Mark E Shellshear.

As Artists in the market place we must be the best we possibly can be. The best paintings we can produce. The best smile we can have. The best greeting we can make. The best explanation of our Art work we can have. Because I really do believe that to get the best results we must be the best we can possibly be. When we make the decision to be the best we possibly can be it effects all we do, our mannerisms, our attitudes and our own happiness and the happiness of people around us. Positive and enthusiastic people are fun to be around and these people get results. It is so easy to be the friendly Artist at the exhibition opening or Art Fair. It is so easy to just chat to strangers who have come to look at your work, smile and just have a friendly chat. If you want the best results, then just be the best you can be, do not compare you self to others, just be your best self. By being the best you can be now, you are planting seeds into your future and your best harvest will come from it...

You can look to the Art Market to validate your success, but often the market likes what is popular and trendy and ignores what is cutting edge, new and different? Success and satisfaction comes from doing 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. There is no one to compare you to as you are a one of a kind, so let self belief drive you on, create original organic work, be different, be you. Accept praise and ignore criticism and keep away from negative people, they are like the measles and you will get infected. Build positive relationships with other Artists and talk to strangers about your work at every opportunity you get and build relationships with them and turn them into friends and life long collectors. You are the key to your Artistic success, believe in yourself and believe in your Art and never be less than your best.

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, no one can stop you. 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, pick yourself. Most importantly be passionate about your work and touch people with your passion and stand out from the crowd and be noticed, get attention. Don’t just show good work, there is so much good work on show now good is average, show your very best work always, because best is always better and best gets peoples attention. Don’t just show up, show off...

It was a crazy time in my Art career I had this battle going on inside my mind that bought me to a complete stand still. I would sit and think about doing a new series and always these thoughts would come and tell me that I will wreck my career, no one will buy them, stay with what you know, sounds quite silly now but it was a real struggle, it was only when I listened to my friend and got into that quiet place was I able to control these thoughts and become positive about what I was going to do. The good news is I did the series called, “ Rabbit proof fence” and they were all bought, so my inner negative voice was wrong, but what a struggle. Get rid of the negative self talk, there is enough people out there to criticise you without you doing it to yourself, find that quiet place, within and without and think. Allow the creative forces within you to flow, they will, they just want you to get past all the negativity, the noise and clutter. Turn off all the noise friends ...

I saw a post on an Artist group page where someone had decided to quit their day job and go full time painting and earning their living from their art and then wanted to know what all the others thought? I read all the encouraging comments about his great decision etc but I really only agreed with one comment and it said,                                 “ Can you get your job back?” In my business I get asked this question a lot by Artists believing that they have what it takes to earn a living from their art and the answer I give is always the same. Are you already selling more than you earn from your day job and if not, do not quit your day job. It does amaze me the blind optimism of some Artists, who always tell me about the thousands of likes they get on Facebook and all the encouraging comments they get, mainly fr...

Often we dismiss people who don’t like our Art even if they are not contentious or critical or rude, they just don’t get it. Maybe the fault is with us because we have not given them enough to understand what we are trying to say and without them understanding we have lost them. Like in this mornings video if the sculptor had given us a narrative to follow or made a video explaining his intent behind the piece and what he was trying to say with the piece, we may have been persuaded. If the cinder blocks had a pattern in how they were arranged and he had drawn it out and put it on the wall with an explanation, maybe it would have taken form and we would understand his intent rather then just a random mess. If someone is not understanding what we are saying in and through our Art, it is maybe because we have kept it a secret and have not explained what we were trying to do. We must care enough about our viewers to explain to them why we did what we did, even if it seems obv...

I am honestly amazed at how many people and Artists want to defend criticism as a positive attribute? It is not, critical people are not fun to be around as I know that I never enjoyed being criticized and still do not, though now I am able to see it for what it is and dismiss it outright. A question was put to me, “What if they are making bad Art?” My response was “What is bad Art and who gets to decide that?” Personally I think encouragement, instruction, inspiration and mentor ship is far more profitable and valuable to an Artist than criticism.

When people talk about changing the game I always used to think, well what could you do differently, it’s the Art world it is what it is? Yet the Art world over the last twenty five years has made some very big changes, especially now with the internet. We have seen Galleries become less and less and loose their power as the gatekeepers. We have seen the rise of the blockbuster Art fairs and that has eaten away at gallery sales. We have seen the rise of small auction houses and this has a big impact on gallery sales. We have seen social media free the Artist from dealers and galleries and they can now deal and sell directly with the public. We have seen online galleries open up with unlimited wall space eat into brick and mortar gallery sales and other new innovations. So the game really has changed and Artists are seeing themselves in charge of their careers. Artists today can earn a great living selling their Art without ever showing in a gallery, this was unh...

