Have You Sent Your Thank You Cards Yet?

To those of you who sold artwork at this year’s open studios, congratulations! Not only did you sell your work, make some money, and create a little space in your studio, you’ve just started a new relationship. So nurture it like you would a new friendship. Reach out and contact them with a simple thank you note.

But, you say, they only bought a small print! Hey, we’re all on a budget this year, but they enjoyed your art enough to take home a piece. The point is if you collected their addresses and emails in your guest book, you can send them a note to thank them and foster a relationship.

As a rule of thumb, it takes 7 times the effort to find a new customer as it does to sell again to an existing customer. Your guest list is a veritable seed packet of potential customers waiting to be cultivated. But most of all, don’t underestimate those new buyers. With the right TLC, they may grow to be your biggest collector.

What’s in the card? Keep it simple. The only elements needed are
• an image of your art and
• a personally handwritten note

Don’t worry that you don’t have some interesting new project, series, or exhibit to tell them about. Think long term and save that for your next email or card. For now, we can be thankful that we’ve got new beginnings with new art lovers.

Setting Your Sights on Next Goals

For many wine country artists, open studios have just ended, and a sense of relief is in the air. A lot of creative energy, hard work and resourcefulness went into pulling it together, but now it’s over. Artists sold their works, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. But generally, there’s a sense of satisfaction, exhaustion, and calm for artists in the valley.

So what’s next? Pack it up, kick your feet up, and wait for next year? No! It’s time to create your next set of goals. But where to start?

Step 1: Dream. Dream about why you create art and where you want to go with it. Some artists travel the world, paint in exotic places, teach at prestigious universities, or exhibit their works in museums.
Where do you want to go with your art? Don’t be afraid to dream big and think about stretching yourself.

Step 2: Set your short-term goals. This is not a self-actualization exercise or a dissertation, it’s a simple sentence that focuses on what you can realistically attain. Here are some possibilities:
• I want to sell $1,000 worth of my art in galleries or retail shops in the next ___ months.
• I want to create items with my art on them and sell 100 pieces at this year’s holiday show.
• I am going to create more traffic to my web site to generate 20% more sales than last year.
Whatever your goals are, be specific about quantity and timeframe. That way you’ll know when you’ve achieved them.

Step 3: Stay organized and focused on the goals. Write your goals out and keep them in a place where can see them. Remind yourself at least once a day where you’re headed, how far you’ve come, and what your next step is.

Lastly, surround yourself with people who support your goals. They’ll help keep you balanced, remind you of your passion, and assist you in achieving your dreams.

How to Use Email to Market your Artwork

Now that you’ve collected some names and emails from visitors to your exhibits, you want to start a dialog with them. Engage them in a conversation about your art, invite them to see your work at exhibits, and entice them to buy.

Step 1: Send a thank you note. Thank them for stopping by your studio, or your exhibit and signing your guest book. Refresh their memory about your work with a short description and include at least one photo of your artwork.

Step 2: Send an update on your works in progress. When you come up with a new idea or are working on a new creation, be sure to let your fans know. Take photos and write a few words about what you’re working on, what inspired your new direction, or maybe what the challenges were in producing this new piece.

Step 3: Send regular email updates, but have some news to share. Examples of news are shows and exhibits, new directions in your work, new collaborations and new alliances. Share your excitement and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the support you’ll get for your work.

For Open Studio Artists:
Now is the time to contact last year’s guests about stopping by your studio this year. For help with sending your email this month, contact Wine Country Art Marketing.

Stay tuned for more info on professional looking email newsletters.

2009 Open Studios Reception & Exhibition

On one of the hottest nights of the year, Napa Valley Open Studios opened with a preview exhibition and spectacular reception at Mumm’s Napa in Rutherford, CA. Although temps were hovering in the mid-90s even after sunset, artists and art enthusiasts mingled with the fabulous new creations by this year’s open studio artists.

The exhibit at Mumm’s is an incredible opportunity to preview the new creations of Napa Valley artists before the actual open studios. This year’s show is first-rate with so many talented painters, metal and stone sculptors, mosaicists, photographers, ceramists, printmakers, fiber artists, jewelry makers, glass artists and other fine craftspeople, each of whom can be reviewed at www.nvopenstudios.com.

Personal highlights were first-timers and new directions including Terry Courtney’s custom cowboy boots, Sarah Brown’s slightly sunken ceramic teapot, Shellene Hanan’s blue Tzfat doorway, and David Reichel’s new perspective on the female figure.

The exhibition runs through September 10. For more info visit www.nvopenstudios.com/reception/

Matched only by Mother Nature’s spectacular sunset, the reception and exhibition struck the perfect balance of sizzling temps, stunning art and cool sips of Mumm’s sparkling wine under the misters of the big oak tree. Bravo!

