Here is one of our canine studio members, Tommy Waldock-Davies, making himself comfortable on my Wishful Thinking lino blocks – he is a little shih tzu and WILL NOT KEEP STILL, especially when he knows he’s having his photo taken…..
When I was first approached by a publishing company, with a view to supplying them with some images for cards, I was worried it might have a detrimental effect on my sales. After all, why would you want to pay £250 for an original linocut when you can have the card for £2.50?
I’m not sure if I’ve had an upsurge in sales of original work through this (although other artist friends say they have) but they do raise your profile very efficiently. I’m quite happy to walk into the Royal Academy, say, or the Transport Museum, and see my cards displayed in their shop.
There can be the odd drawback, though. Not so long ago, I was taking part in a printmaking demonstration to coincide with a gallery exhibition. Alongside me was a very successful printmaker friend, who also happened to have a beautiful range of cards of her wood engravings. A nice couple came up to tell her how much they admired her work.
“We’ve just bought six of your cards” they told her, smiling enthusiastically, “and framed them for the kitchen. You really can’t tell that they’re not the originals”.
All said with the best intentions, I’m sure……..
Anyway, here are some of my cards, all available now. Those on the left are from Canns Down Press and those on the right are from Art Angels
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Two new seaside prints – on the left is ‘The Last to Leave’ and the right one is as yet unnamed…..
Here are my own personal thoughts on the best way to get a portfolio application together – there are no rules and sometimes it’s just a matter of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.
1: Keep things simple. You only have one chance to impress and now is not the time to show how versatile you are. I know it’s tempting to put in examples of all the different aspects of your work but you only have one chance to impress. Random pieces that do not relate to the main body of work are pointless – try to keep the look fairly uniform.
2: Presentation. All applicants are expected to be professional and it’s very important that the work is presented to the highest standards. It goes without saying that all the work should be clean – no crooked mounts, no dirty or creased margins. If you don’t think your work is worth presenting properly, then there’s no reason to think anyone else will.
3: Supporting work. Make sure it is relevant – don’t put in life drawings to support urban scenes, as I once did. You want to reinforce the thinking behind the work and hopefully increase the appreciation of it. If you don’t use sketchbooks, then try to show examples of the process you’ve used to get from the initial idea to the finished piece.
4: CV. Make sure it’s up to date, relevant and preferably on one page – a good exhibiting history obviously helps but so does an interesting project, residency or commission.
5: Don’t get discouraged if you’re not successful – people sometimes get in on the first try but it’s much more usual to have several attempts. The panels who review the portfolios change all the time and what gets turned down one year may well be accepted the next.
And just one more thing – all this preparation is important but at the end of the day, it’s the work that really counts…..
Every year the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers hold elections for artists who would like to become members. If you’re interested, you will need to fill out an application form (here) and return to the Bankside Gallery, London by the 27th January 2012. A week or two later, you will need to deliver a portfolio of (eight?) prints, together with a CV and some supporting material (a sketchbook, perhaps) to Bankside Gallery.
It’s a great society to be a member of – you make new friends, get to exhibit in Central London three times a year and you can use the initials RE after your name, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Anyway, if anyone is thinking of going for it, good luck – and if I can think of any tips, I’ll post them over the weekend……
To start the New Year, I needed a fresh perspective on my life, not all of which takes place in London now. I spend a lot of time by the sea on the North Norfolk coast and exploring this very different environment will present me with exciting challenges, or so I tell myself…..
I’ve felt for a while that I needed to take a few risks with my subject matter and find a new direction. Sadly change is not really my thing – I’m a creature of habit and I need to be dragged kicking and screaming just to try out a different pub. So leaving my comfort zone/rut of the London transport as a subject, albeit temporarily, has been surprisingly stressful.
And to be honest, I’d like to keep my galleries happy – the trouble is that commercial galleries are very keen on sales (fair enough) and would prefer you to keep making the work that they took you on for and for which they have a ready market.
They don’t especially appreciate being told that “yes, I did used to paint very popular views of cats in baskets but now I’m only able to paint post-Apocalyptic landscapes.”
Ideally we wouldn’t need to sully ourselves with the filthy lucre and we’d just go where the Muse takes us but unfortunately we all have bills. And I would definitely like to continue paying my studio rent, buying new materials and generally carrying on with my happy working life.
So here’s to new experiments – not too radical and proceeding cautiously, of course – steady now…..
Pages from my sketchbook.
Yesterday I was by the sea in Norfolk.
Today I’m back home in London, sadly twiddling my thumbs and avoiding any work or studio related thoughts.
This time last year I rather perkily blogged about New Years Resolutions and the tricks I use keep myself motivated. (I even managed to throw in a quote from Chuck Close – ‘Inspiration is for amateurs. I just get to work’.) If you’re interested, you can read it here.
This year I’m mostly thinking about how bleedin’ difficult it is just getting into the car to go to the studio, let alone arriving there ready to do some work.
Oh well, I might as well leave it until Monday now…..
A busy day….
Once again, I will be at the Jags Art Fair in Dulwich, South London this weekend and I will have a full range of current work available to view.
The fair is on from 11-5 on Saturday and 11-4 on Sunday. There’s plenty of free parking, a cafe and profits go to the Community Music Centre project.
More details are here – so please come along and say hello!
