Art eXposed

However good your art, it is worthless if not on display. If your studio is currently cluttered with unsold works stacked in piles then the time is right to start getting it out there. Where it is on display really matters far less than most artists think. There is no point in holding out to have it displayed in some prestigious gallery when you are losing opportunities elsewhere.

We will be discussing getting your work into galleries in two months time, but because it takes time to achieve this it is worthwhile looking at other immediate actions you can take to get your art out in public.

Places to display your art for free

The options of where to display your art are limited only by the number of empty walls in the country. You should constantly be on the lookout for places where your art would enhance the atmosphere and where it would be exposed to large numbers of people.

Your Studio

Keeping a range of your work hanging in your studio should be mandatory for the artist just starting out. The cost is negligible compared to the opportunities it can bring. It is also an excellent place to sell work from, which we’ll discuss next month. Treat your studio like a gallery, neat and clean with the work well organized and hung on the walls.

Events

Events, shows and exhibitions of all types are often interested in having art on display if they don’t have to pay for it. Keep track of any upcoming events in your area and approach the organizers with your portfolio, explaining why you think your art would enhance their event. Another effective way is to form a combined show with artists from different disciplines. Jazz music and abstract art are a common example, but try to think of a novel combination that your work would harmonize with.

Donating artwork

If you have spare work lying around your studio that is not likely to be sold, consider giving it away to cafes, restaurants, hotels, hospitals and any other public buildings you can think of. This is not the same as selling your work in these places, since many will not allow this. You are giving them the work permanently, and the only thing you ask is that your name and preferably website address are clearly on display. This can be a very effective way of getting your art noticed because of the volume of people who will be exposed to it each day.

Competitions

Art competitions are organized up and down the country by foundations, corporations and individuals. The prestige of a competition is best judged by the prize money being given out, but at first you should try to enter as many as possible whether prestigious or not. It not only gets interest in your art, but is also an excellent way of meeting people, gaining credibility and possibly earning a little money.

Grants and awards

Grants and awards give money and opportunities to promising new talent. They vary greatly in how they are run: some are nothing more than cash in hand, others offer training courses. They can be an excellent addition to your resume, and many also offer promotional opportunities. Always be wary of any grants or awards schemes run through the internet. If they ask for more than thirty dollars to apply then you should consider them a scam.

Promotional video

If you take a particularly novel approach to creating your art that would be of interest to the public then have a short video made of yourself producing it. You can send it off to galleries, put it onto your website and have it on display at your exhibitions. It gives people who know little about art something to talk about in discussing your work. You can even try sending it off to a local television network or newspaper.

Finally

The number of people who see your art is directly proportional to the price you can sell for, so get as much out there as possible especially in the local community. Just remember to make sure your name and contact details are clearly displayed alongside.

This month we take a look at a subject that many artists find the most difficult:  Marketing Yourself. What we’re talking about here is not selling your work; it’s learning to sell yourself. As an artist you are not an anonymous manufacturer; you have put a little of yourself into everything you produce, and it is this that people buy.

Why should you market yourself?

For the most part artists do not have agents unless they are highly successful or they work mostly on commission, so promotion is down to you. But don’t worry about compromising your integrity; marketing yourself is not about tricks and stunts, it is about defining yourself and forming a brand that people can latch onto. It is choosing to label yourself, rather than letting others choose their own less desirable labels. The first and most important task in this process is creating an artistic statement.

The artistic statement

If you still believe that all art should speak for itself then you are probably not doing too well as a professional artist. A terse statement about yourself and your art is an essential marketing tool. It is a slogan for your product. It will be the first thing people read about you on your website or portfolio. It will roll off your tongue when asked about your art and it will be regurgitated in newspaper articles and the mouths of those discussing you.

It should be evident then just how important it is that you get it right. To start with, you should spend time thinking over and writing as much as possible about the following questions: What it is that you do? Why do you do it? What unifies your work? What are you trying to convey? Where do you fit in the art world? What are your core beliefs about art in general?

Write as much as you like, but try to keep it written in plain English. Imagine explaining your art to someone you respect, but who knows nothing about art. Once you have all your thoughts written out, you must then distil them down to a few short sentences. Do not merely cut things out, but think of what principles underlie all the different facets. You should aim for a short, memorable and profound statement that will explain the essence of what you do. If you need inspiration, look at the artist profiles on the ArteXposed website for good examples.

Putting it into action

So, you’ve written your artistic statement and come up with a great individual brand. How do you put it into action? What are the secret marketing tricks to spread your reputation? Sorry, but there are none. Self-promotion gimmicks are tawdry and counterproductive. You shouldn’t be waving banners and blowing trumpets to announce yourself to the world. We will be discussing how to get interest in your art later on, but in terms of promoting your name there are only three things to rely on: word of mouth, the newspapers and time.

Word of mouth

We will be discussing networking in depth next month, but for now you should know that it is through simple conversation that most opportunities will arise. Being able to talk about your art with confidence, fluidity, passion and sincerity to anyone who takes an interest is essential. All the work you put into writing your artistic statement will help you to verbalize your ideas. As for confidence, you must practice talking about yourself without either shame or arrogance.

