Canadian Artist Julia Trops in Kelowna BC Canada

Sometimes the sad truth is that you may not like how a curator displays your work.

In a nutshell, too bad for you.

You have the option to either see it as the curator sees it, or the message that the curator is trying to get across or understand how the curator had to work within the space confines, or you can take your work out.

If you take your work out, you run the risk of looking like a high maintenance prima donna, or in my eyes, at the least, very unprofessional. But that is your choice.

When you submit work for an art show, whether in a gallery, an informal community centre such as the RCA Galleria, or in your own space, you need to remember to think about a few things, and to do a few things, BEFORE you submit, and then remember these AFTER you submit. A Call to Artists is a Call to Artists, regardless if the art will be presented in a gallery for a fundraiser, or if in a public gallery for a show, or a commercial gallery for sale.

First, is the Call to Artists. Your job, and the scope of your responsibility is the artwork. I’ve addressed the majority of the issues already in this blog post here. In the Call, there may be specific requests or requirements, such as having the works ready and wired to hang, or framing issues etc. If you have any questions at all, the time to ask them will be at the Call to Artists. Even if the Call does not state, use your initiative to ASK about space issues – should you submit a large work or a small one? ASK about potential client attendees – should you submit to a price point, or a specific subject, or a specific size or should they be framed?

There are normally two main goals when you submit work to a Call: exposure and sales (or cv if work is not for sale). Why wouldn’t you do the absolute best you can to satisfy and succeed in those two goals?

rant/ RESPECT the deadlines! Can I say that any louder? RESPECT THE DEADLINES! That means you need to mark your own calendar, and be responsible for work drop off, and for work pick up…. ON TIME! When I coordinate a show, I don’t want you calling me every week and asking me when to drop off work, or when to pick up work, when I have already provided you with that information! (I am thinking of one particular artist who did that. I no longer take their calls.) I am not your mother, or your caretaker, or your angel on your shoulder! I gave you a timeline, use it! Am I frustrated? Can you tell? lol! Okay, that felt better. If you don’t have a calendar, get one. Then, after you get the calendar, use it. The excuse “I am an artist, I am above/I don’t know how/can’t/don’t want to” is bullshit. I don’t care if it is a hard copy book, or one online, just get one, then use it! Yes, that is a direct command from General Trops! I use google calendars, I can access them from anywhere on the web, my whole family is on there, so if I need to figure out if an appointment is doable, I log in and check. So simple! /rant

When a curator is installing a work they have to work, at the very minimum, within constraints such as space, and what other works are submitted. The best overall look for a show is the number one priority for the curator. Simply put, artist egos have no place in determining where an artwork goes. Larger works are usually placed first, or depending on the message that needs to be conveyed, the artworks that are placed first are usually the strongest in that message. Something I should say again, is that artist egos have no place in deciding where an artwork goes, most especially in a group show.

Make sure your artworks are labeled! Recently I had the opportunity to coordinate and curate the Evergreen Art Gallery of about 40 or 50 works – I would say at least 75% of the works were not marked on the back. Nothing. No title, no medium, no artist name, nothing. When the same artist submits five pieces, and none of them are marked, what do you think is the likelihood of the correct tag being put on the work? Or if an artist submits an unmarked diptych or a triptych, what is the likelihood that they will be arranged properly? Obviously if the artist does not care to mark the piece, then should I care to make sure the right tag is on it, or it is in the right order? oops… that is sounding dangerously like another rant. Well, I think you get the idea.

When you submit work for a show, it is the curator’s job to ensure it all works within the space and the artworks as a whole.  The artist is responsible for their work arriving and departing, and the curator is responsible for the gestalt presentation.

Present your best artwork in a professional manner at all times, and the curator will do their best too.

And when is it about the artist, the locality, the artwork, or the economy?

Hard questions.

I Just Have a Big Mouth

In the last six months or so, I have had so many people come up to me (mostly other artists) and say what a terrific job I am doing in marketing. Marketing?! What marketing? I just have a big mouth, that’s all.

