textile paintings
Posts tagged marketing
Tweek!
010 years ago
My youngest daughter went on a school trip to DC this last week with her dad as a chaperone — so it was just me and DD1. At her age, she doesn’t always acknowledge my existence so I spent a lot of extra time in the studio — almost twice as much as in a normal week. On my current piece, I’ve cut out everything but the roof — and after that, I’ll start sewing everything down in sections. I’ll write about it here on the blog so look for an update soon.
This is my weekly Twitter update about articles I found interesting during this past week. If you want to follow me in real time, you can find me @vsgreaves or hit the Twitter icon in the upper right hand corner above the menu. The FaceBook icon next to it takes you to my professional Page — I update pics on there a few times a week.
As part of the ongoing discussion about how a small elite set of investors churn the work of a small elite group of artists to increase the size of their investment portfolios, this article focuses on the fortunes of Oscar Murillo, a young 28 year old in the elite artist group. The concern is whether his early fame will lead to an early burn-out of interest in his work. Will his work endure or is it merely “trendy and derivative”?
Too much too fast — just let the artist be the artist. But is fame bad? http://tinyurl.com/km5a88j @nytimesarts
Self identifying as an artist makes a difference. Interestingly, I sometimes do — sometimes don’t. It depends on the form and my current mood. The study covered in this article finds that a lot of artists don’t self identify as an artist.
“What Makes an Artist an Artist?” Sometimes I self-identify as an artist — sometimes I don’t. http://feedly.com/e/pZHrYdUZ
Since the majority of artists don’t make anywhere near where the upper elite artist group does, it makes sense that they typically come from wealthy parents — not because they’re being funded by them but that they have different opinions about fulfillment and how it relates to money. (I did still find it depressing that Creatives typically make so little compared to everyone else. It’s a sad statement on our culture that it’s so undervalued.)
“How Wealthy Are Artists’ Parents?” Identifying as a prof artist enters you in an elite status group. Who knew? http://feedly.com/e/bxCdlmUp
All Creatives need help working through artistic blocks from time to time.
“Artists Offer Their Escapes from Creative Block” Hoffman: “work every day like the manual laborer that I am” http://feedly.com/e/khBsDbjz
So many businesses look at traditional metrics in hiring decisions. It’s nice to see at least one company that is assessing the success of candidates based on soft skills — learning ability, emergent leadership, humility, and ownership — and at the bottom of the list, expertise.
“How to Get a Job at Google” The importance of soft skills – Why can’t Google be headquartered in ATL? http://feedly.com/k/1p9fChk
If we can figure out what the market wants to buy, should we change what we create — or at least reach a compromise?
“Thinking About Art Practice and the Role of Compromise” I’m not the only one asking what Is sellable. http://feedly.com/e/XgswtSHP
The LA Times looks at the recently published TEFAF Art Market Report issued by the European Fine Arts Foundation. The news is sobering.
RT @abstanfield Report: Super-rich, favoring just a few artists, drive art market http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-art-market-prices-auctions-billionalires-20140316,0,6445724.story … <worth a read
Marketable Subject Matter
010 years ago
Inviting Art Marketing into the Studio
Last year, I made a conscientious decision to make more marketable work. Every time someone would see Beach Guardians — I would often hear — “one day I want to commission you to do a piece of my grandchildren/children.”
I made Beach Guardians because it was from a picture I had made of my children at the beach. I owned the copyright — and it inspired me. At one point I had a price tag on it — but my husband soon told me that I couldn’t sell a piece of our children. It was going to stay in the family.
Which is fine — but making portraits of friends and family wasn’t taking me where I really wanted to go.
I knew I could make portraits of people — but I also knew that the few pieces I had sold in the past were animals. Anyone that has ever owned a bull dog will look at a bull dog piece of art and say “that looks just like my dog” — and want it. Now.
So after Lincoln, I stopped making portraits of people. I made an angel (arguably a person but a piece that was abstract enough that anyone could relate to it AND it was religious), a dog, a bird, a rabbit, an abstract piece, and then another dog. And then Lincoln won a prize at Houston — and why hadn’t I made any more people?
