The biggest challenge for any artist is to make money from the art. This is most true for an emerging artist or a self-taught artist, those who are breaking into the art world and have no contacts in the art world. If you are lucky enough to have gone to an art school and graduated with a degree in studio art, then you can count on having some contacts. The best of these will be connections with curators, gallerists, writers, producers, collectors and other artists. These connections will help you get your work in front of people who might buy your work or otherwise support you as an emerging artist.
If you do not have these connections then your task is even more daunting but still possible. You must immerse yourself in the arts and develop your own contacts which will hopefully lead to museum shows, gallery shows and ultimately commercial sales.
You can read my blog at http://becomeanartistandmarketyouraart.blogspot.com/ where I try to give advice on how to become an artist and how to market your art. I am looking forward to hearing from anyone who has specific questions about becoming an artist or marketing fine art.
This is my first blog post and I want to tell you why I became an artist and why it matters.
I became an artist because I love art and wanted to be surrounded by people who love art, like myself. Art is not only a passion of mine, but also a source of fulfillment in my everyday life.
However, the demands of being an artist are not always rewarding. The demands of the art world are so consuming that they can distract us from our true goals as artists. We are forced to work long hours, create art we do not care about and base our self worth on whether or not our work sells at auction or gets accepted into a gallery show. We are forced to play the game just to stay afloat, but where does it all lead?
The answer for me was creating a business around my art that would allow me to make a living without compromising my artistic integrity. I did this by creating a niche for myself in the contemporary art world that allows me to be successful without becoming competitive or overworked.
Welcome to Contemporary Art Blog where I share my experience of making art and marketing it as an artist. I have been working as an artist since 2002 and have a great passion for both the process of making art and helping other artists market theirs.
Description of the artist:
I am a visual artist interested in exploring ideas about humanity, the natural world and existence. I work with a variety of media including painting, drawing, installation, sculpture and jewelry design. I earned a BA from California State University Long Beach in 2003 and an MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2006. You can learn more about me on my website, http://www.sarajanemountain.com .
**My art is represented by a number of galleries across the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand including James Graham Contemporary in Los Angeles, Zero1 Gallery in San Francisco, AEON in London and more. My work has been shown at numerous museums including the Museum of Arts & Design (NYC), Mingei International Museum (San Diego), the Allentown Art Museum (Allentown PA), the National Academy Museum (NYC) and more.*
Being an artist requires a lot of motivation and creativity. Over the years I have been asked many questions about what it takes to be an artist. What I am going to do here is to create a blog that addresses the most common questions that I get asked at art shows and in my professional art career. This will be a very helpful blog for anyone who is looking to become an artist.
The reason why I decided to write this blog is because when I started out as an artist I had a hard time figuring out how to get started and where to go from there. Most web sites about becoming an artist are really just one person’s opinion on how you should paint or draw or sculpt, and most of them say you should do it your own way without ever telling you what that way is. But when you start out it seems like everyone has opinions about what you should do with your work, so it is hard to know what direction you should take or who you should listen to.
I hope this blog will provide some insights into the direction that many artists take when they first decide that they want to become recognized as an artist, even though they may not know exactly how they are going to do it.
Creating art means something different for everyone, but there are some
If you are an artist who is looking to become more successful, there are some things that you can do. Although it can be difficult to get your art out there and make a name for yourself, it is not impossible. There are many artists who have done just that and if you look at their work, you will find that they all have one thing in common. Here are some tips on how to market your art:
The first step to becoming a successful artist is to get your name out there. The way that you do this is by marketing your art to the right audience. This can seem like a difficult thing to do at first but it really isn’t. There are many ways that you can go about doing this including social media, blogging, and word of mouth. But one of the best ways that you can go about doing this is by putting together an impressive portfolio. When people see the quality of your work they will want to know more about who you are and what else you have done so make sure that you put together a good portfolio of everything that you have made so far.
When putting together your portfolio, try to make sure that everything in it is as professional as possible. This means making sure that the images are high quality and printed nicely on
I’m a professional artist, which means that most of the art I make isn’t for sale. You can see it at my website, http://www.taggarthennessey.com or on my blog, http://whyiamanartist.blogspot.com .
What does it mean to be a professional artist? First of all, it means that you’ll never be rich enough to buy your own island. Or your own planet. Or even your own car – although if you have one you’d like to give away, email me and we’ll talk.*
Being a professional artist is more than just some kind of job; it’s a way of life. It’s a combination of constantly questioning yourself and the world around you, and having the discipline to keep doing that without being distracted by other people’s rules about what’s important and what’s not. In most jobs, you might have some control over what you do and how you do it; in mine, I’m always having to defend my right to simply follow my own interests wherever they lead me, regardless of whether anyone else thinks those interests are relevant or important or in any way useful or appropriate for someone who makes art for a living.
**I’ve contributed several articles to American Artist magazine
