promoting your art

Promoting Your Art David Trenow

PROMOTING YOUR

ART

DAVID TRENOW

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PROMOTING YOUR ART

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: page 6

PART 1 - PRODUCE THE WORK

Produce the work 8

Photograph your work 8

WHAT SORT OF WORK SHOULD YOU PRODUCE? 10

Distinctive work 12

Painting for a market 12

Painting what you want 13

Subject matter 14

TRANSPORT CONSIDERATIONS 14

Packing, labeling 15

PART 2 – PUBLICISE YOUR WORK

Exposure and the need for it 16

USP 16

Public Relations 17

Promoting yourself 18

Promotional Sites 21

Yellow Pages 21

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Emails 22

Websites & blogs 22

Advertising your website 25

Website galleries 25

Social media sites 26

Artists’ agents 27

Prints, postcards and flyers 28

Business cards 31

More promotion 32

Catalogues 32

The CV 35

PART 3 – SHOWING YOUR WORK 39

Open Art Exhibitions 39

Art Societies 40

Selection Committees 41

Competitions/opportunities 41

Before having an exhibition of your own 45

Library and theatre galleries 45

Exhibitions in non-gallery venues 46

Empty properties 49

Other places 51

Why have an exhibition 52

Selecting a gallery 52

Approaching a gallery 53

Paying your way – sponsorship 57

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Artists’ groups 59

Artist run galleries 60

Art fairs 63

Open studios 64

Showing your work at home or in your studio 65

Things to look out for when choosing a gallery 68

Running your own show 70

Budgeting 70

The Mailing List 72

Private view invitation cards 74

Exhibition cards 76

Posters 76

Using the media 77

Suggestions on how to write a press release 80

Press cuttings books 82

One of the artworks 83

Charity auctions 83

Pity the poor critic 84

Features 85

How to get into the glossies 86

Advertisements 89

The Private View 91

Media while the exhibition is on 91

Presenting the work 92

Hanging your show 94

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Making the show look good 98

Success stories 98

To be done – a timeline 101

List of things to take to your exhibition 97

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INTRODUCTION

This book is intended for the amateur and semi-professional artist and

art students approaching the end of their studies, who want to promote their

art.

The world of art is a fickle place and there is no guarantee that any

artist will have the success that they deserve. There is a constant debate in

the media as to why one artist is successful and another of equal merit is

neglected. The reasons are many and so variable that it is impossible to say

why. ‘Right place at right time’ is what we so often have to end up saying. But

how do you get to be in the right place at the right time? But then why are

some successful artists suddenly neglected after a long period of success?

According to AIR (May 08), there are over a million people studying a

creative or cultural course in the UK. Although many of them will be doing

these courses for pleasure, a large number will be competing for the

approximately 6500 new jobs that come onto the market. Competition for

these jobs is great and anything that can help someone in the pursuit of their

ambitions is worth taking notice of. This book offers some advice on how

artists may promote their art and themselves. It is by no means

comprehensive, but should give the aspiring artist a guide to some of the

many ways that they can use. Some of the methods may seem a little out of

place and not what a serious artist should be doing, but look again and see

what those successful and serious artists are really doing. This book has been

written from many years of research and experience, not only mine but also

that of many other artists that I have talked to.

There is so much pleasure in having had an exhibition, which was

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successful, both in the way it was prepared and the way it came out. There is

nothing like a show to make the artist see their work with greater clarity, to see

its strengths and weaknesses and perhaps to indicate in which direction to

progress. There is also great joy in showing to your friends, family and

colleagues what you have been doing. They have supported you in the past

now let them see the fruits of that labour.

This book is not for the artist who has already jumped into the gallery

pond, who has an established place in the art market hierarchy or who has a

name that is recognised on a national/international basis. They have already

been through this process.

Artistic success, it has been suggested, is based on firstly having a

large oeuvre of work, perhaps 300 pieces and secondly on getting mentioned

in the right magazines. Only you can produce that amount of work, which over

a period of time will appear and this book will help you towards the aim of

getting mentioned in the right magazines.

This book has been written basically from my own experience and

cannot therefore be comprehensive. There are areas I must have missed out

which I hope the reader will fill in for themselves. This book can only be I hope

a helpful reminder of what could be done, it is not designed to be an

instruction book, please take from it what you feel could be of value and forget

the rest.

David Trenow

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PART 1 - PRODUCE THE WORK

It may seem silly to say this but if you want success as an artist then

you must

PRODUCE THE WORK.

Take this as a possible scenario. If you are actually producing artworks

then it is very probable that someone will hear about it. A friend, relative or

colleague will become interested and they will ask about your art, see it and

talk about it to other people. Generally people want to know of anything

exciting happening in the lives of their friends and will also want to support it.

These people will in turn get to know about your achievements. Your work has

now been promoted outside the boundaries of your studio. You are now

tasting the first fruits of success.

ONE ASPECT OF SUCCESS IS, QUITE SIMPLY, INCREASING THE

NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HEAR ABOUT AND SEE YOUR WORK.

As more people hear about and see your work then there is a greater

chance of sales, if that is what you want, or chances to exhibit your work if you

just want to put your message across. There are many exhibitions, which are

put on solely for people to see rather than to sell.

So for you to get known you must show your art. You ought to have

regular shows, which are sufficiently varied so that viewers do not feel they

are seeing the same old thing but not so different that they feel there is no

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consistency.

I recently saw an advertisement for an open exhibition. This exhibition

was the type that anyone could enter, but instead of maybe one or two

paintings being selected for a mixed show, the artist would get a one man

show for a month at a prestigious gallery. The conditions were that you would

send in a disc of pictures of eight of your paintings and then, if you were

successful at the first stage, the selection committee would come to your

studio to see more work and select a show from what they saw. It was then

that I realized that I did not have enough ‘good’ work by my judgment, to

supplement that which I would have sent off in the first place. I decided not to

apply.

So before you go any further - get the work done.

PHOTOGRAPH YOUR WORK

As you get your work done, photograph it before you put it away. You

need a constant record of what you have done so that it can be shown to

other people like gallery owners and art commissioners. It is no good saying

to an interested party they will have to wait until you have retrieved the picture

from wherever it is or wait to have it photographed before they can see it.

They may not be able wait and so would move on to another better prepared

but possibly inferior artist. Being able to move quickly under circumstances

like these can frequently mean the difference of a sale or not.

At one time large black and white prints were the required format to

show galleries and art commissioners. Then with the advent of cheaper colour

photography came large colour prints, then colour slides and now with digital

photography becoming so common and cheap, digital images on discs or

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memory sticks or attachments to emails are what is often required. Prints are

still acceptable and there are still organisations that call for slides but

generally digital is the way to go. If you are submitting images of your work to

a gallery, magazine or art commissioner it is always worthwhile checking to

see in what format they would like the image. A quick phone call or email can

save a lot of wasted effort.

One of the great advantages of digital photography is that it costs very

little to take as many photographs as you like. Stored on a memory chip or

card they cost virtually nothing until they are transferred to a disc or printed.

When photographing your work look at it under different lighting

conditions, remember that a sunny day or artificial light will produce a different

coloured light to that of a cloudy or rainy day. This could affect the brightness

of the colours of the reproduction of your work. Experiment and see which is

best. You can of course, get your work photographed professionally but this

will be expensive. The photographs should feature the work clearly and

occupy most of the picture area, paintings should really fill the picture frame,

unless you are deliberately showing the work in a specific environment. A

sculpture might look better in a garden than against a blank wall and the

viewer would also be able to get a sense of the scale of the object.

Do remember to label each photo or slide with the title of the work, the

size of the work, which way up the image is and the name and contact details

of the artist. You may also want to include the date it was made.

WHAT SORT OF WORK SHOULD YOU PRODUCE?

This may seem a silly question because obviously you must

paint/sculpt/print what you want. There is enough misery in the world without

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condemning yourself to factory-like production of works. If you are after

money then you could be better off working in a factory where someone else

has to worry about selling the products and you collect your pay at the end of

the week. But you have decided to go down the very difficult road of being an

artist and under that condition there are some aspects of producing your work

you might like to consider.

There are many artists who work for the tourist market and they can

make quite a reasonable living from just producing watercolours for that

market and then exhibiting at spaces all around their area. There is something

of the aspect of a factory to this because you have to produce many hundreds

of paintings, get them framed, hire a gallery or space and man it yourself

several times a year. It can be quite rewarding in that a relatively unknown

watercolourist can take over £2500 in a week exhibiting in a small tourist

town, which is not bad in 2007 prices, but they can’t exhibit every week and

so this cannot be seen as a guide to their yearly income. Obviously out of this

income will come the cost of framing, expensive even if you do it yourself, and

of course the cost of hiring the space and advertising.

The person who really makes money in this arrangement is the person

who owns and rents out the space in the first place. For the artist this set up

usually means that all winter is spent producing as many paintings as possible

for sale in the summer months. But it does mean that you get to take all the

money home after expenses and you choose where and when you want to

exhibit.

Other artists will go for a more specialised market and produce works

to be sold in a variety of galleries. Here prices of individual works are higher

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and someone takes a commission for hanging your work in their space,

advertising your exhibition and manning the show.

Some artists have found that organising their exhibitions around a

specific theme can be very helpful.

DISTINCTIVE WORK

Obviously you want to get your work noticed and it therefore helps if

you have something distinctive about your work. Something that will make

people recognise it when they see it. Do you do unusual views of your

subject, are you very strong with colour, do you paint using dots of colour or

are your canvases unusual shapes? Any thing like this can help to make you

more distinctive but it should be something that is a genuine part of your work

and not some added on gimmick. Gimmicks get seen through very quickly and

can become a hindrance rather than a help.

PAINTING FOR A MARKET

Artists produce work in many different forms, some of it is very

personal and speculative and it is aimed at anyone who is passing in the hope

that the work might be noticed and possibly bought. In these ventures sales

are not the primary consideration but exposure is.

Other artists paint specifically for a market, watercolours of local

scenes for tourists, comes to mind, or large colourful paintings for interior

designers working for restaurants, stores or offices. You make your choice

and hope for success. Other artists specialise in specific areas like portraiture,

of either humans or pets, or architectural studies and so on.

Every so often a survey is produced in which the sales of certain types

of paintings are analysed and a set of guidelines are produced to help artists

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and gallery owners decide what they could produce or stock. Inevitably these

guides get out of date very quickly and often do not represent a true picture of

what is happening for all surveys must in some way or another be selective.

However one survey showed that the most popular works were big outdoor

scenes followed by Springtime then lakes and oceans and human figures. Full

nudes did particularly badly, (something that I have found in my own

exhibitions) although partial undress did a lot better. In clothed figure paintings

it was found that the figures should be relaxing - only the older generation

liked to see people working. Animals did well, with wild animals in their natural

habitat doing best of all.

Abstracts were popular when they featured primary colours, blue being

the most popular with richly coloured simple rounded compositions doing well.

What was not wanted was large jagged, splintered rectilinear compositions in

secondary and tertiary colours.

The relevance of a survey like this is that it gives the artist a chance to

look at the various types of paintings and make up their mind themselves

about what they think they would like to paint. But then a survey like this

should only be used as a guide, because it is still very important that every

artist should paint what they want and not specifically for a certain market.

PAINTING WHAT YOU WANT

With many well-known artists there often appears to be a great

consistency in their work, as though they only painted a very small range of

subjects. This could give the impression that as an artist yourself you too

should only work in a limited field. But it must be remembered that when

looking at other artists that there has often been a strong selection process.

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Firstly, with some dead artists, work that was considered to be

distasteful may well have been destroyed by a colleague or a buyer, thereby

reducing the apparent range of the artist’s work. Secondly, work, which did not

fit into the perceived style for which the artist has become famous, may well

be rejected by dealers and end up languishing in a cupboard. Thirdly, since

every artist will produce inferior work from time to time which does not sell,

that work then will become unavailable to the public. There will always be

attempts by interested parties to boost the reputation of an artist, if necessary

by censorship but it does mean that it is very difficult to get a true picture of

what an artist has done. Which is a shame.

SUBJECT MATTER

Since you are obviously going to paint what you want it always a good

idea to check the market and see if there are any considerations to think

about. For example some galleries specialize in mythological or legendary

studies or cats and if you work in those sorts of subject areas you can then

look for galleries that share your views and see if you can work together.

TRANSPORT CONSIDERATIONS.

How is your work going to be TRANSPORTED? If you paint to a size

that will fit easily into the back of a hatchback or estate car or whatever

vehicle you have available, then you are making your life that much easier

and cheaper. You would not have to hire a self-drive van or a van and driver to

get your work to the gallery. Hiring vans and drivers is expensive and can take

away whatever profit you might make (if you are paying), when you sell your

work. If the gallery is paying, the costs incurred could make you less popular

with the gallery -remember they have to make money to survive and show

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your work.

PACKING AND LABELLING.

Then there are the problems of packing your work so that it is safe

while being transported. The bigger the paintings or sculptures the more the

packaging costs and weighs. You might have to call in specialist packaging

and transporting firms, all of which adds to the cost. These costs have to be

included in the price of your paintings. Could that push them out of the market

you are aiming at?

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PART 2 – PUBLICISE YOUR WORK

PUBLICITY

EXPOSURE AND THE NEED FOR IT

With so many artists around, all competing for attention in the art

market, it is very important that the artist gets as much attention as is

reasonably possible. How this attention is achieved is the subject of this part

of the book.

It is this attention and the associated recognition that will help attract

viewers to your work and so increase the possibility of sales or commissions

and in due course allow you to increase your prices.

USP

I have already looked at the USP a little under the title of distinctive

work earlier but it is worth looking at it again.

The USP or Unique Selling Point is a label by which you are

recognised. For example I am a painter and sculptor and in that respect just

like thousands of other people all over the UK and millions all over the world.

How can I make myself stand out? What is or could be my unique selling

point?

Well firstly I paint using dots of colour, I am a ‘Pointillist’ painter. This is

an unusual style because it is very laborious and I can only produce a few

paintings a year. This means that I cannot enter the world of those water

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colourists who can produce hundreds of paintings during the winter and spend

the summer selling them. My shows will be more infrequent and I like to hope

more carefully considered. My prices will be higher and my sales fewer, but

this is the way I want to paint and so I must accept the penalties. I took up

Pointillism because it was a good way to solve the problems I was having with

representing misty coastal scenes. It was only later that I found on visiting art

fairs and galleries that very, very few people were using this style, thus

making me much more distinctive. My USP is therefore ‘Pointillism’.

Pointillism has a venerable history and most gallery visitors are familiar

with the work of the Post – Impressionist French painter Georges Seurat. His

paintings of La Grande-Jatte and Une Baignade, Asnieres have been

reproduced in millions of prints, postcards and reproductions in books. This

means that anyone seeing my work for the first time will be familiar with my

style and be able to understand how my style developed. My favourite

subjects are semi-abstracted landscapes and coastal scenes particularly in

East Anglia. The coastal scenes where Seurat painted in France are similar to

those of Suffolk where I paint. I suspect that it was this similarity that made

Philip Wilson Steer, an English Pointillist painter, work on the same subjects

but in Walberswick in Suffolk. I simply followed in their footsteps working in the

same style and from similar subjects.