But the answer was easy — the first dog (Firecracker), the angel (The Bowl Judgments), and the bird (The White Raven) all sold.
Although — I did come home from Houston wondering what in the world I was going to do next. I felt like I should make another person — and I became inspired by a photograph by Dorothea Lange of a woman and her three children. It felt natural to make people again and it flowed through my fingers easily. This is where Worry came from.
But I felt anxiety creeping into my mind — was I making a marketable piece? I suppose only time will tell.
And since I’ve finished Worry, I made a small piece — The Cardinal — for a local square foot challenge. And then I was stuck again — in my head — wondering what to do.
I think I spent a week second guessing myself. In the end, I started a piece — again inspired by a photograph by Dorothea Lange (a great deal of her work is in the public domain). But in my head, I still have this desire to find what is marketable and what is not — because honestly, you spend the same amount of time on the piece — it might as well remain on the wall than be pushed to the back of my closet.
One of my FaceBook Pages that I follow is Humans of New York. A photographer goes out into the city every day and takes pictures of the people that he meets. One day a couple of weeks ago, someone told him that he knew what the art world wanted (although I’m not certain he does but we’ll take his word for it) — and it wasn’t random people on the streets of New York — better to photograph only nudes.
I don’t know many people that will let me take pictures of them with their clothes on — much less off — so I don’t see that as an option for me. I could hire a model, but there wouldn’t be much construction challenge for me in that.
I do see some appeal to taking pics of people on the street in Atlanta — like the photographer in New York. I do, however, understand that there is a lot of hostility given to random photographers — and I think that this guy has worked hundreds of hours building a reputation so that people are delighted to be included in his project. In most situations, people do not want to be put under the microscope of a random person they don’t even know.
At one time, I made several portraits of friends, and one day, I asked an elderly gentleman at church if he would mind if I used the photograph I had taken of him to make a textile painting. He said yes — but only if he could have it when I was done. It doesn’t work that way. A picture takes seconds — my textile paintings take 100+ hours usually. I can’t work myself to the bone for so little appreciation — let alone for free.
Luke Haynes, a textile artist from NC currently living in LA, does full figures on very traditional backgrounds. He’s done a few friends but also several of himself — and Fossil Watches just contracted with him to make a piece of himself. He has effectively branded himself — which is great if you’re 26. Youthfulness is always marketable. I can’t say that I still resemble that demographic however.
I came across this painting recently on someone’s blog — yes, it’s a painting, not a modern graphic — by John Baldessari, 1966-1968. More food for thought.
Tweek!
010 years ago
A frigid week but a good one for reading. Here are all of my tweets for the week.
If you’d rather follow my tweets in real time, I’m @vsgreaves or hit the Twitter icon in upper right above the menu. The Facebook icon is next to it & will take you to my Facebook Page where I post about my studio and what I’m working on.
I’m developing almost a study on what art is more likely to sell. There is not as much published on this subject as I would like:
The Most Popular Subjects For Art That Sells http://artyfax.squidoo.com/popular-art-that-sells
Another artist had put this pic of a painting on her blog. It was painted by John Baldessari 1966-1968 and looks more like a modern day JPG — but it’s actually a painting — and it offers some suggestions for subject matter:
“Tips for Artists Who Want To Sell” by John Baldessari http://tinyurl.com/lzw53j6
Is it OK to make work that is not that good? Of course! It takes time for your work to match your taste. You need to make a large volume of work to close the gap.
In Just 2 Minutes, This Video Will Make You Feel Silly For Ever Having Doubted Yourself http://huff.to/1exd3ki via @HPGoodNews
I am beginning to contemplate my taxes and my successes of last year have some bearing on what I might need to do differently on my taxes. This list gives some helpful tax advice for artists.
