In order to delight someone, there must be an element of surprise. It’s a gift that seeks nothing in return but the light in recipients’ eyes.
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]]>Years ago, I had the joy of hearing Senga Nengudi talk about her art in a gallery at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver surrounded by the work.
Nengudi makes intimate installations and sculptures from discarded materials such as torn pantyhose.
Her use of this material started when she was living in a small space in New York and decided on a medium that would fit into her purse. (Further proof that making art is about solving problems, but that’s another topic.)
During a panel discussion, Nengudi warmed everyone in the room with her gentle, generous spirit and big smile.
Here It Comes
When we (about 100 of us in the audience) were getting ready to leave, the artist said she wanted to give us a gift to remember her by.
In line with her work, which transforms unwanted items into art, she considered a gift that we could transform into something new.
She confessed that she didn’t have enough pantyhose for the audience, which we were okay with because that’s when she pulled out a large plastic bag and handed out . . .
Dubble Bubble bubble gum!
Yep, the very same bubble gum that we bought for 1 cent when we were little and had only a penny or two to spare. (Some of us remember those days.) There was a collective grown-up giggle from the room.
Bubble gum is immediately transformed when it’s chewed. Then you can blow bubbles with it, pop the bubbles, stretch it, stick it in your kid brother’s hair, … You know.
The more adventurous can turn a wad of gum into a bubble-gum sculpture.
Ah, The Memories
I was excited to get my piece of bubble gum and waited patiently in line for Ms. Nengudi to place it in my hand. Two seconds later I popped it in my mouth.
I couldn’t recall the last time I had a piece of bubble gum, and it tasted exactly as I remember.
It was pure joy—filled with memories of childhood when a simple piece of gum would yield a massive amount of delight.
The Element of Surprise
Let’s admit that, of course, your art will delight some people immediately upon introducing yourself. But how can you take an extra step to see that they’re also delighted by you as a person?
Your audience might be students rather than viewers and they will delight in your teaching. But how will you enchant them?
In order to delight someone, there must be an element of surprise. It won’t work if you set up your plan with, “And now I’m going to delight you.” Right?
Your gesture must be unexpected and heartfelt. It’s a gift that seeks nothing in return but the light in recipients’ eyes.
Handing out bubble gum doesn’t make sense for everyone, so what is it for you?
I didn’t keep the piece of bubble gum from that evening after chewing it (that would be weird), but I don’t need it to remember Senga Nengudi.
I’ll never forget her, her art, and the way she charmed us. I’ll think of her whenever I put on pantyhose and, should the day come again, when I load my cheeks with a wad of pink bubble gum.
Somebody somewhere is waiting for your art to delight them.
This article was first published November 30, 2017 and has been updated with comments intact.
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]]>I try to visit as many retrospectives as I can for artists I admire, which sometimes involves traveling and going out of my way as necessary. You never know when they will happen again since it’s difficult to borrow or gather the work in one place.
Retrospectives aren’t just for viewers. They provide an excellent opportunity for artists to examine their accomplishments.
Even without an art venue for your retrospective, you can take stock of your life’s work by creating a virtual retrospective.
I was delighted to come across Virginia Folkestad’s timeline in her studio several years ago. She made this by tacking color images of her art chronologically to the wall. She then used yarn or string to connect ideas and thought processes between earlier and later work.
Try this for yourself. It’s virtual because you don’t have to schlep artwork around or borrow it back from collectors.
As you go through the process, look for:
- Common themes that crop up across time
- Repeated use of a motif
- Favoring a certain color, palette, or subject
- Big change in direction and, perhaps, corresponding life events
- Maturity of technique
I love this approach because it’s not only visual but also kinesthetic. I think you will uncover unexpected things when you add movement and a sense of touch to an exercise you might have been tempted to do on the computer.
You can’t help but benefit from this process.
You are spending more time with the work and reviewing it with the benefit of hindsight. This allows you to think about it intellectually rather than monetarily or emotionally, which will help you become more articulate about your work.
To expand the vocabulary around your work, record, in writing, why you connected the images.
What did you discover?
What were you reminded of?
What ideas came up?
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]]>The post Your Life’s Work: The Artist’s Retrospective appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>I try to visit as many retrospectives as I can for artists I admire, which sometimes involves traveling and going out of my way as necessary. You never know when they will happen again since it’s difficult to borrow or gather the work in one place.
Retrospectives aren’t just for viewers. They provide an excellent opportunity for artists to examine their accomplishments.
