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[merimask]

Grrr...

Well, life can be rough sometimes.  Buying trends change, expendable income for the middle class can dry up, demographics shift.  I exist as a self-sustaining artist at the whim of the buying public...and my market is dry like the Sahara.

So, what to do...what to do.

Go where the money is, I suppose.  Yet, I can't do that because...it's just ridiculous to pack up my stuff and trudge across country like a modern day peddler with my wares strapped onto my back.  So, I'm doing a version of that by calling well known high-end mask retail galleries & gift shops in tourist spots all over the country.  I've sent out two information packets in the last two days (one to an awesome-sounding gallery called "Rumors" in New Orleans...I guess they're the best-known & biggest mask retail gallery in the region) with another one in the works for tomorrow.

I looked online & found a maskmaker in Key West (he was the official mask provider for Fantasy Fest for several years in a row)...HIS gallery has closed (because, he says, he's sick of dealing with the public.  I guess that's endemic to maskmakers everywhere.  ;-)  ), but he was very sweet and gave me a lead and a name for the buyer at a major art-object (& especially masks) gallery in Key West.   I'm calling later today, so wish me luck.

I HATE doing this stuff.  Hate hate hate.  I am just not as naturally good with people as my brother is...this crap scares the hell out of me.  And yet...I guess it has to be done.  As much as I hate this, if I want to keep making these masks for a living I HAVE to do it, because there's just no alternative.  I love making masks.  It's my life and I can't imagine any other.  But I can't afford to just make them for the sake of making them...I'm not rich like that.   John says "Unseen, untold...unsold", and that's where I am right now.  The best freaking maskmaker that's not selling masks.  :-(

Fortunately  my quality of work, lack of greed, and realism are just what the buyers are looking for.   I also have experience selling to retailers already, which helps me put together a pretty package for presentation.  Also, thank you Cirque for buying that mask!  I can't say enough about how that turns people's heads.  When I name-drop that account (and I do.  Shamelessly.  Like a whore) you can actually hear the tone of the buyer/gallery owner's voice change right over the phone.  It's a beautiful thing.

If ANY of you out there know of a store or gallery (in a tourist or high-traffic area...I need to go where art is selling) that specializes in masks and gifts of a handmade, artsy nature...drop me a bit of contact info in your reply to this & I'll be sure to check them out.   My stuff could be coming to a shop near you!

I bought a thick sheaf of high-quality matte photo paper and re-stocked my ink.  I'm going to keep mailing until all of that paper is gone.

Comments

[shvetufae.livejournal.com]

*hug*

Sending you all the luck and love in the world for that phone call! No, it's not easy to deal with people if you're like us, but you have so much talent. Go out and knock 'em dead, Tiger!

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm trying...I'm trying. :-/

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

I was going to say (er...in my response your response to my response to your last entry) that it could just be an off year? Or that people aren't travelling due to gas prices? Certainly the psychic fair was just a horrible event, not promoted properly at all.

Unfortunately you said you can't sell in Canada so I'd be of no help in locating more places. Plus Ottawa is my city, and honestly I LOVE it and it's very quirky, but it's NOT very culturally rich (in any traditional way at least) so whether your masks would work here is a complete toss-up. People would probably expect to buy them in a furniture/home deco place, lol. Yep, Merimask at Pier 1. (Or in an art gallery of course, but I'm not sure our few art galleries even SELL much, in Ottawa...they're more museum-y, all about the show.) Most artists here have their own little stores/galleries or sell in a co-op or an artists/farmers market in a semi-permanent stall.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Arggh... Canada taunts me in SO many ways. Its eclectic population that seems to co-exist in peace, its dearth of war-mongering behavior, its socialized medicine, and its support of the arts.