Great tax info, checklists, and worksheets for #artists http://www.artstaxinfo.com/artists.shtml RT @abstanfield
It’s hard to miss the coverage of the Winter Olympics going on now in Sochi — and there was an incredible moment last week when Shaun White DIDN’T win a medal — and came out a real winner:
“The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.” RG Ingersoll http://tinyurl.com/laxwsa7
There was also an female snowboarder at the Olympics who used a board with an artist’s work on the back:
“Artist Judith Braun Finds Her Work Part of an Olympic Medal Win” http://feedly.com/e/v8qAvERD
This was yet another example of a corporation taking an independent’s artist’s work and using it on their products without prior agreement — very similar to what happened to Lisa Congdon. The end of the story, however, is good news — JCPenney has given the artist a contract to pay her for license of her work:
Winnipeg artist’s work taken from website, sold at J.C. Penney http://tinyurl.com/pdvw4md via @DaleAnnePotter
Tweek!
010 years ago
There has been a lot going on this week — a lot of great articles for Creatives were written (or recently found) — all of which I shared on my Twitter feed — and I finished my latest piece Worry. Today, I bring you my weekly wrap-up of my Twitter feed.
Remember, if you want to catch my Tweets in real time, you can find me at @vsgreaves — or hit the Twitter icon above the menu in the upper right. Also, if you want to see what’s going on in the studio, check out my Facebook Page by clicking on the Facebook icon next to that Twitter icon.
According to the authors, and I would agree, “we live in a “permissions culture,” which values copyright permissions above all else” and that “permissions have become such an issue that they’re interfering with professionals’ work — the ability to educate, to undertake scholarly studies, to make art.” It’s a different point of view from the endless discussions regarding the protection of copyrights.
“Are Art Professionals Afraid of Fair Use?” http://feedly.com/e/848QPDRN
“Creativity & Listening” — “What we learn from the creative process is that giving up control … is a necessary path to success.” http://feedly.com/k/1n8VHLD
I live in Atlanta — I was shocked that it made #1 on this list:
Best cities for artists: http://tinyurl.com/p9zvstx
This article on the ethics of altering photographs digitally is sure to inspire a lot of debate:
“Nature Photography: Objectivity, Manipulation, and Ethics” http://tinyurl.com/lewysue
I was so struck by this life-like statue of a man sleep walking in his underwear across the Wellesley campus — and he’s garnered a lot of public discussion — which I appreciate in the same way Banksy brings the discussion of art to the masses:
Tighty whitey’s take a stroll — “Artist Responds to Wellesley College Students’ Concerns With Sculpture: http://tinyurl.com/m37zq5r
This was just a grand idea — to replace huge sign boards in Paris with classical works of art. It made me realize how cluttered our modern lives are with constant marketing of inane things.
“Parisian Advertisements Replaced with Classical Works of Art” http://tinyurl.com/nykgu3f @mymodernmet
Bringing to mind the discussion of altering photos, Annie Leibovitz’s photographs (and resulting digital alteration) create the most stunning photos. The fact that she finds inspiration in Disney characters makes the work all the more relatable:
“Annie Leibovitz’s Celebrity Disney Dream Portraits” http://tinyurl.com/k8yuasb @mymodernmet
I made the point the other day on someone’s Facebook wall that one of the discriminations made in the art world today is towards abstract versus illustrative work — and although I was soundly flamed for such a ridiculous statement, the wonderful Winkleman, an art dealer in NY, wrote a post fairly exactly supporting my argument just this week:
“Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Abstract Paintings so Different, so Lucrative?” Winkleman wise words http://feedly.com/e/GaB3bl95
I didn’t know the the Olympics once had art competitions — did you?
“Back When the Olympics Had Art Competitions” http://feedly.com/e/yz3-cw31
This is about the importance of visual language, which is not valued in our current education system, and its effect on our brains:
“Why Einstein, JFK, Edison, and Marie Curie All Doodled” http://feedly.com/e/HGcJkmE6
I loved this article because he talks about making marketable art and going through the thought process of figuring out what will sell:
RT @ArtsyShark: Success for artists is not complicated … http://buff.ly/1dsUIQY Thoughts from Jack White
I actually went looking for articles on marketing art — and found this helpful piece from July of last year.
Selling Art: Is your artwork marketable? http://tinyurl.com/lpp3odt
A friend of mine posted this article on Facebook and I found it fascinating. I had never heard the controversy over whether Van Gogh committed suicide or was murdered — and I didn’t know that he died two days after being shot:
Van Gogh: murder mystery or straightforward suicide?http://tinyurl.com/jwhg56d via @maggieinsc
Tweek!
