Art World Insiders

John. R. Cherry on taking charge of your art career

"You can be one of the best artists in the world today, but if you do not get serious about the business of fine art then you are not likely to find financial success or recognition. Most artists cannot afford to hire a marketing manager to handle those pesky business details, so success as a professional artist means you have to have a business system. Whether you use a note card file or an online system … you must find a business system that works for you and then work it."

John R. Cherry, III is Founder & Co-Chairman of the Board, The National Fine Arts Title Registry. Please use this link for registering your fine art and help build ACTs of generosity, our scholarship fund. www.FineArtsTitle.com/0374

 

Margaret Danielak on successful people

“Successful people have several traits in common. They have definite goals and develop habits to achieve those goals. They are focused. They are not easily discouraged, and are willing to take risks. They locate mentors, and heed their advice. Visual artists who want to become successful should do the same. Successful people love what they do. Even after others say they’ve ‘made it,’ they discover something new and keep on working.”

Art Representative Margaret Danielak, Owner of Danielak Art and author of A Gallery Without Walls, Selling Art in Alternative Venues. The handbook, which was illustrated by Danielak's late father, is about selling art in alternative venues and in innovative, cost-effective ways.

DanielakArt currently represents an eclectic selection of artworks created by California based contemporary artists including international photographer Dianne Boate, abstract painter Linda French, award-winning sculptor/painter/digital artist, Toni Scott, figurative painter Julie Snyder - who served as president of the historic Businessmen’s Art Institute of Los Angeles - and Margaret’s father, the late illustrator and landscape painter, Robert G. Stevens (1926 – 2004).

Margaret is active in the Pasadena community, having served on the Junior League of Pasadena’s Art Smart Committee (in association with The Armory Center for the Arts) on art projects for disadvantaged youth. She is a member of The Community Women of San Gabriel Valley, the Pasadena Arts Council and the Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art.

Daughter of a painter, and former production coordinator, Margaret sees possibilities where others see nothing.

 

Digital Arts Studio on Giclée Printmaking

Digital Arts Studio has the technical expertise and marketing savvy to help you profit from fine-art Giclée printmaking. Barry Glustoff, Robin Zelizer and Peter Leafman opened Digital Arts Studio in 2003. They have 80 year’s combined experience in art reproduction, marketing and retail custom picture framing.

Digital Arts Studios achieves superior quality, color accuracy, and consistency on every digital imaging project. Color management is not only about technical expertise. Peter Leafman and Barry Glustoff have artistic backgrounds and keen color sense that make for a winning collaboration with all of their clients, digitally “savvy” or not.

Digital Arts Studios has an outstanding team of technicians, including skilled photographers, professional artists, graphic designers and digital imaging specialists. Using the latest and best possible technology, they can achieve superior quality, color accuracy, and consistency on every project.

 

Pat Fiorello on the myth of the Starving Artist

“Too many artists buy into the myth of the ‘starving artist’. If you believe opportunities are limited, that’s what you’ll find, but if you see that opportunities are truly abundant, that’s what you’ll experience. If you have a positive attitude and take appropriate and focused actions, you can make a living doing what you love.”

Pat Fiorello brings a unique blend of both the business and art worlds. For 20 years she worked in the corporate world as a marketing and general management executive. She received her M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and has been Vice President, Marketing for Coca-Cola and Nabisco. She left her “first” career to more fully pursue her passion for art and has been doing so successfully for over 6 years. In addition to selling her original paintings, Pat’s artwork has been accepted into over 60 juried shows, featured in over a dozen solo exhibitions, and licensed for greeting cards and home decor products. Pat is recognized as a Signature Member of the Georgia Watercolor Society. She has helped hundreds of artists develop their business skills through her work with arts organizations, workshops and private coaching. Pat has served as Chairman of the Atlanta Artists Center and President of the Georgia Watercolor Society. www.patfiorello.com

 

Alexandria Levin on perseverance

Image by Jonathan Lane “I was born with a demanding muse and an insatiable curiosity, and was always creating something as a child. I’ve been painting ever since I was 17, over 33 years ago. This is the one constant in my life. Perseverance means that your essential identity is that of being an artist. Nothing changes that; no life circumstances, no economic lows, no outside criticism, nothing. If you have to work a regular job five days a week, then you paint inside your head during those five days. Life changes all the time, pendulums swing. Things are good, then they slow down, the situation becomes disappointing, and then one day something shifts and whole new worlds of opportunity open up. If you are truly an artist you never give up. You don’t listen to those outside voices that say to quit - ever. You only listen to your muse - your inner voice. You create and grow no matter what."

Alexandria Levin has exhibited her oil paintings in galleries, museums and cultural centers across thecountry since 1981, including ten solo shows. Her paintings are in private collections from Boston toJapan, as well as in the state of New Mexico’s Capitol Art Collection in Santa Fe. She has lecturedon her art in the San Francisco Bay Area, Philadelphia and Tokyo, and was awarded major stategrants from the California Arts Council and Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council, plus she has receivedvarious exhibition and purchase awards. Ms. Levin attended Massachusetts College of Art to studypainting for two years and later returned to school at the San Francisco Art Institute where shereceived a BFA with honors in 1989.