Even without an art venue for your retrospective, you can take stock of your life’s work by creating a virtual retrospective.
I was delighted to come across Virginia Folkestad’s timeline in her studio several years ago. She made this by tacking color images of her art chronologically to the wall. She then used yarn or string to connect ideas and thought processes between earlier and later work.
[Tweet “Examine your life’s work with a virtual retrospective #artists “]
Try this for yourself. It’s virtual because you don’t have to schlep artwork around or borrow it back from collectors.
As you go through the process, look for:
- Common themes that crop up across time
- Repeated use of a motif
- Favoring a certain color, palette, or subject
- Big change in direction and, perhaps, corresponding life events
- Maturity of technique
I love this approach because it’s not only visual but also kinesthetic. I think you will uncover unexpected things when you add movement and a sense of touch to an exercise you might have been tempted to do on the computer.
You can’t help but benefit from this process.
You are spending more time with the work and reviewing it with the benefit of hindsight. This allows you to think about it intellectually rather than monetarily or emotionally, which will help you become more articulate about your work.
To expand the vocabulary around your work, record, in writing, why you connected the images.
What did you discover?
What were you reminded of?
What ideas came up?
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]]>Artists are often left out in the cold with marketing practices that seem to be suggested for more service- or product-oriented businesses. You can create resources for your buyers and collectors, students, other artists, and/or your local community, which are as helpful to them as your tools are to you.
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]]>Youtility, the marketing concept Baer advocates, is “marketing so useful that people would pay for it.”
Artists are often left out in the cold with marketing practices that seem to be suggested for more service- or product-oriented businesses. After all, art is rarely considered useful beyond its decorative, emotional, and intellectual qualities.
But if you put your brain cells to work, you can embrace the youtility model. You can create resources for your buyers and collectors, students, other artists, and/or your local community, which are as helpful to them as your tools are to you.
This isn’t about making a sale. It’s about building name recognition and loyalty. It will also give you great satisfaction.
Youtility Examples for Artists
By way of example, here are three art maps, or tours, that could be made into an app or PDF for download, or become the focus of a Pinterest board.
Museum Highlights
Museums, of course, like to point out things in the galleries that people should know about, but you have a different perspective.
What kind of quirky tour could you lead people through that will give them a one-of-a-kind experience
Underground Art
When accompanying my husband on a rock-climbing adventure, I came across a mountain home with paintings nailed to the trees outside. I can’t make this stuff up.
Everyone knows the usual museums and galleries for seeing art, but there are good things – some of them humorous like the nailed paintings – happening in offbeat places.
Public Art
Where can one view art at no charge? Art intended for public consumption might include sculpture, murals, installations, or mosaics.
You could add a twist by researching any controversies around those pieces. Organizations responsible for a city’s public art rarely tell the dark side in their literature, and this is often what makes the best stories.
4 Steps To Being Youseful
Don’t spend a lot of time creating helpful information without a plan for it.
1. Identify your audience.
Who is your helpful resource for? Collectors and buyers? Students? Other artists? Your community?
2. Research and decide on the topic.
You have to be excited about sharing whatever you create, so make sure there’s enough to hold your interest throughout the project.
3. Decide the best method for disseminating your helpful information.
Technology might restrict you, but if your idea is good enough you will find the means to make it happen. Consider sharing through any of these means: PDF download, Pinterest board, phone app (nominal fee could be charged), tweets, or dedicated Facebook page.
For example, here’s a Pinterest board I created for everyone who comes to my Art Biz Makeover event. It’s annotated to share my favorite restaurants, sites, galleries, and stores in the Golden, Colorado area.
4. Get the word out.
Once you’ve made something so helpful that people would want to pay for it, you must tell people about its availability.
Who needs to know about what you have?
I gave the example of art maps or tours above, but I can think of a number of additional ways artists could apply the concept of youtility to their communities. How about you? Read comments for other creative ideas.
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]]>The post Mind Mapping Your Ideas and Events appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>A mind map is a tool for brainstorming or organizing your ideas.
Mind maps are perfect for creatives and artists because they put words and ideas in a visual format.
In contrast to the way we write (linear, left-to-right, up to down), mind maps explode from the center. Related thoughts branch out from the core. It’s easier to explain with an image.
When to Use a Mind Map
Mind maps can be used to generate ideas for anything. Consider creating mind maps for:
- Your next piece of art
- A class you’re teaching
- A marketing campaign
- A talk you need to give
- A blog post
- Your newsletter
But mind maps can also be used to organize something you’ve already created in order to help you understand it better. I mind-mapped the content on ArtBizCoach.com when I wanted to revamp the site.