I often get asked why do I seem to beat away at certain subjects all the time? Simple answer is I want to keep you focused on the end goal because it is so easy to get discouraged over time in this business. When I deal with individual Artists one on one, I like to talk about old Artist new Artist, visualization, positive self talk, positive attitude, keeping focused on our goals and not the obstacles, because I believe in change, change lives for the better and you will be a better person and a better Artist and you will change your world. When I write and do videos I like to talk about sales and more sales because this is the oxygen for Artists, we need money, cash flow. Another favourite subject is videos, why aren’t more Artists doing videos? Videos are so powerful and everyone should be doing them, don’t let fear stop you, imagine you can make videos of your Art and post them for free all over social media and so few do it. Lastly read and study, watch tutorials yo...

Customer service starts with building a relationship with the stranger when they are first standing in front of you admiring your painting. This the time to be very focused on what they are saying. Different people hear things differently. Different people see things differently. Listen carefully to what they are saying, not what you think they are saying, to assume the sale is on we must hear what they are truly saying. Don’t interrupt and give good feedback. Make sure you understand what they are really seeing in your Art work also and then lead them into what you were trying to accomplish with your story of the painting. People are fascinated with Artists and want to know about you and understand your Art work. Learn to listen carefully and talk less. Assume the sale is always on, hear what they are really saying and give good feedback. Caring for your customer means that customer service starts before the point of sale and goes on for the rest of your rel...

The most successful Artists that we see are really doing their own thing they are not in the crowd they are trailblazing their art careers. Now to be a trail blazer we must focus on the trail not the obstacles around us. I was reading about downhill skiing where they go very fast and weave in and out of the trees without hitting them. They said key to this kind of skiing was to focus on the trail not on the trees, ignore the trees and go round, if you focus on the trees, you will hit one. In the Art business you can focus on the Art path you are making or on all the problems, the road blocks and obstacles, the setbacks and why you cannot get sales and that will be all you will see and it is depressing and will slow you down and you will constantly doubt yourself and struggle. Focus on your trail not on the trees. Focus on the people who love your Art and encourage yourself in that. Focus on the people who buy your Art and create work to please an...

As I have said in past blogs the most asked question I get is “ Please help me price my paintings.’ I don’t want to answer this question because most times I offend Artists because they have this emotional attachment to their paintings and I do understand that, but you have to sell them, they are your product. As I said yesterday if you can somehow see yourself as the value proposition and your Art is your product you begin to look at your Art differently and you will sell it differently.

I was talking to an Artist about being in a Gallery and they said I should talk more about it as I made a comment about how I dislike the way most Galleries hang work, it always looks to me like the fear of the vacuum, get as much work up on the wall as possible without considering how it looks aesthetically. How the show is hung is as important as the show itself and can mean sales or no sales, I am referring to a solo show. Group shows I will  talk about in the video tomorrow. First of all I never just hang a show, I lay it out around the Gallery before I decide what and where to hang and make sure all the pieces complement each other as I want the show to be pleasing to the eye.

I think for most Artists we mostly all find when we start painting we paint in a traditional style. I know I was taught as a young boy to paint like Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts, two early Australian Artists who painted in the traditional landscape format. I really thought this was the correct way to paint because my teachers told me so but when I discovered abstraction in my twenties I loved it but total abstraction wasn’t for me I wanted to paint life in a contemporary way. Their is so many Artists with different ways of painting and we must all find our place in the Art world we live in, it doesn’t mater, find you. .

When you see another Artist whose work is comparable to yours and you have been painting for a similar length of time but they are succeeding better than you are, you cannot be envious but you need to find out what they are doing. The first question to ask is, “ What are they doing better than I am doing?” “ What are they doing that I am not doing?” Don’t look for the obvious, because immediately our insecurities will go to their painting and usually that is not the answer, the answer will be behind the scenes. Are they doing videos and you are not? Do the have after sales service, do you? Do they story tell their Art, do you? Do they use affirmations and positive self talk? Do they have written down goals and they use visualization? There are so many other things that can cause someone to be more successful, look at other very successful Artists and ask yourself the question, “ What are they doing that I am not doing?” because I have learned this, success leaves a trail. If the A...

Most Artists never contact a customer after they sell a painting to them. Why is this? We don’t want to bother them? Or are we afraid they don’t like the painting now and will want their money back? Imagine if we contacted them and they are very happy with their painting and love having it hang on their wall. You could ask them to send you a photo graph of it on their wall and get them to pose in the photo and then you could post that on your page, another happy customer. You could tell them about your new work and ask them if they would like to see some photos. You would be building trust and relationship with them and that would grow into a friendship in the future. Contacting our former customers is always a good thing to do, it shows we care about them and their Art work more than they we re just another sale. Imagine they will most likely buy from you again as you treated them like a human being, showed respect and consideration for them. Follow up i...

