Archives for December 2013

Artistic Goals

Roger Dale Brown · Dec 30, 2013 · 5 Comments

The First of Three Elements of One Artist Goal Plan

By Roger Dale Brown, OPA

This article is the first of three, in which I will outline the way I set goals for my business. My goals include: artistic, marketing, and business. Setting these goals gives me something to strive for, they help me stay organized and they hold me accountable to myself.

Artistic Goals, for me, are the most important of the three categories. It helps me to improve what I have to market, my art. Subcategories under these three elements help me compartmentalize specific areas I want to concentrate on. They are:

Get better
Painting from life and on location
Seeing better as an artist
Continue developing a critical eye
Expanding my boundaries.

These will put my goals into action.

(1) Get Better:

How do I get better? I acknowledge an area I am weak in and study that area. It is important for me to schedule time to do this. I am easily distracted with life situations and business. I also take advantage of an opportunity when it arises. I keep a drawing pad with me so I can draw anytime. Studying is not limited to painting. Drawing helps improve hand–eye coordination, seeing value and developing an intuitive response to my subject.
I also adhere to the theory of frequency, intensity and duration. If you do something often, you will get better at it. If you study with intensity there is a higher chance of retaining what you study. The longer you work on something, the more likely your task will become intuitive.
It coincides with a quote I read in my classes:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
– Calvin Coolidge

(2) Painting from Life and on Location:

I decide how many on location or from life study paintings I want to paint that year. I schedule the time as much as possible but many times it is spur of the moment. Realize that every painting is not started with the idea that it is going to be a finished masterpiece. Most of the time I paint on location to study. I can read, study, take workshops every month, but if I don’t put theory to the test I will not grow. Most times I paint from life with the intention of studying a specific problem area or theory, not to create a masterpiece. Paint with a plan!

(3) Seeing Better As An Artist:

Before I touch my canvas, I try to see the subject in its’ simplest form or as an abstract. Then I mentally build the scene back up and visualize the end result of my painting. I have discovered when I visualize the end result of my painting, the likely hood of succeeding increases.
Sometimes I leave my paints at home and observe how light falls over a subject, how things reflect off each other. I look through the detail and see large simple shapes or masses, the value of those masses, patterns of light and color within those masses and all the other nuances. I simply practice seeing and remembering.
The ability to “see as an artist sees” is one of the most important elements of learning and developing. Cicero once said, “Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature”.

(4) Continue Developing a Critical Eye:

It is very important to become a student of art, to develop a critical eye. I have collected a library of art books, I look at magazines and visit museums whenever possible to study. Having a group to critique each other’s work regularly is also very helpful to start understanding what makes a good painting. To know a good painting when you see one, you also have to see the mistakes. The old masters, contemporary masters and our piers make mistakes. It’s just as important to see what they did wrong as it is to see what they did right.
Frank Dumond told his students: “I am not here to teach you how to paint, I am here to teach you how to see”. He did not just mean seeing the subject your painting and the nuances within but also the ability to know what a good painting looks like. By developing a critical eye you will develop the ability to critique your own work intelligently and then you can take the necessary steps to correct the problems.

(5) Expanding My Boundaries:

I put a lot of importance on being a well-rounded artist. My passion is landscape panting. I love the outdoors and the beauty of nature. But, I also like other subjects and I know that one of the ways for me to grow is to be diverse in what I paint. I also venture to try new techniques, new mediums and tools and I even make tools and equipment to help in certain situations. At the end of the day I always bring something new back to my art.
The idea of being a well-rounded painter has been important to the masters for centuries. In 1901, John Singer Sargent wrote about it in a letter to a student.

“You say you are studying to become a portrait painter and I think you’d be making a great mistake if you kept that only in view during the time you intend to work in a life class, for the object of the student should be to acquire sufficient command over his materials and do whatever nature presents him. The conventionalities of portrait painting are only tolerable in one who is a good painter. If he is only a good portrait painter, he is nobody. Try to become a painter first and then apply your knowledge to a special branch or you will become a mannerist.”

This is how I start each year. I set my goals and come up with a plan to put them into motion. You have your own temperament and know what works for you. Develop a method to get better and never compromise on quality and most of all enjoy the process of being an artist.

