A Site for Emerging Artists
Business of art
A Day in the Life of an Artist’s Agent
Jan 14th
By Carolyn Edlund
LeJarie Noguchi works with Artas1, a licensing agency for Japanese artists. She spoke with Artsy Shark recently about her job, the challenges she faces and what’s hot in the business.
AS: How many artists do you represent?
LN: I represent over 40 Japanese artists. Most live in Japan, but a few are in the United States.
AS: What is your process for reaching prospective clients for your artists?
LN: I use a combination of cold calling and email submissions. I submit artwork after reviewing the guidelines on the company’s website. If there aren’t any details, I’ll either call or contact customer service for contact information, for their licensing director if available. I then email them directly or call based on the contact information given.
Generally, I submit four image samples initially as a PDF with simple artist’s bios. If there is a request for more images, I’ll follow up with larger jpgs depending on the specifics of the request via zip files. We also mail out free copies of our latest catalogs upon request, which helps to give the client a good overview of the artists we represent.
AS: What is your follow up procedure?
LN: I usually follow up with an email three to five days later and only occasionally with a phone call. From my experience, I find I email usually, and calling is mostly done with smaller companies and small book publishers for book cover art. I email follow ups mostly for larger established companies like in decor or print publishers.
Artist: Hiromitsu Yokota
AS: Are there any trends you are noticing as far as what companies want to license?
LN: There is a popular trend right now toward cute and small Japanese types of items like dolls, stickers and erasers spurred on by the huge popularity among kids for Japanese erasers that come in fun shapes like sushi, cupcakes, hamburgers . . . you name it and there is a cute eraser for it. So there are some companies looking for cute bright art similar to anime.
AS: What are you working on now?
LN: Currently, the artwork of two of our popular Japanese artists is on exhibition at UMAMI Burger’s new restaurant location in Hermosa Beach, California. Also, two of our artists create amazing artwork for calendars, so I’m contacting calendar and stationery publishers. One of our artists has created the sweetest children’s book about an octopus that I’m actively submitting to publishers.
AS: What is your biggest challenge?
LN: Time zones. Being based in Los Angeles with the majority of licensing companies based on the East Coast is a big challenge when trying to contact and follow up.
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Holy Cow! How to Succeed at Selling to a Niche Market
Jan 10th
By Carolyn Edlund
Kathy Swift is a full-time mom, part-time cattle veterinarian and a jewelry artist – with a popular retail website specializing in cow art. She is a busy lady, which is why catching her for an interview means having a phone conversation with her while she is driving around in her truck (to the next farm, I believe.)
How did she get involved in all of these seemingly unrelated activities? She’s lived on farms all her life and loves the lifestyle and the people involved in “Ag” whom she describes as the best people on earth. At a friend’s barbecue, she met an artist and got into a conversation which intrigued her enough to start classes in jewelry making, which she fell in love with.
It seemed natural to make what she loved, which means cow-related jewelry for the most part. Her website Cow Art and More features the work of about 25 artists who also produce art and giftware for the bovine-inclined of the world. About half of those artists live on farms or ranches, so they have a direct connection with the theme.
Cow art is definitely a niche – and we love niche marketing! Kathy has great tips on how artists can grab more market share for their work by using some smart strategies to reach their targeted audience. Her opinion is that all artists have a niche, even though they may not realize it. Is your niche a theme, a medium, or a process? Then you have fans out there who are crazy about what you do. Your job is to find ways to reach out to them and promote your work.
Kathy recommends:
- Start with who you know. If you create work in a niche that you know and love well (like those cow artists who are living on farms and ranches), you are in a community of like-minded people. This is your first network. Let friends, relatives and neighbors know what you are doing, and reach out to them with your art, to help spread the word. And word-of-mouth is about the best recommendation you can get!
- Cross-promote with other artists. Yes, your niche has other people in it who create art and other wonderful things. Get to know them and create a strategic alliance where you can each refer business to the other. That’s one of the ideas behind Cow Art and More. Kathy’s frequent newsletters to her fans celebrate the gallery openings, awards and other news of her artists. They in turn direct traffic to her fun website which has everything a cow lover could ever want.
