Greetings,
Welcome to the Cooper Studio, Jefferson, Iowa. Yup, we just returned home.
New Mexico: we enjoyed ourselves immensely, thank you very much!
As we traveled from Taos to Santa Fe, how could we help but look at paintings?! Everywhere a gallery. With so many paintings to see, here's the lesson immediately exhibited:
1. know your ability
2. critique your art honestly
3. price it accordingly.
I believe that all artists should take advantage of exhibit opportunities, even when at the beginning of developing their artistic skills-- even when that exhibit opportunity is the hotel hallway leading from the lobby to the breakfast room. But! Interesting were those "early skills" artists, whose paintings we saw in Taos, who felt they could put a $5000 price tag on their work, including those paintings hanging in hotel hallways. Let's be logical here: if it really was a $5000 painting, someone would have made off with it long ago, right? :)
On the opposite end of the scale, may I share one of my favorites from a gallery in Santa Fe? I have seen Scott Burdick's work only on my computer screen prior to last week. Seeing it in person was a pleasure, to be sure.
Scott Burdick painting at the Sage Gallery in Santa Fe
Sure, we all want to be there with our paintings, the prestigious gallery, the handsome prices tagged on our paintings. Still, some of us just haven't painted enough paintings yet, that "enough paintings quantity" that turns us into gallery ready, dollars commanding pros. But, keep painting. Keep exhibiting. And in the meantime:
-know your ability
-critique your art honestly
-price it accordingly
Keep the goal in front of you, and work for it.
Thanks for stopping by.
Later, Cooper