All this ‘art history’ written above has two functions. One, I hope that it

gives me some sort of credibility as an artist. Perhaps I can be seen as a

continuation of a well-established tradition that includes many well-known and

famous artists. Secondly, it also gives me valuable information for my ’artist’s

statement’, more of which later. And of course parts of that should be included

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in the publicity I produce. This gives greater continuity to your image.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

As one famous art dealer said PR (public relations) is 50% of the battle.

He also said that if there was a formula for selling pictures apart from

knowledge and integrity, he hadn’t heard of it. He said that selling is

establishing a rapport with the client, making them feel confident and letting

them see that you are an expert in your field. This applies equally to artists

and dealers, you both have to feel happy with each other.

One suggestion about artists who had disappeared from public view is

that it was not the quality of the work that made the difference between

success and failure but that personality had a lot to do with it. Some artists

had early access to dealers who supported their careers who in turn

introduced them to collectors and critics, others who because they could not

relate to dealers or were bloody minded or just self-destructive did not get that

support and so disappeared.

One other suggestion is that the most important thing is persistence, a

lot of people are good but they give up. Here I can quote from my own

experience, for out of all the painters and sculptors on my course (some fifty

to sixty) at art school, I believe that I am the only one still working as an artist.

PROMOTING YOURSELF

It is fully possible to spend your life as an unknown artist who simply

produces work and perhaps, sells it. Visiting many galleries you can see much

fine work produced by artists of whom you have never heard and on whom

there is little information and there is no reason why the artist should not

remain unknown. But for many buyers they like to buy something more, a

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small piece of the history of the painting or the artist, something that they can

relate to others when they are talking about their latest acquisition. Some

scurrilous artists have been known to embroider their personal history so that

they have an entertaining story that they know will told by clients to their

friends. A raffish past has not necessarily been a handicap to many artists.

I remember that one of my friends who was a respected art teacher at

a local comprehensive school, and who would, each summer holidays go

home to a small island community off the coast of the British Isles. There, he

would sit around the harbour with his paints producing pictures of the boats

and sunsets and sell them along with the work he had done during the school

terms. Because he was local he knew many of the stories about dodgy fishing

and possibly smuggling that he would then tell to the tourists visiting his

island. These stories were a way of keeping the interest of the buyers and of

sending them home with a romantic story that the buyer could tell every time

someone commented on the painting on their wall. The paintings were good

but the stories added that little bit of extra spice to their origin.

So, when it comes to publicising yourself and your art, it is always a

help to look for something that can give you and your image an edge. For

example, are you a single mother, fighting against the difficulty of finding time

to bring up your children and paint? Do you have a battle with disability, do

you live in a tent so that you can observe the nature you paint at its closest?

Do you travel to exotic places for your subject matter, are you a champion

swimmer or skier, do you use unusual materials or techniques? If you are a

marine painter do you regularly go off sailing around the coasts of the world?

All of these points and many others are useful when it comes to promoting

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yourself and your work.

Whereas personal details like these can help a lot, there is also the

question of you as a person. How well known are you in your local art world?

If you were to walk into a local gallery would they know who you are and if not,

why not? Have you made any attempt to get known? You could for example

dedicate some time to just visiting galleries (which you should be doing

anyway), getting to know the work and the gallery owner. After a few visits you

will become recognizable and be able to talk to the owner as an artist rather

than an applicant. Cultivating galleries is both enjoyable and possibly

profitable.

Although it can be something that backfires you might like to look at

how you are seen as a person. Do you have an eccentric way of dressing or

behaving? Becoming the local drunken artist is too common to be worth

pursuing but some very famous artists were also known for being prodigious

drinkers. Somehow artists are expected to live life to the full and are given

license by the population to do so – artistic license. You can get away with

more extraordinary behaviour than you might as a solicitor or a doctor.

Consider for example, how you dress. If you are seen walking down

your local high street in paint stained jeans and t-shirt, you have certainly

made a statement about the fact that you are an artist. The problem is that

this is the garb of virtually every other artist and art student and many other

people as well. In this case you don’t stand out in a crowd you are part of the

crowd. Look around and see if there is some mode of dress that will make you

more noticeable. I remember seeing one man on the platform of a tube

station who was wearing a suit including waistcoat, in a yellow ochre cloth

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with a red window pane check over the top. He certainly stood out in the

crowd and I found out he was an artist because I later met him at the

exhibition we were both going to. Artists are the leaders of fashion in the world

and it is up to us to make a statement and lead!

This ‘something special’, USP or ‘hook’ is used regularly to promote

products. Look at the world of writers and see how much their personal life is

used to promote their books. It is, also, possible to buy for example, bottled

water that has come from a unique aquifer beneath some part of the UK, or

water that was frozen thousands of years ago in a glacier. In both cases you

would expect to pay a much higher price, and why not? The interesting story

of the origin of a product can give it apparently greater value.

PROMOTIONAL SITES

Before you even start to think about exhibitions there are some aspects

of promoting yourself that you should get into place. These will in turn help

you when it comes to getting exhibitions and greater exposure.

YELLOW PAGES

A simple one line mention in the Yellow Pages directory is free. All you

have to do is to contact the website www.yell.com or phone them on the

number found under ‘contact us’ in the directory and proceed from there.

Remember that if you wanted to find an artist you would make contact

with your artist friends and colleagues to find one, but someone who is not in

that world could find it difficult to do that. It is quite likely that they would turn

to the Yellow Pages. You would do the same if you were looking for a plumber

or a tree surgeon wouldn’t you?

Look out for the different headings. If you are a sculptor there is a

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separate heading for them otherwise you would come under artists, but check

the classified A-Z index in the back of the directory for other possible

openings. So my entry under Artists would be ‘David Trenow, address and

phone number. Regrettably you cannot have a mention in both artists and

sculptors, so choose which one is the most suitable.

When you are looking for a plumber or an electrician, I have found that

there is a tendency to go to those in Yellow Pages with display adverts. These

are not free but will cost money but you might like to think about them if you

want to get extra attention.

EMAILS

If you have a computer connected to the internet it is worthwhile getting

an email address. Mine, for example, is [email protected]. This address is

included on all the posters, invitation cards, business cards and letter

headings that I give or send out. They are quite easy to set up and have the

advantage of allowing you to consider requests for information at your leisure.

WEBSITES & BLOGS

A website is a wonderful addition to any artist’s armoury, it is not

essential but can be very helpful. They can be a little expensive to set up and

run, but these days many galleries, dealers and interested collectors rely on

artist’s websites to find out what sort of work they do, what exhibitions they

have had and what they are doing in the future. It will also tell them what the

artist’s approach is and their inspiration. If you label your site with your name

say – www.davidtrenow.wordpress.com, it can be found if someone uses one

of the search engines. They may have come across you through seeing a

painting, buying a postcard or picking up a business card, which contained

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your web address.

Your website should contain contact details like your email address.

You may prefer to keep your home address and telephone number private.

Include a gallery of photographs of your work. If you can arrange for a

small reproduction to appear, which can be enlarged if an interested viewer

wants to see more, then that would be helpful. If you work in a wide variety of

mediums and subjects, then it might prove helpful if you divide the images up

into sections according to these differences. Paintings – watercolours, oils,

acrylics, collages. Prints – lithographs, etchings, engravings. Sculptures –

carvings, castings, assemblages and similarly with the subjects life, portraits,

still life, marine, landscape, mythological, abstracts and so on. But make sure

that they are available for sale if that is what you want so that interested

buyers are not sent on a wild goose chase. Obviously with things like

commissioned portraits the commissioner wants to see what you have done

before and so you would include work in this case that had already been sold.

You might also include a photo of yourself with an art work, your favourite

landscape or you teaching a class, make sure that it is a good one with one of

your best works in the background. Try to make your website easy to navigate

and friendly so that visitors can enjoy roaming through it.

An artist’s statement covering your interests, sources for your work and

perhaps those artists who have inspired you could also be added. Here is an

opportunity for you to introduce catch words into your text so that the search

engines can pick them up and list your website. Words like mythological

subject matter – green men, mermaids or brilliantly coloured landscapes,

portraits of children, railway engines or elephants or whatever you do will all

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help to attract attention.

If for example, you put ‘landscape painters’ into the search engine on a

computer you will find that there are thousands of them. How will you be

noticed in all that crowd? If you put ‘landscape painters in Suffolk’ you will find

there many fewer and that if you are such an artist that your website comes

very much nearer the top of the list.

If you wish you could also include a list of past exhibitions, group and

solo, a list of commissions and a list of courses that you have taught.

These are the sort of things that a gallery, private buyer or

commissioner would like to know if they are to spend time and money on you.

I have come across a number of artists who have got exhibitions and sold

work through their website. If you belong to the SAA – ‘The Society for all

Artists’ then, with gold membership you can have and build your own website.

The site is free in that the costs of it come out of the membership fee of the

society.

Another aspect is to link your site to an existing one. If you paint

pictures of one particular area, is there a tourist board or local council website

to which you can link? It will add to the strength of information on their site at

no extra cost and at the same time give you extra publicity.

A website is no good if it is not kept up to date and so it is important

that you set aside a little time each week to update it. This is where having

your work already photographed will play its part. The photo is there

immediately when you need it. You do not need to have to get the artwork out

of storage and set up the camera, take the photo, process it before you can

put it on your site. Make sure that you also put the price of your work in

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sterling as well as euros and possibly dollars as well. Buyers do like to know

the price in advance. Remember that if you also sell through galleries to

include the gallery commission in your price. No gallery likes to think that

someone can buy the same painting that they are showing at a cheaper price

if they go through the website. Also think about having an online shop, this

means that people can buy your work as soon as they see it.

As a way of getting your website noticed you might like to incorporate

some artistic advice like an aspect of drawing or an unusual way of painting

which, changed regularly, would help to spread the word with the public.

ADVERTISING YOUR WEBSITE

How do you get your website noticed when there are already so many

out there?

One way is to advertise your website in magazines. Many Sunday and

Saturday papers have in their colour supplements, a page of small

advertisements, maybe 20 or 24, which contain an illustration of the product

and then contact details, usually a telephone number and of course the

website address. These can be quite expensive, but there are usually lower

rates for a number of insertions booked at the same time, so it might be a

good idea to join up with a few other artists, who work in the same way as

you, and advertise under a suitably evocative group name. If you all share the

costs then it could turn out to be relatively cheap. Do make sure that your

group website has a counter for recording the number of ‘hits’ that your site

receives. If you don’t get any hits or very few then you can decide if this

method of advertising is for you or not. You will, of course, include your

website address with every communication that you send out.

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WEBSITE GALLERIES

For those people who do not want to go to the trouble and expense of

creating their own website, there are a number of organisations that will do it

for you. You can see their adverts in various art and other magazines.

For a fee they will either allow you to put on or will put on for you,

pictures of your work and a commentary, which will then be available for the

general public to view. The prices can vary from site to site and also how

much work you want to show. Some will also take a commission. The great

advantage of these sites is that beyond avoiding all the difficulty of setting up

your own site you also have a website that you can quote on your publicity. To

find out more about these services try typing in ‘art gallery websites’ and

compare what comes up.

These websites can either just be a site for you to advertise yourself or

they can advertise themselves in various magazines, check what they do.

The test of these websites is how much they advertise their address in

the press and also where they advertise. Those webgalleries that are

vigorously promoting themselves will obviously be a better bet than those that

are hardly visible. When considering a website gallery, try asking other artists

how they have fared with them and which ones they think are best.

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

There are now a number of sites designed to help people communicate

with each other, Facebook ,Twitter, Youtube, Myspace, LinkedIn and so on.

New sites are emerging regularly so keep a lookout for them as they emerge.

Some are simply communications media like twitter on which you can publish

short statements like when your next exhibition is and also put in a

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reproduction of one of your works of art. In others you can publish a short

description of yourself and hope to make contact with other people. These

descriptions can include examples of your work either in the form of still

photos in the case of myspace or facebook and in the form of a video in the

case of youtube. These sites are international and can therefore create

interest anywhere in the world and again they are free.

They can be very powerful, for example: A 74 second political satire

video less than two weeks after being posted on youtube, was viewed several

million times and became one of the most talked about items in the political

press. It remains proof of the communication power that youtube and

myspace and other social networking sites now offer. If you have something

visual to say, then on one of these sites the whole world can see it.

ARTISTS’ AGENTS

The function of an artist’s agent is to represent the artist to galleries

that might be willing to show them. It is therefore very important that the agent

has a thorough knowledge of the art world to know which galleries would like

your work, which galleries are accessible and to have visited many of the

galleries and built up a relationship with them. They will also be aware of other

opportunities and let you know when they occur.

The advantage is that someone else is doing all the hard slog of getting

your work to galleries but of course, they will charge for that. They are not the

type of people who go from door to door selling double-glazing or washing

machines, they are people with a specialist knowledge that you are buying

into. Someone who is not the producer of the work is often in a better position

to sing the praises of the artist rather than the artist themselves.

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But the other side of the coin is that galleries tend to be unhappy about

sharing their commission with an agent. And why take an artist from an agent

when the gallery can probably find one of similar quality by contacting one of

the artists already showing with them.

What some agents are doing is becoming a sort of gallery with several

artists, samples of whose work they keep to show potential clients. They have

advantages over the conventional gallery because they have low overheads –

no gallery to pay rates on, no extra staff to employ to supervise shows and the

flexibility to go where there are opportunities and hiring galleries when the

opportunity arises. Some of the now well- established galleries started in this

way.

Within the definition of an agent are also organizations like corporate

art consultants who can do a similar job.

PRINTS, POSTCARDS AND FLYERS.

It is quite easy to get prints or postcards made of your

paintings/drawings/etchings but much harder to sell them through souvenir or

print shops all over the country. There are many printers who are fully capable

of producing very good work in a very short period of time. Many of them

advertise in art magazines. Prints can be sold either unmounted, mounted or

framed, cards are sold as a finished printed product. All you have to do is to

produce some and try out a few shops and see how they react. I wish it were

that easy, but there is so much else to be thought about.

You must ask yourself why you want to have cards printed in the first

place. Are they intended to be a record of your show and therefore either sold

or given away during the time of the exhibition or are they designed for

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consumption by the general public? People coming to your exhibition may

well feel that they would like an example of your work but cannot afford an

original. To buy a print or a postcard would therefore be a possible solution.

But you must remember that there is a certain amount of excitement

generated by the exhibition in which they are sold. Would that print be as

exciting along with dozens of others by different artists in an art shop?

If your prints/postcards are of local landscapes would they be as

attractive outside the area that they were painted in? If you are selling prints

to the general public over the whole of the UK then perhaps the beauties of a

particular tree or building may not be seen away from where it was painted.

This means that you will need to have prints of a more general appeal,

perhaps this is one reason why cats feature so frequently, they are not

specific to one area.

If you are producing prints for sale through national or international

chains then you have a lot of competition, the market is flooded and the

chance of a reproduction of your best abstract getting on to the market is very

slim indeed. Check around the print/card shops and see what is being sold.