Alexandria is currently living and painting in the Philadelphia area, and has recently written two bookson the arts and creativity. She is also working on two collections of poetry and song lyrics. As always,and as the top priority in her life, she is painting whenever possible; continuing to build her two currentbodies of work with well over a hundred and seventy paintings to date and going strong. www.alexalev.com

 

Darryl Mix on exhibiting your art widely

“You may exhibit in many non-traditional venues, but galleries still have an important place in ambitious artists’ career plans. In this class, you will learn from our guest Darryl Mix, of SA Contemporary Art in San Antonio, Texas about how to prepare for working with galleries. Artists who work with galleries want to exhibit their work to certain kinds of buyers, arts writers, and museum curators. You have to know who is interested in your work and where they go see art.”

Darryl Mix is the Director of Art SA, a commercial art gallery located in San Antonio Texas. Art SA is still in its infancy - after only 10 months in operation. Darryl's focus as Director and Curator is to successful fulfill the gallery's promise to its audience, to "Discover The Art of San Antonio."

Darryl's current role as the Director and Curator for an art gallery is a second career. For more than 17 years, Darryl worked as a fundraiser, marketer and public relationsist for non-profit health and arts organizations in Southern California and San Antonio. Darryl liberally applies the principles of "affinity marketing" and "collaborative outreach" that have proven effective in the non-profit sector to the "art world", a ubiquitous segment of the "for profit world."

 

Benny Shaboy on getting money

“Unless you get lucky, being financially successful is extremely difficult. But that's actually to your advantage, because 95 percent of the other artists aren't willing to work as hard and as smart as you are. And the smarter you work, the luckier you'll get.”

Benny Shaboy studied sculpture and drawing at The University of the Arts and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Founding editor/publisher of studioNOTES (1993), he is currently editor/publisher of "Art Opportunities Monthly," author of "The studioNOTES Treasury” and "The Art Opportunities Book: Finding and Winning," as well as numerous articles.

 

Lee Silber on self-promotion

"Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could just create great art and everything else would simply take care of itself? Unfortunately, we need to sell ourselves, our work and in some cases, our decisions. It’s called 'Self' promotion for a reason. If we don’t do it, nobody else will."

Lee Silber is the award-winning author of eleven books including the popular title Self-Promotion for the Creative Person and his latest book, Organizing from the right Side of the Brain. Silber also is a radio talk-show host, the founder of five companies and an amazing self-promoter with over 750 articles/and media appearances to his credit.

 

Constance Smith on the long view of success

“Last year, I was invited to an Artist Residency in Japan and had the time of my life. This is a golden opportunity to experience Japanese art and culture. It will consist of art and crafts exhibitions (three locations), demonstrations, and home stays as well as the exchange of ideas, friendship and participation in joint art projects. Selected Berkeley and other East Bay artists will be invited to exhibit their work, participate in demonstrations, and visit Sakai next spring.”

 

Synthia Smith on balancing life & work

"Synthia Smith is my friend, mentor and business coach. She has been my best source of resilient thoughts, behavior and actions for over ten years now." ~ Aletta de Wal

Synthia helps you find the effective, natural leverage points to balance your life and work. Synthia has been a Professional Coach since 1995, serving hundreds of clients located across the US, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. In addition, she brings over 25 years of Fortune 500 and independent business experience in training, human resources, geoscience, management, project management, and consulting. Synthia suffers from an incurable love of meditation, exploration, great conversation, and learning.
www.themitragroup.com/id4.html

 

Katherine Swift on not being limited by your perceptions about yourself

“You are only limited by your own perceptions. I am classically trained in the facts of science yet am making a career out of my creativity. Learn to do both. You will be surprised what you can do.”

A.C.T. 101 Graduate Katherine Swift grew up on a dairy farm in Virginia. She graduated from The Ohio State University in 1997 with a degree in veterinary medicine and began her veterinary career that same year. She began her art education a few years later. She now combines her love for both in a line of agricultural themed jewelry. Her experiences of being a veterinary practice owner and a jewelry artist give her a unique perspective on making a living from art. She features this jewelry, along with other artists’ agricultural themed art on her online art gallery, www.cowartandmore.com. Her own line of jewelry and gallery cater to the agriculture industry. Katherine has exhibited at many art shows throughout Florida, including the Walt Disney World Festival of the Masters and has sold artworks worldwide.

 

Chris Welsh on the many hats artists must wear

“Artists who show and sell their work must wear many hats that are unrelated to making art. If you bring only part of yourself to the business side of art, it can feel like drudgery. Understanding the stages of creativity can help you tap into your whole being and make art marketing a creative and enjoyable activity.”

Chris Welsh is president of Mastery of Learning®, an international education and consulting company he founded more than 20 years ago. Chris began his unique research and development of non-traditional learning techniques in 1969 while training killer whales and dolphins for the U.S. Navy in Hawaii and earning a black belt in aikido. Chris specializes in the application of chaos and complexity concepts to accelerated learning, project management, creativity, and change management. The end result is a simpler, richer life.