. Often times these themes are combined into installations that feature mundane domestic objects, painted pure white and are often embellished with stenciled text.
The color white establishes a dream-like surreal quality, suggests notions of purity and safety, and formally unifies the disparate objects in each installation. The texts provide clues to content and interpretation. My "conceptual sculpture weds minimal form with maximal content" (Shawn Hill, "BayWindows" Nov. 14 96 p27).
I usually work on several bodies of work concurrently. I also create site specific temporary installations for indoor sites (I have in the past created temporary outdoor site specific work as well). I often rework a site specific installation into a self contained format that will enable the piece to be shown in a non site specific installation format/ environment. And often times elements from my sculptures, installations, and non site specific work are utilized in my site specific installations. In other words, the various bodies of work inform or cross pollinate each other.
The six specific bodies of work that I am working on concurrently:
"Weary Heads"- a series of ten life size beds. I began the series in late 1994. These beds are beautiful objects, but they are also very dangerous. Both stenciled text/language and pillows with text are prominent elements in the series. These works transform an object, that usually provides comfort, into one that has nightmare qualities.
"Forever Hold Your Peace" In 1992, I began this series of 11 large sculptural components that attempt to reveal the life of a person who is in a battering/ abusive environment. The majority of contemporary art work addressing domestic violence does not show the whole picture of what it is like to live with such violence on a daily basis, nor does it demonstrate the long time line of domestic violence. It is the goal of my work to more fully represent the long nightmare of domestic violence and to show the underlying thread of violence/danger that underlies such relationships.
Lullabies & Fairy Tales are other areas that I am investigating. Several of my works focus on deconstructing these forms of "childhood" entertainment (these themes also make appearances in the other bodies of work).
Pillows Talk- In 1993, I began working with pillows and stenciling text on them. I have created four major pieces that use only pillows (pillows are also an important element in the Weary Heads series).
Site Specific Installation Work- Birds is the most recent example of this work, but Lullaby/Rock A Bye Baby and one version of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf are also examples.
Works on Paper- My works on paper tend to differ from my 3-D/ installation work. These works are very personal pieces that have been inspired by and made for particular people in my life. Nor are these works minimal in form, color, or content. I often incorporate appropriated images and text into my works on paper and I usually sew these pieces by hand and/or by machine. Like in my 3D/installation works, the text is hand stenciled onto the piece. My works on paper are usually celebratory and often times meant to be humorous.
________________________________________
Example #2 explaining her work in general and specific pieces- notice the similar introductory paragraph!
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist Statement
Since the early 1990s, my work has involved the creation of conceptually based sociopolitical objects and installations. In my work, I deconstruct the American dream, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and lullabies that are part of our childhood and adult culture. My work also addresses gender roles/gender assignment, the fragility of family dynamics, domestic violence and the underlying threads of violence and danger that underpin American society. These themes are often combined with the metaphors commonly used by those in battering relationships into installations that feature mundane domestic objects, painted pure white and embellished with stenciled text. The color white establishes a dream-like surreal quality, suggests notions of purity and safety, and formally unifies the disparate objects in each installation. The texts provide clues to content and interpretation. My "conceptual sculpture weds minimal form with maximal content". (Shawn Hill, "BayWindows" Nov. 14 96 p27).
The two works, both Untitled 1991, are examples of my earlier work that addressed the overlooked issues of class in American society. Those who are in the lower classes are usually the ones who are "watched like goldfish" and must depend on others for their very survival. The monopoly game pieces are also very important clues to understanding the various facets of our so called classless society.
The piece entitled, Porter Crib 1997, is from a series of 10 beds entitled, "Weary Heads". I began the series in late 1994. These life size beds are beautiful objects, but they are also very dangerous. These works transform an object, that usually provides comfort, into one that has nightmare qualities and is incapable of providing comfort. Stenciled text/language is a prominent element in my "Weary Heads" bed series. The Porter Crib text is taken from a "Christianized" Celtic/Pagan childhood prayer. The prayer is stenciled on tracing paper, thus making it impossible for any infant to lie in the crib with out falling through on to the floor. Children are also at the mercy of others. Presently, I am working on completing two more of the beds in the series. I hope to show all 10 beds in a gallery setting in the future.
________________________________
Example #3 explaining one piece
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist Statement
BirdsThese plaster birds were cast from two ceramic birds my mother had in our family home. Interestingly, the two original ceramic birds are exactly the same in every detail, except that one was painted blue indicating a Blue Jay, while the other was painted red indicating a cardinal. I chose to keep my birds white. These birds, in my mindscape, symbolize safety, good luck and purity. All the birds in the museum have been cast specifically for this show and I have placed them all in their specific sites within the museum.
I first made these white plaster birds to be elements in a 1996 site specific installation entitled, Lullaby/Rock A Bye Baby. The installation examined the duality of the lullaby: it is an extremely violent song that is considered a cherished "lullaby" that one sings to soothe children to sleep.
Ironically, while working on these birds for this show, I found out that many people believe that having any birds in their house, living or in any depiction, is a harbinger/cause of bad luck. Thus these birds, like the majority of my work, have conflicting meanings.
A quick personal thought on this - the shorter the better! Who would have guessed?
