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The Geometry Of Art Marketing

by Cooper on 9/27/2010 9:17:12 AM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper Studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where I am pondering that old geometry rule about the shortest distance between two points being a straight line. And no, we are not discussing paint-on-canvas kinds of lines today, we are talking about conceptual lines (whew, lift your feet, it's getting deep) and thoughts of art marketing.

Conceptual lines. And that's where the problem begins. Artists are by nature visual people, right? We like real lines. Lines we can see. What are we supposed to do with a conceptual line that's just "out there". We're supposed to be able to see it's reality, even though it's not even there. Dios mio.

Are you ready for my point of contention? I don't think conceptual lines behave well in the geometry classroom. I think conceptual lines ignore the fact that they are supposed to go straight. At least when we are talking about the conceptual lines in art marketing.

Let me share two links to excellent posts that got me started on thinking these deviant thoughts.

The first, written by Lori Woodword, is titled The Future Of Art Marketing. http://canvoo.com/blog/23251/the-future-of-art-marketing In the article Lori discusses the future need for galleries representing artists versus artists representing themselves online.

Then you need to go read Olivia Alexander's thought provoking post at http://oliviaalexander.com/blog/23405/challenges-of-the-present-day-artist Olivia mentions her own art marketing is now on a 3 to 1 ratio with painting. Yup folks, that's 3 for the marketing, 1 for the painting. AND don't pretend that's not your story as well. I spent the entire day yesterday "marketing" my art at the Octagon (Ames, Iowa) Art Festival. One way or the other art marketing soaks up an amazing amount of hours.

Okay, now we need to get back to the geometry of this whole mess. I've plotted the two points: PointA (The Future Of Art Marketing) and PointB (Challenges Of The Present Day Artist) Olivia talked about taking an internet marketing "fast" while Lori wrote about limited gallery role partnered with go-it-on-your-own marketing. Surely those are the extremes, the opposite points, right? Quick! Draw a straight line between those two points! Right---it aint gonna happen. I think reality says that if you made that conceptual art marketing line into a visual one, you would see that it hooks and curls and detours all over the place. Quite possibly there are even some road blocks and maybe even a few dead end signs on that conceptual line-turned visual.

So, you are an artist. Where do you belong on that line? Are you on the hook part where you love meeting and greeting patrons and telling them about your art? Maybe you don't need galleries so much. Are you the artist who anguishes over not getting enough studio time? Maybe you are supposed to be hanging out on that conceptual line curl where galleries are oh-so-important. Maybe you are the artist who still has to try a little of both the conceptual line curls and hooks until one of them hits a road block sign, and sends you the other direction. Not a pretty thought, is it, that road block?

Which brings us full circle to my parting shot. (Don't you love how we just came "full circle" in a geometry discussion of two points and a not-so-straight line?!) IF we were all alike, we would paint exactly the same paintings, and we could all market them in exactly the same way. Fact of the matter is, we aren't, we won't, and we can't. Just like painting, we need to find our style, our niche. Find out what works for this ONE artist.

Somewhere on that not-so-straight conceptual line of art marketing, somewhere in between internet fasting and full bore self marketing, is the place that likely has your name on it. How do you find it? It's just like developing your painting style---you have to study, practice, experiment. Oh, and you have to expect a few road blocks and dead end signs---hopefully not too many. Good luck in your search.

Later, Cooper

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Octagon Art Festival

by Cooper on 9/23/2010 8:53:27 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where I am looking forward to the weekend, and an almost home-town event, just down the road in Ames, Iowa. I will be artist #8 on the east side of Douglas Street. See you there.

Art Festival turns 40,
celebrates milestone year

By Laura Millsaps
Special to The Tribune

Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 9:44 AM CDT

The Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its annual art festival when it welcomes an expected 14,000 visitors to Main Street Sunday, Sept. 26.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., festival-goers can shop works of art from more than 100 artists from eight states and enjoy live music, children�s activities and food. ....

40th annual Octagon Art Festival

� What: More than 100 artists, free live music and entertainment, food vendors, children�s activities

� When: Sunday, Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

� Where: Main Street Ames

� Cost: Free admission

More information: www.octagonarts.org

And I should bring a few brand new paintings, right? Here's a peek at one:

Hanging On To Summer, an acrylic painting on a perfect little 12 x 12 inch canvas. Stop by while you're in Ames, and I'll be happy to show it to you in person!

