Art Heroes Radio

Q+A Call In Show— Pros and Cons for artists working in multiple styles or media

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Steve Taylor emailed in the following question for a call in show:

How do you brand/market yourself if your work crosses multiple styles within the same medium? I figure you must have some idea how to do it successfully, given that bottlecap mosiacs and steel fire pits are on different parts of the artistic spectrum, even if they are both are made of metal. I ask, because as I'm coming up with new designs for pieces of furniture, I find that they all don't fit into a single style. Is that something I need to be careful of until I'm "recognized" in my medium or should I "damn the torpedos" - build/sell whatever I come up with? — Steve

The tradional advice for artists is to create a recognizable style and stick to it, to promote the artwork rather than the artist. This made sense when the primary sales outlet for art was galleries and when promoting artwork required print advertising, mailings, and expensive catalogs of shows. A consistent portfolio does make it easier to market an artist— you wouldn't mistake a Henry Moore or a Dali for another artist's work. There are exceptions in the traditional fine art market— Picasso worked in nearly every medium and had a broad range of styles over the course of his career (although that didn't make his work any less easy to recognize).

Most artists, I think, experiment with multiple styles and media. Many limit themselves to promoting just the core work so as to avoid confusing their audience and to focus the cost of promotion on the work that sells best. But I believe this is a model we can let go of, now that the web has made it so cheap and easy to promote a variety of art. There are strategies that help manage a broader portfolio— effective design and navigation, niche content, multiple sales platforms, the long tail of search, strong copy writing skills coupled with keywords. You can make more art and more sales by understanding proper management of multiple styles and media.

Q+A Call In Show— Opportunity is the most dangerous distraction you'll ever face

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Every artist knows the feeling of looking at a blank page and freezing like a deer in the headlights. When you can do whatever you want, sometimes it's damn hard to choose what to do. Starting a new work of art is always exciting, but sometimes constraints are your best friend when comes to moving forward with assurance. Focus not only makes it easier to move forward, it often allows you to do so more quickly, with greater poise and balance.

Opportunities have a lot in common with the blank page. When choosing between options— whether career direction, personal development, or wild things that come out of the blue— it's easy to cease forward motion altogether. A great opportunity can be a trap if it causes you to lose focus on the work you're invested in, the direction you've chosen. Especially when the opportunity sounds like it may support your goals if only you divide your time. Freelancing, commissions, starting a side business and similar opportunities can tempt you into believing that with some additional income, you'll have more time to work on your art. More often they just add reasons not to get out in the studio.

More than anything else, doing what you want to do comes from not quitting until it takes off. Success only looks instant later. As an artist, you always need the creative challenge of doing new things, but don't allow yourself to be distracted from your art by the temptations of opportunities that don't match your long term goals.

The self-made art star— How to produce blockbusters by discovering yourself

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Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. — Andy Warhol

There's a lot of talk about the similarity of artists and entrepreneurs lately, and how each can learn from the other. Seth Godin's new book, Linchpin, even appropriates the term "artist" to describe the person in any profession who "changes the game, that elevates each interaction and that takes enormous emotional and professional risk with their work." There are some definite parallels between artists and entrepreneurs, but only handfuls of either become successful on a grand scale.

The real question is: what do the artists and entrepreneurs who achieve rockstar status have in common? It's not just great product, or hard work, or time put in… those qualities apply to plenty of people you've never heard of. If you wanna know how to be a rockstar, maybe the people to look at are, well, rockstars.

Q+A Call In Show— What are the most important ways you can invest in your arts career?

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You've been told all your life that you have to "spend money to make money" and it's no less true for artists. But how do you know which investments in your career will pay off and which will just suck your bank account dry? On some levels, this varies for every individual, but there are some areas where investing in your art as a business will almost always pay off.

Equally important to understand is when to spend money… if you spend money on a full page ad in a magazine before you've shot professional photos of your work, for instance, you could do yourself more harm than good. In this show, I'll talk about education, tools, materials, space, assistants, professional services such as lawyers, accountants and web development, advertising online and in print, merchant accounts, and more. I'll present some ideas about how to assess the value of each, which ones are most likely to help increase your income and at which stage of your career you should plan to implement them.

I hope you'll call in to share your experiences as well.

Q+A Call In Show— How to talk about your art to buyers at shows

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There's nothing quite so exciting as opening night at a show you've worked hard to create new art for… but at the same time, quite a few artists are nervous when it comes to talking about their work. Working the crowd at a gallery opening or art fair is equal parts stage show, social function, classroom and business meeting. Here are a few of the questions I've been asked about how to put your best foot forward at an art event.