-----------------------
Pricing your artThis article is from artbusiness.com (written by Alyson Stanfield)
In order to price your art realistically, you must understand and respect how the art business works and how collectors shop and buy. You must step back and objectively evaluate the significance and quality of your art in relation to all other art. You must also objectively assess your art world accomplishments and determine how they position you in relation to all other artists. These are difficult tasks and not necessarily pleasant, but they're absolutely essential to achieving the goals of making a go of it as an artist and of selling art.
Understanding common mistakes that artists make when setting prices is the first step in this process. Perhaps the most significant error is the tendency to focus too much attention on only that segment of the art world that pertains to you and too little attention on the rest, or even worse, dismissing the rest as irrelevant. If you let this happen, your asking prices may make sense to you and to your inner circle, but make little sense to the overall art community. The more aware you are of the big picture, of what other artists are creating, how it's being priced and marketed, and who's buying what for how much and why, the better prepared you are to price your art sensibly.
Many artists make the mistake of equating dollar values with psychological factors like how emotionally attached they are to their art or how much angst they experience during the creative process. They place special meanings and, therefore, special asking prices on certain pieces of their work that may make sense to them inwardly, but have little or no relation to the selling prices of the rest of their art or to art prices in general. Dealers and collectors see these prices as inconsistent or excessively high.
Avoid this pitfall by keeping any art off the market that you feel exceptionally close to or involved with. Keep it in your own personal collection. Any insights, enlightenments, sufferings, or inner pain you experience while creating art are your own business. Don't bill collectors for it. People in all professions have intense emotional experiences just like you, but you rarely see the prices of milk, plumbing, clothes, or other goods or services fluctuate wildly as a result.
The opposite of placing excessively high prices on works of art with high levels of personal meaning or emotional attachment is placing excessively low prices on works of art that lack those qualities. Experienced collectors who bargain hunt for art love when artists under-price art based on feelings rather than on more objective factors such as those that will be discussed below. Consistency in pricing is a cornerstone of successful selling.
Artists sometimes confuse subjective opinion with objective judgment when comparing the quality of their art to that of other artists. At the same time, they may also ignore outside factors that influence those artists' prices like who they show with, what their reputations are, how long they've been active, or how collectible they are. Once again, unrealistically high asking prices are often the result.
If you think your art is as good as that of Picasso or Matisse, for example, do you price it into the millions of dollars? Of course not. Your art may indeed by as good as that of a well-known or even famous artist who sells for lots of money, but many other factors must also compare favorably before your selling prices can approach those of that artist. Your personal opinion about how good your art is has little to do with that artist's prices or why collectors pay them. If it did, any artist could sell any work of art for any price at any time.
And don't make the mistake of thinking that your art is so unique that nothing else compares to it. All art is unique. Every artist is unique. Uniqueness, however, has never been and never will be the sole criterion for setting prices at any particular level.
Collectors rarely see themselves as having only one choice when selecting art, no matter how "unique" that art happens to be. Not only are they cost-conscious, but they almost always compare work from artist to artist and gallery to gallery before they buy. The more comparing they do, the better they get at collecting, assessing quality, determining fairness in selling prices, and getting the best bangs for their bucks. This is what good collecting is all about and what you're up against when it comes to pricing your art.
So how do you price sensibly and realistically? At the most fundamental level, you must be able to make a fact-based case for what your art is worth. You certainly know how to explain what it means from a personal standpoint, but if a collector asks, can you explain it equally well from a financial standpoint? Convincing people that your art is worth what it's priced and is therefore OK to own is an essential part of completing sales. This is especially true when buyers are on the fence, not familiar with your work, or just starting out as collectors.
In the world of selling, all reputable and established art galleries are fully prepared to explain their asking prices to anyone who asks. This is how the business end works. Dealers know that collectors are concerned about how they spend their money and, as a result, they have plenty of ammunition on hand when the focus of a presentation turns from art to dollars.
The best way to justify your asking prices is to do exactly what the galleries do. Present documentation that you've been selling art consistently for dollar amounts comparable to what you're now charging. The more records you have of recent sales through dealers, galleries and agents or directly to collectors from your studio, the better. These records, of course, should be relevant to the situation at hand. In other words, if you've sold three paintings to your rich uncle for $3000 a piece, but have never sold to a collector for more than $500, quote prices in the hundreds to collectors, not the thousands. You might also think about giving your uncle a price break while you're at it.
When you don't have a record of consistent sales in a particular price range or sales have been erratic and you're not sure how much to charge, setting your prices the way that real estate agents do is one of your better options. They base home prices on "comparables" or what similar houses in the same neighborhoods sell for. In your case, this means basing prices on how much other artists charge who live in your geographical area, work in similar mediums, sell through similar venues, create similar art, and whose accomplishments, experience, and quality of work are comparable to your own.
If you're just starting out and have not sold very much, pricing your work based on time, labor, and cost of materials is often the best way to go. (My thoughts...this is one of the biggest and most commonly made mistakes artists make starting out/early in their artistic careers. On average, an artist would have to be quite accomplished to be asking a price whereby the hourly rate would equate to a fair market salary. There are exceptions to this, but they would be low as a percentage. I did send Alyson a lengthy reply to this article, which was very well received, but unfortunately do not have a copy of it to include here.) Set yourself a sensible hourly wage, add the cost of materials, and make that your asking price. If materials cost $50 and you take 20 hours to make the art at $15 per hour, then you price it at $350. Don't forget the comparables, though. You still want your final asking prices to be in line with what other artists with similar credentials to yours are charging for their work.
