Some time off and a clean slate

Sunday: Well all this time off, painting the deck and stuff gave me time to develop a revised business plan I can start fresh with. So far it fits well as a unit, a process of working efficiently, plus an organized "after" plan for marketing. In truth little has really changed other than painting "collections" based on a singular idea. Nothing new there... artists and designers have been doing it forever. It just took me a little while to get there. My last collection "Singular Focus" about Koi and Lilies was the start that led me to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. What does that mean exactly; well I think it means "the beginning years are finally over and shelved". It's actually very liberating. I know from past experience decluttering needs to happen periodically for anything to remain viable.

THE PROCESS

1. It starts with one painting at a time  - in collections - until the energy is gone. Benefit: technical and atheistic improvement and a cohesive body of work called a "collection".

2. Obtain quality image scans for the reproduction market before releasing the collection. It could be narrowed to only the speed-bump paintings. The images are the long term investment from the lucrative reproduction market....or not. It's a good option to have tho.

Before you say never happen, consider the new advances in 3-D printing technology fast becoming main stream. It supposedly can capture the feel of depth in art work.

CELEBRATE A BIT 

3. Announce the completion to the galleries with good images looking for any interest they might have. The communication also lets them know you still exist and are producing work. Besides good PR they are always interested in seeing new work from artist they represent.

4. The solo exhibit would be an ideal way to release any new collection of work. Timing could be an issue - exhibits are set well in advance...hopefully you are on the list. If not, do it other ways..... website, social media, instagram or rent a space and do it yourself........commonly done by fashion designers.

A young artist I started collecting recently actually set one up online with email RSVP invitations and a release time. Very clever thinking on his part and something to look into.  

5. National Advertizing - a must for national exposure - galleries find new talent there too. Pick the best of breed to release each collection by doing a single image full page ad. I use American Art Collector... plus they also give you side article opportunities. Collections are generally tied to seasons with a max (4) ad budget $10,000 +

Half page ads are ineffective and waste valuable resources.

6. If you get a party, hopefully with some sales, collect your work and it's over.......you get a much needed break to think about the next collection or vegetate.

The break has no time limit. It could be the end game and you never pick up a brush again, because if you complete a collection there is a beginning and end. How cool is that!

AFTER MARKET

7. I think there is one duty left, the "after market". Release the collection to the galleries or not. But do release the images into the reproduction market, which also works around our seasons. This can be done at any level your comfortable with or the market allows. First and foremost it's our long term investment with dividends that should not be ignored by any artist. 

My choice was a simple licensing agreement allowing the professionals to do it for me. My real interest lies in making art, not selling it! That's a job for galleries and the after market reproduction guys. I'll gladly do my part and leave the rest to them.

THINK OF YOUR ART AS A LONG TERM INVESTMENT AND HOW TO CAPITALIZE ON IT. 

Decorating mode - showing scale

Monday: One of the nice things about our Virginia cave, it has good walls to display art on. Our last cave had more windows than walls.....67 if I remember right. I've never been one to hang my own work, but if I did, this cave would work well....even for some larger scale works.

I often clatter on about the "best walls" and about preferring to paint for those than any other. Generally, size is important when it comes to those walls. Art also needs to be good neighbors with it's surroundings. If it's a home it also needs not be offensive or violent in nature. That probably goes for most commercial installations too. I prefer more often that not, a mixture of new and old when it comes to art. I do like abstraction or strong design statements in art.... even in the most traditional setting they work well together. And, art must, especially if you want a comfortable, livable, environment, be cohesive with our lifestyle choices.

In any event, in today's world we have choices as close to us as our phones or computers. Of course a little "plastic" also makes it a painless experience to acquire anything our little hearts desire.....and without any travel or outside interference. Our whims are then delivered and if savvy shipped free and perhaps free of any sales tax too. And, of course the art world is now in it big.

Obviously all this is affecting artisans... especially how we market our work and more importantly how we'll do it in the future. As an artist we just have to visually get the message across. Most art websites do a wonderful job, but, a single image of our little creation won't tell the whole story. Thumbnails don't reveal scale. We also need reference points; how it might fit our buyers needs. Lately I've been using my website as a guinea  pig. Up till now, I used gallery settings in conjunction with my paintings images and it clearly shows scale. But, it's not "real"... it's a controlled commercial environment and not representative of the end user.

