Mark E Shellshear.

My son Neil Shellshear did a great Periscope this morning and I found it very challenging subject, “be yourself.” What an interesting thought, everyone considers they are all very individual but we are all part of this giant push for us all to conform and be like everyone else and everyone does conform . For most it is very hard to break out of the box and be yourself and often those who do, go overboard and create an alter ego that then pushes people away. Being myself does not mean I have to start wearing contagious clothing or finding some way of gaining attention, because gaining attention by being outrageous is very hard to maintain in the long term. Many Artists try to be very different often for difference sake but lack the talent to back up the eccentricity. Dali was very eccentric but he had the talent and produced the work to allow his alter ego to be accepted. As Artists I want us to be ourselves, do not follow the crowd, be different, paint what you believe...

What makes one Artist driven and another Artist not so? Why does one Artist work hard at their craft and another just doesn't give it their best and really just doesn't feel like it? These are interesting questions and all comes down to personal drive. One Artists believes that it will just happen, so fame and fortune will come because I am an Artist. The other believes if he does not work hard then fame and fortune will not come. One of the great issues that face all Artists is, What do you want to achieve and by when? The Artist who believes that it will just happen, may answer this question, “I don't know, when it happens?” The other might say for argument sake, “I want to exhibit in the New York Guggenheim at the age of 55 that gives me 30 years to work hard towards that goal, now my first job is to produce quality paintings, get the attention of strangers and sell to them, then work towards group shows, then to one man shows, to local galleries and then auctions, th...

The recurring theme I find my self talking to Artists about the most of late is how our business has changed so much and how we have to adapt to this new day. We live in an age or better a time of revolution, like the Industrial revolution, that is changing the world so fast. The internet has changed our lives and many are now connected to it 24/7 through their phones.  As I was thinking this morning I could see a day when we are somehow connected into the internet permanently, not sure how but I believe it will happen, maybe through our phones when they become part of our hand or arm. Science fiction stuff I know, but I remember when you could only buy music on vinyl, now you can download it free off the internet, the changes that we have already seen are quite amazing and there will be so much more to come. So our industry has changed and continues to change. Once most Art was sold through Galleries and Auctions, today a lot of Art is sold through Artists connecting with buy...

As I was coming to the Gallery I was trying to focus on positive things not the traffic. I looked out at Manila Bay and it really did look beautiful, calm and covered in sunshine and I thought to myself how contented I felt in that moment. I realised that we need to learn to be contented in the moment we are living in even if it is not the destination that we are aiming for. Yes we all have goals that we are striving for I believe in that, but there is also wisdom in enjoying the journey, being contented in the moment. You may not have achieved all your goals yet but do not miss enjoying the nice times during that journey. It can be so easy to be so focused on your Art career and what you want to achieve that you miss those special moments, the smelling the flowers moments. I love walking to the local store each evening and taking time to look at the flowers, it makes me realise that achieving a lot is good and necessary, but a moment to look at and smell the flowe...

It seems riding in taxi cabs is becoming a place where I am learning lots of life lessons that can be easily translated into our Art life and practice. Today coming to the Gallery the traffic was terrible as usual and I like the taxi to stay on the main road as I know that we will get through the traffic eventually, it is when the taxi driver decides to take side roads and short cuts that I know I am in trouble because past experience has taught me that short cuts don't work, unless it is in a helicopter. So my the driver telling me he knew what he was doing despite my protests took the short cut which of coarse proved to be a big failure and added another 2o minutes to my ride and more money. I did not care about the extra cost but that my precious time was wasted for no good reason, that I cared about. What is the life lesson here? In the Art Business you must pay your dues and there are no shortcuts. Yes we have all heard of that one person who has made the big time...