Whenever you set prices by comparison, compare to what sells, not to what doesn't. Supposing your "comparable" artist has a show with prices ranging from $2000-$25,000. Suppose it closes with only pieces in the $2000-4000 range selling. This result tells you that collectors balk at paying anything more than $4000 and can be interpreted as their verdict on the artist's high-end prices. You, consequently, would be advised to price your art from $2000-4000 and forget going much higher.
A similar situation can occur if you compare your prices to those of artists who primarily sell limited edition prints of their work. They price their art to sell their prints, not their originals. The more expensive the originals, the more they tend to elevate the collectibility of the prints in the eyes of collectors and stimulate sales.
Dealers use the expensive cost of the originals not to sell them, but rather to justify the print prices being as high as they are while at the same time, portraying those prices as bargains. "The original costs $100,000, but you can have the signed limited edition for only $600." It's just basic marketing, folks. Selling prints is what this tactic is all about and not selling originals. The prints, meanwhile, have nothing to do with the originals other than being photographic reproductions in one form or another and the idea of equating the two is absurd-- but don't get me started on that one.
No matter how you set your prices, be competitive. As distasteful and capitalistic as this may sound, you're in competition with other artists. Every time a collector buys a piece of art from you, that's one less piece that they're going to buy from someone else. Naturally, you want to maximize the number of pieces that collectors buy from you.
The best way to stay in the hunt is to make sure that you're always charging the same or even a little less than what you determine to be the "going rate" in any given selling circumstance. For example, if you're in a group show or exhibition, enter a piece that's priced competitively with those of the other artists. You don't want to have the most expensive piece in the show; you don't want the first impression that collectors have of your work to be sticker shock. You want it to stand out for art reasons, not money reasons.
Another issue that artists often wrestle with is when to raise prices. The best time is when you're experiencing a consistent degree of success and have established a proven track record of sales that's lasted for at least six months to a year and preferably longer. You should also be selling at least half of everything that you produce within a six month time period. As long as sales continue to be good and demand remains high, price increases of 10-25% per year are in order. As with any other price-setting circumstances, be able to justify all increases with facts. Never raise prices based on whimsy, personal feelings, or because you feel that they've remained the same for long enough. My thoughts… lower-priced pieces of artwork can withstand to be increased in price far greater, as a percentage, than more expensive pieces. A 25% increase on something selling well at $100-$200 (for example) is fine, but to raise prices 25% on works selling for over $2,000 (no matter how well they are selling) is risky. One of the most famous unwritten rules in art is that ‘prices can always be raised, but should never be lowered‘. This is very important when becoming established and dealing with professional galleries. If painting for fun and showing infrequently in isolated shows, it is not critical.
Remember that today's collectors are more sophisticated than ever. The idea of falling in love with one piece of art and having to have it at any cost fell by the wayside years ago. Collectors now research and compare before they buy. The only ones who don't are new to the game. Just in case you get lucky and find one who's a little naive, by the way, resist the temptation to take advantage and overcharge. You risk the possibility of turning them off to continued collecting. We all know that we need all the art collectors we can get.
Lastly, have something for everyone. Offer art in all price ranges. People who like your work, but can't afford the big stuff should at least have the opportunity to come away with something. These are your biggest fans, your collector base, the people who will stand by you throughout your career. Do whatever you can to provide them with art. That's the best way to maximize your exposure, create good will, get yourself out there, jump start your sales, and become known and respected in the arts community.
If you have any comments or questions about this that you would like to share, please send it to me for our next Newsletter. I’m biting my lip on tackling pricing right now as it can become a very complicated issue for a variety of factors.
http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
I hope you have enjoyed these.
David
Greeting to all Hants County Arts Council (HCAC) members.
The arts council did not have a meeting in December so I decided to wait until after our January meeting to send out this Newsletter.
Next Meeting:
Members are invited to attend any of our monthly meetings. Our next meeting is on February 24 at 7 PM at Cravings Cafe, 3816 Hwy 14, Upper Rawdon.
If you intend to attend one of our meetings, would you please notify Sandra MacDonald. This is so that she can contact you should a meeting be cancelled due to weather or unforeseen circumstances. Sandra’s e-mail address is: cstudio@ns.sympatico.ca
Our AGM:
The Hants County Arts Council’s Annual General Meeting for 2010 will be held on April 28.
It will be at the ECHCo Boardroom at 7 PM.
This is located in the Scotiabank building on Water Street in Windsor. The entrance is to the right of the dollar shop. Once inside, just follow the hallway and you will find the room we are using.
Members are invited to attend. This is a great time to get involved; give us feedback and share your ideas and suggestions. As this space has all of the excitement of a standard board room, we rely on our personalities to liven it up.
Thanks to Pat Gould-Thorpe for reserving the room for us.
Arts Digest:
Due to timing, we have decided not to put out an arts digests this year. A great deal of interest has been expressed in continuing to put out arts digests and we are looking forward to putting our second one out next year. Greater involvement will help us overcome time constraints with great project’s like this, which all members benefit from. I know, you’re thinking ‘is this a less than subliminal hint for me to get involved‘, yes it is :)
The 4th Annual Festival of Art
This year’s Festival of Art will be May 28, 29 & 30th. Location and guest speaker to be announced.
