Consistent Art Sales
"...and how not to waste time on people who won't pay"
I received these questions from a guy who reached out to me via Instagram. Dear S., I am very grateful for this challenge because you helped me go once again into a spiral of thoughts about why I do my art and why I chose this lifestyle. It has taken me a while to get back to you but now everyone can benefit from reading the answers I have for you. Maybe we even start a discussion around this topic if any other person feels like they have something to share. I’d love that.
Is creating art a career to choose to make a living? Why people want to make money with art and transform it into a product? Is an artist that sells consistently still an artist or he/she becomes an artisan of some sort?
Art, in order to be art, has to be pure.
That means it has to be created out of the need to express, to let something out of the system that otherwise will rotten inside. Art is the leftover of a full process, kind of similar to the traces that a snail leaves behind as it slides through. Sometimes I refer to art as the excrement of the process itself. Excuse my language. Art shall and should not be regarded necessarily as something aesthetic or pleasant. Art shall be something that makes you feel and might (and I say might) make others feel too.
Do we need put a price tag to “feeling something” or is it everyone’s right the right to connect emotionally with something created by another person? I let you answer this by yourselves.
And coming back to answer the question of “how to make consistent sales” I would say that as an artist you don’t and you are not supposed to. You can sell a lot of your work and that is ok but there is no formula for it because there are two major factors involved in your success: the purity of your heart and the resonance you emit. This is what will attract the people who relate to your art and would like to collect it or support you or be part of your journey in some sort of way.
You can try to craft a strategy, run marketing campaigns, learn how to sell better but in the end, is not art the pure pleasure of doing something by yourself and for yourself? For the radical art of self expression and play and experiment? If someone happens to resonate with your work and wants to own a piece that is great news. Otherwise you shall be happy either way. Or?
If you want to get rich overnight or make a full living by selling your art, I do not recommend you this life path. Becoming an artist is a journey of resilience and patience and you will be tested again and again. Being an artist means being on a bigger mission, much bigger than yourself and your ego. I have been in the brim of breaking down many times but somehow I got always redirected and that was for me the sign that I am in the right life path and that I am doing what I am supposed to do. I started doing what my heart desired and opportunities starting knocking on my door. “I WANT TO SELL ART” was never a decision I took, it just started happening as a side effect. Other artists decide consciously to have a job in order to keep their art pure and their heart happy. You shall choose your own way.
To answer the question “how to reach out to people who are interested in my art and not waste the time in people who are not going to pay” is a big deal because art is all about waisting all the time in all the people. If people resonate with your artwork (and I keep on mentioning this word again and again because I think RESONANCE is the key) they will come to you, attracted like a bee by the perfume of the flower. You will then need to figure out how to build healthy boundaries. If they buy a piece of your art it is because they want to support you and the message is so strong they want to have the reminder of what you emit closer. If this is not happening it is because a part of you is not healed, is asking for validation or is leaking energy. In this case, I recommend just working on yourself and what your art means to you because creating art should be the most radical and selfish act. And the good news is that you don’t even need to like the result yourself. Just enjoy the process of creation. That is enough.
Dear S., I hope this helps you in your journey as an artist and thanks again for dropping these questions that made me reflect and made me fall in love again with the conscious decission I made of living the life the artist’s way. I believe there is so much to heal and to learn and to create and inspire in this world, and that is my mission: To help others find their spark.
www.sabela.art
https://www.instagram.com/sabela_garcia_cuesta/
Interesting. I especially like the snail analogy.