In the past we regularly received Sears and Penny "Wish Books", now it's RH (Restoration Hardware) and it's wonderful room set-ups to show us how to use their product in a collected style....our reference point to do our own thing. It seems logical this would also work for art and artists too. Cool idea but perhaps beyond our limitations because it would require some sort of staging as in the Hallsley model - perhaps a pro to set it up and take digital shots...... or maybe we could accomplish this at some level in our homes or studio.

In my last post I have a painting on one of those "best walls" at the Hallsley home.

THE PAINTING

932 Blue Skies 62x48 oil on linen gallery wrap

The painting's image has no sense of scale until the setting is exposed. I wonder if this simple presentation on the internet is not more compelling to a buyer than a bricks and mortar presentation.

THE ROOM

 

Hallsley- dining room

I'm not sure how this can be accomplished by the rank and file, but I think it's a worthy project to explore a bit further. The room above shows my intention as an artist very clearly and how I expected the painting to be used in the first place.

This painting was also part of my "AIR" collection and briefly at my Crossroads gallery. The paintings surroundings are clean and well lighted. My gallery's most important function as an artist to me is seeing it on a wall in controlled surroundings. This could also be accomplished in a studio or a home. 

Single wall presentation

Both paintings were actually used at Hallsley. The photo gives a good sense of scale.  This is a big painting at 60x82 (overall with frame) and comes across big in real life.

However when placed in a setting it could have been bigger and very deceiving with regard to scale in this photo.

A bit better but still looks small.

Better if it were raised 6" to 8" 

These are all good examples of scale and settings or no settings and how it looks on our screens to a potential client. BTW this is not a particularly large room and that's a 5 foot x 7 foot painting. As a designer I'm also not concerned lamps are intersecting the painting and neither is the table width bothersome. Art becomes monolithic with the setting and part of the family life.

The abstract 8x5 canvas by Curtis Strange is intersecting with a 7 foot grand. A very effective  way of unifying two major statement pieces. 

 

One simple vertical painting is perhaps the important finishing touch and helps set the pace for this room. In my mind this is how art is intended to be used. I call these "best walls", the only walls I care to paint for because I care where my work ends up and how it's presented. The "quicksand", we only control it's creation not the end use. However we can show how it might work and perhaps our website or blogs is the place to do it.

Hallsley - Artful Spaces

Friday: Yesterday I went to visit Hallsley, a local upscale residential development to see one of the ten models filled with art, antiques, jewelery, pottery, furniture and accessories all by local businesses, artists and craftsmen. Crossroads, Antiques Mall and Project One were responsible for all the interior magic seen in this one. Many Crossroads artists works were selected for the event including my own.

The "Artful Spaces" homes will be featured throughout this weekend.

EYE CANDY

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Most models are dressed to the nines using basically "off the shelf" reproductions..... after all they do have a budget. This home had a more "real" feel about it than most models I've ever experienced. The use of antiques in combination with the "off the shelf" and original art made this a "collected home".  Something we are familiar with, comfortable with, and more possible to achieve on our own than the dressed to the nines designer creations even this home will be in the next few weeks.

From an artist standpoint, I enjoyed seeing how all the wonderful art was displayed amongst all the treasures in this wonderful "collected setting".

Sunday: Well all this got me in the mood to work on our own cave.....Brenda don't get too excited, it only means today I'm going to paint the deck outside the studio. However, Spring madness could extend inside too...:=)

Now what!

Monday: The parties are over - the tax man is banging on the door and the deck needs painting. Perhaps a good thing, after all, it is spring and cleaning, painting and gardening seems right for the season. It's also a good time to be lazy and ignore it all, including the barbarian at the gate! Spring also brings peonies and water lilies which I enjoy painting.

NEW LILY PADS

I like water lilies in the spring because the pads are red, at least for awhile. Last year produced a lot of photos but not many top views like this. Typically I shoot them at different times of the day until the pond is totally consumed with lilies. Like I said before, a very aggressive variety.....actually need a bigger pond.