- Network like you’re trying to infiltrate the mob. Yes, that’s a quote. Kathy’s plan is to approach a group or organization within your niche in an authentic way. Show them that you are truly interested in what they care about. Build rapport and start relationships with those who respond to you. Eventually you can share your art with them, and since you are right up their alley, you will most likely get a very warm response. Which means you’ve successfully infiltrated!
- Give and you shall receive. She shared a story of how she spread the word about partnering with organizations which promote the future of farming. A big industry publication picked up on it and contacted her for an interview. Thousands of dollars in sales later, she is still raving about the tremendous boost in publicity and revenue that came due to her support of good causes.
Cow Art and More is currently seeking more work from artists in the US, Canada and the UK who are interested in joining her in offering a barn full of wonderful cow products to raving cow fans everywhere.
Why I Closed My Studio
Jan 6th
By Carolyn Edlund
I’ve been reminded lately of why I closed my studio – and painfully so. The joint in the thumb of my right hand is so sore that grasping even small things is uncomfortable, and turning a doorknob is agony. The arthritis in the base of my thumb is the latest remnant of a life spent in repetitive motion, during long hours in the studio using my hands as tools. Three years ago, the joint in my left thumb was replaced. After a few cortisone shots, the right one will probably be under the knife in the next year or so.
I closed my studio more than ten years ago. Besides general burnout from traveling all over the country flying to trade shows and driving to retail shows, my body had begun to give out. Twenty years of studio work. Leaning forward to paint and do close-up work, and hauling 50 lb. boxes of clay, tents and exhibit equipment had caused a lot of back and neck pain and sciatica. I knew my chiropractor on a first-name basis. And even though I’d hired studio assistants, the damage was done.
During my college years, a book came out that got a lot of students talking. It was called “Artist Beware.” Our chain-smoking ceramics instructor, who already had emphysema at the time, referred to it and called our attention to the dangers of silicosis and breathing dangerous fumes. We all had respirators; thank God I started out in my own studio with some safety gear. But I still wonder.
These days I see other artists are concerned about breathing toxic fumes, and the side-effects of solvents, which can be career-changing. I don’t blame them.
And so, after a couple of decades in the business, I decided to pack it in. In late summer of 2001, I started applying for jobs, thinking that it would take several months to get one. To my surprise, I was hired very quickly as a rep for an art publishing company. I had planned to go out of business at the end of that year, so I rounded up my studio helpers and parceled out the rest of our wholesale orders for them to complete while I started my new career.
On September 13, 2001, two days after the towers fell, I walked through an eerily silent airport and boarded a nearly empty, heavily-guarded airplane to San Francisco for job training during a watershed moment for my country and for myself.
It wasn’t a tough decision, at the end. I knew I was finished in the studio. We’d talked it over endlessly, and I have never regretted it. I had met not only my goals, but some great friends as well. I still see some of them and fondly remember others. But things had changed, and I needed to move on to the next chapter in my life. It was time to close the studio.
Want to Rock Your Art Business This Year? Start with Your Collection
Jan 2nd
By Carolyn Edlund
Artists need a cohesive, signature body of work. Create a great collection for your targeted audience.
Artists often look for ways to increase business, such as better marketing techniques, creating more income streams, or licensing their work. Another major factor that can affect your bottom line is your product line – and thoughtful development of it.
As you consider how to grow your body of work, take a look at the big picture. Are you selling one-of-a-kind pieces only? Is your price spread limited, restricting your market? Do you want to break out this year, or even explode your business by tapping into ways of selling you haven’t tried before?
Courtesy Shawn Messenger
Many readers have their illustrations and artwork on products such as greeting cards, prints, handpainted clothing, and other retail items which can be produced in volume. If you can produce in multiples, such as pottery, jewelry, clothing or other handcrafted line, prints of your work, or using your art on self-produced products, you open yourself to the world of wholesaling. If this is your choice, make sure to crunch the numbers and price your work for profit at wholesale.
Selling wholesale not only creates a huge boost in volume, but helps stabilize your business as well. There is nothing like having orders from a repeat customer base of retailers to keep regular income flowing through the door of your studio year round.
