Opportunities and Audiences

Thanks to the Internet, there are now countless opportunities for us to share every thought, idea, and action with others. Believe me when I say, venues like Facebook, Blogger, and websites are so seductive, and you can easily squander (yes, I confess, I've been squandering!) away countless hours with any or all of them. But given that we're artists who want to and should be spending most of our time painting, we have to ask ourselves what we're really accomplishing with these activities. In my opinion, it all comes down to purpose. Who are you trying to communicate with, and why? 

I think it's pretty much understood by now that your website should be your professional presence on the internet. This is an opportunity to show off your work to potential collectors/buyers/customers (call them what you will). And yet, I still come across the occasional artist's website that includes a page about the grandkids. I would recommend keeping the professional stuff and the personal stuff separate, and using something other than your website (like a social networking site) to share all the fun stuff that goes on in your personal life. One other tip: I don't think it's necessary to include every painting you've ever done on your website. Approach your choice of paintings much as you would curate a show -- 20 or 30 of your best pieces ought to do it.

Blogging, Facebooking, and Twittering are different animals, however. The lines between personal and professional can become blurred even more easily... unless you decide up-front what your purpose in using them will be. If your objective is to communicate with buyers, once again, you've got to keep it professional. You'll probably want to stay focused on how and why you create your work, and mostly you'll want to show only your best work. 

Or maybe you want to create a forum (like this little blog right here) in which you can communicate with your fellow artists. If you know your audience is only going to be fellow artists (which is possible with Facebook, which gives you the power to control who sees your page), you might even use it as a forum to solicit feedback and advice. If your purpose is social networking with the possibility of using it to promote something to your fellow artists on occasion, such as a workshop, you can probably also get a little more personal (like me sharing my painting block a while back). But still, the totally personal silly stuff should remain elsewhere. 

Now, if you just wanna have fun, I strongly urge you to restrict that to a Facebook page. All of the other formats allow anyone to have access to the material you put out there. With Facebook, again, you can control who has access to your page, bio stuff, and materials. Restricting the personal to this private forum will allow you to maintain your professional image everywhere else.

My personal decision is to use my website and Twitter to attract potential customers, the blog for artist-to-artist stuff, and my Facebook page for a free-for-all of personal and professional stuff. (Translation: if you want to see pictures of my cats or my recent weekend in St Louis, friend me on Facebook.) If a possible collector should come across my blog, I won't mind because there isn't anything on here that I'd be uncomfortable having anyone see.

Why is it important to keep things categorized like this? I can think of several reasons. First, there is so much stuff out on the internet that you'll still have to promote your website or blog or social networking page if you want people to find you. Therefore, it's a good idea to be clear on who you're going to promote to so that you use the most effective means. It'll also help you deliver what you promised when your viewers/readers -- be they friends or strangers -- arrive at your site or page. And finally, clarity of focus also helps you control how much time you're investing in any or all of these venues.

Communicating through the internet is so fabulous, and I'm convinced that it will be THE art marketing tool of the future. We just have to be smart about how we use it.

Lessons from a Master

Every once in a while I have a magical day that reminds me just how fortunate I am. This past Saturday was that kind of day. I belong to a small support group of women artists (we call ourselves Salon 11), and we spent the day in Indianapolis visiting nationally recognized impressionist artist C.W. Mundy. Like so many artists I know, C.W. graciously welcomed us in to his studio and spent the day sharing his best advice on art and the business of art. What an incredible blessing this time was for all of us! We had asked for two hours of his time and he gave us so much more!!

The take-away lessons for me were:

1. Remember who you're painting for. As far as I'm concerned, there are only two right answers to this. C.W. would say that we should all be painting for the glory of our creator, who he calls God but who also goes by many other names and interpretations. For people who don't believe in any kind of "higher power," I think a good answer may also be to paint for yourself. The worst answer, however, is "other people." If you try to paint to please others, you will always fail. While some will love what you do, there will always be others who are indifferent to or critical of your work. Attempting to please others with your work is futile, so paint only for God and/or yourself. A right attitude will save you from a world of hurt and disappointment.

2. Know the "science" of painting. Unless you're strictly a conceptual artist, all artists -- from the most realistic to the most abstract -- are governed by the fundamentals like shape, value, color, edges, variety, unity, and so on. Mastering these offers so many benefits, among them that you will be able to create great work with greater consistency and that you will then have the freedom to explore and experiment without destroying the work. As C.W. said, parameters are not limiting but rather freeing.

3. Invest in yourself. When you've brought the quality of your work up to a consistently high level and you're ready to start selling, be ready to put your own money behind it. It would be great to imagine that a gallery would do this for you, but it's unlikely that they'll do all that could be done. So be ready to pick up the slack: Buy the highest quality frames you can afford. Pay for advertising your own shows. Create and maintain your own exceptionally good website. These steps may require you to get your financial house in order first, but the investment in your career will pay huge dividends in the end.

Many thanks to C.W. Mundy for his generosity, candid answers, and tremendous inspiration and motivation.

Now, what pearls of wisdom do you have to share?