Later, Cooper

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AmazingTruelyAmazing

by Cooper on 9/23/2010 3:49:45 PM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa.

Have I shared that I have a new camera? The old HP was not an expensive critter, way back when we got it, and we had used it and used it, until it was just worn out. So on July 31st husband and I went to the local Radio Shack and found a new one. After a whole lot of camera looking, we decided on an Olympus FE-47. I was thrilled, and I felt pretty special. The Olympus was a big improvement over the HP, five zoom settings! AmazingTruelyAmazing and a big WooHoo! For a people watcher, and I say that with perfectly good moral tones I remind you, it is my favorite new toy.

Then came a little black cloud. Actually, it was a little black line---missing pixels on that almost brand spankin' new digital screen. The folks at Radio Shack weren't too kind. "Yeah, you must have damaged it by dropping it", she said. "It is my favorite new toy, and I DID NOT drop it", I replied. "Ok, then call Olympus" she said. That little black cloud increased in size, as my concern for my favorite new toy grew.

With certainty of a big struggle in my immediate future, I called the 800 number for Olympus. On the second ring, a person, yes, a REAL person answered. Her name was Virginia. I suppose she was just a well trained Olympus employee doing her job, but that really doesn't matter, because she is now my hero. I told her that the lady at Radio Shack told me I had damaged the camera, even though I'd taken really good care of my new toy. I asked her if she thought the black line of missing pixels would grow, because if it stayed the same size, it was tolerable. She smiled (I could tell by her voice). "You really do not have to deal with something like that", she said. "Let's just get a few bits of information, and we'll get a new camera sent right out to you", she added. She made the whole event remarkably easy and pain free. Then she inserted a tremor into the phone call. "It should only take about ten days for the new camera to arrive". Oh, heavy sigh. In a voice, slightly disillusioned, I'm sure, I said "Um, I'm an artist and I use my favorite new toy almost every day". (really, I doubt that I told her "favorite new toy", I probably said camera, like a normal person would) But that disillusionment on my part, immediately concerned her as well. My new friend Virgina then proceeded to add extra numbers or something to my Olympus customer service file. Did I mention that Olympus has a contract with UPS, so that all I had to do was take the camera to the UPS store, and they packaged and filled all the forms there? That was Tuesday at 4:00PM. Today, Thursday at about 2:00PM, here comes the UPS guy with a little box. I assumed my husband had ordered some clever new bass bait, because of the size of the box, but no, it was the camera. AmazingTruelyAmazing.

Long story short, amazingtruelyamazing customer service. Many blogs have been written and posted on FASO websites about clients and patrons of art and how to get along. Sometimes an artist will post some complaining words about a client. Crazy questions asked by a client who doesn't know their art as well as the artist thinks they should. Fair or unfair barbs are sometimes exchanged between artists and gallery owners. May I share that my new friend Virginia has it totally figured out? She absolutely overwhelmed me with exquisite customer service, amazingtruelyamazing customer service. She was kind and generous to the max to a customer from Iowa who might never buy another camera. But my friend Virginia is crafty too, because she knows that if I do buy another camera, it will be an Olympus. AmazingTruelyAmazing customer service outweights a few missing pixels everytime. Oh, and you can take it to the bank, that my next advice to anyone who wants to know what kind of camera to buy will be: "you should buy an Olympus".

So in the great wide world of art marketing, and taking care of your tribe or whatever you call it, there is an old (really old) verse that comes into play. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Hey, it works for Virginia.

Later, Cooper

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Under 100

by Cooper on 9/21/2010 9:51:55 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio in Jefferson, Iowa.

I just came from my email inbox. As I was leaving that place, I shook my head as I realized that I felt satisfied with my goal of getting it pared down to "Under 100". Under 100?!! Dios mio. What is it all coming to? Surely life was better ten years ago before I knew how to turn on a computer?

Back then, I kept color coded notebooks. Lists, clippings, references, addresses, they all had their place. Two of my children off to college at that time, each received written letters, as in real pen on real paper, on a weekly basis. Each letter included a kid-specific verse, that I'd specifically hunted up for them. Did that take more time? Did I have less studio time because of that?

Conversely, does this annoying machine I'm sitting at actually save me time? I wonder. Do I have more studio time, because a computer takes care of details quickly for me? How about: does the computer take care of details quickly for me, WHILE it offers up way too much additional information I could easily live without? Under 100! And should I be making files for that additional stuff that I could easily live without, because I might need it later? Would that be a monumental waste of time? At the moment, it seems, very likely---yes.

