Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Five Opposing Thoughts on an Art Career

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise.
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

With apologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald, I offer this set of five opposing ideas for your perusal and contemplation:

1. It's Never Too Late - don't let your age or any other potential drawback mess with your mind. Get started today.
2. It's Never Too Soon - if you are lucky enough to see your future and desire it; don't let anything get in your way of getting there.

1. You're Not As Good As You Think - no matter how smug you feel, or how much praise you reap, you are not near your potential. Coasting is the best way to get passed and become unintentionally marginalized.
2. You're Not As Bad As You Think - on the days when it seems like you chose the wrong profession, take a break, take a walk, drive, hike or mini-vacation, even if just in the backyard. Relaxation helps lower the anxiety that creates negative feelings.

1. There Will Always Be Somebody Better Than You (Unless you are Tiger Woods or Pete Sampras) - the nature of people is to create competition and a pecking order around it. Keep in mind no matter how good you get there are others already poised to surpass your deeds. Learn to cheer them on.
2. It Will Surprise You Sometimes How Much Better You Are Than Some Established Artists - there is an observable correlation between luck and charisma having as much a profound effect on some successful artists' careers as pure talent. Sure, most aren't going to be Chuck Close, Picasso, Michaelangelo or the best selling artist in your local art guild. But, there will be times when you extend your reach and create something supremely compelling and profound. Learn to be rightly proud of those works. Learn to capitalize upon them too!

1. There Will Be Art You Are Sure Will Sell Well That Doesn't - while you might have a feel for what your collectors want, there will be some pieces you would bet the ranch on that just don't live up to your expectations.
2. There Will Be Art You Are Ambivalent About That Draws Great Interest - Trace Adkins, the country music star, had an emotional tribute to his daughter. He didn't even put it on an album made at the same time. He thought it was too personal. Instead it became a huge crossover hit.

1. You Will Make Money In Places You Didn't Think Possible - the first wave of alternative marketing and distribution has come about courtesy of the Internet. What happens next is sure to make those changes seem minimal.
2. You Will Lose Money Trying To Make Traditional Marketing Pay - sometimes it's really hard to let go of the things we have held dear and believed in for years. Your traditional marketing plans already have undoubtedly been altered by circumstances. While the old ways are not yet moribund, they for sure aren't the basket to carry all your marketing eggs.

Milton Glaser Documentary Premiers May 22: Register to win a poster or book!

Register to win a Milton Glaser Poster or book from Art Print Issues (Ed. note, the drawing has concluded and the winners notified)

For many, Milton Glaser is the personification of American graphic design.  Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I ♥ NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser’s remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, MILTON GLASER: TO INFORM AND DELIGHT.  From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men.

Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser’s personal life and captures his immense warmth and humanity, and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

The documentary premiere is set for May 22. Look for it at an arthouse theatre near you. You are certain to be delighted. 

Last year, I wrote a post reprinting, with Mr. Glaser's kind permission, his iconic 10 Things I Have Learned. To help illustrate the post, he kindly provided a marvelous image titled The Secret of Art. It neatly showcases his  eye and elegance, and his wit and wisdom.

Register to win a Milton Glaser poster like the one above or or a copy of his book, Drawing Is Thinking from Art Print Issues (ed. note The drawing closed and the winners have been notified.)

In honor of the film premiere, and to help raise awareness for it, we are conducting a no-obligation raffle where you will have the chance to win a poster like the one above or a copy of Drawing is Thinking.

 

The rules are simple.

• To register, follow this link and enter your name and email address.
• All entries will be placed in a spreadsheet. A random number generator will be used to determine the winners.
• Winners will need to provide a valid USPS address for free shipping. 
• Multiple entries, duplicate names and email addresses will be disqualified.
• The drawing will take place on May 31.
• Winners will be annouced here and notified by email in early June.

Jack Vettriano Paints Sexiness, Establishes Heartbreak Publishing

The Temptress - Jack Vettriano

"Jack Vettriano is the nation's most successful living artist – his prints outselling the likes of Klimt and Monet. In a frank interview the 'people's painter' talks about his obsession with women of a certain type, why he felt he had to leave Scotland and his ongoing battle to be taken seriously" -

 

Anne Mackenzie in Scotland on Sunday, March 18, 2008

 

Jack Vettriano is more than Scotland's most successful living artist. He is one of the most successful living artists of his era. Sales of his most famous work, The Singing Butler, are reported to make it the best-selling print in the world.

 

As with virtually all visual artists who have enjoyed astronomical art print sales, Vettriano has the uncanny knack of communicating viscerally, emotionally and cerebrally with his collectors. There is no way to fabricate such a connection. It has to come instinctively from the artist.