In my own experience running a production ceramic studio for twenty years, I had about 150 retail stores at any given time as active wholesale customers. Although each account was different in the frequency and volume of their orders (and there was an expected turnover of about 20% each year), it brought enormous stability, which allowed me to hire assistants and make projections each year based on a known quantity.
An added bonus is that as you develop your own book of business, you will be able to show receivables and gain the credibility to successfully apply for a business loan to expand your operation if you wish. Bankers love hard numbers, and most businesses have this kind of data. You will too.
Back to focusing on developing your product line. Plan carefully so that as you ramp up to create a new, cohesive and exciting line for your business, you will be able to:
- Open new and broader markets for your work
- Spread your price points to appeal to more customers’ budgets
- Enhance your brand
- Increase repeat sales
- Put yourself in a position to cross-sell more of your line
- Rejuvenate your business by adding lots of exciting new items
As you consider new directions for your line, make sure you are designing what you enjoy doing and would be happy to stay with. After you come up with a core look for a collection, start branching off into more related products. Necklaces need earrings and bracelets to match – and pins, hair ornaments, even ankle bracelets. Tabletop items look great in groupings. Pottery is a natural for a collection. Working in themes offers endless opportunities for collections.
If you design more than one collection, you may want to make one higher-end and one with lower prices, to catch a wider audience. Name your collections. Give them life, make them memorable. Go into your design process knowing who your target customer is, what they buy and why your work will appeal to them.
Courtesy Shawn Messenger
Now, let’s increase the ticket. Think pairs or sets. If you can sell several of a product rather than one because they are in a set, each sale jumps immensely. Artwork in themes should be created in series to be displayed together for a bigger ticket price. Why would you sell one kitchen-related print when you can create a set of four to be hung together? You can stress this point by not offering them as singles. And if you license your images, all the better. Art publishers love artwork in a tightly cohesive series. They know and value the power of collections.
Collections make a statement. They look good when displayed. They create a buzz. Rockstar designers know this. Start looking at the websites of artists and craftspeople you know who are successful. They all started with good ideas and expanded on their signature styles.
What designers do you know with a well-made, popular collection? What inspires you to create your own?
See more of Shawn Messenger's glass art by visiting her website at www.shawnmessenger.com
Artists Look to the New Year
Dec 29th
By Carolyn Edlund
Artists talk about the year just passed, and their resolutions for 2012.
Some took risks, or had tough learning experiences. They all grew in their businesses and their art. Here are their stories:
2011 has been a year of reviewing my true vision as an artist and making necessary adjustments. It has also been a year of growth for my art business as I have gained representation with new galleries due to my diligence in marketing myself via LinkedIn and other online venues.
Being added to several art consultants rosters will bring new commissions and sales for 2012. I already have several acceptances for juried fine art exhibitions across the US so 2012 will be a continuation of the progress made in 2011 getting my artwork out for collectors to see and purchase.
This past year has been pretty good, and I’ve had a slight increase in sales over the previous year. Every year I add a few more goals to my list, in addition to ones that carry over from previous years. For instance, one of my annual goals is to add another gallery, and I try to find at least one new one every year. I usually lose one every year, too, due to closing or performance issues; so it’s actually very hard to gain ground on this one. Other goals that get repeated every year are things like booking workshops, writing magazine articles, entering juried shows, earning Signature Memberships, teaching classes, etc.
This year, the extra goals on my list include joining more artist societies near my new home, more plein air painting, expanding my online sales, and producing a new DVD. This doesn’t sound like much, but it’s on top of everything else I already have on my list that gets repeated each year, so it’s enough!
I definitely want to spend more time making art in 2012 than worrying about art business. In 2011 I had the busiest exhibition schedule of my career with five solo shows spread over four states. I met several benchmarks such as showing at a large public university in a large city via the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It was also a big step to show my work for the first time in the leading art markets of Miami and New York. Meeting many of my online contacts in person was a great experience as well which has led to other opportunities in the pipeline. But promoting shows back to back while dealing with the logistics of organizing so many large solo exhibitions was a real wake up call.
