The process of painting, making mistakes and trying new things is great fun but in the end it comes down to how much your work sells and how popular you are especially if you are wanting to make a living out of it. Selling your work is one of the hardest things I have found. I am very grateful for websites such as Esty which are a great platform for selling work and I have been successful there but somehow many people don’t trust buying work unless someone else says its good. I realise that if you aren’t represented by a gallery then many people don’t recognise you as an artist.
My aim this year is to try and find a gallery who is willing to put their neck on the line and support me. It is a very tough world out there and already walking around the area I live in, the amount of rude and hard knock backs I have had is quite an eye opener. It’s that chicken and egg situation where they are not interested in seeing work that has been sold (even though it represents the work/style I paint) but are more interested in work that is available which then puts you in a difficult position with work hanging around your studio that you can’t put anywhere to sell. They also have this air about them claiming that THEY find you and not the other way around. How do I get found?
Being in a gallery also brings it’s problems as they charge around 70% per painting which hikes your prices up meaning that displaying or exhibiting in cafes etc will become more of a problem. Sadly this isn’t a hobby for me – something I need to try to make a living out of.
This year I’m determined to work as well as I can and get some pieces ready for any gallery to take me. It’s the Affordable Art Fair next week where I will go around and find galleries where my work might fit.
This year a gallery, next year competitions. I have my work cut out!
Here is a little picture for those of you who were celebrating St Davids Day. Framed and ready to go on my Etsy site AlicesArtHouse. £200 (painting is 40cmx40cm).
Alice's art house 