Wrapping up another year in art

The thing about 2022 is that unlike the previous couple years, I had a normal 9-5 job. It still afforded me time to make my art, I just didn’t spend a lot of time selling it until Q4, which turned out to be the best Q of my visual arts career, a sentence I never imagined myself writing. Honestly this is not a brag post, it was only my best year by a small margin, it just happened kinda quick. I made some sporadic sales early on, and did some smaller commission pieces, but I didn’t do a single art show until Franklin’s Art in the Village, in September, which was a single day make-it-or-break-it affair. Not only did I sell a bunch of stuff that day, but a couple people followed up for projects at their homes, one of which turned into the biggest payday of the year. Not long after I wrapped those up, Mike Ross got ahold of me about doing a holiday crafty type show at the 333 Midland Annex gallery. Of course I was all-in, incentivized by his letting me display a bunch of other stuff through the rest of December. More on that show in another post.

Highs and lows of the creative life

I spend a lot of time applying for public art grants and responding to RFPs (requests for proposals). The year started off the way many big opportunities come and go; good news followed by a prolonged period of anticipation followed by bad news. Of course, I’ve learned the “apply-and-forget,” approach is really the only way to smooth out the emotional roller coaster that is, well, most of life I guess. In this case my application made it to the final round, beating out hundreds of others for a chance to design a large hanging installation in a college building. The budget had a lot of zeroes in it, and was the first project for which I got paid just to develop my idea for the final proposal. The last month of waiting was torturous, and when I found out I didn’t get the job it definitely felt worse than getting rejected by some art show jury. I had never gotten so close to such a big project. One thing’s for sure though, I won’t get that close again if I don't keep trying.

The bad news was offset in April, when my yellow brass wire Amphora #1 earned second place at a local art show, which earned me a monetary prize containing two zeroes and a silver ribbon. Although the piece impressed the judges, all pocketbooks at the opening reception remained closed, and the Amphora is still mine.

Learning to work with different kinds of clients

The year was good for gaining some new residential clients. One in particular was interested in having my work displayed on a landing area next to her curving staircase. I was happy to oblige, and also furnish her with the last three of my really cool display stands with the big heavy brass pieces in the middle. The customer was very specific about the exact size of each of the three shapes (a ball, box and oval) and their heights and proximity to one another. I cut the display stands down to the required size and the shapes turned out exactly how she envisioned them. I love doing projects for clients who have a vision of what they want, and also trust my eye, and are not just hiring me for my skill. This kind of customer takes some of the creative pressure off me and makes it more of a collaboration, without being overly demanding and bossy like you see some “high-maintenance” customers get with construction contractors for example.

Then there’s the kind of client who puts all trust in you and your artistic vision. With the freedom comes the pressure to produce something in line with the style that attracted the client in the first place, but with a twist that makes the piece uniquely theirs. Those clients don’t blink when you tell them the price, because they’re hiring an artist, not a contractor and they respect the difference.

I’ve just described two kinds of art buyers, but they are not opposites. I like both of them for the different reasons I just mentioned; sometimes you want to “managed,” and sometimes you don’t.

Things to focus on next year

One key part of the marketing side of any business is the email list. It’s also one of the things I’m terrible at. You should actually have two distinct lists; one list of emails people have given you in person or through your website, and one list of people you’ve already sold art to. This second one is your golden list, and the crowd from whom you may likely solicit your next sale. Perhaps these people get more personalized treatment or sneak-peaks at new work. Perhaps you send them hand-written letters or Christmas cards. There are many reasons even valued customers don’t always make it on the list, but you can always change the way you do things. For example, it might seem tacky to ask a person buying a $30 ornament at an art show to write down their email (especially if things are busy). But the people who already own your work are more likely to buy your future stuff than anyone else. That’s why it’s so important to acquire emails with every sale, and that’s why I’m going to make 2023 the year I focus on growing my email list!