Alyson Stanfield, Author at Art Biz Success

Lucky You

When it comes to building an art career, I subscribe to Thomas Jefferson’s view of luck:

I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
― Thomas Jefferson

In other words, don’t rely on luck to hand you a successful art career. Roll up your sleeves and get to work. Every. Single. Day.

On this St. Patrick’s Day, it doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves how lucky we are. But every lucky gold coin has a flip side to be aware of.

Self-Expression

You’re lucky you can express yourself freely through your art form. We take this for granted, but not everyone in the world can safely get away with doing so.

In many countries, artists are a dangerous lot because they refuse to go along with the status quo and have “outrageous” ideas about democracy and freedom of religion.

Above all, be grateful for freedom of expression.

On the flip side:

Lucky You Read

©Diane Varner, The Prayer. Photograph. Used with permission.

Artists’ Career Moves from Beginner to Established

There are no set steps that can take you from the beginning of your art career to the pinnacle of success.

I know you would feel much more at ease if I could advise you to first do this, and then do that, and then do this other thing, and if you follow each step precisely, you’ll be assured a spot in the history books. But I can’t do that.

What I can do is give you some sort of idea of the phases artists work through over the course of their careers: a timeline of artists’ career moves from just starting out to the highest levels of establishing and cementing a reputation.

First, a word of caution: Because an article is linear, you might read this and think that you have to implement one step before you can move on to the next step. This isn’t the case.

I can’t come up with a single artist who has hit on each one of these points.

Artists who are full of confidence and forging their own paths can jump past entire sections!

Hopefully this list will plant the seeds for your next move.

Beginning Your Art Career

Start your mailing list immediately. You will have no idea what to do with this, but trust me. Just

Artists’ Career Moves from Beginner to Established Read

Karin Olah speaks at her opening. Photo courtesy Alicia Leeke.

5 Crucial Things To Do After Your Art Opening

Your art opening is not the end. It’s only the beginning.

It’s common for artists to be bummed after an opening. So much work went into making the art, promoting the event, and installing it. No wonder you’re deflated when you wake up the next morning.

This is when you must soldier on. You have artwork hanging in a public space, and it’s the perfect time to get some things done that couldn’t happen if your art had stayed in the studio.

The fun starts now with these 5 To Dos.

1. Schedule a Photo Shoot

When your work is hung in a beautiful setting, you want pictures!

This is no time for amateur hour. You need fantastic photos to use in your promotions and to document the occasion.

Get photos of:

5 Crucial Things To Do After Your Art Opening Read

Caption: ©Jayne Rose, Transfixed. Oil on gessoboard, 16 x 20 inches. Used with permission.

Investigating Venues for Showing Your Art

If you have exhibiting your art on your list of goals (as you should), you’re probably overwhelmed.

First, there’s the research into potential venues. As soon as you begin the process (and it is a process), you will uncover venues you never knew existed if you live in a metropolitan area. One leads to another which leads to another…

Which brings up the second phase of overwhelm. Once you have this list of possible spaces, how do you determine which ones might be good choices for you?

What makes a venue attractive for an exhibition of your art? Let’s look at the pluses and minuses of potential venues using the checklists below.

It’s surely too much to ask that one venue might meet all the criteria for being a desirable location. You will have to weigh the positive and negative of each space. What can you live with?

On The Plus Side

The favorable aspects of a particular venue might be that it:

Investigating Venues for Showing Your Art Read

©Marcie Cohen, Snowy Bank. Used with permission.

Fill In The Blanks to Set Your Goals

It’s a New Year and new start.

Everyone is talking about either setting goals or why you should avoid setting goals or making resolutions at all costs.

I’m not big on resolutions, but I stand firmly in the “goals are good for you” camp. I’ve seen them work for my clients and know they’ve propelled me further than I would have been without them.

So, let’s set some goals!

I’ve adapted the questions from the annual review and The See Plan to help you set goals for the New Year.

Promise not to go crazy with the process. Aim for 3-5 big goals for your year. This list is a starting point.

1. Creativity

Fill In The Blanks to Set Your Goals Read

©2012 Michelle Paine, Pilgrimage: St. Peter’s. Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches. Used with permission.

Lessons From The Past Year

It’s hard to keep up with weekly emails about your art business, so I thought I’d point out some things that you might have missed or forgotten about this past year.

These are 12 valuable actions, from 12 different Art Biz Blog posts in 2015, to help you grow your art career while staying sane.

Marketing Your Art

1. Reduce the Boring Factor: Add Variety to Your Marketing Message

Why it’s on the list: Please, for the love of Pete, read this before you send another email.

Your art exhibition, class, workshop, or event has so many facets that there is no reason to send the same emails and social media posts for your promotions. They get a little stale after a while.

I have some ideas for you.

Lessons From The Past Year Read

Mean People: When Your Soul Has Been Swiped by the Grinch

A hateful email hits your inbox.

A surly comment is left on your blog.

A nasty response is added to one of your Facebook posts.

How Do You Respond to Mean People?

I have plenty of experience with this and confess that I’ve used all of the following suggestions (except perhaps #2) at one point or another.

Your response to malicious words will depend on the level of wickedness.

If there is any question of intent in the language, make sure you’re not misreading their words. It’s easy to misunderstand email, so ask for clarification if there is any doubt.

Try this -> “Hey, Rex, I’m not sure if I’m reading this correctly, so please help. Did you mean to imply that … ?”

Armed with your answer, you can move on to any of these responses.

Mean People: When Your Soul Has Been Swiped by the Grinch Read

©Kadira Jennings, Mythic Journey III. Oil on canvas, 91.5 x 91.5 centimeters. Used with permission.

23+ People to Be Grateful For

1. The janitor who cleans your gallery or apartment lobby.

2. The housekeeper who does good work, so that you can focus on your good work.

3. The gardener and lawn mower who tend to the outside of your space.

4. The tech person who was so patient with you when you thought the world was falling apart.

5. The person at the shipping company who “gets” that your art needs white-glove treatment.

6. The mail carrier who delivers important correspondence and packages.

7. The coffee shop owner who lets you mooch wifi for two hours in exchange for a $5 cuppa joe.

23+ People to Be Grateful For Read

The Circular Business Plan for Artists

Most business and marketing plans are linear, and most artists are anything but linear.

What if, instead of having a traditional business plan, you nurtured a holistic approach to your art career?

That’s what I want to help you do with The See Plan, a new tool to help you see your art career in total. I want you to see that a successful business is not all about making and marketing (the M’s).

The See Plan: 8 C’s for Getting Your Art Seen is circular rather than linear. You need all of the C’s for a healthy business and balanced life, however you define these.

Let me tell you about the 8 C’s.

1. Creativity

Everything begins with the art. Without the art, you are not an artist.

The Circular Business Plan for Artists Read

©Lori Sokoluk, Paint Draw 6. Mixed media on paper, 18 x 24 inches. Used with permission.

Now Seems About Right

Here’s a question that my clients know is coming: By when?

By when will you send that email?

By when will you make that call?

By when will you send your application?

When I ask clients for a deadline on a task – like sending an email or making a phone call – they are most likely to say, “I’ll do that by the end of next week.”

Fair enough. They’re allowed to set their own deadlines, and it’s my job to push them a little because I know they are capable of more.

My response, when appropriate, is: “Why don’t you do it as soon as we get off of this call? Now seems like the right time to take care of it.”

Gulp. I can “hear” the hesitation in the brief moment of silence.

Hmmm. It seemed like such a good idea until I suggested immediate action.

Now Seems About Right Read

Alyson Stanfield