Introducing Wine Country Art Marketing

Wine Country Art is now Wine Country Art Marketing. Instead of trying to round up all of the art happenings in Napa & Sonoma counties, and highlighting the artists and their shows, I’m going to start talking about what I know best: marketing.

Specifically, I’ll be writing about basic marketing principles and how artists can use them to promote themselves, their art, and their careers. This isn’t to say that there will be no mention of specific artists and their work, or galleries and events. I’ll be incorporating as much of this as possible, keeping abreast of current art happenings. It just won’t be the primary focus of this blog.

My background is in corporate retail marketing and I’ve learned that many of the same strategies and tactics apply to the art world. I’m confident that some of the tips and techniques I pass along will not only be interesting, but can be easily applied to effectively promote artists and their work.

I look forward to your comments.

Calistoga Art Walk - Philip Parker

Here is another one of the art shows that are part of the Calistoga Art Walk.

Philip Parker is showing his paintings at Bank of America, 1429 Lincoln Avenue. A prolific painter with a collection spanning 25 years, Parker stays close to home with landscapes painted the open air in Napa and Sonoma Valleys. No vineyard oils here though, with moody skies and muted tones, Parker brings his own perspective to each scene with almost abstract vagueness. A distinguished collection definitely worth checking out.

For more info about the Thursday Art Walk visit http://calistogaartcenter.org/firstthursdayartwalk.html.

Sign of the Times

The deep recession, with its lost jobs and falling home values nationwide, poses another kind of threat: to the art galleries. The tide of big spenders that decorated their homes with vineyard and wine art from their trip to the wine country is receding, leaving some communities high and dry. Yountville lost one gallery last year and Images Fine Art South on Washington is closing April 30.

Citing exorbitant rent increases and the slow economy, they are closing their Yountville location and selling everything in stock at deep discounts. Granted, they still have a St. Helena location, Art on Main, but losing another gallery in Yountville is worth mourning. It appears that visitors are looking for a beautiful place to stay that has great food and wine, but many of their wallets are empty when it comes to shopping for pricey souvenirs.

Tough economic times have come before and boom markets inevitably follow. The ebb and flow of tourists and art patrons cycles through the wine country with each passing season. But our artists are steadily creating magnificent pieces, transforming color and line into beauty, and lifting us out of the flotsam of discouraging news. When the market is right, our artists will be selling pieces again and the wounds incurred in the current recession will be healed.

Maceo Montoya Mural at Ceja's Lounge

For a trek down history lane, check out the Montoya mural at the Ceja tasting room on 1st St in downtown Napa. Rich in detail and vibrant colors, the work traces the line from ancient winemaking to the present with depictions of Baccus, Egyptian winemakers, Father Junipero Serra, Spanish conquistador Cortez, a present-day farm worker and of course, the recognizable face of Cezar Chavez. The painting depicts the struggles balanced with the joys of the winemakers. Full of strong images of the vineyard workers, the artist honors the Mexican-American contribution to the winemaking process. The Ceja family background as immigrants and vineyard workers has influenced the artwork and it stands as a proud homage to the workers that went before.

Check it out for yourself at 1248 First St in downtown Napa, open daily 12 to 6, Saturday 12 to 10, closed Wednesday. Check out the Ceja Vineyards online at www.cejavineyards.com

Meat and Potato at the Nest

Is there meat culture? Absolutely. I witnessed it first-hand at the Nest gallery in Napa last Saturday. Over the next few weeks, "Meat and Potato" curated by Ashley Teplin and Ann Trinca explores how we interact with meat and how it sparks our creativity.

Eyes and stomachs were both open on Saturday evening, as opening night attendees feasted on lamb lettuce wraps, freshly deep-fried potatoes, charcuterie, and local wines. The multi-sensory conflagration of food, beverages, and multi-media meat and potato art had the crowd fired up.

The exhibit features paintings and photographs by Ashley Teplin and Tom Patton (see above), video by John Porter McMeans featuring the Potato Song, a fascinating collection of objects from Heritage Culinary Artifacts, and stuffed plush toys shaped like steaks, chops and hams.

"People are seeking a closer relationship with what we eat, where it originates, and how it is processed," according to Sasha Wizansky, editor of the meat culture magazine, Meatpaper. As a meat eater, I love slicing into a juicy medium-rare rib-eye steak. I've seen and smelled the stockyards off I-5 so I know where the meat is coming from and I'm not thrilled about it, but what's a suburban dweller to do? Raise my own backyard steer and butcher it myself, wrapping it into little packages for the freezer? Sounds like a monstrous and impractical undertaking for a good steak. Instead, I buy it at the grocery store and I'm comfortable with that. Some of us give thanks to the beast and all those who brought it to our table, others go above and beyond by creating beautiful and quirky art objects as a result. The exhibit at the Nest is one setting where we can examine our relationship with meat, it's beauty or grotesqueness, it's complex politics and economics, and come to terms with it's artful aspects. 

