The Artist - UK (2021-04)

6 April 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

LETTERS, EMAILS AND COMMENTS

STAR LETTER

Lessons online

With lockdowns being a prominent feature in our lives since March 2020, many of us

have benefi tted tremendously from online teaching. For me this form of learning has

been very useful and inspiring, and kept my creative juices fl owing throughout the

pandemic.

However, I have come to realise that there is a danger of trying to emulate the

teaching too closely and, in so doing, losing the style that is our own. After watching a

really good demonstration the temptation is to repeat the exercise in the style of the

teacher, which often results in failure. By taking the salient points out of the lesson we

can apply them to our own paintings – this enables us to learn how to

adapt and expand our own unique style. In that way, we have all the

enjoyment of observing a professional at work and also

the challenge of fi nding ways of using the knowledge

gained in our own artwork

Alison Petley,by email

VIEWS

YOUR Email [email protected] or write to The Editor,
The Artist, 63/65 High Street, Tenterden, Kent TN30 6BD
Please note we may have to edit letters for reasons of space

This month’s star letter writer

will receive a Sennelier portable

watercolour palette, worth

£29.95.

received some messages from people

who wanted to promote me. I was

quite suspicious and I declined in most

cases but I decided to pick one off er.

Everything seemed to be legitimate. It

was a gallery based in London, they had

their own premises and website. I asked

for more information and they promised

fair conditions, for example promoting

my art in newsletters, their Instagram

account and website. I had to pay for this

service, which was ok with me. When my

profi le was ready I was asked to check

everything and approve it. I thought this

was the start of something nice coming

my way. I did not expect too much – but

I am disappointed.

It has been eight months now and

nothing has changed for me. Only two

of my paintings were presented on

Instagram but not as regular posts. They

were put as a part of the story, which

disappears rather quickly, so if you miss

it, you cannot see these paintings again.

My profi le still exists on their website but

I was not promoted as a newcomer in

any way. It is almost impossible to fi nd

me on the website because you have

to know my name to be able to fi nd the

profi le. Without it, I am lost on there.

Also, they have not been in touch to tell

me whether they have done anything

else for me. Right now, I am considering

opting out but how can I fi nd a reliable

and truly committed gallery? Is there any

hope for emerging artists like me?

At this moment I feel like I can only try

with competitions and, thanks to The

Artist, I now have a few on my list – but

then I think there are so many artists

participating that my chances are not too

big. I will try anyway.

Barbara Kozyra, by email

Thank you for sharing your experiences with

us. We’d love to hear what other readers'

experiences have been. There’s plenty of

really useful advice about how to promote

yourself and sell your work online in our new

Professional Development series – see our

February and March 2021 issues and pages

60–61 of this issue. Ed

Old shop fronts

I enjoyed the excellent article on old shop

fronts by Michelle Heron in the January 2021

issue. In the back streets of Malaga, where

I now live and work, there are many small

businesses that date back to the 1930s or

earlier. This is true wherever you go in Spain.

When I was in Madrid in the 1980s I bought

a book entitled El Sol, which covered the

iconography of old shop fronts, many of

which are probably long gone. I too paint

in acrylic and have been drawn to this

subject quite a few times, the latest being

the Panaderia (below), which doubles as the

tuck shop for a local school.

Derek Worthington, by email

Derek WorthingtonPanaderia, acrylic on

canvas, 39/39/in (100100cm)

Art on Zoom

I am a member of the North Cotswold

Art Association, which usually meets

monthly in Burford. We are trying to keep

our members entertained, interested and

motivated during these dark days. It is a

little diffi cult to contact every artist who

appears in The Artist on the off -chance

that they could do a Zoom presentation

for us. I’m sure that there are other

societies in a similar position, and that

there may be artists who are happy to

share their knowledge and enthusiasm,

and even to earn a little, given the current

lack of exhibitions.

Jeni Smith,by email

Artists who are willing and able to give

Zoom presentations to art clubs can contact

us via our email address at theartistletters@

tapc.co.uk and we will be happy to pass on

the details. Ed

Vanity galleries

I used to work for a corporation but I

always wanted to be an artist – it had

been my dream since I was a little girl.

Finally, my husband convinced me to quit

my awful and very stressful job and focus

on art.

It has been almost a year and I would

like to sell my artwork – but how? When

I decided to post on Instagram, I soon

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