Unfortunately it's just about impossible to break into the Canadian art market as an American. Canada is awesome at supporting the arts...but only for Canadians. :-(

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Weeeelll...you can't really blame Canada (actually, *you* can blame Canada if you want to, it's just *me* that can't) for only caring about its own artists. Canadian culture is hugely suppressed or flattened by US culture. So much...the vast majority...of our entertainment and media is from the US. To make it as a singer, really make it, you have to go American. Same with actors/etc. And generally they don't stay very 'Canadian' after they break into the American market. A few do, but not most. Recent example: Avril Lavigne. Avril is from a little town called Napanee, half an hour away from where I lived in college...very small town, very Canadian...and I daresay most people don't know/don't remember that she's Canadian at all.

Those Canadians who STAY Canadian tend to be very kitschy...comedians mainly, it seems. That's the only type of Canadian people want to see, it seems, the goofy stereotype. If you want to make it big as a novelist, you have to go through an American publisher...that kind of thing. So I can't really fault anyone for being fiercely protective of what little we've got that hasn't been infiltrated or homogenized. It seems like once the US gets in, Canada just rolls over in that area and becomes American...very little left of the Canadian flavour.

However, me liking you and all, of course I'd like to see your masks sold up here. Honestly I don't care how many Americans sell here but I DO feel that if a lot DID, we'd lose our identity in that, too, because we have with most other things.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

:-( I totally understand & respect the "Can Con" (Canadian Content) laws up there. Frankly, I LOVE Canadian music for just that reason...it's unique & has a freshness & freedom from corporate influence that makes it special in North America.

I just wish I could be considered an "honerary Canadian", 'cause I REALLY love it up there & I KNOW Toronto would love me right back if it could.

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

So the problem is finding a permanent place (gallery, etc) that would display your stuff, right? Because I know Americans can sell stuff here. But it'd probably be impossible to get into any but a specialty gallery or boutique as they do tend to showcase Canadian work in such places. But there would be nothing to stop you from having a stall at a market or anything like that. Toronto area has at least one Ren and a few other events, too.

[zannachan.livejournal.com]

Awww. I've read your posts over the last few days catching up from being out of town (I love your new hair color, by the way) and I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going well for you. I think for a lot of SCAdians gas prices are very much an issue. Most of the people I know have cut back on events and carpool, but we've always carpooled so we're still not saving money that way. We are going to Pennsic, though for what it's worth, and I really want one of your new masks--I just can't decide what. I can't afford your really spectacular new dragons at the moment, much as I love them. But even though I love the masks I already have, you've really grown as an artist and I would love to have a new one. I have hubby's permission to get a new mask this year at war. I just have to figure out what it is that I want to get.

By the way, speaking of Pennsic, Cory--the one who commissioned the wolf plaque at Baron Wars--is going to be there after all, so she'll be picking up her plaque herself. She's very excited.

I know a gallery that might be very good for you--Northwoods Gallery in Midland, MI. I can't find them on-line, but they may be perfect for you. Midland is a pretty wealthy community (home of Dow) and the gallery includes paintings, glass sculpture, and beadwork, among other things. It's an incredible store. I do beadwork, and I'm blown away by some of the pieces that I have seen there, for example. I have a couple of smaller beadwork pieces purchased there that are incredible (gifts, as I couldn't afford them). Your stuff would fit in well, I think.

As I said, they don't have an on-line presence, but I'll see if I can get a contact number for you.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

*hug* It's just so damn FRUSTRATING. I know people love my work because they SAY so & I still have freaking crowds everywhere I go. They just don't have any money.

I'm looking forward to seeing you guys at Pennsic again this year...let's hope it's a good one or it's going to be a loooong sad week for me.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

Fleur de Liz: Perennial Accessories

Liz Curtin
Email:lizcurtinartist@yahoo.com

Tell her the chainmail jewelry guy gave you the e-mail.
-- Dagonell

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I don't know much about her business, but I sent her a nice e-mail & perhaps I'll hear from her. :-)

[zannachan.livejournal.com]

Ah, found it. Turned out I was spelling it wrong (It's Northwood, not Northwoods like the Barony of Northwoods. Oops). There's not a lot of information available, but there is at least contact information.

http://www.northwood.edu/mi/northwoodgallery/

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Awesome! You're the best. I called her & she's calling me back in a few...perhaps this'll be good! It certainly looks like the kind of gallery that could display my work. :-)

[zannachan.livejournal.com]

I know that you said that Canada was a problem for you because of import duties, but there is a wonderful art gallery in Stratford that I think your work would do well at as well.