I used to use a program called My Thoughts for Mac to create mind maps on the computer. It’s good to start with pen and paper, but I find that I like to move things around quickly, which this program allows me to do. (Sadly, they no longer make this program and I haven’t found a good replacement.)
I’m sure you can find similar programs for PCs, but I would caution anyone who wants to use the computer for mind mapping to look for the simplest program available. There are many out there that are too complicated.
Mind mapping should be EASY. You should be able to do it quickly to keep the brainstorming process fluid.
The resulting map might look complicated, but it shouldn’t be difficult to get to that point.
To Mind Map an Idea
Follow these steps to use mind-mapping in your brainstorming session.
1. Draw a circle in the center of the page. Inside the circle, write the topic under consideration.
2. Start your branches from the center. Your first branches will be the main subtopics of your idea.
3. Add additional thoughts to the ends of these branches until you’re out of juice.
You can see that this could go on forever!
Use your mind map to create detailed outlines for your writing or plans for your events.
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]]>Crowdfunding is helping artists everywhere get their projects off the ground. It’s increasingly popular to use sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to raise money for exhibitions and art production.
I want to tell you how I crowdfunded my participation in ArtPrize – without the use of a crowdfunding site.
ArtPrize is an independently organized international art competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan with an unprecedented $200,000 top prize decided entirely by public vote.
Any artist in the world can compete; anyone with property in downtown Grand Rapids can turn their space into a venue; and any visitor can vote for their favorite artwork.
This is an amazing concept, this is an amazing opportunity, and this is amazing exposure. In the first year, 2009, there were 1,262 artists from 41 states and 14 countries represented. Since then ArtPrize has continued to grow.
I wanted to be part of it.
Light Bulb Moment
After being turned down by a regional funding agency, I struggled to find a way to get my work to Michigan.
I am a triathlete in addition to being an artist, which means long hours of swimming, running, or biking in training. I often come up with my best ideas for future paintings and artistic or marketing concepts while training.
One early morning bike ride as I was appreciating the golden sun cascading across the road in front of me, I had an idea. What if I created one HUGE image for ArtPrize out of multiple small panels? This would offer ease and economy of shipping, handling AND creating.
What if I made a 3×5’ image out of 15 12×12” panels? How EASY would it be to ship a box of 12×12’s to Michigan versus shipping 3×5 feet? And, how easy would it be to work on this project while traveling to teach workshops if it were broken down into two or three 12×12’s in my suitcase every trip?
Then, in the second half of that morning’s ride, it hit me harder.
If I could come up with a composition that allowed most or many of those 12×12’s to be stand alone images, I could sell prints of them to raise funds for my trip. I could pre-sell a limited number of signed giclée prints of each 12×12 panel. Some Facebook fans might even want MORE than one. Heck some might want ALL 15!
Economic means of shipping the work, combined with a great concept for sponsorship and that morning’s 30-mile ride proved to be inspirational on many levels!
I had found the solution and my proposal was eventually accepted.
Launching
I started right away. I order the 12×12-inch panels and nailed 15 of them together.
I shared the image and the story on my blog which then posted to my Facebook page via Networked Blogs so that fans from both social media platforms would see the story. I created a Facebook album to keep all the images in one easily accessible place.
Once accepted by an ArtPrize venue, I set out to earn sponsorship money with the same proposal. People who are familiar with my work from following me online were confident enough with what they saw in the proposal to pre-purchase their 12×12” giclée prints based on a numbered grid I provided.
In general, I found that my fans and followers were happy to help me reach my goal of getting to Art Prize. People wanted to be a part of something exciting even though pre-purchasing prints meant they were committing before they really knew exactly what the art was going to look like.
Asking for $60 vs. $395 (price of a 12×12 original) made sponsorship more attainable for most. I received many well wishes on my fund raising, my project, and my goal. The project was beginning to take on a huge positive vibe.
Fulfilling Orders
For everyone who emailed me and said “give me a print of A-4 and B-6” I would send them an invoice via PayPal that outlined exactly what they were paying for. Once the invoice was paid, I saved it on my computer in order to refer back to once the art was finished, photographed, and the prints were made.
All of my sponsorship funds went into my PayPal account. All of the fees for shipping and printing the giclée’s went out of my PayPal account.
Roger McNicholas at RT Art here in Orlando prints my giclées one at a time with fantastic color and quality.