As Artists we must learn to step forward and risk being vulnerable when we present our Art to the public. Everyone will not like our art, that's normal and do not be offended. Some people will criticise, that's normal there will always be critics, don't argue with them, smile them off. Being in a vulnerable situation is not an easy thing to do but if we embrace it then we will learn to move out of our comfort zone and go forward and bring change into ou r lives. By embracing change we are saying, yes it's my turn to go forward, to lead, to speak to that stranger about my art. Yes here I am and I will talk to you. If we are the same as everyone else then we will not stand out and we will not be noticed. Have you ever been to a group Art show and thought that the art work all looks the same, nothing stands out, it looks like the same Artist painted them all nothing makes you go wow. I have been to so many shows like that, everything looks the same, where is the wow ...

Artists when we are dealing with customers we leave two impressions with them. The first impression which we only get one shot at, no second chances at a first impression, so make it good. Make your greeting warm and inviting and be friendly, no matter how the customer is, remember some people have bad days every day. The Last impression, is equally important. Thank them and add value to their experience so they will remember you and come again, have business cards and flyers to give them. If the customer does not buy from you, see if there is some other way to help them. If they are looking for a certain style of painting that you don't do and you know of another Artists that does that, send them to that Artist. I know they may not do the same for you, but we do as we would like people to do for us, be the bigger Artist. Always try and make a deposit into every person you meet, a smile, a thank you, a nice chat, costs nothing and can have a wonderful effect on...

I remember a time I was being very badly criticised by a person at an Art Fair, I had all my paintings out and this gentleman decided that a child could have painted them, and how stupid I was for trying to sell such rubbish. He was not nice with his words and certainly did not like me. I just keep answering nicely and being courteous to the person and kept smiling, until they finally left. I could see that a small crowd had gathered to listen to my critic and I did not want to offend anyone else. I was amazed at how many came up after the guy had left and congratulated me for not getting angry and arguing back. I said I felt sorry for the guy as he was probably having a bad day his whole life, so why escalate it by arguing, no one wins an argument, it would not have changed his opinion. To my amazement out of that little adversity I gained some customers as they said they liked the idea of dealing with someone who could control their temper. Never get angry, get di...

Certainly the story about the young taxi driver created lots of interest, some thought I was to hard on him and there were those who saw the moral of the story, as in small changes repeated make a very big difference. As to whether I was to hard on the young man, well I only had twenty minutes to talk to him and convince him of how he could change his life, I would do the same thing again. The principle that I shared with him is really so simple, do small steps and they will lead to big changes. Peoples inability to change is very obvious when we consider New Year resolutions, great statements slowly lost. People decide to do gym at the beginning of the year with great enthusiasm and by the end of February they have lost interest. Why is this? When we attempt to change with just enthusiasm and when that wanes we stop and go back to our old ways. Our old comfortable ways are so easy to fall back into. To make big changes in your life takes desperation or disgust, ...

Get attention, connect with strangers, build relationships, treat your collectors like friends and always give a little more than expected to your Collectors and customers, a smile adds value, it builds relationships. Artists, play the long game, patience. Treat your customers how you would like to be treated. Its not about selling a painting to one person, its about selling many paintings for a life time to many people, one at a time.

Today as I was coming to the Gallery I was talking to the taxi driver a young man who said he was 29 years old. I asked him if he had completed college and he said no, because his girl friend got pregnant and he had to work to support her and now has three children. He told me wages were low in the Philippines and he could never earn much. I said your wages are low but there is executives in this country who earn over 1 million US dollars a year, there is high salaries here, it is just that yours is low. He looked stunned. I asked him if he would drive taxis for the rest of his life or did he want to do more. He said he needed to start a business but he had no money to start. I asked what sort of business and he did not know. I asked if he had any goals for his life and he said yes, I asked if they are written down and he said no. I asked him how much money he would need to start a business and he said PHP30,000 and I said so what is the problem? He again said I don...