If I am doing something, I say so. If I am involved with other groups, I say so. If I am involved in your group, it is because I believe in it, and/or I am proud of it. I wouldn’t be hanging out with you if you didn’t have something positive to offer the community. I wouldn’t be hanging out with you if I didn’t have something positive to offer YOU! These days it seems it is really hard to get people involved in outside artist activities… So be happy that anyone is involved in your project, whether it is me, or Joe the Plummer! Be happy that I’m blabbing (or blogging) about it! You should be too, why aren’t you?

Some people have done their blasting of their work through the charities, and their donations. Very commendable, but when do you draw the line and say, “okay you guys, you’re bleeding me dry?” Some people have done their blasting of their work through galleries, or through exhibitions, or through their activities or their organizations they belong to (ie Rotary, Red Hats or __Fill_in_the_Blank__). That is great! What you are doing is utilizing the greatest asset that we have at our disposal, that of cooperation and community!

Is it marketing? Sure. Any time you open your mouth to say what you are doing, you are marketing. For example, even when I am not marketing my art, if I am doing a unrelated activity, I am still marketing my art, because I am known as an artist. The art is seldom separated from the artist, how can it be, really, when you think about it. The art is a reflection of what is inside of you, you are a walking advertisement for your work. So walk tall!

Three Main Groups of Artists

The way I see it is that you have three main groups of artists.

1. The first group are hobbyists, and they put on an artshow to hopefully make a few sales, show people what they’ve done, have a good time. It’s a pleasure based activity, not one that is really grounded in personal achievement and ambition.
2. The second group are what I call commercial artists, usually full time but not in all cases, who create a specific type of work for a specific type of clientele. Still pleasurable, painstaking, but these artists are in love with what they do, and shows that they have are very targeted towards the needs of these clientele, very much a niche market.
3. The third group of artists are those who are full time artists, but again not in all cases, who create work just because they love to create and are always on the look out for new ways in to their ideas. These artists look at their artworks like they are diamonds, with many facets of expression and interpretation. These artists love to have shows so they can interact with the public and share their discoveries. The artworks do sell, but not usually right away – in my cases, I’ve had works sit for about six years before anyone saw the same potential and excitement that I did.
4. There is another group of artists who show in artist run centres who rely on art marketing by the galleries, and rarely sell, so for that reason, I am not going to include much about them here. Having said that though, there are many artists who combine two or three of these “categories”, simply because they can, and they have that ability.

Buying from an Art Gallery vs Buying from the Artist

Let’s talk about the locality – where the shows are. Are they in a town who supports artists, and who buy a lot of art? Or are they in a town whose residents go to art shows, but rarely buy anything. Are the art shows in a gallery or with other artists? The benefit of being in a gallery is you have the apparent blessing of an establishment stating “this artwork is worthy of purchase.” Am I supportive of galleries? Absolutely. My work is in galleries, why wouldn’t I be supportive of them? Galleries take the guess work out of an art purchase. Galleries have already done the homework in terms of the artist, the artwork and the potential future. In my case, the galleries I am in are in a different place than I am, and I know that my reputation is a strong one, strong enough to carry to be where they are – and I know they sell my work because I receive a nice cheque every now and then. But, having said that, I believe it is a wise and daring client who would be more interested in purchasing the artwork from the artist – these clients have the time to do their own homework, and while they may purchase from a gallery from time to time, they enjoy the pleasure of hunting out new blood. These are the types of clients that I like, as they are explorers themselves. They aren’t afraid to go off the beaten path of the regular gallery route to discover a hidden nugget – they are cultural hikers.

The Economy

The economy has been really tough in the past year and a half on those of us who pay our bills from the results of artwork sales. I mean, really tough. Talk about going in to a black hole of nothingness. So what do you do? Do you complain and sit back and say, it’s the economy…? or do you adapt? For me, I adapt, and I make sure other people consider adapting too – for example: if big works aren’t selling, make small ones. If paints cost a lot of money, learn to use another medium that doesn’t cost a lot. You are creative!! Explore, be inventive, go beyond the apparent barriers, and you will surprise yourself. Make noise – eventually it will turn into song.

Does Artwork Really Sell Online?

