There's a pattern here

Well, as expected, I sold no paintings at the exhibition at the weekend. And don't think I'm being depressingly negative, and I'm certainly not defeatist, and never a pessimist..... You see, the majority of the paintings sold were at the lower end of the market, price wise, since it was a "village hall" exhibition. And I know my paintings aren't cheap, but they are quality, and I rarely sell at that exhibition. Its the way it is! I've had endless conversations over the years as to the whys and wherefores of why people don't buy a lot at little exhibitions, and there is no set reason for it. But there is a pattern, in a way. People who go to those sort of exhibitions are looking for "cheap art" - something pink and floral for the hall, something with a boat in it for the living room, some watercolour of a garden, or of cute children, or a still life, they aren't looking for anything "specific" and they aren't looking for a specific artist, they're looking for a nice day out, a walk in the countryside, a quick look at the art exhibition, a cup of tea and a piece of cake, and to be entertained on a bank holiday weekend. They are not serious art buyers, they are just..................people. Nothing wrong with any of that, nothing at all. But I never seem to fill that category, somehow. I never have. I do fill part of that criteria, I can paint pretty pictures of still lifes (the shell painting I did last weekend, being a case in point!). But my prices are too expensive for village hall buyers, I think. I know if I put a price of below £60 on my art, I'd probably sell it, easily.

But I don't want to.

I value my art too much for that.

And listening to other people, who comment on my art, they do too.

Because cheap art, in a way, demeans the other art that that artist does. And I don't do cheap art. I don't do very expensive art, either! :) I think my prices are right for the place I am in, as an artist. For the commissions I do. And I would far rather paint a commission. And that is what makes me unusual for a lot of artists, as I LIKE painting commissions. I like people to ask me to paint a favourite subject in a certain way. Because they get just what they want, and I don't paint "best guess" paintings for little exhibitions, put a lot of hours in in creating the work, setting up the exhibition, spend time stewarding it, and helping taking it down afterwards, for no sales.

But, I also know that that isn't the main reason for exhibiting. It is, to state the bleeding obvious, an "exhibition" of paintings. It is a place to show other people what I can do. What I'm capable of. And that's why, it looks like I might be getting a commission from it, for a dog portrait. If the chap contacts me, as per the received message from a third party. It sounded quite hopeful though! LOL

So, the exhibition wasn't a waste of time. And it follows the pattern, as much as I've found, from previous exhibitions! :)

Whats new?

I'm still thinking about what I want to do regarding promoting myself and the offer the businessman made last week to invest a lot of money in advertising me as an artist (and also wanting a large share of the profits afterwards) but part of that decision will also be formed by the fact that after all the hard work, the build up and great expectations of the big exhibition last weekend - I didn't sell a single bloody thing! They hung eight of my ten paintings which was great considering they had well over a thousand paintings entered and were limited on hanging space. They did everything they could to sell paintings at the exhibition. My particular pictures were in a good prominent place just by the door, with good lighting and exposure, I was the first name in the catalogue of about a hundred artists and there were thousands of people visiting the place over the weekend. I had a good selection of paintings which elicited good positive reactions from people - I did everything RIGHT - and still NO SODDING sales! ........But.... it's the way it goes. Its annoying and aggravating and just part of being an artist and there's absolutely no point in getting depressed or losing sleep over it. BUT what it does underline is the fact that there's not much point in spending a small fortune on finding a good site, no matter how much is spent on promoting the exhibition to get the people to see the work, when the people might like the work very much but don't want to actually go so far as to BUY any of it. Loads of advertising does not equal many sales. So the lesson learnt this week is to find a better place that is good for me to exhibit in but which does not involve huge outpourings of hard earned cash which will be just good money down the drain. And I have a couple of ideas as to where is best for me to go next on that subject...... which I shall tell you about should I have any success with them......



Meantime I'm not quite on bread and water yet and have been busy drawing.......



And on to the erotic drawing of this week - another white on black drawing with just a hint of colour adding instant interest and awareness. The painting is called "Warm up" and is of a pair of female buttocks bent over, the rest of the body and legs just hinted at as they recede into the darkness, and above them, suspended in mid air is a single hand, clenched around a riding crop, angled ready to strike the buttocks again and again, just starting to mark them and warm them up to a full bloom of colouring.

