Summer Shows - Weather, Well-Wishers and Awards

With the season of summer art shows well underway, the weather continues to be a big factor. The Greeley Park Show in Nashua, N.H. was hit with a huge downpours, thunder and lightning included on Saturday, August 16 - but - Sunday the 17 was great! The sun was shining and it was the busiest I'd ever seen that show. With all the rain we've had this summer it was wonderful to have such a glorious day. Sales were good and everyone was friendly and nice.

The following Saturday was Portland, Maine. I had heard very positive things about this show and so I was anxious to try it out this year. It did not disappoint. There were tons of people and once again the weather cooperated fully. The area where we were was shaded and comfortable, apparently that's where we lucked out. Some exhibitors were in full sun and a little warmer than they'd like to be. Several streets in downtown Portland were blocked off for tents to be set up as well as having city plazas for tents. It's a great city, Maine's largest, with a lot of interesting architecture.

Perhaps the most encouraging part was that people at this show come to buy art, as oppose to just looking. At least from the standpoint from the business end of things. Even without purchases though, it's very important to get feedback from people. I really enjoy seeing what people like. I have found that I am not that good of a judge of what people will like. It really is an unpredictable thing. I think its where art becomes very personal. People are just drawn to certain paintings, for whatever reasons, maybe the painting itself or maybe it reminds them of something. Having people staring at your work and smiling, or watching them being drawn into a painting when it catches their eye across a crowded walkway is quite moving. So these shows give you that interaction that you wouldn't otherwise get.

This coming weekend it's Keene, N.H. Art in the Park. This is as close to home turf as I get besides the Open Studio Tour on Columbus Day weekend. I have folks that have come to be regular visitors at my booth, so its fun to look forward to seeing them. I also usually see someone I know who has never seen my paintings before. The city of Keene really seems to look forward to the show so its usually well attended. I have to work on the finishing touches to the program as well as get myself ready for this show. Now begins also the worrying about the weather!

Pricing Paintings

I have my own little theory about pricing art. It is two fold, one side being practical and the other being philosophical. The practical side says art should be affordable. Both because no one will buy it if they can't afford it, thus I make no money, but also because art is a wonderful thing to share. I want other people to enjoy my work. It's an odd feeling though, someone purchasing your work and knowing its hanging in some one's house. No matter what, I always consider my paintings mine, whether they are hanging on some stranger's wall or in my living room. It's a part of me regardless. So, how does this assist me with pricing? Its why I try to keep things "reasonably priced".

I did attend a workshop a couple of years ago about pricing artwork. I paid close attention, took some notes and returned home prepared to objectively look at pricing. The formula was based on the cost of materials and the amount of time it took to create a given piece. The woman who gave that workshop was a potter and she had timed how long it took her to do particular pieces and she had weighed the clay before beginning. It seemed like a reasonable approach. Especially where she had worked on this problem for years and had come up with a solution. I hadn't been painting very long and so, why not use her method?

The Hoolahoop Method
I discussed this workshop, and the methodology with several people. Since the whole question of pricing artwork is a constant source of frustration to many artists I wanted to get some feedback to my new found knowledge. Among those I spoke to was my father, a man who'd been in the business world for many, many years. When I finished explaining the pricing schema, he said it was a bunch of nonsense. Great, and why was that? He said "the hoolahoop". Pricing has got nothing to do with what it cost to make something. It's all about what people are willing to spend.

When my son Richard jumped into the fray, he came up with a formula as well. It was based on what I thought was a "reasonable" price for some of my pieces and he came up with how much it was per square inch. I could then use that to price larger pieces I had begun painting. My whole notion of affordability started getting more difficult when I painted the larger pieces and I was hesitant to charge equally large prices for them. Of course his idea made perfect sense, and in fact I'd read a few articles which said the same thing about going by the square inch as a pricing method.

My Little Basket Method
Still, I come back to my father's hoolahoop. It's all about what people are willing to spend. I have been testing this at the outdoor shows I do all summer. My "bread and butter", that I mentioned in my first entry is my little 5x7 paintings which I put in a basket on a table in front of my tent. My favorite I'll put on a little decorative easel to draw attention to the basket. I started out pricing these at $25, with a little sign hanging off the basket. My son scolded me for charging so little so I raised price to closer to $50 as he suggested. At this point the small paintings were primarily watercolors. When I upped the price to $50 I had no sales. Now, like it or not, sales of these little paintings tended to cover my entrance fee. Also they were as close as you can get to a sure thing at one of these shows. Selling a painting for a couple hundred dollars happens, but not with any regularity. It is the nature of these shows. So, my basket of paintings became even more important as both my pricing test as well as some kind of hint at a steady income.