This event is a great opportunity to get involved. We can use, and certainly appreciate, all the help we can get during this show. If you are interested in helping out this year, please drop me a line. We need volunteers to receive artworks two days prior to the show. We have always arranged to have a timeslot for drop-offs during working hours and evening hours.
The arts council is represented on the Mayor’s Task Force on the Arts, by yours truly. This is a work in progress and I will keep members updated as to any developments.
In addition to continuing to send the Newsletters to all members, they will be posted at: http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com should you wish to check previous Newsletters.
Please send me your thoughts, concerns, questions etc. regarding the monthly articles in newsletters. By using the site listed above (blogspot.com), it will be possible for us to have a running dialogue, with all feedback on any given article posted in the order that they were received under the relevant topic.
This month’s art articles:
How to write an Artist Statement
Pricing your art
How to write an Artist's Statement
Different perspectives from different sources - review and choose your preferred approach
An artist's statement is a short document written by the artist which provides a window into the artist's world. It offers insight into a single piece or an entire body of work and by describing the artist's creative process, philosophy, vision, and passion. It enlightens and engages while at the same time giving the audience - potential buyers, exhibition curators, critics, fellow artists, or casual browsers - the freedom to draw their own conclusions. An artist's statement reads easily, is informative, and adds to the understanding of the artist.
There is no one right answer to how to write an artist's statement - you need to work out what's right for you and your work and what resources you have to help you.As you review the different articles you'll find some common pointers - and some different perspectives about how to approach the task of writing an artist's statement.
Why you need an Artist's Statement
...for exhibitions, on your website, in promotional material...
Making a Mark: Marketing art - people buy you as well as your art #1
As an artist, how often do you regard yourself as part of the selling experience?Do you regard yourself as personally relevant to whether or not people collect or buy your art - or not?This post is about the notion that people buy YOU as well as your art....today - About the Artist: the background details, sometimes called the CV (if you're in the UK) or resume (if in the USA) - and I haven't got a clue what other people call it!
Making a Mark: Marketing Art - How to write an Artist's Statement
How to write an Artist Statement
Writing an artist statement sometimes can be harder than making the actual work.
When faced with a blank page, the best thing to do is write down words that you would use to describe your work. Do the same for the process(es) you use to make your work- list out the processes you use. The next step is to start to link the words into sentences. After you write the sentences, see if you can put them together into paragraphs. If you have several bodies of work you might do this process for each body of work.
It is best to start with a long version of your artist statement, that way you can edit it down to a manageable size. Be careful not to over use "art speak" terms/language and write for an audience who has never interacted with/seen your work. In other words, keep it simple, clear, and straight forward. It might be best to start with a general paragraph about your work and then get more specific regarding your bodies of work (if you are showing several bodies of work in an exhibition or submitting them for a proposal).
Those reading your statement need to understand it the first time they read it. You should also write in the first person, not in third person (ie I made, My work, etc.) You may also want to review past articles and reviews of your work. This info can help in the writing of your artist statement and might provide some quotes to include in your statement. If you do include quotes, you must footnote the source!!
An artist statement should not be longer than one page in length (unless you are have been asked specifically to write a long one!). Some good artists statements have only been 3 to 4 sentences! Have at least one person proof read your statement. It might be best to have two people read it; one who is familiar with your work and one who is not familiar with your work.
We have managed to extract several artist statements from our executive director to serve as examples. You should also start to read other artist's statements when you go to exhibitions to get more examples (ask for a copy of a person's statement you really liked - remember not to plagiarize).
3 Examples of Artist Statements
______________________________
Example #1 explaining all of her bodies of work
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist Statement & Explanation of Bodies of work
Since the early 1990s, my work has involved the creation of conceptually based sociopolitical objects and installations. In 1992 I began stenciling text by hand onto objects. Hand stenciled text/language has now become a very prominent feature in my work and I continue to use the same stencil and medium (graphite) that I used in 1992.
In my work, I deconstruct the American dream, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and lullabies that are part of our childhood and adult culture. My work also addresses gender roles/gender assignment, the fragility of family dynamics, domestic violence and the underlying threads of violence and danger that underpin American society. Often times these themes are combined into installations that feature mundane domestic objects, painted pure white and are often embellished with stenciled text.
The color white establishes a dream-like surreal quality, suggests notions of purity and safety, and formally unifies the disparate objects in each installation. The texts provide clues to content and interpretation. My "conceptual sculpture weds minimal form with maximal content" (Shawn Hill, "BayWindows" Nov. 14 96 p27).
I usually work on several bodies of work concurrently. I also create site specific temporary installations for indoor sites (I have in the past created temporary outdoor site specific work as well). I often rework a site specific installation into a self contained format that will enable the piece to be shown in a non site specific installation format/ environment. And often times elements from my sculptures, installations, and non site specific work are utilized in my site specific installations. In other words, the various bodies of work inform or cross pollinate each other.
The six specific bodies of work that I am working on concurrently:
"Weary Heads"- a series of ten life size beds. I began the series in late 1994. These beds are beautiful objects, but they are also very dangerous. Both stenciled text/language and pillows with text are prominent elements in the series. These works transform an object, that usually provides comfort, into one that has nightmare qualities.