010 years ago
It’s Sunday and time to review my interesting Tweets from this week.
If you want to follow me in real time, my Twitter account is @vsgreaves — or click the Twitter icon in the far right hand corner above the menu.
Also, if you want to follow some of my daily in process work, see my Facebook page by clicking on the Facebook icon up there next to the Twitter icon.
I read a lot of articles but not a lot of them that I felt like sharing. Someone got the memo that if you want to draw a lot of people to your blog post, put a number in it — I found so many senseless blog posts “9 ways to do <something>” or “30 sure-fire ways to . . . ” There are so many numbered blog posts out there that I think I’ve become immune. People are writing but unfortunately don’t have a lot to say.
This article describes me well today — not creatively motivated — but when it’s during the week and I have the time, I work in the studio whether I’m motivated or not. Sometimes you just have to push through, keep going, and find your way to the other side.
“How to Be Creative Even When You Least Feel Like It” http://feedly.com/e/9BqmwGaL
This was a quote that a friend of mine posted. I had a tough time getting Twitter to take it since I was limited to 140 number of characters. I took out spaces, used ampersands, & made it work. It expresses a lot of what I’ve felt recently.
Joy & sorrow are inseparable.Together they come & when one sits alone with you.Remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.Kahlil Gibran
This article is just a really good reminder that as artists, we have to protect ourselves. I have a friend who recently made a commissioned piece only to be told at the time of submission that the couple had purchased art from someone else. Don’t let this be you.
“Don’t Get Screwed: The Contract Provisions Every Creative Needs to Know” http://feedly.com/e/SfWvfKBg
This was written by Barbara Muir guest blogging for Alyson Stanfield on artbizblog.com. Although she’s specifically addressing creative blocks that happen as a result of grief, these are good reminders for any artist to use to get busy in the studio.
“11 Ways to Work Through Your Grief and Return to the Studio” http://feedly.com/e/zPIsD4VX
As a visual artist, your work is in your visual expression — something all to easily mishandled in this era of Pinterest. This is an interesting lawsuit about an artist that joined an online artists community — only to have his images used for publicity without his consent.
“Artist Feuds with London Art Startup Over ‘Unauthorized’ Prints” — the slippery slope http://feedly.com/e/5q-vzgbG
The difference between experience and knowledge in one image: pic.twitter.com/Kqr19M07lh via @ArtsyShark
OK — I did like this article — even if it does have a number in the title. I’ve noticed a big change in my Facebook Page exposure. If I post something directly to my Page, it is fairly widely distributed. If I post something to my blog that then publishes to my Facebook Page, it’s hardly seen in others news feeds at all.
9 Ways to Counteract Facebook’s Big Algorithm Change http://buff.ly/1g8pSVh via @buffer via @ArtsyShark
Tweek!
010 years ago
Another week has gone by — January is disappearing fast. I am hoping to finish my current piece by the end of the month — but I have a lot of personal roadblocks in the coming week — so that may just not be possible. I have finished all of the appliqué and I’m getting ready to start quilting it. Wish me luck.
I shared a lot of fun articles this week — and this is my weekly summary. Remember if you want to follow my posts directly on Twitter — I am @vsgreaves — or click the Twitter icon in the upper right above the menu. You’ll also notice the Facebook icon there next to it — that will take you to my Facebook Page.
