Wild idea for approaching galleries

[Scott Hackler]

I am going to be approaching some galleries early in the next year and had an idea. I thought that someone said that it is better to approach the gallery with a portfolio rather than a box filled with turnings. My idea was to take new, high res, photos of the things that I would want a gallery to consider and upload them to Shutterfly (or someone similar) to have a hard cover book made with my pieces in it. I believe I can get a 20 page book for around $35 so it isn't all that expensive and I could have a couple made to leave with a gallery for their consideration. Of course if they aren't interested I would sure like to have the book back!

What do you all think about this approach? I really need to start "getting it out there", Daddy needs some new tools! :)

[Paul Williams]

Scott, I think it is a good idea for showing the total scope of your work. I do think you should bring one excellent truning with you. My wife has made several shutterfly books and in addition to the large hard cover book she often gets 5 by 7 soft cover books. That might be more economical to leave behind. They run about $15 but they are always on sale and often she gets one or two free with her larger order.

[robert raess]

I'm leaning in the same direction, tho i am not familiar with shutterfly..i was going to do it myself,actually tomorrow i have set aside to take pic's on various backgrounds and daylite vs. shoplite or daylite bulbs with halogen backlite. I'm going to try it with and without a flash.When i'm happy then i might bring the CF card to walgreens and go from there.I have 15 pc.'s done and need to be in place for the Christmas shoppers, but i won't sell any more without good photos to document my work.I wish you well..i liked your pierced vortex, that was you right? Rob

[David E Keller]

I don't know anything about the galleries, but I wish you luck in the process... Your turnings are top shelf, so I don't expect you to have any troubles.

[Scott Hackler]

Paul, I hadn't considered getting the smaller books in a soft cover. That might be a better (and cheaper) idea. My only concern would be to possibly make one large book to keep with me and allow them to flip through while I am there and leave the smaller copy with them if they "would like to think about it".

We have used Shutterfly before for our vacation photos and its a real cool deal and the books we received were a pretty nice deal for the money.

[Brian Brown]

Good Idea. *As a general rule, most galleries won't return the books if they reject your work. *They don't want the hassle or expense. *If you want the books returned, leave the book with a self addressed postage paid envelope, and they are more likely to return them. *

[Bernie Weishapl]

Scott I did the same thing here but just made one book and set up a appointment to speak with the gallery director. I also took a couple of my best pieces with me. They will probably want to see and hold something. It has worked pretty well around here anyway. We just had a new floral shop/gift shop open here in town. I took my book down with a couple of turnings. She was impressed. I just took down a dozen pens, 3 HF vases, 3 bowls, 4 vases, 2 peppermills, and about a dozen each of birdhouses, ornaments and bells. She agreed to a 30% commission on them. Not sure I would leave the book with them. Also had the Kansas Tourism office wanted some of my stuff but wouldn't do it because they wanted a 60/40 deal. They said they wouldn't do any better than 50/50 so I declined. I figured I would not go over 30% commission.

[Rick Markham]

Scott, We must think alike, because I am currently working on mine :)

[Ken Hill]

A well done book or "portfolio" can do wonders for all sorts of clientel!

[John Keeton]

Scott, you may also consider putting together a digital portfolio and artists background, accompanied by an email letter of introduction. Many reputable galleries have websites and/or email, and this may work to get you some face to face time in order to take actual pieces for their inspection.

On commissions, I think you will find that most upscale galleries are approaching a 50% commission. I did a little searching, and found Kansas lacking considerably in the juried arts arena. Getting juried in a variety of settings, special exhibits, etc., seems to be the credential building you will need in order to get into some galleries.

Kentucky is very fortunate to have an active state guild, as well as the Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency, that has a rigorous jury program and promotes accepted artists. Apparently, the Arts Council in Kansas has been stripped of funding and is basically neutered at this point.

Your work is certainly deserving, but I can tell you - the market out there is tough right now. Getting in a gallery is the first step, actually selling art is difficult in these times. After spending some time talking to some of the "big names", even they are having a difficult time and make most of their funding from the demo circuit and other endeavors.

[Michelle Rich]

Woodturning is tactile. It requires eyes & hands to see & feel the turning. I would look very quickly at pictures, but I would tell folks to bring me the turnings. Can't judge great finishing from a picture, can't really get a great feel for proportions in a picture. Sending pictures by email, or in person, will get you noticed, but having the turning was the only way I would make a decision. it's amazing what pictures can hide.

[Richard Allen]

A lose leaf binder with pictures of your work is a good idea. Pack up all your work. At some point you will need to pack it all up anyway. Take your lose leaf binder along with one of your pieces which you think fits their gallery. The gallery will want to know what you can sell your pieces for so that they know what price to put on the piece. This isn't the price you want but the price the piece will be sold to the public for. You can include what you will get for different splits if you want but the gallery is interested in selling your work not in how much money you are going to make. The gallery owner knows what their clientele will pay. Some galleries sell thousand dollar items and some sell fifty dollar items.

