christie lucero on sun 22 feb 04
May I suggest Bruce Baker's seminars on the biz of craft selling... they =
don't cover the backstage work of biz plans, tax stratagies etc. but are =
very good on presenting yourself and your work to potential buyers. =
Also, I used to do a monthly stint on the sales floor at a co op =
gallery. I'd never worked in a situation where buying was a lengthy =
decision before and it taught me a lot about how people approach a =
purchase of art. Customers would ask in a hundred different ways, "why =
should I buy this piece?" or "what would I do with this thing?" and my =
initial answer, "I dunno.'" or just standing there with my mouth open =
didn't cut it.
i eventually began to liken it (an art purchase) to an antelope's =
approach to the watering hole in the Serengeti. An antelope sidles in =
very cautiously, afraid that it'll be eaten by a lion or a crocodile. In =
an art gallery, those two would be an aggressive salesperson and a =
supercilious art critic that would materialize out of thin air to point =
out the hideous flaws in their taste.
=20
from other artists whom were more successful in moving their work I =
learned a paragraph- long patter on who the artist was, a =
non-highfalutin' artist's statement, and a suggestion of where the piece =
might go or who might collect things like that. All intended to create =
a comfort level with the piece of work.
I've now wandered very far afield from the original discussion, but i'll =
throw it in anyway.
Christie Lucero
Snowlion Fine Arts
Coyote Creek, nM
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