I just had another thought about this – most successful businesses thrive by identifying a market and then creating a product or service to meet the needs of those customers. Artists have a harder time because we’re creating the ‘product’ first (from love) and then needing to find someone to buy it. In many ways this is putting the cart before the horse. But creating art not necessarily from the heart but for a certain market is considered ‘selling out’ which could backfire. As a business person, an artist is in a very tough position.

To me, what we’re really talking about here is finding your market. Like any business, selling any product or service, you need customers. The reality is that they might not be nearby.

I moved from Denver, which I consider to be a pretty healthy art market, to a small village in the middle of England. I’ve learned that nobody around here is spending thousands of pounds on large artworks for their walls (which is what I sell)… They spend £30 for a print at Ikea.

Marketing and ‘merchandising’ are sometimes tough concepts for artists to embrace, or even to accept. But to be commercially successful, e.g. to actually sell enough work to contribute to a meaningful income, you need to know who your customers are and WHERE they are. And then you need to connect with them where they hang out.

I’ve been frustrated by my efforts at selling my favourite work in the area where I live. So to sell my ‘main product’ I need to venture further afield. And I am also creating different, (smaller) product lines at a lower price point suitable for the local market.

Some art must be experienced in person for a collector to purchase. This makes internet sales impractical for certain artists. Regardless, I think the key idea is to always be creating work you love, and finding the people who love it, too (enough to buy it).

I like to imagine that if I lived in San Francisco, New York or even Santa Fe that I would have more sales of my large-format [expensive] artworks, which may or may not be true and will probably never know. I live in Barwell, England so I need to make the most of this reality. In terms of selling art locally, this means making stuff the locals want to buy. I am still working on selling larger works in more distant markets.

We opened an art gallery on the Main Street of our new small town over 10 years ago with a vision of adventure and exploration..that was about it. Be involved in the community, and be the best artists we can be.

In mining terms, things are panning out.
We are grateful for the many visitors, patrons, and collectors over the years.

A few months ago the director of a regional art museum came into our gallery, purchased several pieces and offered my husband and me a 2 person show in the Main Gallery of the Museum 0f Art at the University of Arizona.

We are on it. We love our life in this desert…this very Cultural Desert.

Thanks for asking Alyson. As always, you are spot on1

Thank you for offering your perspective, Mandy.

Nice perspective, Bill.