“ I 've been painting for some time and still learning. I get so disheartened when my head knows what to paint but my hand can't do it. I feel I may not be an artist, I want to be, but I think maybe I just can't do it. I stress out as I don't know what I'm doing. I have lessons once a week and I try to sketch most days. My drawings are improving but better than my paintings. Please help me? What can I do to stay in the right frame of mind and keep the artistic flow flowing. ” What to do about this and go back to enjoying painting again? For a start do not try and paint a masterpiece every time sit down to paint. This a problem that a lot of Artist face when they face the blank canvas, is the expectation of having to paint their next masterpiece. The canvas cost so much and all the materials cost so much I must do a great painting otherwise it is all be wasted, now that is pressure. You own the supplies so forget about what they cost and just...

Be the best that you can be and do not be satisfied with anything less than your best. You are responsible for your behaviour, so be the best you can be. I read a lots of what Artists say on Facebook. I do believe in Facebook it is a very good marketing tool and if you have no money to spend on marketing you can still use Facebook to your advantage, it is great tool. What confuses me a little is this. If we all agree that Facebook is a good marketing tool, then why do we put some of the stuff up and say some of the things that we say? I do understand freedom of speech and “I need to be myself” but this is your public Artist face and you never know when a buyer is looking at you and your Art work. First impressions count, and that's new every day of the week, because you never know when that first timer is looking at your Facebook page for the first time and their first impression counts. Think about what you put up on your page, what you say, you can curse i...

Complaining about things you cannot change does not make sense, better to change the things you can change. I hear Artists blame the Art schools for equipping them properly. I hear Artists blame the Gallery system and the Art market that it is too difficult and flawed and customers don't buy, all can be true, but we cannot change these things it has always been that way, but we can change ourselves and change our world. Complaining about things you cannot change does not make sense. Artists, spend a lot of money on art supplies, canvas, studio rents and of course their precious time, then the show their work and nothing sells. They do not know how to sell so trying to sell is scary, they complain. They do not know how to market and think that showing their painting on Facebook and getting likes is marketing, but no sales come and they complain. So many do not see the value of spending money on improving themselves. Learn to be a public speaker so you are confident to speak to...

Lets empower Artists so that they just don't paint wonderful paintings but are also good smart business people who are in control of their own careers. I am not saying this is the easy road, because it isn't, but it is the road to success. If you control your career and you make the decisions, then no blame and no excuses. Pursue your Art dreams and understand that this is a business, the Art Business and you can be successful in it. Yes it will take a lot of hard work, lots of patience, learning new skills. There will be good days and hard days but you will be the master of your destiny, not someone else. Know what you want and pursue it, and do the hard work, decision, action, patience, repartition and keep smiling because you control your future.

If customers are given the choice between a lower price and an indifference sales person, or something that matters and someone who cares, they will most times choose the latter. People want to know that we care about them even if it is only for a short period of time. Never before in our history have Artists had the ability to reach people like they have today. The internet has made it so that we can connect with people all over the world and tell our story to those who will listen. Your Art market now is so much bigger than it has ever been before and you can reach so many more people than you ever could before, but unlike before when sales were not a connect but just a transaction, now we need to connect with people on an emotional level. That's why I tell Artists to write about their paintings, tell us why you do what you do, because today we can connect on such an intimate level we need to tell our story. I am not talking about our intimate personal details of you...

Life responds to what we deserve not what we need or want. The farmer needs a harvest but he does not deserve one. If the farmer plants a crop then he deserves a harvest. The harvest comes to the planters not those who need it. The Artist who is working hard at their craft and learning new skills so they can market and sell their work, deserves a harvest. I remember working in a saw mill as a teenager and I was working on the big saw blade with the saw-miller, I watched him do his work cutting the logs and it looked hard but he made it look so easy, pushing this large log through the saw. I later talked to him and I said that it looked so hard what he did, if the log rolled or moved he could be hurt very badly, wasn't it hard to do? Of course it is hard if you do not know how to do it, but it is easy if you know how. Isn't that true in the Artist life, its hard to sell to people, but it is easy if you learn how to sell. It takes time to sit down and read the necessary b...

