Mark E Shellshear.

In all we do be balanced, there will be difficult days and there will be amazing days, it is all part of this roller coaster called life and it is worth being part of this life, the alternative is not very attractive. So Artists when you go through some bad days, just say this is part of life, it has to rain sometimes. When wonderful things happen, rejoice in them and celebrate in your accomplishments and know that sunny days always come after the rain. On the rainy days days, work hard on your Art and yourself. Fix things, learn new skills and encourage yourself, go over your goals. On the sunny days rejoice and celebrate and dance in the sunshine. Always remember the rain does not last forever and nether does the sunshine, there will always be rainy days followed by sunny days followed by rainy days followed by sunny days. Protect your heart against failure and your head against grandeur. Rejoice in today it is full of opportunity waiting to happen. ...

One of the most interesting things I see in the Art world that I am a part of is the rush of young Artists to follow fads and trends. This is certainly not the best way to be successful and get attention. Being lost in the crowd of the same does not make you stand out but makes you invisible. You would be far better to do different and original work and race ahead where no one else sees a path and deliberately holding back from going where the crowd wants to go. Being invisible is fine if that is what you want but it’s very hard for an invisible Artists to get the public's attention. Best to stand out and get attention.

We all being watched by someone all the time, so we need to always be doing the best we can do and being the best we can be. Out there young Artists, new Artists are watching what older Artists are doing and trying to emulate them, to be like them. Be an inspiration to those watching you. Beware of the enemies of being the best Artist that you can be. Don't complain, encourage and see the best in each situation. Don't criticize , find something good to say, encourage us. Don't be selfish, there is enough success for everyone. Don't always make it about you, be generous. Don't be jealous of others, promote others . Don’t give in to fear, use the “thief” to guide you, it says stop, you say go. You are unique and original, put that into your Art and through you doing that you will reveal your inner creative self and inspire others. Be the best Artist and best person you can be, because people are looking for someone to inspire them and encou...

If you believe that you can make a difference in this world through your Art, you most likely will because the average person has already give up on the idea of making a difference and does not want to think about it. Instead of searching for pleasures and self gratification lets search for ways to make a difference. I do not see what I do as work, that is drudgery, I have the attitude that I am on a Noble Quest and that makes it exciting and a reason to go forward and make a difference. Don’t let people tell you that you can’t make a difference because you can. Will you be criticized? Most likely but pity the critics, they are afraid of you, you might bring change. Even if you only touch one person with your Art and it changes them and they grow through the experience, then you have made a difference. Art is powerful, it can inspire people, it can encourage people, it can bring joy into the hearts of some and it can heal people. Make a difference, change your w...

One thing that truly drives me on in what I do is the core belief that I can do more than I do and achieve more than I expect. You are smarter than you think you are. You are stronger than you think you are. Doing your Art is more important than waiting for a good idea or inspiration. If you truly believe you can do more you will. If you truly believe you will accomplish your goals you will. Let everyone else doubt and hesitate, but don’t you. You see if you do your challenging work most times it will work and if you don’t do it you are just playing safe appeasing the fear. Don’t hesitate and don’t run to that safe place, because that is not where the magic of creativity happens. To do magic you cannot hesitate and it’s not a safe place, but it is the place where magic happens. You are smarter than you give yourself credit for. You are stronger than you think you are. You can do magic, you just have to get into that place where the magic happens. ...

We all need new customers to buy our Art work but attracting new buyers is hard work and costs far more than keeping our old customers happy. A happy old customer will very likely talk about you and your Art to their friends and in that way bring you new people through word of mouth. If they love your work and love you they will talk about you so we need to take good care of these customers. Our job as Artists is to delight our existing customers and they will continue to buy from us and talk about us. The problem we face is that each customer has limited wall space, so delight them with your wonderful work and your friendliness and they bring new people to you with lots of empty wall space.

Many people think that being an overnight success is the only success worth having and if they are not, they give up and quit. Most overnight successes take years to accomplish, figuring out what you have to do day after day to be successful in the future. Patient daily progress is the key, working hard to make today a successful day building a strong foundation for your Art business future. If you believe in your Art then you will invest years of your life into it, believing totally in the successful outcome. Educate yourself don’t leave it to chance, build the life you want and never give up. Make painstaking progress until you become an overnight success.

We should all strive to be a role model to younger Artists by living up to a standard that we can be proud of. Making sure our Art practice is not based purely on talent and creativity but that we have character and integrity as people doing the right thing even when others are not. You are unique and original, put that into your Art and through you doing that you will reveal your inner creative self and inspire others. Character is so important so b e the best Artist and best person you can be, because people are looking for someone to inspire them and encourage them, not disappoint them. Lead by example.

There is no natural path to success in the Arts anymore , once we had the gatekeepers, the Galleries, curators, competitions and dealers who were all instrumental in picking the winners, but the internet has changed all that and now you can pick yourself. You can pick up the microphone if you want to and promote yourself. Every Artist can do videos, write a blog, have a pod cast the opportunities to get peoples attention are limitless. We have social media to show our Art and let the world see it and get peoples attention. So start do not wait for an invitation because it’s not coming, you have to start. Most importantly be passionate about your work and touch people with your passion and stand out from the crowd and be noticed. Don’t just show good work, there is so much good work on show now good is average s how your very best work always, because best is always better and best get s peoples attention. Don’t just show up, be passionate. ...