 

I paint what moves me - sexiness

 

In an article titled, "I paint what moves me - sexiness - Jack Vettriano interview", and from which the opening quote is taken, the painter has this to say, "I could turn out an abstract painting for you but it wouldn't be coming from the heart. What I paint is what moves me." With the sales of his prints and licensing deals that move astonishing amounts of work, it is apparent what moves Vettriano also moves many consumers worldwide as well.

 

Jack Vettriano establishes new art publishing company, Heartbreak Publishing

 

In February 2009, Vettriano established his own publishing company where he is co-owner. It is appropriately named Heartbreak Publishing.Unlike the most typical pattern of many successful artists who go off to start their own solo publishing venture, Vettriano's business model was established to publish his works  and other artists, photographers and designers including: Johanna Basford, David Brayne, Michael Clark, Jacqui Denby, Paul Manousso and Fredi Marcarini. Given the degree of difficulty in launching any publishing business, it is a remarkable and commendable undertaking for Vettriano to cast his net and include other artists.

 

It seems unlikely to me Jack Vettriano plotted to make paintings that would tap the zeitgeist of a generation in such a way to sell incredible amounts of prints and simultaneously pull in a half million or more in USD for his originals. It seems equally unlikely any artist could successfully calculate and execute such a plan. As with great success in any of the arts, there has to be an intersection where talent, ambition, the ability to touch and influence buyers and a bit of luck all come together to produce it.

 

Talent of another sort is required to continually create new works that sell well

 

The trick is to not be a one-trick pony, but rather to continue to mine the mother-lode. That requires staying in tune with collector tastes and  keeping interest in continuing to create new interesting compelling images that reflect an artist's style, but which also show growth. I don't think there is an art school or a business school that can teach such skills. Some of it is inherent or instinctual, some of it comes from gaining business knowledge, some comes from being managed in a way that leverages the interest in the artist's work without overcooking it, but rather a steady simmer.

 

At the end of the day, no one can simply coach Vettriano or any other really successful artist to flatly follow some pre-disposed plan marketing plan to create success. That is well and good, but it takes more. The smart artists take clues from wherever they come. It can be from family, friends and rivals. It can be from business partners, the daily news or notes from collectors. However, ultimately when Vettriano or any other artist sit at the easel, it becomes a solitary task to wring an image from imagination and talent.

 

The desire to sit at the easel and work on the painting has to be compellingly strong. In Vettriano's case it pulled him away from an engineering career and a marriage. You see it over and over where the need to create is so compelling it is life altering. Under the right circumstances you get a Jack Vettriano, or maybe a Bruce Springsteen who reportedly wrote 1500 songs before breaking into the big time with his music career.

 

The best bait will not make the fish bite. They come on their own terms.

 

When the magic that is in a would be best-selling image is released to the public, it gets a life of its own. Yes, it can be expertly advertised, publicized and skillfully promoted, but if the fish aren't biting, no amount bait will bring them in. Vettriano is a perfect example of that notion that the most successful artists help us define ourselves, express ourselves and connect us in communal ways.

 

Jack Vettriano has proven the community that shares an interest in his work can be vast and be vastly profitable for him. It will be fun to observe the success of his new publishing venture boldly launched in a most financially disturbing time. I wish him well and hope his success helps keep the interest in the art print market strong for artists, dealers, retailers, consumers and other new publishers too.

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
English novelist (1812 - 1870)

Art and commerce - Making room for both

Some find pursuing commerce in parallel with producing art a soulless pursuit. I can understand such sentiment. Since this blog mainly is about the business of art; about helping artists make a living from their art, I suppose not many who feel that way regularly read it. 

Just acknowledging art comes from an intensely personal place makes it easy to grasp that sales and marketing activities sullies the process for some artists. The Art Biz Coach, Alyson Stanfield, neatly summed up the notion in the title of her bestselling book, I'd Rather Be in the Studio.

On a personal level, I quite honestly would rather write for a living than work at marketing and sales for a high tech firm. It's not that the work is distasteful or unrewarding because it is neither. It's just not what I'd do if I didn't have a need for decent benefits and a steady income. With no regrets, I suppose if I'd had the epiphany to think this way in younger years, I would have done things differently. Younger artists reading this, please take note.

Many very successful print artists rose through the ranks of illustrators

If you study the history of many artists who have "made it", you find a common thread. That is, many of them supported themselves by toiling away doing other things. Look at the number of fine artists who began as illustrators and ended up with significant careers in the print market. Their ranks make an impressive "Who's Who" list, including Howard Behrens,  Arnold Friberg, Richard Thompson, Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol. A list that represents a mere smattering of artists who traveled this path.