OPA 2013 Eastern Exhibition Winner Spotlight

Oil Painters of America · Dec 23, 2013 · 1 Comment

The OPA 2013 Eastern Exhibition was hosted at the McBride Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland and featured some of the most prominent artists of our day. We wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the award winners at this exciting exhibition.

Mary Qian

Mary Qian was awarded the Gold Medal, a $4,000 cash award funded by OPA, for “Gaze.”

I studied painting and animation when I was in Brigham young university in Utah. My courses of study ranged from sculpture to abstract art and into the areas of realistic drawing and painting. The more I studied the masters the more I realized that although I have an appreciation of some abstract work and particularly enjoy figurative work by Lucian Freud, Egon Schiele, my strong artistic interest evolved toward realistic figurative oil painting.
I took a job in Chicago doing animation for a computer games. Shortly after settling in Chicago I discovered the historic Pallet and Chisel, its north light studio and its very full schedule of open studios with live models. My life path is changed. I was more and more wanting to paint full time, working predominately from life under natural light.
I soon became a regular at the Pallet & Chisel filling every non working hour with painting and drawing from life. I worked on my own, with fellow painters including OPA past president Zue Tu in our nu-instructed open studio sessions and took classes from P&C teachers and visiting instructors such as OPA master David Leffel.
After years in animation I finally (and nervously) took the leap to becoming a full time artist. Now past masters Rembrandt, Titian and more recent masters Mancini and Repin guide my way and inspire me as I seek to adsorb this amazing and frustrating exercise called oil painting.
What do I do different now that I am officially an artist? Nothing… just more of the same study. I spend hours and hours at the Palette & Chisel where I monitor open studio sessions and teach an occasional class. When not at the P&C I am at my studio working on paintings. I encourage all artist from beginner to accomplished to continue their study of the great painters and above all continue to work from life. Not only is a living breathing human being in front of you as work… but their spirit… their particular humanism cannot help but find it’s way into you… and from you onto your canvas.

"Gaze" by Mary Qian — “Gaze” by Mary Qian

I feel my art is like an open diary. It records my life, and the life around me. My paintings are my preferred way to explain myself to the world. They speak of the things I don’t know how to put into words. Painting is a process and it connects me, my sitters and the viewers. It is a bridge between past and present. I want to paint people, because people intrigue me, especially during the process of communication in silence. I hope viewers will feel what I felt in the moments of painting. See what inspired me!

Susan E. Budash

Susan E. Budash was awarded the Silver Medal, a $1,000 cash award funded by OPA, for “A Pear Dressed For Dessert.”

Susan Budash was born in Chicago in 1949 and currently resides in Amherst, New York a suburb of Buffalo. At a very young age, Susan displayed a talent in visual expression, with a particular fondness for rendering images of trees. Her parents, recognizing her talent, enrolled her in three years of private instruction with Jack Simmerling, the accomplished Chicago landmark water colorist.
Majoring in art during high school resulted in Susan being awarded an Illinois State Scholastic Fine Arts Award. Following high school graduation, Susan continued oil painting, while employed in the computer industry, married and raised a daughter. In 1990 she enrolled at the State University of New York at Buffalo, earning a BFA in Printmaking. Furthering her studies, Susan graduated with an MA in Contemporary Art History in 1997.
Susan paints Landscapes, Figurative/Portraiture and Still Life genre, with her Still Life compositions comprising her signature work. Many of her pigments are hand-ground and her mediums comprise ingredients based on artist’s notes translated from 16th and 17th Century manuscripts.

"A Pear Dressed For Dessert" by Susan Budash — “A Pear Dressed For Dessert” by Susan Budash

My studying Modern Art History and further applying that knowledge in creating art, with conventional and non-conventional materials was stimulating and enjoyable, but it left me feeling unfulfilled and unchallenged as an artist. In less than five years I was provided an opportunity to twice visit Italy and see its magnificent art collection. The genesis of this esthetic experience instilled in me a quest not only to return to Traditional Painting, but also to actively seek out the archival methods and materials used by the Old Masters and apply them to my own creative expression. In so doing, I’ve discovered my creative voice.

