I’ve been having these fleeting thoughts lately (fleeting due to my lack of time to focus on the matter) that I need to seriously sit down and rethink/reevaluate/reconstruct my marketing plan. Not that it’s a good one to begin with, really more of a “post some work and pray for people to find you” sort of approach. I find it’s always a cart and horse dilemma for me. Make more work, or try to sell the work that’s piling up in my studio, basement, office…and being that I produce two fairly distinct bodies of work, at which point do I for sanity’s sake say enough is enough to one of them and focus all my attention to the other. My husband has really been pushing me lately to work at branching out of the “clay” arena to get exposure for my sculptural work. I’m at odds with this work. I get great feedback on it and the odd show with it, but it’s not the type of work that sells well. But is selling really the important thing here. Well in the big picture, no, making the work is, but in the daily picture I have bills to pay and a growing child to feed, so somethings gotta give and priorities need to shift.
Recently after an exhibition in Toronto I had a fantastic chat with the gallery’s curator and she gave me some feedback on how people responded to the work. Seems that “older” collectors are quite turned off by it, and the “younger” audience who liked the work aren’t collectors yet due to education or finances. So my market that is impacted by the work is broke or buying iphones instead. But seriously there’s got to be a market. I often wonder how much time other artists spend trying to find just the right niche market for their work or does it simply seem to present itself? I want to be taken seriously and the works are one of a kind that take for ever to complete so I can’t cut the prices really in order for sales as then it’s just not worth my time. Urgh the never ending pricing dilemma….
Anyway in listening to the ever so wise advice of my husband I’ve been looking more at non ceramic blogs and magazines to get the work out there. Ceramic magazines cater to other clay artists and we can only buy so much of each others work right? Time to branch out. So yesturday I was pleased to have my work showcased on the blog I want your Skull. It was a first step in trying out new avenues of marketing. Still web-based and my jury is out as to whether or not that’s better than the old proposal writing to galleries and print mags, but it does seem somewhat more time effective….or maybe not…could I be more indecisive for a friday?
Anyway… what originally lead me to the skull blog was the work of Brian Morris, which I think is fantastic, and again part of that whole world of artists without a thorough ceramic background engaging with the material and it’s historical references in a very contemporary, designer, kitsch sorta way. I ran across his ceramic pieces in INKED magazine recently. Check out his site here and his blog here.
ya cannot have too much hot sauce and those are some really nice painted pieces by brian morris. what you've said is a true dilemma which is to say there is no "clear" answer and it's a dilemma that we share. i always thought that i would just make what appeals to me and throw it out there and someone was bound to like it. it's true that they do but there are clearly not enough of them that like it or that have seen it to know that it even exists. on the other hand i don't think i would be happy if i wasn't making what i wanted to make. both your bodies of work are excellent in vastly different ways and i wasn't clear if you preferred one over the other (money aside) but it would be a difficult decision either way and if you like doing both, then it's a doubly difficult decision. it sounds like hubby is supportive and that may be the biggest hurdle… your idea to pursue non-clay venues seems to be a good idea but i can see the frustration of the younger hip people that get the work don't have the money and the older more stodgy people that have the money, don't get the work. it is in fact the definition of dilemma. you can probably tell that i sure don't have any answers but i do commiserate and think that someone as intelligent, creative and talented as you will be fine. if you do come up with anything, let me know… i could use all the ideas i can get.
I've had this dilemma for years, but instead of the sculpture vs. functional dilemma, it's been ceramics vs. painting. Totally different audiences for me- and as a result I've been finding it too hard to juggle marketing to both well. The art world feels like a longer road to climb up, and when there are little mouths to feed, it's an even tougher road to climb. The frustrating part of functional work is selling enough of it to pay myself. Essentially it's a manufacturing business and it's all about having the right amount of 'inventory' and selling it consistently. As a mom of 2 young kids I often think about how I really want to spend my time and whether all this time in the studio will really be viable in the end. The longer I'm in this, the more I realize that each choice, entering the 'art world' (ie higher price point) or being in the 'craft realm', both options pose a lot of different dilemmas and decisions, marketing only being one component to selling. Anyways, would welcome dialogue-this has all been on my mind as of late too- all the best! Heather
Look into "mass producing" some of your sculptures into resin or vinyl. It's a lot easier to sell 50 pieces at $100/each as opposed to one at $1k, especially considering the likely audience of your sculptural work.
