Or that they’ve jumped to the front of a long line. As in the feeling they’ve found a hidden gem that the rest of the world hasn’t.
The key is to have them discover your art and not someone else’s.Įmphasis on the word discover. How then, do you reach out to collectors without scaring them off?īecause most avid collectors are already on the lookout for great art. Earn their trust with something they want, and watch them swarm. Approach too aggressively and they’ll scatter.
What we can get from the art marketing gurus is the wisdom of appealing to the hearts and souls of collectors, rather than expecting them to love our work just because we love making it.Īlex Mandossian likens selling to feeding pigeons in a park. Forget survival…how about we all prosper? So do book titles such as How to Survive as an Artist. Not that this is bad advice, but it’s so overused. It’s leaving the ego and its power to sabotage everything you do, out of the process.Īre you as tired of the words, Treat your art like a business, as I am? Think of yourself as the caretaker who merely helped the work along.
Which is why I stress the opposite:įrom the moment you begin, don’t think of your art as your creation. Identification spawns an emotional attachment that signals amateur to anyone thinking about buying your work. Putting yourself at the center of your art creates self-consciousness and anxiety, over everything from a minor setback on the canvas to getting less for it than you hoped. Thinking too much about having produced it. Painter’s block would be the price for abandoning them.Īnd all this madness discouraging buyers, who sensed that something wasn’t right.Īt bottom was the same problem that I see in other artists: Identification It pained me to let go of certain pieces, as if my favorite children were leaving with strangers and I’d never do anything good again. If it didn’t sell quickly enough, it felt like rejection. If it sold too quickly, it felt like selling out. Like many artists, I was conflicted about parting with the work. It’s sharing a piece of yourself that will outlive your great-grandchildren while covering expenses so you can produce and contribute more to the world.īut mostly, it’s that wonderful feeling of moving forward. So much that they’re willing to live with it for a long time. It’s knowing that someone loves your work to part with their hard-earned dough. It’s not about feeling important, quitting your day job, or the validation of being a “real artist”. It’s not about making money off your passion. Selling is one of the most satisfying, exciting things about being a painter. Let me say without hesitation that I love selling art.
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