Mark E Shellshear.

There are some Artists I know who make a reasonable living by selling paintings on the street, some do very well in Galleries, some excel in Art Fairs and others in weekend markets, all these Artists in their varied ways are putting their Art out there in the market place and selling it. Unfortunately there are those who are not working hard at selling their Art and they always seem to find fault with the market, but that is like finding fault with oxygen when it’s all you have got to breath. Complaining and criticising fixes nothing and it only reveals our inner self. The best thing to do is learn all you can about the Art market where you live and make the part of the Art world a better place because you are in it. Don't just find fault, find a way to do it better and strive for excellence. So many Artists are complainers and believe that they have a right to prosper because they are Artists. Well you don't have any more right to prosper than any one else...

If you do not need to sell paintings to live, then don't sell them any more, paint because you love to paint and give them all away, the best reason to paint and to be a blessing to others. So many Artists just do not comprehend what happens when you start to price your work. People go from wonderful givers of their Art work to disappointed, bitter sellers of their work. High prices paid for a painting does not make it good. It just means the market was prepared to pay that much for it. Selling a painting does not validate you as an Artist. Sales can never validate you, because you paint paintings that what makes you an Artist and validates you, not sales. Sales just mean the market is prepared to buy those paintings. It does not make them good or better than another Artists work. Not selling a painting does not mean the painting is no good. It just means that the market was not prepared to buy them today but may change it’s mind next week or next month. Th...

Saving money takes a long time to accumulate, it’s slow and hard. Debt accumulates quickly and is easy to get and will smother you if left unchecked. Selling is hard, that’s why people make excuses not to do it. Learning a new skill is hard, that’s why so few learn new skills. The majority want it to be easy and comfortable and believe in the it will all work good and that winning lotto will make them happy, it will not and most who win usually after some time end up right back where they started. Money like success, only stays with those who are prepared, it might visit the unprepared but it does not stay long. What if you could spend six months learning a new skill that would start you on the road to your fortune, wouldn’t you do it? Six months of reading all the books, doing all the free tutorials on You Tube and listening to all the mp3’s available for free, if that would change your life forever for good, wouldn’t that be worth doing? I think it is so intere...

To follow your Artistic dreams and be a successful Artist besides creating your Art, the most important skill you can learn is how to sell your art. Yes many Artists believe that it is the responsibility of the Galleries to sell their Art, but there are not enough Galleries to serve all Artists so you must sell your Art. So you must be prepared to suffer through the pain of no sales until you learn to sell or give up. You must prepare to sacrifice your time to learn the skill of selling. You must deal with the “thief” and self doubt as well as the critics and the haters. The good news is once you learn to sell your own Art and you start selling, you get to keep all the money and you will be a successful selling Artist. Wow, that would make all the pain of learning the new skill of selling worthwhile. Short term pain for long term rewards.

I was asked th is 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 paint for a living. I do 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 hurry to give up your day job. Painting part time knowing you are paying your daily bills is less stressful than having to sell your paintings every week to meet your needs. Paintings do not sell every week and you can have lean times. Of course family and friends will say you are a talented Artist and love receiving your paintings as gifts, but that does not mean in the future they will buy all your paintings when they are for sale . You need to remember that it is strangers who have to buy your paintings to sustain your future income, so you will need to build up a network of strangers that will become your collectors and are prepared to support your Art. Y ou ne...

Recognise what is fear, the “thief” and don’t stop. Recognise what is wisdom and don’t jump. The voice of fear, the ‘thief” will always shame and ridicule you and put you down. The voice of wisdom will encourage you and never shame you but lift you up. Fear wants you to be safe, at any cost. Wisdom wants you to expand and grow. Fear will always make you feel bad and doubt yourself. Wisdom will always make you feel good about yourself even when it says no. If it feels bad and it’s no, it’s the thief. If it feels good and it’s no, it’s wisdom. One wants you to be safe at any price at any cost. One wants you to feel good about yourself and expand and grow. Wisdom will always benefit you and prosper you . Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.