In some ways, a career starting as an illustrator is the ideal training vehicle for would-be fine artists who seek a commercially viable career. They learn to create art that is both utilitarian and beautiful on demand. They learn the value of creating art that enhances commercial efforts. They learn to imbue their creativity into mundane things. Who could argue with the outcome?

There are those who decry the ongoing decline in the use of traditional illustrators who have seen their role usurped by technology and digital art. It is sad to think the system that bore so much fruit is no longer as necessary and one wonders how will new artists find their way now. From a nostalgic perspective, I agree. From a realistic perspective, I accept and welcome change and the unexpected outcome it will bring.

We are on the precipice of being amazed by how the best among us use technology to create art

I'm eager to see what the future holds for young graphic designers and artists working their magic on Wacom tablets in Painter, Illustrator, Photoshop and similar programs today. It will be fun to see how they have learned to harness the power of technology. It's hard to imagine what they will bring forth from their own experiences toiling away in the halls of commerce while simultaneously working on their skills and building a body of work. This is not to say there aren't already plenty of examples of artists creating phenomenal digital art that is creative, beautiful and thought provoking because there is. It is more to say years or decades of experience in a disciplined field tend to produce results unlike any other.

Some worry that technology tends to dumb down the culture with a "Calculators have no place in school rooms" mentality. The logical extension would be Photoshop, Painter and Illustrator make it too easy for hacks to get by. I argue the intrinsic qualities that make an artist unique will make that artist stand out against the best equipped hack. And, despite the occasional slip, the wisdom of crowds nearly always prevails allowing the best among us to properly be recognized and rewarded.

Making the argument that these are the worst of times is not difficult today

The state of the economy and the scary news around it is as great as nearly any living person can recall. Reading the front page or watching the evening news is a testament to our fortitude. Can any of us honestly do these things without feeling a bit or a lot uneasy? Certainly, what we are living through with unending waves of layoffs, bankruptcies, foreclosures and shocking economic bad news in many ways qualifies as the worst of times. You'll get no argument here.

It is just as easy to make the argument this is the best of times for artists

I've said it before and will continue to say it as long as the many years ahead I plan to write this blog: This is a great time to be an artist. I go beyond just saying it's great timing to be a visual artist, which encompasses fine artists, photographers, digital artists and graphic designers. It arguably is a great time to be a musician, an actor, or a writer, too.

Technology has made so many things possible, like this blog, for instance. Print-on-demand technology and increasing advancements in video and audio recording all put tremendous power in the hands of individual artists. Couple those advancements with the ability to deliver their creative output via the Internet and other digital distribution methods and you have a strong argument for this being the best of times. I think it is easy to forget that in the good old days breaking in as an artist in any genre was tough. It still is. What is different now is that artists of all stripes can make their own luck in ways not available to previous generations.

Life's checks and balances seem fully in play just now

Perhaps it is the curse that comes with the blessing that these remarkable tools and advancements would arrive at a time of tremendous hardship and difficulty for many of us. Just as we are poised to make and deliver our best work, brilliantly made and eloquently presented, we are struck with a collector pool stunned by bad news and fears of worse to come.

It seems to me this is a time to learn not only how to harness technology for our individual gains, but also to learn how to use it in new ways to make for the collective good. That is for our fellow artists and for our shared body of collectors. How such a quaint and grandiose notion gets implemented is not for this post. It is rather for an ongoing dialog between all interested parties.

The light-speed evolution of social media and networking offers unwanted diversion and welcome opportunity

Most of us are still grasping with how to make good use and not foolish waste of time use of new and interesting tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and even Web sites, for that matter. To be alive now is to be a living witness to changes that we feel and see everyday which ultimately will take us to new and different ways of making art and making distribution channels to deliver it. Some of these tools will go the way of VHS tapes and audio cassettes while other will evolve into deeply integrated aspects of our lives on nearly every level. It will be the best of times and a bit of a joy ride to participate and see how it all unfolds. You'll be telling future generations about these times.

Don't stop now

Technology is not a tool to make the works of hacks and amateurs passable. In the hands of the most talented, it will lift us and inspire us in ways we have yet to imagine. To my mind, it is the worst of times to be a pessimist and the best of times to be an optimist. It is a time to cautiously go forth with one's best plans, and to be cautiously aware those plans will need to be monitored and adjusted to inevitable changes. If you are like everyone else, you have already slowed your roll a bit, which is natural and prudent. I do admonish you, however, to keep on moving and leave you with the wisdom of the Great Depression era's best humorist and philosopher: 

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)

Three Art Marketing & Art Publishing Links to Make You Think!

It goes without saying, there is a great amount of very good information for visual artists to be found on the Internet. That so many put forth the effort to share what they know is remarkable. These folks, all of whom have full lives, are to be commended for their efforts.