1. At a group show, how do you tell who is a buyer and who is another artist?
2. If you invite friends to your opening, how do you balance time with them and time with potential clients?
   
3. At gallery openings, how do you break the ice? How do you just go up to someone and start talking about your art (especially if they didn't approach you first)?
4. Should you have a prepared statement ready about the pieces you are showing, or just talk informally about your work? How do you avoid coming off as arrogant, pushy or self-centered?
5. How do you find ways to engage people personally so that they take an interest in the ideas or methods used in your art?
6. How long should you spend talking to people? Is it better to spend more time with a couple people who are really interested or should you spend shorter periods with more people?
7. How should you dress for an opening? Is formal dress required, or are jeans okay?
8. What if people tell you they don't like your art? Do you ask questions to find out why or do you just say thanks and exit gracefully?
9. What's the best way to follow up with potential buyers you meet at an opening?
10. Is drinking at an opening an okay way to take the edge off any anxiety you may feel?

Please call in with your own questions about representing yourself and your work at shows or ask me on twitter.

Q+A Live Discussion— Austin Kleon, Hugh MacLeod, John T. Unger and Cynthia Fedor at Stagira Studios

Panel discussion to examine the relationship between art and money, creativity and profitability, idea and execution, and collector and artist. Cynthia Fedor (Stagira Studios, LLC), Austin Kleon (author of Newspaper Blackouts), John T. Unger and Hugh MacLeod (cartoonist and author of Ignore Everybody).

Learn more about Stagira Studios' efforts to promote a culture of art collecting and raise awareness of the breadth and depth of art and artists here.

Q+A Call In Show— How to sell art on twitter (and how not to)

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Is it really possible to sell art in 140 characters or less? Absolutely! Last year, every piece of art I bought was from a link I followed in Twitter.

In tonight's show, I'll look at what does and doesn't work when using twitter to sell your artwork. How do you reach new buyers without annoying your existing base? How do you use twitter to keep your audience engaged? Using case studies of artists who have been successful with selling their work on twitter, I've identified over ten strategies that work best.

This show was pre-recorded, so there were fewer call-ins but I was joined by Jennifer Mathis (@JenXer) who shares some of the ideas that have worked for her.

Q+A Call In Show— Do artists still need galleries or is selling online the best choice?

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Galleries used to be the only serious venue for selling your art, but that's changed dramatically in recent years. Selling art online has become easier than ever, even for artists who don't have the skills to build their own sites. There are many tools and services for selling online that are simple and inexpensive. As the online art market has grown, collectors have become more accustomed to dealing directly with the artist. The role of galleries as gatekeeper is diminishing as collectors become more confident in choosing the work that appeals to them without consulting an expert.

So do artists still need galleries?

Some artists, such as Hazel Dooney have decided to leave galleries behind and take full control of their careers. For Hazel, this has worked extremely well and her career has in fact skyrocketed.

Other artists are still much more comfortable with the idea of focusing on their work and leaving the sales, marketing and reputation management to gallerists.

Both the gallery system and direct sales online have definite advantages and drawbacks. It's possible to do both if you are careful to avoid conflicts or misunderstandings.

Q+A Call In Show— How to fix artistic burnout and creative block?

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As an artist, I get paid to me… in fact, in many ways I get paid to play all day. It sounds like the perfect perfect gig, right? But no matter how much you love making art, writing, playing music or being creative, there's times when you just don't feel it. Maybe you feel you've run out of ideas, or just don't have the energy, or can't find the time, or need something new? Maybe you're afraid that no one will appreciate what you're making, or that you're doing it wrong, or that it won't be good enough? Sometimes you can't even tell why you don't feel creative… this can be terrifying because you don't know if you'll get it back. A big part of fixing the problem of block is to figure out where it comes from. On this episode, I'll talk about a variety of ways we shut shut down our creative output and fixes for each of them.

I hope you'll call in with suggestions that have worked for you or to get advice on the how to overcome your own creative blocks.

Q+A Call In Show— How do you price your artwork?

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Does pricing your work make you nervous? Are you worried that higher prices might result in fewer sales?

One of the questions I see most often is variations on how to price artwork. That's the topic for this week… call in with suggestions that have worked for you or to get advice on the parts of pricing that you find most difficult. I'll be providing some of my own ideas on how to calculate your true overhead to insure that your prices are not to low.