Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Ambition Is Not A Dirty Word

Reprised and re-edited from a blog post published on Absolute Arts in December 2006

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every artist was first an amateur.”

If you examine any professional artist who paid the bills from their creative output in his or her lifetime, you’ll find each of them more than made peace with making commerce, they embraced it. Most were or are salespeople in their own right. Not necessarily the quintessential back slapping variety, but at least someone who could be counted on to explain the work in a compelling fashion even if it meant getting out of their introspective comfort zone for a time. A few may have had family, friends or management to take on the marketing duties for them, but most were involved in the process of getting their art to market.

It's no different for actors or writers. Part of the gig is press junkets, media exposure, book signings, author parties, etc. While fun and glamorous to a point, they are wearisome, repetitive and time-consuming tasks each necessary to help generate enthusiasm for the work. In other words, to get people to buy. If no one talks up the book or movie, no one is going to see it. To get the early adopters on board, you have to beat the bush.

To some, there is shame in embracing commerce because to them it violates the quaint overrated sappy notion of the starving artist. To my mind, starving is a bleak situation that cannot possibly help the creative process… lead eating mad geniuses aside. That doesn’t mean a well fed artist can’t be hungry. Virtually every “known” artist got that way in part by being hungry. But it was not hunger for food; their hunger was for recognition and validation. Ambition is what fuels such hunger. Consider that a well fed successful artist can do worlds of good with celebrity and money. What is wrong with that?

Someone emailed me recently (November 2006) to say they had seen a quote from my book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, posted on blog penned by artist, EC (Lisa) Stewart, aka Creative Goddess. Lisa's post is apropos for this blog as well:

50 Top Tips for Visual Artists

Sometimes the best thing a blogger can do is to use the forum to pass along information to let readers know about wonderful resources available elsewhere. The Australia Business Arts Foundation just published on its Web site one such resource. The ABAF asked 50 industry leaders for tips to publish as 50 Top Tips for Visual Artists. The results are broken into these five categories. Each is a downloadable PDF file:

1. Developing and maintaining a client base
2. Documenting artwork
3. Exhibiting artwork
4. Marketing
5. Media Relations

There are some very good ideas presented. Each of the 50 come from different art industry professionals. Of course, I'm biased to the Marketing section and was pleased to see a distant Davey (we Daveys all seem to be related one way or the other) relative added item #10 to that particular section.

The ABAF programs offer tremendous support and resources for artists. It is to be commended for the scope and depth of the services it provides the Australian Arts Community.

Street Smart Stealth Marketing Pays Off

Recently, I received an email from Joy Butler. She is the author of a new book, The Permission Seeker's Guide Through the Legal Jungle: Clearing Copyrights, Trademarks and Other Rights for Entertainment and Media Productions (Guide Through the Legal Jungle) 

It covers much more than most visual artists need to know, but the parts that relate to the business of being a visual artist are invaluable. Butler provides easy-to-follow directions on how to go about getting proper permission to properly clear the rights to copyrights, trademarks and other rights for entertainment and media productions.

If you have need to know how to legally incorporate a quote, music, artwork, flim clips, people's names, faces, brand names, life stories or other sorts of protected materials into your work, you need this book. Conversely, if you want to know the best way to properly allow use for your own copyrighted images, it will help you there as well. It includes more than fifty pages of resources and forms for you to use. This could easily be well worth the $13.57 Amazon price many times over for visual artists.

I'm impressed enough by the book to recommend it to you. However, if Butler had not contacted me with an offer I couldn't refuse, I would not know about it. She found me because I have published an Amazon Listmania list, Business & Marketing Books for Visual Artists. Her simple offer was to send me a free autographed copy of her book with the condition I add it to my Listmania if I found it appropriate. No strings attached. Upon review, I was happy to oblige.

My brother is a leading legal authority on franchising which makes heavy use of trademarks and copyrights. I showed him the book and he was quite impressed. That's a high compliment because he is rarely easily impressed by such things. Joy Butler publishes a useful book and uses street smart savvy and a little elbow grease to ferret out prospects to help her market it. I'm sure she will be successful with her efforts.

If you are a reader of Clint Watson's Fine Art Views blog. You recently read a post of his about artist Hazel Dooney giving away copies of her latest print free. I commented on it because it fits with my views that there are new and unique ways artists like Dooney are using to gain publicity. She's getting another bump from me right here. Her free prints have multiplied and amplified her marketing in ways no other marketing can reach.

How many ways can you think of using unique marketing promotions to help you get notoriety otherwise unavailable? If you start thinking creatively about it, you will be surprised at what you can do to help yourself. Butler's book is a worthy addition to any serious artist's bookshelf. For the price of a few minutes of her time to write me and a few bucks to send me a copy, she's gained more exposure to a targeted audience than she could get anywhere using mainstream media. Learning how to use guerrilla tactics like this in your own business will take you a long way towards gaining the success you want.

Here is another great example of how stealth marketing can work for you. Because I am a marketing geek at heart, I subscribe to Michele Miller's superb Wonderbranding, Marketing to Women blog. In timely fashion, just a few weeks before my wife's birthday, she posted about jewelry designer, Nicole Kidd. Turns out Nicole has been sending Michele useful tidbits of information for a long time without ever asking for anything, not even a reply. Just a simple friendly gesture. Michele's blog is one of the most successful and highly read marketing blogs and as such she gets voluminous email. She also has a huge list of potential topics to write about, so for her to mention Nicole, it had to be something special.

