Ask Amber George...

The first time I saw Amber George's beautiful encaustic paintings was two years ago when I was doing a random search of encaustic artists. I stumbled upon her work and fell in love with her paintings depicting leaves, intricate patterns, and lovely textures immediately. What can I say, I like twigs and leaves, as is apparent in my previous series, and Amber does nature extremely well. We became Facebook friends (I guess it really is good for networking) and she has been a tremendous source of information in my quest to become a full-time artist, even though we have never met in person.

I had a ton of questions for Amber and she was nice enough to answer them and give me some sound advice. Here is a summary of what she said:

1. Before quiting your day job, get your money stuff squared away - pay off what ever you can and save up as much money as possible.

2. Figure out what you'll do for health insurance since you won't have a full-time job that pays for benefits anymore.

3. Consider either going part time or plan on teaching a couple of workshops or one-on-one sessions to transition into quiting your day job. This helps on the months that nothing or little sells. It's piece of mind to know that you have some income that is steady and it helps you continue to network and be social.

4. Look at galleries across the country to represent your work and do your homework. Is your work a fit? Do they represent only abstract when you paint figuratively? Do they represent emerging artists?

5. The key ingredient is the work. Make sure what you send them is a good representation of your work. If they like the work, it could take up to a year before a gallery decides to represent you, so be patient. If not, nothing you do will change the fact that the work is not a fit.

6. Talk with artists about which galleries to work with. How do they treat their artist? Do they pay on time? Are you comfortable with their policies? Not all galleries will have what you need. Just because a gallery wants to represent you, doesn't mean it's a good fit for YOU.

7. When submitting, look at the website and see if they have a submission policy and follow it. Nothings annoys a gallery more than an artist who doesn't follow instructions and wastes their time. If the gallery has no submission guidelines, then send a brief e-mail with a small jpeg or two of paintings, a link to your site and a 2-3 sentence abbreviated statement. State that you'd be happy to send any additional information per their request and apologize in advance if this is not their preferred method of submission.

8. Market the hell out of your work. Send e-mails, cards, packets to galleries anything you can do to get it out there.

Great advice Amber! Thanks again for answering my thousands of questions! To see more of Amber's work, visit www.ambergeorge.com .

Image by Amber George: "Sewing Strips", 18x18 inches, encaustic, sewing pattern paper, auto repair manual, thread, 2009. Courtesy Julie Nester Gallery.

Open Studios

Ben Morse standing next to his macro photos.

Every year San Francisco holds it's open studios in October that is sponsored by Artspan. This having been my eighth one that I've participated in, having visited MANY studios during the years, and having recently read a lot of articles on what makes a good open studios, I've come up with some suggestions that have helped me have a successful event.

Rosemarie Hughes-Croucher and Larry Vassan showing off work in their studios.

1. Research which galleries you would like to show at and see if they are a right fit. If they are, send them an invite at least two weeks in advance. You never know when one will stop by and it's a good excuse to get your name out there.

2. If you have a home studio and it's convenient, find a local artist space where they can rent you some space for the event. Having open studios in a space like this allows you to benefit from other artists' contact lists who will also be invited. You are also more likely to get a larger group of people visiting since people like to go to fewer locations with more artists. Seeing many artists in one space is a lot less intimidating to the average person than going to a person's home studio. In addition, it's just a lot more fun for you and you can see other people's art and get some feedback from other artists also showing.

3. Advertise on social networking sites. Sites like Facebook usually charge a minimal amount for advertising and we know there are a lot of people on those sites. Twitter about it. Update your status and write about the upcoming event. Write about the event as you are there. take pictures and post them. If your open studios is for more than one day, as San Francisco is, you may get someone who reads and sees your posts that may just want to come out and see what all the hub bub is about.

4. Clean your space. No one wants to climb over panels or feel cramped cause there is no place to stand. A clean studio may not be something that you're used to, but it's all about how you present your work. Also, don't serve snacks next to any sort of painting supplies, like turpentine or adhesives. You'd be surprised...

5. Display your work nicely. This means hang your artwork straight on a wall that is preferably white. Have clear labels or a price list. I find it intimidating to talk about prices and I know a lot of people hate asking how much something is in these situations so make life easier. Have your prices available.

6. Make sure your artist statement is in view, along with your resume. People like to see that you have a reason for what you do and that your work is worth investing in. Be ready to answer questions about your process and your reasoning behind what you do.

7. Don't be afraid to have an "Open Studios Only" sale. I usually mark my work 20% off. People like knowing they are getting a special deal. Everyone loves a "bargain". Just be sure that if you are represented by a gallery, don't price below your prices there. They really don't like it when you undercut them and they will find out.

8. During the event, make sure you make eye contact and acknowledge everyone who stops by. There's nothing worse than an artist who looks like he's too busy to talk to you. Reading a book or talking on the phone is not inviting. Don't spend all of your time talking to your friends. You can see them anytime. Use this time to make new contacts and possibly some sales. Be friendly and positive. Nobody likes a sourpuss.

