Is It Worth Entering Shows?

Entering your artwork in shows — local, regional, or national — is not an inexpensive proposition. There are entry fees, which can range from $5 to $50 per piece — as well as costs to box, ship, send, insure, and return your work should it be accepted. Oh, and those entry fees? They apply whether your work is accepted or not, and depending upon the size of the show, “or not,” may be a very real option.

Homeland 1 by Steve Henderson. Original sold; open edition print available at Great Big Canvas.

“But think of the exposure if I get in,” you tell yourself. Well, there is, that, but the exposure may not be as grand as you think. Some shows attract the same crowd, year after year; others, which promise exposure through national magazines, take out an ad, one in which your painting does not appear. The top tier shows, the ones that really do draw in crowds, are not particularly friendly to newbies.

So is it even worth it, doing shows? The Norwegian Artist, Steve Henderson, has entered and continues to enter shows, but we have found that far more sales occur in other venues — through the website, through contact with individual clients, through Facebook, even — than they do through shows. And doing the math at the end of the year — calculating entry fees, shipping, and shipping back — we find that there are more efficient ways to turn a profit.

Being Abnormal, an article by Carolyn Henderson in Fine Art Views (and yes, that’s me, the same person writing this article), talks about doing things differently, including entering, or not entering shows. After you read this article, make sure to check out the comments from the various artist readers; frequently, in any online article, the most interesting information comes from the comments, and most especially from the people who comment through the Fine Art Views site.

So what about you? Have you entered shows? Has it been a profitable experience? Or do you find that you’ve picked up more in experience than you have in monetary compensation?

Evening Waltz, original oil painting, 30 x 36, by Steve Henderson

There are a lot of people out there these days trying to make money off of artists, and one of these ways is through assessing entry fees on shows. I’ve always found that it’s worth being wary of the continuous e-mails in your inbox announcing, “We’ve extended the entry date for this show! You have another two weeks to enter!” Two weeks later, the deadline is extended by another week.

Also not a good sign is a show that is exclusively online. While there are verifiable and legitimate online shows, online events are increasing, and it is becoming easier and easier to put them on. Make sure that, when you send your money and enter your artwork, that there is the potential for something good to happen — actual exposure, to people who are genuinely looking to by art, comes to mind.

What Fried Dandelions Have to Do with Improving Your Art

From the Start Your Week with Steve Newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art:

Steve Says:

“Today my 18-year-old son wanted to make fried dandelions for lunch, a suggestion that initially didn’t meet with much excitement.

Dandelions are either weeds or flowers, depending upon your perspective. Original available at Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition print available at Great Big Canvas.

 

“But he’s a determined sort, and like the Little Red Hen he picked the flowers, dipped them in egg and breading, and fried them in butter. Oddly, they weren’t bad, although the egg, breading, and butter definitely helped.

“And, he told us, now that he’s done it, he has no desire to repeat the experiment, but he’s glad that he went through with it. ‘I would always have wondered,’ he commented.

“Good point.

“How many times do we want to try something but don’t, because it sounds odd — like fried dandelions — or our announcement is met with a total lack of enthusiasm and support?

“So we don’t. But we always wonder what it would have been like if we had.

“Why not stop wondering and just do it? At worst, we’ll have inedible flowers, but the compost pile won’t mind.

“At best, we’ll have a unique dish to share at the next family celebration.

“And in between, we’ve got a good story to share.

“The more we do, the more we try, the more we experiment, the more we dream — the more interesting we, and the lives we live, are.” 

What is it about trying new things that is so difficult for us?

Standing behind the easel, paintbrush in hand, who but we will know that we chose a different color for that brushstroke, or a different brush, or a different way of wielding it?

Go on — jump in. Shoes, and feet, eventually dry. Reflection — original oil painting and signed limited edition prints at Steve Henderson Fine Art; open edition print at Great Big Canvas.

Too often we look at each potential painting as so precious that we don’t want to “ruin” it by doing something different or new, but the risk of this is smaller than the reality of falling into a rut.

Sometimes, we can jolt ourselves out of this rut by saying to ourselves, “Just for the next 15 minutes, I’m going to think about this differently, and I’m going to try something that I’m not sure will work or not.”

And, of course, the more regularly and often that we paint, the easier it is to experiment, because we tell ourselves, “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll toss it to the side and start over. Or I’ll keep slathering paint and see what happens.”

Ultimately, what this costs you is some time, a canvas, and some paint — a small price to pay for the potential to make mighty steps forward.

Color Coordinating Artwork with Interior Decor

From the Start Your Week with Steve Newsletter:

Steve Says:

“It’s always good when the person you live with thinks similarly to — or at least not radically different from — the way you do.

