Thank you, Robert, for putting the roll of art in our lives in perspective. Making art is just plain fun to me but yet if one takes it seriously, it is just another type of business but a business in which you are the owner. To have a successful art business requires bookkeeping, schedules, selling, promotion, expenses, etc. Very few people can do all this themselves and still make art. There is not enough hours in the day to do it all. That is where outsourcing comes in. With that said, one has to ask themselves if they are good enough to make a living making art. Reality will eventually prevail.

I wonder what the political/economic climate would be if Bill Bradley had not opted out of politics. I wonder if he paints in his spare time if he has any. Oh well.

Finally, someone else who has made the connection between supply and demand. There is now way more supply than there is demand. Baby boomers are retiring and taking up painting in droves and some of them are excellent painters. They all want to show and sell their work. There are art shows and festivals every week it seems. Every town has its own 'art tour'. Public galleries need money so they keep putting on juried shows that are on for only 2 weeks. It's all becoming too much and the public is loosing interest, and there are few who are still interested in buying. What we need to do is find a way to create more demand. I don't have the answer (wish I did) but perhaps we have to create work that is so unique and compelling that viewers will just have to have it. Easier said than done, I'm sure. In the meantime, some of us have to paint just because we love it, otherwise we'd give up.

Dear Robert,
Artists need to resolve themselves that 90 percent of the population, won't like their work. Of then 10% left over, only 5% can afford it. Also, 10% of the artists make 90% of the sales. This can be a jagged pill to swallow for many. Combine that with a tanking economy and idiotic sales of $120 million for the Scream can make artists feel like giving up. But these are crucial times for an artist to rise up and dial the quality of their work to make people come and respond to their paintings, sculptures or drawings. Galleries are a stepping stone between an artist and a buyer. And while artists will sell their souls to be signed by one, the contract for fame and fortune can be a pipe dream. Galleries will often start to dictate what an artist paints. Comments like "oh, we love the new works, but we have orders for what you did two years ago" are not uncommon. To compensate for a lack of gallery sales, an artist can do well to have an open studio sale, participate in art walks or get together with a few others, rent a space and produce their own exhibition. Have artists talks, interviews and produce artist statements and contact sheets with their works available. Even an inexpensive website can go miles for potential clients. This can all be good exercises for an artist to generate new sales and interest. There are lots of tire kickers and looky-lou's out there, but occasionally people will part with their hard earned cash and buy directly from an artist.
I personally have found galleries to be two steps below the used car salesman. I have done well doing my own thing and creating my own marketing and promotions. Careful though, like playing solitaire, there will always be someone out there telling you what card to put up.
Be kind.
John Ferrie

We are surrounded by imagery, to the point that it's annoying and distracting. I've made the decision to resist the temptation to make prints and scatter my imagery. I am prolific and have little storage space, so I work with my one little gallery, keeping my prices embarrassingly low. I sell maybe a painting every other month or so. To me, this is phenomenal sales. What do you think about having the humility to stick with small galleries, and yes, SHOPS, and to keep prices low enough for the average person to have original art? I think that one doesn't have to be a "collector" to fall in love with a painting and want it.

I know many artists sell giclees of their works. This helps them make a living at art. However, I wonder if it doesn't cheapen what we do. Maybe art is not as valued because there are always giclees, to say nothing of commercial prints of anything to be had. Maybe there is too much visual information bombarding them to be able to really appreciate the fineness of a good painting at a fair price to the artist.

This is really an eyeopener to artists starting out.There is a proliferation of art galleries and Toronto and so many groups. A few are selling and most are struggling. All I can say is to keep working in improving in our art. Participate in events that promote exposure to the public.

Thank you, Robert, for the response to my query in your weekly letters. I tentatively put it on your wall....and then took it off, so I was surprised to see it referenced today. And what you wrote was just what I needed to hear....and something I already instinctively knew....but your words are positive reinforcement. You can see some of my work at http://www.facebook.com/l/ZAQEhyrXVAQEivUL9ze2-6a4venOykYitOA9xntmLs5bibQ/www.studiocamille.com

Although we've never met, I have learned so much from you! Thank you and hope your special day is filled will memory making events! Happy Birthday and thank you for sharing your painting knowledge and experience with us all.

I think what has changed is the need for artists to take and active role in the marketing of their artwork. Artists can no longer just hand the paintings off to someone and wait for the check to come in the mail. Successful artists must hustle like any other salespeople. You must develop all of the skills you have whether it be speaking, writing, teaching, innovating, etc. That is my focus..to develop myself in the same way I develop a painting. These two go hand in glove. If I have more to offer, my efforts at promotion will be more successful. Marketing is about the balance of giving and receiving. You must give in order to receive. A gallery doesn't make you a success, YOU make yourself a success. If you are more successful, you can help make your gallery more successful in selling you and your paintings. I disagree with 'outsourcing'. This implies you can turn over your life to someone else. No. It is your life and you need to be 100% involved in it!

Thank God I'm a lightweight in the art-world and would settle for only a fraction of what was paid for the Scream. That's if you can visualize my face half-face hollering instead of the screamer's.

I figure such monies spent on dead art could've made 240 of us artists half-millionaires but that's not the point I want to drive. What I'd like to see is that money going to fund art in schools. Same write off for that 1 percenter?

We have all been told that the art market dropped after 9/11/01. And of course in the U.S. 2008 proved to bring a crushing blow. Besides the current economic woes, from my experience I think there are two major factors that professional artists must deal with everyday. My biggest competitor is technology. People are so focused on having the newest and best smart phones, computers, I-pads and other tech related gadgets that they often don't give much thought to art at all or they are saving their pennies for the next new version of the technical equipment they already own.