9. Make sure you have postcards, business cards, and a mailing list readily available. Snacks are good too. I find peanut butter filled pretzels a big hit.

10. Thank everyone for stopping by, even if they just walked by without really looking and just ate your food. Being polite goes a long way.

Melisa Philips in her studio.

Rebekah Goldstein and studio visitors.

WWJSD: What Would Jeff Schaller Do?

Artist, Jeff Schaller standing in front of his painting, "Lost in Translation". Encaustic, 36" x 36"

With all the resources available to artists regarding marketing and sales, I'm finding that talking to other artists has been one of the most useful resources I can find. I'm surrounded by artist at various stages of their career at my studio space and, after attending the encaustic conference at Montserrat Art College, I now know artist all over the US. Fellow artists are usually friendly and willing to answer the million of questions that I seem to have now that I've decided to be more serious about my art.

On a recent trip to the East Coast, I met up with Jeff Schaller (www.jeffschaller.com) at his Pennsylvania studio. Jeff does fairly large paintings of people (mostly beautiful women...hmmmm...) entirely in encaustic wax. Those of you who work in wax know that that is no easy feat, but Jeff is a master of it. Add in the fact that he does this full time and supports a family through art makes Jeff a rock star of the art world in my eyes. I knew I needed to pick his brain. I wanted to be like Jeff Schaller.

I started off asking him how he was able to "make it" as an artist and what I could do in order to "make it" too. He asked me what was my definition of "making it"? Did I want to show in museums and be known world-wide? Or did I want to sell enough paintings to get by? I thought about it for a moment and decided that what I really wanted was to be able to create art the way I wanted to, without any influence from galleries or clients and how well certain art would sell better than others. I wanted people to know me as an artist and appreciate my work. I wanted to be able to live comfortably from my art sales. I wanted to quit my teaching job and paint full time.

One of his suggestions was to create a local following and buzz. You do that by having as many local showings as possible. This includes open studios, putting on your own shows, and showing in alternative spaces in addition to gallery shows. The idea is to get known within your local community and have your name associated with art, your art. When people start associating you with your art, opportunity for sales and shows start opening up . I have noticed this to be true. In the last year, I had three different art centers/ galleries ask me if I would show my work in a group show just based on the recommendation of people who where familiar with my work.

"But how do you move from having shows where people love your work, to shows where people BUY your work", was my next question. His answer was to price work to sell. Jeff said that when he started out, he just wanted to sell as much work as possible. His prices were low and people started buying his work. He was able to build a client list from this, which is important. As he started making more sales, he would slowly raise his prices for the next show. Since he had satisfied clients and was building a name for himself by that point, he was able to raise the price of his paintings as his popularity grew.

Too many times artist start asking for high prices for their paintings when they don't have the reputation or following to demand those prices. You can ask for a million dollars for your painting and it may look impressive, but unless someone is willing to pay that million dollars, all your left with is a studio space filled with million dollar paintings. I started looking at my prices for my recent work. Since I had gallery representation and they had thought my prices were too low, I raised the price of my new work. I went from selling my work pretty consistently to having a lot of admirers of my work that wished they could afford it. Since I wasn't selling anything at the gallery where my work was being shown, and I had already decided to pull my work from there because of their lack of communication, Jeff suggested lowering my prices to a more affordable rate and start building up my client list again. Open studios was coming up and that would be a perfect time for my community to see my new work and see my new affordable prices.

These were the two major suggestions that really stood out to me and seemed the most useful. Build a local following and price your work to sell. Seems pretty simple to do, right? Thanks Jeff Schaller for letting me pick your brain. I'm sure I will be filled with even more questions the next time I see you...

Jeff Schaller, age 3... before "art-rockstar-dom".

It Takes Three...

The other day I was happily painting in my studio when one of my studio mates, Scott Inguito, stopped by to see how I was doing. We started talking about painting (as always happens in an ART studio) and he started sharing his philosophy on "making it" as an artist.

Scott said that he was giving himself three years to just paint and see what developed before worrying about attempting to show his work. He wasn't going to worry about his style or creating a series of work. He was just going to paint and see what came out and what style formed on it's own. Scott truly believed that it took 3 years to flush ideas out and develop as an artist,

regardless of the art form.

I started thinking about how long I had been painting this time around. I started about three years ago and my style is completely different than from when I started and was learning how to use encaustics back in the summer of 2006. It's only been in the last six months that I found what I really enjoyed painting and my true style began to form. The series that developed is one of the strongest I've done, I think. I didn't realize until my studio-mate said it, but the three years rule really worked for me.

Scott also said he was taking the poet's approach to painting, having been a poet for most of his life. When writing poetry, he told me, you write many poems. You write just to write and to get things out. For every ten poems, you will maybe get one really good one. He figures that if he just paints, he may not paint a masterpiece right off the bat, but for every ten paintings he does, he'll be happy to have one keeper. He wasn't going to beat himself up for not creating a great piece of art every time. He knew that you had to paint some bad ones to get a good one.