This is Kathleen Loomis’s review of the book Thinking Through Craft by Glenn Adamson — sobering view of the art world — but I’ve definitely put this book on my reading list:
“Clawing your way out — or in” of the “art world” http://artwithaneedle.blogspot.com/2014/01/clawing-your-way-out-or-in.html
I’ve become a big believer in tracking your progress — even if you’re a studio artist and you’re only accountable to yourself:
““The Ostrich Problem” and The Danger of Not Tracking Your Progress” http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/hy5rJbiMTIE/the-ostrich-problem-and-the-danger-of-not-tracking-your-progress
I’m always interested in marketing my work and finding new information that will help:
How Artists Can Make Art That Will Sell – Artpromotivate http://buff.ly/1i8N5DV via @ArtProMotivate
Lisa Call is textile artist that I started following a couple of years ago because she’s so successful at making a lot of work and selling it — so when she talks, I listen:
“To make it happen, I write it down” @lisacall http://tinyurl.com/nssckaj
Since I photograph my own work, I’m always interested in fine tuning my textile photography skills:
How to photograph textile art http://tinyurl.com/kdrjw6n
I liked this article — it talked about getting your brain into the flow and why critiquing can be harmful to that:
“Work First, Critique Second” getting into the creative flow http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/FK_gfyT5D7I/work-first-critique-second
I share all of my in process work on my blog — which is ironic because I’m highly protective of sharing the work out of my studio. When someone comes to the house, I typically cover it up so it won’t be seen — because, as the previous article mentioned, criticism can be harmful to flow. There are only a couple of people that I’ll discuss in process work with — but I suppose my blog hasn’t contradicted that rule because I don’t typically receive a lot of comments. This article argues that sharing work with the masses can be harmful to the creative cycle and that special support groups are what is needed.
“In Praise of the Creative Support Group” http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/CjJUNjy1SHk/in-praise-of-the-creative-support-group
This article is written from the perspective of a photographer but still has an important lesson — if you’re given lemons, make lemonade:
“Use Optimism to Avoid “Work Paralysis”” http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/L1X6FzTnjao/use-optimism-to-avoid-work-paralysis
I found this discussion of ivory an interesting one. Ivory is typically used as a carving medium for sculpture — but its harvesting also typically results in the death of elephants and the subsequent elimination of free roaming elephants. The question becomes — does a piece of sculpture that is made of ivory constitute art — or is it only a sign of the slaughter of wild elephants — and should we grind down all ivory whether it is carved or not to dissuade poachers from continuing to slaughter elephants?
“To Stop the Illegal Ivory Trade, You Have to Stop the Art” http://hyperallergic.com/103288/to-stop-the-illegal-ivory-trade-you-have-to-stop-the-art/
Tweek!
010 years ago
Another week down and not a lot going on to share in this week’s Tweek of Twitter updates. I read a ton of articles but not a lot worth sharing. A few gems in the mix though.
As always, you can follow my live Twitter updates @vsgreaves or click the Twitter icon in the right hand corner just above the menu.
It’s hard to ignore the signs of burn-out going on in Western culture right now. Maybe shortening our work week would have a positive effect:
“Should We All Have A 4-Day Work Week?” … In a perfect world … http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/PkNyhxcYmJo/should-we-all-have-a-4-day-work-week
This article is about working in a series & why it’s important for artists to develop creative thought in more than one piece:
““It Doesn’t Matter if You Call It Art If You Don’t Have Anything to Say” – Creating Art in a Series” http://theabundantartist.com/is-it-art-working-in-series/
Seinfeld was a heavy iconic figure in the 80’s, and as only someone that can write a show about nothing, he is spot on about creative blocks and overcoming them:
“Seinfeld: Writer’s Block Is a B.S. Excuse for Not Doing Your Work.” http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/4ymzcmE8cPE/seinfeld-writers-block-is-a-b-s-excuse-for-not-doing-your-work
Everyone likes to say that creativity is the new highly valued resource in corporate America today — and something we should be cultivating in our children — but the truth just doesn’t back this up. Corporate America looks for skills — not thinkers — and we constantly cut funding to the arts for children. And sadly, creativity is more a point of discrimination than a valued skill:
“Creativity is rejected: Teachers and bosses don’t value out-of-the-box thinking.” http://feedly.com/k/1iGm9iP
I can’t say this enough — if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying hard enough. You have to fail — usually a lot — before you can ever win a race.
