tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post114762005395066202..comments2023-12-02T03:36:14.917-05:00Comments on Tracy Helgeson Art: Decisions and ResearchTracy Helgesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07510044613771862211noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147951416898094062006-05-18T07:23:00.000-04:002006-05-18T07:23:00.000-04:00Hi Kris, thanks for the comment. Luckily, these da...Hi Kris, thanks for the comment. Luckily, these days, artists have so many more options as far as selling our work. It doesn't have to be either/or, it just was for me. I checked out your blog, by the way, and your work looks great, and thanks for mentioning me. LOVE the frames you bought.Tracy Helgesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07510044613771862211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147928823585660582006-05-18T01:07:00.000-04:002006-05-18T01:07:00.000-04:00Thanks for writing about this. I'm also trying to ...Thanks for writing about this. I'm also trying to figure out whether to pursue selling directly or working with galleries. I've been working more on online and art fair sales recently, and I was wondering if it was really possible to follow both avenues. It was interesting to hear you weigh in on the benefits/drawbacks of each.Kris Shankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04254868812213281188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147864911474905052006-05-17T07:21:00.000-04:002006-05-17T07:21:00.000-04:00Thanks for commenting, Jeff. I am glad that you ar...Thanks for commenting, Jeff. I am glad that you are working on combining both options. As I said in my response to Ed, the trickiest part about that is keeping your pricing structure consistent in each venue. If you can do that, it's great to be able to have so many options to make a sale. I admire artists who do sales themselves. It's a lot of work and I sure wasn't able to handle it.<BR/><BR/>Hi Ed, Thanks for the compliment. I have been using "dreary" colors along with the brighter colors a bit more lately and this was one turned out nicely, I think.Tracy Helgesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07510044613771862211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147848222719972152006-05-17T02:43:00.000-04:002006-05-17T02:43:00.000-04:00Really like this one the grey background helps se...Really like this one the grey background helps settle the warm colors.william wrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471366449711429780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147836742459626572006-05-16T23:32:00.000-04:002006-05-16T23:32:00.000-04:00Hi Tracey,Great post. I'm grappling with some of ...Hi Tracey,<BR/><BR/>Great post. I'm grappling with some of the same issues you seem to have faced early on, though not necessarily approaching it from an either/or perspective. Having sold on my own from my studio and online for the last 2 years, I'm now branching out and establishing contacts with galleries. Fortunately, there are literally hundreds of galleries within a 2 hour drive of me (Boston area), dozens of which are potential fits for me. I do have the sense that in the end, the real success is most likely through gallery representation, but in the meantime, I feel it's important to keep all my revenue streams open... A sale is a sale is a sale.Jeffrey Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17592087972176625764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147829441711000692006-05-16T21:30:00.000-04:002006-05-16T21:30:00.000-04:00Hi Ed, Left a response earlier but looks like blog...Hi Ed, Left a response earlier but looks like blogger ignored me. <BR/><BR/>I think I made the point that if an artist sells in a gallery or on their own, it's important to keep the prices the same. I found all kinds of difficulties with this, mostly because most people who attend art fairs don't want to pay gallery prices and when people buy directly from the artist they usually expect a big discount. Galleries don't like this and understandably so, as it undermines their sales efforts. My head was exploding trying to keep everything straight-who pays what, where, Ugh. Not for me.<BR/><BR/>The key to refusing not accepting a 60/40 split is to have enough clout to make it in the artists favor. That's my plan, anyway!Tracy Helgesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07510044613771862211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147797580244384182006-05-16T12:39:00.000-04:002006-05-16T12:39:00.000-04:00Hi Martha, Not so sure if it's confidence or arrog...Hi Martha, Not so sure if it's confidence or arrogance, but thanks. I think in your case, since you are already working with the murals, creating gallery work will take some time for you, which is good too I think. For me, I may have had more success, at least in the bigger cities, if my work had been more developed, like yours is.<BR/><BR/>I will talk a bit about trying out new work in galleries in a future post. It's been a topic I've thought about discussing for awhile.Tracy Helgesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07510044613771862211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147794211390893362006-05-16T11:43:00.000-04:002006-05-16T11:43:00.000-04:00I'm so impressed by your confident attitude and ca...I'm so impressed by your confident attitude and can do approach. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to hunt down galleries like that, but then again, I don't know what I'm doing, and my production of stand alone paintings is so sparse! One of these days, maybe I'll be able to shift my focus a little. It sounds as though you are very well represented now. How does that affect your ability to experiment with your style?marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09691207583232829217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22266501.post-1147792703421457812006-05-16T11:18:00.000-04:002006-05-16T11:18:00.000-04:00Trying to get into galleries can be so frustrating...Trying to get into galleries can be so frustrating, at least is has for me. I also don't have a problem with the money split. Although, one of the galleries I deal with has gone from a 50/50 split to a 60/40, in their favor. Such is the cost of doing business.<BR/><BR/>I tried the eBay approach by setting up a store. Had lots of lookers just no buyers. Once we relocate I may try again. <BR/><BR/>I think what I am looking for is a mixture of art fairs and gallery representation. Finding the art fairs that have good crowds and results is another daunting task but they are out there. I have talked with artists at the Ann Arbor (MI) Street Fair that have done $15,000- 20,000 in sales at the fair. <BR/><BR/>Now that the kids are moving out and my wife and I are retired the fairs are a good reason to travel and write it off as a business expense. If I don't have a reason to go out I cloister myself away.Ed Maskevichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06505691052584290449noreply@blogger.com