64 artistDecember 2019 http://www.painters-online.co.uk
It really was a fantastic exhibition
opportunity and it gave me a regular
income, which was essential. Along
with exhibiting at the church I also
hired other art venues, paid to exhibit
at art fairs and occasionally used an
art dealer. I also exhibited at cafés in
Notting Hill and Fulham. I was able to
build a client base from venues and I
still have clients from those early days
who continue to purchase work from me.
Having created a regular income I was
able to reinvest the money and hold my
fi rst exhibition in a hire gallery in 1997
and produce a small colour brochure
to mail to my clients. I split the hire fee
with a friend who did sculpture. Our
work was mutually exclusive, looked
good together and we gained exposure
in a proper art gallery that had lights
and a window onto a street. I never had
much luck with dealers. They seemed
only to care about established artists
and didn’t like the fact I was selling my
own work.
Time well spent
All my early selling was achieved
without email, the internet or social
media. I used to write to clients with
pen and paper (sometimes I still do)!
Websites for artists didn’t really take off
until about 2001. For me website pages
are an extension of a colour brochure.
I have always made sure I reinvested
some of my profi ts into future marketing
and exhibitions. I learnt early on it is
essential constantly to fi nd new buyers,
as most clients usually purchase a
maximum of three paintings; some will
only buy one and are never heard of
again, while others will keep buying for
years. I had one collector in New York
who has purchased 70 paintings to date.
One of my favourite sayings is
‘Creativity starts with a deadline!’
Out of necessity I always made sure I
had plenty of exhibitions booked in
advance. This gave me deadlines to
aim for and pushed me to be creative.
It’s amazing what can be achieved – as
the saying goes: ‘busy people get more
done.’
I try to use my time effi ciently – suchas reading about great artists like
Turner and how they achieved their
success and attending as many West
End exhibitions as possible and study
how they marketed their artists.
I was also acutely aware that I should
never mortgage the future. Buying a
house you can’t really afford, or paying
for expensive advertising can cause
an artist a lot of anxiety. You are then
faced with having to sell a lot of work
just to stand still, which can put you
under too much pressure. This is fi ne
for a short while, but in the end the
work suffers as you end up repeating
past glories in order to keep up the
repayments. Ultimately, your painting
career suffers, and it shows. All good
artists have to take risks in order to
progress and survive but It is important
to avoid listening to doubters. Listen
to your instincts – your inner voice is
always on your side and is never really
wrong, especially in the long run. Most
decisions of my art career have been
based on instinct and I’m also amazed
at how often synchronicity occurs in my
artist life.Final word
One aspect of painting that I learnt early
on is that you never stop learning as
an artist. Whether it be different colour
palettes, painting techniques or canvas
preparation. I thoroughly recommend
plein-air painting with as many different
artists as possible as you learn so much.
Everyone has something different and
interesting to contribute.
I would also advise avoiding vanity
exhibitions. I have found that there
are unscrupulous individuals who are
very happy to take an artist’s money in
order to show their work to a client then
doesn’t result in any sales! They make
the money and the artist doesn’t. In
summary start small, reinvest when you
can and follow your instincts.p Orange Sunrise, St Paul’s Cathedral, oil
on canvas, 24 3 20in (61 3 51cm)Paul regularly exhibits in London; his website is
http://www.sanguine-fi ne-art.co.ukTA