I haven't been able to find a link directly to/about the store, just it listed under various business directories.

Davis Canadian Arts
Tel: (519) 275-3373
Location: Downtown Stratford
106 Ontario Street, N5A 3H2

If you can swing it, Stratford would be another excellent place because of the Stratford Shakespeare festival--a lot of tourists visit Stratford, and they tend to come from higher income brackets.

[zannachan.livejournal.com]

This is the store that we got our glass "painting" from--it's a sheet of swirled colored glass with the image of a river running through a forest "drawn" on it by sandblasting--hard to describe but incredibly beautiful.

I just noticed, though, that the store is "Canadian" arts so they may sell work of only Canadian artists.

In any case, I'll keep brainstorming, and I'll ask around for you.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Arghh... Yeah, see above in my response to Goldie. It's just about impossible to break into the Canadian art market. Which is REALLY too bad because they support the arts like crazy up there.

[zannachan.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I can understand why Canadians would be protective of their art market, because their culture is strongly influenced by the US (most of the tv programming that I saw when I was in Canada were from the US) but it's frustrating in cases like this because most of the galleries I know are in Canada. It must be especially frustrating since you live right on the border.

But I'll keep brainstorming and I'll ask around, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for the Northwood Gallery. I think it would be a great fit and I'd love to see your art there when I go there.

*Hugs* You know I love your work and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you do well this Pennsic. And we'll definitely be stopping by to chat.

I haven't checked your website out recently, but if it's not good it really needs to be redone. Especially if outdated SCA prices are hurting you with the galleries. Did you design it yourself or did you have someone do it?

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

People's Pottery is the right kind of store, but I think they don't allow you to sell direct if you're dealing with them, and that wouldn't work. I'll nose around in the more blue-blood parts of CT and also see if any of the people I know in Boston have any ideas.

How about something down New Orleans way for the Mardi Gras tie in? Does HGTV still do that show "Modern Masters?" It sounds stupid, but that's what turned me on to an astonishing glass blower that I want to invest in a piece from.

Have you given thought to upgrading your website? I buy a LOT of print art, and I find almost all of it on the web. I think that's where a lot of the buying has gone. And sweetie - I love you like a sister - but your website is sad and NOT reflective of the amazing artist that you are. Web presence can make a big difference.

Oh - and please do something for me. If you don't want to hire a lawyer, at the very least fax or email me anything that you're thinking about signing. I can spot some of the really icky clauses, because we use them whenever we can get away with it. Not a lawyer, but I play a legal assistant for TV. ;-)

[merimask.livejournal.com]

I'm talking right now with the owner/buyer for "Rumors" which is the biggest mask gallery in New Orleans...so we'll see where that leads. They're one of the few businesses in NO that's still flourishing after Katrina (they actually had to rebuild).

Waah...I know my site sucks. Really, I should just shut it down & build a brand new one...something with no prices but lots of pretty pictures. That pricing is OLD ('99) and shoots me in the foot. Pretty much, those are SCA prices in there but how do you explain that to a gallery owner?

Thank you SO much. I will certainly take you up on your offer for contract perusal. Those things scare me. After my run-in with Cirque, I'm very wary about contracts.

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

Please do take me up on the offer. Depending on how crazy things are at work, I may have the ability to run things under one of my lawyers' noses - they do that for us from time to time. We're old hats at getting everything we possibly can on the other side of the type of agreements that you'd be looking at, and at the very least I might be able to recognize when the time has come for you to drop the money to hire a lawyer of your own. I think that after Cirque you can see that it's an investment rather than just a new bill. It can't hurt to nose around the area and see if there's someone who does contract law so you know where they are if you need them. It could save you a lot of grief.