Can you do better than that? With reproductions of so many famous artists

already out there can you compete with their reputations and the familiarity of

their images? Will your work look good as a card or print, particularly if you

have relied on a large scale in the original? A 5 inch by 4 inch reproduction of

a painting originally six feet high may just look crowded and jumbled when

reduced to a small size. Simple, bold images with recognizable objects in

them seem to do well. The late blue and white cut-outs of Matisse always look

very striking when you see them in a gift shop. There are many card

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publishers producing work for the public and it is possible to find out who they

are by looking at the information on the back. It is always worth contacting

them first to see if they would like to look at your designs.

If you are having the cards printed yourself then you will find that the

price per card goes down as the number of cards ordered increases. This can

seem like a bargain, but try not to get suckered into buying too many. I have

been and now I have a box full of out of date cards that I have no idea how to

get rid of, I could not even give them away at my last exhibition. It is up to you

to find the outlets and negotiate with them. If your work is original and exciting

you will find most of the outlets will be very helpful, remember their bread and

butter is based on what they sell. Try not to fill too many outlets with the same

work in the same town, each outlet likes to be seen as different.

The function of a flyer is different to that of a post card or print. They

are usually given away as an advertisement for the show that you are putting

on. In this respect quantity is as important as quality.

If you go to the Edinburgh Festival you will assailed by hundreds of

people giving out flyers for their shows and plays. These people have invested

a lot of money and time in booking a venue and getting together all the other

requirements to put on a good show and they are certainly not going to waste

all this effort by sitting back and hoping that people will come. They are out

there on the streets giving out their little illustrated leaflets with a bright picture

and all the necessary information for finding their show, to anyone they can

find. Walking along the main thoroughfare you can end up with scores of

leaflets and often you will be able to talk to the star, the director or the author.

Other companies will employ people to give out flyers for them. One comic at

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the end of their show will tell you about his colleagues and how good their

show is and you will be able to pick up a flyer of it at the door when you leave.

Even the most well-known and professional companies are not averse to

getting flyers given out for them. Can you afford not to? All the effort you have

put into your show should be backed up by that last extra push which can

make a tremendous difference.

Think for a moment, if you are in a seaside town with a lot of people

ambling about looking for things to do and you give them a flyer you have

increased the chances of getting them to visit your exhibition enormously. The

flyer they can put in their pocket and keep for another day, whereas a poster

is only of value the moment it is seen and that is assuming that the visitor is

not distracted by something else on the way. Remember the most important

thing is to get as many people as possible in front of your art.

And don’t forget to leaflet the houses and businesses in the area

around your gallery. Just because they live there does not mean that they do

not buy art and there is always the chance that they may have visitors who

would want to see what was going on around the town.

BUSINESS CARDS

A business card can be a very simple exercise. It should contain the

basic information of your name, profession - painter, sculptor, printer etc, an

address of some form - postal, email, website (your choice), a phone number

and of course a small illustration of a typical piece of work.

If you are giving them away at an exhibition then the illustration ought

to be of one of the works in the show, preferably the one that you used in all

your other publicity. They can be very easily produced by you using a

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computer and the Publisher program on photographic paper.

You will no doubt have noticed that through the Yellow Pages, website,

youtube and myspace and my email address I have been constantly

mentioning my name. This is quite deliberate. For it is through this process

that I hope to establish my name as an artist to any reader of this book. How

much of that will be considered cynical manipulation I cannot tell, but there

are many artists who use similar techniques but who would claim ignorance of

it if it were mentioned. How much it will help or hinder is always a difficult

question to answer but can I afford not to use all the opportunities available?

You will also notice that so far we have not had to go to the trouble of having

an exhibition.

MORE PROMOTION

Think of all the ways that commercial organisations use to promote

their products, can you use any of their ideas?

For example how about beer mats - could you have some printed and

then distribute them in the pubs and cafes in the area in which you are

exhibiting? How much would it cost to have them printed, how many would

you need, who prints them? If you were advertising in this way would the

brewery local to the pub be prepared to pay for the cost of them? If they say

no you have at least got you and your work in front of a group of business

people, who might look on your talents for future commissions -paintings for

their hotels, prints for their pubs, designs for labels and so on. Similarly, how

about bookmarks? They can be a permanent reminder of you as an artist

and will often hang around much longer than a private view card or a poster.

What about table napkins or fridge magnets could you do the same

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thing there? Would people walking or roller skating about wearing t-shirts

with a reproduction of your artwork and details of your show on them help get

you noticed? Beyond the t-shirts you could have someone walking round with

a pole and poster on it or an ‘A‘ frame over their shoulders.

Yes, I appreciate that some of these ideas are possibly too far-fetched

for you to take on but you might be able to adapt them so that you can use

them.

CATALOGUES

It often seems to be quite a good idea to have a catalogue of your

exhibition and in many cases it can be helpful in getting you further exhibitions

and sales. There seems to be an automatic assumption that every exhibition

needs a catalogue and indeed, I have been asked if there was one from

people who intended to come to one of my shows with the possibility of

buying my work.

I have come across requirements from various organizations for a copy

of the catalogue of your show to accompany any application that you are

putting in for funding or exhibitions. But they cost time, effort and money and

even then you can also be landed with a great pile of catalogues from a

previous show, which are unusable, perhaps because you have changed your

style and they are no longer truly representative or they represent a gallery

that you are no longer associated with.

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But if you are going down that road then give it some serious

consideration for they represent an important part of your publicity. They are

more substantial than the posters, press releases and leaflets that you

normally send out and are a permanent record of your work that can be sent

to important critics or other people who may not be able to attend your

exhibition. It is worth remembering that a small, well-bound catalogue is easier

to store for a critic than a large press pack of postcards etc. You can also give

them to buyers of your previous work and any sponsors that you might have

conjured up.

The Cover – should have an immediate impact. Consider the national press

critic who probably receives ten catalogues a day. If yours says very clearly

via the illustration on the front, what your show is about then you are more

likely to get that critic’s attention than if he has to wade through pages of

verbiage to find out what it is all about. Blank covers with just your name on

are not very helpful.

The Text – should be simple and informative – don’t waffle. It should include a

detailed list of the works shown and a critical study telling the viewer what it is

that you are interested in. If it is possible to get this study written by someone

who is well known in the art world, then even better. If you are part of a group

with a particular ideology do make sure that you avoid jargon or other

incomprehensible language. Bad grammar, bad spelling and typographic

errors can be quite alienating and will drive potential readers/viewers/buyers

away. The text will also be giving more information to journalists that can be

added to what they have from the press release, it can include a CV all of

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which will add to your pedigree. And, of course you will have included contact

details so that anyone who makes a late decision to buy can get hold of you.

If your catalogue is good enough then there might be some possibility

of selling them through bookshops, so keep the price sensible and remember

that bookshops will want a sizeable discount, up to 60%. If you are selling

through retail outlets then make sure you know who has what and that their

supplies are topped up. Remember it will not just be bookshops that might

take your catalogues, art galleries, museum shops, tourist offices and other

retail outlets might be interested if say your appeal is local.

ISBN (International Standard Book Number) numbers – give an added

authority to your catalogue because it is now classified as a book, a copy of

which is automatically required for the British Library. Since libraries and

bookshops use this number when ordering copies it makes sense to easily

locatable. Get the number well in advance so that you can have it printed in

rather that writing it in at the last minute. ISBN’s are not compulsory and there

is a fee to be paid to obtain one. For more information contact the ISBN

Agency probably available through the internet.

THE CV

The function of the CV or Curriculum Vitae is to tell people what you

have done in the art world.

It can be very simple and brief or long according to the market you are

trying to appeal to. And of course, in some cases a CV is not necessary at all.

It is very unlikely that the people going to the local church art show will want to

know your artistic history, but for slightly more important shows they may well

like to.

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It should contain all the contact details that a person would need if they

wanted to consider your work more carefully - name, phone numbers,

websites and so on. In the case of you sending a CV to a gallery or to a

commissioning body you might need to include your address and phone

number as well.

Buyers might like to know where you have exhibited before and any

commissions or prizes that you have won so that they can judge how serious

an artist you are; in fact how important you are. This can affect their

willingness to buy your work. They will decide from the CV if you are an

established and mature artist or a young up and coming artist with a brilliant

future ahead of them.

For your own records try to put in all the relevant information and cut

out what is unnecessary when you send it off. This way you will always have a

record of what you have achieved and not have to go rooting through piles of

papers to find a relevant bit of information.

CV EXAMPLE

Name: David Trenow

Address: Number, Street

Town

County Postcode

Telephone: 1200 000000

Mobile: 0000 000000

email: [email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]


website: www.davidtrenow.wordpress.com

Date of birth: day/month/year Age: (in many cases it is not

necessary to give your age or date of birth)

Place of birth:

Nationality:

Education and Qualifications:

Diploma in Art and Design, Hons – lower second,

Sculpture with painting, Hornsey College of Art, London

Art Teacher’s Certificate, Hornsey College of Art, London.

Other professional qualifications:

Current employment:

Previous employment and work experience:

Trained as a civil engineer for five years before changing

to art.

Thirty five years as an art teacher and then Head of Art in

two schools.

Experience:

Awards:

Solo Exhibitions:

2007 Coastal Light Pointillist paintings of the Suffolk

coast, Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery, Suffolk.

2007 DavidTrenow – 45 years of East Angian Light,

horace blue, Norwich.

2005 A Trick of the Light, Pointillist land and seascape

paintings, Digby Gallery, Colchester.

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http://www.davidtrenow.wordpress.com/


2004 Blinded by the Light, Pointillist landscape paintings,

Bawdsey Manor Art Gallery, Suffolk.

Group Exhibitions:

2008 Colchester Open, Colchester School of Art, Essex

2006 Colchester Open, Colchester School of Art, Essex

2005 Suffolk Open Studios, Blackthorpe Barns, Bawdsey

Manor Art Gallery and buckenham gallery, Suffolk.

2005 Colchester Royal Grammar School.

2005 The People’s Haywain, BBC White City Media

Centre, London.

Commissions: Works in the collections of Brightlingsea Town Council,

Rufford Sculpture Park

Greene King

plus many private collections

in the UK and overseas.

Bibliography: Open Air Sculpture in Britain, Strachan W.J.

A. Zwemmer Ltd. The Tate Gallery 1984.

Publications: Publicising Your School, David Medgett (Trenow),

Heinemann Educational, 1996.

Referees: Give two names and addresses and telephone numbers.

Many artists, like those starting out on their career, will not have a

particularly strong CV, but as experience and exposure develop with time it

will grow bigger and then you will have to start being selective. Similarly many

artists will not want to put in all the information listed above, in which case

leave out what you wish.

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CV’s when applying for grants, awards and prestigious exhibitions will

be a lot more full than those informing the public attending your exhibition.

It is not necessary to include all of this information every time. You have

to judge what is relevant to the people who you are sending your CV to. A

small local exhibition could require only a few words about how you came to

paint, what you like to paint, whereas if you are approaching a gallery then a

full list of previous exhibitions and art education can be very important in

establishing your value as an artist.

Example for a short CV for the back of a postcard.

David Trenow started life training as a civil engineer before switching to

art. He trained in Sculpture and Painting at Hornsey College of Art, London

and later became an art teacher at a number of schools and colleges in East

Anglia.

He has practiced as a sculptor and painter for over fifty years and has

had many exhibitions in both the UK and Europe and has work in public and

private collections in the UK, USA and Europe. His great love is painting the

special light of East Anglian landscapes and sculpting animals and the human

form.

PART 3 - SHOWING YOUR WORK

OPEN ART EXHIBITIONS

All over the country there are many exhibitions run by various

organisations like churches, charities, fetes and so on at which artists can

show their work. Many do not select the work but rely on the good taste and

self-criticism of the artist. They usually require a small fee to hang your work

and some may ask for a percentage of the sale price to cover administration

39


costs.

Having organised for many years, The Totally Open Art Show at the

local art centre in Colchester I thoroughly approve of non-selection. I never

had a picture hung that was in poor taste and some of the work was

absolutely stunning and of course it gave many people who would not be

prepared to submit their work for judging a chance to show.

When many of the art classes at the local Adult Education Centre

required the students to take an exam at the end, many refused to even join

the class in the first place. The students did not want to take an exam and be

judged as average or poor, they only wanted to do their work to the best of

their ability and to receive recognition for that effort, not for any latent talent

they might have. Open non-selected exhibitions can satisfy that need.

Mark

I first met Mark at one of my art classes.

He rarely did the exercises I set for the other students, preferring to

work on his own projects. He worked mainly on brightly coloured pastel

drawings of flowers. Some of them copied from photographs that he had

taken and others derived from postcards but substantially altered. At home he

also worked in acrylics. It seemed that he came to the classes for the

company as many of the other students did but he always appreciated the

advice and criticism that he was given. When I first spoke to him he had

already shown work at about five local exhibitions and had sold about eight

pictures at about £50 each and that was in 1998.

His costs were reduced because he did his own framing and mounting,

although as he said he was not in it for the money but for the fun and interest.

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He said that there were at least six more local exhibitions to come that he

would be putting work into. All of these exhibitions were unselected.

Then there are the selected open art exhibitions. These are run by art

societies or local arts organisations and of course the Royal Academy in their

Summer Exhibition. To get work into one of these is obviously more difficult

but since these are the places that gallery owners come to find new talent

they can be quite prestigious, for they mean that you have been accepted as

an artist of a ’higher’ or more commercial stature.

ART SOCIETIES

One of the easiest ways to show your work is to join an art society or

indeed a number of them.

Some societies may require you to offer yourself for election, others are

quite happy to take the fee and let you become a member. Before applying go

to a few of their exhibitions and make a few enquiries to see if the society is

suitable for you.

Choose one that has regular exhibitions with a standard of work

comparable to yours. This means that for the cost of the membership and a

small submission fee you can put your work forward for selection.

SELECTION COMMITTEES

In many art society exhibitions the work is selected. This is because

sometimes there are too many entries for the available hanging space.

It is therefore inevitable that some works will be rejected. DO NOT BE

DISCOURAGED. Some committees are wonderfully fair in their selection

process, others can sometimes reflect their own prejudices and any political

game that may be going on at the time. This can mean that work is not

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selected on how good it is but on who has the most influence in the society.

But do remember that the composition of a selection committee changes

regularly and so will their taste and that next year you may have a better

chance.

I came across one example of an art society that rejected the work of

one artist for so many years that he eventually failed to renew his

membership. He nevertheless continued to paint and seek out opportunities to

exhibit. This art society used at that time to sponsor a one man show at the

local art gallery and in looking around for a candidate a different committee

settled on this artist, only to discover that they could not sponsor him for he

was no longer a member. The moral, if there is one, is that artists should

never take rejection by a selection committee as a valuation of their worth and

that persistence pays off in the end.

