Local Live Sales And Showing Success

Hard to say, I am finishing up an exhibition in Davis, California and heading South tomorrow for an opening in Ventura. I also just signed a contract with the Mahlstedt Gallery in New Rochelle, NY. So far however my sales are what they have always been, sporadic.

Cool Ronald!
In music local success is essential before greater things usually. I have always had satisfying local success showing art.

A gallery contract is essential. Hope you are covered for possible loss.

Vincent I have sold almost all my inventory of aprox. 200 copper sculptures, without traveling, without doing shows and without giving the lion's share of my money to any gallery. I have done it locally, I have showed up to auction houses and sold, I have set up folding tables in front of my home and sold. I have set up in front of business's with permission and sold. I have even set up on the side of a busy road way and sold. I have even done flea markets. I have sold art works in the $300 to $500 range and I have sold in the $30 to $300 range as well. It's all about creating a "selling opportunity" and having an interesting item that attracts potential customers.

I just recently had two of my pieces accepted for display at a local historic art gallery this summer.
It was for a statewide competition, so I was feeling fairly special.

But then you walk around these places looking at all the work and think, "Wow, these people are amazing. I just got lucky."

I have had local galleries invite me to place my art as well as many consignment shops and would never consider such a method. I find it much more enjoyable to interact with the people buying my art not to mention it gives me complete control over the transaction and creates a future buying opportunity as well.

I concur Mario.i love the real non cyber interaction with people who love art
.
Did anyone influence you to continue in a perticular vein?

I've sold only two paintings locally, one to a coworker and one through a local city sponsored art show. I've participated in a total of six exhibitions, so not the greatest sales track record.

Good news David!

Real life exposure is the real deal. Carvers and painter all need to be working where people notice them. Good for both the people in public and the artist themselves.Kansas Artists are good at this. People have a curious interest about art and especially the people who make art. Damn the galley and academic "art professionals" with degrees who pretend to know what is best.

Every big city has this First Fridays art showings on the streets in the cool art districts. Much better to appear than to sit at home alone in front of your "computer lover".

I guess Salt Lake City isn't a "big city" then. lol We have a once/month gallery stroll but nothing in the streets unless you count the farmer's markets and there's a waiting list to get juried into those, yes they've become that popular. While participating in live events can be productive it also can get expensive, time consuming and exhausting. I can't imagine trying to participate in arts festivals while holding down a full time job. Even the open exhibitions can take a fair amount of time to participate in not to mention the juried exhibitions where the odds are strong you won't even get in so you make two trips to the exhibition location for nothing. I've decided as long as I have a full time job I just don't have the time or energy to deal with that.

Joe I have looked at your work, luck has nothing to do with it, it is awesome!

"un-real entity"?

You think Amazon considers me unreal when I place an order?

Did anyone influence you to continue in a perticular vein? -Vincent

I can't say anyone has, and like all things I usually take on it's subject to change, I often lose interest after passionately pursuing things and then I either regain the same passion down the road or find something else to peak my curiosity. I have numerous half started projects, it's a challenge deciding which I'm going to dedicate time to on any given day.

Edward yes, but your money is a well known entity! Lol

I had a show last December in my town and sold quite bit at it, also promoted my town calendar heavily at it and sold almost 200 of them over all and had some residual sales from residents on FAA.... Overall I dint somewhere in the 1500 dollar range... I wasn't disappointed. I need to do another one.... right now they are my market

Ronald, thanks for going out of your way to say as much.
Very much appreciated.

It is an interesting question.

I fail miserably to sell at all in the real world. Meaning galleries are still stuck on what they call or consider originals. Of
course if they show a photographer it is a Giclee print.

Today I went with my technical mentor into a local well regarded gallery. The lady who we know that owns the gallery greeted us. We saw
some very interesting work. She told us of how the work was put into an acrylic finish or product if you will. But when my mentor
and I looked more closely at the acrylic set up, we could see a Giclee in between the two panes of plastic. Our gallery owner friend
had been lied to by the artists just possibly. Something was very wrong.

My gallery owner friend wants to only show work that is not commercial. She counts me out.

The Canton Artists Guild, when I tried to join I had no following in Canton to bring to the guild. I was rejected. I might have taken their business.
Might have. Who knows.

When I was trying the real world I had only 20 images.

Now online I am getting more and more communications with designers. I have digital flies I am set to do a good business. I have geared my art
specifically to the designer market.

But who knows. I will take my chances.

You can not sell from an empty wagon. Joe your work is very good/excellent. You need more images. It will serve you well.