Elizabeth S Pollie

Elizabeth S Pollie was awarded the Bronze Medal, a $1,000 cash award funded by OPA, for the oil painting entitled “Nine Days of Fog”

Elizabeth Pollie’s exposure to the arts came at an early age. Taken to museums, enrolled in classes by her parents and influenced by her father’s love and practice of art and architecture, she was always clear about her path in life. “Working within the field of visual arts never seemed like a choice, but rather a place of true belonging”. She enrolled in college art classes while still in high school and went on to receive an education at a formal Art School. She earned her B.F.A. at The College For Creative Studies where she later taught.
Pollie worked as a freelance illustrator and had her illustrations published in 3 Communication Arts Illustration Annuals as well as Booth Clibborn’s American Illustration. She left the field of editorial illustration to pursue a full time painting career.
Harboring a deep love of travel and art history, Elizabeth has combined her travels with her painting practice. The images that she creates are imbued with a sense of poetry, mood and depth. The artist paints full time and teaches from her studio, West Wind Atelier in Harbor Springs, Mi. Her paintings reside in both public and private collections here and abroad and have received much national recognition.

"Nine Days of Fog" by Elizabeth Pollie OPA — “Nine Days of Fog” by Elizabeth Pollie OPA

A successful representational painting transcends technique and gimmickry, eliciting from the viewer a sense of connection with the truer nature of the subject. In the best of these works we are taken, almost unwittingly, into the heart of the painting. Here we feel, down to the bone, the more intrinsic qualities of a scene_ be they lovely or disturbing, either way we are mesmerized. If we are very lucky our own hearts are broken open

Craig Tennant

Craig Tennant was awarded the Master Signature Division Gold Medal, a $3,500 cash award funded by OPA, for the oil painting entitled “Jim’s Indian”

Craig Tennant, OPA (b. 1946) grew up in New Jersey and began his early art training in 1967 with Grey Advertising in New York. Starting in the mat room he quickly moved to mechanicals, then was made the Assistant Art Director for the Kool Aid account.
In 1970, he joined the staff of illustrators at BBD&O working on major accounts including Campbell`s Soup and Dodge Chrysler for national television ads. His magazine ad accounts consisted of Tarreyton, GE, Shaffer, and Pepsi (Generation). For the next twenty years, Tennant illustrated on a freelance basis for clients including TV Guide, Mechanics Illustrated, Sports Illustrated, Yearly Reports, Field & Stream, Diet Coke, Mountain Dew, Old Milwaukee, and IBM.

"Jim’s Indian" by Craig Tennant OPAM — “Jim’s Indian” by Craig Tennant OPAM

He was elected a member of the New York Society of Illustrators in 1980 and received their Silver Medal Award in 1981. In 1989, Tennant moved to Colorado to focus on western oil paintings. He started his own publishing business, Cheyenne Press, in 1994, to promote his work. The same year, he was voted 21st in the nation`s top print artists (by a U.S. Art Magazine survey of over 850 galleries nationwide.) In 1996 Tennant was commissioned by the Park Meadows Shopping Resort to paint a Colorado scene for the Nordstrom entrance.

Pigments, Painters and Thieves

Nancy Boren OPA · Dec 16, 2013 · 3 Comments

A Random Guide to Entertaining Books, Fact and Fiction, that Reveal Minutia, Mysterious Happenings, Tangled Webs, and Outright Larceny, all Engendered by What You May be Creating at this very Moment: Art.

While we are all familiar with the lavish coffee table books, artist biographies, and how-to books which most artists stockpile in their studios like hoarders with empty pickle jars, there are countless books in other categories for the curious art reader.
For the history-loving art reader there are books that trace the evolution of a single pigment: Blue: The History of a Color as well as Black: The History of a Color, both by Michel Pastoureau or The Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield. You will never take your colors for granted again. Instead, you will be grateful each day in the studio when for example, using alizarin or scarlet that you are not in Mexico in 1560, laboriously scrapping tiny cochineal bugs from prickly pear pads.

