Art and Art Shows

I went to a large art show last Saturday. There was 124 artists, and thousands and thousands of visitors. It was quite well attended. I stayed the whole time, and walked the many blocks from one end to the other of the show. There were all types of artists, and all levels of skills.

I was struck by one observation I made -- of all the artists and visitors there, I only saw about three pieces of art sold. There probably were other sales as well, but I would be willing to bet there were not many sales made.

Given the economic climate I am sure that art sales are down just like sales in lot of other areas.

This made me think. In all the years I have been in art, I have been in many shows -- juried shows, outdoor fairs, small shows, big shows, and public art displays. I have donated art to charity auctions and one thing that seems to be consistent among all the shows, is that a good show may sell about 11% of the art represented, and that is not much.

Yet, at most art shows, there are lots of people looking at the art, talking to the artists, talking to each other about the art, and in general there is a festive atmosphere.

At first I was upset for the artists. Some were my friends, and I know some made a big effort. One even hired an model for the show, and was doing a painting demonstration of her. It seemed so unfair that they were putting out so much effort, and the visitors just came to look and enjoy, but certainly the vast majority had no intention of buying.

Reflecting upon this situation further, I started to reconsider my thinking. Yes, people come to enjoy themselves, and yes, most did not come to buy, but they did come to see the art. The visitors appreciate art. Perhaps for some visitors, they could not afford art, and this is one of the ways they can enjoy art, even if they can't own it.

Like public art, these shows bring art to the public as well. I think these shows are really more than just opportunities to sell art. These shows are a way to give lots of people a way to enjoy art, to see art, to promote art in the community, and for the artist, a chance to become known, and to get positive feedback that we all crave and need.

I guess what I am trying to say is that these shows, and public art displays, are important events in an artistic lifestyle. It is a chance to share our creativity, our vision, and bring our work to those who really appreciate art. It may be hard to earn a living at art, but it can still be very rewarding.

At The Show

I just completed my day at the art show I mentioned in my last blog. The setup and tear down really was not as bad as I expected. Both went quickly, and while I could not find my tent, I had perfect weather - warm, sunny, cool breeze and I was facing the Gorge Waterway in Victoria, and could sketch the Canadian geese, rowers, and kayakers so my tent was not really missed.

I find one of the best and most appreciated ways to pass my time at these shows is by drawing, sketching and painting. The convener of the show stopped by and thanked me for demonstrating (and there I thought I was just doing my thing and having fun). I had a number of people stop and ask me if they could look closer at what I was doing. I know doing art at shows can have drawbacks. I am not greeting and making contact with people as they walk by. People may be afraid to interrupt me while I am working, and it was hard for me to work on the small surface that was left after I set up my display. The show was six hours, and I used the time to sketch, did one watercolour painting/sketch, and did a drawing to prepare for another watercolour painting.

The demonstrating paid off in big dividends this time. I was concentrating on what I was doing, and became aware of a man with a large video camera circling me. I thought he might be one of the show staff recording the show for their website. Instead, I discovered he was from the local TV news, CHEK. We talked for a little while, then he was gone to interview the convener of the show. I waited with baited breath for the evening news, and I was not disappointed. One of my watercolours was chosen from the hundreds of paints at the show to be put on the news at 11 p.m. I was thrilled. It made me feel really good, and recently I have been a little depressed about my art. The image with today's blog is the one that was highlighted in the news last night. I am lucky too, because this is the image I put on my business cards.

Lots of other good things happened at the show as well. I met a lot of my artist friends, who I did not know were in the show, and I always enjoy socializing with them. I was next to a man who I want to study bronze sculpture with, and we had a chance to talk after the show, and that was nice. I really enjoyed looking at his work during the show as well. He set up his bronzes (a cat, a rabbit, and some other works) under a tree in the grass, and the setting was one of the best for sculpture I have seen.

