listopada 20 2008
Climbing to the Top (Lori Woodward Simons)
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Fine Art Views Daily Newsletter
ISSUE #273 - (Sponsored by FineArtStudioOnline)
Straight Talk about Art, Marketing, Inspiration and Fine Living
Climbing to the Top
by Lori Woodward Simons
TODAY:
“Anyone with natural artistic ability, intelligence, patience, good
education, trustworthy mentoring, and a great work ethic can climb to,
or near to the top of the national art market. While this is most
certainly true, only a handful of artists make it there. Why is that? .
. .”
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Thursday, November 20, 2008
San Antonio, Texas
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Climbing to the Top
* The Price of Free (Clint Watson), Revisited
* From the FineArtViews Blogs
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Latest Ruminations from Clint’s Blog
Climbing to the Top by Lori Woodward Simons
The Price of Free
Pirates in our Midst by Lori Woodward Simons
Be Selfish With Your Time by Linda Mikulich
Why I’ve dropped Google Adsense
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Help Out a Fellow Artist!
John Burrows Asks:
Has anyone used a printing and fulfillment house with good results. I
paint oils and am thinking, only THINKING, of selling prints of my
paintings. I have heard that print & fulfillment houses exist for this
purpose but I don’t know where to start. I would love referrals if you
know of any. Thanks, John
Answer John at BrushBuzz.com
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Climbing to the Top
by Lori Woodward Simons
Today’s Post is by Lori Woodward Simons ,
Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews. Find out how you can be a
guest author.
Dear Oil,
One of Chris Issac’s recordings on his Baha Sessions album, contains the
following line: “Pretty girls don’t cry, they know exactly what they
want”. It’s common human experience that beautiful people seem to get
all the attention. My sister had to do very little to get attention from
the opposite sex, while I, on the other hand, hardly got any. That’s
because my sister was beautiful, and I was just so-so. However today,
she’s getting just plain old, while I’m older too. The difference
between her and me is that she’s still trying to use her looks to get
ahead, while I’m using paintings.
Great Work Gets Attention
Pretty paintings (or rather great works of art) easily gain attention. I
see art as a great equalizer when it comes to my getting the attention
of collectors, no matter what I look like or how old I am. The better my
paintings are, the easier I get that attention. To sum up how one
usually gets top billing in the art world… it’s not art marketing
techniques or business plans alone that make artists famous, it’s the
attractiveness factor of their work.
Gaining national recognition is rarely, if ever attained by positive
wishing or a magical formula. My more famous artist friends are sought
out by galleries and collectors world wide. They did not use
visualization techniques or follow a clever marketing recipe to get
where they are — they arrived, first and foremost, by becoming one of
the best artists in the world. Having achieved that, they then found
ways to get their work in front of collectors’ eyes.
While I’m not saying that we artists all must be the best in the whole
world, what I am suggesting is that we might work towards being the best
in our world. (I got this idea from reading Seth Godin’s book Tribes.)
Here’s an example to illustrate my meaning: I am a pretty spanking-good
watercolor painter, and I can back that up with the fact that I’ve had
my own instructional column in Watercolor Magazine for 2 years. However,
while my watermedia paintings have gained national notoriety, my
galleries have asked me to paint in oil because they think those works
sell more easily. Up until now, I’ve obliged.
Excelling In My World
My world is the arena of watermedia painting - because that’s what I do
best and enjoy most. I’d probably rise faster to national recognition if
I were to ignore my gallery dealers’ pleas to work in oil, and make a
decision to focus on watermedia paintings. While I’m an “OK” oil
painter, I have a realistic chance at being one of the best in the
watercolor realm.
What it Takes
Anyone with natural artistic ability, intelligence, patience, good
education, trustworthy mentoring, and a great work ethic can climb to,
or near to the top of the national art market. While this is most
certainly true, only a handful of artists make it there. Why is that? I
can’t possibly know or list all the reasons why artists don’t make the
grade, but I can confidently state one of the main attributes that
successful artists possess: They are more concerned with taking the
quality of their work to a higher level than just about anything else.
When I join my “Putney Painter” friends in Vermont, I rarely hear or
engage in conversations concerning making money or selling paintings.
We mostly talk about how we can make better art. The Putney Painters
instinctively know that excellent artwork will ultimately be followed
with sales.
Because I have befriended nationally famous artists throughout my
professional career and even tasted the national art market for myself,
I’ve decided to embark on a series of articles that uncover the ways
that these well known artists have achieved national notoriety. In the
weeks and months that follow, I’ll interview my more famous artist
friends and report my findings for subsequent Fine Art Views
newsletters. I’ll take note of the personality traits these artists have
in common, what events catapulted them to the top in their field, and
what actions they say they’d avoid if they had to do it over.
Kathy Anderson
My first interview (next week) will be with Kathy Anderson,a vivacious
woman who didn’t make the big time until she was in her late 50s.
Recently a gallery that advertises in the first few pages of collectors’
magazines, contacted her saying they’ve been watching her work and would
like her to participate in an upcoming event. She didn’t get to this
point by accident, luck or wishful thinking, but by growing technically
and entering national competitions. More on Kathy - next week.
–
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–
Related Posts:
A Simple Definition of Great Painting
Sometimes the Best Marketing is None
Interruption is the Enemy of Productivity
If Nobody Hates Your Artwork . . .
10 Steps to Becoming a Better Painter
————
This article is reproduced with permission.
Copyright 2008 - Lori Woodward Simons
To get more of Lori Woodward Simon’s insights into art, marketing,
inspiration and fine living, check out her blog at:
Woodward Simons Blog:
http://www.woodwardsimons.com/blog
This article originally appeared at the following URL:
http://clintwatson.net/blog/6697
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Art by Keiko Tanabe
Today’s Selected Commenter
http://ktanabefineart.com
YOUR artwork could be pictured here tomorrow
just comment on today’s article before midnight,
and your artwork could be in front of thousands of people
tomorrow.*
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The Price of Free (Clint Watson), Revisited
Keiko Tanabe Wrote:
Clint, thank you for reminding us of potential pitfalls of all the free
services out there. I also appreciate Marsha so generously sharing her
painful experience with Google so we all learn from it, too. You have a
point that we really need to diversify and prioritize our marketing
vehicles to avoid a major disaster.
I have been a FASO client for 14 months and haven’t changed my opinion
that I made the right decision to have my site hosting with you. They
say you get what you pay for? No, I am getting more than what I pay for
from you and your caring and efficient tech support team. And from
FineArtViews Newsletter — this is really an amazing thing you do FREE
not just for your clients but for anybody who needs art marketing ideas
and inspirations.
Actually I consider the money I spend on essential services is an
investment rather than an expense. And I am happy to say that FASO has
been a wise investment for me. I am sure my voice echoes those of many
FASO clients.
More Comments >>
All Past Issues >>
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>From the FineArtViews Blogs:
Reading Leffel by
(Marian Fortunati Fine Art)
Posted: 11/20/2008 11:02:54 AM
Bulldogging At It’s Best by Jimmy Springett-artist
(jimmy springett Fine Art)
Posted: 11/20/2008 8:59:12 AM
Artist Michael Cagno exhibits Marsh, Late August by Michael Cagno
(Michael Cagno Fine Art)
Posted: 11/20/2008 7:51:10 AM
Chris’s Buck by Jimmy Springett-artist
(jimmy springett Fine Art)
Posted: 11/20/2008 6:45:18 AM
LATEST ART SCAM by PAT QUINN
(PAT QUINN CUSTOM FINE ART)
Posted: 11/20/2008 6:05:31 AM
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