Sketchbook

Last weekend was so much fun.

I shared a booth with Cheryl Roberts. We quickly found out that we both probably had enough work to fill a booth by ourselves. The weather was perfect and the music was great. I can not wait until next year.  The traveling was tiring, but getting to see my family both during and away from the festival, gave me enough energy to keep going.

I didn’t sell any original painting, but I am less disappointed than I thought I would be. I considered lowering my prices the second day, but I could not bring myself to do it.  Painting is my profession and I have a degree. It’s not a hobby. I do not think my prices were too high for my paintings, just the location. A lot of people haggled or said they couldn’t afford something that was $100.  That’s also why I brought prints and postcards.  If someone loves a painting enough, but they can’t afford it, I want them to be able to enjoy it anyway. It’s also why I offer all of my paintings on any of the products at my cafe press shop.

I handed out all of the business cards that I brought and I received 17 new names for my mailing list.  I also had a lot of great feed back from other artists that came to enjoy the festival. Of course there were some people that balked at the price or made a snide comment here and there, but it was pretty rare and much less than the positive feed back.

Cheryl does a lot of abstract work. I thought we complimented each other pretty well and we didn’t have to worry about competing with each other’s sales because we were so different.
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I can not wait to do the festival again next year. I am thinking about adding two or three more during the summer.

I am currently cataloging all my paintings and I am about to add new images to my American Frame shop. I think before the night is over I will be updating the images on my business cards as well.

Note: Originally posted on 9/17/09 at blog.limitedpalette.com

The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion By Alyson B. Stanfield

This book is amazing. It has so many tips and ideas that it was hard for me to read it for more than 15 minutes at a time. I kept getting excited and worked up about all the things I can do to get my work out to the public. I actually got the idea for my business card design from this book.

There are also plenty of resources and websites. Stanfield uses action steps to help bust through the excuses that a lot of people, not just artists, use to hold themselves back.

I started this book around April, but with all my traveling I really didn’t have the stamina to keep working myself up. I was not able to get in the studio to follow through with any of the ideas and it was frustrating. It took me about two weeks to finish it cover to cover, even though it is a really fast read.  Like I said about 15 minutes in I would start daydreaming and going off on tangents of all the things I could do.

I know I will be going back to this book over and over again. I will be re-reading these chapters countless times over the next few months let alone years.

When I owned a house that had rental property with it there was a book that we jokingly called our bible. It was what we used to make contracts and what we used to set up rules with the tenants. I’d Rather Be In The Studio is my artist bible.

*Edit: Yes, this is a short review, but there really isn’t much to say other than: Read it!
If you have read this book let me know what you think about it. I would love to hear any ideas that were inspired from this book. If you don’t think this book is as great as I make it out to be let me know what your favorite books on the subject are. I am always looking for more to read.

Note: Originally posted on 7/25/09 at blog.limitedpalette.com

Here is a look at my business cards.

The back has the painting title, size, and medium. I put a different painting or image of my sketchbook on each card. I did this for a few reasons, one if someone is interested in a painting I can give them the business card with that image so the know why they took the card in the first place, two I have a mini-portfolio on me all the time, and three why wouldn’t I take the opportunity to put my artwork where ever I could. It’s nice to be able to show someone my artwork right away instead of telling them to go online later.

Yes, it’s a simple design, but I like simple and with the images on there anything busier would be distracting. I had to do the template in inDesign and go step by step. I’m very happy with the way everything looks and I can change it whenever I make a new painting.

Note: Originally posted on 7/25/09 at blog.limitedpalette.com

The Fair was a bust. I did not even get the chance to sell anything. It was really windy at first so I had to weight my prints down so they were flat on the table. A lot of people just walked passed. Then Joe’s mom brought me a clear plastic box to stand them up in. This was fortunate because not 10 minutes later rain started pouring down. Luckily there was enough room for all my stuff and Katie and Laura’s stuff as well. Before this I also had to run back to the house and get the key to the cash box that I left in my other pant’s pocket. After the initial downpour I decided to go to the store and pick up some tarps and clamps to attach them to the tent. Literally as we finished one of the fair organizers came over and said there was a much worse storm coming in less than an hour so we should pack it all up. Since everyone else was packing up to leave we did too. We thought there wouldn’t be anyone walking around. Well of course as I was driving back to Laura’s house we hit a huge downpour, that lasted maybe 10 minutes. It didn’t rain the rest of the day. It was quite the adventure and the only thing we could really do was laugh. I was sad that I didn’t even get the chance to sell anything, but it will be a very good memory of a crazy day with my friends.

It’s just one of those days. At least I have lots of prints for the next one and most everything is taken care of.

‘Til the next fair…

Note: Originally posted on 8/18/09 at blog.limitedpalette.com

I framed two paintings and spent most of the day designing business cards. Who knew that it would take 8 hours to design a 3.5 X 2in. card.

One more day before I get to see my dancer painting framed and ready to hang. I am very excited. I hope it fits in the car.

The man of the house finally installed some shelves in my studio. I have been begging and pleading, crying on the bathroom floor patiently waiting for over a year for some shelves.  Getting these beautiful additions to the studio meant I had to spend a little more time rearranging all my junk tools of the trade.

I worked on opening an online store for merchandise that I will unveil very soon. I am just waiting on a sample of one of the products to make sure it is good enough.

I also re-wrote my artist statement and read some more of a fabulous self-marketing book that I will write about once I finish reading.

I did not get to paint at all this weekend. Time went by so fast and I was busy non-stop. I still have so much more to go, but that’s the nice thing about being your own business, there’s always something to do.

I am relishing all of these little things. Making my business cards, while frustrating, was so exciting. Reading about the ways I can market my artwork sparks so many ideas. These are the things that show I am running a business. Painting is only part of the package. These odds and ends that I have to do day to day are the support system and building blocks that surround my artwork. It’s a little like parenthood (I think), yes, you have the baby (or painting) but then you have to feed it, change it, make sure it gets into college, etc. If you really love your baby (artwork) then these things should be at least somewhat of a pleasure because you are nurturing what you really love. Even the tasks that are such a pain (as is matting) give me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing I am one step closer, I have one more thing checked off my list and I am about to show my stuff to the world (and by world I mean friends and family of my fellow graduates.)

I know one day this excitement will wear off, but right now I am enjoying the newness of it all, the realization of such a big goal. I am at a turning point and it feels good to live in the moment of it all.

Note: Originally posted 7/20/09 at blog.limitedpalette.com