Art Work I’ve produced so far (Constructive Criticism encouraged)

[martin54]

Round this way there are a lot of coffee type shops that will let artists hang stuff on the walls. One of my sons use to put stuff up in one of them a few years ago, sold a few pictures but gave up doing it because it also led to people asking him to paint specific types of picture for them rather than what he wanted to do. The customers were always over the moon with what he did but he was never happy with them & just gave up doing it. I suppose that's artists for you lol

[Swarfing]

You would be better off aiming higher than coffee shops. I would check out the high end Painting shops and see if they will do a feature display for you. They do sales on commission

Stick to doing minimum numbers, people like to collect sets

[martin54]

You would be better off aiming higher than coffee shops. I would check out the high end Painting shops and see if they will do a feature display for you. They do sales on commission

Stick to doing minimum numbers, people like to collect sets

I would have to disagree with that, you might be surprised just how well it can work & you want your work seen by as many people as possible so having something hanging on a wall in a coffee shop is just one way to get noticed, I wouldn't for one minute suggest it is the only way to display your work as the other ideas already mentioned have merit as well.

[Swarfing]

I have a friend who does cartoon strip art. He used to hang his work in coffee shops, furniture shops. All he was ever offered was coffee shop prices. He approached a shop up in stow on the wolds. He sold less pieces but 50 x the price of a coffee. He also found that it was repeat customers who kept going back for more. That is the only reason i suggested it.

[Bazzer]

Have you thought of trying Forsyths in Lytham?

[martin54]

I have a friend who does cartoon strip art. He used to hang his work in coffee shops, furniture shops. All he was ever offered was coffee shop prices. He approached a shop up in stow on the wolds. He sold less pieces but 50 x the price of a coffee. He also found that it was repeat customers who kept going back for more. That is the only reason i suggested it.

I agree with you about displaying work in high end places that are known for this sort of thing all I was saying was I thought it was wrong to dismiss the coffee shops, all the stuff on the walls round here has a price on it so no being offered silly money & the prices do vary from ridiculously cheap as your friend obviously experienced to what I would call expensive for what it is but then I know nothing about art lol
Worth popping in to a couple of places just to see what others are doing in my opinion as well as targeting high end shops & galleries especially for someone who is unknown as an artist just now.

[Fivetide]

Round this way there are a lot of coffee type shops that will let artists hang stuff on the walls. One of my sons use to put stuff up in one of them a few years ago, sold a few pictures but gave up doing it because it also led to people asking him to paint specific types of picture for them rather than what he wanted to do. The customers were always over the moon with what he did but he was never happy with them & just gave up doing it. I suppose that's artists for you lol

Hi Martin, yes I know artist are fickle beasts, he obviously loved what he did and not what he might get for it. I have applied to a couple of craft guilds locally if nothing else a panel may like my stuff and want to have a few piece in a n exhibition. This is the north mate coffee shops are rare but I do live near Lytham St Anne’s so there is a lot of collectors in the area. But the majority of shops selling art buy in mass produced stuff and it’s not what I want to display next to lol.
Here’s another piece I did this weekend in Tulip wood, I saw the raw would with this strong vein of black – purple and thought it would add a bit of difference to the finished object.

[martin54]

David don't think the money was important to him as with a lot of artists, was more about producing work that he was proud of & others liked.
I'm further North than you lol & although there may not be a coffee shop on every street there are a few about if you look. Normally high street sort of locations where you get a high volume of people passing through.
I wouldn't be looking at places that sell mass produced art either, different sort of customer from what you want entirely. Plus they would probably be looking to buy direct from you really cheaply so they could mark up to make a big profit rather than sell on a commission basis.
I do like the idea of sets that has been mentioned which would encourage people to buy more than one piece. If you produced say 3 or 4 pieces with a common theme or something linking them like say a sitting woman, same sitting pregnant woman & same sitting woman with child.
I wouldn't make them all as sets as not everyone will want that sort of thing but if you had a selection it might help.

[D.C.]

Thinking about it, the last time I went to the botanical gardens in brum the tea shop had expanded into an art gallery where local artists were displaying work with £100 - £5000 price tags attached.

Might be worth visiting all the local RHS/English Heritage/PlacesThatToffsLikeToGo sites see if they have similar facilities for local artists or if they would be interested in displaying your work for a cut of course...

[Swarfing]

I agree about it not being about the money. The thing is with this sort of stuff, do you want her down the road buying it because it goes with her cushions and pay peanuts? or the guy up on the hill that agrees with the art and shows his appreciation. If this was not the case then we would all be able to buy rhino horn and ivory in the local cafe. Art should be an individual pieces with a price tag that is show in the quality and inspiration of the piece? To make it truly a one off maybe think about destruction of the code and drawings after each piece is finished? In terms of sets they should be made all at the same time and sold as individual pieces. For a collector that would make it all about the chase.

Rob who does the cartoons does not do them all the time. He sells them at the same place and has a small following. He is an artist and loves his work, it is not about the money just the satisfaction that others enjoy his work.