Always be true to your Muse and follow it diligently, listen to it’s soft voice and be always determined to paint your own original Art work, producing work that is yours and defines you. You do not paint for the critics and the unappreciative crowd, you paint for those people who love your work. These are your true followers and this will take time to build as mostly they are strangers right now but as more and more people become your followers then yo ur career will begin to become established.

When the going gets a little hard always remember not to change your goals change your strategies. In the journey I have been on over a life time I know that every good idea might not work out, but it is trying and seeing if it will. If it doesn’t work out that is not the end, it is far better to get another good idea and implement that. Ideas can change but the goal will always be the same. Persistence isn’t using the same strategies and ideas over and over when they are obviously not working. Persistence is always going for that goal. Change your ideas and strategies but don’t change your goals.

With success if you understand how you did it then it can be repeated. It can be reviewed, refined and improved. Now when you sell a painting watch what you say to yourself, most say I got a sale or I sold my painting. Selling a painting is success and we must acknowledge it, say to yourself and others, “ I successfully sold my painting.” If you say it like this it is acknowledging the success and it is positive reinforcement to your self belief. We need to talk to ourselves like it is someone we love, encourage yourself, praise yourself, use positive words that builds self belief. If someone we know sells a painting we often say to them “ congratulations ” but we would never think of saying that to ourselves, yet we should say, “  Congratulations  Mark you successfully sold your painting, I am successful.” We can so quickly criticize ourselves and pull ourselves down and we need to change this and speak positive encouraging words to ourselves. Next time you sell a painting...

A lot of Artists unconsciously set glass ceilings in their lives, they limit their expectations and so achieve less. Something I have learned in life is that most times it’s not others who limit our success it is usually ourselves. Break your glass ceiling, dream bigger.

Artist you know what scares you the most about your Art practice and the thing you constantly put off, that is probably the key to your success. Often the thing we don't want to do, is most likely the thing we need to do, so don’t let the thief rob you of your success. If the thief turns up to stop you, just think to yourself, “ if the thief is trying to stop me and panic me, it must be the right thing to do,” so then just ahead and do it  anyway. Once you know it’s the thief and you do it anyway, it loses power in that area and it becomes easier and easier for you to do next time. Every time you go against the thief you take a little more power from it. Don’t let the thief stop you, panic the thief and do it and gain mastery over it in that area of your life. Tomorrow, do it again. .

There are a lot of Artists who have experienced a limited amount of success yet never fulfilled their entire potential. Success can be what stops some. They get a limited amount of success and stop and hold onto it desperate not to lose it. So they stop innovating and experimenting and never change and hold on as tight as they can to their success. Then the game moves on, yes some die hard collectors stay with them hoping for a renaissance, but the majority of collectors move on because they are looking for the new.

On this mornings video I talked about obscurity being far worse than having no talent. Obscurity means we are invisible, we are out of sight, nobody knows us, so the first step in selling our Art is to get known, people must know who we are and can recognize us. Because if people do not know you how can they buy your Art?

I made the statement in a blog last week that it is not enough to be just a good Artist, there are lots of good Artists out there, you have to be different, exciting and amazing to get our attention. One Artist took exception to my writing and questioned who did I think I am to say that. I found this an interesting reaction to something I thought was quite obvious. Maybe they thought that just being a good Artist was enough and no need to strive for excellence?

When fear strikes us if we don’t immediately and positively act and go against it, it will stop us. Fear generates self limiting assumptions. If I make a video my family and my friends will see it and they will laugh at me and I will look foolish in their eyes, a self limiting assumption. We need to say to fear, I will do it and I will look courageous and brave in my family and friends eyes because everyone I know is to afraid to make videos and then make the video. Fear stops people taking the first step. Fear stops the one thing we need, progress and progress is important. It is so good to look back and see the changes that have taken place in your life and know it happened because you were courageous enough to act against the fear. You made choices that has changed your life and set you on a journey to discover your best self. We truly change our world when we choose to change. We don’t want perfection, we want excellence in our lives through continued pro...

I see so many seriously talented Artists who really believe, because they are talented that everything will work out for them and all they have to do is paint and wait for fame and fortune to come to them. It might work like that in books and the movies but the reality of the Art world is you have to get known by getting the attention of strangers. Success comes to the prepared, if success comes to the unprepared it seldom stays because they are not prepared for it. I know of so many talented Artists who got early success in their career and today they are not painting. Artists need to understand that their success depends on themselves, do not rely on others or expect others to open doors for you because that seldom happens until you are successful and then everyone wants to help you because you are successful. Do not blame the Art Market, or the economy, or the Gallery and you cannot change the attitude of buyers, but you can work on yourself and make yourse...