"Forever Hold Your Peace" In 1992, I began this series of 11 large sculptural components that attempt to reveal the life of a person who is in a battering/ abusive environment. The majority of contemporary art work addressing domestic violence does not show the whole picture of what it is like to live with such violence on a daily basis, nor does it demonstrate the long time line of domestic violence. It is the goal of my work to more fully represent the long nightmare of domestic violence and to show the underlying thread of violence/danger that underlies such relationships.
Lullabies & Fairy Tales are other areas that I am investigating. Several of my works focus on deconstructing these forms of "childhood" entertainment (these themes also make appearances in the other bodies of work).
Pillows Talk- In 1993, I began working with pillows and stenciling text on them. I have created four major pieces that use only pillows (pillows are also an important element in the Weary Heads series).
Site Specific Installation Work- Birds is the most recent example of this work, but Lullaby/Rock A Bye Baby and one version of Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf are also examples.
Works on Paper- My works on paper tend to differ from my 3-D/ installation work. These works are very personal pieces that have been inspired by and made for particular people in my life. Nor are these works minimal in form, color, or content. I often incorporate appropriated images and text into my works on paper and I usually sew these pieces by hand and/or by machine. Like in my 3D/installation works, the text is hand stenciled onto the piece. My works on paper are usually celebratory and often times meant to be humorous.
________________________________________
Example #2 explaining her work in general and specific pieces- notice the similar introductory paragraph!
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist Statement
Since the early 1990s, my work has involved the creation of conceptually based sociopolitical objects and installations. In my work, I deconstruct the American dream, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and lullabies that are part of our childhood and adult culture. My work also addresses gender roles/gender assignment, the fragility of family dynamics, domestic violence and the underlying threads of violence and danger that underpin American society. These themes are often combined with the metaphors commonly used by those in battering relationships into installations that feature mundane domestic objects, painted pure white and embellished with stenciled text. The color white establishes a dream-like surreal quality, suggests notions of purity and safety, and formally unifies the disparate objects in each installation. The texts provide clues to content and interpretation. My "conceptual sculpture weds minimal form with maximal content". (Shawn Hill, "BayWindows" Nov. 14 96 p27).
The two works, both Untitled 1991, are examples of my earlier work that addressed the overlooked issues of class in American society. Those who are in the lower classes are usually the ones who are "watched like goldfish" and must depend on others for their very survival. The monopoly game pieces are also very important clues to understanding the various facets of our so called classless society.
The piece entitled, Porter Crib 1997, is from a series of 10 beds entitled, "Weary Heads". I began the series in late 1994. These life size beds are beautiful objects, but they are also very dangerous. These works transform an object, that usually provides comfort, into one that has nightmare qualities and is incapable of providing comfort. Stenciled text/language is a prominent element in my "Weary Heads" bed series. The Porter Crib text is taken from a "Christianized" Celtic/Pagan childhood prayer. The prayer is stenciled on tracing paper, thus making it impossible for any infant to lie in the crib with out falling through on to the floor. Children are also at the mercy of others. Presently, I am working on completing two more of the beds in the series. I hope to show all 10 beds in a gallery setting in the future.
________________________________
Example #3 explaining one piece
Kathleen Bitetti
Artist Statement
BirdsThese plaster birds were cast from two ceramic birds my mother had in our family home. Interestingly, the two original ceramic birds are exactly the same in every detail, except that one was painted blue indicating a Blue Jay, while the other was painted red indicating a cardinal. I chose to keep my birds white. These birds, in my mindscape, symbolize safety, good luck and purity. All the birds in the museum have been cast specifically for this show and I have placed them all in their specific sites within the museum.
I first made these white plaster birds to be elements in a 1996 site specific installation entitled, Lullaby/Rock A Bye Baby. The installation examined the duality of the lullaby: it is an extremely violent song that is considered a cherished "lullaby" that one sings to soothe children to sleep.
Ironically, while working on these birds for this show, I found out that many people believe that having any birds in their house, living or in any depiction, is a harbinger/cause of bad luck. Thus these birds, like the majority of my work, have conflicting meanings.
A quick personal thought on this - the shorter the better! Who would have guessed?
-----------------------
Pricing your art
In order to price your art realistically, you must understand and respect how the art business works and how collectors shop and buy. You must step back and objectively evaluate the significance and quality of your art in relation to all other art. You must also objectively assess your art world accomplishments and determine how they position you in relation to all other artists. These are difficult tasks and not necessarily pleasant, but they're absolutely essential to achieving the goals of making a go of it as an artist and of selling art.
Understanding common mistakes that artists make when setting prices is the first step in this process. Perhaps the most significant error is the tendency to focus too much attention on only that segment of the art world that pertains to you and too little attention on the rest, or even worse, dismissing the rest as irrelevant. If you let this happen, your asking prices may make sense to you and to your inner circle, but make little sense to the overall art community. The more aware you are of the big picture, of what other artists are creating, how it's being priced and marketed, and who's buying what for how much and why, the better prepared you are to price your art sensibly.
