From

From '5 Ways to Sell your Work':

Instead of only thinking of selling your art in a gallery or a traditional show, here's a few proven 'ways that pay' for the emerging artist. We've tried them and found that they worked, so we'll pass them on to you:

#1. Take Orders- If you are planning to reproduce one of your favorite originals, pre-selling is a great way to begin. Just like when you did a fundraiser in school with the photo of the product and signed your customers up, you can pre-sell your art.

#5. Give a Demo- This method is really an attention grabber! By setting up at a mall, bookstore or any good place already generating traffic, you'll turn the heads of passers-by. Those same curious patrons not only will stop and talk, but many will buy the art, greating cards, posters,t-shirts or any other of the products that you've made available at a near by display table.

Be sure to visitfor more tips that work:

And even more-so when the artist is totally inept! Live demos take a lot of self-confidence, which defeats most artist's intent since it's really difficult for most people to produce anything of quality with someone looking over their shoulder. I know from practical experience. I envy those artists with such elan that they can pull off a day after day production under close scrutiny.

That's the craft side of art making.

Thanx for the tips Tony, I'm thinking of setting up with my neighbor when she does her next Pottery sale.

O:nen ki' wahi' bye for now

I agree that a live demo can be challenging and even intimidating. That's why I recommend being selective when choosing the project that you feel would be best suited for demonstration. I always used a project that I felt would be a positive attention grabber and would be easy to control. A project that I can talk about to viewers offsets the looking over the shoulder situation which, in other scenarios, can be difficult.

When I first replied I was thinking literally about your suggestion as a way for the individual to grab attention. I wasn't thinking of it in terms of being in a larger craft show where it's common to see someone demonstrating their skills at jewelry, glass, weaving, etc. I was thinking more in terms of quick-sketch portrait artists I've often seen working the street corners in various cities around the globe.

I recall one individual who annually could be seen painting the local steam train over and over again on old barn boards that he sold to passerby. The first time I saw his work I was curious about what he sealed the wood with, since the boards are old and weathered and it was obvious they were sealed with a shiny varnish of some sort. An innocent query that he must get several times a day. His response to me was a very rude and terse 'none of your damned business' (or similar). A year later, assuming maybe the first time he was just having a bad hair day, I asked him again, and got the same response. Needless to say, as much as I liked the work, I wasn't about to buy from him after

I would not have bought from the guy either. The goal of a demonstrating your work in public is to allow the public ACCESS to the artist. If an artist does not interact well with customers, prospective customers or other artists, he/she may not want to try this method of increasing exposure.

Tony-

Please let us know if you need other ideas and also how it goes with the sale with your neighbor.

Tony-

I think that there are artists who thrive on public attention, just as stage actors must do. Those are the people who are most comfortable chatting up their sitters or passerby while seemingly on 'auto-pilot' while they work.

I was friends with two youthful male artists who used to travel the USA doing quick portraits of people. They were GOOD! One was a caricaturist, the other a straight-forward portrait artist, but both could capture a likeness in minutes. And both were exroverted and interested in other people and their stories. So good were they that they worked venues like Disneyland and Disney World. I suspect that MOST people would soon tire of the constant traveling and all the inconvenience that entails, to say nothing of doing the same old same old day after day.

Not at all. 'Give and it shall be given unto you.' As I share ideas with some, I'll receive ideas from others.

Tony-

That is the CRAFT SIDE of CRAFT (!) MAKING !!!

Weaving the Conundrum -=NOUMENON |=-