COMPETITIONS/OPPORTUNITIES

Let me take a simple example of how not to handle competitions. I was

suddenly informed of two open art competitions at the same time. Both I

heard about the day before the submission dates. I was therefore in a bit of a

quandary about which one I should enter and what I should put in for it. Both

were happy to accept 3 paintings as a submission. One had size restrictions,

which meant that I could not submit my work because I paint fairly large,

though not so large that I cannot get the work into my car and the other one

was so far away that it would have taken all day to get there, fill in the forms,

wait in a queue of other artists and then get back.

In the end the hassle, the fact that there was no guarantee that I would

be selected and the glorious weather decided me to stay at home and work

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instead. The result was that there was now no chance that I would be

selected, my work would not be seen and if there were any gallery owners

looking at the show they would not come across me. So what should I do

next time? BE PREPARED!

What I am doing now is making notes for my next years’ diary about

what exhibitions and competitions are coming up, particularly making sure

that I give myself plenty of weeks’ notice in advance. I am writing down the

name, telephone number, website, dates and the restrictions so that I am

aware of them. Attached to the notice of one of the shows was a notice that

there was someone who would take my paintings down to the gallery for me.

All I had to do was to get the forms in advance, fill in the details, supply the

stamped addressed envelope and entry money and send them off with this

carrier.

This means that I can juggle my paintings and sculptures successfully

in time for each show. Later on I will go and see the shows to see what the

work is like. This way I can get a feel as to the sort of work they are accepting.

So that if it is entirely six foot abstract paintings then perhaps small water

colours might not be successful and although selectors change from year to

year a certain character does develop in a gallery.

Making a name for yourself can be very hard but for some competitions

it can be essential.

How many times have you seen some large international competition

won by a big name artist? Often it seems that the winning work is inferior to

that of you and your artist friends. It is as though the selectors do not have the

courage of their own abilities and go for the well-known ‘safe’ option so that if

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there is any failure then their back is covered. This could be so, but there is

some justification for the choice. For example if you were one of the judges of

a very important international exhibition, your choice could be affected by a

number of considerations. Can the selected artist actually handle the job. Do

they have the money and other resources to get the job done on time and

within the budget? Can you afford to take a chance on an inexperienced artist

regardless of the quality of their work?

But this does not deny that some name artists seem to depend on

poor quality, self indulgent and unoriginal work. It is as though they have run

out of ideas and are looking for something that will gain publicity as opposed

to artistic approval.

When you look through the various art magazines you will come across

a large number of competitions or opportunities that you can submit your work

to or volunteer your services. Some will ask you to send high quality images,

submission fees or written proposals or designs for a particular project. Most

of them are genuine but it is always a good idea to look at them with a certain

amount of scepticism and ask a few questions.

Questions like: is the organization genuine or is it a way of collecting

images and information for some other use? Do they know what they are

doing? Are they asking several artists to spend hours or days producing a

finished design for which there will be no payment? How much research

should an artist be expected to do just to get on a shortlist? What are the

entrance fees going to be used for?

When you consider the amount of time that you could spend producing

something specific and the number of people that you are competing against,

44


you could find yourself effectively ripped off. I know of a case where a church

wanted to commission a stained glass window and asked a few artists to

produce a design. Do the artists have the right to charge for that design even

if it is not selected?

Then there are the competitions for an artwork to be placed in a new

building development. Normally there is a small percentage of the contract

devoted to paying for the artwork. If no artwork is forthcoming then that

percentage of money stays with the contractor. Most contractors are honest

and will support the artwork but do they have the staff or the time to organise

the whole procedure. Who is responsible when there is so much else to do?

So it is always a good idea to check into the background of each of

these opportunities. Look at their website, ask around if anyone has had

dealings with them before. Is there a reasonable means of communication, an

email address on its own is not enough, you need an address and a

telephone number, think of all those ‘opportunities’ that appear in your email

box every day from all over the world offering cheap this or jobs for that. All

you have to do is to send the money and your bank details and watch the

whole lot disappear.

But if you feel that the offer is genuine then carry on but continue to ask

questions. How you are going to be looked after, the names of other artists

that have worked with them, how the project is funded. An organization that

gives all the relevant information up front with clear details of times and so on

is likely to be more professional than a very loosely worded advert.

Finally ask yourself what’s in it for me? Will it look good on my CV, give

me worthwhile experience and improve my chances with future opportunities?

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BEFORE YOU HAVE AN EXHIBITION OF YOUR OWN.

When it comes to displaying and selling your work, research has shown

that some places are better than others.

One survey suggested that the best places to sell your work are

commercial galleries outside London followed by commercial galleries in

London. After that came art and craft shops and theatre foyers. The Mall and

Bankside Galleries in London come in possibly because they are prestigious

galleries you can hire but then amazingly next comes village halls. Holding an

exhibition in a wooden hut out in the sticks might seem a bit daft but you must

remember that if you advertise well people can come for miles to see your

work.

The Royal Academy comes next, for sales from the Summer Exhibition

are usually good, but of course there is the problem of getting your work

selected in the first place. Many colleges of art now have their own galleries,

which attract a following of buyers who are interested in new and exciting

work. Then there are the public galleries outside London.

LIBRARY AND THEATRE GALLERIES.

Many town libraries have a gallery attached, which can be used by

local artists. There is usually some form of selection, which involves sending

in slides, prints or digital images of your work for inspection. They have the

advantage of making sure that your work is seen by a lot of people, but these

people may not be the buying public, remember they are there for a totally

different purpose.

David

I have exhibited a number of times in the gallery attached to the town

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library.

I have usually exhibited sculptures, not only because I am a sculptor

but also because the library was interested in getting a wider range of works

on show, and sculptures are more unusual and therefore are more welcome.

It can be quite hard to get them to accept a show of competent watercolours

because they are offered so many.

I have never sold a work from the library and I know a number of my

artist colleagues say the same. It could be that library goers are there to get

books not buy paintings. Even my local art society has had a poor showing

there.

So why do I continue to do it? Mainly I suppose, because it raises my

profile. More people know about what I do and might come back at a later

date or contact me after the show. It is good publicity and effectively cheap

advertising - the gallery is free and the only cost to me is a few posters and

letters to local newspapers and magazines.

I have given demonstrations of how to do a portrait head and have

found that a local celebrity is willing to sit because it is good publicity for them

as well as me. A photo of them and a half-finished head in clay and me

appearing in the local paper can do very little harm.

EXHIBITIONS IN NON GALLERY VENUES.

Where you show your work can create quite a degree of interest, which

can be reflected in publicity. A fairly average exhibition can take on a special

interest if it is held somewhere unusual like a prison, a power station, a coal

mine, a morgue or a cemetery. Could you get away with a van in a car park? I

have certainly seen a few vans stuck right out in the wilds where there were

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no buildings of any sort. You would probably have to get permission but that is

obviously not impossible. If you can find somewhere interesting then do give it

serious consideration. But do apply the criteria mentioned later about how

suitable the premises are.

Then there are the many other non-gallery venues, which are being

used all over the country. Just because there is no gallery in a famous beauty

spot doesn’t mean that you can’t set up a temporary one.

Michael - originally trained as a surveyor and at the age of 34 gave it up to

become a full time artist. He taught himself how to paint and has been

painting for ten years literally learning as he went. He is now a successful

artist earning as he says ’more than he needs’. It has been hard work but

worth it.

He works mainly in watercolour and his subjects are of the countryside

where he lives and exhibits. He produces a wide variety of work ranging from

brilliant sunsets to views of villages, coastal and river scene and a few still

lifes. His sunsets can be quite dramatic and make for a lively and exciting

exhibition. This means that his shows are very different to the many other

exhibitions of water colours that can be seen in the area. Although a water

colour can take him only 20 minutes to produce it does require a lot of

preparation to get it right in his eyes and of course there are often failures. He

paints about 70 pictures a year.

Water colours can be fairly quick to produce and appear to be easy to

sell. In 2002 his prices ranged from £250 to £600. From his sales would have

to be taken the cost of framing and the cost of the places he hires to show his

work. He also produces postcards and framed prints of his work, which also

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add to his income.

He holds exhibitions in holiday cottages at the end of the season, in

commercial galleries where he rents the space and in a shed behind a pub,

which had been converted into a make-shift gallery. All of these exhibition

spaces are located in holiday areas where he has painted, so you can buy a

picture of the beach that you have just walked along. He usually hires the

same places at the same time each year for about a month. He hs found that

some people look forward to seeing his work from one year to the next.

His recipe for success would appear to be:

1. Paintings of popular places where people go regularly on holiday.

2. Exhibiting in the area where he produced the pictures.

3. Coming back to the same place at the same time each year.

Don’t forget that there are also permanent spaces available in the

oddest of places. Anyone who has been down the Bayswater Road in London

on a Sunday can see a wonderful collection of paintings for sale, hanging on

the railings with the artists standing close by ready to advise you on any

potential purchase. Are there railings available in your town? Often the local

church is surrounded by railings, if they are not being used then why not? In

some places a local charitable organisation or the church itself will invite

artists to show on the railings for a fee and supervise the show themselves

just to raise money for charity.

EMPTY PROPERTIES

Every so often in a town, a shop or similar property becomes empty in

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between lets and looks as though it could make an ideal gallery. Often these

properties are in the middle of a busy shopping area and are only available for

a very short while. Others look as though they could be available for longer.

Sometimes they are of shops that have ceased trading but who still hold the

remains of the lease. Sometimes they are council owned properties that are

changing their use. Do however make sure that it suits your needs.

It is always worthwhile considering if this is the sort of venture that you

would like to get into. It does however make a number of demands on you.

For example you may only find the property is available for only a few weeks

starting from the time you found it. This brings me back to the first point I

made in this book – produce the work! You should have the work ready for

exhibition so that you can concentrate your efforts on preparing the premises

when you find them.

Some premises will be near derelict and require a lot of work to come

up to the standard that you want to show your work in. Maybe you need clear

white walls and lighting, so who is going to paint them and check the electrical

installation? Others could be well fitted out as shops but not have the space to

display your work satisfactorily. Assess the property very carefully because if

you go ahead it will demand a lot of time and work, but if you do succeed then

you will have shown your work in a very good location.

To move on from the point where you have found the premises to using

them means that you will have to contact the owner. You will be able to find

out if it is council owned by checking with the local council. If it is privately

owned then the council will not be able to tell you who owns it but might be

able to pass a letter on to the owner. Many vacant properties will have a

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notice of who the letting agent is or neighbouring properties might know who

the owner or lessee is. You can also check with local estate agents to see if

they know of any empty properties but of course they are commercial

ventures and would need to see a return on their efforts.

If you tend to go down this path then do research the property owners.

Make sure you get the names right and try and look at the proposal from their

point of view, what are the advantages for them and how can the

disadvantages be overcome? Draft a letter to them explaining your proposal

and suggest that you meet to discuss it. Follow up if necessary, two weeks

later with a phone call again suggesting that you meet to discuss the idea.

There will be many rejections but if you persevere then there could be many

advantages for you when you succeed.

There are now a number of organisations all over the UK which

specialize in taking over vacant properties and turning them into art galleries ,

studios and spaces for classes of various types. They are by their nature

temporary for they are only using the space while it is vacant. They create

footfall and advertise the property to the world at large by simply being there

so that a commercial group will take notice and possibly take over the

premises as a shop or set of offices. It might be fair to say that that success

for these gallery/studios is getting thrown out because the property is back in

commercial use, thereby contributing to the economy and wellbeing of the

town. But in the meantime they have given a wonderful service to the

community and to the many artists and teachers in the area. It must be said

that because of their charitable status many of these places cannot charge for

the use of the premises and cannot sell work from the walls of the gallery.

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They rely on voluntary contributions, the good heartedness of the owners and

people working for free to survive. The owners benefit because as I have said

before the propertsy become known to the general public and commercial

users and also because an occupied premises deteriorates much more slowly

than an unoccupied one and is less likely to attract vandalism.

Because I thought this was a brilliant Idea, when I found that there was

such an organization in my town I volunteered to supervise the gallery one

morning a week. It was cold because there was very limited heating but there

was a gallery that was filled with the work of individual artists and local art

societies. It was obviously doing a tremendous service for the town.

Later on as the place settled down some of the other rooms became

artist’s studios and then again later the gallery teamed up with similar

organisations in other towns which gave them access to various grants and

subsidies.

OTHER PLACES

There is nothing to stop you asking if you can show your work

alongside existing businesses. Many cafes and restaurants now show art on

their walls as well as selling food and drink, but do remember that your work

will always be secondary to the main business. Perhaps you could exhibit in

your local launderette, swimming pool, hospital, would an exhibition based on

a museum display go down well in the museum itself?

WHY HAVE AN EXHIBITION?

The main reason why I exhibit my work is to get it in front of a larger

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audience. I want people to enjoy it and possibly buy it. I say enjoy it because

some of my work is large and challenging and would not be easy to sell, but

that does not stop me doing it.

One of the other benefits is that you meet all sorts of interesting people

while you are organising and supervising your show. Other artists are always

popping in and happy to pass on advice about other galleries or opportunities,

the general public will be appreciative even if they don’t buy. So beyond the

hassle and stress of getting it together in the first place it can be a very

enjoyable experience, particularly if you do not have too many high

expectations.

Then there are the sales, if you have a very successful show with many

sales then you can get a wonderful feeling of elation, for there is no greater

respect for you and your work than when somebody will hand over some of

their hard earned cash for a painting or sculpture.

SELECTING A GALLERY.

There are many different types of galleries that you might like to

consider when you are choosing one.

There are the very upmarket expensive galleries that take a lot of

commission when they sell your work. These galleries often have an existing

stable of artists and will often only accept new artists with a very successful

track record or through recommendation from one of their existing artists. New

and unproven artists are therefore at the beginning, charity cases. The gallery

has to rely on the artist’s growing reputation for them to regain the money and

effort that they have expended. These galleries will do a lot for the

development of the artist through their network of contacts with publicly

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funded galleries and also collectors. They can in many respects make the

market and push artists higher up the tree.

Another type of gallery is that, which takes a far wider range of artists,

again taking a commission and mounting and advertising the show. They

sometimes have contacts with the more important galleries and can help an

artist progress. These galleries can be found all over the place, in the middle

of towns, in country barns and in particular tourist areas. They can show

mixed exhibitions of many artists or they can give one man shows to a

favoured few, preferably those that sell well.

Then there are the galleries that artists can hire for themselves and

hang and mind their shows. Costing a few hundred pounds a week they can

be a very good start in creating an exhibition CV. Many spaces are fitted up as

galleries with good quality lighting and white painted walls, others can be

nothing more than the village hall or a garden shed with atrocious if any

lighting and few other services. The choice is yours. The price of hire will

usually reflect the quality of service.

APPROACHING A GALLERY

One of the things you have to remember when approaching a gallery is

that there are a great number of artists competing to show their work. One

gallery owner I spoke to says that he gets 4/5 artists a day approaching him

for a show. He is continually receiving postcards, CD’s, emails or magazine

articles featuring a particular artist’s work with appeals for a show

accompanied by a request to visit the studio to see the work in reality.

Inevitably, he has to reject most of these approaches, so how does he find his

artists?