Many artists make the mistake of equating dollar values with psychological factors like how emotionally attached they are to their art or how much angst they experience during the creative process. They place special meanings and, therefore, special asking prices on certain pieces of their work that may make sense to them inwardly, but have little or no relation to the selling prices of the rest of their art or to art prices in general. Dealers and collectors see these prices as inconsistent or excessively high.
Avoid this pitfall by keeping any art off the market that you feel exceptionally close to or involved with. Keep it in your own personal collection. Any insights, enlightenments, sufferings, or inner pain you experience while creating art are your own business. Don't bill collectors for it. People in all professions have intense emotional experiences just like you, but you rarely see the prices of milk, plumbing, clothes, or other goods or services fluctuate wildly as a result.
The opposite of placing excessively high prices on works of art with high levels of personal meaning or emotional attachment is placing excessively low prices on works of art that lack those qualities. Experienced collectors who bargain hunt for art love when artists under-price art based on feelings rather than on more objective factors such as those that will be discussed below. Consistency in pricing is a cornerstone of successful selling.
Artists sometimes confuse subjective opinion with objective judgment when comparing the quality of their art to that of other artists. At the same time, they may also ignore outside factors that influence those artists' prices like who they show with, what their reputations are, how long they've been active, or how collectible they are. Once again, unrealistically high asking prices are often the result.
If you think your art is as good as that of Picasso or Matisse, for example, do you price it into the millions of dollars? Of course not. Your art may indeed by as good as that of a well-known or even famous artist who sells for lots of money, but many other factors must also compare favorably before your selling prices can approach those of that artist. Your personal opinion about how good your art is has little to do with that artist's prices or why collectors pay them. If it did, any artist could sell any work of art for any price at any time.
And don't make the mistake of thinking that your art is so unique that nothing else compares to it. All art is unique. Every artist is unique. Uniqueness, however, has never been and never will be the sole criterion for setting prices at any particular level.
Collectors rarely see themselves as having only one choice when selecting art, no matter how "unique" that art happens to be. Not only are they cost-conscious, but they almost always compare work from artist to artist and gallery to gallery before they buy. The more comparing they do, the better they get at collecting, assessing quality, determining fairness in selling prices, and getting the best bangs for their bucks. This is what good collecting is all about and what you're up against when it comes to pricing your art.
So how do you price sensibly and realistically? At the most fundamental level, you must be able to make a fact-based case for what your art is worth. You certainly know how to explain what it means from a personal standpoint, but if a collector asks, can you explain it equally well from a financial standpoint? Convincing people that your art is worth what it's priced and is therefore OK to own is an essential part of completing sales. This is especially true when buyers are on the fence, not familiar with your work, or just starting out as collectors.
In the world of selling, all reputable and established art galleries are fully prepared to explain their asking prices to anyone who asks. This is how the business end works. Dealers know that collectors are concerned about how they spend their money and, as a result, they have plenty of ammunition on hand when the focus of a presentation turns from art to dollars.
The best way to justify your asking prices is to do exactly what the galleries do. Present documentation that you've been selling art consistently for dollar amounts comparable to what you're now charging. The more records you have of recent sales through dealers, galleries and agents or directly to collectors from your studio, the better. These records, of course, should be relevant to the situation at hand. In other words, if you've sold three paintings to your rich uncle for $3000 a piece, but have never sold to a collector for more than $500, quote prices in the hundreds to collectors, not the thousands. You might also think about giving your uncle a price break while you're at it.
When you don't have a record of consistent sales in a particular price range or sales have been erratic and you're not sure how much to charge, setting your prices the way that real estate agents do is one of your better options. They base home prices on "comparables" or what similar houses in the same neighborhoods sell for. In your case, this means basing prices on how much other artists charge who live in your geographical area, work in similar mediums, sell through similar venues, create similar art, and whose accomplishments, experience, and quality of work are comparable to your own.
If you're just starting out and have not sold very much, pricing your work based on time, labor, and cost of materials is often the best way to go. (My thoughts...this is one of the biggest and most commonly made mistakes artists make starting out/early in their artistic careers. On average, an artist would have to be quite accomplished to be asking a price whereby the hourly rate would equate to a fair market salary. There are exceptions to this, but they would be low as a percentage. I did send Alyson a lengthy reply to this article, which was very well received, but unfortunately do not have a copy of it to include here.) Set yourself a sensible hourly wage, add the cost of materials, and make that your asking price. If materials cost $50 and you take 20 hours to make the art at $15 per hour, then you price it at $350. Don't forget the comparables, though. You still want your final asking prices to be in line with what other artists with similar credentials to yours are charging for their work.
Whenever you set prices by comparison, compare to what sells, not to what doesn't. Supposing your "comparable" artist has a show with prices ranging from $2000-$25,000. Suppose it closes with only pieces in the $2000-4000 range selling. This result tells you that collectors balk at paying anything more than $4000 and can be interpreted as their verdict on the artist's high-end prices. You, consequently, would be advised to price your art from $2000-4000 and forget going much higher.
A similar situation can occur if you compare your prices to those of artists who primarily sell limited edition prints of their work. They price their art to sell their prints, not their originals. The more expensive the originals, the more they tend to elevate the collectibility of the prints in the eyes of collectors and stimulate sales.