For the true-crime-loving art reader there are books that read like fast-paced thrillers. Two art forger tell-alls approach the forgery challenge from opposite points of view: In Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware), Ken Perenyi reveals his methods to create as perfect a fake as he could. You’ll forever be skeptical now of every Butterworth yacht painting appraised on Antiques Roadshow. Read along with him about the day he accidentally figured out how to fake the unmistakable green florescence of centuries-old varnish when seen under a black light.

In Provenance by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo, the mastermind’s plan was to use fabulous faked provenances to pass off often sloppily painted copies of modern paintings by Giacometti, Graham Sutherland, and Ben Nicholson. This London con man went so far as to corrupt archived catalogs by inserting made-up pages with photos and information about the fakes. The Forger’s Spell by Edward Dolnick, chronicles a frustrated Dutch artist who faked Vermeers and then had the nerve to sell them to WWII Nazis as they plundered their way through Europe. Perenyi claims the Dolnick book inspired him. Take all the tales with a grain of salt; after all, the authors are professional con artists, but riveting reading it is.
The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel details daring art rescues during WWII. The George Clooney movie version is due out in early 2014. Other Edsel books: Saving Italy and Rescuing Da Vinci.

The Lost Painting, The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece by Jonathan Harr is the true story of a Caravaggio discovered by a museum art restorer in Ireland at the same time a University of Rome graduate student began tracing it from its first recorded appearance in a dusty Italian archive.
The Art Detective, Fakes, Frauds, and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasures is by Phillip Mould OBE, a British art expert who appears on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow and Fake or Fortune?, a London- based show about authenticating antique paintings.

The true 1990 story of one of the world’s biggest and yet unsolved art thefts is told in The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser. Still missing in Boston: several pieces of Degas, a Vermeer, and two Rembrandts, including Storm on the Sea of Galilee. Empty frames hang on the wall of the museum to this day. Robert Wittman discusses numerous crimes in Priceless; part of his career was spent on the FBI Art Crime Team.
There are several books about the life and mysterious 1934 disappearance of American artist-adventurer Everett Reuss. Last seen in the Utah canyon lands at age 20, Ruess was acquainted with Ansel Adams and Maynard Dixon, but his solitary search for beauty ultimately was his undoing.

For behind-the-scenes loving art readers, there are two books that explore the surroundings of single paintings: Strapless by Deborah Davis deals with John Singer Sargent and Madame X, who in real life was Louisiana-born Virginie Amelie Gautreau and Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O’Connor chronicles the creation of Klimt’s masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

Winston Churchill wrote Painting as a Pastime and tells a hilarious tale about his first dramatic confrontation with THE BIG EMPTY WHITE CANVAS. He says, “Just to paint is great fun…Try it if you have not done so – before you die.” His work is on display at the Dallas Museum of Art and in the studio at his home, Chartwell, near Westerham, Kent.

For the mystery-loving art reader, there is In the Frame by Dick Francis. Francis is known for his series about English horse racing, but here he incorporates a horse painter and a fake Sir Alfred Munnings. Another of his books, To the Hilt, features an artist living in Scotland.
Masterclass by Morris L. West intertwines two stories – one of a brutally murdered Manhattan artist and one of an unearthed Italian masterpiece. Double-crosses, commissioned fakes, Swiss bank accounts, and international art dealers abound. Chasing Cezanne by Peter Mayle (A Year in Provence) is a fun art romp from France to the Bahamas.
More art mysteries include The Art Thief by Noah Charney and The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro, which is inspired by the Gardner heist.
For the romantic, fiction-loving art reader, a personal favorite is The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. A three-generation saga set in England and the Spanish island of Ibiza, The Shell Seekers describes a fictional painting of the same title done on the beach in Cornwall, obviously inspired by the Newlyn School, an art colony established in the early 1880s near Penzance. Real artists there included Lamorna Birch, Elizabeth Forbes, Stanhope Forbes, Laura Knight, and Alfred Munnings.
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Costova is also delightful: a modern day obsessive painter unlocks the secret surrounding a fictional female Impressionist’s abandonment of her promising career. Contains star-crossed love, stolen letters, and a painting that makes it all clear when you know how to decipher it.
Vermeer fans will enjoy The Girl With the Pearl Earring (basis for the movie) by Tracy Chevalier and The Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. The latter traces a fictional painting’s journey through the centuries.
A graphic, dramatic description of a fictional painting is found in Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street. A portrait painter set up a large canvas to paint a “tiny, crabbit man, (from the Wee Reformed Presbyterian Church [Discon’t]), sitting there in his clerical black suit and staring with a sort of threatening disapproval.” The artist found himself sketching in a “tiny portrait, three inches square, right in the middle of the big canvas…a picture which set out to express all the sheer malice and narrowness of the man…I had boiled down his spirit and it came to a tiny half-teaspoon of brimstone.”