It is so difficult for many practising Artists to make changes. They can be inspired one day to make both personal changes and Art practice change but very quickly they fall back into the old ways because those ways are comfortable and safe. Beware of comfort and safety because that is what the thief wants for you. Honestly, trying something new is difficult but that is when the breakthroughs come and change happens. It can be a very uncomfortable feeling when we decide to do something new and challenging that takes us out of our comfort zone into a new place where the thief is going crazy to get us to stop and everything feels like we will make a fool of ourselves and fail. Change can be hard, because we have to break old habit patterns and that takes self discipline. Self discipline to keep doing what is difficult, new and challenging even if the thief is trying so hard to stop you, deny it and do what is best for you. Walk against the thief, embrace difficulty...

Self confidence is built upon the small successes that we have each day as well as the big successes of life. So often we procrastinate on the small things of our Art practice that we know we should do but just don’t seem to get around to doing them. Two obstacles to being a successful Artist are fear and procrastination. Fear is what paralyses people and procrastination reinforces this so that we do nothing, we can recognise this in ourselves because we then make excuses why we cannot do it. Excuses are giving yourself permission not to do what you know you should be doing. This j ustification of your actions or non action using excuses is most often steeped in fear. The excuse sounds true, b ut a deeper look reveals fear is at the root. Do not let fear control your life, deal with fear by hearing what it says and then doing the opposite to what it says. Fear says they will laugh at you if you do that, you say “I will do it and see if they laugh?” Fear s...

You will not get a person to change their mind or point of view by criticism and rebuke. All you will do is make them more entrenched in their point of view. Kindness and the friendly approach and appreciation can make a person change their mind more readily than all the criticism and bad temper in the world. A drop of honey is far more powerful than sarcastic venom. Be kind and be gentle you have no idea the road the other person is walking, so have pity on the life of the fault finder and the critic. Be an inspired Artist who wants to make a positive difference in your world and bring change.

Of course some of the most important things we can do in selling is to stand out from the crowd and get the attention of the buying public and you will not do that if you are like everyone else. When we gain the concept that our Art is not just to help us earn a living but to make a difference in this world then we will approach selling very differently. Making a difference will mean we will have to have a distinct voice, not be like everyone else who is trying fit into what an Artist should be like. We are to do work that matters, work that changes people. That means we will have make it up as we going along, there are no maps for genius, it is about doing it for the first time, it has not been done before and in doing that we make a difference in the lives of the lives of people we inspire. Work that blesses them and brings joy into their lives and motivates them to be the best they can possibly be, Art can change lives. Build your Art career by being generous, wit...

Selling can be scary. You always need to be courteous and friendly. In the Art world there will be people who do not like your art work and really that is just life. Rejection may feel very personal but most times it is not. They are not rejecting you as a person just the art and I know as an artist it is hard to separate yourself from your painting.. One strategy that I found helpful was to say to myself after they said they didn't like my work and as they walked away, " I didn't make it for you." That helped me a lot, it allowed me to take my painting back off them. Don't be rude be friendly and realise that you did not paint for those who do not like it, you only paint for those who like your work. This is a real key to handling rejection, ask yourself who you painted your paintings for, those who reject your work or those who love your work? Now that you know who you painted your paintings for, when someone says they don’t like yo...

I am at a loss at the sight of Artists having a group show that someone has gone to the trouble to promote and when the clients are present in the show, the majority of the Artists are cowering in the corner like scared rabbits. I wonder what story these Artists are telling themselves? That their paintings will sell themselves? That somebody will take responsibility and do it for them? Or has fear, the “thief” so gripped them that they are unable to move? Always we must remember as Artists that the people who come to view our openings give us the gift of their precious non-renewable time to do so, even if they don’t buy something from us, just their arriving to support us is a wonderful gift. So we must respect that and give them our attention, a warm smile and thank them for coming. People like to be appreciated and in our busy world when someone goes out of their way to visit our Art exhibition so we must show our appreciation by talking to the visitor and bein...

Family they are yours, so you must do what is best for the harmony of your family. Friends, full price is good or trade something for equal value that you need. This can open up all sorts of possibilities with other businesses in your area especially if they love Art, be creative. Exposure is worth something if the bank will accept it, otherwise it is worth nothing. Term payment is good, just make sure you keep the painting until it is fully paid for. Take a deposit of 25% to 50% and no longer than 6 months to pay, do not give the painting to the customer until it is fully paid because it could end in tears. It’s not that I am saying people are dishonest but many are forgetful. Do not lose sight of your principal mission and that is to create the Art you want to create and to sell it at a profit so you can live the lifestyle that you have chosen to live. Always be learning more about your Art, your business and yourself, if you get better then...