To often as Artists we do not recognise the advantage of small gains. We do not even consider them sometimes because we do not think that they are important, but it is the small gains that really count in life. I spoke to a young Artist last January who wanted to do great things and I said to them that they need to discipline their life and learn to work towards small goals and achieve small steps forward. We talked for some time and money of course was the major thing that they were concerned about and I said ok lets concentrate on money as it is easy to tell if you are doing ok because you will have more. I asked if they had a bank account and they said no. I said you must learn to save and when you have little money is the best time to learn. I tried to explain that it not how much you earn that counts but how much you can save from your earnings, that's the real measure of success. So I gave them a challenge. If they will open a bank account and save each mont...

Yesterday I wrote, ' The Art world will not give you what you want. The Art world will not give you what you need. The Art world will give you what you deserve. It is no different than in life. If you do not plant a seed you will not get a harvest no matter how much you want and need it. The ones to get the harvest are those who deserve it, the planters, they deserve the harvest. As with everything in life there is a cost for everything, there are no free lunches. ” The next step to having long career in the Art Business is to concentrate on a few things. Concentrate on the love of painting and painting only because of that and no other motives. If you are painting to make your fortune, you picked the wrong profession. I believe most serious dedicated Artists can make a very good living from their Art, but will they all end up in the auctions and great museums, very few. The love of painting and the need to paint must be your only driving force. Your belief ...

The Art world will not give you what you want. The Art world will not give you what you need. The Art world will give you what you deserve. It is no different than in life. If you do not plant a seed you will not get a harvest no matter how much you want and need it. The ones to get the harvest are those who deserve it, the planters, they deserve the harvest. As with everything in life there is a cost for everything, there are no free lunches. Many new Artists seem to think that because they can paint, they have talent and they put there paintings out for sale that they deserve to sell, yet they have not paid their dues. I hear the complaint that no wants to buy my work, but honestly it takes years to establish a market, just ask any Artist who is still painting after ten years. The drop out rate for Artists is very high, yes very high, people do not realise how hard it is to sell a painting. Artists blame Galleries, dealers, Art Fairs, other Artists, the rain, the ...

I met this Artist at Art in the Park and he was very different. He was from overseas and wanted to show his paintings to the Galleries represented at this Art Fair. His first mistake, every gallery there was trying hard to sell what they had and no one was in the mood to entertain a new Artist. He spoke to me and I said I was busy and he walked away. A few hours later he came back a little down and he wanted to talk so I decided to chat with him a little, m aybe I could help. He gave me his story, which was interesting. He said he need to connect and sell paintings in the Philippines and could I give him any pointers. These simple principles any Artist can use on line or at a Gallery or Art Fairs or on the street anywhere you want to sell your Art. 1. Be consistent…. Always turn up, same time same place. If you say you will be there, then be there. 2. Self belief….. Believe in yourself and put yourself out there. Walk against the inner fears and use them to motivate you. If you...

Following yesterdays post I g o t asked the question by an Artist who is work ing full time outside the Art industry, when is the right time to give up their day job and go and paint for a living. I believe that every Artist is capable of earning a good living from their Art, but I also believe that you should not be in a rush and give up your day job. Just because family and friends say you are a talented Artist and love receiving your paintings as gifts, does not mean in the future they will buy your paintings when they are for sale . Before you use family and friends as your yardstick for going full time, because of th e wonderful things they say about you, ask them how many original paintings they have bought off other Artists? The answer is usually very telling. Also do not let likes on Facebook put stars in your eyes unless they are translating into sales. Look at it this way. Your Art can be your bread and butter one day, but until it is you...

