RL,

THANK YOU! This gives me a great place to start. I know this path can be VERY challenging, however I am up for it. I feel ready to branch out, and want to do so in a professional manner.

Your input is much appreciated, and thanks for the compliment.

Your Flying Fish are awesome...love the colors.

Cheers,

Jamie Santellano

Thanks for the compliment. I was offered $50.00 bucks for it. I politely told them they could buy the framing for that. Then they said they were serious. I let them know I was too.

Central Arkansas is NOT the art capital of the state.

Rick Sidebottom
Aspiring Metal Artist

Have you thought about writing a book?

Great advice.

Rick Sidebottom
Aspiring Metal Artist

I'm ready to buy one of Jamie's pieces and Jake's new book!
Maybe you guys should go into business together.

LOL!!!

Jamie Santellano

WOW! Thanks Jake,

I think this information is sooooooo useful to all here on ArtMetal. Thanks for taking the time to write up such detail as to how I, or anyone else should go about this. All this information puts things in perspective. I'm going to print this one out for sure!

Along with the brochure would it be a good thing to have references, or does that even matter in this case, since it is the brochure that is the main tool?

Thanks again!

P.S. I agree with RL and Lorrie about the book!

Cheers,

Jamie Santellano

1.Forget the artists statement. 9 times out of 10 no one reads them, they are long winded and mostly full of shit, no disrespect, just calling it as it is.

2.Don't do 3 fold brochures. Try postcards at modernpostcard.com. 250 at 4"x6" are $100, postage is .27 each. Cheap. Use the best pic you have of your best piece for the postcard. Give me your address and I'll send you some of mine to get an idea. Don't do ANYTHING on an 8.5" x 11" sheet when doing printed materials, it's expected.

3.Personally I think you MUST appear to be more, but not too much more, than you really are. Sometimes you need to appear established to fool (or sell) people into thinking they need to carry your line. Once it is in, if it's good it will sell and your in.

4.None of this happens overnight. Sometimes people come around after a few years. I have had a designer on my mailing list for 2 years that never contacted me until last month. Now I'll have a dining table in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry's "Smart Home". Sort of a big deal, but took 2 years.

The choice to use some sort of statement or not, or a post card vs. a brochure will depend on the market your after. Designers often keep info in 3 ring binders so full page brochures with 3 holes are the way to go for them, retail stores probably a single or double folded brochure, art gallery a flyer followed up with a portfolio. Marketing tools that work for a jewelry boutique may not work for a furniture boutique. No one style will work for it all. Marketing products is much different than marketing art, and unfortunately most of our wares count as both. The key is to find the market and research the best way to tackle it. Odds are, you'll be spending much more than $100 if you really want to tackle multiple cities and countries.

I will agree not to ever give up on a contact though, you never know when they'll need your talents.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

I think a separate flyer, simple and nice, with a list of stores carrying your work would help, but make sure that the stores listed are similar in scope or "better" than the one your applying to. If your trying to get into a high end jewelry store, don't list a bunch of thrift stores as references. Personal references and client testimonies i don't think will help you much, and may seem unprofessional.

You can also add photo cards of your latest work, or work that may be more appropriate for that particular market. If you need a lot of them print them up at the online flyer companies, but if you only need a couple you can print them at Kodak online, Walmart, or wherever prints up digital images. Keep them simple, with large images and basic info about the piece, but no prices. No mention of prices or money until your talking person to person.

This way you can accent each brochure and supply a "packet" for your target market with information that is appropriate for that market. If its a high end market, supply info, examples, and history of your work with high end stores, if it's a rustic market, then supply the same with work from rustic stores etc. The Brochure itself, however, stays the same. You can see how difficult it can get if you try to hit very different markets, so in the beginning, I'd try to keep the markets similar. That way your brochure can be a bit more concentrated for those markets.

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

"So I've been thinking about what it is that I truly want to do with my work whether it be in Jewelry, or in Metal Sculpture and have always known that I would someday love to travel with my work...meaning that I would like to display my work in either shops like boutiques if it jewelry, or Art Galleries abroad...A touristy area would be best."