Your Art is central to who you are, so make your behavior match your expectations, character counts. You want people to like you and like your Art. You want people to respect you so live your professional life in a way that gets respect, you don’t always have to be right. Respect is not something you earn or deserve we must give respect to all people but professional respect is something you earn over a period of time and can be lost in an instant. You can achieve the success you want as long as you don’t care how long it takes, persistence is the key and your Art must be amazing. The other Artists who want the same success as you do are totally driven, single minded and make great Art and you will need to be the same. So focus on your Art and let success follow. Aim at a balanced life of integrity, creativity, innovation, originality and constantly work on your character it matters, so you can be the best person and the best Artist you can be. Push the bou...

In our Art business we have different groups of people that we relate to and need to sell to. Strangers are our potential customers and true fans and we must engage with them constantly. Critics are transitory, they come and go so ignore them you have more important things to do. Friends are those who may buy your Art now and then. Your true fans are the members of your community and they are there for you and buy your Art. The critic may get your attention because they hurt you, but they add no value to you or your Art business, ignore them. A true fan is worth a thousand times more than a critic who foolishly thinks they are helping you. Embrace, encourage and inspire your true fans, please them and they will support you forever.

Many older Artists knew what success was like when they were younger and to be the darling of the Art world and many were seduced by it and believed that if they kept doing the same sort of work that the praise would go on forever, but it doesn’t and fashion gets tired of the same thing and it moves on and they are left behind wondering what changed. The lesson for all Artists to learn is do not listen to the praise and adoration but listen to the Muse. The back slappers and adoring fans are not the answer to a long sustainable career, producing wonderful, original Art is, look at all the greats of history especially Picasso he constantly evolved and sort excellence in his Art. Praise and adoration is nice and enjoy it when it comes but it is just smoke and it will blow away, your reality is in your creativity and doing excellent Art, not in flattery. Artists must always strive for excellence in what they are doing if they are going to change their world, not strive fo...

D on’t be good, be great. Being good is average there are lots of good Artists out there, go to an y Art show, an y Art fair and you will see that most Artists are good, so good is not the high bar anymore great is. The great Artist is different from the good Artist. A good Artist may have similar Art work to a great Artist, so where is the difference in value from good to great? The great Artist reaches out, they think about being a customer and they understand what the customer wants. They care about the customer and engage with them, they are very friendly and want to talk to you, they want to tell you about their Art and why they paint ed it and they are interested in what their customer has to say, they bring added value to the experience . They remember customers names and always follow up sales with newsletters and phone calls, they keep the engagement going forward build ing a relationship with the customer. They are not just better than a good Artis...

Human beings don’t make rational decisions they make emotional ones. Yet so many Artists leave the selling of their Art up to their painting. As one Gallery owner said to me, “The paintings have to sell themselves as my staff can’t sell.” They were not prepared to pay the staff very much and so they were not good sales people, sad but true story. My attitude is that painting’s don’t sell themselves, people sell Art. If people don’t make rational decisions then we should really be appealing to their emotions when we sell our Art. How do we do that? Include a short story about your Art that will connect to the emotions of the viewer, it just needs to be a few short but meaningful lines. It might not seem like the right thing for some Artists to do as their paintings sell themselves but if you are emotionally involved with your Art work then express it in a short story as most people make their decisions based on their emotions.

The Artist was talking to her customer about the painting they were looking at. The customer was undecided, she didn’t know what it was about the painting because it wasn’t they price they had already agreed on that, it was just something holding her back. The Artist said, “ If I was you, I would get this as it is new and one of my best pieces.” The problem is the Artist is not her customer. A better decision for the Artist to make with her undecided customer would be to say, “ You seem undecided about the painting, why don’t I hold the painting for two days so you can make up your mind, I do not want you to buy a painting you don’t love as much as I do.” Then change the subject and chat with friend. By doing this you have shown empathy with your customer and said you are a special person to me and I would rather you be happy than buy the painting and later regret buy...

Most Artists care more about the customer before they buy the painting, the Artist wants the money so there is a strong motivation to care. After the transaction is completed most never contact the customer again unless they are trying to sell them another painting and usually without success. The time to care the most is after you have sold the painting to the customer. Contact them after a week, email, text or best a phone call and inquire about them and the painting they bought and ask where did they hang it, be interested. Most Artists will not do this because there is no money in customer care so why bother and what if they complain? But if the customer sees that you truly care about them and the painting, you will build a bond between you and them and you won’t have to ring them to sell them another Art work. You care so they will care back and come to your shows because you have a bond and hopefully buy more Art from you. Why, b...

N ot everyone will like your work especially if you are doing really new and different work. I had an exhibition once and all the paintings were my organic shapes, large abstracts and a person made an interesting statement. They said they would not buy my paintings because they had never seen anything like them before. I said to them, “ True, but isn’t that what original Art is supposed to be, original?” They did not buy. The lesson to be learned is everyone will not like your work and if you do original work you will be misunderstood by some. Always be true to your own vision and your Art and educate people about your work , e specially people who have never seen anything like it before. We are only for some people, the ones that love our work they are the ones we created it for.

“ I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp.”― W. Somerset Maugham . I thought this was great advice for those down times when you just sit and stare at that white canvas . One Artist I respect ed said that she got through these empty times this way , she did not wait around for inspiration? She loved the act of painting not inspiration, isn’t that brilliant ? So she forg o t about being inspired and paint ed. She found in the dry times that she would play and just have fun with paint. You will be constantly amazed how in th ese times of having fun and playing how many great new ideas will c o me forth , sometimes you will do this for hours but it will be time not wasted. I am sure once you get lost in creating and enjoying the experience, inspiration will turn up and you probably won’t even notice. D on't wait for inspiration get l ost in the moment j ust hav ing fun painting. ...