Oil painting - begginer - how to sell/exhibit

Most artists have the same problem. My advice is to find a local nice restaurant, and take four works. Ask the owner to display them on the wall, and put a price and your contact info/business card nearby, or in the corner of the work, and supply a number of these cards. The owner may allow you to display, if the owner likes the work, and it is suitable for the restaurant. He may ask for a few dollars, from any sale. You decide on pricing, etc. Also enter local shows, and anything to get your work noticed. Find a local student or co-op gallery (anywhere, even the local art supply store) where you can display at least two works. Again price and comission decisions have to be made. You should also consider a web site. Do a search of painting, drawing, landscape, etc, to see what others have.

You also have to photograph each painting, and keep track of where it is. Also insurance, if you value them highly.

This is a start. Good luck, from George

When I lived in Dallas, TX, USA, the best sales I've ever had came from hanging a painting on a wall where the serving line in a cafeteria could see it as the customers stood in line waiting to approach the food servers. Granted that this cafeteria was in an upscale shopping center with a lot of high-dollar clientele. But as with every piece of marketing advice, the three MOST IMPORTANT are 'location, location, location.'

Quick comment:

Don't just walk into a restaurant with art and a smile. Walk in there with your art and a contract behind your back.

As an ex-restaurateur, I can assure you that a contract woud be insisted on - if not by the restauratuer then by their insurance company. I showed the work of one artist in my restaurant for six years. We were legally bound by a contract - the agreement being that she would ensure the walls were always full and I would forward interest on her work immediately to her - she dealt with the sales from that point on and as far as I can remember she used to get around six sales a year. The paintings became part of the ambience of the restaurant, we became very close friends, and she and her husband brought a lot of business to the restaurant. In hindsight, and not then having any experience of the art world back then, I wish I had opened the restaurant up to more artists.

Alison A Raimes

First of all, this thread is about ALTERNATIVE places for novices to get their work shown. Not about premium spaces with knowledgeable staff who have a monitary interest in marketing the art work on the walls.

Secondly, in the good ole USA, MOST restauranteurs wouldn't know a maitre'd from a bellhop. We have a 'host or hostess' who seats people and waiters and bussers who do the grunt work. And none of them are going to know two-cents worth about the art on the walls, assuming there is any worthy of that appellation.

Sorry to offend you Jack. Though I'm not sure how that happened. My remarks are appropriate as a warning that some resturants (diners, cafeterias, whatever) bear watching since they consider the artwork mere decoration and have no intent to act in the artist's behalf. With the exception of Alison's resturant, of course.

I'm not at all offended. Not sure why you think that I am. I'm just arguing my own point of view that seems to be a bit different from yours and from others not familiar with how things work in the 'good ole USA.

And my remarks are appropriate to the situation that exists in the 'good ole USA' where I would never expect the people running the restaurant to have any interest in me or my art work beyond being decoration for their walls that they can have for NOTHING! If they ask me for a percentage of sales - assuming I ever am lucky enough to sell anything that way - then I have to decide if the terms for hanging are beneficial to me or not.

And finally, ONCE MORE, I see it as an EXCELLENT way for novices to get exposure. That doesn't begin to touch on restaurants that I am familiar with where art works of BIG-NAME artists hang as a way of the restaurant owner saying 'I am a collector!' I recall one such 'famous' place in NYC where the restaurant owner had paid MILLIONS of dollars for what was touted as ancient Greek and Roman statuary, etc. I'm referring here to 'Mama Leoni's' which may not even exist any longer.

What gave you the idea that I wouldn't understand how things work in the 'good ole USA'? I call it home too!

I read your post twice and still can't figure out what your point is, or how it is 'different' from mine. I only warned that if one is displaying with the possibility of sales, it requires some cooperation from the employees (the host, hostess or matre'd, as I called him.) Without that, you might as well try your work elsewhere.

Methinks you just like to see your new name(s) in print.

What 'gave me that idea' are your remarks that seemed inconsistent with the theme of the thread and how restaurants of all kinds operate in the USA.

It's different because of your expectation that a restaurant would act like a gallery in representing your art work. You seemed to be challenging my statement that restaurants and cafeterias are viable alternatives for novice artists by saying it didn't work for you. You say you removed your work 'the next day' when you found out the restaurant help didn't have a clue. I would never have expected them to - THAT's the difference in our viewpoints.

But let's back up a minute and maybe start over or at least clarify something. I don't know the facts, but I suspect that a large majority of restaurants wouldn't even bother with allowing artists to hang on their walls. Even the most low-brow of the fast food chains, McDonalds, has it's own decor depending on the whims of each franchise owner. And most other restaurants I can think of have their own decor.

So, in order to find an alternative to galleries to show your art work, you have to work hard to know your local scene. And I think it's unrealistic to expect that your art work will sell at all in such alternative venues. But it's the EXPOSURE that will hopefully eventually get your name known to the locals. It's a WAY TO BEGIN getting exposure. I know of few established artists who would go to such trouble once they have gallery representation or are otherwise selling their work.

I had not brought up - yet again - the fact that I was COMMISSIONED by the franchise owner of a McDonald's hamburger joint to paint a series of 'local scenes' to decorate the newly opening restaurant. I was later commissioned to paint similar scenes for a second and third location opened by the same owner. I then left the region, never to return, but know that none of those locations now look as if they ever had my work in them. I don't know for sure, but assume that the works were eventually obliterated by the need to continually clean them of mustard, ketchup and whatever else got splattered onto them!

So take the time to 'splain' it to 'em.