I also had some surprises. I have two images in my car windows with my name and contact information. One image is of a women in a red dress and blue shawl, and the other is of a boy. One lady saw my images, then hunted me down at my booth. She wanted a mini art lesson in the difference in facial features between men and women. Apparently, she paints faces on ceramic cups, and could get the women correctly, but was not successful with the men. So I gave her a rundown of some of the major differences, then to my surprise, she pushed a blank part of the program at me and asked me to draw the differences for her. I quickly sketched up a generic male and female face for her, and she was extremely pleased. I have to say that is the first art lesson I have given at an art exhibit. I really did enjoy helping another artist. I do believe it is important that we help each other as much as possible, and I have a lot of help I need to give to pay back for all the wonderful help I have received and still do receive.

My ego enjoyed the peoples' comments the most at the show. So many people had praise and appreciation for my art. One of my favorite conversations was with a man who amazed me with his knowledge of lighthouses. He could tell by looking at my lighthouse paintings which were American, Canadian, and from which coast they came from. I discovered he had worked in lighthouses all over North America, and could tell by the architecture what region they were from. Obviously, I am very outgoing and love to talk to strangers. There is so much of interest they can tell me, and most people I meet I find I like.

Overall, I have to say the preparation and work were well worth the experience I had. I believe that showing my art is an integral part of my life as an artist, and even though it is work to show my art, if I can inspire people, connect with people, and help people through my art, then its value increases well beyond the pleasure I had in creating it. I like selling my art, but I get the most validation from connecting with people through my art

Preparing for Shows

I guess one of the problems that all artists face is preparing for shows. I love painting and drawing, but I hate getting ready for shows. A lot of that is my art storage problems. Tons of art, and it is hard to find the art I want for a show, and to make sure I have a photo of the art, that I haven't scheduled the art for more than one show, that I have enough marketing materials (and holders) for the show, that everything is framed and ready to go, etc.

I am not the most organized artist, but I am not the worst either. I find the preparing for a show, and getting ready to go is discouraging. This week I have to hang a solo show on Wednesday, and then I am going to a fair type show on Saturday. The solo show requires more work to set up the marketing for the month, but the day show is so intense it will be hard.

I find when I have two shows like this, I only do what is necessary in my personal life. I cancel out my visits with friends, and just focus on the art shows.

I like the shows and get excited about the potential, but also dread the work. I guess I am like most people, I hate doing the work. I like the artist life, but there are some jobs I really could pass on.

I am still working very hard to draw and paint everyday, despite the strain the shows put on me. Besides making me happy, all the drawing and painting is appreciated when I need lots of art for all these shows.

I guess the other thing I really hate about the shows is trying to come up with prices. Prices are hard to set, and I don't know of any formula that is used by a majority of artists. I do my pricing based on my experience, and what I expect a particular market is willing to pay. I do price my art consistently, but if I think a market is not capable of paying for my larger art, I bring smaller works to the show. I never produce inferior or rushed work. The quality of my work is a direct reflection of who I am. I just change the size of the work to change the cost of the piece.

I guess I am just getting discouraged by all the marketing, and shows. I dream of the day when I will have a group of collectors, and not have to worry about galleries, shows, and marketing.

Balancing the Business of Art with Creating Art

I am going a bit crazy now and will be crazy for the next two weeks. I have four shows to get ready for, and a major competition to bring paintings for the judging. I don't know about other artists, but I find this a bit daunting. I am going to create a set of lists for each show, and what art I am putting into each, to make sure that I don't put something into one show, that really should have been put in another. As well, one of these shows is a solo show, so I have to hang it, and prepare the area, and that is even more work.

The main point of all this, is it is tough balancing the demands of life, the demands of the business side of my art, and doing the art itself (which is why I got into the business of art). I draw everyday, and I paint several times a week, and this is going to change soon to painting and drawing everyday. The creating of art is my most important part of my life as an artist. I must never let the day to day demands of the business side, start to push away my time to draw and paint. Like tonight, I will be starting to paint at midnight, and I am not at my creative best at that time.

I know there are business emergencies that must be handled, but in all honesty, I feel that if drawing and painting are really important, they must come first and the emergencies need to come second.