duchamp-nude-descending-a-staircase-1912

For the poetry-loving art reader, there is When Earth’s Last Picture is Painted by Rudyard Kipling.

“…and those that were good (is that behavior or technique?) shall be happy
They’ll sit in a golden chair
They’ll splash at a ten league canvas
With brushes of comet’s hair…”

If you prefer happy endings, skip over The Painter Chap by Robert Service (of Yukon fame.) The Painter Chap starts with despondency and despair over his daubs and quickly sinks to knives, a hissing gas jet, and a sad goodbye to Paris. Nude Descending a Staircase by X. J. Kennedy cleverly mimics the painting by Marcel Duchamp with words,

“…We spy beneath the banister
A constant thresh of thigh on thigh –
Her lips imprint the swinging air
That parts to let her parts go by…”

Rory Ewins at speedysnail.com has even composed a group of limericks about famous artists like
Michelangelo, artist of feeling,
Is known for his Vatican ceiling:
The Pope saw some faults
In its featureless vaults
And said, “Paint over that, Mike – it’s peeling.”

Whatever your area of art interest, gentle reader, you would be advised to purchase another bookcase. Life is short, read fast; here we have barely scratched the surface. You are invited to share your favorite art books in the comment space at the bottom.

2013 Summer Online Showcase Winners Spotlight

Oil Painters of America · Dec 9, 2013 · 1 Comment

Gia Elisa Stamps Holderman

Elisa Holdermen was awarded Second Place, a $1,500 cash award, made possible thanks to Dorothy Driehaus Mellin and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, for the oil painting entitled “Waiting”

Ever since I can remember I have liked to draw and paint, attempting to replicate images I liked. So naturally, I chose art as my major in college receiving a BFA from the local university, and then continuing on to receive a M.S. degree. Those yucky college art history classes exposed me to all kinds of art. My personal likings gravitated to style of the Dutch painters as well as impressionist painters.
Drawing is the foundation for my paintings. It is during this early period of a painting that the composition with the lights and dark shapes are explored and finalized. For many years I painted in a pointillism style, attempting to create my own style of a modern impressionism. This was created with tight singular points of color arranged in a manner which formed the lights, darks and shapes, somewhat like pixels on a television screen. The viewer’s eye will mix the individual points of color creating the expressed image. When I started working with oil several years ago, I found that it allowed some of the colors to bleed over into the neighboring color, giving the painting a different feel than if the same painting had been done in acrylic.
I worked for 20 years as a police officer in order to retire and fund my full time painting endeavor. I usually paint 4-10 hours per day, barring some interferences I can’t avoid. When I’m not painting, I spend my time vacuuming dog and cat hair and flipping a coin with my husband to see whose turn it is to prepare dinner. I usually lose and have to do dishes either way.

"Waiting" by Gia Elisa Holderman — “Waiting” by Gia Elisa Holderman

I consider myself an uninteresting person who likes to paint beautiful and/or interesting objects. I like to surround myself with beautiful objects which will become future subject matter of my paintings. I think that a detailed and intricate object creates a more interesting and exciting painting. I push myself to focus on the minute details that no one would notice, yet overall they complete the painting. The greatest complement I receive is when I am accused of submitting a photograph in lieu of a painting or Painting over a photograph. I know I’ve hit my mark at that point.

Frankie Johnson

Frankie Johnson received the third place award for “Abandoned” in the OPA Summer 2013 Online Showcase.