Yes, it does. There is no other way to say it. I remember back in 2004 when I was looking for a way to get my work out of Kelowna, and I started to sell on ebay. Sure ebay wasn’t the regular route, but it has never been my path to go the regular route. I was doing very well – my first piece was $900 30×40 oil painting to a fabulous woman in Ontario, and it only increased from there. I remember going to a marketing course “Are you Export Ready”, put on by the Alternator Gallery, the local artist run centre, in 2004 or 2005. I was told at that time I was not export ready, even though I had already sold more than a few thousand in the few months that I was online. I attended the course to learn about exports and regulation, and learned enough to find the rest of the way myself. Anyway, I digress. There was a discussion about where to put artworks for sale, and someone at the back said “you can always sell on ebay!” Everyone laughed as if it was a big joke. I was very hurt by that, as these were people I admired and respected. It is now 2009, and I have five years of online sales, a huge number on my email list and I could not ask for any better clients. These are people who really connected with my work and appreciated it. What more can I ask for?

The point that I am trying to make is that don’t dismiss the oddball ventures. Be courageous. Don’t follow the crowd. Gallery owners troll ebay, because it is a nice snapshot of what is going on in the world. As a result of my sales and exposure on ebay, I was able to move over to Ruby Lane in 2007, which is where I am now. With my start on ebay,  which includes over 700 artworks sold literally around the world, in the past five years, being published in a book about life drawing by University instructor Harold Stone, picked up by a gallery in Hong Kong, and met some tremendously savvy business people in Tom King’s The Business Group, (also on ebay, gold and platinum Power sellers) people whose business is selling online – millions of dollars a year. How better for me to learn than to be with outstanding people? And I am proud to say that I have been able to help them too.

None of this would have happened if I listened and was intimidated by the people I respected and admired, and allowed their behaviour to modify mine. What I did consider was why I respected and admired them, I guarantee you that this has become less.

The Artwork

If you do some artwork and don’t tell anyone about it, that’s all fine as well. Some artwork is very personal. There are a lot of works I have done that no one knows about because quite frankly, I don’t think they’d “get it”. I don’t even “get it” at least not yet, maybe in a few years things will become clear as to why etc. That’s usually how it works, hindsight and all that.

The Last Word

All I can say is that 80 percent of marketing is being strong enough to stand up and say something out loud to many people who may or may not be listening. It doesn’t really matter if they are listening, it matters that you are standing up and saying it.  People are going to remember your name because they either:

• really love your artwork, or
• really hate it, or
• can’t believe that you are telling others about it, or
• because they think you’re a flake.

All of the above are completely acceptable, because they are going to remember your name.

is a very business oriented action. By this I mean you are entering in to a contract with another business owner to perform a service, which is supplying artwork for their walls. In supplying artwork for their walls, they receive a benefit, as do you, which is exposure and possible artwork sales.

The best way to not provide good service as an artist to your potential business partners is to never communicate, never provide updated contact information if you move or change phone numbers, and never follow-up on agreements to confirm that they are still in place or see if things have changed.

I was recently involved in a situation where an artist booked a space with a business in December, never communicated with the business owner when they (the artist) moved, or even throughout the time leading up to their appointment to hang their artwork in May. I, on the other hand, went in sometime in March, to this same business, and asked if there were any spots available – I was told no, not until the fall, however, there is someone who was to go in May who they couldn’t get in contact with.

Okay I said to the business owner, I will follow up with you later on. I went back the end of March, and again once a week in April (a total of about four times from March to April) to find out what was happening. Finally, the last week of April I was given the go ahead because this other artist had apparently dropped off the ends of the earth. I found out who the current showing artist was, and when they would be taking their artwork down. The two of us made arrangements, so that the business owner would not have bare walls for too long of a time.

Lo and behold, the lost artist came in on April 30th (I understand) and was surprised to find that they lost their position. I was asked ….Hmmm – would I be willing to share the time or the space? No, absolutely not, I replied – this is a business situation, I did my due diligence and then some. Maybe next time you can do yours.

Lessons I hope this other artist learned:

1. always follow up and/or confirm as time goes on.
2. you are an artist and your communication is not restricted to the visual – communicate with the business owner, and the artist previous to you to make the transition as seamless as possible.
3. don’t throw tantums because you feel you have been slighted if you drop the ball, then NO one will want your work.

oil painting on canvas 12″x24″
A bit of an unusual subject matter for me – combined with the odd palette is a stretch. Thinking these should be HUGE!!! Like 7 feet long huge.