How to Present Your Art with Impact

by Carolyn Edlund

Presentation is everything. Are you ready to share your portfolio?

Take a look at your body of work. Is it cohesive? Does it reflect a signature style? Is it relevant to anything? Could you put together a collection of your work for a show which looks like it all belongs together? Does a grouping of your art make a greater statement than just one piece?

Quite often I receive emails from artists submitting portfolios and asking for input. When visiting their websites, I sometimes run across a mishmash – perhaps a gallery of their watercolor portraits, and also some photographs they took, and a little pottery they do on the side, none of which is in a cohesive style. This tells me that the artist either hasn’t developed a personal style of work, doesn’t understand how to present their work to make the best impact, or is not very serious.

Many students and new artists are still finding a direction in their work and a style that is uniquely theirs. It can take many hundreds of hours and a lot of dead ends to forge a path and start creating a body of work that grows and matures and works on many levels.

If this is the case for you, all you can do is start where you are. Use your studio time to extensively explore different directions, and perfect a style that is recognizable as your own. Then take the product of your hard work and present it professionally as a collection.

Is your portfolio ready? Now, share more about yourself and your art on your website and in your marketing material by:

• Showing a photograph of yourself so viewers feel they “know you”
• Writing about a project or charity you are participating in and supporting
• Communicating pertinent information and links about your niche that go beyond your work to draw the reader in
• Giving a “behind the scenes” look at your creative process, including work in progress
• Presenting yourself as a knowledgeable expert about your subject matter
• Updating your website and materials on an ongoing basis to share current work and keep it looking “fresh” and relevant

Even seasoned artists can benefit from stepping back and reevaluating what is included in their portfolio, and the materials they use for promoting themselves and their art business.

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