We are showing our work at an Art Fair and we have researched the the market we are in and well prepared with our product knowledge, our paintings are hung and looking beautiful. We have a good variety of price points including our marque paintings that are high priced. A couple enter our booth and begin to look around, they stop and look at one of your marque paintings and are admiring it, you go up and introduce yourself to them and they say how much they love the painting. Before you have a chance to talk about the painting they ask the price. Now I believe in putting the prices on the paintings so you already know that they are aware of the price. Most people do this if they are going to try and get a discount. You give them the price and they think for a while and say, “ The price is to high, can you lower it?” The only answer to this objection is to prove quality and value. Because you have great product knowledge you are able to tell them the value of th...

Knowing your product is an essential sales skill. When Artists u nderstand their products features this then allows them to present their paintings to the potential customer enthusiastically and persuasively. Strangers respond to enthusiastic Artists who are passionate about their Art and eager to share the benefits with them. When faced with this thought many Artists just say, “ But, it’s just a painting, what do you want me to say?” “ It’s a painting of flowers, it’s a landscape, you can’t say much.” “ Do you want me to tell them the chemical make up of the paint, or what kind of canvas it is and where was it made?” No, I do not want to know the chemical make up of the paint or where the canvas was made, I want to know about your painting. You the Artist painted the painting and should be enthusiastic to tell me as much as you possibly can about your creation. Here are a few points on what is product knowledge for the Artist, of course you can add many m...

Selling is not easy. No one is born a great salesperson but selling can be fun, if you learn some simple things to take a little of the fear out of it. The first thing you need to do is understand the Art business where you live, in your world, not the Art business here in Manila or any other place but your location, your city, where you want to sell your Art. So get around all the Art Galleries, Art fairs and markets and look at all the Art. Try and get an understanding of what is out there and where you fit into your Art scene. Check out what is selling and what is not and ask why? Find out what are the best price points to sell at. Which Galleries and markets have the best sales records. You need to learn all about this so you can know your market. Learn this not so you can copy what is selling and duplicate it but find what sells best, landscapes or abstracts or some other genre. If you are an abstract painter and you learn that landscapes sell best then ...

I go to Art Fairs and I see lots of excellent paintings in every booth. Paintings of every size, medium and subject, all contending for my attention and wallet. I am overwhelmed with colour, what will get my attention? First it will be the painting that captures my sight and then it will be the Artist. The value proposition becomes the Artist now and hopefully she can make me love the painting as much as she loves the painting? Selling is not easy, if it was everyone would be a master salesperson and get lots of sales but it is not so. Yet there are a few little things that we can easily do that will help us with selling. Sales are the reason you exhibit your paintings and Art works in Galleries, Art fairs, weekend markets or busking on the street, we are doing this because we want to sell our work. So what can we do that is not hard and can engage the stranger looking at our work. Simple things, be very friendly and smile. Show interest in them and what they a...

External actions, follow internal reasoning. A person’s external actions have their beginning within them, in their heart, their thought life. How a person thinks, combined with what they thinks about, produces the conditions and the actions we see externally. As within, so without. The way you talk to yourself inwardly is the way you will talk to others outwardly. Anger comes from within an angry person. A happy person within radiates happiness outwardly. The outside mirrors the inside. External actions, follow internal decisions so a person’s external actions have their beginning within them, in their heart, their thought life. Out of our internal tal...

“ You cannot attract what you criticise.” I read this sentence in a book and it just jumped out and hit me between the eyes. Of course how true, people want to be successful but they criticise success. We all want success in the Art business and we want to sell our work and earn a good living. Be careful that you do not criticise those who are successful and doing well because you are criticising what you also want, success and sales. You cannot attract to you what you are pushing away with criticism. Therefore if you see somebody doing well and you feel your work is better do not criticise but rejoice with them and say, “ I am in the same line. Success will be mine also” It always amazes me when a painting by Mark Rothko sells for millions and all these Artists come out and criticise the painting and how much money is spent on it and say it’s not Art and just junk. The fact is, it is great Art and worthy of our praise and don’t we all want the same result with...