Frankie Johnson is an accomplished artist with over thirty years of teaching experience in oils and pastels. She has owned the Mainstreet Art Centre / School of Fine Art in Lake Zurich, IL for 19 years. She conducts workshops in all subject matter throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. Her paintings are represented by the Joan Champeau Pioneer Gallery in Sister Bay, WI.
Frankie was a finalist in Artists’s magazine competitions, had a painting featured in International Artists and won a Merit Award in an Oil Painters of America Exhibit. She also won Best of Show in the Landscape category at the Richeson 75 International Art Competitions and had several paintings featured in their Still Life, Floral, Figure, Landscape and Small Paintings Books.
Also juried into the Easton, Maryland, Plein Air competition where she won “Best Marine Painting” and invited twice to participate in Door County’s Plein Air Competition with 40 other artists from around the country. She won 2^nd place in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, Plein Air competition last year and received several Honorable Mentions. She has been a Finalist several times for the Ray Mar on-line painting competitions.

Abandond — “Abandoned” by Frankie Johnson

Frankie currently has a painting in the Oil Painters of America 2013 Eastern Regional Juried Exhibition in Annapolis, Maryland and in the American Impressionist Society National Exhibition in Charleston, SC. She was a selected artist to exhibited in the first Juried Salon Show of Traditional Oils for the Oil Painters of America this summer in Petosky, Michigan. www.frankiejohnsonartstudio.com

How to Prepare a Winning Portfolio

Oil Painters of America · Dec 2, 2013 · 1 Comment

Interview notes by Elizabeth Robbins

Panel of Three of Scottsdale’s Finest Gallery Directors
Artists eagerly poured into the lecture room to hear what Scott Eubanks (Gallery Russia), Scott Jones (Legacy Gallery), and Beth Lauterback (Scottsdale Fine Art Gallery) had to say about Portfolios and getting into galleries.

In our modern age of new methods for presenting our paintings; this group of experts gave us a window into their world of submission expectations.
Galleries are swamped with submissions, so artists, do your homework! Find out if the gallery that you desire to be in actually is a good fit for you and your work. For example: Legacy Gallery averages 248 submissions per month. Unfortunately, 95% of these submissions have no idea what kind of work Legacy Gallery sells. Match your subject matter, your pricing and your style to the kind of work that the gallery actually exhibits. Then, be a salesman, sell yourself to that gallery.
Be considerate of the gallery. Don’t walk into a gallery without an appointment and expect them to drop everything and look at your work. Use a portfolio to present your work. The type of portfolio doesn’t matter, digital or print portfolio, although all three of these galleries prefer e-mail portfolios. Whether you show a variety of subjects or just one, your portfolio of images is as good as the worst piece shown. Be sure to show only your best. Galleries are first looking for standout art, and secondly, your bio, good shows, publications in magazines, and competitions. Likewise, they are disappointed if only one piece is strong. They will be looking at your work to see if you consistently produce good quality art that sells. Need they remind you, they are in the business of selling paintings? Their wall space is valuable and they need to move art. It doesn’t matter if you can paint in all mediums and many subjects. In your portfolio, if you do offer them a single medium and a single focus, it is easier for them to see how your work will fit into the gallery. It will tell them if and how they can sell your work.
Be sure to check each gallery for their specific format for submission then stick to those guidelines. It is not about the packaging of the portfolio; it is all about informing the gallery of your best qualities, such as:
Education: Whom did you study with and with what program.
Web site: This gives your work a presence and links to the gallery. In no way should you work in competition with the gallery for sales. Your web site should work jointly with the gallery to create sales for you. Be a partner with your galleries, include links to their web sites.
Competitions: Only include the big shows, not the small shows (no county fair awards, please) and especially not the shows that you entered but were not accepted.
Publications: Articles are great, but not necessary if your work is strong. If you get an article or two, excellent, but in the meantime, put out press releases on your work and your awards.
Images of Paintings: Show only your best paintings with a variety of compositions that will exhibit your strong points.
Personal Rapport: Any gallery that is considering bringing you into their stable of artists needs to feel comfortable about working with you. Are you easy to work with, forward thinking, and creating your own opportunities in your career path? Don’t tell a gallery that you are better than “so and so”. That is not the way to approach a gallery.
Timing: Remember they reminded us, that timing is everything and lots of exposure helps the odds. Put yourself out there every way that you can, magazines, shows, awards, web sites, Facebook, Blog, etc. They will notice you. Show them your best painting. Catch their attention. Let them be the judge of what they can and cannot sell. They each have their own client base and know what will and won’t sell in their market.
Rejection: Okay, so you have been rejected from a gallery, pick your self up and try another one. You don’t want to be in a gallery that isn’t excited about your work.

