X(

[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

[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...