We'll start with post from Myron Arndt. He has been a publisher in the art print market for many years. Long enough to have observed the many twists and turns this market segment has taken. I'm sure he's like me and would not have predicted a few years back how much the open edition print market has changed. Undaunted, he provides some straightforward advice in his Art Business Thoughts blog post titled: 10 Simple Things Artists Should Know About Reproductions. As the title implies, the information is simple, but knowing and paying attention to it can make a big difference when you are gearing up for the print market.

The art market is full of terms that have multiple meanings. For instance, ask 10 people what is a print and you get my drift. This next link, Getting Your Artwork Published, is from gifted pen of Lori Woodward Simons. Now, when I hear getting art published, I go straight to thinking about someone like Myron Arndt at his Island Art Publishers taking on an artist's work.

Not so fast, Lori's article is all about getting your work published in a print magazine. The same term takes a different meaning under her tutelage. Her article, published on Clint Watson's splendid Fine Art Views blog, where she is a regular contributor, gives great insight borne from years of her personal experience and observation.

I've long been a proponent of getting publicity wherever possible. Lori's advice on how to go about it should be must reading for any artist seeking to get wider exposure via traditional media. Good publicity is worth its weight in gold. You just can't buy the credibility that comes with the strong implied third-party endorsement of a well placed media piece.

Now that you have some ideas for making prints and how to go about getting recognition for your work, you need some ideas on how to get it to market. Who better to give you a unique twist, one you probably haven't given much thought, than Alyson Stanfield, in her Art Marketing Action newsletter? Recently, she published a piece titled, Get People to Sell Your Art for You. The article has great ideas and links to dig further into affiliate marketing.

True to form, after hearing from her readers, she followed up with more thoughts in her Art Biz Blog to offer more clarity on the subject. You can read Is Affiliate Marketing for You? there. It asks and answers the questions about whether such marketing techniques are useful for everyone. The answer, is of course, no. As with any serious undertaking, you have to judge your fitness and desire to take on projects no matter how promising they seem. One thing is for certain, getting good solid advice from art industry veterans such as the fine folks featured here can only help your cause.

The Art of the Big Offer

Here is a simple yet powerful truism, "You can't get it if you don't ask for it."

Just like many artists reading this post, I toil away at a day job. All in all, it's a pretty good gig. The pay is decent, incentives are excellent with benefits as good as you'll find these days. Short of blogging for a living, I don't mind strapping it on and going to work. It is challenging and puts me on a constant learning curve absorbing all manner of things that are both interesting to me now and certain to be helpful to me later. 

My only resentment is the time I put into the job because I have many other goals. For example, here is an expanded view of my Personal Brain that I use to help me keep ideas and add new ones. I look at it and it helps me keep on track to stay focused on the most important tasks rather than the most urgent that are not so important. Obviously, I recommend using it. For anyone who learns visually, it is a wonderful free tool.

However, the primary point today is to pass along advice easy to forget and harder to do for many of us. I am a seasoned sales and marketing guy and I found relearning this lesson helped my sales and confidence grow in my day job in ways that surprised me. Actually, there are two valuable lessons for you in this post:

1. OFFER BIG

2. Never sell thinking about what is in your wallet

As an artist, you are also an independent business person. Your business success depends on not only your creative ability to render art the public wants to buy, it also depends on how you operate your business. A constant factor in your business is negotiation. The better you negotiate, the more money you get to keep. Arguably, handling sales is the most important negotiation you routinely make.

Consistently asking for the big sale works!

I'm lucky. Each day I get reminded in numerous ways to make sure I offer the biggest possible package to my customers. You will need to find ways to remind yourself. It is my job to make offers to my customers and choose to make them big offers. It is their job to decide if the offer is valid and worth considering. If they say no, I say okay and move on. I admit it took a some time for me to convert to consistently offer the premium package in every situation. I had to work at getting myself out of the way. Sometimes it just didn't feel right. But, when I overcame my reluctance to ask and put aside my personal feelings and what I thought was insight, I began to find people often responded favorably to being offered big.

Guess what? My sales went up and have stayed up as a result. I have no qualms about this because my company will give a 100% of unused product refund without question. So a buyer is never stuck with something they don't need. How does that translate to your business? Easy. You need to think about packages you could offer someone. If you are in a retail situation, such as at a show or in your studio, you already know you have an interested buyer. Instead of getting excited about selling one piece of art, why not offer a suite of images?

Artists Can Make the Art of the Big Offer Work for Them

How about my best package deal? Many of my other collectors love it! Take two 30" x 40" and two 16" x 20" giclees and I'll make you a sweet suite deal. Alternatively, would you prefer to have one large and three smaller images in a package? 