Dealers use the expensive cost of the originals not to sell them, but rather to justify the print prices being as high as they are while at the same time, portraying those prices as bargains. "The original costs $100,000, but you can have the signed limited edition for only $600." It's just basic marketing, folks. Selling prints is what this tactic is all about and not selling originals. The prints, meanwhile, have nothing to do with the originals other than being photographic reproductions in one form or another and the idea of equating the two is absurd-- but don't get me started on that one.
No matter how you set your prices, be competitive. As distasteful and capitalistic as this may sound, you're in competition with other artists. Every time a collector buys a piece of art from you, that's one less piece that they're going to buy from someone else. Naturally, you want to maximize the number of pieces that collectors buy from you.
The best way to stay in the hunt is to make sure that you're always charging the same or even a little less than what you determine to be the "going rate" in any given selling circumstance. For example, if you're in a group show or exhibition, enter a piece that's priced competitively with those of the other artists. You don't want to have the most expensive piece in the show; you don't want the first impression that collectors have of your work to be sticker shock. You want it to stand out for art reasons, not money reasons.
Another issue that artists often wrestle with is when to raise prices. The best time is when you're experiencing a consistent degree of success and have established a proven track record of sales that's lasted for at least six months to a year and preferably longer. You should also be selling at least half of everything that you produce within a six month time period. As long as sales continue to be good and demand remains high, price increases of 10-25% per year are in order. As with any other price-setting circumstances, be able to justify all increases with facts. Never raise prices based on whimsy, personal feelings, or because you feel that they've remained the same for long enough. My thoughts… lower-priced pieces of artwork can withstand to be increased in price far greater, as a percentage, than more expensive pieces. A 25% increase on something selling well at $100-$200 (for example) is fine, but to raise prices 25% on works selling for over $2,000 (no matter how well they are selling) is risky. One of the most famous unwritten rules in art is that ‘prices can always be raised, but should never be lowered‘. This is very important when becoming established and dealing with professional galleries. If painting for fun and showing infrequently in isolated shows, it is not critical.
Remember that today's collectors are more sophisticated than ever. The idea of falling in love with one piece of art and having to have it at any cost fell by the wayside years ago. Collectors now research and compare before they buy. The only ones who don't are new to the game. Just in case you get lucky and find one who's a little naive, by the way, resist the temptation to take advantage and overcharge. You risk the possibility of turning them off to continued collecting. We all know that we need all the art collectors we can get.
Lastly, have something for everyone. Offer art in all price ranges. People who like your work, but can't afford the big stuff should at least have the opportunity to come away with something. These are your biggest fans, your collector base, the people who will stand by you throughout your career. Do whatever you can to provide them with art. That's the best way to maximize your exposure, create good will, get yourself out there, jump start your sales, and become known and respected in the arts community.
If you have any comments or questions about this that you would like to share, please send it to me for our next Newsletter. I’m biting my lip on tackling pricing right now as it can become a very complicated issue for a variety of factors.
http://hantscountyartscouncil.blogspot.com
www.hantscountyartscouncil.com
I hope you have enjoyed these.
David
Monday, December 14, 2009
Newsletter Nov. 2009
NEWSLETTER Nov. 2009
Greeting to all Hants County Arts Council (HCAC) members.
Following each of our monthly meetings, I will send out a newsletter to all members. Members can attend any of our monthly meetings. Our next meeting is on November 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Cravings Cafe, 3816 Hwy 14, Upper Rawdon. Most of our meetings are the fourth Wednesday of each month.
The directors of the HCAC would like to make the newsletters as informative as possible. I invite all members to contact me with any information they have which they think may be of interest to others: websites, art competitions, announcements of art shows by, or including, the works of our members, public art events, grants, public seminars, workshops, etc.
One of the best sources of information on the arts in NS is VANS.
For those not familiar with VANS (Visual Arts Nova Scotia), here is a little information from their website.
"VANS works for the advancement of visual arts and artists of Nova Scotia.VANS is a provincial artist-run organization incorporated in 1976 to serve visual artists. We promote and support the visual arts and artists of Nova Scotia by providing a voice and advocating for the rights of visual artists. We support members by providing exhibition, marketing and educational opportunities. The public frequently consults VANS about Nova Scotian artists."
They send out a biweekly electronic news bulletin providing the most current information on calls for submissions, grants, lectures, events, classified ads and workshops. Their website is: http://vans.ednet.ns.ca/
Jaki Durocher will be representing the HCAC on the Mayor's Task Force on Arts, Culture and Heritage. Briefly, The Mayor's Task Force on Arts and Culture has been created in an effort to enhance, grow and perpetuate the rich arts and cultural sector in the Windsor area. Town Council also wants to investigate how the arts and cultural sector can be integrated as a key component in an overall community and economic development strategy. A mandate has been established. I think this is a great initiative, in keeping with the goals and aspirations of Catherine Jamieson/Utata.
If you haven't recently received a letter and membership card from our membership director (Andrew Harvie), please let me know.
We are planning to stage the 4th Annual Festival of Art in 2010, though the location has not been decided upon. This is a great opportunity for our members to get involved. At our last meeting we discussed the possibility of having our art show on the same weekend as the Town of Windsor has its pumpkin regatta. Having the show at the end of July\beginning of August has proven to be far too hot.
John Webb handles our public relations and has set up a Google group for members of the HCAC. As everyone is not familiar with this yet and people do have to accept the offer of invitation to use it, it is something that John is still working on. Stay tuned for more on this.
