Do This!
A weekly motivational newsletter focusing on action steps for visual artists.

What's Going On: Announcements /Classes
>>>Do This:  Build a Gallery
Tip / Find of the Week:  SB/SE
Recommended by Others: The Artist Statement
Artists Respond: What They Have to Say

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WHAT'S GOING ON

: : ONLINE CLASSES : :



The Artist Statement & Beyond
begins July 5
Been putting off writing your artist statement? Remember, an artist statement shows the current direction of your work. You don't write it and put it away. It grows and changes along with your work. More importantly, a well written, well thought statement can help you sell your art. $75 includes my help editing your statement. http://www.artbizcoach.com/classes/statement.shtml

You can see an example of how I helped an artist with her statement by visiting http://www.artbizcoach.com/classes/stmtex-1.shtml

See the menu in the upper left of this page to view popular topics from past issues. 

When I was a curator our museum preparator made me a scale model of our galleries. We would use this to plan our installations. We printed all of the artworks onto paper and then moved them around in our tiny gallery to help us visualize the space better. A recent article in the New York Times reminded me of this when I read about the installation planning for the new Museum of Modern Art galleries. I'm sure their model is much more sophisticated than ours was. But it worked.

Anna L. Conti, No Pedestrians. 2003, acrylic on  canvas, 24 x 36".  ©The Artist

Oh, what I would have given for digital cameras and an inkjet printer twelve years ago! It would have made life so much easier.

Why not make your own models to plan your exhibit installations? It's a great tool if you won't have much time to actually install the work; if it's a public space that limits your freedom to haul artwork around; or if you make large-scale or heavy work. Here are the steps:

1. Make sure you have color photos of all the artwork you plan to use in an exhibit.
2. Get the layout of the gallery (or other space). Measure it. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be close. Note door openings, windows and other elements that could intrude upon your installation.
3. Decide on your scale, such as 1 inch=1 foot. If you make larger work, you are more flexible than if you make smaller work. For instance, if you use the 1"=12" (1"=1') scale and your work is mostly under 12" wide, you're going to have very tiny reproductions that might not be helpful at all.
4. Build your gallery out of cardboard, mat board or foam core. Paint the walls the authentic color. Leave the top open so you can look down in it and move the works around.
5. Make all of your artwork reproductions to scale. This may take a bit of doing for non-mathematicians, but you'll be fine if you have the ratio right. In the example above, the ratio would be 1 to 12 (since there are 12 inches in every foot). So, if you had an artwork that measured 20 inches across, you would divide 20 by 12 to get 1.67" and that's how wide your miniature would be.
6. Add pedestals or special displays if you make three-dimensional work.
7. Put small pieces of rolled masking tape (or removable adhesive) on the back of each image and start playing curator.
8. When you're arranging the art, look for scale, color, line and relationship to the rest of the space. Seek "happy accidents" that are actually done on purpose, like placing a work with a door in it across from a real doorway. Curators do this, knowing that a sophisticated audience will appreciate their attention to detail.

This is a lot of work to do for a small exhibit, but it makes sense to do it for more important installations of your work. And if you make the miniatures just one time, you can reuse them until you sell the work.

Alternatively, you can make a two-dimensional layout by just drawing the space's outline on paper and laying each miniature flat on the paper. It doesn't give the same effect, but it's better than nothing.

: : If you'd like to know more about organizing your own exhibit, look at the CD and e-booklet on the subject. I have a few more of these available, then will stop selling them as CDs: http://www.artbizcoach.com/books

If you use Internet Explorer, you can forward this page to a friend by going up to your menu and, under "File," select "Send" then "Page by E-mail." Or just copy and paste the URL into a message: http://www.artbizcoach.com/dothis

TIP / FIND OF THE WEEK: SB/SE   

If you're like me (and in the U.S.), you just made another quarterly payment to the IRS.

Visit the IRS website for up-to-date news for small business owners and the self-employed. It's worth a look. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html

I also suggest you sign up for their SB/SE mailing list: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/page/0,,id=81399,00.html

RECOMMENDED BY OTHERS: The Artist Statement & Beyond  

"I thought that I would just be coming up with an artist statement but what I have found out by answering the questions you have assigned is that I now know so much more about what I really like about my paintings. I have had to actually write down my ideas and look at the words. This has brought so many things into focus that had just been meandering around in my thought. I have found more purpose and direction in my work."--Colorado painter

ARTISTS RESPOND: What They Have to Say   

In response to last week's very popular article about turning down opportunities that don't feel right to you, Brenda Braun wrote:

Brenda Braun, Look. Collage.  ©The Artist

"Thank you so much for this article, it totally validated a decision I made to not take a rather lucrative position at a local college. I am a self-taught collage/stamping artist with no fine art background and I was offered a card making course that involved several fine art applications that I had no idea how to do and didn't want to learn (nothing wrong with them, just not my taste) and when I declined it, almost everyone that knew about it couldn't believe I wouldn't just "fake it" for the money. I would have felt like a fraud and not enjoyed it at all.

When I declined it, I was delighted to find out that a very promising young artist that taught classes to my kids at the local gallery got the job, she was qualified and quite frankly as a starving art student, she needs the money worst than I did . . . anyways, this long rambling letter is a thank you . . . ."

See Brenda's work at http://community.webshots.com/user/shestampsalot

"You are so right to encourage folks to turn down requests that aren't 'you.' I can well attest to this: Last summer I accepted a request from my brother to do a view from a favorite lakeside family cabin. Well, it took me ten months and I finally sent it off in May. Whew! What a monkey off my back. Trust me I became very adept at using every excuse I could drum up to prolong this agony. Landscape paintings are not my forte, so I wasn't very confident in pulling off a view that was recognizable. . . . This little (large) episode has definitely taught me a lesson for my art business as well as my other business. Actually, so many things I've seen/read/encountered have been whispering, 'follow your passion.' I'm getting the message. I'm starting to produce art again. :)

A huge Thank You! to folks like you who keep pushing yet still hold our feet to the ground!"

Note: See the menu in the upper left of this page to view popular topics from past issues. 

Copyright © 2004 Alyson B. Stanfield, Stanfield Art Associates. All rights reserved. 

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