Help Your Collector Visualize What They Are Getting. Big Offers Get Big Results

Paint a picture for them here. Mentally put the pieces in their home or office "These images in a grouping, complementing each other in a room or several rooms will look spectacular in your home or office. They will give it a fresh inspired sense of beauty. Something you are certain to enjoy for years to come" The point is to allow them to think about how hanging a suite of your images will brighten their home and bring them joy.

If you figure out your offer and practice it until you can make the offer with conviction and confidence, I assure you that you will see a dramatic change in your results if you offer big consistently.

You may be struggling to make the rent, or just working hard to make your second career art business profitable. Either way, it's no sin to be modest and conservative with your own money. That said, you have to park your own sense of financial well being and not project what is happening in your life onto your collectors. If they are looking for art, they have discretionary income.

Never Pre-judge What You Think Someone Can Afford to Spend

It is not your job to decide how much they of your art they can afford. It is your job as a smart business person to ask for the order and offer big. If you have a problem with doing this because your are shy, uncomfortable or what have you, here is a bit of tough love: Get over it! Your attitude is costing you money. You have to realize you are dealing with rational adults who are fully capable of telling you no thank you they don't want any, or just the one. However, if you never present the offer, you are guaranteed to never make the big sale. Most people are not that creative in thinking big for themselves. They often want you to tell them what they want and will respond to creative offers, even big ones.

HINT: After you make the offer, SHUT UP. I don't care how much time passes. Just smile, be relaxed, casual and wait. If you start talking before they respond, you have effectively taken them off the offer. If they change the subject, answer the question and ask if they liked the offer. Get back on track.

So as the immortal Shakespeare adroitly put it, "Screw your courage to the sticking point, and we'll not fail." In these times especially, you have to leverage all you have. Practice these simple concepts and watch your sales and confidence grow.

Sun Sets on Howard Behrens' Gallery Shows

Capri Coast - Howard Behrens

Howard Behrens ranks among the most successful and accomplished of a generation of artists whose work drove the phenomenal growth of the art print market in the late 20^th Century. Last year, a news item announced his last gallery show. Like Terry Redlin, another giant of the print market who retired around the same time, he's reached a milestone in his career. One I'm remiss in waiting until now to cover.

While Redlin has retired, Behrens has simply announced he has done his last gallery show. After a remarkable professional art career spanning 25 years, at age 75, who can second guess his decision?

The Path to Professional Painter Is Well Trodden Through Graphics Arts Careers

Like so many of his contemporaries, he worked successfully at another career in graphic design until well into mid-life before turning to full-time as a career artist. According to his biography, he worked with many styles and techniques, but ultimately settled on the palette knife. The results he achieved were nothing short of stunning. His bold, colorful, compelling and romantic art was perfectly suited for modern serigraphy. A medium that in the popularity of the giclee revolution still represents the best and highest end of the commercial fine art print market.

To view an original Behrens or one of his serigraphs is like taking a mini-vacation to a beautiful exotic place. The kind of place most can only dream about going. The posters and open edition prints, while still gorgeous, lack some of the visual impact of his originals and serigraphs. Given the discrepancy in prices and printing methods, this is to be expected.

Success at Every Price Point

Behrens' art has sold well throughout his career at virtually every price point. One can purchase affordable posters from dealers and online at Art.com and other sites. His originals and serigraphs, continue to sell well on the secondary market at Art Brokerage and other dealers. And, it also can be found in the giclee format as well in galleries and online.

Given Behrens' talent, travels and success, he is a model for what many artists would like to do with their careers. For those reading this who despair of enjoying similar success, keep in mind it was not until he reached 50 years of age before he turned to painting full time.

Behrens Helped Define and Make the Print Market in His Era

Behrens did have the good fortune to peak just in what many will remember as the golden years of the art print business. That was before the advent of modern print-on-demand technology that allowed the successful development of the fine art digital print technique that came to be known as giclees. Looking back on his career, one could say rather than riding the wave of popularity of the fine art print market, as epitomized by the tremendously successful ArtExpo New York shows of the late '80s and 1990s, that the interest in his work helped define and drive the market.

As with every successful artist, he has spawned legions of other artists seeking to tap into the same look and style he popularized. While some have achieved their own success, there will always only be one Howard Behrens. We salute him for his magnificent contributions and wish him well for the future.

West Coast Art & Frame Show 2009 - A Moral Example of Success

If you are looking to either attend or exhibit at an art tradeshow in the Western U.S., the West Coast Art & Frame Show is your ticket. Sponsored by Picture Framing Magazine, the show and conference will once again be held on January 26-28 in Las Vegas where it has reigned for more than a decade. It is interesting to observe The WCAF Show has continued to prosper in direct contrast to competitive shows such as Decor Expo.