Lose leaf lets you rearrange your portfolio to showcase different work which is fitting for specific galleries. The lose leaf also lets you remove pieces which have been placed in a gallery or sold and lets you add new work. A lose leaf binder also lets you give the impression that the works you are showing weren't necessarily available 6 months ago and may not be available in 6 more months.

Do all of this NOW. Don't wait till the new year. You will be missing the opportunity to sell your work for Christmas. Galleries need a lot of pieces available for December (November also). If your works sell you will be encouraged to provide more work for the gallery. It is more difficult to get your work into a gallery in January.

Taking all your work with you in the car lets you close the deal when you visit the gallery.

It is also a good idea to have an artist statement prepared. This statement should say something about you and say something about why you do your art. You are selling yourself as much as you are selling your work. Your artist statement can be the difference between your work and the work of stuff sold at Pier 1. Having a statement about each of your pieces of work can also be helpful. These statements should be provided in such a way that they might be displayed with your work. So your artist statement printed in large print on a framed piece of parchment would be something that the gallery could display with your work. A business card that has a picture of the piece on one side and a statement about the piece on the other side could be displayed with your turning. Having all this "stuff" ready with you when you visit can make it all happen in a single visit.

[Scott Hackler]

Thanks for all the comments and opinions. Having never sold anything (at least anything beside to my Mom), the whole Gallery thing is unknown territory. While Kansas isn't the epicenter of art, I do travel to the Dallas area once in a while and KC more often than that. So I am trying to prepare myself with as much info from you folks that already have things in galleries.

[Mark Levitski]

What a wild idea! Photos of your work, who'd a thought of that! :)

Seriously, those are some good suggestions, especially Michelle's re: finish. Although good photos are almost always necessary to get you into a juried show, if you've got a better finish than others, it can only be noticed by feeling it. At our shows, it's this phenomenon that sets us apart. People walk in and feel the finish and give the wows. Gallery owners can become part of this too.
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Richard's suggestion to take a bunch of work with you is right on. We have seven gallery accounts in our region so far, and at most of them our work was on the floor on our first visit, though not necessarily first contact. It takes a lot of homework and legwork to get gallery-established, so anything you can do to make the process more efficient will help. We routinely use shows to research and choose galleries that are in the area. A lot of times, the show is a bust but we make a good gallery addition that makes the trip worthwhile. It is best to walk through and "interview" (your own jury process) the galleries for fit and compatability even before you contact them. If it's the right gallery and your vehicle is full of work, then a deal can be sealed then and there.

John's right about the consignment split. We are finding that galleries are mostly 60/40 with more and more of them asking 50/50. The sales climate has cooled the last few years. Other show participants in various media confirm that.

Before you go getting into too many galleries, be prepared to be able to create enough work to put out on their floors as base inventory, then be ready to do the follow-up when things sell (replacement) or don't sell (swapping out). We spend as much time on gallery inventory visits or packaging smaller items for shipping as we do in the shop creating pieces.

In any case, best of luck to you..............Mark

[Curt Fuller]

Scott, I think the portfolio is a great idea but my concern with doing it in a book format would be the expense of updating it. If you think about how much your style of turning evolves over just a year or so, a book would quickly be outdated. I think a digital presentation that can be offered as a website or on a laptop or tablet that you can take with you when you visit a gallery would be more valuable than a book. I love books and having a book of my turnings would be really cool but I'm afraid books are being pushed aside in this era of digital media.

As a side note, when I had to present examples of my work to get into our local community arts gallery I used a link to my Sawmill Creek gallery.

Also, if you're going to seriously present your work digitally over the internet you should watermark your photos to ensure someone else doesn't rip them off for their own use.

[Scott Hackler]

Wow, Mark! That is some great information, but I have to tell you... the extra weird characters embedded in your post made it very difficult to read! Kinda wierd that your post was filled with those symbols and such.