He printed all of the 12x12s I ordered, stacked them in his studio and called me the day I needed to come down and sign them. Once signed, Roger put each print in a cellophane sleeve and drop shipped them for me all over the country.
The Bottom Line
In the end, I raised enough money to cover the following:
- Entry fees for ArtPrize
- Shipping the work to Grand Rapids
- Roundtrip airfare to Grand Rapids for opening weekend
- Printing 5,000 postcards promoting my work and voting for me in the contest
- Accommodations at the Amway Grand Hotel
- Spending money to cover food and incidentals
I can envision expanding this fundraiser to include multiple levels of sponsorship opportunities.
What if I offer the print as the entry level and raise the stakes from there? What are some things that might motivate patrons to purchase more than giclée prints?
Perhaps . . .
- Sketches from initial concept for the work (a la Christo and Jeanne-Claude)
- Hand-made collage postcards from the trip to Grand Rapids
- An original 8×8, 10×10, or 12×12 koi collage inspired by the ArtPrize piece
- Acknowledgment as a supporter on my blog and Facebook page
- Handwritten letter about the experience of ArtPrize with photos from the installation
- T-shirt with koi art on front and ArtPrize Seal (with approval from ArtPrize)
There are so many possibilities and I am most excited about building stronger relationships with my followers.
What ideas/items could you add to this list?
What would motivate you to sponsor an artist in achieving a project that they not only dream about, but one which would help them to grow as an artist both professionally and personally?
About Our Guest Blogger
Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson is an Orlando-area artist who creates painterly, impressionistic collages from teeny, tiny, torn tidbits of hand-painted papers. Follow her work and daily studio happenings on her Facebook page.
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]]>The post Idea Jumping Trumps Forced Focus For Artists appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Kirsten, I passed your post on to someone more capable of responding: creativity coach Romney Nesbitt.
Romney Responds
Dear Kirsten,
You may be fighting a losing battle.
The natural tendency of creative people is to carry the seeds of many ideas at the same time; the trick is keeping all ideas moving forward.
In my book, Secrets from a Creativity Coach, I have a chapter titled “The Care and Feeding of Leapfrogs.” The chapter is about managing the flow of ideas without controlling the ideas.
I liken ideas to leap frogs.
Imagine a frog jumping in a race. The frog jumps, then sits, then jumps again in a different direction when it’s ready.
Creative ideas are like jumping frogs. An idea jumps, then sits to ponder, then jumps again when it’s ready.
Trying to stay focused on one idea at a time may not be possible or helpful.
For most creative people, two or three ideas or projects aren’t too many to keep in play.
Let’s say you’re working on a painting, a preliminary drawing for another painting and a gallery proposal. Paint until you reach the point when you’re not sure what to do next.
Rather than trying to stay focused on that one idea and running the risk of forcing a solution, give your brain a time-out. Shift your attention to your drawing or your proposal.
By working on another creative project you’re allowing your brain to maintain its creative flow and you’re giving your subconscious time to work on the painting problem.
When your brain is in flow, answers will surface. When the painting solution emerges, go back to the painting and paint with confidence. Be willing to shift back and forth between a few projects and keep your creativity “on.”
Romney Nesbitt is the author of Secrets from a Creativity Coach. In addition to her work as a creativity coach, she is also an artist, teacher, and ordained minister. You can read more of Romney’s “Ask a Creativity Coach” columns in Art Focus Oklahoma. She is also a contributor to the Art Biz Lift Off Home Study.
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]]>The post 3 Artists Inspiring Me Right Now appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>Here are two more of the same ilk.
1
David Wiemers’ Videos
I love how comfortable David is with the camera and that he takes risks to be funny. These videos are a joy to watch.
Watch Brian Williams’ “interview with the artist” in the above video. Then check out the artist’s interview with himself in this home page video.
2
Kristina Wentzell’s The Happy Camper Kickstarter Success
Kristina was a star pupil of our Blog Triage class last year and funded The Happy Camper through Kickstarter. She no longer waits for people to come see her art. Instead, she takes art to the people – in her camper-turned-art-gallery!
First, you have to see the adorable video she produced for Kickstarter.
Then peek inside the camper.
This last inspirational story isn’t about self-promotion, but about an artist trying to lift up her entire community of artists.
3
Robin Maria Pedrero’s Orlando Art Review
Robin posted the first review on the Orlando Art Review blog on May 17, 2012 and she has been going strong with help from her artist-writers. She said she was inspired by my 2012 post calling for artists to write more about the art in their communities. (I love that!)
