Whose Dusting Your Artwork?

It is said that a good thing can't last forever, but my solo library show may have closed at the Centennial Hills Library this week but it is at least going to continue on for most of 2015.  What an honor to be offered by the Clark County Library District to have my solo show "Nevada in Shades of Silver and Gold" to go "ON TOUR".  This means they have offered to show my collection two more times in 2015.  In March to April 2015 the show can be viewed in Laughlin, Nevada and again in August to October 2015 at the Windmill Library here in Las Vegas.  I was told this isn't offered very often and so I'm really touched by this gesture.  

The really humorous thing about this "ON TOUR" offer was that yesterday when I arrived at the Centennial Hills Library to pick up my artwork at the pre-arranged time, the assistant art coordinator informed me that the library actually wanted to STORE all my pieces at their art storage facility and I could pick them up at the end of October 2015.  As soon as I recovered from my shock, I kindly declined that offer.  As you can see by this photo I have 19 mostly framed pieces and it is the majority of my inventory.  You might not have thought about the fact that an artist would refer to their art as an inventory but this is exactly what this is.  If you are actively pursuing a career as an artist you have to be prolific with your paintings and at all times have enough pieces ready to hang that your not thrown into apoplexy when an opportunity presents itself to show off your skills.  There are always festivals, juried shows and galleries to keep happy.  

I have a heavy presence in 2 local galleries and 2 more galleries that have a number of my smaller works displayed.  This means I have to keep changing out my work so that the public sees new pieces every month or so.  You have to stay fresh, relevant and always evolving when it comes to your work.  

My marketing strategy with hanging my work at the library is completely that of "Public Exposure".  I am not allowed to sell any pieces that are part of the display until the display is over.  I'm here to tell you that SELLING art, not SHOWING art is the real goal of an artist.  I am told daily how beautiful my work is and what talent I have, but the ultimate compliment comes when someone is willing to take their hard earned cash and purchase my artwork.

As an artist, I am always looking for the venue that will afford me the most exposure to my target audience.  What art niche have you carved out for yourself and where will you find your collectors?  Maybe they will come to a library, walk through an art festival, read your blog or see your Facebook post.  In 2013 I had my first major exposure by having a magazine article published about my artwork.  It wasn't an art magazine but rather "Gold Prospector Magazine" and that was because of a niche I found and my efforts to think outside the box when it comes to promotion.  I simply sent an email to the editor of the magazine and to my surprise I received a prompt reply.

Another example would be this show...I realized the timeliness of my theme as this coming October 31st is the 150th anniversary of my beloved state achieving statehood.  Since mining and Nevada are often themes of my work, I decided to contact the state committee and have my show designated as an official state sesquicentennial event.  I took that designation and used it as added validation to invite more people to my show.  

So I guess my closing thought here today is to always look for opportunities for self promotion and if your artwork needs dusting, let it be dusted by you in your studio where you can get to it rather than collecting dust in a library storage facility somewhere.

If you would like to take a closer look at these pieces all my works, visit my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com

I'M STRESSING!

THE CRUNCH IS ON!  This is my final week to get ready for my show called "Showing Their True Colors".  My artist friend Jan Aduini and I are having a joint show starting on October 3rd for Preview Thursday and October 4th is the really big event that is called "First Friday".  The little gallery that I belong to can have maybe as many as 1000 people walking through and this will be my chance to shine.  I've got some new pieces to show and I even painted a piece just specific for this show.

Every artist I talk to tells me that you don't want to show images of your work before a show because people will not come out to see it.  I guess there is logic to that statement, but boy is it hard.  I really like sharing my newest pieces on the social media hub.  Like a proud grandma showing photos of the new grand baby, I love talking about what I am working on.  Well, I have tried to practice restraint this past month and all I am going to say is there will be value in seeing all my works in person.

I did paint a piece just special for the show that I call "Showing Your True Colors" and I have used the image so far for any promotions I have done.  So I will include this piece in my blog today.

