A neighboring artist's son volunteered to watch my booth for a bit on Sunday, and so I took a short walk through the show at Westport, CT. What I saw really got me thinking.
Booth after booth displayed landscapes. Landscape after landscape after mind-numbing landscape. Mountains, hills, farms, fields, sunsets, sunrises, salt marshes, they went on and on and on and on.
Westport is a fine art show, and a good one, I think. The quality of the work was pretty high. But when I got back to my tent, I looked at my landscapes (one wall out of the three) and began to rethink pretty much everything.
I know that many factors play into the look and feel of a show. The juror's taste, of course, is one of them. And perhaps this jury just liked the same kind of landscape. But when I think of the other fine art shows I've seen this summer, I think they have had a similar sort of sameness. As an artist doing the shows alone, I don't get out much. But I can say that when something is different, it really, really stands out.
I paint in oils, with a palette knife, and I have thought that my style and approach are different enough to make me stand out from the crowd. But what has sold for me this summer has by and large not been landscapes. It's been florals and what I call cowscapes.
So I think I'm going to shift the tone of my display. I love painting cows, burros, goats, dogs, animals in general. So I think I'm going to try including even more animals in my display, and more flowers and more people - and maybe just a couple landscapes, and see what happens. I'm posting a photo of my booth at the show, with one wall of landscapes, one of animals, one a large floral.
I'm interested to hear any thoughts you all have about how you make these decisions, and what you're seeing when you look truly critically at a show's content.
Replies
Carrie,
I so have to agree with you. Some of the SC galleries are only working with artist that paint landscapes. I am a coastal artist that paints simple 2D Fish, oysters and crabs. Maybe landscapes are a trend. It does look funny when you walk a show and it is either reeeeeally old art or landscapes.
I like to think like a client more than a jury in an art show..now I just probably just shot my self in the foot. I ask myself who buys my art? The compulsive art visitor with a limited budget and a wall problem to solve due to folks visiting next month. Her color palette is certain and looking for just the right piece.I like her.
I purchase other artist art also, I could never recreate it or want to, just enjoy it for what it is. In the studio or at a show - subject matter, composition and color mixing is my zing. I did like you are thinking about and had a week moment and switched styles. I did the same medium but different style, I did an entire collection of work for a new gallery completely different than I normally paint.....has one piece sold? ahhh no - all 8 still hanging! So back to what I love. Lesson learned for me...focus on doing good quality work that holds the clients attention and a subject matter that I can relate to.
Ditch the landscapes, even though you have a different style, it's your other work that really stands out. I love your big horned cattle!
I did a similar about face a couple of years ago. I had been painting seascapes forever and just got tired of them. I even switched media and now do block prints, and am much happier. Somehow I couldn't leave the sea, though. My favorite topics are fish, with birds a close second. You can't go wrong painting what you love.
Thanks for the responses, folks. Joan, thanks for the feedback, and for sharing your experiences. I agree, you can't go wrong painting what you love. I love painting! So to me, it doesn't much matter what I paint. I do love painting landscapes, and am thinking about different ways to market them. I've had great success with sponsored plein-air painting trips, and I'm thinking of a way to market my landscapes similarly, even without the trips.
I live in Arizona and I can't tell you how many people have to decided to paint or do photography after their career is over and I'm sure it's just not here. They enjoy it and see a way to make some extra money, but they don't put too much creativity into it and it all begins to look the same. I want to puke everytime I see that arch in the sunset or Antelope Canyon photo's/paintings. There are many people that think outside the box, but I think many of the more eccentric artists don't take their art serious enough and never make it into shows. Those artists who do have something different, well done and take their work seriously can make it into galleries, so why bother with these art shows? It's sad to think but I think fine art at art fairs are dying and they will only be for jewelery, crafts and amateur painters/photographers. I'm sure there are many good arguments but this is what I'm seeing in the West.
Interesting observations. Your palette knife paintings would seem quite normal out here in the Western American landscape, especially when done en plein air. That has been quite the trend.
How about a cityscapes? I might enjoy seeing them more than landscapes. But I don't know if I care to see another fruit stand or cafe.
When people walk by our booth and just gaze into our abyss as they move right along, my wife and I look at each other and say, "Landscape people." So that's a family joke.
True. Landscapes are the number one seller and they have been for many years.
One gripe I have is that so many accomplished artists have the same modus operandum. Just look at the beautiful art in American Art Collector magazine. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule in there. But so many of them do everything to make a buck. Each artist does portraits, landscapes, and still lifes. Churning out the same ol' beauty day in and day out in relatively painterly fashion and in the classical realism way. And usually they teach workshops as well. So if the paintings aren't selling in their galleries, they'll make a pile of cash leading the litter of fledglings through Greece or Tuscany or Alaska or Napa Valley. But they're running the numbers and sticking with the winners.
I wish I could get into the minds of the juries I've gotten past, given what I've seen other photographers and print makers have brought to the show.
This is my opinion and should be weighted as nothing more. I'd rather see more eccentricity and less sameness.
But those danged customers have something to say about it too. Seems to me what they want and what they buy is Familiarity. I don't see many risk takers out there.
I'm not sure too many eccentrics are trying to get in the shows, Jack. But I'm with you.
There were a really good photographer couple in Florida doing some fantastic still life work back around 2008 and I haven't seen them in a while. O.K. it was pretty safe material. But you know, they did it in such a fantastic way that I really went for it. I can't remember their names.