In a tweet, Robin told me, “It is my goal with these art reviews to elevate the arts in Orlando, and bring awareness as to how wonderful the arts are here.”
How lucky those Orlando artists are!
Who is inspiring you right now?
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]]>The post 4 Lessons from Naked Marketers appeared first on Art Biz Success.
]]>A few years ago I was in London strolling through a park with my husband when we saw a naked woman moving from person to person.
With curiosity piqued, we watched for a few minutes and realized she appeared to be wearing a full-length beige bodysuit and handing out something to the people in the park. Then I noticed more people in bodysuits, men and women, all doing the same thing.
We drifted near one of the people so we could see what they were handing out. It was a small card, smaller than a business card, and square in shape. It had a short message that said something like “Naked Is In” along with a website address.
When I got back to the hotel and had access to my computer, I looked up the website as I was now thoroughly curious as to what was going on.
There are 4 things I took away from that experience.
1. A Website Is Not Enough
You need more than a website for your marketing plan. This may seem obvious, but I have come across quite a few people who, when their website was complete, assumed that suddenly they would receive visitors to their site.
How will they know about your website unless they hear about you first?
In business, the rule of thumb is that people need to hear about you more than 5 times before even thinking about making a purchase. Considering those terms, the more you do, the greater the chance people will hear about you and think, “Hey, I’ve heard of that guy/gal before – they must be worth checking out.”
2. The Best Marketing is a Collaboration
If one person had been in the park handing out cards in a bodysuit I think I would have been a little skeptical and creeped out. The fact that there were many of them immediately made me realize something was going on and I wanted to know what.
Just as they had a team of people working towards the same goal, it takes multiple avenues of marketing to promote your work and get out there. For little to no cost, you can use online tools like social media, blogging, email marketing, entering online competitions, adding your work to art directories, and online advertising.
But don’t stop with the online tools. Boost their effectiveness by combining them with offline marketing such as showing in galleries and at art shows/fairs, partnering with other artists and/or local businesses for an event or fundraiser, etc.
3. Be Creative
Obviously what I experienced was a far more creative way to promote something than conventional advertising. It obliterated the 5X rule and enticed me to learning more because it was so unique.
I’m not saying you should do something as extreme as put on a beige bodysuit and walk around the city handing out prints of your artwork. But if you don’t have gallery representation and need to promote yourself to get the word out, creative ideas that are different from the “norm” may help you stand out and be noticed.
But . . .
4. Make Sure Your Website Delivers
When I looked up the website address after receiving the card in a London park, I was more confused than ever.
They had such a creative way to pique my interest, but their website lacked information to the degree that I could not figure out what the whole thing was about. It was missing the same creativity that I found in the performance in the park.
More importantly, I had no idea what they wanted from me when I landed on their site. Were they promoting an event, a product or something else? I couldn’t even find contact information to inquire.
The business card ended up in the trash and confirmed how important it is to have a good website in place before marketing.
About Our Guest Blogger
Leah Markham provides Web design and marketing services for artists and businesses, and helps her husband with the business and promotional aspects of his art career. She created a video series for artists at Artist’s Websites, which walks you through setting up your own website and shows you how to promote your artwork online.
I’m an affiliate for Artist’s Websites and have reviewed a few of the videos, which I found helpful and well done.
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]]>
The Complete Spot Challenge was issued to encourage people to visit all 11 locations. It states:
Visit all eleven Gagosian Gallery locations during the exhibition The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011 and receive a signed spot print by Damien Hirst, dedicated personally to you.
One blogger opines it would take $100,000 to visit all of the sites. Another says she could do it with $5,800.
Meanwhile, at least two people completed the Complete Spot Challenge 8 days after the exhibits opened – visiting all 11 locations around the world (US, Asia, and Europe). And you can follow others update their travels on Twitter.
Steal the Idea
Regardless of what you think of Hirst or his art, you can take a marketing lesson from this.
Hirst didn’t really care about giving away a signed print. He didn’t care if anyone actually saw and appreciated all of the work. What he cared about was the buzz that such a challenge would create.
Even the people that thought the challenge ludicrous wrote about it and contributed to its buzz.
Sure, it’s a gimmick, but gimmicks work. They create controversy and they get people talking.
Okay, maybe you don’t have 11 galleries around the word. But you could host multiple exhibits simultaneously in your own town.
How could you make this gimmick work for you?
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