Mark E Shellshear.

The challenge before us is to help the customer to see our painting through their own eyes, not through ours. Artists with successful careers rarely market the facts about their paintings, title, size, medium, price, nice frame etc. Instead they tell stories that will resonate with the worldview of the people they are selling to. If you do not story tell your Art then you are leaving it up to the viewer to decide on your Art based on their feelings, attitudes and emotions and attention and we know that most people are usually engrossed in the story going on in their heads and that most times they are looking but do not see the Art. We want to interrupt that private conversation going on in their heads so we can tell them a story about our Art that will touch on an emotion or an experience of the viewer so they begin to see the painting through their own eyes. I have found when I tell the story of the Art often the client will say, “ Yes that reminds me of ...” Or “ I d...

When I started doing my daily blog and video three years ago I had no idea that it would grow like it has. First I want to thank everyone who have taken the time to read my blogs and watch my videos, I am forever grateful, thank you. To everyone who took the time to comment, share and like my work, thank you it encouraged me so much. To all the groups I have shared my blogs and videos in I am grateful that you allowed me to do it and to all the critics, so few really, thank you for making me more determined to do what I am doing and never give up. I would never have dreamed when I started that we could have arrived at this place and now change is coming. It has been an amazing three years and I have learned a lot about myself and made so many wonderful friends, it is amazing what you can do when you walk against the fear and each one of us can do that. It sounds a little like the end but in truth it is all just beginning. Next year is an important year as it is the...

We need strangers to buy your paintings, not only family and friends. We need to win strangers as friends so they will become your collectors. It is strangers who have all the money you will earn from selling your paintings. Strangers will make you famous. So it is very important that you meet lots of strangers, be friendly and polite to them and turn them into friends and buyers and into long term collectors. We need to get the attention of strangers and build trust into our relationship with them so they become our friends and collectors. Now if all this is true it would seem that I need to work as hard on my character and self improvement as I do on my Art?

Fear is something that every person has to deal with it is normal, fear was built into us to save us long ago from the ever present danger of being eaten by wild animals, but we no longer have these problems yet we still face fear today and it is one major road block that stops people from being successful. The difference between a successful Artist and the Artist lost in the Art crowd is that the successful one has learned to use fear to motivate her and not allow it to hold her back. Fear is very good and healthy when you are standing on the top of a ten story building but when fear is holding us back and we cannot give a talk about our Art or make those videos that we know we should make or not be able to go up and talk to strangers at Art exhibitions then fear is in control not us. If we allow the fear to motivate us, “ Yes you are here so this must be the right thing to do,” and we get up and give that talk and make those videos and go up and talk to strangers then we ar...

Once we understand what scares us the most to do in our Art practice, the thing we constantly put off, then this is probably the key to our success. Often the thing we don't want to do, is most likely the thing we need to do, so don’t let fear rob us of our success. So what is the thing you least want to do in your Art practice, sales and marketing? Talking to strangers? Doing videos? Learning about the business side of Art or maybe other things? When you go and do these things especially selling and talking to strangers and the thief turns up to stop you, you know this is what you have to do. Admit to yourself that the fear is strong but you must push through it, say to yourself, “ If fear is trying to stop me and panic me, it must be the right thing to do,” and go ahead and do it anyway despite the fear. Once you understand it is fear and nothing terrible will happen to you and you do it anyway, it loses power in that area and it becomes easier and easie...

As we approach the new year we can take time to reflect on the past year and on our accomplishments. Hopefully our collectors and sales have increased and we have attracted more strangers to become followers. The thing we don’t want to do is to appeal to everyone, it sounds great to sell to the mass market but the mass market want average and mediocre it does not want interesting and thought provoking. So Artists do not try and appeal to the mass it does not work, appeal to those who love you and love your Art and build true followers, they might not be the mass but they will be true to you and want you to continue to do interesting and innovative work. We want to appeal to strangers who want and expect us to do better work every time. We want to set for ourselves a very high standard with our Art that way we are always wanting improvement. A tradesman can repeat the process perfectly each time, an Artist is someone who is always wanting to innovate and experiment a...

When we show our Art we must be ready for many different comments, I remember someone saying to me at one of my openings that they did not want to buy my paintings because they were so different and they had never seen anything like them before. I was not offend, I was amazed, because I thought original Art should not be like any other Artists work, I did not want my work to be like the rest of the Art crowd. To many painting look like to many other paintings. I always painted things differently to other Artists because I wanted my paintings to reflect me and be from me, I never wanted to paint like everyone else. Be different and discover what inspires you the Artist to produce your best work. You are on a journey to discover, make original Art that reflects you and your personality, it is not just about your paintings, its about being yourself and painting life from your perspective, your vision. Be original, don’t copy other Artists work and paint what is ver...

Open your inner eyes and see what you can be. So many have a dream but are to embarrassed to talk about it. You must be courageous to dream and be prepared to talk about your dream, especially to yourself, affirmation is very important. Dreams take us forward and having big dreams are empowering. For dreams to become reality the first person you must convince is yourself. You must sell yourself on your dream. You must believe that your dream is important and worthwhile, because if you are not totally sold on your dream, when setbacks and problems come and they will, most give up. When you tell people about your dream some will tell you it is impossible, others will try and talk you out of it, don’t allow dream thieves to steal your dream. When a dream thief tries to tell you that you can’t do that when they ask you about your dream, just responded and tell them, “ Who is going to stop me?” The truth is only you can stop you, it’s your dream.