Newspapers

A photo of you and your art in a newspaper is an excellent promotional tool, so always keep an eye out for opportunities. Think of what might interest the general public about your work. Perhaps you have created something with a local interest, or maybe your work involves novel techniques to create it. If you are holding an exhibition, submit details and a brief profile of yourself to local newspapers. The templates in the Art eXposed PR toolkit enable you do this in the correct form that journalists expect.

Give it time

Your reputation will spread if you put the work in, but it will take time. Understand that gaining notoriety locally must be done before you try to spread yourself further. Be patient, but always be on the lookout for new opportunities to spread your name.

The blank canvas is the bane of artists since the number of options seems limitless, but worse is to come on completing the work. After putting the final touches to your work, you are presented with the equally open ended problem of what price to give it. For the inexperienced artist it can seem impossible to fix a price, so they ending up making wild guesses (almost always too high) and then wonder why their art is not selling.

The first thing to understand is that the price of art is simply the highest amount that someone is willing to pay for it. However, the second thing to understand is that only people who see it can pay for it. The price is circumscribed by the wallets of those who view it, hence the importance of having your work seen by as many people as possible.

Why price at all?

Many artists refuse to put fixed prices on their art, but they lose sales because of it. If you keep an open studio where people can enter and browse your work it is imperative that every piece hanging on the walls has a price tag on it.

People hate to talk about money, especially where art is concerned, so many buyers will choose to walk out rather than face the indignity of asking how much a piece costs. If they do have the courage to ask and the price is not written somewhere, they will assume you are making it up based on how rich they look.

Creating a baseline

So where do you begin in setting a price? The first step is to work out what your minimum monthly income is. Be realistic about this and always estimate high. Keep this figure in mind at all times as it will act as a deterrent for unrealistically low prices.

A preliminary price

Next, add up the cost of producing the art work you’re trying to price, including all expenses. Then add up the total amount of time spent on the work and multiply it by a sensible hourly rate – 20dollars an hour should be a minimum. Simply adding these two figures together will give you a fairly sensible estimate for a price. Dividing your minimum monthly income by the price of this work will tell you how many pieces you should be aiming to produce a month to keep you going.

Better methods

The best way to price work is to base it upon previous sales, hence the importance of keeping the catalogue of your work we discussed last month. The more you sell, the more you will get a feel for what your work is worth. You should compare your prices with those of other local artists and those on the Art eXposed website, but remember to take into account their experience and reputation.

Another method is to talk to art consultants and galleries. Galleries will not display your work at unrealistic prices, but keep in mind that visiting them without any idea as to the value of your work will mark you out as an amateur.

Maintaining and raising prices

Always maintain consistent prices. Inconsistency shows you are unsure of the value of your work. If you cannot bear to part with a work for a low price then keep it hanging in your studio without a price tag, and if anyone asks about it let them make you an offer. On the whole, larger works should be valued higher than smaller ones. This may seem arbitrary, but it is the law of the market.

You should only consider raising the prices of your work: after you have achieved respectable sales in your current price range for at least six months; if a gallery tells you that your prices are too low; or if you have changed your output significantly to justify such a change.

Final tip

Make sure to keep track of your sales in your catalogue, and always keep some cheaper works on hand for any impulse buyers you happen to meet.

Twitter is a Micro-blog .  It allows you to post short 140 char blogs, called tweets. It is also considered a moblog (mobil blog), because you can send your blog via your cell phone (text Message (40404) , or via their wap site m.twitter.com). You can also post from the web (http://www.twitter.com/) or by IM using their screen name  “twitterim”.  Internet developers are also creating other methods for you to enter information into your twitter blog.

So why should artists use Twitter?  Well unless you live in a cave, every art magazine, art marketing guru, and Internet site is telling you to blog.  But if you’re like me, it’s HARD to stop and take the time to write an article.  That’s why there’s twitter… for people like you and me.  Just a couple of sentences will keep your patrons happy and with an easy to use interface you have no excuse not to blog.

With Twitter you just let your patrons know what your doing. So when you’re  excited about something just send a tweet.

Let me give you a few examples of tweets you can post:

• Just started a new painting: The long Island sound on a cool fall day. (Sept 18)
• Spent the morning on the sound, 74 degrees … life doesn’t get any better than this. (Sept 19)
• Happy with the progress so far, can’t wait for you all to see. (Sept 21)
• Just finished the painting … check it out on Art eXposed !!!! (Sept 24)

You can post your tweets to your current blog, on your myspace.com page, or on your website using widgets.  Below I have place an RSS feed of the Art eXposed twitter.

The Art eXposed Twitter

Please wait while my tweets load
If you can’t wait – check out what I’ve been twittering

I spent the day walking around Soho. Spent most of the afternoon walking up and down W. Broadway, talking to artists and admiring their artwork.  Below are pictures from my day in Soho, NYC.

Azen Tsang
	R. Nicholas Kuszyk  http://www.rrobots.com/	The Lamentation. 2006, after Simon Marmion. R. Nicholas Kuszyk
Adrian Lloyd Brown	Elias Saifan	Boom, Spring/W.Broadway