Sandra MacDonald (HCAC president) pointed out that the feedback from our first artists directory 'Hants County Arts Digests 2008' has been very strong, with a great deal of interest expressed by artists wishing to be included in our next arts digest. The vote was unanimous that we would strive to publish a second arts digest in 2010. This is another great project for members to help with.... we certainly cannot get too much help. If you are interested in being part of the group that will oversee this project, please drop me a line or visit our website and click on the link to contact Sandra.
Our web address is: http://www.hantscountyartscouncil.com/
We now have 52 members. I'd like to welcome Christine Ellis and Ben McLellan, our two newest members.
"The Nova Scotia Art Bank encourages the development of artistic excellence and stimulates awareness of and interest in visual arts and craft among Nova Scotians and visitors. This is accomplished through the acquisition, loan, maintenance and display of works of art by established Nova Scotian artists. Works are added to the collection annually through the Art Bank Purchase Program."
Here is the link to a PDF file for the Nova Scotia Art Bank Purchase Program.
http://www.gov.ns.ca/tch/pubs/ABapppdf02.pdf
The application form is here and the next deadline is January 15
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia has an art sales and rental gallery. For more information about this you can visit the website below.
http://www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/en/AGNS_Halifax/visit/artrentals/default.aspx
It's always nice to have members attend our meetings and give us additional input and the all-important feedback we need. Thanks to Gerald and Joyce Jank and Carlos Da Rosa for joining us at our last meeting.
Regards,
David Howells
Greeting to all Hants County Arts Council (HCAC) members.
Following each of our monthly meetings, I will send out a newsletter to all members. Members can attend any of our monthly meetings. Our next meeting is on November 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Cravings Cafe, 3816 Hwy 14, Upper Rawdon. Most of our meetings are the fourth Wednesday of each month.
The directors of the HCAC would like to make the newsletters as informative as possible. I invite all members to contact me with any information they have which they think may be of interest to others: websites, art competitions, announcements of art shows by, or including, the works of our members, public art events, grants, public seminars, workshops, etc.
One of the best sources of information on the arts in NS is VANS.
For those not familiar with VANS (Visual Arts Nova Scotia), here is a little information from their website.
"VANS works for the advancement of visual arts and artists of Nova Scotia.VANS is a provincial artist-run organization incorporated in 1976 to serve visual artists. We promote and support the visual arts and artists of Nova Scotia by providing a voice and advocating for the rights of visual artists. We support members by providing exhibition, marketing and educational opportunities. The public frequently consults VANS about Nova Scotian artists."
They send out a biweekly electronic news bulletin providing the most current information on calls for submissions, grants, lectures, events, classified ads and workshops. Their website is: http://vans.ednet.ns.ca/
Jaki Durocher will be representing the HCAC on the Mayor's Task Force on Arts, Culture and Heritage. Briefly, The Mayor's Task Force on Arts and Culture has been created in an effort to enhance, grow and perpetuate the rich arts and cultural sector in the Windsor area. Town Council also wants to investigate how the arts and cultural sector can be integrated as a key component in an overall community and economic development strategy. A mandate has been established. I think this is a great initiative, in keeping with the goals and aspirations of Catherine Jamieson/Utata.
If you haven't recently received a letter and membership card from our membership director (Andrew Harvie), please let me know.
We are planning to stage the 4th Annual Festival of Art in 2010, though the location has not been decided upon. This is a great opportunity for our members to get involved. At our last meeting we discussed the possibility of having our art show on the same weekend as the Town of Windsor has its pumpkin regatta. Having the show at the end of July\beginning of August has proven to be far too hot.
John Webb handles our public relations and has set up a Google group for members of the HCAC. As everyone is not familiar with this yet and people do have to accept the offer of invitation to use it, it is something that John is still working on. Stay tuned for more on this.
Sandra MacDonald (HCAC president) pointed out that the feedback from our first artists directory 'Hants County Arts Digests 2008' has been very strong, with a great deal of interest expressed by artists wishing to be included in our next arts digest. The vote was unanimous that we would strive to publish a second arts digest in 2010. This is another great project for members to help with.... we certainly cannot get too much help. If you are interested in being part of the group that will oversee this project, please drop me a line or visit our website and click on the link to contact Sandra.
Our web address is: http://www.hantscountyartscouncil.com/
We now have 52 members. I'd like to welcome Christine Ellis and Ben McLellan, our two newest members.
"The Nova Scotia Art Bank encourages the development of artistic excellence and stimulates awareness of and interest in visual arts and craft among Nova Scotians and visitors. This is accomplished through the acquisition, loan, maintenance and display of works of art by established Nova Scotian artists. Works are added to the collection annually through the Art Bank Purchase Program."
Here is the link to a PDF file for the Nova Scotia Art Bank Purchase Program.
http://www.gov.ns.ca/tch/pubs/ABapppdf02.pdf
The application form is here and the next deadline is January 15
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia has an art sales and rental gallery. For more information about this you can visit the website below.
http://www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/en/AGNS_Halifax/visit/artrentals/default.aspx
It's always nice to have members attend our meetings and give us additional input and the all-important feedback we need. Thanks to Gerald and Joyce Jank and Carlos Da Rosa for joining us at our last meeting.
Regards,
David Howells
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