Holiday Art ShowState of the Arts Gallery

More art shows and gatherings here in Olympia.

Sunday, November 29th will be the artist reception for the Holiday Art Show at the State of the Arts Gallery in downtown Olympia which is on 5th and Washington.

The show is well known and attended by many area residents. Now is your chance to meet the local artists. You will be pleased with the array of art and talent.

Two of my watercolor paintings, Lily and Explosion of Colors, will be on display. Here is a preview, but the paintings are a "must see" up close and personal. The internet image does not capture the beauty of the flow of watercolors that you find when you view the original art.


Lily


Explosion of Color


I hope to see YOU there!

Holiday Art Shows

Two shows of note this holiday season in Olympia, Washington:

The State of the Arts Gallery in downtown Olympia on the corner of 5th and Washington will have an art show of several local artists. Two of my watercolor paintings will be on display. The show will run through the holiday season with a kick off reception on Sunday, November 29th from 12 to 4PM.

The Annual Fine Arts and Crafts Sale will be the first two weekends in December at the State Capital Museum Coach House. This is a juried art show of about 22 artists and well attended by people from the Pacific Northwest. I will be there both weekends; December 5th & 6th and December 12th & 13th. The show runs Saturdays from 10AM to 5PM and Sundays, 10AM to 4PM. A fabulous variety of quality art. I have created a new series of paintings from my trip to New England as well as watercolor paintings, prints, tiles, and cards.



I hope to see you this holiday season!

Sound Advice on Pricing Art

Pricing one's art is challenging.

I came across some good advice from Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Did you know that one of the most common mistakes artists make when approaching a gallery for representation is not having a concrete pricing structure for their work? No matter how strong your portfolio is, or how much a gallery owner likes your work, if you show the slightest hesitation or uncertainty about the value of your work you risk your professionalism in the eyes of the gallery owner you are approaching. When you are asked the value of your work you need to have clear and concise pricing structure that you can easily explain to your prospective clients and gallery owners.

When you are ready to start approaching galleries there are three steps you should take to establish the value of your work:

1. Do your homework. Spend some time on the internet and visiting galleries. Find artists who are at similar points in their careers, and, if possible, who are in similar genres. See how they are pricing their work and see if you can find their formula (are they pricing by the size of the piece, by the complexity of the work or by the time they are investing in the creation of the piece?). Understanding your "competition" is an important first step in arriving at a price for your work.

2. Build a strong track record of sales. Find ways to start selling your work. Ideally you will start selling in a gallery, but if that is not possible find an alternate path to collectors. The internet, eBay, art festivals and interior design professionals can provide you with opportunities to begin to establish the value of your art. Remember, the value of art is a perceived value - so as you begin to sell your work you have to create demand to justify the price of your work.

3. Develop a simple, consistent pricing strategy for your work. Come up with a formula that you can easily apply to all of your work, whether you price by the size, or by your material costs, or some other easily measured factor - the key is keeping it simple.

Other considerations when pricing:

You are better off setting your price a little low and then raising it as artwork begins to sell than you would be overpricing and valuing your work out of the market.

Avoid pricing by emotion - your emotional connection to your work is different than that of a collector. Sometimes an artist's least favorite work is the first to sell!

When discussing pricing, either with galleries or collectors, always speak in terms of the retail price. The price you are getting for your work when you sell it yourself will be the same price the gallery will be able to sell it for.

To Matte or Not To Matte

Remember when I talked about trades or bartering?

I have this fabulous trade with the owners of the State of the Arts Gallery in Olympia, Washington. I get to watch the gallery when they are gone, and in trade, I have learned how to matte my watercolor paintings, use all the equipment, and receive materials at cost. FANTASTIC DEAL!

Now the question is why matte?

When you take a piece of art and put a border (matte) around it the picture stands out. It relates the importance of the art and defines it in space. The framing of the art with just a matte can make all the difference in the world. It separates the art from the clutter of life and brings it to a different level.

When I worked in the schools as a counselor, I would keep various mattes handy. When a child finished a drawing or painting, I immediately put a matte on it. A big smile formed on the child's face, and a definite rise in self-esteem.

For my watercolor paintings I have chosen a white pebble matte with an inner matte of charcoal gray. Because I am a color freak, I want the colors in my watercolor paintings to read brightly which only occurs when placed next to white. Since I usually paint on a half sheet of watercolor paper, I matte my paintings to a standard size (18" X 24") so patrons can easily purchase frames. It also makes showing my art a bit simplified as I can interchange paintings since they are all uniformly sized.

When the sun decides to shine again soon here in Washington, I will post an example of one of my paintings with and without a matte. You can see the difference and decide for yourself.