The comments you left on my last post about confidence made me realize this is a subject begging for more.

So let’s shake it out.

Let’s take each of the five points I made, last week, and expand in as many directions as we can in a 5-part series. (Well, if you count last week that would be 6 parts ;-) but who’s counting?)

And, I’m going to need your help for this. I’ll be able to nail down a few ideas, but it’s you, out there in the studio day after day, who can tell me what I can’t even imagine.

Here’s what I’m looking for, from you…

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As you may know, “Tuesday’s Bragging Rights” is an exclusive feature for the Alumni of the smARTist Telesummit – those artists who make a commitment to take their art careers to the next level – no excuses.

And every year, from the time the conference /telesummit begins–and for months and months afterwards–the artists who come tell me heart singing stories.

Here’s the latest one…

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I’m inside the smARTist Telesummit Community Forum tonight reading more of the exciting, informative posts from this year’s conference participants. Each year, this Forum brings me thought provoking resources, and 2012 has been no different.

Artists were counseling each other with idea brainstorming, reflecting on artist statements, talking about the value of art, discussing marketing ideas, print sale options for artists, vanity galleries, and so much more it would take hours to catalog.

But there was one thing in particular that caught my fancy…

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Something’s been bubbling up around here, an underground hot spring that finally shot up an unanticipated geyser last week on Lori Wolfson’s and my Blue Stocking Art Salon gathering. The most surprising thing was that the artists on the call weren’t particularly surprised. Turns out I’ve been walking my silent talk all along – and only I have been oblivious to how obvious it has been. Until last Wednesday, I thought I was perfectly happy to let the hot spring in my soul remain…

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by smARTist Speaker, Jack White

Check out my next two, short stories and start reinventing how you sell art today.

Story 1 – Stone Cold Creamery Sells Excitement. Ice Cream is the cherry on top!

I recently read a small book by Seth Godin, All Marketers Are Liar. Seth tells a great story of Stone Cold Creamery. The company started in Phoenix and now is in forty-six states. Stone Cold charges seven to ten times more than you would pay for Blue Bell ice cream at your local 7-11.

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by smARTist Speaker, Jack White

Thirty-five years ago, I gave a client an exciting experience he never forgot. In return, years later, he lobbied for me to become an Honoree Admiral in the Texas Navy. (I commissioned on the USS Lexington.)  I gave my collector a “Highlighter Day” in the ‘70s, and he repaid me for that exciting buying experience with Governor Perry making my commission official with his signature.

In the past four decades I’ve seen a lot of changes in the art market; however none as radical as the years following 9-11. People are now ambling through outdoor shows and galleries in a zombie daze. 40% of the Carmel Galleries closed within six months after 9-11. Scores of artists gave up their careers.

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by smARTist Speaker, Maria Brophy

There are many pieces to the puzzle when it comes to being successful in the business of art.  One of the most important pieces is connecting with your collectors. After all, without collectors, your artwork would be sitting in a back room, lonely, with no place to call home!

Before I share my number one technique on how to connect with your collectors, let’s talk about what it means to “connect.”

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Blogger extraordinaire, Chris Brogan, talked about how he concentrates on creating THREE WORDS that sum up all that he will focus on for the coming year. His ideas, as expected, are thoughtful and practical. You can read them on the link above.

Brogan uses this Three Words in lieu of New Year’s Resolutions. I loved the idea, never having found resolutions to be more than wishful thinking and broken promises. So, I took up the challenge of creating three words that will help…

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The next Blue Stocking Art Salon chat is coming up tomorrow and I thought I’d share another section from our first one in Nov.

It’s so rare that we take time to consider the more esoteric side of making art. But without that, how dry

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It’s been almost two weeks since our first Blue Stocking Art Salon began and the emails continue to come in from artists who were with us live, and artists who listened to the recording.

In that first conversation, I commented on how refreshing it was to talk about something besides marketing and business.

And it seems that the artists on the call thought so too. Here are a couple of quick excerpts that Lori (my Art Salon compatriot!) pulled out…

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It’s very late, even for me. 4am.

The clocks have swirled backwards an hour as daylight savings kicks in (saving what, I’ve always wondered…) and I think, what if I’m living an hour of my life forward (or backward), and how does that change my personal infinity timeline? Is the parallel me hanging out there…

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Geoffrey Gorman's "Creatures of Curiosity"

I spent a grand spring day at SOFA NY (it poured!), hobnobbing around with Geoffrey Gorman, attending a lecture by Michael Petry, the director of MOCA London on his new book The Art of Not Making, and touring all the gorgeous artwork in the two dozen gallery booths. This was a high end New York show with a clientele to match.

But for the life of me, I couldn’t keep my coaching hat off (drives my family nuts too). It was the very first booth I stepped into–because there were these stunning glass sculptures of Martin Rosol’s that simply took my breath away; I loved the clean, geometric lines, just my cup of tea–and of course I wanted to…

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Breathe in the creativity, breathe out your own.

“Swing”

T.M. Gand
www.TMGandFineArt.com

Usually, the stream of emails pouring into my inbox, after the 7 days of the  smARTist Telesummit is over, comes from my amazing artist participants.

After four years of doing this, it never fails to humble me, and make me eternally grateful, that the work I’ve chosen is spinning out to light inspirational fires for those artists who are passionate and committed enough to join me, the speakers (leading authorities on different aspects of an artist’s career), and their fellow artists (the smARTist Telesummit Forum is a lively, artist-to-artist exchange of tips, tricks, and heartfelt, smart suggestions from a wealth of collective experience).

What never occurred to me, was that…

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I have a lot of material in my smARTist library, but until this  year, Art Fairs were not high on my list.

All that changed when I met Richard Rothbard - artist, gallery owner, and art fair producer – at a CODA conference in Savannah, GA, where I was speaking this last spring.

Besides hosting CODA Conference attendees at his Savannah Gallery, Richard treated me to a very non-Southern meal of fantastic sushi and brought me on board for his Contemporary Art Fair NYC, a sister show to his American Craft Fair NYC.

I was fascinated by Richard’s enthusiasm for bringing artists to NYC at a price they could afford - since most high-end venue Art Fairs are truly exorbitant. But more than that, it occurred to me that Richard was carrying around a wealth of information on Art Fairs.

I realized, in short order, that no one had thought to…

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