I'm pretty jazzed right now. Ages ago I had sent a CD with a resume, an artist's statement and some images off to a couple of the nicer galleries out here. I never heard a word so I'd really kind of forgotten about it. Then, out of the blue, I received an email the other day, from one of the galleries, saying that they really liked the shots and wanted to get together to talk. They said that the gallery was booked for quite some time, but that they wanted to give me feedback on my work.

So today I drove over and met with the fine-art liaison at the gallery. It was a wonderful experience. He was very complementary and encouraged me to continue to do what I'm doing. He said that they receive a massive amount of unsolicited submissions at the gallery and that they had, until they looked at my stuff, not really called anyone in to talk. I was a bit floored at that point to say the least. He talked to me about the process of selecting artists for shows (they have an independent jury for that) and how the whole gallery circuit works. He cautioned me that I shouldn't expect much feedback from galleries at this point (especially through an unsolicited submission), but that it didn't really have to do with my work, but more with the fact that right now no-one knows who I am. He gave me pointers on how to build my name and asked that I keep in touch and continue to send images their way periodically.

The gallery is booked for two years out so I'm not on the hot seat to build a name for myself this week or anything, but I'm so encouraged right now that I'm trying to put together a plan. I need to figure out how to boost my exposure and also I need to start selling some of my work. Of course for that I need to figure out what it's worth (or what people will pay for it). Any ideas on any of that? The exposure stuff, the selling part, or the pricing part? I'm a little at a loss right now. Excited, but at a loss.

Dave

Congratulations, and welcome to the mystical world of fine art where where things are not always what the seem to be. Sort of Alice in Wonderland! Don't buy that Porsche yet.
John

john_edwards wrote:
Congratulations, and welcome to the mystical world of fine art where where things are not always what the seem to be. Sort of Alice in Wonderland! Don't buy that Porsche yet.
John

No plans yet, at least not from my photography paychecks. But I figure I should have a go of it anyway. After all, I've been shooting all of these years just because I like it. It's just nice that someone else agrees (someone who doesn't have to say nice things, like my family does).

Dave