The other big issue is a lack of educated art buyers. I am referring to people who truly know a quality piece of workmanship when they see it. A true art collector normally can spot really good art, but I have been surprised to find that some collectors purchase work based on what I call the flash factor...similar to Robert's statement about men comparing their genitals. They are not genuine students of art, so therefore they purchase according to the hype built up at art and/or charity events or to gain prestige through owning a certain artist's work.

Thankfully there is still a segment of the population who do understand art and purchase it for the right reasons. I love collectors who really study my brush work and who purchase work when they have an emotional connection to a certain piece! I love collectors who are very intentional in helping to support the arts and individual artist's careers! I visited many collectors whose homes are graced by magnificent works of art and I always come away inspired to push myself to paint at a higher caliber in my own painting.

Happy Birthday, Robert...
I hope it's an exceptionally great one!!

Thanks for all of your efforts on our behalf! We learn, we laugh, we ponder... you make a difference.

Many happy returns. You have been a fondly appreciated inspiration to myself and my fellow artists that have struggled in an otherwise depressed art world. You're my hero as well as my muse when inspiration evades me. You're the greatest, Robert!

To the man behind the incredible inspiration: Health. Love. Life. Thank you for having inspired me to become an artist on Facebook even if I have not had the guts yet to go public with it. I shall; in time. God bless you and yours Mr. Genn!

I'm a gallery owner and I ONLY look at websites!!!

You don't know me, but I truly enjoy receiving your letters. I have had all my artist friends subscribe, too. How wonderful you are to share all your secrets!

In America, retirees are "following their bliss" and flooding the country with art, some of it good, some of it very good, and some of it very bad. They don't have to worry about making money; ssi and their pensions are funding their artwork. Eventually those forms of funding will dry up. I wonder what the everyday art market will look like then?
Mockingbirdsatmidnight.com

I own a "local" gallery in a small town. Your suggestion to artists to put up at least a minimal website to share their work with galleries is so accurate! Thank you! I do hope your artist/readers will take it to heart.

One of the first things I do after I meet an artist is to go to Google and see what turns up. A neat, easy to navigate website is a huge blessing. And yes, please make sure you have works displayed that are actually available for sale. There are few frustrations as large as finding a piece that would fit a show theme perfectly, only to find it sold. Years ago. I understand wanting to demonstrate what has sold, but please, put those on a separate page. Something like "Career Highlights" or "Previously Placed Work."
Time & Tide Fine Art, Ipswich Massachusetts

It's getting to be like what has been said about poets. "There are more who write it than read it".

Thank you for your always insightful remarks. And, thank you for taking the time to visit with us. We hope readers will go to The Artist's Road to see "Voices of Experience - A Conversation with Robert Genn".

Something your readers might be interested in. As a gallery employee who doesn't want to be identified I'd like to say that the artists we look for and feature the most in our galleries (there are two) are ones who are successful in galleries in other cities but not represented properly in our areas. I would advise artists to supply one gallery with absolutely spectacular work and perhaps even offer it (at first) at a commission beneficial to that gallery in order to really get the ball rolling. When an artist begins to have sell out shows and consistent monthly sales, builds up a local clientele, etc, the word gets around (via the internet as well as the gossip dept) and other galleries will seek him or her out. Nothing succeeds like success.

It should not really matter? We have both had a good run? Personally, I intend to enjoy my retirement with great company in the warmest province in Canada. It probably not a good idea to encourage the youngsters to keep beating their heads against a wall? Oh, and yes... I am still painting picture of my much younger wife. Fare thee well, everyone of us! rodneymackay.com

Annon gallery employee - advising beginner artists to offer their art at a commission beneficial to the gallery - what an awful thing! Your gallery is dishonest and wants to mitigate their business risk by ripping off the newcomers. I really hope nobody goes for that kind of thing. Gallery is a business as any other and should take their own risks as we all do.

Regarding the gallery owner who Googles artists to find pieces that “fit the show theme”. She is just looking for a piece for her immediate need? She is not looking for an artist to represent and have a business relationship with? What she is doing is lazy cherry-picking to make a quick buck and she even has the audacity to advise artists to organize their web sites to cater to that. And she expects that artists should be concerned about her getting disappointed that the piece she likes is often sold? I don’t know about others, but I am happy about sales and I am proud of all my work, sold and unsold - and I sure am displaying it all on my web site the way it best presents my body of work as an artist, not salesman. When a client wants a work that is sold, they are offered a similar piece or a commission – my gallery does this work for me, that’s how they earn their fee.

Is it only me or do postings from art dealers sound more and more bizarre? One art dealer in a clickback states "But, alas, most of the geniuses are already taken by the galleries and are already thriving and do not need more galleries.". Are you kidding me? Do all lazy art dealers think that? There are millions of artists out there whose work you have never seen and there are certainly “geniuses” among them, and probably some among the ones you have seen and didn’t recognize due to your ignorance. The arrogance of dismissing "non-genius" artists is the same as artists dismissing most dealers as incompetent. Not to mention how inappropriate is to call anyone who sells a “genius”, but let’s use that term the way this dealer used it for the sake of this argument. There seems to be lot of animosity going both ways. Perhaps we should all stop dreaming of “genius artists” and “genius dealers” and focus on doing our own job better. Oh yes, and stop dreaming about art that sells itself – no wonder that galleries are closing down with this kind of attitude prevailing in this weak economy… The Vancouver dealer is at least ingenious in getting more money from artists…hey, whatever works…

To me, the arts have become a career, or worse, a job. Teaching, administration and selling, not art making, make up most of the paid employment. Art is no longer a past time or vocation and has become another service industry in the modern economy. I am not sure if this will help or hurt the arts.