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Firstly there are the social contacts, artists that he has met through his

normal social life - friends and friends of friends. Many of his artists have been

recommended by other artists. This is where networking can be very

important. Yes, he has responded to the occasional postcard where the image

was particularly striking and then gone to see the work in the studio. In one

case he has found that the artist was also working in a different style, which

he liked more than the one that first attracted him and showed that style

instead.

He has also responded to the persistence of a local artist who was

constantly dropping in to see the exhibitions. He found he was “a nice guy, he

was quite humble“, and so easy to get on with. Because he was local it was

easy for him to drop into the artist’s studio. But in most cases he saw the work

in mixed exhibitions around the country and then made contact with the artist.

Remember that he will only show work he likes. He avoids private views

because he knows that he will be pressured by artists who want to show at his

gallery.

Some galleries (but very few) are run by people who just want to run a

gallery for the fun of doing it. They are prepared to take on any odd artist that

they like and do not seriously consider the finances involved. They usually do

not last a long time. But most do it because they love art and want to be part

of that world but also have to make a living. This latter group have to take on

work that they know will sell to their existing clients. It is interesting to note

that many of these clients come back to that same gallery and buy more work,

often by the same artist. It is not always just someone who wants only one

pretty picture for the living room wall.

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A recent survey of gallery owners has shown that most of them prefer

to do the hunting when it comes down to selecting artists. This unfortunately

puts all the power in the hands of the galleries, a situation that is not always

healthy. By putting restrictions on their exhibiting artists they can in theory

make or break the reputation of their exhibitors. Is there any way round this?

The answer here is that the artist should be promoting themselves so that

they become a valuable commodity and are pursued by the galleries, which in

many respects is what this book is about. But to make a reputation you need

to show in galleries but you need to show in galleries to make a reputation.

This roundabout does leave the artist with a major problem.

One gallery that I spoke to said that they preferred to chase up the

artist themselves and that it was important that the artist should be seen in as

many different ‘open’ exhibitions as possible because that was where they

would be seen. You can find out about ‘open’ art exhibitions from many art

magazines, leaflets in galleries, art shops and libraries, as well as notice

boards.

In other cases gallery owners that I have spoken to have just accepted

that approaches from artists is the way things are and that this way they can

see many more artists than by going out and looking. From the artists point of

view this is the only way to work. There will be many rejections but there could

also be some successes. One artist started by organising her own mailing to

100 different galleries. One gallery responded and agreed to show her work

and a painting was sold. From there she went on to sell many more. If only

one gallery responded out of 100 leaving 99 failed approaches at least the

100th paid sufficient dividends to make the whole thing worth while. She is also

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selling work off her website and has also created an artistic consultancy. In

both the cases of the gallery owner and the artist it can be seen that

networking can be invaluable for promoting the interests of both parties.

Check out what sort of work the gallery you are going to approach

sells. If it sells only seascapes then quite simply you would be wasting your

time trying to offer large abstract canvases to them. There are many art

magazines that survive on the advertising placed there by galleries. Each of

these display adverts usually has a picture of the work of one of their artists.

These pictures will tell you pretty quickly the sort of work that they prefer to

show and sell. You are then in a position to decide if it is your sort of gallery.

Looking at the adverts saves you a lot of time and effort before you go out to

check them. Remember that whereas many galleries have a distinct ‘style’

they are quite likely to want to refresh their image occasionally.

Just wandering off the street and hoping to show examples of your

work to the gallery is usually not very effective. Some will only look at work at

their leisure and so it might be preferable to present them with a few (possibly

only two) well selected images either in a folder or more often as an email

which can read easily. If you can incorporate the images into the email itself

rather than as attachments you will have saved the gallery a lot of time. Tell

them who you are and what the artworks are about and also about exhibitions

and awards you have had. A week or so later follow up with a phone call to

make an appointment, reminding them who you are and that they already

have your details and if they wish to see you they will arrange an

appointment.

Make sure that they can find out more about you if you catch their

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interest. Do you have a website, facebook, twitter or Linkedin accounts and

are you using them? The galleries would like to know that the artists they are

showing are putting a lot of effort into their own publicity as well. Both parties

benefit from this. Make friends with the galleries, they enjoy being liked.

Don’t forget that commercial galleries charge commission on the

paintings they sell, this can vary between 30 to 65% so be aware of this when

deciding on the prices of your work. Galleries have a lot of expenses like

insurance, rates, utilities, staffing, phones, equipment, furnishings and of

course publicity – check out how much it costs to put a display advert in a

local magazine, and their own wages, and that can only come from the work

they sell. So they have to be sure that what they have on their walls has a

good chance of selling.

There are also other aspects that might help you get your work shown

in a gallery. Firstly there are many very successful galleries where a lot of

money is made but there are many hundreds more which are struggling

financially. These galleries are struggling to keep their heads above water and

cannot do anything like what they want to promote their gallery and the artist.

Can you help?

I have come across galleries that were run for the pleasure of the

owner. The owner had made a lot of money in the commercial world but now

wanted to have some fun in the much more exciting world of art. He was able

to mount innovative exhibitions that had little chance of selling but which

allowed him to see another aspect of the world. Such galleries never made

any money and usually only lasted as long as the enthusiasm or the money.

PAYING YOUR WAY - SPONSORSHIP

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Could you arrange sponsorship of your exhibition, would the company

you work for or with whom you have a special connection be prepared to

support some of the expenses of the show? Local businesses are likely to be

more willing than national companies that have no interest in your locality. So

ask yourself if there is anything special about your work that would appeal to

them. On a slightly different tack I got advertising sponsorship from the local

newspaper because I was running a ’Totally Open Art Show’ for the

community, a show with no selection at all.

Keep your proposal brief – one side of A4 and use the language that

they will understand with no abbreviations. If you already have support from

other organizations do mention it, it will give you greater credibility. Make sure

you tell them that they will be given publicity, maybe displaying the company

logo on your posters and in your catalogue.

Or how about your regional arts association? Many have schemes to

support artists in the form of grants or awards. These usually have to be

applied for a long time in advance and often at specific times, so make sure

that you check their requirements and since you will be in competition with

many other artists make sure you abide by them. Apply to the visual arts

officer.

You could also try the Arts Council if your exhibition is ambitious, say

one that could tour the country or travel abroad. There is also your local

council where the arts and recreation department might help with a local

community event. If you are showing for a charity will they be prepared to help

out? All of these applications do take up a tremendous amount of time and

effort, which is often why many artists do not bother with the whole procedure.

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Produce a press pack so that the sponsor can see what they are

getting for their money. An example of the poster, private view invitation card,

press adverts, press releases plus anything else that is relevant to the

sponsor. Will the company logo be included in the publicity. Would you be

prepared to incorporate the company name into the title of the show? Would

they get special invitations to the private view, would you give them a special

clients evening. Remember that they are looking at your proposal with the

thought of ‘what’s in it for me’ and it is up to you to make sure the package is

attractive.

Would you be prepared to pay for extra advertising, the private view

invitation cards, the wine at the private view or some other part of the show?

Would you be prepared to give 100% of the price of the first painting sold to

the gallery and then receive the usual price for the rest? Would you be

prepared to allow a greater percentage to be taken from the sale price, say

50% instead of 40% just so that the gallery can survive? Remember in this

area of promotion the survival of the gallery is essential for your own

progression.

If you have had a successful exhibition don’t forget that it is very

common to give the gallery owner one of your paintings as a thank you

present.

ARTISTS GROUPS

One way round this dilemma is to run your own gallery or exhibition.

This way you can claim back some control over your reputation. You can do it

by yourself or with a group of like-minded artists. A group of artists will have

more clout than one on their own.

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The advantage of a group of artists is that:

1. The exhibition will be more exciting because there will be a greater

variety of work on show.

2. There will be a larger number of people to invite to the show because

each artist will have their own guest list.

3. There will be more money, time and effort available to hang, advertise,

invigilate, transport and generally promote the show.

4. There is much more imagination around to produce more exciting

promotional ideas.

ARTIST RUN GALLERIES

Over the years many artists have decided that the best way to show

their

work is to run their own gallery. This can be done either as an individual or as

a group. This way they can put all their effort into promoting themselves.

The advantages of this arrangement are that you make more money

because you do not have to pay another shop or gallery to sell your work. You

save time and money by not having to transport your work to galleries all over

the country and you can also produce a wider range of experimental work

because you are not limited by the constraints of the gallery. The

disadvantages among many are, that you have to do all the selling and

advertising, all the book work, break off in the middle of a particularly creative

period to sell a postcard to someone who really wants a chat and fend off

salesman who want to sell you anything they think you want.

One person could organise the premises, another advertising, a third

the gallery supervision and so on. It is they who decide on prices and the

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amount of publicity and the hanging of the show, not someone else like a

gallery owner who has a dozen other artists’ demands to consider. These

galleries can be permanent and open all year round or could ‘pop up’ galleries

accupying a space for a short period of time.

The disadvantages are that the show could look like a bit of a rag-bag

with works of very different sizes, styles and there is more room for

disagreement over how and where to hang the work. And of course any one

artist does not get the same degree of attention that they would have done

with a solo exhibition.

Some artists have found greater publicity and success by forming

themselves into groups. A group is stronger because of the resources

available which means that it can have more exhibitions in a year than an

individual. The more exhibitions you have, the more publicity you get and so

the more attention you get from the critics and the buying public, hence the

ability of Art Societies to mount three or four exhibitions a year.

If the group has a defined aim it can generate even greater publicity. In

some cases the group aim and identity is given by the critics, or art historians

and sometimes not very kindly But the members of the Impressionists or

Cubists did not care too much, they were grateful for the attention. I find it

hard to imagine that Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael sitting around in

Rome in the early 1500’s discussing over a cappuchino how to bring about the

rebirth of Classical Art. The idea of the Renaissance was applied later by the

art historians. But on the other hand the British ‘Pop’ artists appeared to have

clear objectives, which gave them a label that the critics and the public could

grasp. By being identifiably different from other styles of art – the use of

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popular imagery from advertising etc – they could be easily recognized. The

fact that as artists they looked like representations Greek gods and

goddesses didn’t do them any harm either. The result was that they

established firm reputations on which they could build their individual careers

and success.

The clear abstract aims of the Seven & Five Society is an example of

how a group can work. This was originally a fairly conservative group of

artists who could be seen to have reacted to the chaos of the First World War

by returning to order. It was not designed to promote any ‘isms’, but just to get

on with business of painting. In 1924 Ben Nicholson a pioneer of abstract art

joined the group and was soon followed by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore

and John Piper. Eventually the abstract artists gained power within the group

and the non-modernists left. In 1935 they renamed it the Seven and Five

Abstract Group and held the first abstract art exhibition in Britain at the

Zwemmer Gallery in London. This was championed by some critics giving

both the critics and artists some very welcome publicity. The prominence of

those names in the art history of the United Kingdom suggests that forming a

group with clear aims did them no harm. Now consider how many artist have

become famous under a label like The Pre-Raphaelites, or Neo-Classicists

etc. and then think what a label could do for you.

Even more recently, a group of young artists known as the YBA or

Young British Artists has achieved tremendous success through their unity.

Although quite different from each other in their artworks, the group was

sufficiently self-reinforcing and supportive to enable it to survive quite hostile

criticism at times and for the members to benefit.

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If they have a common philosophy then there are even greater

possibilities for publicity for there is more to talk about. An art movements like

the Impressionists, Pre-Raphaelites or Cubists attracted a lot of attention in

their day.

ART FAIRS

There are now a number of art fairs all over the world. Many of which

will only accept applications from established galleries. The definition of what

is a gallery or an established gallery can be quite woolly and so there are

many different types represented, starting with regular High Street every day

galleries to artist groups that exhibit only occasionally.

These art fairs are only on for a few days and because of this the

organisers can put out a lot of publicity and really make an impact. For

example the Affordable Art Fair has excellent publicity and even runs to a free

taxi and coach service from Sloan Square tube station to Battersea Park in

London where the fair is held. This particular fair is unusual in that no work of

art can be priced at more than £3000 (at the time of writing) which means that

the general public can know in advance that there is something there they can

probably afford. The AAF also appears in a number of other towns around the

UK.

What happens is that as a gallery you can rent a space to show the

work that you want. But it must be remembered that because the show is only

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on for a few days the work shown needs to have an immediate impact, subtle

work that requires longer viewing might not be so successful. Whenever I

have been to one I have found that they seem to be very successful with

many people walking out with paintings or sculptures under their arms.

There is of course, no reason why you should not start your own art

fair. A number of art students on finding there was a hole in the market have

simply started their own. Some have gone on to be very successful, others

have achieved major sponsorship because many large companies want to be

associated with something that is tasteful, successful and will enhance their

image. Sponsorship in this case is a form of advertising for them.

Before you get to that stage all you have to do is to find a suitable

place available for a few days only and get a few other artists and galleries to

join you. They can be great fun for it gives everyone a chance to meet other

artists and gallery owners and get to know what they are doing.

Communication between artists and gallery owners is a major help to the

health of the art market.

OPEN STUDIOS

Many arts organisations or arts officers for local and regional councils

or galleries run what is known as ‘Open Studios’. Some of them can be quite

small and local, others can be very large and county wide.

What they entail is that at certain time of the year you will show your

work in your studio and allow people to come and visit you there, see your

work and if they wish, buy it. This has the great advantage that there is an

organisation that is prepared to advertise that your studio is open and in some

cases will even organise free bus trips around the studios just to bring the

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public in. This is also an ideal time to invite all your friends and acquaintances

to come and see what you have been doing.

The disadvantage can be that you will have to pay for membership of

the ’Open Studios’ and possibly as in one case I know, give up some time to

supervise a joint exhibition of all the participating artists at a venue

somewhere else. Also you can only open your studio under their auspices at

the times (usually 3 or 4 weekends a year) that they run the scheme. This

however does not stop you from opening your studio when you like it’s just

that you won’t get the support of the organisation.

SHOWING AT HOME OR IN YOUR STUDIO.

One way of getting your work in front of the public is to exhibit in your

own home or studio. It is amazing how a garage or a room in the house can

be converted into a gallery for just two or three days as in a weekend. There

are a number of things to be considered when you start out on a venture like

this.

Some artists have a weekend show once or twice a year and find that

after a time people come to expect and look forward to them. They become

another event in their social calendar. Others have a permanent display in

their homes and bring people in only by appointment. This frequently applies

with art dealers who have valuable collections of art.

Showing at home has a number of distinct advantages. Firstly it means

that you can choose the times that you want to show, you do not have to fit in

with the timetable of a gallery or other artists or organisations. You can pick

the best times like for example, just before Christmas which can be a very

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profitable time or mid-summer if you wanted to show off works for the garden.

Secondly you can show the work in the context of your home or garden so

that visitors can see what your work would possibly look like in theirs. Thirdly

all the effort, time and money that is put into promoting your show is devoted

entirely to you. You can decide to put in as much or as little as you wish.

Picture Rails

You will need to make sure, long in advance, that you can show your

work effectively. Are the picture rails still there or were they stripped out by

enthusiastic modernisers many years ago? If you intend to take exhibiting

seriously and you have to replace them then think about having more than

one, or even two or three rails so that you can hang your work in rows.