When my husband and I sold our house at Spencer, our real estate agent called us minimalists; that the decluttering most people have to go through getting a house ready for the market, was just not an issue for us. (whew!) That said, may I share I feel another minimalist phase coming on? May I say that I am ready to really heat up that "delete" button? Possibly even wear it out? Of that list that (hopefully still) numbers 99, can I delete the entire mess without reading any? Ha! If you have sent me someting really important, and have not gotten a response from me in due time, please resend. We'll see how this plays out after I get in some quality studio time. Right now, studio time! And some parting color:

Going To Meet Friends, an acrylic painting on a wonderful little 12 x 12 inch canvas. Currently hanging at the WineBarArtGallery in Arnolds Park, Iowa. Take a trip there to see it in person :) The Iowa great lakes is just as wonderful in the fall as summer!

Later, Cooper

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No Time For The Toothbrush Holder

by Cooper on 9/16/2010 10:34:07 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa. And I have actually been here three days in a row now! You'll note that title, No Time For The Toothbrush Holder. Ha.

When I got home on Tuesday from being gone for a week, I thought about putting my toothbrush in the holder in the bathroom cabinet, but logic prevailed. My overnight bag was still on the bathroom countertop, and the thought occurred, it might as well stay there---I'll be heading out with it again in just a few days. Dios mio. So my toothbrush lives in my overnight bag even when I'm at home. So it goes.

This weekend I will be showing my paintings at the Lakeville Art Festival in Lakeville, Minnesota. (yes, that would be the south end of Minneapolis) Details can be found at http://www.lakevilleartfestival.org

Here's the interesting part of having only a three day studio week after being absent for the week prior: my paintbrush was flying. During the "absent" week, I had worked on some thumbnail sketches. Tuesday afternoon and all day yesterday, two of those thumbnail sketches decided they wanted to live on canvas, and they were giving me no alternative. My paintbrush and I were putting on the paint, and there was no time to question. Wow. I impress myself :)

Thirsty Puppy, an acrylic painting original on a perky little 12 x 12 inch canvas.

As soon as I finish writing this, it's (the painting) putting it's travelin' shoes on. My husband is headed for a tournament in Okoboji, Iowa this weekend, and we all know Okoboji is right next door to Arnolds Park, Iowa, and THAT'S where the WineBarArtGallery is, AND where this painting is headed. Hopefully husband and his brother Lee are good at delivering paintings! That way, all you people in Okoboji-land can see it up close and personal :) Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

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Under-dawgies

by Cooper on 9/14/2010 2:37:07 PM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where the subject today is under-dawgies, and the pleasure provided there by. I keep a facebook page (sheesh) and I just wrote there, that 237 under-dawgies later, I am back home in Jefferson.

Now you need a little background info. I have not really bothered to memorize a lot of poetry, but you know how sometimes a song will get in your head and refuse to leave? The following poem has been like that for me, without really trying.

The Swing

Oh, how I love to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue! Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall, Till I can see so wide, River and trees and cattle and all Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green, Down on the roof so brown-- Up in the air I go flying again, Up in the air and down!

So, I guess by default, we can probably say that is a favorite poem of mine. Robert Louis Stevenson, by the way.

Now, please bear with me while I do the "aaaaaaawww" thing. I just returned home from spending a week with my two granddaughters, while mommy and daddy were out of town. Liberty and Mia came at the same time on March 31st, 2008, and they are just a whole lot of fun, times two. I suppose twins, by nature, are special, huh? Anyway, their house is just a short stroller ride from the park, and we spent most mornings there, and mostly on the swings, so see?--- we are relating back to the poem I just printed for you. Oh, "but under-dawgies" you say? Maybe that's a growing up in Nebraska thing. Under-dawgies are when the pusher pushes the push-ee so high that the pusher ends up running all the way under the swing to the other side. Times two push-ees! I suppose it really is under-doggie, but remember that I was dealing with Liberty and Mia. They speak under-dawgie.

But what on earth is everything that I just wrote doing on a blog about painting? Oh, surely you've guessed---it's about the pleasant moment. Stevenson said it with words in the poem I copied for you. Liberty and Mia acted it out with their giggles. And I strive to put it on canvas with paint. Time to go grab a paint brush.