Artists must never loose sight of how important to your Art business are the people who come in contact with your Art and love it. We need people to appreciate and buy our Art, so people are very important to us. We must consider how our Art serves others. How our Art touches others. How our Art influence others. Everything we do has to have a positive impact on someone and inspires them to be better and bring joy and happiness into their lives. It is always about the people we touch. The people we serve. The people we influence. The people whose lives are changed because of a beautiful painting. Art heals, Art inspires and Art brings happiness into broken lives, paint with all your heart because someone is depending on you to bring joy into their life. Never underestimate the power of your Art or the people you touch. ...

It does not matter how marvelous your painting are, how many hours it took to paint them, whether it is oil or acrylic, or how much your Art is worth, sadly if you are unknown then you will need to convince strangers that your work is good enough to buy from an unknown Artist. If it was just about the quality of the painting then most Artists would be famous but it is not, first of all you have to get known by the people who will buy your Art, strangers. Once you can accept that reason you are not selling has nothing to do with your paintings you can then concentrate on what you have to do and that is to go from unknown to known. You need to put yourself and your Art in front of strangers. You will do that by using social media, Art shows, group and one person shows, being in competitions and showing at every opportunity that you can get. I know this sounds daunting because everyone is trying to get known but most in word only their actions tell a different story b...

So many Artists out there struggle with self doubt, lack of confidence and low self esteem. Many feel awkward when someone admires their Art and says how nice it is. We need to learn to say “ Thank you” but for many that is so hard to do and they put themselves down, trying to be humble, but it’s not humility it is self criticism and it often sabotages the sale. When complemented some Artists say, “ I am only a beginner.” “ My work is improving.” “ My work is getting better, I have a lot to learn.” Thinking by saying this the customer will not think you have a big ego, but what you are really saying or what the customer is hearing, “ I don’t believe in my Art.” So many do this because of their yesterdays where they were taught that it is wrong to accept praise. The voice in your head is saying, “ I am not good enough.” “ They are just saying that to be nice.” “ I know my work is not as good as all the other Artists.” This is so wrong to do this to yours...

This has been a wonderful year and I have had the privilege of meeting so many amazing talented Artists and I get to hear their stories. I was able to have lunch today with one of these amazing Artists and there is something about an Artist who has decided to overcome the fear and change and get their work out there. When you sit and listen to them talk about their Art they are so engaging you just want to listen, their body language oozes enthusiasm and they are so passionate about their work. I love the confidence they have and they are not ashamed to talk about their work and themselves and they aspire to great things. Most importantly they know that the Art world will not change for them so the must be the change that they want to see. If you want to see change in the Art world then work on changing yourself for the better and your world will change. You can be the Artist that you aspire to be.

Nobody will pick you until you are already famous. Nobody will give you permission so do not ask, just give yourself permission. Don’t look for others to introduce you, be your own promoter introduce yourself. The idea we are all sold is that if we wait in the wings we will be called to the table, but if we go to the table we will be asked to leave. I do not believe that what I have found is if you look like you belong and act like you belong and are confident in yourself, you will not be asked to leave and you will be accepted. Because most everyone else is not that confident even the rich and famous, so be self-assured it will show in your body language. The first time may be a bit unsettling but over time the fear will calm down and confidence will grow. Most Artists are held back by fear so it is always easier to take the low seat, but that is where the crowd is and we want to stand out from the crowd and get attention, so we need to invite ourselves forward b...

What changes you bring and the people you inspire. Not what you are getting but what you are becoming. So many focus on the getting. I have no sales? People are not commenting on my Art? It’ s hard to market my Art. No body will help me. Yet we really need to focus on becoming. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “What am I becoming?” A better Artist learning about sales and marketing. A better Artist incorporating new disciplines to become a better person. A better Artist not afraid to talk to strangers and tell the story of my Art. A better Artist who cares about others and how our Art impacts on others for good. What I am becoming is far more important than what I am getting. As I become the best Artist and the best person that I can be, the getting will look after it’s self.

The truth about life in the Art business like any business is that there is going to be ups and downs, it’s just the way life is. The most important thing that we can do is to learn from all of life’s lessons, what to do and what not to do. In the difficult times we must look at the problem and think how we need to change to fix it, because when we change everything changes. Often it takes a change of attitude and then the whole problem looks different. In the good times find out what we did and multiply our effort to keep repeating it, both will take personal change. Success understood is repeatable. Grow from the pain of losing. Grow from the joy of winning. The key is to grow and everything will change.

The pitfalls for  Artists  e ntering the Art market is that they try and do it like  it was done  before  and try and take   the gallery road  and that is frustrating as  the Art market has changed so much .   If the local Gallery will not show  you,  set up your  own  gallery on  social media and push it , you will get attention and you will get noticed and that is what you want.   If you wait around to be discovered, it will not happen, so make it happen,  do videos and story tell your Art . The other thing you have t o  do is produce work and lots of it, you have little time to rest, paint. Also you have the freedom to market as you wish, you can again experiment and do things differently.   Make your own path and work hard. Learn what you need to learn, read that book, do the  YouTube  seminar, listen to that podcast, it is all out there but  you  have to find i...