Jim you are spot on – I agree with you all the way – Firstly Carole makes two very distinctly different types of work that works in their own right. Most craftspeople struggle to focus on one direction and make a success of that. You should consider yourself lucky to be in a position to have these two directions and have the blog to promote your work and of course the work of everyone else. If I was in your position I would reevaluate each direction on its own. Your studio ceramics work could be designed for a broader customer base. Try using collective intelligence – get a diverse range of individuals; younger and older richer and poorer, hip and trendy including the art and craft community to respond to the work and what they would change in it to make it more useful, usable and desirable. Take to heart the suggestions and respond creatively to the recommendations in a way that makes you feel comfortable with the end result. With regard to the expressive ceramics – I am a afraid there it is about the concept and the right vehicle through which to channel the creativity. I always work on the premise – realize your ideas in the most appropriate ceramic technique and process. No compromise from a marketing perspective – I do however know when I have designed a piece, if it will have appeal – that wow factor. It is all about the concept for me – I come from a fine art background . When I started out making work nobody wanted to exhibit my work – the Fine Art Galleries could not relate to ceramic sculptures and the crafts community found it to Fine Art based. I had to educate the galleries and the community hence the involvement in politics for many years. I do however believe, that when one makes sculpture, you need to believe in yourself, your work and pursue it with a vengeance. Tweak it in terms of processes and methods. I do allot of reading and reevaluation. there is no shortcut as far as I am concerned. I never consider how the market is going to respond – I am lucky, I have always had collectors supporting me. But then I am also an academic and I don't have to live off my work (it is considered research output)- that is a different story all together – guess we are spoiled. Most of my fellow ceramists teach, do workshops, run galleries and what ever it takes, over and above their creative output, to survive, because they luv making ceramics. This is the story of our lives.
wowzers you guys have given me so much to think about…i think that's why it's taken me forever to respond. so many debates to be had as an artist, so many paths we could take. that whole craft/art divide always rearing its ugly head…that's one of the main things i toss back and forth, do i become more strategic and and say it's gallery work or nothing, or do I become, as someone once labeled it in conversation, a "market whore". Jumping full tilt into that arena I think scares me more than the gallery route. If the galleries say no, i'm either not out of pocket cuz they won't show the work- thus move on to the next gallery; or you get a show, it doesn't sell and it's at least written off as notch on your cv and some good exposure. On the other hand the markets scare me because they come at a price if you want to play. I've done local potters guild sales where you pay a small percentage of your sales to pay for your spot, or I've done markets that have low table costs (the last one I barely covered my table cost and gas to get there with the sales). I just don't seem to be selling well in that arena, likely work is priced too high when it's next door to a booth of 5 cups, but maybe I also need to get off my high horse and determine if my work is really worthly of it's price tag…oh the self loathing and lack of confidence we suffer as artists.sigh. and i often wonder if i'm closing a door by not pursuing a secure teaching gig at this point. the reality is that i'm not in a position right now to do my time doing sessional spots until I can get a tenure gig. life, family get in the way, you lose your ability to pack up and move to where the work is. So i'm stuck creating the work for myself. Too bad all those years of education don't supply you with any marketing/business skills. too bad the real world could care less about my abilities to research and wax poetic about theory of kitsch, industrialism and postmodern visual culture.
thanks for all the input you guys, it's been much appreciated and I'd love to keep the conversation going. in the meantime I'm going to be looking into a way of setting up some sort of feedback session as you suggested Eugene. and as for the resin/vinyl idea i'm all over that – if anyone has any suggestions of where to look to get going on that it'd be much appreciated.
cheers!