I am always saddened when I am contacted by Artists who have given up and stopped painting and get out of the Art community. Some contact me and ask for help, what will they do? They have been painting for a number of years and just cannot make it. Few sales come but not regular sales and it does become very difficult I know. What can I say. First of all do not blame yourself or the Art Business, it is what it is. Blaming yourself will not achieve anything but self pity. So take a deep breath and exhale slowly and consider your options. Life is life and it happens to everyone, good and bad. It rains on the happy and the sad at the same time, so life happens. You cannot change that and you cannot change the Art Business, but you can change you and your circumstances. If you do not need to sell paintings to live, then don't sell any more, paint because you love to paint and give them all away, the best reason to paint. So many Artists just do not comprehend what happens when yo...

I know that there are a lot of Artists out there who read my blogs and do not want to sell their Art work and paint purely for the love of painting and give their work away. I truly admire that and believe that is the purest form of painting. The people I address in my blogs are those Artists who choose to sell their paintings to earn a living. To enter the Art Business and put a price on their work and sell it. Now if you do that please do not get offended when I say that you need to be the one to sell your work, you need to market it and you need to story tell your paintings. If you want buyers to notice your work you need to get their attention. You need to understand that the buyer is looking for value for their money. If you believe that an Artist is entitled to earn a good living from their Art and it is not fair that prices are so low, well I am sorry its just business. No where is it written down that Artists are entitled earn a living any more than i...

I get asked regularly to look at paintings from unknown Artists and asked do I think they are worth the money the Artist is asking for them? Nine times out of ten, the answer is no. If you are unknown and asking $3000 for and abstract painting, or any painting really, then you really do not understand the Art Business. This story is the reality for the majority of Artists. Artist is just starting out and paints a 90 cm x 90cm oil painting of reasonable standard and asks $100 for it. Ten years later the Artist paints a similar painting, same size, same standard and gets $1000. At the end of their career the Artist paints a similar paintings, same size, same standard and now gets $10,000 for the painting. The Artist dies and this same painting is now sold for $100,000. You must pay your dues and it takes time, just like in any business, there are no free lunches. If you are starting out, in my opinion, pricing your work is not as important as, getting the attention of the buying pu...

You can look to the Art Market to validate your success, but often the market likes what is terrible and hates what is good? Success and satisfaction comes from the work itself. Do not compare yourself to others, that is a sad road to follow because you will never see that you are ever good enough. Accept praise and consider criticism, but only if its not personal. Success is having a professional approach to your Art Business, professional habits:- You turn up every day at the same time and work. You stay on the job and finish the work, excuses makes for time wasting. Be courageous with your Art practice, always be pushing the limits. If that frightens you it is most probably the right thing to do. Take the highs with the lows, it's not personal, it is just Art life. Do not take things too personally, the overly sensitive Artist is a recipe for disaster. Be patient and have a long view. Work like there is no tomorrow and plan for your retirement. Eventually you must get to th...

Last night I was thinking about Vincent van Gogh and his life story and how important it seems in hindsight but how insignificant it must have felt to him. I can look back at him through his fame and now celebrated as one of the great Artists of all time, but what if he had lived, would it have been different? He certainly could have lived into the 1930's and he would most assuredly have experienced the success he deserved. Then I thought about all  the Artists that I know and the struggle that they go through and it hit me, Vincent van Gogh is you. He was a local Artist and his family and friends loved his paintings and he gave them away to them. His brother tried to sell his paintings in a gallery but was unable to. He was misunderstood because he suffered from depression as many of us Artists do and have done. His paintings were very different and people did not like them. He was different and so was his work, is that you? He was rejected. He was laughed at. He died way ...

As Artists we use or imaginations and creativity constantly to do what we do.  The imagination drives our practice and helps us to produce the work that defines us as Artists. We take what does not exist, except in our imagination and dreams and we turn it into a beautiful Art work. As Artists we go to work on an idea and turn it into reality. As Artists we breath life into ideas and produce exceptional Art. We imagine it and it is. What an extraordinary gift.