Choosing the chosen few

I've taken the chosen few..... well ........ten.... paintings to the exhibition. The best of the years work. The ones I'm happiest with, most want to exhibit, the ones, in my opinion, most likely to sell. Wrapped lovingly in their protective covers, they're taken to the venue, a few questions as to where they should be left, unwrapped they're brought blinking into the sunlight, and left in the charge of complete strangers, who I entrust to look after my precious creations. These strangers will hang them, choose where they look best, and the next time I'll see them they'll be part of a large exhibition of 900 or so pieces of art. And maybe, just maybe, some of them will get the coveted red dots. The mark of a sale. The greatest prize of all - someone wants to own one of my paintings. Wants to buy it, and take it home, to cherish and adore it, as part of their home decor, to enhance and decorate their home....... But because the exhibition is so popular and attracts so many visitors from far and wide, there may be too many paintings for the hanging space. Its an extensive area, but the organisers have no idea what size paintings are going to arrive, and just how they will be hung. Its a mammoth and daunting task. So they ask each artist to pick four, just four, from their chosen ten which will be the first to be hung and after the first ones have been sold, they will be replaced with the next paintings, so that the exhibition will hang as many paintings as they can for this prestigious exhibition, the funds of which are for a charitable organisation. So, tell me this, HOW do I choose? How do I pick just four in a split second of time, do I choose the best, the most likely to sell, the largest, the ones that give a good example of what I do. How on earth do I chose?

Words that turn me on....

........."The Arts Festival thanks you for your submissions to the Open Art Competition and Exhibition and is delighted to exhibit your work"...... such sexy words - along with "Hi Jackie, we're interested in a painting of yours that we've seen recently and wondered if we could come and see it again?" - Oh yes!!! Course you can!!........

Now I know that just because the arts festival want to hang three of my paintings, and the fact that someone wants to come and see one of my tiger paintings again, doesn't necessitate a sale on either count, its a start, and I'm happy that there's interest!

Some years ago I met a woman who really liked one of my paintings - it was a weird surreal painting she'd seen at an exhibition, and she absolutely raved over it! I must have bumped into her five or six times over the course of the next eighteen months, and everytime I saw her she mentioned this particular painting and how much she liked it, and wanted to come and see me, and view it again. It got to the point when I was just about to blow my top at her, for wasting my time even bringing up the subject, since she obviously had no intention of ever doing what she was promising, but then, one day, she came to see me, looked at the picture and said "I've just got to buy it!" and I realised that it had sort of haunted her in someway - she had fallen in love with it, and just had to own it, to view it everyday, and that her life wouldn't ever be complete until she had purchased it. And that, for me, is why people should buy art - because they love it so much, they need to look at it because it fills something within them. I love it when that happens - particularly when its something I've painted and people make an emotional connection to it.

So, just because someone has seen one of my paintings, doesn't mean they're going to buy it, but it might set an idea growing, and they just might come back to me, and they might just buy it at some time in the future........ maybe...

Promotion promotion promotion

Discussing with a local pub landlord last night about my being part of a forth-coming art exhibition he wants to hold in his pub one day in August I realised that I'll actually be part of six exhibitions held locally during August. That's fine, I can fit them all in, and as they're spread over the month, I'm confident I can work out the logistics of shunting pictures around to each venue. But will it be worth it? Will it bring in any sales for me? Will it promote my artwork? Conjour up future commissions? I live in hope that it will. I have to. Its a lot of hard work though, setting up an exhibition. Hanging around to talk to people, to promote what I do. Or else I just drop off my pictures at a gallery, and someone else does the setting up, and I go home, and fervently wait, in hope, with fingers crossed. And when I return somebody might say - oh someone was in asking after you earlier, they hoped you'd be here. And you think, bugger, I've missed a sale through that. But if I went and sat, and sat..... and sat..... at a gallery (and I've done that, on many occasions!) no-one comes in, no-one is interested, until perhaps five minutes before the end of the exhibition, when someone will come in and for the next half hour they'll tell you ALL about their brothers neighbours cousin who is a brilliant artist - have you heard of them? (I never have, but I smile sweetly at them). And then you go home, without a sale. And then you'll talk to someone who's interested in art, and visits art galleries regularly, and they ask where you exhibit, and why haven't they seen your work before? And you wonder why they haven't either, when you do your best to push your art, and exhibit where and when you can, and they've never even heard of you! So what do I do wrong I ask myself? And the answer is probably - nothing. Its just the way it is, trying to sell art. You live in hope that you can paint a picture that someone will like, and want, and want to pay for, and have room on their wall to hang it on. That's why I'd rather do commissions, because then I know I'm painting something that someone actually wants. Exhibitions are basically just advertising the fact that I paint, and what I paint, and how I paint. If I make a sale, its a bonus. Its also good to see what other artists are doing, and meet them, have a chat and compare notes.

So I'm not expecting to sell many pictures in August....... but I live in hope!