Fail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win. http://tinyurl.com/nkasjgx
Beyond the sense of appreciation I felt at having Edward Winkleman mention an art exhibit in my hometown of Birmingham, AL — he writes a compelling post about the perception of success that artists need to emulate to become recognized in the art world (and how in reality, even the successful ones are working a day job to keep their art life alive):
“Looking Past the Smoke and Mirrors: “Living and Sustaining a Creative Life”” http://www.edwardwinkleman.com/2014/01/looking-past-smoke-and-mirrors-living.html
2013 Accomplishments
010 years ago
Last year, for the first time, I made a list of my accomplishments in 2012 — followed by a later posting of goals for 2013. I kept better track of my time than I had before — and both used my goals and, for some items, ignored them when they didn’t suit me. (I’m allowed.)
2013 was a big year for me — I sold three of the six pieces that I made — and I finally broke into the sunshine at the International Quilt Festival/Houston by winning a blue ribbon in my category. I made a lot of new friends — and lost one just before Christmas to breast cancer.
It was a year of highs and lows — but I’m still here — I’m still kicking — still creating — and I hope to share a lot more in 2014.
The Bowl Judgments
– Made spreadsheet of goals with a timesheet.
– Printed two years of blog posts into books (1997 & 1998).
– Developed seminar on choosing fabrics creatively (delivered to my Fiber Art Fusion group in February).
– Accepted into Sacred Threads in Herndon, VA (The Bowl Judgments, Beach Guardians).
– Published in book Sacred Threads Exhibition 2013 (The Bowl Judgments, Beach Guardians).
– Piece published in Machine Quilting Unlimited article about Sacred Threads (Beach Guardians).
– Piece published in Martha Sielman’s book Art Quilt Portfolio: People & Portraits (Celtic Woman).
– Juried into invitational Sacred Threads-Omaha in Omaha, NE (The Bowl Judgments, Beach Guardians).
– Accepted into International Quilt Festival special exhibit It’s Raining Cats & Dogs (Firecracker).
– Accepted into Internal Quilt Festival/Houston World of Beauty (Lincoln, The White Raven).
– Won first place at IQF/Houston in the People, Portraits, & Figures category (Lincoln).
Firecracker
– Accepted into the La Conner International Quilt & Fiber Arts Show in La Conner, WA (Amelia Earhart).
– Won 1st place at the La Conner Quilt & Fiber Arts Show (Amelia Earhart).
– Sold The Bowl Judgments to a private collector.
– Sold Firecracker to a private collector.
– Sold The White Raven to the International Quilt Festival collection.
– Created 5 portraits and 1 abstract. Original goal 6 portraits. Currently halfway through a family portrait.
– Entered Art Quilts XIX (was not accepted).
– Exhibited at East Cobb Quilt Guild Show (Beach Guardians).
The White Raven
– Won 2nd Place in the Original Design category at the East Cobb Quilt Guild Show (Beach Guardians).
– Accepted into Georgia Artists show at the Abernathy Arts Center (Lincoln).
– Participated in SEFAA’s Fiber ARTlanta show (Bukonyan Elder).
– Accepted as an artist at ArtsyShark.com and was featured on their website July 1st.
– Increased Facebook fans from 23 to 77 (goal was 46).
– Designed new labels to use on the Mac.
– Designed & printed new business cards.
– Designed thank you cards with Lincoln. These were used to thank all of the IQF/Houston sponsors.
– Updated FaceBook banner with new work.
– Updated the menus on my website by moving older work to the back and grouping portrait and abstract work into new galleries.
Jacks Are Wild
– Started tweeting articles of interest to fellow Creatives.
– Started a weekly blog post of my tweets called Tweek!
– Tweeted 183 times during the year (although 46 of them were made during my time in Houston).
– Made 254 posts on my FaceBook page and met my goal of posting 3 times per week 85% of the time.
– Made 42 blog posts on my website and met my goal of posting at least 1 blog post per week 65% of the time.
– Spent 455 hours in my studio, 55 hours on my website, and 53 hours doing other administrative things related to my work (like entering shows, shipping, shopping).
– Updated my website for each of my new pieces.
– Added Buy Now buttons (with links to PayPal) to all of the pages of pieces for sale.
– Updated my artist resume.
– Maintained a regular log to account for my time in the studio, on my website, & other administrative tasks related to my art.
It’s All Relative
– Reached my pre-pregnancy goal weight (took me 17 years but I got there!)