"Meat and Potato"exhibit is at Napa Nest gallery through March 15. Hours are 10 to 6 Thursday to Saturday. The Nest is located at 1019 Atlas peak Rd. behind Jessel Gallery in Napa. For more info visit www.napanest.com or call 707-255-7484.

Other-Worldly Pictures from Chris Purdy

Do you ever feel like a trip to a gallery or museum is like a day trip out of town?  Some art can just transport us to another place, mentally and spiritually. Photographer Chris Purdy has a knack for capturing and printing images that can take you to those places.  Purdy has photo journalized natural imagery and local residents of many exotic countries, but with a unique perspective that brings out the mystical and transcendent quality of the scene.  

Purdy also pushes the production boundaries with a printing technique he has developed that oversaturates the colors to give the print a peculiar depth and dreamlike quality.  The image above, "Prickly Pear Blossom," is an example of this method.  The bold red color draws you in as it melts into the thorny cactus.  Is it a painting? Or a photograph?  The effect created gives one pause, and for a moment, we are transported. 

You can view Chris Purdy's work at Folio in downtown Napa through February or online at www.purdypictures.com. 

Silence in January - Patrick O'Rourke

Patrick O'Rourke's "Winter Oak" piece above perfectly captures the January scene in Napa with the lone oak standing guard over the leafless vines. This moment, when days are short, tourist traffic wanes, and locals take back their turf, is when the statuesque beauty of the oaks steps forward from the background and shares the spotlight.  The vineyards, of course, are the big attraction and the main agribusiness of the area, but the oaks were here long before, and still reign as the most stately of trees. 

O'Rourke has studied the flora of Northern California and produces some of the best-selling landscapes of the region, but this scene rings especially true in winter. 

In his bio, Patrick O'Rourke says he has a lifelong passion for the sweeping vineyards and oak studded hillside of the wine country. Take a look at his collection, and you can see how accurately he draws the distinct colors of the land, from season to season, portraying the land and the vines we're all surrounded by. 

You can view his entire collection at Gallery 1870 in Yountiville. 

http://www.gallery1870.com/artist_patrick_orourke_artwork_landscapes.html

Sue Reed - Mysterious Nature

Many of us are moved by the beauty of nature and Sue Reed has a bold and unique take on the colors and patterns found there. Abstract and magical, she creates powerful and provocative images such as "Shape Shifters" above. 

At first glance, it is simply light playing on the water ripples of a creek, but a longer look reveals the hint of someone or something lurking within. Many of her "figurative abstractions" have ghostly and angelic women draped in floral essences and surrounded by kaleidoscopic colors and patterns. Boldly representing an inner self or higher consciousness, the technique draws one in, and touches a poetic place in our hearts. 

You can see more of Sue Reed's work at her open studio this weekend or online at: www.sueannreed.com 

T Barny - Beauty Out of Stone

It takes innovation and skill to draw elegance out of stone.  T Barny starts with selecting the raw chunk of marble, matching the color with his vision, then carves and shapes it into light and fluid, almost translucent, abstract designs suggestive of seashells and sea creatures.  

For the entire T Barny collection in stone, steel, bronze, wood, water and ice, check out his web site at www.stonesculptureforsale.com.   

Barbara Stafford

Every rug tells a story. Every fiber from the animal is tamed into threads and coerced into textiles.

The result is a textural story artistically woven together into a resilient rug that no one in their right mind would put on the floor and walk across.  These rugs are pleasing to touch because of their animal essense, but they are especially pleasing on the eyes.  

The award-winning example above, Camel 2: Lines, is camel hair interwoven with wool. 

Feast your eyes on this and more at www.barbarastafford.net.

So Much Art, So Little Exposure

With the Open Studio events in Napa and Sonoma Valleys in September and October every year, we get a glimpse of the vastness of art that is created here year round.  I was especially impressed with the sublime tempera drawings of Oscar Aguilar Olea, the vibrant jazz & romance paintings of Ed Grant, the woven masterpieces of Barbara Stafford, the woodworking of Jerry Kermode, and the lighter-than-air stone sculptures of T Barny, to name only a handful. 

There is so much superb artistic talent in the wine county I'd like to take the opportunity to spotlight some of their works throughout the balance of the year. I'll be highlighting artworks, events, news and original content that the community digs and creates. If you've got a hot tip, please drop us a line.