Insurance

If people are coming to your house to buy works of art it is a good idea

to have insurance covering liability should they fall or injure themselves in

some way. Normal household insurance does not usually cover commercial

activities and so you should either get an extension to your existing policy or a

separate one. Some art organizations can offer this service.

Make sure that you have identified and cleared up any hazards in the

exhibition areas - sudden changes of floor level, jutting out radiators or

general sharp edges and corners.

Planning consent.

If you are using your house full time as a gallery then you would need

planning consent for a change of use. This could have an effect on your rates,

for you could come into the more expensive business rates category. If you

are only open for a few days a year then you might be looked in a different

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light in which case check with your local planning authority.

Clearing space.

Make sure that your exhibition space is as clear as possible.

Remember people are coming to look at your work and not your furniture and

ornaments. Also remember that if you were selling your house all estate

agents recommend that you de-clutter the rooms to make it more attractive.

The same applies to selling paintings. Obviously you are going to make the

space as clean and shiny as you can. Sparkling windows, a shiny door

knocker and clean floors all help to welcome a visitor and put them in a better

buying frame of mind.

Security.

If you are having a lot of people coming to a show in your house you

will need to consider security.

Make sure that the rooms that are not part of the exhibition are locked

or closed in some way. When you are talking to a potential buyer the last thing

you want is to be worrying where all the other people are. It would help if you

could get a friend to help you by wandering around keeping an eye on things.

Friends also make good salespeople because they can praise the work far

more than the artist would dare to do.

Toilets

You will inevitably be asked by someone if they could use your toilet.

Make sure that it is accessible and clearly identified.

Drinks

It is always nice to greet visitors with a drink of some form, so make

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sure that you can do so without causing yourself too much trouble.

Access

Trying to find your studio or home can be quite difficult for many

people, make sure that you put out plenty of signs so that people do not get

lost or wander into the wrong part of the house.

Parking

Even if you do not have any parking at your studio, make sure that you

locate the nearest car park and send out a map showing where it is in relation

to major roads and then how to get from there to your studio. Make life easy

for your customers, they will not stay long if they are worried about parking

fines.

Lynda - had a show in her studio, which was in a downstairs room in

her house. She sent out invitations to all her friends, acquaintances and

previous buyers of her paintings. In 1991 this cost her about £30 including

postage. She also pushed invitations though the letter boxes of people in the

area where she lived.

She sold something in the region of £800 - 1000 worth of work over the

two days of one weekend. She also gave out nibbles and drinks to her guests.

The work was priced from £40 - 180, was framed and had either been left

over from previous exhibitions or had just recently been produced. The prices

were lower than they would have been in a gallery because she did not have

to add on their commission.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR WHEN CHOOSING A GALLERY.

Is the gallery well known - if you ask for directions to it can other people

tell you where it is?

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How much passing traffic is there? Is it the right end of town - some

areas have more people passing the door than others. Is it attached to a

concert hall or theatre both of which will produce extra footfall?

Is it near some major tourist attraction so that there will be plenty of

tourists passing the door, particularly foreign tourists who are often more

prepared to buy than the English. Check where the tourists go, your local

Tourist Authority might be able to help with information and advertising.

Is it easy to get into? If it is up a flight of stairs then you might put a few

visitors off, particularly the elderly or is there a lift?

Is it easily noticed? Upstairs behind dark doors may not be easy to find,

particularly on winter evenings.

Is it near car park or is there easy car parking? Nobody wants to traipse

miles from the car park to the show, although if there is good public transport

then that can be an advantage. Most of the London or big city galleries have

no parking but that does not stop us visiting them.

Is it easy to find? If not make sure that you include a map with your

invitation. It could be that the location makes a visit to the gallery worthwhile

anyway.

Is it big enough? This is very important if you are having an exhibition

with a group of fellow artists. You all want to be reasonably represented in the

show.

Do the owners of the gallery offer any services like advertising?

Is it regularly available? I know that one very successful artist used to

exhibit in a local private school during the summer, Easter and winter holidays

for many years. He was always there every year and because of this

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regularity he built up a clientele that eagerly awaited his next show and

bought his work.

He also had an ambition to hire a derelict barn on the road to one of

the major tourist car ferry ports and turn that into a gallery. He felt that people

from Europe who went back through that port, having come by car, might on

the return journey have the desire to get a souvenir of their stay in the UK, like

a painting and would also know by then how much room they had for this

present in their car. Few people want to drive around the country with a large

painting as part of their luggage but they would be quite happy to suffer it for a

few hours on the return part of the trip. He never did get round to doing it but I

keep it as an idea for myself and other artists.

Other artists have made a reputation and sold very successfully by

keeping to a few galleries and showing in them regularly. After a while people

begin to expect them and look forward to their exhibitions.

What is the signage like - are you easily directed to the gallery from a

main road or will you have to supply that yourself.

Does it have a kitchen or somewhere to make hot drinks and wash up

after a private view? Does it have toilets?

Are there any restrictions? Some galleries insist that you cannot exhibit

within so many miles of them, does this bother you? This restriction can make

your work special and unique to the area but if you are a printmaker, say, who

relies on selling many editions in a relatively small area this could prove a

problem.

RUNNING YOUR OWN SHOW

It is important to remember that if you are supervising your own

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exhibition that there will be times when you will be bored out of your skull.

There will be long periods when there will be no-one coming to see your work.

If you wish to maintain your enthusiasm for art and exhibiting you will have to

plan for those times.

If you are having a group show you can at least share the supervision

with the other members, if not is there anyone who can take over a morning or

an afternoon like a friend or relative? Sitting here writing these paragraphs

while supervising my own show makes me very aware of how the time can

drag. It also makes me very sympathetic to art gallery owners who supervise

their galleries all the year round.

BUDGETING

If you have decided to have a one-person show then now is the time to

sort out your budget. There is no point in having a show if it is going to

bankrupt you, so it is very worthwhile looking at all the expenses you are

liable to incur.

EXPENSES INCOME

Hire of gallery Sales of paintings/prints etc.

Heating/lighting Sales of catalogues

Insurance, building/contents Sales of drinks

Materials to bring the gallery

gallery up to standard – paint for

walls, picture rails, picture hooks,

mirror plates, etc.

Hire of help

Publicity Sponsorship, grants, fund

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private view invites raising events

posters, adverts,

catalogues, postage

framing, mounting, packaging

transport

drinks/nibbles for private view

hire of glasses

Photocopying

Stationery

Travel

Cost of artworks including framing.

Then add ten percent as a contingency fund because you very rarely

remember everything or something totally unexpected crops up. Now ask

yourself can you afford to have a show.

PUBLICITY

Having decided to have an exhibition, the next thing is to publicise it.

Publicity comes in many forms. The first and probably the most important

thing

THE MAILING LIST

The mailing list is probably the most valuable part of your publicity.

These are the names and addresses of the people that you know or have

met, who you think might be interested in your exhibition or even just the fact

that you are having an exhibition.

Who should be on your mailing list?

First of all anyone who has ever bought your work, they may well buy

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again. They deserve the courtesy of your recognition of their support in the

past. Never neglect your existing customers. Naturally your sponsors. Then

relatives, friends, work colleagues and then anyone you have contact with,

banks, insurance brokers, local shops. It is amazing how many people that

you even vaguely know are secret visitors to art galleries and would really like

to know about your achievements. Remember they don’t have to come to

your show but they would still like to think that you have remembered them.

Then there are other artists and galleries, then people you don’t know

but who might give your show a greater profile because of their importance -

local mayors, any titled people - the odd ‘Sir’ or ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady’ in the visitors

book can also help.

Then there are the people who have been to your previous exhibitions.

How do you find them? Well you had a visitors book at your previous shows

didn’t you, and you got them to sign when they came and leave their email

address?

There is also a group of people who you know vaguely and would like

to get to know better but you cannot find any common ground. They may find

it strange if you were to ask them to something formal like a drink, lunch or

dinner but would be quite happy to receive an invitation to an exhibition where

they know if they do not come nobody would be offended. If they do not come

then you can perhaps assume that your approach has been rejected, but if

they do not come and offer an apology then you can always try again. Are you

a member of an evening class or an art society or a choir? Every member of

these organizations could be invited.

Having got their names and addresses you are now in a position to

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send them an invitation to your private view. Most will not come, but some will

and as you will again be having a visitors book you will be able to sort out

eventually who is worth keeping on your mailing list. If you do not have their

addresses then I hope that you are constantly carrying some business cards

around with you to give out as you see them.

If you also got their email addresses then it would be possible to send

your invitations that way. I have tried this and it does work but when I tried to

send a coloured attachment quite often this failed because the recipient did

not have the required program to retrieve it. A number of people could not

read the attachment when it was constructed in Publisher but I am assured

that if you send it as a jpeg it will work. You will need some knowledge of

computers or a friend who is a computer buff to help you with this terminology

and process. It is possible, I am told, to incorporate a picture in the text of the

email and so avoid the loss of attachments.

The mailing list, once you have it on a computer can be easily updated.

It does need constant attention and reviewing. Here you need to take out

those people who have died or have changed their name through divorce or

separation or those who have changed their address. Then there are the new

acquaintances, who you want to know about your shows to be added.

PRIVATE VIEW INVITATION CARDS.

The private view invitation cards are those you send to the people on

your mailing list, this way you can guarantee that a number of people know

you are having a show.

The easiest and most costly way to produce private view and invitation

cards is to simply commission a printer to produce them for you. There are

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many adverts for printers who will do a highly professional job for you in the

many art magazines. You supply a photograph of your work and the text and

they will do the rest. They can look very impressive - a good graphic designer

can do wonders for your work.

You can also do it yourself. You can print out your own invitation cards

using a computer. A basic version could look like this:

ALDEBURGH CINEMA GALLERY51 High Street, Aldeburgh, Suffolk IP15 5AU

.

.ILLUSTRATION

.

.

.

.

DAVID TRENOWinvites you to the Private View of

“COASTAL LIGHT”Pointillist paintings of the East Anglian coast.

P.V. Saturday 1st September 2007 11am –1pmExhibition 10am to 5pm

Friday 31st August to Thursday 6th September 2007

For further information please contact David Trenowemail: [email protected] or www.davidtrenow.wordpress.com

It has all the basic information, it tells the reader who, what, where and when,

which is what they want to know.

Note how I have stuck to the same print face type throughout the card

and have only reduced the size of the print to fit it into a fixed space.

Commercial printers have the equipment to put an image on one side

of the card and the text on the other. I have had difficulty in doing that on the

computer. I find that the grips on my printer cannot cope with the smooth

photographic surface of the paper and the paper slips and smudges the text.

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http://www.davidtrenow.wordpress.com/

mailto:[email protected]


This is why I have incorporated the image in with the text – pretty easy using

Publisher and it also has the advantage that the text and the image are facing

the viewer if they put it on the mantelpiece to remind them about the show.

But you could try a different approach, produce all of it yourself and see

what happens. You could hand paint or draw the reverse side of the above

card with an example of your work. Perhaps fitting a number of cards together

and then drawing or painting a full sized picture so that a part of the picture

appears on each one. If everyone who got a part of the picture were to bring it

along to the private view then they could find out what the whole looked like. It

means that a single image running through all the publicity has been lost but it

then becomes an interesting gimmick to raise the profile of the private view.

In the first case the people receiving your card get a high quality

reproduction of your work, in the second case they could actually get an

original piece of your work. If you later become famous it could become a

collector’s item. I was advised by a gallery curator that the invitations for a

particular exhibition were hand printed on lino cuts by the exhibiting artist. I

hung on to mine and I now have an original artwork that is worth quite a lot.

If the gallery you are exhibiting in is a little off the beaten track then it

would be a good idea to incorporate a map into the card so that people can

find you more easily. Try not to make it a separate piece of paper for we all

know how easily they get lost.

EXHIBITION CARDS

It can be a good idea to have some of your private view cards printed

with just the basic information about the exhibition but not including the private

view times and dates. Remember a private view is for those people who wish

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to see your exhibition without having to fight their way to the pictures and for

those you wish to see.

You can then think about how to distribute them. You could consider

putting them as an insert in a particularly relevant magazine. If everybody who

takes the magazine also gets a postcard of one of your works of art then you

have achieved a tremendous amount. You have got your work and name in

front of a great many people, and if it is an art magazine, then in front of a lot

of people who are interested in art.

Cards can be either bound into the magazine or just inserted loose.

POSTERS

So now that you have got the basic exhibition organised then a few

posters around the area you are exhibiting in will always be useful.

Remember to select the size and shape according to where you want

to put them. For example, many shops will put up posters for you providing

that they are small enough. Maximum size being A4, but you may find that A5

is more convenient. A4 or A5 are also easily printed on the standard computer

printer if you intend to do your printing yourself. It is also easier if they are

portrait in orientation for that is the way that most of the other posters in the

shop window will be. Remember the shop is doing you a favour so make sure

you make life easy for them.

It may be possible to put larger posters outside the gallery on an ’A’

frame display or in special display windows.

Don’t forget to put a poster in the side window of your car.

In my last exhibition, it wasn’t until I had the show up that I realised that

I had not put up as many posters in the immediate locality as I should have. I

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should have researched more, but that is now something for next time.

USING THE MEDIA

The media in general can be very useful in letting people know that you

are having an exhibition.

What’s On

The cheapest way of advertising is in the ‘What’s On’ columns in

newspapers and magazines and some radio and television websites - yes

some radio and television stations do have entertainments columns on their

websites.

If you look at most newspapers and magazines there is a ‘What’s On’

column, this is usually free and all you have to do is to send in your details

and they will print them. This occurs in national and local papers. The

Guardian newspaper has a weekend supplement magazine that will publish

the basic details of your show as will many local magazines and newspapers.

The best thing is to check through the titles displayed in a newsagents and

also the magazine racks in the library to see what is available. Check to see

which of them are free.

Each publication will have a ‘deadline’ the date by which all the

information must be submitted for publication. Magazines that are published

every three months or every month will have a different deadline to

newspapers, so check carefully.

Make a list and collection of all the publications that are relevant to the

area where you are showing and also the area where you live and note down

what sort of publicity they give and their deadlines.

It is important to give the ‘what’s on’ columns the information they need

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and preferably in the format they use - it just makes it easier for them and you.

So let us have a look at a typical layout. As an example, I will lay out the

information of the last exhibition out in the guardian format:

Aldeburgh

Coastal Light

Pointillist paintings of the Suffolk Coast by David Trenow.

Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery, 51 High Street tel:************

10am - 5pm every day to 6 Sept, free.

This entry was designed to go into the guardian guide published on

Saturday 1st of September 2007 and was sent to the address mentioned in the

column. I have used italics in my layout in the way that they are shown in the

guardian guide.

The deadline for sending your information in this case would be

something like ten days before the publication date of the magazine.

Always check with a recent edition of the magazine or newspaper if the

format and other details are still correct. Publishers, email addresses might

change and magazines as I have found, cease publication.

Make a list and collection of all the newspapers and magazines that

cover your area. Make a note of their frequency of publication – daily, weekly,

monthly, quarterly, type of paper/magazine, publication dates, deadlines,

address and so on.