Decor Expo Shows in Decline

The past few years have not been kind to the Decor Expo shows. They have either seen a steady decline in attendance and exhibitors, or just ceased to exist. Certainly, investment company ownership more focused on a bottom line driven management-by-spreadsheet mentality with a buy and flip strategy has proved to not be beneficial for those shows. You can draw a direct correlation to story to the larger economic one playing out now.

There Is a Moral to the Story

There is a moral in viewing how two competitive operations charged with the same tasks of putting on an industry tradeshow and serving the exact same art and framing exhibitors and attendees could have such different outcomes. What it amounts to is how you treat your customers. If you put profit at any cost before doing the right thing by them, you are likely to have some short term success followed by a loss of prestige and market share in the longer term. The nearly laughable desperate deals that were proffered to try and bribe exhibitors to show at the now failed Decor Expo Baltimore show are an example of how earlier decisions can turn into a nightmare.

There Is No Shame in Making a Profit, But at What Cost?

I'm not saying you shouldn't strive to make your products as profitable as possible. I'm all for that; it's why you are in business and not philantrophy. But, if you are in your market for the long haul, you have to be sensitive to your customers' needs. If the only master you serve is your investors, you will end up losing. The incredible financial meltdown that has affected every American is due in part to those making short term decisions that were not in the long term good for the customer.

Had such a quaint, but powerful notion of doing what is right by the customer been applied to decisions to grossly overpay executives, to create products that were in effect financial neutron time bombs and now in hindsight all the other stupid greedy decisions whose repercussions will wash over generations to come with the dread of unnecessary debt, the world would be a better place.

Can You Believe Some Companies Thrived in 2008?

I work days in marketing at a thriving high tech firm, (I choose not to name it to avoid having to worry about making proper disclaimers with every post.) It grew revenue by 40% in 2008. Not too shabby in this economy. It is on target for greater growth in 2009. It has done this by having great products and exceptional service. For example, our customers can call for free tech help 24/7.

Follow These Simple Rules for Success

My company makes its own products. It doesn't rely on suppliers or worry whether they will deliver or stay in business. Mostly though, I think its success has to do with corporate culture. Day One new hires learn these three things. They are expected to memorize them:

1. Do what is right.
2. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
3. Do your best.

Now, had the brains bozos who peddled derivatives or ran Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG and on and on truly followed these three simple precepts, we would not be furiously trying to plug holes in the dike with trillion dollar bailouts.

The WCAF Owners Also Are Its Managers - It Pays Them to Pay Attention to Their Customers 

I believe the members of the Gherman family who own and run the West Coast Art and Frame show saw they needed to grow their show at a pace that allowed its exhibitors to get a decent ROI (Return on Investment). They have shown restraint from letting demand for booth space overwhelm the buyer-to-exhibitor ratio that when out of whack will cause a show to decline.

In the tradeshow business, your exhibitors foot the bill for the show, if they are not happy, you eventually will not be happy either. The Ghermans resisted making moves that would have generated greater income in the early going to help the show thrive in the long run. In retrospect, that was enlightened thinking with corresponding actions then that pay dividends to them today.

Tradeshows run on word-of-mouth. If the news and buzz is favorable, the show will shine and grow. If the news and buzz is bad, shows suffer, decline and in some cases cease to exist. So then treating your customers right results in taking actions that cause a company to have less revenue is not purely altruistic. It can be very smart marketing. Whether you are running a large publishing or one-person artist operation, you will serve your business and yourself best by abiding by the three simple rules above.

The WCAF Is a Good Show To Exhibit or To Attend for Art Marketers

The WCAF has always been more of a framing show than art show, but in the void of effective competition it has grown to be much more important as an art show with many more art companies exhibiting in the past few years. So don't discount the show if you are an art company. Besides, it is a good idea to up your framing knowledge. If you work with galleries, most expect work to be framed as part of the deal. If you sell direct, having the right framing can make your work sell faster and for greater dollars.

If you haven't been before and you are considering exhibiting, try walking the show this year with an eye for exhibiting next year. If you are an artist seeking a publishing deal, or just getting started in the business, it's a good place to get a feel for shows and you'll see some really good art and how it is exhibited as well. Let's not forget that in late January, Las Vegas is much warmer than most of the country. So whatever your motivation, get it on your schedule and come to learn and enjoy!

Phony Prosperity Plummets - Chinese Oil Painting Biz Hits the Skids

Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and bestselling author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America had an December 20 Op-Ed piece in the NY Times that caught my eye. In China to the Rescue? Not!", he discusses how China is not in a position to stimulate its domestic demand and thus help lift the rest of the world's economies out of their collective downward spiral. In a nutshell, it's not going to happen. 