I started thinking about what he said and how I was just beating myself up about the last two paintings that I had finished. I really disliked the last one, especially. I hated the amount of white space and the scale of the figures that I painted and felt like I was digressing, skills-wise. I can really be hard on myself when I paint and get upset when what I create isn't perfect. Sometimes this sets me back a few days before I can get back in the studio to paint again. What Scott said made sense though. I didn't have to paint a masterpiece every time. It was okay to have a not-so-perfect piece. It was part of the process of developing as an artist.

I am now giving myself permission to have paintings that I may not be happy with. I am letting myself be less-than-perfect and develop my artistic skills. I have to say that this philosophy has lifted a weight off my shoulders. It's so freeing to know that I can just paint and be okay with the outcome regardless of whether it's good or bad. Thanks Scott Inguito!

Schmoozing with the Gallery Owners

I was recently in Portland, Oregon visiting my boyfriend, MBB's, family and decided that while I was there, I should try and network with some galleries.  Before we left, we researched which areas had galleries that I thought I would like, and headed to the Pearl District.

While in the first gallery, the impressive Augen Gallery, all of my childhood shyness started to come out. Suddenly I felt too embarrassed to talk to the owner about my work and why I was there. My newly revised plan was to look around, see if the gallery would be a good fit, and then discretely take a postcard or business card, as I quietly snuck out, and send them a promo packet of my work once I got home. Unfortunately/ fortunately for me, MBB was a more social person and was on a mission. 

He waited until one of the gallery personnel approached him and then proceeded to tell her that we were from San Francisco, looking at galleries to show my work. He asked the woman what were the submission policies there and were they looking for artists at the moment. The woman was very nice and answered his questions. She said that although they were not actively seeking artists at the moment, these galleries were, as she gave us the PADA, the Portland Art Dealers Association pamphlet. She then asked what kind of work I did and made some suggestions as to which galleries would be a good fit. She was very nice and helpful.

Armed with our PADA and the new information, we were off to the other galleries. Each gallery person was just as nice and filled with helpful information as Augen Gallery. I was really impressed with how nice people were. The stereotypical gallery owner that barely acknowledges the average person and is unapproachable did not exist in Portland. At least we did not meet any of these people. I still had a hard time approaching people, due to my shyness, but thankfully MBB was there and had no problems talking to anyone and asking questions. Overall, it was a good experience. Now I just need to send out my promo packet...

Art Networking Sites

In the age of social networking sites, it would make sense that there would be sites specifically for artists, an updated version of the old school art registries. There are sites such as Myartspace.com, Brooklynartproject.com, pagaeaa.com, artslant.com, artistfileonline.com, and  waxworldunited.com to name a few. I've had some moderate success through some of these sites. I had a gallery see my work and inquire about it. I was recently "artist of the day" on Brooklyn Art Project and had my painting on the front page of their website. I was also named featured artist of the month on Myartspace. All good things. But there are some bad things that can come of these sites if you're not careful.

This is where I tell the story of Razzy Popo. That's right. Some guy named Razzy Popo (did his parent's hate him? What kind of cruel person would name their child Razzy Popo????) contacted me after seeing my artwork on one of these sites. He said he was from London and loved two of my large paintings and wanted to purchase them. Sounds good so far, right? But then he starts to mention that he could only pay by check and would mail me a check that was over the amount of the paintings and would I please cash the check and give the remaining amount to his shipper who would be handling the paintings. It sounded pretty fishy. I still wanted the sale (it would have been a BIG sale) so I told him I would feel more comfortable using Paypal. After he made some excuses about not having access to it, I agreed to let him Fedex me a check that I would wait to make sure it cleared and then contact his shipper. He took my information and I awaited my check. It never came. I suspect this was a money laundering scheme or one of those scams that usually target old ladies and their retirement checks but since I was unwilling to comply with my "buyer's" instructions, Razzy Popo did not make off with my life savings.

After doing some research and contacting the artist site, I learned that scamming artist is the new thing to do (okay, maybe not new but it was new to me). How horrible must it be to be a struggling artist and have someone not only steal your heartfelt work, but also your hard-earned money? I have since been contacted by two other people "overseas" inquiring about purchasing my paintings with checks. I deleted their emails immediately. Artist beware. There are some pretty crappy people out in the world....

Step One...Getting Over Myself

I have always hated networking and schmoozing. I've never been really good at talking about myself and my work. When asked "What inspired you to paint this? What does this mean?", people usually don't want to hear "I thought it would look pretty. There's no meaning behind this".

So when all of these social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc., started popping up everywhere, I avoided them like the plague. There was no way you would have seen me starting a personal page on any of these sites and yet the more that I talk to people and talk about wanting to promote my art, the more I hear about the need to be on these sites.  Ugh!

I am now on Facebook and will open a Twitter account, along with Flickr. I'm not sure whether these sites will actually help. I still don't have any "friends" on Facebook who aren't, well, actually my friends. As for Twitter...do people really want a play by play of my art life (I kind of thought that was the point of this blog)? We'll see. I will be posting links to pictures of each major step of my paintings. That could be pretty interesting. Of course, so could watching paint dry... and in this case, literally.