Reviews - these are done at the whim of the editor of the paper or magazine

or the critic. It is always worth trying to get a review but remember that they

usually appear after the start of the show and therefore will not be much help

in advertising the exhibition.

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Press Releases

A press release is a document that tells the press or media what you

are doing, that is, having an exhibition or a performance or whatever.

It must contain the basic information of WHO, WHAT, WHERE AND

WHEN. It must also have a contact name and telephone number should any

of the media want to follow it up.

It should be relatively succinct with emphasis given to any unusual

features. If for example it is a joint exhibition by twins or a whole family - all

three/four generations or made entirely of recycled materials, then that could

be sufficiently unusual to be worth being printed in a newspaper or featured

on local television. Even the fact that the paintings were inspired by a holiday

in Transylvania can help. Is it in support of a charity, in celebration of an event

like Nelson’s birthday or part of a prestigious festival? All of these could be

noteworthy.

What you want to avoid is a notice about an undistinguished exhibition

of paintings, but I will say that even if there is nothing special about your

exhibition – do notify the press anyway. While writing this I am looking at a

paragraph of 150 words I found in the local press. The headline occupies as

much space as the information and all it says effectively is that the colours of

the seasons are reflected in an exhibition of paintings. But the place, time and

name of the artist are mentioned and that is what the artist needs – another

piece of publicity.

BUT FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE INCLUDE A REPRODUCTION OF AT LEAST

ONE OF YOUR WORKS.

SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO WRITE A PRESS RELEASE.

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You can start with the usual information that it is absolutely essential to

include – who, what, where, when.

‘David Trenow is having an exhibition of paintings at the Aldeburgh

Cinema Gallery from the 31st August to the 6th September 2007’.

All the information is there but it is hardly enticing is it? So perhaps we

could expand it a little bit.

‘David Trenow is having an exhibition of Pointillist paintings of the

Suffolk coast at the Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery from………etc’

Getting better, particularly as there is a little more detail, but we are

dealing here with a press release not a ‘what’s on’ notification. And what is

Pointillism? So we could go on and give a little more background.

‘The Suffolk coast has been a source of inspiration to artists for many

hundreds of years. Coastal villages and towns like Aldeburgh, Walberswick

and Southwold have been painted more often than is fair, but because of their

unspoilt charm they continue to attract artists to the present day.

In the 19th century, artists like the painter Philip Wilson Steer would

come to Walberswick each summer and paint pictures that they would take

back at the end of their holiday to sell in London. Steer, inspired by the French

Pointillist painter Georges Seurat, painted many scenes of Walberwick in a

Pointillist manner. The similarity between the coast where Seurat painted in

France and that of the Suffolk coast where Steer painted is quite remarkable.

Pointillism is a way of painting in which the picture is built up out of thousands

of little dots of colour.

Following in the tradition of Steer, David Trenow has spent many years

producing a collection of Pointillist paintings of that same coast, many in

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Walberswick itself. He says that producing pictures in this way is very time

consuming but fascinating because it is such a wonderfully sensitive way of

representing the constantly changing East Anglian light. The technique

enables the artist to show the subtlest changes of colour of a dawn and yet

also the fierce contrasts of a summer storm.

David spent over twenty years as Head of Art at a local school and for

many years used to bring his sixth form out to paint this coast for the

weekend.

The paintings can be seen at the Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery etc.’

With a press release like this the reader is told a little bit about the

subject, the history of an unusual style of painting as well as where, when etc.

An editor could chop bits out if it is too long or rearrange the paragraphs, but

what they can’t do is invent information to fill a space. But is it too much of an

art history lesson, surely we can make something more exciting than that?

How about:

‘Imagine trying to create a picture of a landscape out of thousands of

little dots of colour. How do you start, how do you choose the right colour and

how do you get them in the right place? Artist David Trenow, has been

working in Pointillism, that is painting with dots of colour, for many years and

is now putting his efforts on view at the Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery.

David came to this style after seeing the work of the 19th century

painter Philip Wilson Steer who painted the Suffolk coastline using dots of

colour. Steer got his inspiration from the great French Pointillist and Post-

Impressionist painter George Seurat.

He says that he finds this technique of painting ideal for recording the

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subtle changes of colour in a sunrise or the dramatic changes of light in a

storm over the sea.

The show is on from ………………………………………..’

The best way to write a press release is to look out for and collect

published press releases that relate vaguely to the area of the arts. It can be

concerts, opera, theatre or parades and then look at the way they excite your

interest and make you want to go. Your local newspaper probably has four or

five press releases published each week and many of them will be printed

exactly as they were sent in.

PRESS CUTTINGS BOOKS.

As information appears in various magazines make sure that you collect all

the mentions and put them into a book or folder, neatly mounted.

This book will prove invaluable in two ways. Firstly, if you leave it (or

perhaps a photocopy of it – you don’t want to lose this information) on display

in the gallery then any visitors can gain a good idea of your status as an artist.

Secondly it is a record of all the exhibitions and competitions that you have

had or entered, information that is so easily forgotten or mislaid particularly in

the rush up to the next exhibition.

ONE OF THE ARTWORKS.

One of my artist colleagues would always raffle one of his paintings

whenever he had an exhibition. The entire proceeds of the raffle went to his

favourite local charity. A charity that would benefit the people of the town

where he lived. The advantages of this are manifold, for firstly he would

always get a photo of him and the painting in the local paper with all the

information about his exhibition. A painting being raffled for a good cause is

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much more newsworthy than just the announcement of an exhibition.

Secondly, people on hearing about the exhibition would want to come and see

the painting in question and probably buy a ticket because it was for a good

cause. A good move because he has now got them in through the doors and

that is half the battle in selling paintings. Thirdly, the winner who normally

might never have bought a picture from him is now the proud owner of an

original picture who may well go on to trumpet the praises of the artist and

fourthly, the artist has managed to raise both his own profile as well as that of

the charity and also raised a great deal of money for them too.

CHARITY AUCTIONS

One way of raising press interest is to have a charity auction. Here a

group of artists get together and donate a painting or artwork which is then

auctioned, with the money going to a specified charity.

Sometimes you can persuade an auction house to do the show

charging just administration costs, or you could organize it yourselves in a

gallery or shop that could do with a little extra publicity and bring in a

personality to raise the hammer and persuade people to bid for the work.

With a few well-known artists participating it could generate quite a lot

of interest in the press perhaps including a feature with illustrations. The

benefiting charity will often help with publicity and contacts, and for the artist it

is a way of supporting a charity they believe in while bringing their name and

work in front of the public. A cynic might say that the amount of money an

artist would have to spend to get that sort of publicity could be greater than

the cost of a painting. But this would only apply to artists selling in a very low

price range, but the idea is worth considering.

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Some charitable organizations also run auctions for charities. In these

cases they ask a number of artists to donate a piece of work, which is then

auctioned off, sometimes anonymously. This way the buyer has no idea what

they are getting and much fun can be generated by the surprise when they

receive their artwork. The idea is very good for charities but it does rest on the

idea that an artist will donate a valuable artwork for auction. So the artist

should ask themselves what is in it for them? Will the work be displayed for a

reasonable length of time or just before the auction? How much publicity will

the auction get? Remember that the organization and the charity will get press

exposure but you, as one of many artists, will get none. Maybe it could be

better to go back to the original idea of running an auction or raffle of one or

more of your paintings. This way the charity still gets the money but you get

the publicity.

PITY THE POOR CRITIC.

Having been the art critic for a local newspaper for a number of years I

feel that here is an opportunity to lament my calling.

Being a critic can be a very exciting and rewarding occupation

particularly when you come across good and exciting work, or where you can

see that the artist has improved greatly since their last show.

But so often you are asked to review what is often a poor, pretentious

and unchallenging exhibition. Work where the artist has copied badly from

photographs and where there is no acknowledgement of the source, work

where the style has become more important than the content, where slickness

dominated understanding. Shows where the critic is reduced to saying that A

did this and B did that because there not that much else to say.

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There are funnily enough, qualities in a work that come through

regardless of the ability of the artist. Two of these qualities are honesty and

commitment, a genuine commitment to and love of the subject. Certainly in

one case in a totally open art show that I organised there was an ill framed

and roughly drawn picture of a baby, but the love and attention that had gone

into the drawing was so strong that it outshone the other more professional

pictures around it.

Most art critics have an agenda when it comes to reviewing an

exhibition and that is to praise and encourage artists so that they continue to

improve. Give them good reason to be able to do so by making sure that the

work shows a genuine love of the subject.

FEATURES

Getting a feature into a glossy magazine requires persistence.

Magazines are inundated with suggestions and requests for a feature on this

artist or that business and cannot possibly publish them all. You also need

some sort of ‘hook’, something that will capture the interest of the editor. This

is where your USP comes in. The single mum balancing children, work and

painting has a better chance of getting featured in some magazines than a

male middle-aged retiree who has taken up painting in their spare time.

A feature is really an extended press release and one way is to send

your press release with illustrations AND CONTACT DETAILS to relevant

magazines. The covering letter should point out how this exhibition could be of

interest to the magazine’s particular group of readers and any other

interesting information.

HOW TO GET IN TO THE GLOSSIES.

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It has been said that one picture in the right magazine is worth two one-

man shows.

The main reason for wanting to get your work into the glossy

magazines is that they have a large national/international circulation. They will

help to get your name and far more importantly your work in front of a much

larger section of the public. These magazines are expensive and so there is

also the chance that your pictures will be seen by people with more

disposable income.

I came across an article by the editor of a national paper who was sent

some transparencies by a self-taught painter who was having their first

exhibition. The editor was struck by unusual nature of the work and despite

opposition decided to feature the work and the exhibition. The result was the

start of a career for an artist who is now selling in the five figure pounds

range.

So there are a number of things you can do:

1. Check what your gallery is doing, you do not want to duplicate their

efforts and possibly alienate the magazines with overkill. Find out what and to

whom they send their material. You may well find that whereas the local

magazines and newspapers are covered the national media are not or vice

versa.

2. Have faith in yourself, tell the world that the work is good so that

magazine editors may have faith in you. They will have to justify why they

allocated a certain amount of space to you.

3. Write a press release as though for your gallery, including your CV

and make the most of past achievements (don’t be modest) and then extend it

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to make something longer and bolder. Publishers often like submissions from

artists because they are frequently more interesting than the standard gallery

handouts. Remember the press won’t seek you out as an unknown artist so

you have to wave the flag for yourself.

4. Make a list of the magazines that you think might be prepared to

feature your work. The United Kingdom has a phenomenal number of

magazines covering all sorts of interests and hobbies as well as those for

general interest. The magazine display racks in newsagents as well as an up

to date edition of The Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbook will prove invaluable here.

I would also suggest buying the odd copy to a feel for the flavour of the

magazine. It could be that a slight accent on one particular aspect of your

work might be attractive to a specialist magazine.

Look at your work from as many different angles as possible and see

how it relates to the various magazines. For example, would your work be

suitable for a garden or does it feature gardens and plants? If so try the

gardening magazines. Is it made of recycled materials? Look at the ‘green’

supplements of magazines and newspapers. Does it feature portraits of pop

stars? Try the fan magazines. If your work is erotic then there could be a place

for it in some of the better quality men’s magazines.

Choose say 30 publications - scrounge old copies from friends and

check what is available in your local library or dentist‘s waiting room.

Check who to send the information to.

5. Make up a publicity package - press pack (it looks professional) to

send to the media, it should contain:

Press release - something which can be used as it stands. Keep it

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short and succinct, maybe 250 – 300 words max, typed and double spaced.

Most people will not read more than one side of an A4 sheet.

Good quality reproductions (photos, slides or digital check with the

magazine) of the work - can you get an outstanding photo of you with your

work so that it really has impact? All identified with your contact details.

Photos and press releases can easily become separated on an editors desk.

Remember the photograph has to attract attention in a few seconds.

For example a colour photograph of two oversize French horns, unwound and

the entwined around each other made a stunning image to advertise the

Frieze Art Fair in London. It made you stop when you reading the newspaper

and try and puzzle out what was going on. Having intrigued you it then excited

your curiosity about the whole exhibition and possibly tempted you to go and

see it.

Check in what format - glossy photos, slides, digital on discs - the

magazines want your images and label them with your name, title, size and

medium.

Your CV, previous exhibitions, commissions etc.

Covering letter angled to feature their interests.

SAE for photos and slides. If you put a code letter on the envelope to

indicate who it came from then you will know who has responded and who

has not. The work can sometimes be returned without an acknowledgement

slip when the magazine is working to a deadline.

6. Submit at least six months in advance.

7. Make up a table so that you can sort out what the success rate was,

who was the most sympathetic and so on. This will be invaluable for future

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shows.

Information should contain the magazine name, their response yes or

no, or their total lack of response and what sort of response. So for example

did they

- mention you in their listings,

- print your press release,

- publish a photograph of your work,

- do a feature on you,

- none of those things.

The failure rate will be high because magazines are inundated by press

releases like this, but if your approach is exciting and individual enough you

will still stand a chance.

8. Having got a record of what the response has been, then if there has

been national magazine coverage then you might find that radio and television

could be interested.

ADVERTISEMENTS

Advertisements are a very easy way of promoting your show, you are

virtually guaranteed to get your work exposed in a quality magazine, but of

course they cost money. And you have to ask yourself if that money is better

spent on display adverts in magazines in comparison to other forms of

advertising like giving out leaflets.

As one famous advertising executive said - half of all advertising works,

the problem is we don’t know which half. And so you are left with trying to

decide which magazines you should advertise in and what the effect is likely

to be. Some art magazines appear to be published just for artists and since

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artists rarely buy art it could be a waste of time advertising there. That is

unless you are trying to make a reputation among artists and the arts officers

of councils who read the magazine, with an aim to public grants and

commissions.

Other arts magazines are aimed at both the art producing and the

buying markets. These could be a more profitable place to put your adverts.

There is also the possibility that by putting your advert in them that people

with some influence in the art world will at least see the image and remember

it. The constant repetition of an image in a variety of publications will, over a

time, have an impact. It seems that the visual memory is far stronger than that

for numbers or words.

Placing an advertisement in a magazine can sometimes have a

beneficial effect in that the magazine will be more willing to publish a feature

or a longer press release about the work. It is always worth checking on that

possibility. Magazines have to make a profit if they are to survive.

To place an advert all you have to do is to contact the advertising

department of the magazine and they will do all the rest. Do get a rough idea

of the costs of the various sizes of the adverts and also check on their

circulation figures - the number of people they sell to. Also a magazine that

covers the south east of England would be of little value in the north east.

THE PRIVATE VIEW (PV).

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It is not uncommon for most of the sales from an exhibition to be made

at the Private View. So it is up to you or the gallery to make the PV a very

enjoyable event. A glamorous environment, beautiful music and perhaps a

good glass of wine can all help to create a relaxed atmosphere, treat your

guests with style but keep it simple.

MEDIA - WHILE THE EXHIBITION IS ON.

Don’t assume that just because the exhibition is up and you are either

sitting back after all your efforts, either relaxing or supervising the show, that

your job is over.

