The reality of the Art Business.

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 it is for anyone else in business and if you think that you are, then you are misguided.

This is the Art Business and like all business you bring your product to the market place and the market decides if it will buy them or not.

I have heard all the emotional pleas that art is from the soul and the Artist is very sensitive and that may all be true, but in the end the market decides.

Yes it does suck, because there are some very talented Artists out there that the market ignores, why, I have no idea but it does.

This Art Market that we are in is ruled by, fashion, trends, auctions, dealers, galleries, celebrity artists and every Artist who tries to sell their work, all competing for attention, all believing they have a right to be there.

It is a crowded, old school, closed market that many have tried to change and have failed, it is not going to change.

So be smarter, be wiser, think about your prices and make your prices so they sell and so you can still smile. I am not saying you give them away.

You are a self employed Artist and it is up to you to pay you what income you can generate out of the Art Market.

If you believe that your work is worth more, then it is up to you to sell it for more.

This is free enterprise and you are a self employed Artist, dependant on yourself to generate the income you believe you deserve.

I did not make the rules and I do not like the rules but I have to live by them just like you and make a living within the Art Business.

All Artists if they approach their Art practice as a business can prosper, but it takes time and determination and a truck load of self belief and also talent.

I know this is not the most positive post I have written, but it is the reality of the Art Business.

Please feel free to share.