Not Enough Art Inventory?

Imagine what it would look like if a gallerist has just emailed you to schedule a studio visit. You’re excited about the opportunity to connect with them and to show them your work. The prospect of having an exhibition could mean getting press and selling your work. That would feel great to have your work seen by a larger audience, right? 

But if the thought of them actually visiting sends you into a small panic, keep reading.

I’ve noticed that after the elated feeling dissipates, a second, less helpful thought comes up for most artists in this situation: fear. Feeling afraid that you don’t have enough work to show a gallerist can cause you to inadvertently sabotage yourself by pushing off that meeting or finding ways to seriously delay it and then never reschedule it. The same concept holds true for connecting with designers or hosting an open studio, too. It’s easy to be scared to commit to doing those actions or events that would create exhibitions or sales because you’re worried that you don’t have enough art already made.   

The problem is that it feels like you need to have a ton of art made and available in your studio right now, before you reach out to a gallery, interior designer or before you sign up to do an open studio event. In reality, you don’t need a ton of new work before approaching these kinds of studio visits. This is for a few reasons. 

First, you have time on your side. Many galleries do their programming 1-2 years in advance. So if they like your work and want to show it, you’ll likely have time to create more before an exhibition. And they’ll be happy to debut your newest body of work.

Look around your studio and take stock of what you can share with them. I bet you can probably make a little new art before the studio visit or have work-in-progress to show. This paired with the finished pieces and documentation that you have on hand will be enough to have the kind of conversation you need with a gallerist, curator or interior designer to decide if your work is right for them. 

You also may feel like you’re “over” that last body of work that you made that’s kicking around your studio in a box somewhere. You can still feel good about sharing your previous work because while that body of art may be old to you but it’s still very new to your studio visitors. Remind yourself that your work can always be discovered and appreciated, no matter how long ago you made it. 

As an antidote to this feeling, I encourage you to think about how energizing and exciting it felt when you were working on that body of work. That will help you to tap into that feeling and radiate it when you talk about it. 

You don’t need to let that feeling that you don’t have enough art created stop you from reaching out to galleries, designers, submitting proposals or hosting an open studio. You need samples of your body of work and documentation of past work. If all of your newest work is in an exhibition right now, you can share photos of it. 
 
The upshot is that you can set those opportunities in motion without having all the work made in advance of them. I know I’ve felt this way and so have many of my clients. It can be an almost an automatic reaction because we want to show our best and newest work that we’re most excited about. This feeling totally makes sense, right? 

If you’ve ever felt like this, too, say “hello” in the comments to raise your hand in sharing this experience and in intimately understanding the artist’s brain when it comes to feeling like you don’t have enough work.

Cheers,
Kate

Why Should A Gallery Show Your Work?

Why Should A Gallery Show Your Work?

How to Answer this Important Question

Of course your work is stellar and that’s obvious when people see it. You get compliments all the time and you’re in love with it!

You decide it’s time to start exhibiting this body of work which will be great because it’ll add a line to your resume and be an opportunity to sell some of it! That’s an exciting thought!

So you start to look for galleries where you’d like to show your work. You’re finding some that are maybes and some that feel like a perfect fit. As in an amazing fit. You intuitively feel like your work would look amazing in this space. ...Exciting stuff!

So you start to gather your submission materials and somewhere along the way you might start to worry about what to say in the email or cover letter. You know you can make a big impact by saying the right things but you start to feel stumped for words and like all of the monarch butterflies in the world have migrated into your stomach! Ack!

If you’ve ever felt yourself heading into that mini-panic place (OMG, WHAT DO I SAY??) I’ve got the perfect thing to help you out here so keep reading.  

If you don’t *specifically* know why a gallery should show your work, it’s going to be tough to regularly exhibit and show your work. When you have those *specific* reasons that a space should show your work, it demonstrates that you understand they need a few tools to help them enter your work, especially if it’s new to them.

While they may like your work, giving them the reasons why they should show your work helps them to know if its a fit for their business and their audience. You may be making connections that they wouldn’t have come up with on their own.

By explaining why their space would be a great place to exhibit your work, you’re helping them make their decision faster which makes their job so much easier. They’ll feel like you’ve done them a solid.

And, you’ll increase your odds of getting shown, by a lot.

So think of a specific gallery where you’d love your work to be shown and answer questions like these:

• Does your work “fit” within the conceptual framework of the exhibitions or artists shown at this space?

• Are your price points in alignment with the work they currently show?