– Continued to take hundreds of sports pictures and share them through DropBox.
– Curated the Fiber Art Fusion exhibit It’s All In The Cards with Rebecca Reasons-Edwards which showed at both The Art Place in Marietta and the SEFAA Center in Atlanta.
– Grappled with my hosting service to move the website from a legacy server to the grid. (I should get a medal for this one. GoDaddy just let my site crash and never notified me that I needed to move to newer technology. I now plan to call them annually to discuss the health of the server on which my site resides.)
– Played role of year round lacrosse and choir mom.
– As of 12/27/13, there were 13,483 views on my website, an increase of just under 6% from the previous year.
– I started my Twitter account with no followers and currently have 21 (small — but it’s growing every day!)
Golden Moment
– From August through December, donated over 100 hours in a start-up company.
And then there were some things on my list that I just didn’t do. I saw them there — and I either didn’t enjoy what I had started — or I didn’t feel motivated to do it at all.
– Complete draft of book on textile portraits. I may still do this — it’s just not at the forefront of my mind right now. I’ve also been asked to teach classes. The truth of the matter is that these are big projects — and doing them would take away from studio time.
– Create email/snail mail list. I see this in practically every article I read about art marketing. Maybe I’m lazy but I struggle with keeping up with the blog and Twitter. I don’t have an interest in making a newsletter right now.
– Participate in SEFAA Square Foot Fiber Art Pin Up Show & the Abernathy Art Center Pin Up Show. These are shows that ask for 12″ or smaller pieces — which is not what I typically do. It’s hard for me to pry myself from one of my larger projects to work on smaller ones. I tend to work on one project at a time and don’t start the next one until I’m finished with the one I’m working on.
– Visit at least 12 galleries in Roswell & write a blog review (only did this in January and February). This sounded like a great idea at the time. It was my desire to spread my wings and prepare material for my blog other than my own studio work — but the truth of the matter is that I work in a vacuum. Leaving the house changes the creative dynamic for me, and when I get wrapped up in a project, I like to concentrate on it to the exclusion of other things. I did find a different outlet by sharing articles about art on my Twitter account and then summarizing them each week on the blog in a Tweek!
– Make 2 small pieces a month & list small pieces for sale at ArtFire.com or ArtfulHome.com. This was (and is) a great idea — but as I’ve said, I tend to work on a larger scale. There is something to be said for creating smaller pieces — they are infinitely more marketable and more likely to sell (particularly in the current economy). However, to be smaller, they also need to be simpler — most of the pieces that I find engaging and develop into fuller projects are complex — and I find that more interesting.
I did spend the year with a focus on marketable pieces. I stopped working on people (with the exception of The Bowl Judgments — although you could argue that the angel falls into a category of her own). Many people will see a portrait of a person and say something like “one day I’d like you to do a piece of my grand-children” — but moving that into an actual sale is extremely difficult. Animals have much broader appeal as subjects than people. Anyone that has had a bull-dog will see artwork of a bull-dog and want it.
And although I sold three pieces — which I think confirms my theory about the marketability of certain subject matter — I have to acknowledge that the blue ribbon of Lincoln tells me that there is still room to work on portraits of people — as long as the subject is carefully chosen.
I won’t say that my end goal is to sell all of my work — I think I make my work for me — but it is nice to have a way to cover your expenses and have something left over to contribute to your family.
Good-bye 2013 — it’s been a hell of ride!
Tweek!
010 years ago
It’s time for my weekly Tweek! You can follow me directly on Twitter @vsgreaves — or use the Twitter icon above right above the menu.
I don’t tell you what I’m eating — or what I’m doing (unless it’s really exciting) — I mainly post about what’s going on in the art world and what I think other Creatives would find interesting.
