[nathanm]

http://www.historicthirdward.org/events/gallerynight.php

[Andrikos]

That's awesome, congrats!
Best of luck.

[ooheadsoo]

Very cool stuff, glad you're able to put your stuff out there for the public to peruse.

[nathanm]

This will be the third show, but the first one which has publicity\advertising.  Unfortunately it will be extremely cold outside which I suspect might put a damper on attendance, but we'll see.

[hmen]

Nathan,
 Congrats on the show. It's nice to see an artist get some of the attention he deserves.

Howard

[nathanm]

Thanks, although it will be nicer to see an artist get the money he "deserves"! Heh!  I suspect that my color art is more saleable than the b&w photos which is a shame considering I'm liking doing the photos more lately.  Bad economy, freezing cold, snow, gloomy pictures of winter scenes; it does not look good! 

[SET Man]

Hey!

  So, Nathan how did it go?

Take care,
Buddy

[nathanm]

It was pretty much a total bust, no sales at all.  I kind of expected that.  But a whole bunch of family and friends showed up and everyone had a good time.  The set up went smoothly and we got everything lit evenly this time.  One young woman expressed interest in the green\blue abstract on the right, the one directly under the wall-mounted light fixture.  She asked how much and I said "$200" and she got an immediate sticker shock.  Her mother said, "She just moved into her first apartment!"  Heh!  But there are those who will say I am lowballing at such prices and they are probably right, but it is a tough freagging market.  It's so hard to get a feel for how much to charge.  An older lady was very interested in the Stygian Winter b&w (the first BW print on the right in the 3rd pic) and I told her $100 and that was clearly too low for her expectations.  She took a business card and wanted to know the name of the picture for whatever reason, but didn't buy anything.  Not sure what that was all about.

If nothing else these shows are a great motivator for me to keep going.  It at least gives me a goal and a good reason to put all the work into it, even if there's no financial gain.  Although it's still discouraging to see so few people coming through and none of them having any photographic awareness at all.  (Like, you have to explain what Photoshop is to them etc.) Just for this show that is, in previous shows I did get to shoot the breeze with a few art-aware people.  But I can't complain too much, we get a nice venue for free and they seem glad to have us there. 

   

[SET Man]

Hey!

   Good set up layout there.

   Well, at least you've got some interests. I guess pricing can be difficult depend on you are talking too. Maybe talk to them, see how much interest they have and sizing them up before giving the price would help. Anyway, I've never done a show so what do I know?

    Well, better luck next time

Take care,
Buddy

[Andrikos]

Nathan, time to move out of the arctic...

[nathanm]

I will if ya'll start buying some prints! aa 

[baumer]

It's not your work, it's the state of the whole bloody economy. I was the Treasurer of a small co-op gallery and our total sales started dropping off in 2005. I left that gallery to join another just to have the new one go out of business at the end of last year. Yet another gallery I'm in has seen a decrease in sales of 70% from the same time last year. I live in Michigan so that doesn't help any. "Let's see, should we put gas in our cars, food on the table, or buy a new picture for the wall?"

I've been painting for over twenty-five years. It's what I do. Non-existent sales aren't going to stop me from continuing my passion. I'm sure you feel the same way.

Doug

[nathanm]

Well, I try to feel that way, but it's hard. Heh!  I wish I had a passion for something more timeless and consistent, like the food, medical or funeral industries.

[Andrikos]

Nathan,
Have you considered writing?
Your writing style and wit are priceless!
If you have any original ideas, you could be writing books, plays, screenplays etc.

True story:
I had this original idea that I presented to many friends to see if it would make for good TV/Cinema and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
I wrote the screenplay and started thinking of what my "writing" team would look like "if" the idea was picked up by a major studio and you were the first person that came to mind...
Plus, all your art would be displayed throughout the "series"...
2 birdies with one lens.
Best of luck, you are a multitalented dude.

[nathanm]

Thanks, very nice of you to say.  But whaddaya mean considered writing?  4,468 posts!  Someone's been doing some writing lately!   (But we are all nothing compared to Lonewolf!) 

I don't think I have the discipline for screenplays.  Or ideas for plots, really.  My common sense also tells me, "ONE failed project at a time, please!"   Plus I prefer non-collaborative arts.  Art is the one place where nobody can touch you.  Nobody else has any say or can tell you what to do.  In one's day job you give that control up because collaborative works pay the bills, but certain arts have to be an absolute monarchy.  Like Bob Ross always said, "You can do anything you want on this canvas, this is your world…"  A pure individual work is very important to me, to be able to have that refuge where you have complete freedom.  Art is the antidote for all the collectivist, bureaucractic, market researchy and committee-based poisons in society.  You can retreat to a place where none of that crap exists.

Current technology also allows for this to flourish.  You can self-publish anything you want these days for low cost, the world has gone really punk in that way.  It can be a blessing and a curse too, but I would rather have it than not have it.  The old model still applies; you still have to be good enough to "make it" on a large scale, but there's far fewer obstacles in your way to prevent you from trying.  Within minutes of this post I could publish my own print-on-demand book if I wanted.  It's pretty amazing stuff. 

But then again, the Onion News Network also has it dead right when they challenge YouTube users to make a GOOD video!