Available as an original and print at Steve Henderson Fine Art — Beachside Diversions

“In our house, we decorate eclectically — espresso brown leather sofa; rust fabric glider chair; oak cabinets; sage green walls; knitted shawls and lace by Carolyn; a revolving array of paintings by me.

“In the process of doing so, we have discovered just how flexible color coordination can be — red, rust, lavender, blue, green, gold, orange — all hues wander in and out of our living room, and regardless of which paintings are on the walls, they all fit.

“When you purchase fine art, buy what you like, and don’t worry about how it will look with the sofa — if your home is filled with the furniture and accessories that you love, then it’s highly likely that the newest painting will fit right in.

“It’s your home, reflecting your life, your lifestyle, your family, your being. Surround yourself with beautiful things that you love, and make yourself at home in your home.”

Read more, and consider subscribing to, Start Your Week with Steve, the free weekly e-mail newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art.

Affording Private Art Lessons

When Steve, the Norwegian Artist, was a young boy, his parents sought out a local artist in his town and arranged lessons — people do this all the time with the piano, and yet when it comes to art, it seems so . . . impossible. But it’s not. It all starts with finding an artist whose work you admire and asking the person for lessons — which you, definitely, plan to pay for.

Rise up out of the sea as a new creature with your art by getting past the issues that you’ve been struggling with. Customized, online art lessons can help you do this. Aphrodite by Steve Henderson

“I’ll never be able to afford this,” you moan.

Well, maybe, if the artist you’re looking at is on the A-List of artists whose names are instantly recognized, and they’re famous and all that.

But there are plenty of truly excellent artists whose names aren’t in the magazines, and the way you find these people is by wandering through your local galleries, or strolling around on the Internet, until you find someone whose art you like.

If the person is local, you can call or e-mail them and ask if they offer lessons. If they’re across the country, don’t despair, because it is possible to give and take lessons over the Internet — we ourselves offer this option, receiving images of your work via e-mail, and then communicating back with you via e-mail, phone, or — our favorite — Skype.

And it’s not like you’re a kid again, signed up for years of endless piano lessons — you may need one half-hour lesson to get you going, or you may want to set something up once a month for a year — be up front with your artist of choice and see what the two of you can work out.

Either way, sometimes a little push is all you need, and a session, or two or three or four, with an artist who is producing work that you keep coming back to look at can make a tremendous difference in what you do the next time you stand at the back of your easel.

You never know until you ask. If you’re interested in lessons or a consultation, contact the artist — if that’s Steve you can reach us at Carolyn@SteveHendersonFineArt.com — and just start asking questions!

Compensating

Last week we talked about parallel parking a car — or in my case, not parallel parking the thing — and how, if we don’t know a specific skill, we can frequently compensate by doing things another way.

Are you afraid of hands, feet, or faces? You don’t have to be. Grace by Steve Henderson

But sometimes, compensating doesn’t work, and if you, in your artwork, have reached the point of frustration that you just can’t draw a human figure to look like something other than a space alien, of if your still-life flowers look dead, or whatever it is that is driving you to distraction, then it’s time to admit that you don’t know how to do this, what you’ve been doing up to this point isn’t working, and it’s time to move forward in the matter.

So, where do you move?

The initial solution is to take a class, but there are lots of other options. My favorite, hands down, is finding an artist whose work you like and asking him or her if they will 1) teach you or 2) review your work and give some suggestions, this latter being called a consultation.

Before we move on, let me talk about that word “giving” back there, as in “giving some suggestions.”

By all means, plan to pay this artist for his or her time; many artists offer classes or portfolio reviews, and the best way to find out if the artist you’re interested in does this kind of thing is to ask.

Can you afford this? Yeah, probably. We’ll talk about this next week.

We do consultations and online lessons at Steve Henderson Fine Art, and as with everything we do, we customize, communicate, and keep flexible.

What Parallel Parking Has to Do with Your Art

Okay, I’m going to share with you my dirty little secret:

I can’t parallel park a car.

Lots and lots of space — that’s what I need when I parallel park a car. Diaphanous by Steve Henderson

Well, I can parallel park a car as long as I’ve got three blank spaces, in a pinch two, and it helps that I drive a Honda Fit. But for the most part I’m willing to drive blocks out of the way and walk, or slip into a diagonal space, or let the Norwegian Artist drive when we’re in the city and masterfully fit that hunk of metal (the car, not the Norwegian) into the allotted space.

In other words, I compensate for my lack of ability.

Ideally, I would learn how to parallel park, which is what our two youngest teenagers are doing with the Norwegian Artist this year before they take their licensing test, but that would mean hours of practicing with the Norwegian, and I’d really just rather spend the time knitting socks.

Because, compensating works.