PEONIES

This batch of garden peonies was from 2013. The Stravitz Gallery has the two top ones and the bottom is in my own collection. Last year I didn't do any. I was more interested in change than flowers. The peony is a flower I understand tho and can paint. The lily however is a work in progress. I'll study them more next time around.

Tuesday: You know how some things gets mentioned more than once and you pay attention to the last one. That happened to me last week. Sometimes even an obvious title is missed. In this case it was and a sales associates reason for returning it.

AIR

This was the first painting and the bench mark for the "Air project"

I didn't mind the returning, just the reason! "The painting doesn't have anything going on and it's hard to make out if those are trees or not". The first time it was on another painting I ignored it, the second time it got my attention because it was almost the same reason. It made me realize neither understand the visual message in the painting or are able to counter positively if the remark was made by a client or customer........it also meant they would not be able to sell my work. It goes without saying it was on my mind and still is. I guess this is why art is moved around a bit before it finds the right wall.

A good sales staff  knows what any artist they represent is trying to convey, be quick on their feet, positively respond to inquires about any painting....regardless of their own personal taste.

The QUICKSAND here, sales, is an art form, because it's difficult to sell anything you don't believe in or love. In truth, it would be a difficult sale for most....people sense it and walk. I'm no different. I may not want to be bothered, but when I'm ready, the sales person is key to a sale. 

I'm sure it will all work itself out - oddly this got me thinking about "AIR" again, an unfinished project I never really concluded. In fact it ended up with me taking 2-months off.

Last year my painting focus was about "AIR", exploring more abstraction, possibilities and mood. "AIR" is an interesting subject because it has range. I paint Venice, London, rivers and the sea, sometimes with horses, the obvious, but that's not what those paintings were about or why I painted them. They only give a reference point to the real intent, "AIR". The other component to air is light and when added to a reflective surface, creates visual magic at its best! I would not bother painting if it were otherwise.

Even the peony paintings above are driven by the feel of "AIR".  Because of those comments it never occurred to me others would not see it too, or at least separate it out. In truth, most do..... they may not realize it, but they do. I know because they talk more about that than the obvious subject. The obvious perhaps reminds them of a time in their lives that made them happy. But, the heart-thump, the speed-bump or the jump-factor, whatever you want to call it, is the "LIGHT and AIR" quality of a painting....in my mind the obvious!

The concept "SINGULAR FOCUS" was developed from my "AIR" paintings. It was really a simplification to one obvious subject. Most of the air paintings were based off the sunrise on a rivers edge, then gravitated to the reflection on the waters surface and below. It also had an additional component, "SIZE & ABSTRACTION", which complicated it........lost energy ended it!

This was one of the many paintings in the collection and a speed-bump favorite...also large at 66x72

THE LAST AIR PAINTING

 A quick 20x20 study cleaning off my palette before turning the lights off

AND THEN THIS!

A month later, in a weak moment.........it could have easily been my last painting.

MORE TIME OFF!

Progress, we got to here and a party....

I think "AIR" needs another go....... besides, it never did get the party.....the only question left, will it have "the obvious subject"?

Party time!

Sunday: Friday night "CELEBRATIONS" took a few days to recover from but what a way to celebrate the finish of any good project! Until now I never thought much about that as a painter.....design projects yes, but not painting. You work real hard for 3 or 4 months and you get to have a party at the end! This was just like finishing an installation....well in the end this was a project of sorts, not about a single painting but a cohesive collection of work, including the end party!

It oddly gives you a fresh start..... nothing on the easel, no punch list, absolutely nothing but a clean break to think or not think about what's next. My time is my own.....for awhile!

One of the down sides at parties is photography always suffers. I have few to none of the actual party. Your time is no longer yours once the bell rings. I do have some eye candy tho...:=)

 EYE CANDY
Welcome Debra to the Stravitz!

The gorgeous Debra at my side waiting for opening bell

Saki was never served better

All the wonderful sculpture is by the very talented Dick Stravitz - this one is just "perfect"

TIME TO GO
 

She has a favorite

MY FAVORITES!

 We did it!!!