What a <U>wild idea</U>! Photos of your work, who'd a thought of that!&nbsp;<IMG class=inlineimg title=Smilie border=0 alt="" src="images/smilies/smile.gif" smilieid="1"><BR><BR>Seriously, those are some good suggestions, especially Michelle's re: finish. Although good photos are almost always necessary to get you into a juried show, if you've got a better&nbsp;finish than others, it can only be noticed by feeling it. At our shows, it's this phenomenon that sets us apart. People walk in and feel the finish and give the wows. Gallery owners can become part of this too. <BR><BR><BR>Richard's suggestion to take a bunch of work with you is right on.&nbsp;We have&nbsp;seven gallery accounts in&nbsp;our region so far, and at most of them&nbsp;our work was on&nbsp;the floor on our first visit, though not necessarily first contact. It takes a lot of homework and legwork to get gallery-established, so anything you can do to make the&nbsp;process more efficient&nbsp;will&nbsp;help. We routinely use&nbsp;shows to research&nbsp;and choose galleries that are in the area. A lot of times, the show is a bust but we make a good gallery addition that makes the trip worthwhile.&nbsp;It is best to&nbsp;walk through and &nbsp;"interview" (your own jury process) the galleries for fit and compatability&nbsp;even before you contact them. If&nbsp;it's the right gallery and your vehicle is full of work, then a deal can be sealed then and there.<BR><BR><BR>John's right about the consignment split. We are finding that galleries are mostly 60/40 with more&nbsp;and more of them asking 50/50. The sales climate&nbsp;has cooled the last few years. Other show participants in various media confirm that.<BR><BR><BR>Before you go getting into too many galleries, be prepared to be able to create enough work to put out on their floors as base inventory, then be ready to do the follow-up when things sell (replacement) or don't sell (swapping out). We spend as much time on gallery inventory visits or packaging smaller&nbsp;items for shipping as we do in the shop creating pieces.<BR><BR><BR>In any case, best of luck to you..............Mark&nbsp;<BR><BR>&nbsp;

[Scott Hackler]

Curt, you've got a valid point about my (or anyone) changing their work over time. Even, as mentioned above, being able to pull out sold pieces... has some merit as well. I like the idea of a digital portfolio for the "most current" photos and maybe that could be the proding I need to buy that tablet I want anyway!

Again, thanks for all the ideas and examples of what you do.




Scott, I think the portfolio is a great idea but my concern with doing it in a book format would be the expense of updating it. If you think about how much your style of turning evolves over just a year or so, a book would quickly be outdated. I think a digital presentation that can be offered as a website or on a laptop or tablet that you can take with you when you visit a gallery would be more valuable than a book. I love books and having a book of my turnings would be really cool but I'm afraid books are being pushed aside in this era of digital media.

As a side note, when I had to present examples of my work to get into our local community arts gallery I used a link to my Sawmill Creek gallery.

Also, if you're going to seriously present your work digitally over the internet you should watermark your photos to ensure someone else doesn't rip them off for their own use.

[Toney Robertson]

Information from my limited experience with galleries in this area is that I was told NOT to show up at the gallery with pieces in tow. I was told by gallery owners that doing that is a sure way to tick off the owner, who are busy people(aren't we all). I have been told by gallery owners that the ONLY way to get into their gallery is to send a CD with 15 or so pictures of your work along with an artist's statement and bio along with contact information and THEY will contact me if THEY are interested.

IMO this is a very elitist attitude and may not apply in your area but I would suggest that you need to scope out how to deal with galleries in your area so that you don't commit the same gallery faux pas that I did.

[John Keeton]

...but I have to tell you... the extra weird characters embedded in your post made it very difficult to read! Kinda wierd that your post was filled with those symbols and such.Scott, it must have been on your end - a cyber moment. I haven't seen those characters any of the times I viewed this thread. Weird stuff happens, though!! Sometimes, I cannot see the pics and need to disconnect and reconnect my 3G.

[Scott Hackler]

It must be this old outdated browser on my work laptop. I just pulled this thread up on my Droid phone and his post looks OK. Pretty strange that the bold, underline and such commands show up on this browser. Of course my IT dept would have IE 6.0 installed.... :(

[John Beaver]

Scott,
Good advice so far. Definitely do some research on each gallery before approaching them. Toney Robertson's advice is pretty accurate. Most galleries these days prefer a c.d. and usually look at them every few weeks or so. A lot of them will post on their website how they want to be propositioned. If you can get an introduction from someone, that is helpful too. Most galleries do not want walk in solicitations.

If I get a chance to visit, I bring a handful of pieces and my portfolio on my iPad and that has worked well. The 50/50 split is pretty common with high end galleries. Like John K. said, it's pretty difficult to sell art these days, but not impossible.

Good luck !!!!

[Russell Neyman]

I always thought calling on galleries wasn't worth the bother, selling a few major pieces here and there strictly via word of mouth. I had a major urn ("William Tell" in my SMC profile) with me one day visiting my brother in Oregon, and he brought it in to a gallery next to the restaurant we were heading to, asking, "Can we leave this on your desk for a few minutes while we look around? My brother is a woodturner, and we'd like to see what the other artists are doing."

When we came back to the front desk, there was a crowd of employees around the urn. They requested that I enter a juried show the next week. Once you're in one gallery, the others fall into line. So, obviously I'm of the opinion that there's nothing like the real thing. My advice would be to ask when they have a juried show and put your best stuff on exhibit.