My advice? Kill the site and build a new one. I don't know about "no prices," though. As a consumer that tends to scare me away - "if you have to ask, you can't afford it." I don't buy at sites like that. I'd suggest you put up pricing and keep it updated until such time as a gallery contact requires you to take them down. Don't explain SCA prices to a gallery owner - explain gallery prices to Scadians. If you want to offer an SCA discount, explain the discount to them in person at the event: "if you enter "SCA" in the comments box you'll receive a 10% discount," or some such. Or just be clear that your table prices are special for the event and if they don't want to pay gallery prices they should buy NOW. Or tell them they need to contact you and tell you they're in the SCA. Scadian interest in your work is going to come from you presence at events. If you want to break into the general market, I think you need to crack the web. Galleries are going to check out your website, and you want it to look professional. That'll get you the call back. It's worth the time. It really is.

Some of the sites that I've committed serial purchasing from are www.michaelwhelan.com, www.nenethomas.com, and L.A. Williams' site (I don't remember the url offhand (and I was buying the fantasy stuff, not the pinup ;-).) April Lee has a website that in my personal universe is an example of how not to do it. I say that because for years I've admired her work, but the set up for the site and for ordering discouraged me from buying anything. I'm a regular buyer: I've got 25 to 30 limited edition lithographs scattered around the house, and I managed to grow the collection even while I was unemployed. Because I was seduced by good web presence. I'm slowing down only because I've run out of walls. I know that the art side is more fun that the business side, but you've got to invest in that too.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Totally, totally seconding the suggestion to play up your web presence, that has the potential to put your work in front of more people than could be reached by transient shows or small brick-and-mortar galleries, and it makes it easy for folks who see and like your stuff to point their friends to it, too. Even something quick-and-dirty like just putting a few pictures on DA could potentially lead to a few commissions...

[pzb.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

It is REALLY rough right now. Talking to a friend who just got back from Anime Expo, her comment was "Be glad you didn't make it this year."

I suppose I should be thankful that I do have a steady (somewhat) art-related job....as much as I hate it... But I totally feel your pain right now.

You know, i need to listen to Jim more often... He said at the beginning of the year that they were predicting an economic downturn this year. Stupid me for not thinking it would effect me...

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Ugh...it IS awful. And frankly I have always underpriced my work...I've been told MANY times that I don't charge enough. But now, it's really sad because at all these local shows I've been seeing people AGONIZE about spending five bucks for a pin. Five bucks! For a handmade pin that is easily worth three time that amount. And they walk away & COME BACK & walk away...it's maddening. Forget about selling masks; people were staring at them whistfully as if they were Monets or something...like I might as well have just had pieces up that had "not for sale" signs on them. What the flip is going on? Are people THAT broke?

I'm not even taking credit cards much...folks aren't using plastic, which is really weird.

*sigh*

And I can't believe you're having trouble too. You sell prints, for crying out loud. I think most of your work is going for less than twenty dollars. HOW is this happening? *cheesed*

[indigos-angel.livejournal.com]

Good for you darling!!!

I know how hard it can be to get out there and sell one's self. Believe me. >query letter sits in inbox< lol

I love you lots and just know you'll be a huge success. Did you ever think of getting an agent? I wonder if that would work in this arena?/

And I laughed at the whore thing and Cirque. All I have to say is "work it baby, work it, work it!!!" XDDDDD

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thanks hon. I'm trying. I just KNOW that there are people out there who still spend money...I have to go find them, is all.

I suppose in a way this is good, 'cause to put it bluntly it thins the herd. People who aren't really serious about their art or about being in business for themselves drop out & the few who survive REALLY do well when things take an upswing.

I just hope there IS an upswing. Seems to me with so many jobs lost to outsourcing, and with gas prices going through the roof, the only people making money are oil people & huge corporations.

Holy...I should be looking to Texas! I just bet there are all kinds of galleries & shops there. Plus, less of a stigma against leather. Hmm!

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I'm not quite sure what kind of places around here that you would find useful. I'm too savy on what's in the area besides local crafts and such.

The business world is scary.