A Site for Emerging Artists
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I spent twenty years as a ceramic artist with a production studio, and eight years selling for art publishing companies. Upon graduating college with a degree in fine art, I had no business experience but learned the hard way how to carve out a career in art. This blog is intended to be an informative and inspirational source to emerging artists and students, who are finding their own way in this business.
Homepage: http://www.artsyshark.com
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Featured Artist Mohan Ballard
Mar 27th
Artsy Shark is pleased to present the delightful work of British artist Mohan Ballard. Enjoy his work and visit his website for more art.
Colour, colour and colour! This is what I feel best describes my work. I feel this is a reflection of me and my personality. I first discovered my style during University, at Southampton. It was here I was taught to express myself through vivid and vibrant scenes while also exploring how to pack my images full of features and people.
After university, I carried on with this style and I really feel I have brought my style and technique forward. The tiny drawn people and bright colours add a sense of enjoyment to the image, and I just want my images to breed happiness and smiles. Every image I create is made with a passion and energy I feel that cannot be found just anywhere.
My goals as an Illustrator have always been to be a success as a freelancer and to use this as a main profession. I feel I am well on my way to fully realising these goals as I have already sold many pieces of my work, completed numerous commissions and I am also receiving representation from an online art agency called DegreeArt.com.
One of my big commissions came last year when I was asked to produce an image for the 40th anniversary of the Mr Men. This was a huge boost for me and quite a big commission to receive. The image will hopefully be appearing in Selfridges, London, later this year. I have also received numerous press attentions and I have also taken part in two exhibitions which have showcased my work.
I have to say my biggest inspirations are two artists, L.S. Lowry, and freelance Illustrator Jonny Hannah. Lowry has always inspired me because his images are always of towns or cities which are packed full of buildings and people. It might not have as much colour as my images, but I feel like I have drawn from his love for buildings and perspective and taken that on in my images in my own style.
Jonny Hannah is also a brilliant, living, freelance Illustrator who specialises in screen print illustrations. His work is brilliantly colourful and he takes on all aspects of life in his images. I was very privileged to be taught by him at University and I feel I took so much inspiration from him.
Right now I have just finished my latest City scene image of San Francisco, which has proven very popular. It has been featured on the Easy Living website under the ‘top 10 pieces of affordable art to have in your home’ section. I have currently just started a new image, this time of Toronto. I have chosen to base the image on ‘Dundas Square’, the heart of Downtown Toronto.
Later on this year, I will also have my work shown in various art fairs across England. This includes the Grand Designs fair at the Excel centre in London and the Affordable Art Fairs in Bristol, Hampstead and two others.
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Brilliant Planning Leads to a Sold Out Art Show
Mar 25th
This guest article is reprinted from the blog of Colorado painter Ruth Soller, who was also a featured artist with Artsy Shark in 2011.
Is it pure luck when an artist sells every piece in a particular show? Does selling work in an invitational museum show require expensive advertising in national art or art collector magazines? Of course good timing and connections with the right people are very important, as is having local or regional name recognition. Having just enjoyed my first sold out show in the Panhandle Plains Invitational, I’d like to share some tips which helped to make this happen.
- Ask for and implement advice from artists whom you admire. For years I attended studio nights with a favorite landscape artist, Michael Untiedt. When he referred me to an invitational show in which he thought that my work would succeed, I listened and sent my portfolio to the curator.
- Learn about what is selling in that specific show. My first year in the show my small, stylized Casa Azul sold. This encouraged me to send more stylized, colorful architectural pieces the following year. The second year I sold a larger colorful Loveland Feed & Grain Mill to a leading sponsor of the show; because she had grown up in that town. She later purchased another nostalgic painting of Loveland Depot.
- Attend the reception and meet patrons and collectors. Introduce yourself to show organizers, collectors, other artists and learn about them. Observe works that are selling. Who are the most popular artists? What are the best-selling subjects? Are your price points in line with artists who create similar quality works?
- Plan ahead for next year. My husband and I planned to arrive in the area a day before the reception in order to hike the nearby Palo Duro Canyon; so that I could take photos from which to paint local vistas for the following year’s show. This tactic proved to be profitable.
- Promote the exhibition on all your social media outlets. I sent press releases to my media list, sent e-newsletters to my e-mail lists, wrote blog posts, sent my blog posts to Blogger, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, and StumbleUpon,. This resulted in an interview published in the March issue of LEAPdirect.com Newsletter. My name was mentioned between Jack Sorenson and Veryl Goodnight, two very famous artists, in two articles about the show published in the Amarillo Globe-News.
- Follow up with your collectors. Ask the show organizer to give you names and addresses of your buyers; so that you may send them a thank you note. If you have a small print, notecards, or book containing your work; send this as a gift to your collectors. Keep your collectors informed about your show schedule and new works.
- Give credit to those who helped you along the way. I am fortunate that this show is curated by an expert on the Taos School of painters, that the show has a loyal and enthusiastic audience of collectors and patrons, and that the organizers and administrators of the museum are knowledgeable and motivated in selling the art. These individuals all contributed to my success in the show.
Featured Artist Sara Hunter
Mar 23rd
Artsy Shark presents ceramic artist Sara Hunter. Enjoy her whimsical designs, and visit her website for more from this talented artist.
My name is Sara Hunter and I began drawing and painting at an early age. Every summer, I use to visit my Grandparents and the first thing I would do when I arrived was color in my coloring books and draw whatever my heart desired. After years of drawing, painting and doodling for fun, as well as sharing my paintings with family and friends, I discovered that I had a hidden talent for creating beautiful artwork.
In 2004, I decided to turn my passion for creating art into a business, which I named E. i. Designs Art and Pottery. I started out painting abstract watercolor paintings until one of my customers requested I take one of my designs and put it on a piece of pottery, a platter. Of course at that time, I did not know anything about pottery and did not know where to start. So, I went to paint at a pottery store, bought a large platter and took a crash course in painting on pottery.