Phony Prosperity Too Good To Be True

In the phony prosperity propped up in great part due to our partnership with China, where we bought ever cheaper stuff we thought we needed, but really didn't, while they bought our deepening debt, it worked until it didn't. That's where we are today. Now Chinese workers are feeling the same pinch as are those in U.S.

Chinese Oil Painting Suppliers Feeling Economic Pinch

To illustrate his point, Friedman used the example of how the art village of Dafen, the world’s leading center for mass-produced artwork and knockoffs of masterpieces — had been devastated by the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble. Apparently what used to be said about our neighbors to the North and South is now a global phenomenon. That is, when the U.S. sneezes, they would catch a cold.

Art Business Has Sex Appeal

Friedman could have picked from any of thousands of other industries where low cost Chinese manufacturing has knocked the pins from under them. It proves that although relatively small by comparison to giant businesses making furniture, machinery, etc., the art market is intriguing. It will good to remember on the days when you have second thought about painting for a living you are in a sexy intriguing business. The kind a well known columnist will showcase in an Op-Ed piece.

Sex appeal aside, you have to instinctively realize that this news from China is as much a cause for concern as it is an opportunity to look up the meaning of schadenfreude. So, take a moment to feel some glee for knowing your knockoff nemesis has hit a very rough patch. Then take a breath and realize there is little upside for you in their downfall. 

Holiday Sales Hit Retail Businesses Hard

The news today on retail sales is it is alarmingly abominable. The deepest discounts and desperate bundling techniques failed to shake dollars from consumers wallets. Considering that we are in a business providing a product that is to most a completely dispensable luxury, none of this is good news.  

There has been a slew of articles from business pundits, art and otherwise, offering untold guidance on how to survive the current downturn. It ranges from the practical to plain pollyanish. There seems to be so much that if one were to digest and act upon all of it they would soon find themselves enveloped in a paroxysm of paralysis induced by a potent combination of overexposure to bad news and bland advice. Undaunted, yours truly weighs in with observation and opinion.

Consumers Have Spoken - Make Sure You Are Listening

The consumers have spoken; they get it. They are scared and not buying things they don't need any longer. Keeping up with Joneses has given way to keeping up with the mortgage. This puts artists in a bad position, especially those who have not yet developed both a strong dealer and collector base.

Anyone who would seek to soothe you now offering advice laced with few bars of "Everything's gonna be alright," or "Don't worry, be happy" is be taken skeptically. While it's not time to get a gun and head to the hills, it's surely not time to be laying out grand plans for major expenditures either. Certainly, it's not a time to take lightly that economic conditions are eroded nearly beyond comprehension or to be persuaded a turnaround will be measured in months. Here is the unvarnished truth. It's going to take years to fix the problems we are dealing with now. And, that is if we don't take more unexpected shocks on the economic, war or terrorism fronts.

What Can You Do?

Watts Wacker, the brilliant futurist, a subject of a previous post here, who along with co-author Jim Taylor wrote the 1997 international bestseller, The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next . Here is part of a review of it from the InnovationWatch.com Web site:

The 500-Year Delta ultimately is about the shifts of perception needed to prosper in a future that is fundamentally, unrecognizably different. It is about surviving and thriving in an economy inhabited by two kinds of workers: owners and temps -- in a marketplace where customers must literally be bought, one at a time, and where mass merchandising utterly ceases to exist. It is a world, in short, where borders -- political, economic, and technological -- simply disappear.

Desire for Authentic Unique Goods On the Rise

Considering the book and review are a decade old, it is interesting how both now seem quite prescient in describing our current condition.  A point made in the book that to me is yet more poignant today, one that carries a lesson and offers a path for visual artists in this most difficult time is this: In an age where nearly everything is mass produced there will be a very strong yearning for products that are authentic. You may feel it yourself. Sites like Etsy, EBSQArt and The Artful Home and publications such as NEET Magazine all respond to this yearning. These are just a few of many serving the market as conduits between independent artists and consumers.

As a visual artist, you are in luck.

You have more control over what you produce and how. You have ways to easily stretch what you do and how you offer it. A recent segment on the Oprah program was titled Wallpaper Makes a Comeback. Hand-painted wallpaper is an example and inspiration of how you might stretch yourself and fill that need for an authentic one-of-a-kind product. Can you make wallpaper? Are their other ways to utilize your talent and training? I'm betting there are once you put your mind to what is possible.

You don't have to paint wallpaper to make authentic products. You don't have offer originals only either, although there is a movement for that notion with the painting-a-day phenomenon as one example. There are plenty of other ways to stretch yourself and find niches for your creativity.

