Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Things A Gallery May Never Tell You

There are things a gallery may never tell you, but you need to know. They can make a big difference to your success.

1. Framing Your Own Work Isn't Always A Good Idea.

Some galleries take on the responsibility of framing, but many galleries ask the artist to provide the art framed. If they haven't given you specific guidelines as to what they want, you are on your own.

Many 2-D artists struggle with framing costs and turn to on-line sources for special order frames. But unless you have a background in framing, including the craftsmanship to do a professional job, you might be wasting not only your time, but your money as well. The fact is that poorly framed art does not sell.

2. Your Artist Bio Is Important


The purpose of your artist bio is to concisely demonstrate the professional level of your work and the consistency of your output using one paragraph and a listing by date of your accomplishments.

Write clearly, not extravagantly. Describe your style and influences in a single sentence. State how long you have been working professionally and explain your background and training. Explain what distinguishes your art and augment this with a brief description of your artistic philosophy. By adding a quote and/or mentioning where you live, your family, or when you were born, you add a personal impression to the facts.

Your consistency is demonstrated by the number and professional level of the juried and solo shows you've participated in, by your membership in professional organizations, and any awards and honors you've received, collections (sales) and gallery associations. This information is usually listed by date, most recent first, in a standard format. One page is usually enough, although if you feel the need, you can add the words "additional information upon request."

3. The Little Extras That Mark You As A Professional


Label the back of your artwork with the title and your name. Many artists include a document with an image of the artwork, the date of creation, materials and other technical information.

Prepare an artist statement that fits the work and include it on a separate piece of quality resume paper. Include a quote from yourself, usually one or two sentences in quotation marks within the body of the statement. Think about what you would like the gallery to say about you in any press release or publicity piece they might put out. If the gallery uses a blog to promote new work, get an idea of what they traditionally post.

Include a CD with your high resolution images of your work. The gallery can resize down for web applications or easily send an image to newspapers or magazines for print. Try to anticipate what a gallery might need. Don't expect them to contact you or hunt down the information on their own because they won't have the time and will move on to an artist who did provide the material.


Adam Brown

Osio-Brown Editions Website

Giclee Printing FAQs

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Hone Your Arist Statement

(Brought to you by our friends at ArtBizCoach.com)

When is the last time you took a long look at your artist statement? Did you close the file months ago thinking you were done with it? Think again.

Your statement has the potential to be one of your strongest promotional tools. A well-written statement empowers you. The process of writing or perfecting your statement is a chance to clarify your thoughts. It helps you define your art before someone else does that for you. Here are five tips for honing your statement.

1. Whittle down your statement to a maximum of two paragraphs--knowing that our attention spans are much shorter these days.

2. Your statement should reflect your current direction, particularly what is unique about the methods and materials you use to create your art work. Do not include anything about your influences or past lives in your statement. Just talk about where you’re going and what you want viewers to take away. You want readers to focus on the future and where you’re headed, not the long story about how you got to where you are.

3. Allow time between your draft and editing of the draft. It is a good idea to step away from your writing for a few hours to see it with fresh eyes. It’s too easy to get bogged down in the language and miss the message.

4.
In the editing process, look to eliminate redundancy as well as descriptions and sentences that could be applied to any ole artist’s work. You’re seeking the right words that describe with your artistic contribution.

5. Above all, your statement should compel readers to look at your art. If it doesn’t do that, it hasn’t done its job. Your statement has failed if people read the words you’ve written, and then they go on to the next artist without being intrigued enough to take another look at your work.

FINAL WORD: Your statement should be organic. Allow it to grow and change. You wouldn’t allow your artwork to stagnate, would you? Likewise, using old words to describe new ideas doesn’t make sense. Get that statement out and start honing it.

Copyright © 2009 Alyson B. Stanfield.

Reposted By:

Adam Brown

Osio-Brown Editions Website

Giclee Printing FAQs