"You ought to try exhibiting in the on-line galleries”.
“Oh no, I can´t do that, I´m not tech savvy enough!”
That was my response to a whisper from a fellow artist during a torrential downpour at the annual Pine Walk Art Exhibition, which used to run during the summer months in Bournemouth. Rain or shine.
It´s interesting how my initial “No way! I can´t..” invariably turns into a “Well why not?”
Very slowly, I discovered that I could indeed follow simple instructions to post my paintings in an online gallery and to my surprise they began to sell. For many years now I have sold my paintings at both art and craft shows and in online galleries.
My venture into exhibiting on-line took off during the long Covid lockdown when I had time on my hands to research and try all kinds of new things. Nowadays I present my work for sale on my own website, as well as artgallery.co.uk, artfinder.com, art2art.co.uk, Etsy and Folksy with regular promotions on the social media sites. The impact on reaching a new, much wider audience at home and abroad has been tremendous and I´ve learned so much.
There are pros and cons to exhibiting at both craft shows and on-line. Art and Craft shows take time to prepare, loading up the car, setting up my stand and of course I´m there all day. You never know who will walk past. I love meeting people, talking about my work, and sharing ideas with my fellow artists. I get the impression that people enjoy meeting the artist too. There´s a particular thrill when a painting sparks interest from a stranger. I have made many new friends, and connections and met some inspiring, colourful characters over the years. I love it!
Exhibiting in online galleries is also time-consuming. So much so that I realised recently that I often spend more time on admin than on what I really want to do. Paint landscapes!
It requires a lot of coffee, systematic attention to detail, and patience and I´m not famous for either of those things I was prompted to take stock recently, to ensure that the paintings for sale on my website were also available on-line. To my dismay, I had managed to sell a painting which was not available to a very kind and sympathetic person who was willing to wait for me to paint her another similar landscape. There´s such a lot of information to hold in a mind that wants only to paint, and a heart that wants, above all, to share joy.
On-line galleries feel more like work than play to me. With my business head on, I find myself thinking about what sells rather than what I want to paint. Craft shows give me more freedom to paint whatever inspires me at the time, purely for pleasure. In terms of sales, there isn´t really much difference between public shows and on-line galleries. The details online are important for managing customer expectations. Recently there was disappointment when a small painting wasn´t the anticipated size, and when colours appeared darker in the photo than on the actual canvas.
But such occasions are rare and easily repaired. I´m delighted to note that the human connection I love so much is also possible on-line. Weighing up the pros and cons, balance seems to be the key.
Anyone know how to find that?
Marja Brown
Landscape Artist
Original paintings and prints available from my website. Commissions undertaken with joy.
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