Turns out Nicole is something special. When I saw the link and read the post, I knew I would find something on her Web site that would be a perfect gift for my wife. I emailed Nicole and we had some very nice communication, including a phone conversation. She is a dynamo with passion and energy and just plain fun to talk with.

I placed an order and it was filled and delivered on time as promised. My wife loves the unique necklace and earrings and I'm proud every time I see her wear them because she looks great and I know she is wearing something not store bought and because stealth marketing really really works. Some of her favorite stones are turquoise and peridot, her birthstone. Look what I found for her on Nicole's site.

These are but two examples of how using inexpensive creative marketing paid off for the marketer. Like Woody Allen says, "90% of success is showing up." How soon you get your marketing efforts to show up in the right places is up to you. Get started now.   

ArtExpo Las Vegas & Decor Expo Atlanta Shows Mirror the Market - Part Three

New Capitalism, the Future of Tradeshows (Part Three)

I assume there will be another ArtExpo Vegas show next year. That said it's doubtful, unless the economy magically revs beyond wildest expectations, a majority of exhibitors this year will invest more heavily in it next year. There was plenty of guessing about how the results of this show would affect the ArtExpo New York show, little of it with a positive vibe. That is, West Coast artists and publishers tired of the travel and expense of going to New York would love to have a viable show in the region. The question for them now is do they continue with the headaches and expense of distant travel to New York, or do they speculate hoping Vegas will grow into something more promising?

Regarding speculation, the rumor persists show owner, Summit Business Media LLC, has its art and framing properties on the block or has advanced to negotiation on a sale. Given the art & framing group is the equivalent of a redheaded stepchild among the financial media properties owned, being pursued and assembled by the still relatively new self-styled financial services media business, it seems a reasonable guess.

Rumors Even in the Best of Times Run Rampant

Such rumors gain credibility when there have been no public statements from the ownership to indicate otherwise, or that it has long range plans for its art and framing properties. Whenever a vacuum exists, rumors rush in to fill the void. In this case, they look to be more on the accurate than the wild side to many observers. Time will tell as an entire industry waits to learn what will become of flagship shows and magazines that help form and lead it.

Tradeshows are designed to be opportunities to write new business and make new contacts for exhibitors. Over time, this model for art & framing tradeshows has evolved into less selling opportunities, but has remained viable for opening new accounts. Decor Expo New York was such a show, especially for meeting international buyers. However, as buyer levels dropped and expenses continued to rise, exhibitors began to abandon ship and ultimately caused this cornerstone show to come to a sad and somewhat surprising end after more than 25 years.

ArtExpo Las Vegas & Decor Expo Atlanta Shows Mirror the Market - Part Two

The New Millennium Brings Change and New Challenges to the Industry

The early years of the 21st century set the stage for major changes within the industry. For example, against a trend of declining trade magazine ad pages, the industry witnessed the largest shows ever. There was the demise of the PPFA (Professional Picture Framers Association) shows as stand alone entities, and the rise and success of the industry’s only regional framing and art show in the form of the West Coast Art & Frame show. 1999 brought the sale of the Commerce Publishing Company's ABC (Art Buyer's Caravan), Galeria and Frame-o-rama show and DECOR magazine to Pfingsten Publishing LLC.

The Commerce Publishing Company sale to Pfingsten Publishing LLC led to its acquisition of Advanstar Communications' ArtExpo shows, Art Business News magazine and other related media and show properties. The Pfingsten's ownership also brought the end of CPC’s regional art & framing tradeshows. Deemed marginally profitable and contracting in size, the new investment firm owner cancelled shows in California, Orlando, Dallas, Louisville and rotating shows elsewhere. The closing of these shows was an early indication of both changing market conditions and different management philosophy.

ArtExpo Las Vegas & Decor Expo Atlanta Shows Mirror the Market - Part One

The September art & framing shows, Decor Expo Atlanta and ArtExpo Las Vegas concluded with a thud. Reports from both shows were not unlike results from any casino surrounding the Vegas show. They included a small number of exhibitors who came away winners, and more whose results ran the gamut from okay to dismal. Further reflecting the state of the art print market, neither packed the punch that exciting shows get from word-of-mouth. It is an interesting dichotomy in our age of instant electronic communications and marketing that, just as with motion pictures, old-fashioned word of mouth is the chief driver to fill exhibit halls and pack movie theatres.

The Atlanta show continued its decline in size again this year, which can be construed as a direct reflection of the industry mirroring the contraction in the numbers of individually owned galleries and picture frame shops in North America. The one growing segment of exhibitors in Atlanta is Chinese oil painting companies. This is problematic for the show organizers. As these cheap oil painting outfits expand their space, they become more important to the financial health of the show making the decision to ban them altogether difficult from a bottom line perspective. Not to forget the show needs to be a certain size to warrant getting favorable dates at the Georgia World Congress Center. It's a crappy no-win Sophie's Choice situation for the show management. Keep taking the money of these oil painting companies and the problems they present, or ban them and risk losing the show's dates and venue.

Unfortunately, another distasteful aspect is the manner in which the oil painting operations show their product. Often they spread pieces on the ground, put there from the top of undraped tables which gives the show a cheap rug bazaar flea market feel. It's a far cry from the magnificent ornate booths put up by the top moulding manufacturers who want an visually stimulating upscale ambience for their art & framing tradeshow experience. As with dirt cheap imports of products in other industries, the effect is to devalue the work of American artists and publishers. It is especially egregious in this instance because it undermines a population of small businesses with few resources to fight back against cheap prices and copyright infringement.

Oil Painting Knockoffs Reach New Heights and Lows