 Jamie, Sounds like you want to get a paid vacation and travel around while selling. Wow wouldn't that be great. LOL Just a couple of thoughts heard through the grape vine, I think that if you are selling items in precious metal over in Europe and such I think you have to have a registered trademark or whatever they are called and the metal needs to be stamped with the content of the metal. Furthermore the duties charges and shipping over and then having to pay foreign taxes plus US takes would take one heck of a mark up. I know people that just sell in Canada and they hate it because of the paperwork and they have to do the duties thing. As far as the gallery thing the information that Jake provided is a great place to start. I do the gallery bit every now and then only to store things over the winter (naw just joking). Sometime you can do really well for your type of items and sometimes it is a gamble. Finding who your type of client and if that is what you want to sell is a priority. I find being in a couple of art shows a year gets some exposure and I have galleries calling for me to show at their gallery from seeing me at the art shows. No matter how you want to sell it all costs money up front and a lot of your time to get yourself displayed for the public to see you. Just depends on how much you want to spend......... brochures and emailing for galleries, art shows, website, commission you pay at galleries, all are costs. \www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary. warren

Hi Warren,

Yes, your right about all those details...I also know it's all doable too! It's all in what you want. This won't be a fast process, and I do have lots of time a head of me...Thanks for the reality check...

Jamie Santellano

Thanks Jake,

Again, very useful and constructive on the advice. Mind if I contact you for a pep talk when I'm ready to pull my hair out??? LOL! =D

Jamie Santellano

Hi Jamie,

My brother-in-law is a graphics artist and he owns a company that does brochures, business cards, etc. Maybe he could help you with what you need. You can contact him through his website:

http://www.theimageforge.com/who.html

He does really great work, not sure how busy he is right now but doesn't hurt to ask.
Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Copperjoe

Can't never could do Nothing!

Hey CopperJoe,

Thanks for the referral! I'll check out his site...much appreciated!

Jamie Santellano

Thanks for the compliment!

I do consider my work to be a bit edgy, but I don't know if it's edgy enough for that scene...

Thanks!

Jamie Santellano

P.S. you do great work!

Yeah Jamie you have to have the spunk that it is doable.

I guess just having a plan and trying to stick to it, but you sound about in the same predicament as I am in. Trying to figure out how much you can make and how much money to make even if you have a place to sell.
I have not done this full time and I can tell yah that the body is getting old and sore from all of the work. See I need to make another $50K of work yet this year to meet what I want to do financially. That's like a new piece every other day or two. Then how much inventory I got sitting around now what to do. But I got a plan and think it is doable.

www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary.
warren

Hi Warren,

I hear exactly what your saying, and agree. I do have a spunk about me, and sometimes it gets me in to trouble, and other times it really helps me along the way! I have learned to not give up on my dreams no matter how big or out of the question they may be. They don't always come true in the ways I plan them to be, however they do come in the ways that I'm ready for them. I had given up on the Gallery scene, and hoped for someone to notice me...just one person...that's when I received the phone call from Artful Sol in Vail. Changed my whole outlook on the Gallery scene...it came to me in the ways that I was ready, and now I'll be traveling out this year to have a show of my work.

Mindful of what my heart cries out for, I've got keep in alignment with the things that I want to do with my work. I know it sounds like I want my cake and eat it too, and why shouldn't we all have that. Most of the time the only thing that gets in the way of what I want is me.

I am really going into this full time this year, and loving it. The struggles make it real and the AWESOME miracles that happen make it all worth it.

Along with this I also realize that sometimes I get so wrapped up in the business end trying to make money and forget that I love what I do and frustration sets in. What I have forgotten to do is have fun in the process. Making time to pull out the crayons and scribble around the page like I did when I was a kid is something I should be doing more often...making time for "fun art" off sets the dry business part of it.

Dale Chihuly, my most favorite Artist does this with each of his glass pieces. He does a "drawing," with paints and looks just like a kid. He just goes for it! I've watched his videos a thousand times over, and as much as he has a seriousness about what he creates and sells all over the world he also has lots of fun! True, he is much older and has been at his craft a lot longer, so his brilliants is breath taking, but he knows what he wants and he goes after it! He has more than a plan...he works at it. I listened to one of the interviews from one of the sculptors that works for him, and it was said that Dale MUST sell all his work to make it all happen and he does. I am in no way comparing my situation to Dale's, but I see it working for him, and believe in the process.

My boyfriend keeps reminding me that there are only two things in life worth living for (he is an Artist as well) LOVE and ART...words from Coco Channel.

Maybe those are the two main ingredients that make it all happen.

Cheers to Spunk! and Predicaments!

Jamie Santellano

Very well said Jamie! I was just going to respond to some of the latest suggestions, but you summed it up pretty well. The goal isn't to find something to make to sell, it's to find out what you love to do, what you're good at, and learn how to sell that. If someone really puts their heart, time, and passion into something, odds are somebody out there is willing to shell out a pretty penny for it. There is a market for everything, you just have to find it.

Tell your boyfriend that it's a great motto.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE