Hello Everybody

Welcome Guiseppe! I joined over a year ago and am a fairly new artist, I am just now finding my style(s) and who my market is. I'm also on other platforms including Houzz which is a good platform for my work also. I hope to see some images of Irleand. Many here have roots there, I am curious about contemporary images and would like to see them.

Hi Giuseppe! Are you italian? :)

I joined FAA in Feb 2013, and sold only 1 piece, but to sell art online we need a lot of patience and work

Hi Suzanne and congratulations for all your cool works.
I don't know Houzz but I'll definetely check it out.!

Hi Andrea yes, I am :-)
I see you also have a lot of beautiful pictures! Is the level here on fineartamerica so high?? :-)

Is higher than you think! :) For the standards of this site my photos are...normal!

I can understand why you've sold just one print... there are amazing works on this website :-)
Competition is very high here.

Yeah and thousands of new pictures are uploaded every week, is very hard to build a market, but we must try :)

I guess it is important to promote your gallery on other websites. I'll try something, if I won't sell anything I'll keep shooting pictures for myself :-D

Here are some great posts on the forum about marketing your work

http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2040787 A Few Reasons Y U May Not Be Selling
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=377664 Marketing Yourself
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=358080 Promoting Your Art
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1601966

Abbie

Hi Giuseppe, and welcome to FAA. Your image is fantastic. I look forward to seeing more of your work and wish you lots of success - Natalie :)

Thanks Abbie that's very helpful!!
Thank you very much Natalie it's very kind of you.

Thank you for the compliment! A lot of my work is not scenic, more close-ups and patterns of nature, etc. which falls in line with some of my interests. Andrea is right, there is a lot of marketing involved, you are competing with professionals and their images around the world. I am also realizing with having been here over a year, consistently working, observing other artist's work and reading discussion threads I need to now go to the next level and send out brochures to my market which are Interior Designers, Architects and Builders.

You need a lot of images unless you already have a good following. Generally it is recommended to have 2000 images as a good round number in your galleries. I have around 700 images, I think I have enough for my target market to start off with (although you never feel like you enough!). Earlier I spent some time on Houzz.com as a Professional Interior Designer, giving free recommendations for design problems to give value and present workable art solutions to the individuals without knowing much about them or what they like. It is hard work and results seem slow but I have found my calling and style in that venue. Having spent sometime there and received good feedback I was recognized by Houzz and with their approval of my work and asked to show in their art retail section (apart from the public galleries where any artist can download their art, of course it is somewhat hidden since it is free).

Even though a piece of my work was recently featured with other gifts for the bride and groom and resulted in the sale of a canvas print that was just delivered yesterday to a customer in NV, like FAA I am competing with thousands of art pieces and professional art galleries and commercial art companies, so I am finding the need to advertise like any other business. No one gets a free lunch most of the time! At FAA you are competing with 27,000 artists and millions of images! I don't want you to think, as someone recently said, this is a "cake walk" you need to dig your heels learn as much as possible and be patient with yourself.

Suzanne congratulations for your sale! It is definitely true... art without marketing, unfortunately, doesn't sell... which is not bad if you have a job. But if you want gain money from your art the best way to do it is to advertise it everywhere and keep your personal style.

Thank you Giuseppe! You have the idea. I am also realizing being an artist first I need work on understanding the business/accounting side which I have neglected to feel comfortable and not waste effort when advertising.

One idea you may want to consider is getting with groups in the social media that relate to Ireland since you live there and can supply images. Personally I love the old cottages, architecture, gardens that are not abundant here. Some of your villages it seems you can still be on the street and take a closeup of a window, door, flowers on a window sill, whereas here often there is an expanse of lawn and villages have newer architecture with few to no homes on the main street. I think I have done enough talking for now! Lol

lol thanks Suzanne there are actually lot of beautifully places and village here in Ireland.
I'll post some pictures I took around this beautiful country in the next days :-)

Welcome Giuseppe

Thanks Susan!

Welcome to FAA!

Welcome Giuseppe. I'm a newbie here too. Just joined couple months ago. There are a lot to learn.
Your work is amazing!!

Giuseppe,

Welcome

You would not know it from my last name, but my family is mainly in Ireland.

What part of Dublin are you staying in?

Dave

Thanks Quita, thanks Jonathan much appreciated.
Hi David I'm living on the quays, near the Grand Canal theatre.

For the Americans, the quays are the two roads along the river Lilffey and the bridges that run between those roads.
http://tinyurl.com/km32dbj

Giuseppe,

My dad was from Sandy Cove. Mom was from Kildare. I have cousins in Waterford, Wicklow and Belfast, among other places.

My Gramps swam in the Forte Foot year round. I dont think anyone here has witnessed anything like that, but you.

Dave

David, I had thought you looked very Anglo Saxon, like right off the boat from somewhere in GB! lol Most of us that have been in America for a two or more generations and have other cultures in our bloodstream. I am about 3/4 German, with Irish and English mixed in. My last name Powers is Irish with one of my ancestors in 1740 signing his name on his marriage license as David Powers marrying a Sally Ryan who apparently couldn't write and signed with an X.

Now that you mention it you look about as Irish as anyone can get except that you don't have red hair but a lot of black hair like my Dad who didn't start to lose his until he was in his 50's, same with his father and still had hair on top when he passed in his 80's.

Nice work Giuseppe ... and welcome.

Suzanne,

thanks for the compliments....

I have an Irish mane. Right now it is much longer than in my avatar.

We are digressing here, but I am half Irish/catholic with roots deep into Ireland and possibly Scotland.

My dad's side is Irish Jewish. Grandma was first generation Irish from east of Poland. And Gramps was 26 when Ireland
became his first country, and only country, of origin/citizenship. He was from Poland.

So I am slightly darker than the Irish. I look more like my mother. And a good bit like my bald Gramps. He had
a shop in downtown Dublin with a small factory just down the road. He was a women's tailor. He was also, like his
brothers who had two more sister shoppes in London, a talented artist. We have had something of a running battle
in my family for generations about becoming an artist or a very successful professional. I won this round.

Dave

Thanks Justin!

welcome Giuseppe!

Thanks Nicole :)

Welcome Giuseppe. Your photos are very beautiful.

Thank you very much Kathleen!

welcome to FAA, Giuseppe.

hello there,Lucky you to be based in Dublin. I started here this month and havn't had a lot of reaction, but that might just be me! Good luck!