My next step in this process was to vary the pricing in the basket. Base the pricing on the quality of the painting. The more detail (thus the more time it took) the higher the price. I also had begun painting small oils. Oil painting by its nature takes longer and so they needed to cost a little more. So, now the little basket paintings range in price from $25 to $50. The oil paintings are $45-$50 and the watercolor paintings are about $35. At these prices they have continued to sell with some regularity and have helped me understand the idea of a price point. Also, running out of these little paintings too quickly is problematic, so a slow but steady pace of sales is best.

The complication now is the economy. The South Portland, Maine, show this past Saturday was well attended but purchases were more sporadic than usual. I am wrestling with dropping my prices on larger paintings to increase affordability while people are struggling with gas prices. The other option is to just wait it out and plan on a rough, unprofitable - not even cover expenses year. Maybe I just need to stop blogging and get working on some more of those little paintings!

more on pricing later....that is after my son and friend Anne-Marie scold me yet again, for my pricing!

No Painting Today

I have two tasks today in anticipation of this weekend's show and in fact the run of shows through August. The first is to get my new paintings framed and matted and framed in the case of the watercolors. The other item which I like to do before shows is to make sure my web site is current. Like the framing, the new paints also need to be photographed and uploaded to my web site PaintBrushGraphics .

The beginning of this week I painted some small watercolors. The sale of these will hopefully cover my show expenses allowing any sales of larger pieces to be profit. Originally I did not post smaller work on my web site. But as of this past year I began doing so. There is a different quality about them so I decided they should be included. However, that leads to more work on the web site. The other bit is that I don't want the index pages, filled with thumbnails, so it takes too long to load the page for visitors to my site. I'm thinking of having a separate index page for them. I'm also thinking of having a separate page for my plein air work for the same reason.

The framing includes cutting mat board for the six small watercolors, one large watercolor and three oil paintings. Being that its a rainy day, I'll throw on a sweatshirt (NY Mets) and head to my framing room in the basement; getting the laundry done at the same time.

And Why Do I Need A Blog?

My goal was to start a blog at the beginning of the year. It was to be a new addition to my online promotion of my artwork (in addition to my web site) as well as a way to chronicle my activities. I thought it could both help keep me organized and draw more attention to my web site. Of course if all that would add up to more sales, that would work for me too - a little transparent don't you think? Well, even though I'm a little late on my time line, I decided to push on and not wait until the next first of the year. While I may often be tardy, I don't usually blow off things entirely.

Because I am not a morning person, my mornings are usually tied up with the more mundane issues of life, not painting. By starting this blog I plan on laying out my to do list for upcoming blocks of time. I'm not big on "To Do" lists either, so in writing a blog I can pretend it's not a to do list. Also, being an artist is a very solitary business, and personal initiative is key. There is no boss. I am my own slave driver - sometimes I'm not too bad at it either, but always. This diary of sorts brings some accountability to my work.

Currently I have 2 goals, an immediate and a mid-term goal. The mid-term goal is to put together 4 paintings so that I can be juried into the New Hampshire Artist Association. The first decision on what paintings to have juried is to decide what medium, watercolor or oil paintings, since I use both. Also, according to what I've read, paintings in a series have the best chance of getting accepted. My idea for a series is to have my paintings be of stone bridges. I currently have 1 painting in both watercolor and oil. I need to decide soon which medium to complete the series in. The painting on the left is the watercolor and the one on the right is the oil. To see larger images, click on the and you will be brought to my web site with larger images with brief descriptions. When I complete my next stone bridge painting I will post it. We'll see what medium comes up.

My next, and more immediate goal is to get ready for the busiest time in my show schedule which starts next weekend. This is my time to make some sales, get input from people and perhaps win an award. The season started with a small show in Milford, New Hampshire which was in the middle of a heat wave with a limited number of participants and even fewer visitors. The venue for this show has changed for the last few years and that seems to have negatively impacted it. However the following weekend, on June 1, I participated in the Beacon Hill Art Walk in Boston. I had some sales but also I won a 3rd Place - I couldn't have been more thrilled. It was a warm sunny day, in contrast to the show last year which had spotty drizzle most of the day. This is definitely a show I will continue to participate in.

As I prepare for the next shows - South Portland, Maine on August 9; Greeley Park, Nashua, N.H., August 16-17; Portland, Maine August 23; and Art in the Park, Keene, N.H., August 30-31, I will post information on the preparation process and ask for input on my selections for judging.