Managing life beyond art plus all of that has left me just plain worn out. I haven’t produced much work at all this year, which has been frustrating. I’ve learned my lesson though. From now on, the core of my energy will go towards time in the studio. As artists if we lose sight of that, we run the risk of leaving out the joy of discovering the full potential of our creative path. I’ve already started some new work. I’m really excited to ring in 2012 with momentum!
This past year has helped me figure out the direction I want to head with both my art and my business. It has included gaining the courage to turn down areas of work I no longer wish to provide, rekindling a passion for areas I thought I would no longer pursue and struggling with time management.
This January 2012 I hang my solo show at The Delaplaine in Frederick, MD. I’m excited to share my new body of work, Beautiful Silence, which features winter landscapes in and around Carroll County, Maryland. The reception is February 4th, 2012. I hope to build print sales through my online store. And just like in this previous year, I would like to hang my work in at least a handful of shows, not limited local venues.
This new year should also include some site updates for myself and to feature other artists on my site, an idea I pushed last year but that lost momentum. Over the past three years, I’ve improved my skills in business, marketing and relationship building – not to mention I’m more and more excited by my designs and I can manage my own website! And the drive to do more and get better just keeps on coming!
In 2012 I will continue making art about medicine and health, but with a stronger focus on internal and emotional issues in addition to my interest in the body. This past year I continued with my “Scarred for Life” project, in which I make body prints from people’s scars and collect their stories of trauma and healing. I shot a television pilot about this process, and how the experience serves as a cathartic expression for many of my subjects, a cap to their “story.”
I also started a new series of paintings in which I embed photos and documents from my parents and grandparents into the compositions. I recently visited my brother, who has a serious longterm illness, and got some of his creative notebooks from his youth as a folk singer. I’m starting to collage these fragments into new paintings about him, exploring the effects and his suffering of dementia and Parkinsons. It’s possible I’ll also mix human ashes (my mom’s) into these paintings. Finally, I started a business called ArtandMed.com last year, and in 2012 I’ll continue to present lectures to health providers and patient groups about art and medicine.
My hopes for 2011 were big. At the end of 2010, my boyfriend and I began subleasing a retail space that we turned into an art gallery/portrait studio. I was really excited that it would allow me to reduce the number of art fairs that I was doing, help my boyfriend build his new photography business, bring in new customers and start moving in a new direction.
Long story short, after a long winter that came with huge snow plowing bills, light rail construction in the area that kept people away, crime on the rise in the neighborhood, and not being able to keep regular hours because of my schedule, I came to the conclusion that getting into a retail space was a huge burden that came with a big lesson. I realized that I was continuing to fall back on the safe decisions of more of the same (though it took on a different form) to avoid the big scary decisions I needed to make to make significant changes to my business. I spent the year spinning my wheels instead of making much progress.
In January, I’m taking a four day mini-retreat to a family cabin to get away and focus on what I really want for my 10th year in business. For 2012 my biggest hope is that I can find a wayto travel more so I can create new artwork which will in turn expand my licensing opportunities. I’d also like to take a bigger step towards doing more corporate art. My resolutions are to ditch the toxic part-time job, stop resisting the really big changes that will take me out of my comfort zone, as well as stop putting off the little things that could make a big difference down the line.
December 25th marks my second year of selling pet portraits on Facebook. I have continued to work with watercolor and acrylic on a daily basis. When not busy with pet portraits I would paint different subjects such as flowers and carousels which are located in three small local galleries. Painting every day is not a chore for me and my love for my art and for animals brings me much support from a vast network of people. It is important to me to share my natural talent with others and to give back as often as I can. My fan page grew to over 7,000 and my sales are steady.
For 2012 my goal is to learn how to create portraits with graphite and color pencil in addition to my paintings. Many people seem to be drawn to the simple elegance of graphite. So, my first free portrait for 2012 is going to be a 8×10 graphite drawing. Fans are eager to see my work progress and they encourage me to continue.
What’s Your Story and Your Vision for the New Year?
Featured Artist Leah Jay