Since I have been drawing everyday since January 1 of this year, drawing each day seems to come naturally to me now. I draw when I take a coffee break, from TV or just to relieve stress. I find that painting has not reached this level in my life yet. I feel that with painting, I need to prepare surfaces, get water to clean brushes, and put acrylics out on the palette, then I can begin. So what? I guess I am angry with myself for not putting first things first.

My sketching club is disbanding for the summer, and I am going to use this time to paint plein air, and alla prima. If you are following these blogs, you know that I have also been painting alla prima at long pose life drawing sessions as well. I can see a lot of room for improvement, but I have also been surprised at how well the paintings have gone.

So has the business side of art for me. I am working very hard at Internet marketing, and that is taking up a huge amount of time, as I build the market I need, but I have to have patience, and look at it as if it is a multi-year project, which it is, and not let it drive me. Creating art is what I want as my driver, and good art to boot, and not the demands of business. Having been a businessman most of my life, I can easily get trapped in the business demands, so I must stay alert to my past habits taking control of me.

Well, off I go to paint. I haven't had time to create digital images of my work in the last couple of weeks, so I will post an image with this blog entry that I do have an image of, but hopefully soon, I will get to the business side of photographing my new art. Certainly, before the work goes into the next show.

Curating an Art Show

Yesterday, I hung the first art show I curated. It was month's in the preparation, and I was scared stiff yesterday as the process began. I started month's ago with the idea of having an art show for our sketching club so we could exhibit our sketches. Once the club decided to go forward, I was excited and ready to run with it. I got lots of interest and moral support, and so I started to try to find venues for the show. There were about four I compiled into a list, and started contacting each to see if any would have our show. Two were enthusiastic, one was in the process of a move, and unsure how ready they would be, and I actually never succeeded in contacting the fourth. I slowed down when suddenly as the show started to become more of a reality than a concept, I was suddenly getting people pulling their support (not wanting to participate) which made me very nervous. After all it was my name in the requests for space for the show.

The sketching club is approaching its first anniversary, and many of the sketchers had never entered art in a show, or had a bad experience with another show prior, and didn't want to get involved again in showing their art.

Once a venue was acquired, I really got worried. The area was 8 feet x 8 feet x 8 feet approximately, and presented us with a lot of space to display art in. Two months before the show, I got support from two other really ardent members, that if we had too, the three of us would each produce twenty sketches for the show, so we could make it happen if everyone backed out on us.

It was the winter months, and the club had moved inside at the local university for life drawing, and we were down to about 4 active members who still continued to come even though we were indoors. The president and I started to email the other members and really talk up the show. Slowly more and more sketchers took an interest, and we were able to belay the fears of the many. We pointed out this was not a juried show, these were sketches and not finished works of art, and it could be great fun if this was a person's first show.

Until I put together the first draft list of paintings, we really had no idea of how many we were going to have. We wound up with over 70 and there was still potential for more. We went from not having enough to having too many! So, some of us who were willing to work extra hard to get extra sketches done, again filled the gap by removing several of the sketches we originally intended to show. That is how we got the number to 68.

My next worry was how was I going to hang so many sketches in three and a half hours (the time frame the municipality requested). I put out a call for help to the sketching club, and again I was amazed at the support. In the end there was five of us there to hang the show, and we got finished with 15 minutes to spare!

I have to say I am really proud of the show. All the club members except for one displayed in the show. A photographic artist in the club (who sketches with us) provide high quality photos of club activities, and the president did up beautiful brochures, flyers, and information sheets which we have at the show as well. What makes me so proud though, is the quality and diversity of the sketches, and the wide range of materials and styles. The show has great interest and is tons of fun for the club.

We are planning a night together to see the show as a club, and then socialize over finger foods and coffee. What a cool way to into our first anniversary together. Bravo to the bit sKetchy sketching club!

I am posting a photo of the exhibit and a sketch I did with the club. The sketch is probably too much of a drawing, and it still needs work, but I will wait until the club returns this coming summer to that location, and finish the sketch/drawing then.

I really enjoyed curating this show, and all my fears and anxiety proved to be unfounded. And it gave me the knowledge to curate my next show, which is going to be my people drawings! I guess the best way to help yourself is to help others.