Later, Cooper

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Selling Cars And Selling Paintings

by Cooper on 9/4/2010 10:24:14 PM2 Comments

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa. Today was a lovely Saturday in Iowa. The kind of day that makes you excessively glad that you don't have an agenda. And we didn't. And look, I already painted that:

No Agenda In Sight, an acrylic painting on canvas, living in a happy home in northern Iowa.

But my husband had some ideas. He's pretty sure we need to replace one of our vehicles before winter makes it to this corner of the world. And so the hunt began.

The first stop was quite uneventful. We looked at Corollas and Camrys. We found out we don't much care for Corollas. Then we looked at a Jetta TDI. Interesting that 42 mpg. More interesting was the salesperson we spoke with.

In the summer, I exhibit and sell my paintings at summer art fairs, often running into one or two people who somehow got the idea in their heads that artists are like car dealers, that you are supposed to "dicker" on the price. I suppose antique dealers, and used book dealers also fall in that category. I have often joked about what would happen if I tried to "dicker" on the price of a jug of milk next time I was at the grocery. Or maybe a gallon of gas at the corner station?

It's a tough situation to be in, I must tell you---selling a painting, to someone who wants to know if you can't drop the price a little. Sweeten the deal a little. So I listened up when the salesperson for the Jetta TDI told about an experience with a client he had to deal with, a client who wanted to "bargain" on the price. The salesperson contrasted imports with domestics of the auto world. He stated that customers are so used to getting dealers of domestic autos to drop the price off of list by 3-5,000, that they expect import dealers to do the same. The salesperson tried to explain that to the client, and the client who apparently didn't hear very well, told the salesperson he'd pay 4,000 less than the tag on the window. It didn't turn out well for the client. I guess import dealers stick together on that we won't drop the price much thing. He told that little story to explain that the car we liked wasn't going to change much price-wise, just because we decided we liked it.

I tried to put that in terms of paintings. True, I can't call my paintings imports and make them sound better than domestic. And I don't think that would make them better anyway. But my paintings are special. Nobody can do what I do. When people walk into my exhibit at an art show, they start to smile. With pleasure. With enjoyment. I look for people enjoying life, and then I paint them, and other people understand when it all lands on a canvas. I need to find a phrase, that instead of contrasting imports and domestics, contrasts pleasure versus drudgery. Pleasure. Enjoyment. On a canvas. Painted by me. And that's worth a lot.

Glad We Don't Have anything Much To Do, acrylic painting on canvas, available in my portfolio, of course. Another painting about people enjoying their little corner of life.

Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

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We All, (well, almost all) Need The Critique

by Cooper on 9/1/2010 8:11:22 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where our exteriorscape was once again, washed fresh and clean, last night. Sometimes you just need refreshed, right?

In that vein of thought, let's talk about critique. Surely you know that you need to know what needs refreshed before you can refresh it.

I subscribe to ArtCalendar magazine on line, and opened up the new issue, to the editorial written by Kim Hall, who in talking about the college art course critique said:

"but I miss what the criticism did for me: It pushed me to be better than I was the day before. Once we leave that kind of enviroment, whether it's a formal college classroom or the tutelage of an artist-mentor, it is easy to forget how important it is to challenge ourselves."

In my mind, chiming in, was a recent article at FASO, speaking of artists who walk into an art gallery, dismiss the work of masters hanging all around, and blithely tell the gallery director that their own work is the best he'll/she'll ever see. Said artist would be missing, or pointedly ignoring the fact that they have ever so far to go to be gallery ready. Maybe some folks just don't see the value of a good self critique?

Monday I happened to be driving through DesMoines (Iowa), home to KavanaughArtGallery. They have a massive collection of paintings---according to the owner, over 6,000. Among the 6,000 paintings are several works by Mikhail and Inessa Garmash, breathtakingly wonderful works, I might add. Here's a link to one of my favorites:

http://www.kavanaughgallery.com/M_I_GSweet_Afternoon.jpg.html

I was at the gallery about an hour, but definitely an hour well spent. I came away awed by the work I had viewed, humbled by the realization that my own meager attempts paled in comparison, BUT inspired to give getting there, a heck of a good try, just the same. Call it self critique, or critique by the art of M and I Garmash, or maybe even critique by KavanaughGallery, but Monday was critique day. And it was good. Time to go find a paint brush. Have a lovely day!

Later, Cooper

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