After this pottery painting session, I was hooked on pottery. After taking several classes to learn how to make pottery and I am now keeping my hands dirty with pottery and have shifted my business from watercolor paintings to doing pottery exclusively.
As my business grows, my goals are to establish my brand and become a household name; teach pottery classes via webinars; promote my work in the art licensing industry; continue to grow with wholesale accounts and with my retail customers; and write several books.
What I am working on now are my new art pieces to release at my upcoming shows this year.
What inspire me are colors, art deco patterns and designs. I enjoy watching home and garden shows and walking through showrooms to see what is new in terms of designs and patterns. For example, I can take an intangible idea and make it into a tangible design that ends up being a dynamic one-of-a-kind piece of art for my customer.
What’s Your Potential?
Mar 21st
By Carolyn Edlund
Don’t underestimate your possibilities. They’re greater than ever!
Over the past few months, I’ve talked to many artists, and heard some self-defeating comments, like:
- It’s not like it was back in the 1990’s; you just can’t make money like that anymore.
- I’ve never been able to take my business past being a start-up.
- I know that the market is saturated for my type of work, so I can’t make much money. I don’t want to price my work any higher, or I won’t make any sales.
- I get frightened that I’m not thinking the right way, or making the right choices, and so I freeze and do nothing.
Have you been thinking along the same lines? It’s easy to fall into that trap. Many artists aren’t born businesspeople. Creating business plans and marketing strategies are not familiar activities. Fear of rejection and lack of confidence combine to grind everything to a halt. You “freeze and do nothing.”
There is very good news, however. Is the market shrinking? No. Are opportunities going away? No way. In fact, with today’s global marketplace, there are more possibilities than ever to sell your work and make money as an artist. The key is to understand those potential opportunities so that you can unlock them and position yourself.
Here’s an example. This morning, I spoke with a husband and wife team who create quirky and very appealing metal sculpture. Not long ago, an interior designer commissioned multiple pieces from them for a restaurant in the Midwest. Then, another piece sold to one of their local restaurants. Their work is perfect for such an environment. We discussed the possibility of approaching interior designers and architects who specialize in this huge industry, which holds so much promise for their work.
The restaurant industry is an example of a vertical market. Other verticals include the pet industry, bridal industry, healthcare industry, fashion industry – the list goes on and on. Is your work a good fit for one or more vertical markets, which you could take advantage of? Maybe. Think about it. Understanding and targeting markets works to narrow your focus, but it also broadens your possibilities. Choose one or more markets to approach, and do your research on them. How do they work, how do they buy, and where?
Trade shows exist for almost every market out there. Sales reps call on many of them. Corporate art consultants place artwork with customers in these fields. You personally can create a campaign and approach potential buyers yourself. You could reach prospects in your chosen industry through email, social media, direct mail, phone calls, articles in trade journals, in-person calls, referrals – get the picture? The world of how to market and sell to almost anyone is alive and well. In fact, it’s thriving.
Your potential to sell and succeed is only limited by your own imagination. As you gain knowledge of what markets exist, how you could fit into them, and how to approach them, you can position yourself to get traction and begin creating opportunities for yourself to sell your work.
Yes, it’s about creating your own business. You choose your customers, how you will sell, and what you will sell. There is great empowerment in this. As an entrepreneur, you have the ability to fine tune your own strategies to reach many different potential markets. Because your business is small, you have the flexibility to make adjustments quickly and take advantage of opportunities that come up.
Don’t limit yourself by engaging in self-defeating thoughts. Your potential is as large as you can imagine.
Floral photo courtesy of Hazel Berger. See more of her work here.
Featured Artist Kylie Fogarty
Mar 19th
ArtsyShark presents the portfolio of talented Australian artist Kylie Fogarty. Enjoy her work and find out more by visiting her website.
My name is Kylie Fogarty; I am a Professional Artist living in Canberra, Australia.
Primarily self-taught, I have attended various classes, workshops and short courses to hone my skills, learn new techniques and to challenge my current art practices.
I have always loved the way a pencil and paper could take you anywhere you wanted to be. Drawing is my first love in my art world and my painting has evolved from this.
I enjoy watching the way that ink and oils interact on paper or canvas, it’s an unpredictable combination, which I love to both observe and manipulate.
Having the fortunate opportunity to spend time with amazing Portrait Artist Sue Taylor (Archibald Finalist), my interest in Portraiture has been reignited from when I was doing Visual Arts in High School. I have only recently been painting portraiture. Up until meeting Sue, I had completed them in either Graphite or Pastel. It’s a whole new world working in oils from life and I am absolutely loving it.
My art practice covers a diverse range of mediums and genres. While this makes it hard to categorise my art, I would not change a thing as I love the freedom in not being confined in what I do.
This past year has included an entry to the 2012 Archibald Prize in Australia, Regional Art Shows and Exhibitions.
My current focus has been on my current Group Exhibition opening in Canberra and creating new work for my upcoming Group Exhibition in April, 2012. This will include line art drawings through to small scaled paintings on canvas.
Essentially my goal for 2012 is to spend a lot more time in my studio creating. I have many paintings waiting to emerge from my last trip to New Zealand, many intriguing faces to draw and I have commission pieces to be completed.
My inspiration for my art practice comes from fleeting moments, thoughts or objects in time, depending on my environment and mood.
On other works such as my line drawings, I try and let the lines dictate the evolution of my work, and I always find it fascinating to see what develops without predetermining this from the beginning.
My work can be seen on my website or in the SCOOP Retail Section at the Strathnairn Homestead Gallery in Canberra Australia.
Featured Artist Julia Hacker