Dave

Down to earth locally in your own community is where I think success on art begin. It did for the Beatles. In fact most every musician in the world began in their own neighborhood.


All the discussions on abstract what one should and should not do is nice and valid but how things are in one's own community is a way to really get some action in your art. That's why there is a chamber of commerce in US towns and cities. Community involvement is a way to get to know real people and build business relationships.

Personally I'm trying harder to be more involved my community as an independent businessman who is practicing art.

I agree, for many if not the majority live networking works and is worth spending time on. I am not one of those people. We all have different strengths and weaknesses.

I sell in three physical locations. One is an art gallery where I have a dedicated space, one is a custom high-end furniture store, and one is a gallery that carries a specific set of my images in limited editions. The first two spots are in my town, which is a well-known art/artist destination that gets a lot of tourists, and the other gallery is in Atlanta, GA.

Physical sales make up the largest portion of my income. The gallery spaces are invaluable to me. They allow people to see the work up close and get a sense of the quality. Even if they don't buy in the gallery, I'm sure many of my online sales come from people who visit, see the work, then go home and order online. It builds buyer confidence when they can see what they're getting. I also try to be in the space a few weekends a month, to meet people and talk about what I do.

That's why I always say its important to show physical work when you're a working artist. If you can't get into a show or a gallery or an art festival or a restaurant or coffee shop, order some of your own work and take photographs of it hanging on your wall. Close up photos showing the print and framing. People are much more likely to invest when they can see what they're buying.

@Cynthia Decker: "...People are much more likely to invest when they can see what they're buying." I agree.

Recently, I had a conversation exactly on this aspect of 'selling' one's art. I had been showing some of my images, that I had on my smartphone, and that were available on the old POD site I used to frequent (no longer). She asked me if I sold locally. I told her No, that my POD online site I viewed as my sales site and it showed the images pretty well true to form as I had prepared them. She thought it would be better, as I had some very good images (photos), to do on-ground marketing, i.e. set up a shop! I had only a small portfolio of 57 images thereon. Many differing products offered against those images. I told her if I bought even just one product for each image, I would be broke pretty quickly, presuming it was not just, say, a greeting card! Apart from the costs involved in actually setting up a streetfront store! Right. Like I'm made of money.

Of course, I do understand that personal marketing, even to visiting boutique stores where I thought my images/products would fit into the style of that store and what they were selling, would produce some interest by them/their buyer, and then to leave those of my greeting cards they were interested in as they had the site details on the back, so that they could visit and purchase online.

Doing this sort of thing requires money. It also requires a lot of physical effort in finding such stores and doing the personal visits to show those products. There are many other places (some already mentioned in this discussion thread) that would be ideal to do that. However, I don't have a car, nor the physical freedom nor strength to be carting around a swag of stuff on public transport. Therefore, for me, being on pixels.com IS my selling vehicle. I may take up the idea of putting a direct link to pixels.com into my email signature; that's a very good idea and is a more gentle and subliminal form of selling. Now, if only I had a large family to whom I could sell, frequently....l o l.

I have shows now till Christmas every weekend. All local. The one I am at now could more aptly be named "the river runs through it" festival. Its the biggest one of the year around here but the rain is killing my sales. Hoping for fairer weather at the next biggeat one next weekend.

I don't do steller at locals, I do better if I head to NC so I do a few of those a year. They are still pretty local, within a 2 hour drive.

This weekend I'll consider myself lucky to make my booth fee back.

Heather, hope you're not totally washed out. It's pouring here in Western NC. Dead weekend downtown at the gallery too, I'm sure.

Stopped raining about 2 and been ok since but crowd way down since news made today out to be a total wash. Made about double booth fee so at least Im not out anything but time.

Sorry for the delay but have been on a long distance kayak river float.

Thanks for all the responses!

It's that risk during showings. Indoors ones are not so risky but often the crowd there is there for some other event , not the art show part. Concerts and food courts seem to be what people go for so the artists in booths are often used by the promoters as "free entertainment". This is why I gave up on paying fees to show. At the extreme 25 dollars. I think artists should be paid to be at these shows.

Ronald, you have been busy!

Mario, you are able to sell by your wits!




Janina and Cynthia...thank you for you input here. Personal interaction is rewarding! I love to read you story's. The only other place I can get such feedback is on Artfairinsiders.com

I have an open concept contemporary house with high ceilings and large windows allowing for plenty of wall space and natural light. Three years ago I decided to have a home spring art show. The first one was a great success, so I decided to have a fall one, which was also successful. This has now become a bi-annual event that has continued to grow in both attendance and sales.