“Galleries often work together sharing information. If your work is not right for their gallery they may recommend you to another gallery that is a better fit. You can also ask the gallery that has rejected you, if there is a gallery that would be a better fit for your work.”

Question : In the midst of this staggering economy, is this a good time to apply to galleries, or should artists wait until the economy strengthens?
Answer: Do it now. Many galleries are looking for fresh ideas to grab the patron’s eye and pocket book. This may be the time that galleries are replacing or adding new artists.
Question: Do you look at all the submissions?
Answer: Scott Jones, of Legacy gallery, says he looks at everyone’s submission and their websites. He looks for that magical quality that grabs him. Scott did admit that after 3 years of looking at the submissions for the Legacy gallery, only two submissions got into the gallery. This last comment created quite a stir in the audience. A wave of discouragement could be felt throughout the room. However, Scott reminded us that he and the other galleries are always looking at many sources for their artists. He has a list of 109 favorite artists that he is secretly watching and always looking for more artists to add to the list. He regularly checks out their web sites and links that those artists have to other artist’s web sites. That is how he finds other artists. It is easy for him to surf the web looking for new and exciting work. He loves Blogs, but not Blogs or websites that are not updates regularly. He watches artists mentioning other artists. It is a wonderful way to find new painters. Other recommendations: Newsletters: example – Clint Watson’s newsletter – one artist vouches for another. That goes a long way. Contests: i.e. win a Ray Mar Contest. Scott is a huge fan of OPA. It gives artists tremendous exposure. He asked 7 artists at the OPA show to be in Legacy Gallery.
Question: Typically how many paintings do the galleries want from artists coming into their gallery?
Answer: Scott Eubanks- six paintings to start off, four paintings to be hung and two more in the back. Beth Lauterbach answered, six paintings plus good photography of each painting. To create a good connection with her clients she also requires a good contemporary biography (don’t dig too deep into your past) and a good photo of the artist.
All three Galleries agreed:

Do keep sending submissions to galleries
Keep your web sites current. Only show your best work. Take off your older paintings.
Enter shows. Win awards
Get exposure from many sources: Magazines, Facebook, Blogs, Newsletters.
Don’t get discouraged.
Look for galleries compatible with your work.
Persevere. Keep putting it out there
Seek a gallery that is wild about your art, they need to fall in love with it.
Seek a gallery that is run or owned by someone you can trust and is enjoyable.

One of the tough jobs being an artist is that you must find people that share your love of subject matter and style. You must be successful both at painting and also at finding those people that love what you paint.
In closing, for those artists already in galleries, these three galleries all had final words of wisdom!
Question: What if an artist is doing all of the above, but the public isn’t buying his/her paintings?
Answer: Here are some points that Scott Eubanks gave us to consider why art doesn’t sell (besides the poor economy):

The painting is not as good as originally thought.
It is over priced. What is the actual track record for that artist’s work.
Same subject over and over
Bad choice of subject matter.
All the paintings from one artist look alike.
Perhaps the gallery that your work is currently in, but not selling, is not helping you sell the art. Perhaps the gallery itself doesn’t have enough exposure.

Solution:

Work your craft, perfect your skills. Climb to new heights.
Carefully consider your price and increases based on performance.
Choose subject matter that appeals to the clients in your galleries.
Find your uniqueness, build excitement in each painting.
If your gallery isn’t a good fit and you are not selling, look for another gallery that is a good fit for your paintings and you.
Don’t ever compete with your galleries, they are your business partners. Take good care of them.
Connect your work to your galleries.
Take your older paintings out of your current galleries and replace them with uplifting paintings. Scott Jones called them “Prozac Art”. There is enough stress in everyone’s lives, people are needing and buying peaceful, pretty art that soothes their minds and souls.

Most of all, Beth Lauterbach concluded, “What you do well, continue to do well. If you are selling, keep doing it”.
We all left the room inspired!