This is the time to get back to the media with any little observations

about the show that you have. For example, there was a story in the press

about how a teacher lost their class in the Cloud chamber in the Anthony

Gormley exhibition in London and had to wait forty minutes for them to come

out. This human touch story helped to personalise an exhibition that might

otherwise have seemed too intellectual. Where it came from you don’t

necessarily know but it may have been from either the artist, their agent or the

gallery.

Then there were the many stories, again in the press, about children

going to the Tate Modern gallery in London for an exhibition that featured the

ceiling of the turbine hall covered with mirrors. Groups of children, on seeing

this promptly lay down on the floor and started making patterns and words

that they could see as they lay on their backs. This was reported in many

newspapers because of the fun the children were having. I don’t know if the

Tate Modern gallery was pleased or displeased by this extra publicity and

attendance that these reports created, although it is possible that the artist

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may have felt that this was not the way he wanted his work to be seen.

Now is the time to take photos of your work in situ. A few photographs

of your exhibition with people can be included in any future applications for

exhibitions, grants or sponsorship. It is always nice to have a record of how

the whole show looked.

PRESENTING THE WORK

Framing

To frame or not to frame - is always a problem.

Some works are definitely improved by a frame, others not so. I cannot

find a satisfactory framing for my Pointillist paintings and so they are left bare,

but the edges are made quite neat by either carrying the picture round the

edge of the stretcher or by painting the edge with a single colour. It might be

worth experimenting with changing colours round the edge, just to see what

happens. A colleague of mine however, refuses to do anything to the edges,

preferring the dribbles and splashes of the working process to be seen as a

diary of how the painting was produced. Since he is very successful it would

be difficult to disagree with him.

Most drawings and watercolours need some form of protection and

therefore a frame can be advisable, but make sure that they improve the

painting. If you are capable of doing a good job yourself then do frame them,

but make sure that you have the time to do it. So often the preparatory weeks

are filled with producing more and often better work - a deadline can often

improve your work - or organising the premises, the publicity and the

exhibition yourself. Then of course you need a good clean area to do the

framing, even with ready-made frames, which can be very good, or you could

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find that you have a lovely water colour with toast and marmalade additions.

When you have finished the framing do make sure that you bubble

wrap the frames and perhaps put corner protectors on them as well. Those

lovely gold frames can chip quite easily.

Pricing

Pricing your work is very difficult, particularly if this is the first time that

you have exhibited. So firstly it could be a good idea to have a range of prices

from fairly expensive to fairly cheap, so that you can see from what sells

which price is the most popular.

Some artists price by the square inch or centimetre, others by the

amount of work that went into a painting, but there should be some obvious

reason why one picture is more expensive than another. The fact that one

picture is better than another would affect the price but it is a difficult decision

to make. I have found that the visitors to my shows quickly spot which is the

best painting and which are the worst.

The starting price that you work to would be based on what colleagues

are charging. If you think that another artist is of equal quality to you and is

selling at a certain price range then try that. But do remember that how well

the artist is known and how long they have been practising can all affect the

price. If you are a major personality then a painting by you could sell for

mega-bucks, regardless of talent. Although since so many personalities have

been to art school it would be unwise to dismiss their paintings as talentless.

Your price could reflect:

a). the amount of work you have put in - have you kept a record of the time

spent?

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b). your position in the scale of local artists, are you better than them?

c). a gradual increase in value over the years to allow for inflation and the fact

that you are getting better.

d). the fact that at some time your pictures will be on show in a gallery with 30

- 50% commission added on to them and you don’t want the price to be too

extortionate.

Then there is also the question of discount. Many buyers like to think

that they have got a bargain if they offer less than the advertised price and it is

accepted. This bargaining is quite common in galleries and so you need to be

aware of it so that you can either stick to your guns and possibly lose a sale or

accept that a discount might be requested and then perhaps incorporate the

possibility of a discount in your now higher selling price.

HANGING YOUR SHOW

Hanging your exhibition can, for many people, be quite a daunting

affair. Somehow all those fears that there may not be enough work or there

may be too much, or the work is just not good enough can all come to the

surface and stop you getting on with the job.

I remember watching a very experienced and talented artist become

reduced to near paralysis when she tried to hang her show. She literally did

not know where to start and this is the case for many other people.

My method is one I learnt while watching a gallery curator hang a show

and I have used it ever since. He would take each of the paintings in turn and

stand them up anywhere against the wall. He would then look at the

arrangement - how well each painting suited a particular space in the gallery

and how well it fitted with the other paintings around it, moving them around

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until he had a satisfactory show.

This process could take maybe as little as two hours. Some shows can

be very difficult to hang and getting the most successful arrangement can take

many hours or perhaps days. This can be particularly so with mixed

exhibitions where every artist is trying to get their work in the best position.

Best positions.

The best position in a gallery is almost a matter of choice and every

artist might say somewhere different for there are so many criteria for

choosing it. You only have to look at the way products are moved around

supermarkets to realise how even the professional salespeople are still trying

to find the best solution. One thing that is important is that any work that has

been used for advertising the exhibition, as in magazine adverts, private view

cards and posters should be immediately visible. It reassures visitors that they

are in the right place and have come to the right exhibition. In an area where

there are a number of exhibitions on at any one time, confusion can easily

appear.

One good position is that directly in front of the visitor as they come in

through the door. Preferably on the opposite wall of the gallery. People tend to

look ahead when they come in and only later look to the side. They also have

a tendency to turn in one direction more than another if given a choice.

Usually there is little choice, but they will not look at the wall nearest to, or

behind them until later. And since first impressions are formed in a very few

seconds, it is best to make sure that the better works are seen first.

Another good position is when people turn round and look at the wall

where their entrance was. This back wall will catch the attention of anyone as

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they leave.

Make sure that the paintings or sculptures are hung at eye height for

the average population. Being six feet tall means that I have a tendency to

hang my work too high and shorter people can get neck ache looking up all

the time. If someone leaves your show saying it was a pain in the neck then

you have lost support.

When hanging a lot of pictures it is necessary to get some sort of order

in their arrangement. When all the pictures are different sizes and shapes it

can make the show look very messy. The way round this is to hang the

pictures with either the top edge or the bottom edge level. If you hang them

with the bottom edge level then it is quite easy to use a stake of fixed height

on which to rest the picture while you screw the mirror plates to the wall. The

same sort of thing would apply if you were keeping the top edges level. If the

paintings are to be hung from a picture rail with wire or string then again the

stake will make it easier when lengthening and shortening the string.

Labels.

Each work of art should be clearly labelled with the title of the work, the

date of its manufacture if you wish, the materials used again if you wish and

the name of the artist. These should be printed out to fit in a fairly standard

sized block so that they all look the same.

You can choose the size of the label, the typeface and if you want

borders or not very easily and compose them all on the computer using that

old favourite Publisher. You can of course, also hand write the labels, which

can look very good and make them a little more personal or you could stick on

to or next to each work a number that would refer to a hand or type written

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notice on the wall or a table in the gallery. The great thing about labels is that

you then do not have to produce lots of copies of a catalogue just to tell

viewers what they are.

With the labels there could also be a printed sheet explaining a

particular painting or set of paintings. This could help to keep the viewer

engaged for a little while longer and the longer they look at the work the

greater chance there is of selling it. Don’t do it to every picture or the viewer

might end up with reading fatigue before they have seen the whole show.

The labels can be easily printed as I have said before, using a

computer program or just printed on a typewriter. If the sheet of labels is then

stuck on to foam board using a spray glue then they can be cut into the

required shape using a craft knife and a metal ruler. They can look very neat

and professional with only a little effort. Using foam board, available from most

stationers, means that the labels and notices always remain flat and do not

curl in the sun or damp.

Catalogues.

For me catalogues are only of value when they contain illustrations of

the work from the exhibition. A list of prices, titles and names of artists and

nothing else is pretty meaningless. Sometimes it is possible to sell a well

made catalogue and raise more money for the artist or the gallery but if you

are not careful you could find that you are left with a bundle of out of date

catalogues that nobody wants.

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MAKING THE SHOW LOOK GOOD.

Naturally you will try to make the space as good as possible, hoovering

the floor, cleaning the windows, touching up the paintwork if necessary.

Cleaning the glass on the watercolours, making the lighting show your work to

the best advantage and so on.

Is there anything else that you can do to make your exhibition look

better? Well have a think about perhaps a vase of flowers in the room. Will it

make the place look better, will it compete with the paintings?

SUCCESS STORIES

Sally.

Why should I say anything about Sally? The reason is that she is an

amateur watercolour painter who is now beginning to be pursued by galleries

who want to show her work, and I thought it might help other people who want

to get to the same situation.

She was a full time teacher and started painting at evening classes.

She did a mixture of classes - some drawing, some painting, some line and

wash and then a number of part-time day courses leading to various

certificates. Eventually she managed to go part-time at work and was able to

go to full day courses, which she said were very useful because they allowed

her to take her ideas much further than the two-hour evening class sessions.

She was producing a lot of paintings, which as in so many cases ended

up in a pile under the bed. A friend of hers asked her if she would like to

exhibit some of them on the opening night of a school of dance that friend was

running. She had eight framed and one sold. Prior to that the only time she

had shown any of her work was in the end of year exhibition of her art

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classes.

This sale encouraged her to try something else and so encouraged by

a friend she asked if she could exhibit in a local tea rooms. She had more

paintings framed and eventually sold 9 out of the 18 paintings shown. The

following year she only sold 3 out of the same number.

She says that she found the step from being a painter in evening

classes to being an exhibiting artist a very large one and that the move

required a lot of self-confidence. From here she started submitting work at a

number of mixed exhibitions all over the area. Many churches have regular

open exhibitions and she submitted to some of them and found that she

always had at least one sale, sometimes six. She now developed a routine of

submitting paintings to organisations in May, July, October and November.

While going round another mixed exhibition she found some prints by

an artist she admired and bought two. She found out he was also a framer

and she asked him to frame them and in return he invited her to exhibit with

him in a gallery he had hired. She submitted nine and sold one. She later

exhibited alongside another artist where she submitted six with one sale. One

bit of success came from this exhibition because a visiting gallery owner saw

her work, picked up a visiting card and has asked to her to exhibit in his

gallery.

She has also had a one woman show in her local church for a charity,

which in terms of sales was a tremendous success, she sold most of the work

selling over seven thousand pounds worth, but since all the income went to

the charity it generated no income. In terms of experience and the building up

of a reputation it was invaluable. From this show she learnt about sponsorship

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and how to work with charity representatives and did also pick up a number of

commissions.

She has been turned down by one or two galleries, mainly because her

work was not of the type that they wanted to show but she continues to work,

build up her reputation and submit to many different mixed shows. Since then

she has been asked to be the featured artist in one gallery and another gallery

has since written to her and asked to show her work and now the

commissions have started coming in.

OTHER WAYS

There are many other things that you can do to help attract attention to

you and your art.

TELEVISION NEWS

When the weather becomes newsworthy, like for example when there

is too much rain, snow or sun, then the local television news will feature

photos and videos of strange events caused by that weather.

So if you have photographs of your sculpture of a cow standing in a

flood, or a group of painters sheltering under umbrellas while painting or of

your cat sheltering from the sun in the shadow of the painting you are working

on, then send them in. Often the quirkier or funnier they are the more

acceptable they become and are more likely to be featured. There is no

guarantee that they will be shown but if you continue to submit pictures then

your name will get known and the staff will look out for your work and perhaps

even ask you to do something special for them.

SPECIAL EVENTS

If you read the newspapers or art magazines then you may have

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discovered that there has been a proposal to put different sculptures on top of

the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, London.

The newspapers have reported that the various proposals were

greeted with shock and horror, in particular Antony Gormley’s proposal that

people should be winched up on to it for an hour where they could do within

reason, anything they choose. In effect much of this will be nothing more than

performance art which, if seen in a gallery would be neither shocking nor

notable. The attention that it has achieved is based on doing something

slightly out of the ordinary in a very public place. This is where you come in.

Can you devise some extraordinary scheme that will gain and occupy public

attention?

TO BE DONE - A TIMELINE.

Then.

Produce the work - do not think of doing anything until you have a sufficient

amount of work available. You may produce more and even better quality

work later but do make sure that you have enough work immediately

available. Then at least one of the major panics (not enough work) will not

appear.

Make a collection of as many art magazines, other magazines, newspapers,

colour supplements, local newspapers including freesheets and parish

magazines. At the same time that you are producing your art also consider

what magazines you would like your work to appear in. What would interest

them and what angles you can use to make your article appear more

interesting. Start writing practice articles and press releases – this will give

you time to criticize and improve them.

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Start Point.

Select a gallery - usually you will have to wait at least a year before you can

show which means that you have time to do all the next things.

Immediately

Select the dates for your exhibition. From now until the exhibition is your time

frame. Make it too short and you will not be able to exploit the publicity

effectively, make it too long and you might have changed your style of work

and not want the show at all.

Now

Select an image - from your store of work that you will use on all the publicity

associated with your exhibition. This might be done by the gallery if the show

is not being run by you.

9 months from show

Design and create the private view invitation, the posters, business cards etc.

these will include the image you selected previously.

8 months from show.

Get the features and articles about your work written, revise them to suit the

various magazines you want to approach

Sort out what advertising you want -

the free ‘what’s on’s’,

the paid for adverts,

the placing of features and other articles,

t-shirts, beer mats etc.

6 months from show

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Place the adverts in the quarterly magazines

Send in the features to the quarterly magazines

Send off the What’s On information to the quarterly magazines

3 months from show

Place the adverts in the monthly magazines

Send in the features for the monthly magazines

Send off the What’s On information for the monthly magazines

2 months from show

Place adverts in the weekly and daily newspapers and magazines

Send in features for the daily newspapers and magazines

Send in What’s On information to the daily newspapers and magazines

LIST OF THINGS TO TAKE TO YOUR EXHIBITION.

This list is only the start, think what else you would need and add it on.

* Works of art - paintings, prints, sculptures etc.

* Artists statement.

* Information about the paintings/works of art.

* Equipment for hanging pictures - picture hooks, hanging wire or string,

hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, etc.

* Wrapping for paintings sold - bubble wrap, sticky tape, string.

* Title and price blocks to put beside artworks or adhesive numbers to identify

works.

* List of works displayed for record purposes and possibly for display.

* Red dots to mark sold works.

* Receipt book.

* Invoice book.

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* Visitors book with attached pen.

* Sign saying ‘please sign the visitors book’.

* Visiting cards.

* Postcards of previous and present work for sale.

* Posters for display around the gallery.

* Direction signs to gallery.

* String, wire to hang posters and direction signs.

* Drawing pins, blue tack, staple gun and spare staples.

* Table.

* Vase of flowers and table cloth.

* Private view wine and fruit juices - if you wish.

* Glasses.

* Nibbles/crisps etc.

* Bowls for crisps etc.

* Napkins.

* Washing up sponges, detergent, drying up cloths.

* Cameras to record the event.

* Mobile phone.

* Entertainments for the times when there is nobody in the gallery, radio, disc

player, you choose.

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