It doesn’t always, you know — if my problem involved driving skills, say, like the inability to make a right turn without banging into the curb, then I’d need to work on things, but if I can get by — as I have for 35 years — without parallel parking and I’m not hurting anybody and nobody’s yelling at me — then I do, and focus my energy on difficult things that I need to learn and I can’t compensate for.

So it is with painting — some techniques you may never get — something to do with color or brushwork or the ability to draw hands so that they don’t look like elephant feet — and you compensate, by never showing hands, for instance.

As long as this works, it works, and you develop your style by compensating around what you cannot do. The key is determining just how important the technique you can’t do is, and making a decision about it.

More on this next week . . .

I know you’re probably an artist, but, interestingly, artists are some of our best clients. If you like Steve’s work, we’ve set up a number of affordable ways to make it yours — our originals are reasonably priced, our signed limited edition prints are archival quality, and our inspirational posters are uber, uber affordable. This is our philosophy on how we price our paintings. Write us — we answer every e-mail — carolyn@stevehendersonfineart.com.

Do It Your Way

It’s good to learn from others — we all do. Whether we’re reading books, taking classes, or talking one on one with another, we increase our knowledge base when we ask questions and, most importantly, listen to the answers.

And then, the crucial thing is to take what we learn each day and apply it to our unique and specific situation. Too many artists — and writers, and people in general — hang on to every word of the chosen “expert” in their field, slavishly copying what the master does or believes in the effort to reproduce the look of the person they admire.

I Do It My Way poster available at Steve Henderson Fine Art

It’s more important that we hone our skills and abilities — and along with that our confidence — so that we can take what we learn to create the best that we, individually, are capable of producing. And if we’re doing it right, our artwork won’t look like anybody else’s — it will look like ours, because we see through our eyes, make decisions based upon our experience, and create in accordance with our passion.

We do it our way, individually, and the more confident we are in our skills and ability, the more sure our steps as we walk our path.

If you’re missing the basics and that’s always made you feel bad, then act — figure out a way to learn those basics and get them behind you already. If you’re beyond the basics but admire someone else’s work immensely, then study that work and see why it impacts you so much. Think, analyze, question, experiment, move.

Great artists get that way because they’re learning, and painting, all the time.

Dream Big!

Things change as we get older.

Christmas and birthdays come and go without the weeks of agonizing beforehand, that feeling that the good day will never arrive, the sheer joy and abandon when it does.

In the process of growing up, do we become . . . boring?

“Dream Big” reminds us to reach for something that is bigger and grander than what and where we actually are.

Someone wrote me the other day, “Yeah, I could do what I want with unlimited money and time.”

So do we all think, but when we look around at those people who actually do have unlimited money and time, it’s intriguing to notice that even they don’t seem to be doing what they want. Rather, they’re more concerned about keeping what they have, and are worried that if they don’t look a certain way, act a certain way, speak a certain way, they will topple.

Dreams are big things, and they are not achieved overnight, nor without hard work, perseverance, determination, and patience — the gritty elements that work in the background.

Dream big!

(The Bold Innocence poster — Dream Big! is part of Steve Henderson’s Inspirational Poster collection, and is available at Steve Henderson Fine Art.)

Nobody was listening?

Lately, most of my salient news comes from Facebook, like this story shared by Knowledge is Power.

For those of you who don’t want to read the story link, here’s the short version:

Rejoice! Ocean Breeze poster by Steve Henderson, available through Steve Henderson Fine Art

Man in busy Washington D.C. metro station plays violin for 45 minutes. Nobody pays attention.

Of the approximately 1100 people who pass through in that time, a 3-year-old is the most attentive, turning to listen as his mother drags him on.

The man with the violin is Joshua Bell, one of the world’s most talented musicians, playing on a $3.5 million dollar violin. In his day job, Bell plays at concert halls to people gladly paying $100 per ticket.

As Knowledge is Power puts it, “One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

The world needs art — visual, musical, written — and seriously does not know this. Artists — keep it up, keep at it, create beauty and promote it to this sad, busy, lonely world.

Happy New Year

May 2013 find you laughing aloud with pure joy. Brimming Over by Steve Henderson

I’m not a New Year’s resolution type of person; I’m guessing that you aren’t either.

That being said, there is a resolution that all of us can make — indeed should make — and for me to use the word “should,” shows how important this resolution is:

Think for ourselves.

Not just in how or what we do in our art, nor where or how we market it, although that’s a great start. We live in a transitional economy, and what worked prior to 2008 isn’t working the same now, and indeed, may never do so again.

But to succeed as artists, citizens, and human beings, it’s crucial that we constantly ask ourselves why we do what we do, and why we believe what we believe. While this may seem painfully simplistic, generally the simple things in life are the most complex.

With thsi in mind, I invite you to check out I’m a Believer — You Are Too, my end-of-the-year Middle Aged Plague article.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, to you and yours. May you be richly blessed.

– Carolyn