• Are you making new and fresh work regularly?

To help you figure out your connections faster, download this free, short Why Should A Gallery Show Your Work? worksheet that has additional questions that will help you get shown faster.  

What To Do With These Answers

Now that you have answers to these questions, tailor your submission with this information. Here are a few ways to do it:

• Add these answers as bullet points to your submission cover letter.

• Weave these reasons throughout your proposal, introductory note or cover letter.

• Incorporate these ideas into your bio or artist statement.

• Share these points if you have a live conversation or studio visit with the curator or gallerist.

Even if it’s amazing work, a gallery (or any kind of exhibition space) needs to easily understand why your work would be a fit for their space. If a gallery is going to have your work installed for a month or more, how does it benefit them?

I encourage you to dig in and come up with a few reasons. Your cover letter and submission materials will stand out from the crowd because they’re tailored to that specific gallery. And, it might just help you get that show!

Take a look at the free worksheet and let me know in the comments what one reason is for that gallery to show your work.

Here’s to your making amazing work! Keep at it!!

Cheers,

Kate

More Sales & Shows With This Surprisingly Simple Strategy

More Sales & Shows With This Surprisingly Simple Strategy

A few days before my friend’s six year-old daughter was headed into her big Irish Dance competition, she cleared the top of her dresser so she could make room for the trophies she planned to win.

I thought this was super cute and of course, a hilariously awesome kid thing to do.

Sure enough, a week later, my friend showed me the photos of her daughter and her two new trophies. Boom, she knew right where they’d go!

Here’s the thing about this that I love, she planned to go get trophies. And she actually did!

She made literal, physical space for those trophies and more importantly, by doing that she made mental space for them, too. By physically making room, she also made “room” for the possibility that she’d reach her goal in her mind.

She believed that she would win even more because she could see those trophies filling the space on her dresser.

She must be a darn good dancer, right? Yes, but a couple of years ago she was just a beginner. She started like we all do, giving something new a chance that she wasn’t even sure she’d like.

She’s been learning and honing her skills, and she’s gone to other competitions so this is no longer new to her. She’s been up-leveling each time she steps onto the floor and starts dancing.

Clear Your Dresser

You can use this same technique to make room for the things you want in your life, too. Even if you don’t feel like you’re at advanced level in your specific area, you can still use this approach.

No, you’re not counting your chickens before they’re hatched. That’s a thought that comes from a scarcity mindset.

The thought around this approach is one that is positive and invites good things to come your way. Just like this little Irish dancer, you’re putting in a lot of effort and dedicating time to make this “dresser” thing happen. You’re backing up your wishes with in-the-trenches, good-old-fashioned work so you can fill your “dresser” with achieving your specific goals.

What’s the “dresser” thing you’re working toward?

It may be something small or it  might be something large that means a whole lot to you, If you don’t at least try to go get it, it’s going to be one of the biggest things you regret in life. For you it might be making a living in a non-cookie cutter way while doing what you love, selling your work, or being shown in a gallery you admire.

Achieving Big Goals

What does this mean for someone who’s working toward something that feels personally huge, maybe even bigger than Irish Dance trophies? To answer that question, here’s how you can apply this same dresser technique toward reaching your big goals.

If you’re looking for more buyers...

You might go buy new folders for those future collectors or thank you cards that you’ll send to your next buyers. I once bought note cards that I was excited to send to my favorite clients—once I got those clients. By purchasing them, I was letting the universe know I was ready for those clients to come my way (and they did!).

If you’re looking to sell more of your work...

You might make room for this by creating a price list with prices you feel confident about, or by getting a mechanism like a credit card swiper to make sales, or by buying the right bubble wrap to package up your work so collectors get it home safely.  

If you’re looking to show your work in a gallery setting…

You might make room for this by picking the color of the mats you’ll use to frame your work or by going to the gallery where you’d like to be shown so you can picture your work there.

Doing Into the Future

By doing something concrete and proactive, you’re inviting the new things you want into your world by making room for them. You’re intentionally saying “yes” I’ll have more of that soon.

You open up and expand the possibility for that thing—sales, clients, shows or whatever it may be—to happen. You positively change way you think about getting those big things you’ve been dreaming about.  

Copy the Kid

I encourage you to take a cue from my friend’s inherently smart six year-old and make “dresser” room for that something we really want. Let me know in the comments: What’s one thing you can do to make room for your next goal?

Here’s to you clearing the way for the things you want!

Cheers,

Kate