Groundbreaking — the US congressional copyright office is reconsidering “droit de suite” which would give artists a cut on re-sales of their work:
Copyright Office Calls for Congress to Reconsider Royalties for Artists http://nyti.ms/1di4rem
As an artist, it’s time to review your year — and prepare for the next:
Your Year-End Review for 2013 http://feedly.com/e/bKMFLqF0 via @artbizblog
“No-one goes to bed at night and dreams of quality” — better to sell dreams:
Sell the Dream: Customers Want the Dream More Than the Product http://feedly.com/e/tGVizwHQ via @feedly
Expensive cities are killing creativity http://aje.me/1gDy7Ii via @AJEnglish
“What Big Tech Knows About Art and You Don’t” http://theabundantartist.com/big-tech-money-art-sales/
“Tina Seelig: The 6 Characteristics of Truly Creative People”-Truly creative people “are quilt makers” ❤️ http://feedly.com/k/1khJup6
This is about Russian photographer Leonid Tishkov who bought a light up moon and traveled the world with it taking the most fascinating pictures along the way:
“The Man Who Ran Away With the Moon” http://hyperallergic.com/99262/the-man-who-ran-away-with-the-moon/
“You Were Born to Sell: Dismantling the Myths of Self-Promotion” – selling & serving http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/lA1BCX-Dnls/you-were-born-to-sell-dismantling-the-myths-of-self-promotion
“The Year of Rain and Cronuts” – the difference between art museums and amusement parks http://hyperallergic.com/99139/the-year-of-rain-and-cronuts/
Why is everyone surprised that Warhol or Farrah gave Ryan a painting of Farrah? And I find it confusing that the university that was bequeathed Farrah’s collection assumed that this particular piece should have been included. I suppose we are talking about a Warhol:
Ryan O’Neal allowed to keep Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett http://reut.rs/19gbzuU via @reuters
Tweek!
010 years ago
This is my weekly Twitter update. It’s been a rough week but I had a lot of time for reading.
If you want to follow my Twitter posts directly, I’m @vsgreaves — or click the Twitter icon in the upper right just above the menu.
This is a very fun video to watch. Brene’ Brown is hugely entertaining — and she gets creatives & what we have to do to produce our work. It’s 22 minutes long, but it’s worth the investment of your time:
Brene’ Brown does an amazing speech on “the sweaty creatives”: 22 minutes that all creatives should invest in: http://tinyurl.com/mwbx8qy
Don’t we all need guidance about how to price our artwork correctly:
A Guide to Pricing Your Artwork – http://buff.ly/19adxuE via @ArtsyShark
I have both an undergraduate & graduate degree in business and I’ve always wondered what you do if you’re starting with nothing. This article tries to answer that:
“The Secret of the Chicken and the Egg” : what to do if you’re starting with nothing http://feedly.com/k/IBfeHv
This is an video interview with a brilliant mathematician about how he approaches impossibility (he died a few days after the interview):
“How to Tackle Impossible Problems” interview with the creator of fractals Benoit Mandlebrot http://feedly.com/k/1ceBKgr
To find that our support of the arts in the US is dwarfed by our support of football is unsettling at best:
“Where’s the Money? US Arts and Culture Economy By the Numbers” does our culture in the US support the arts? http://hyperallergic.com/97423/wheres-the-money-us-arts-and-culture-economy-by-the-numbers/
Let’s face it — as artists, we are our own worst critics — and it’s good to hear that we’re in good company:
“Bruce Springsteen, Woody Allen, and the Long Tradition of Hating Your Own Work” http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/The99Percent/~3/uU23FDGkqcg/bruce-springsteen-woody-allen-and-the-long-tradition-of-hating-your-own-work
This is not art related at all but I found it fascinating because it explained a hole in history that I rarely see discussed — the decisions of the British & French & how they shaped the current state of the Middle East:
How the Middle East was shaped after the Ottoman Empire “The map that caused a century of trouble” http://zite.to/1dyunCQ
This is a photography article but its discussion of using the Golden Mean for composition is applicable to all visual art:
“Beyond Basic Composition: Line, Shape and Form in Photography” http://zite.to/191Of4a
Again, not an art article but a scientist interview about how having widespread technology without widespread understanding of how it works will lead to a controlled society:
“A Science Icon Died 17 Years Ago. In His Last Interview, He Made A Warning That Gives Me Goosebumps.” http://zite.to/19Hnnk7
“British Library uploads one million public domain images to the net for remix and reuse” http://zite.to/1kGOVLU