Tap the Knowledge of Your Giclee Printer and Other Suppliers

Talk with your giclee printer, they see way more than you do. Ask what you can do to collaborate to use the technology to create reproductions of your original that are each unique in some demonstrable way. Consider everything including substrates, sizes, colors and graphic wraps, etc. Challenge yourself to think of what you can do. Test your theories about what you would never do. There are certain to be things among them that upon second review might just offer a new opportunity.

You Don't Have Make Your Own Canvas To Be Authentic

Authentic doesn't mean it has to be made from scratch. If you bake a pie with pumpkin filling you scrape from the pumpkin and use a store bought crust, is it enough to say made from scratch? Or would a purist say you had to grow the pumpkin, wheat and sugar cane to make it authentic? You already know the answer.

The point is consumers have become fickle and not inclined to buy stuff right now as the dismal Christmas retail season bears witness. What they are inclined to buy are things that offer meaning to them in their lives and that bear the mark of authenticity. Your challenge is to find ways to connect your images to your audience, to provide them with work that goes beyond decor. Work that resonates with them so they want to live with it in their home. That mission is really the same as it always has been. It's just today your focus needs to be more intense and in tune with your art buying public.

Slow Down, Produce Less, Make It Authentically Right, Charge More?

If might just be the time to make less, make what you make more pricey and more unique. Doing so could be an antidote to trying to mount a marketing scheme aimed at production run sales. In other words, just because the Chinese artists in Dafen are getting clobbered, it is still not a good time to attempt to go after their market share.

What Is Success?

There is for each of us who pursue a dream, a parallel reality track. The latter is the one on which we run our daily lives, the former is engine for our aspirations. Most of us need both to get by, to make sense of our lives.

Sometimes the two tracks intersect in the most meaningful and profitable ways. The stories from these chance occurrences fuel the dream track. Often times the vagaries of everyday life widen the distance between the two. For many of us, today's challenging economy turns the distance from a minor rut to a major chasm. A chasm that causes reflection on the plausibility of successfully pursuing a career in the arts.

Pursuing a career as an artist in any field is a daunting task under the best of circumstances. Sure, there are the storied fortunate few who seemingly don't pay their dues, but instead are catapulted to stardom at an astounding rate. Such success is what we all hope for, but planning on it to materialize is akin to buying lottery tickets as a financial plan. Since the odds of winning the lottery are the same whether you buy a ticket or not, it's not advisable.

What is Success?

Success is as deeply personal as thing a person can decide upon for themselves. Certainly, society has its markers, notably fame and fortune. I say success is being happy in achieving what one sets out to do. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are happy with the results of your chosen endeavors, then you are blessed and successful in my book. Taped to my computer monitor as a daily reminder is a classic description. It is a famous short essay that often is incorrectly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

What Constitutes Success - Bessie Stanley, Lincoln, NE 1905

"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction."

Stanley won a contest sponsored by the Lincoln Sentinel newspaper. The $250 prize was a remarkable sum by 1905 standards. Adjusted for inflation, it would be $5700 today. But, her success was not monetary. It was to become a legacy that lives on more than 100 years later. I like to think the personal joy and satisfaction she took from merely writing the words was for her success enough. The rest, money and timeless legacy, just icing on the cake.

Sometimes when one is painting or creating with a mercenary goal in mind, this joy is hard to find. Not to say one can't feel righteously proud of creating something regardless if it was made purely for artistic expression or purely because it was certain to sell.

Creativity and Commerciality Cannot Co-exist for Some Artists

For some artists, it is difficult to work at making art as if it were a craft such as bricklaying. It robs them of the joy in creating. For this reason, you find supremely talented artists who labor in anonymity. But take no pity for them, most have made a conscious choice about what success is for them, and being commercially viable is not one of them. At least it is not a driving criterion. I personally get this. I have a day job marketing for a successful high tech firm. It pays the bills and provides the bennies and allows me to publish this blog on my own schedule without being at the mercy of a publisher or advertiser's demands.

Some hobbyist artists will create priceless gems only a few will every enjoy in comparison to star artists. But at the moment of self-satisfaction wherein one quietly and privately basks in knowing this work of art before them came from their imagination, skill and creativity, a wonderful warm glowing feeling is generated. And, that special moment runs as deeply and pleasingly in a happy hobbyist as it does the most acclaimed artist.

You can't take self-satisfaction to the bank, but you also can't put a price on standing before something you made that gives you pure joy in having it come from your hand. With any luck, your work will live out in a legacy in ways you as the creator can never imagine. This is true whether you achieve tremendous success or make your art for the enjoyment of your family, friends and, of course, yourself.