Whats happened to the rest of us in the twilight zone, is that we have become prey for merchants who have targeted us. Yes, sheep. They know the vast majority of artists are desperately trying to force sales of art, that is unfortunately being reproduced by thousands and thousands of other artists. Bottom line, we do not have the formula.
Art merchants abound, promising they can improve our work, provide recognition, followers, customers and ultimately sales. They know Google search results nailed artists: (1) We are not focused on a viable market to fill (there really aren’t any, for us) (2) We artists are self indulgent (vane and stubborn) and marketers know that (3) if “Artists listen to the inner voice that drives them to create” and they will listen to the inner voice that tells them they have to spend to have any chance making it
“Merchants of Death” was an epithet used in the U.S. in the 1930s to attack industries and banks that supplied and funded World War I. Maybe we have hit a point in time, art is like war, there are no winners, just suppliers. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry, some scams, most commercial legit, they all want your money. I’ll tackle a few of these in future posts:
- Vanity Galleries
- Online Galleries
- Juried art competitions
- Art Fairs
- Artist web sites
- Art Supplies
- Online training
- Travel art instruction
- Social Media
- Digital technology and software
Many of these platforms are necessary to meet success criteria for artists that want to break the craft show barrier and earn serious money with their art: the need to show work in respected venues, establish a track record of sales, generate press reviews, win awards and build a substantial artist curriculum vitae.
There is another option. Have you read Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear? https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/books/review/elizabeth-gilberts-big-magic.html
Positive thinking and the law of attraction. Is creativity a religion? If you don’t buy a lottery ticket, you have no chance of going to heaven? Like attracts like but it’s exhausting being on all the time. Anyway, Google says I’m self indulgent, I’ll keep painting anyway.