24 x 36 Oil "Show Your True Colors"

                                                           
I know that I'm going to learn a lot in the next week but this is all part of my journey to become an artist. Next hurdle- The lament of most artists that I know-"Sell"

Art is Hard Work-And Thank God I Have a BSBA

(Be sure and check out my website gallery if you are interested in seeing more of my work at JulieTownsendStudio.com)

Art is Hard Work-And Thank God I Have a BSBA:
I'm sure that many people believe that to be an artist means that you are spending hours in a studio, covered in a variety of paint colors and being a bit on the loopy side from hours of inhaling solvent and turpentine fumes. I mean why else would Van Gogh have decided to rid himself of a certain appendage? It had to be toxic fumes and lead poisoning, right?  While that might be some of the perception, there is actually a great deal more to it than just painting.

Once the painting has been created, I have to come up with a name.  This can actually be harder than you would think.  For example yesterday I reworked a piece that I had finished as part of a lesson several years ago.  The changes really improved the piece so I have decided now to add it to my available inventory.  Yes, I consider my available completed works as part of an inventory and I have created an inventory worksheet in Excel to keep track of each of them.  Speaking from an accounting perspective, I don't care if my inventory is LIFO (Last In,First Out) or FIFO (First In, First Out) just so that there is inventory going "OUT"!

I include the name, dimensions, price, date completed and location for each piece on my spreadsheet.  When you are actively displaying your work you can find that you can forget that you have pieces displayed and so it's important to keep a record of where each piece is, including the date that you have to pick it up.

"Lazy Daze"- This is my reworking of the original painting lesson- My own style added and a good measure of my improved painting skills

My original painting done as part of my online lessons with Tim Gagnon

Back to naming a painting...This morning I was creating price cards and certificates of authenticity for each of my paintings and of course I needed to come up with a name.  This slow flowing river, tall grass and young pine trees made me think of a pleasant summer day (Thinking about pleasant summer days is all I can really do because there is no such thing as pleasant summer day in Las Vegas) so I decided that I would name it "Lazy Daze".

After coming up with a name I then must set my price for my piece.  Currently, I set my prices based on the size of the canvas.  In theory, the larger the canvas the higher the price because the longer it took me to paint it.  That isn't always the case but that is my logic right now and I feel it is important to have logic when pricing your paintings.  I don't know how other artists set their prices but this is the way I have decided to do it for now.  The goal of course is that I will be able to command higher prices later but right now I feel that my pieces are worth $75-$300 range.  And while I can't attest to lots of sales at this point in my early career, I feel that this is a fair price, especially if the piece is framed.

In my example of "Lazy Daze" I have set a $200 price as it is a 20 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas.  Galley wrapped means that I took the time to paint the outer edges of the canvas so that the piece doesn't have to be framed.  Now that I have the name, set the price, added the painting to my inventory and printed out the paperwork to attach to the painting, I then need to photograph the piece with our nice camera. I often take a quick picture with my iPhone so that I can talk about the painting on Facebook but this doesn't provide a high enough resolution photograph for future use.  If you want to create giclee prints later for promotion or to sell you need as high a resolution as possible.  You can always decrease the size of a file but it isn't very effective to try to increase the pixels and if your piece is sold you have lost your chance to get a photo later.

Finally, I upload the file to the gallery page of this blog and then I go to my website at JulieTownsendStudio.com and add the file to the gallery page there. Here I have created Paypal buttons for ease of purchase.   I also have to come up with an interesting promotional paragraph about the piece.  I think it is important to explain what inspired you to paint it.  If there is history or a personal story that goes with your inspiration then this a very nice addition and will hopefully touch the potential buyer and makes you more personal as the artist.

That is a lot of background work just to get the piece ready to show it to the public, not to mention packing and transporting the painting.  Of course a business degree isn't a requirement but there is an element of organization that is helpful  to the overall success of your business.

Getting Ready to Take This Show on the Road- Portable display stand made from 2 easels, (2) 1 x 2's and a sheet