Last week’s issue on marketing routines struck a chord with many of my readers. I think everyone is beginning to feel the “summer’s over, playtime is over” mood switch. Then again, what happened to summer? What happened to playtime? I blinked and they were gone. I’m in the throes of the final stages of my book. The proofreader now has her copy to slash with a red pen and then it will go to the book designer. Simultaneously, I’m wrestling with the perfect cover design. I am certain only of what I don’t want and that I do want a white background. Everything else is negotiable, which makes me either an ideal client or a nightmare client--depending on the designer’s point of view. Also on my plate is the start of the college football season (Yep! I’m a fan!), which promises to be yet another diversion while I’m preparing for my fall lineup of workshops in Omaha, NE, Spencer, IA, and Ocala, FL. If you’re near any of those towns, I hope you’ll consider attending. I believe each location has early registration, so check out the links to the workshops at: http://www.artbizcoach.com/workshops To the end of summer,

Promote Your Art With Confidence

Online class begins September 12

Invest in the basic knowledge for promoting your art effectively and with confidence. We cover networking, Web sites, using email, advertising, media kits, and much more.
http://www.artbizcoach.com/classes/promote.html

How You Can Promote Yourself and Your Art by Blogging

Teleseminar, Thursday, September 13

Blogging expert and author Ted Demopoulos shares the secrets of blogging success and why you should join the blogosphere if you haven’t already. (Just $9.95 before the call.)
http://artbizcoach.com/classes/blogging_demop.html
 

Monthly one-on-one consultations for my Inner Circle members are
coming up on September 17, but you have to join first. Take a look at
all the benefits members receive for just $10 for the first two months:
http://www.artmarketingaction.com

► View all upcoming classes and events.

Seduce Your Viewers

Lately I’ve been watching season three of the PBS series “art:21.” I’m embarrassed that I had forgotten how wonderful this series about contemporary art is. If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to check out any of the seasons from the library or DVD rental venue--and also to add the dates for season four (beginning late October) to your calendar. Here’s the Web site for the series: http://www.pbs.org/art21 .

Like the episodes preceding it, season three of “art:21” features 16 of today’s foremost artists in their studios and exhibition venues. We gain insight into their creative processes, but also their business processes.

I was particularly taken with a question posed by Josiah McElheny, whose sculpture I had recently come across at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. In essence, McElheny asked: How do you seduce people to be interested in your art? The use of the word “seduce” was an interesting and appropriate choice. Isn’t that, after all, what all artists are trying (or should be trying) to do? And isn’t the notion of seduction far more appealing than the thought of selling? It seems so much more romantic and pure in today’s world of commerce. Wondering why this stuck out for me, I looked up the word “seduce” and settled on the definition that I think is the one he intended: “To attract powerfully.”

The big question, therefore, is “How do we attract people to our work in a powerful way?” I believe I had been seduced by McElheny’s work, so I traced my steps to find out how this happened:

--I saw it in person. I wasn’t expecting to see it, but I was open to a dialogue with it because I was sharing its space.

--It was made of mirrored glass. That alone was unusual and separated McElheny’s work from all of the other work in the museum.

--McElheny’s installation was in the center of the gallery almost by itself and, yet, because of its multiple mirrors, it referenced everything else and everyone else in that gallery. Its scale (24 x 108 x 92 inches) made it unavoidable. I had to walk around it in order to see the art on the other side of it. Its mirrors made it endless.

--My husband (the physicist and mathematician) was first attracted--before I was--to the forms and materials. His interest in the work encouraged my own.

--After that initial spark from my husband, McElheny’s installation became a puzzle that I wanted to figure out. I love puzzles of all kinds and I am attracted to art that makes me think.

--Hearing him and seeing him talk on the “art:21” series seduced me even further to want to see and know more about his work.

There are so many other ways to seduce your viewers. Take a look at some of my ideas and leave your own on the Art Biz Blog: http://www.artbizblog.com