Eureka, I've Got It

Got a great idea? Why not let it do some work for you?

An artist wants to spend their precious time in the studio producing art, but what they wind up doing is hitting the streets, the galleries and the shows drumming up publicity for their work. True, some artists achieve great publicity this way, Angela Haseltine Pozzi’s three dimensional art is a news event, but not everyone is so lucky.

What can you do as an artist to promote your work and yet not compromise the time you spend in the studio?

What about note cards?

Yes, I said note cards, but nobody uses them anymore. Really? I have within the last month received two cards, one from a local artist and one from a fan of a local artist and they both feature art from the respective artists. Now one was sent with a mission which had nothing to do with self-promotion, but the other was selected specifically to share the art, a marvelous, thoughtful act from a terrific supporter of the arts. And both went on my walls because they are great art.

So why don’t you have a set of cards? No silly not business cards? Art note cards for thank yous and remembrances and Guy Fawke’s day cards. If you think it is beneath you or not artistically politic, then you are wrong. The cards I have hanging on my walls come from very gifted artists who have a national following and they don’t seem to have suffered any from being put on a card.

What about that dynamic image you created for the National Chicken Pluckers assn? Sure that one they own outright, but what about the clever sketches you made before you settled on the final design or a logo made for the Endless Desert Golf Club, did it come out of your mind and onto the canvas without going through a revision process. Dig out some of the things you’ve set aside and take a look, maybe there’s a lost treasure you can exploit for your own best ends.

Okay, so you’ve found something that would work to promote your art, but you have no idea how to use it? Try Zazzle. Yes that’s right Zazzle.

http://www.zazzle.com/

Zazzle makes all sorts of products which with a bit of design thought can be sued to promote an artist while allowing the artist to spend their time in the studio. You can have mouse pads, coffee cups or T-shirts all with your art on them and Zazzle allows yo to order as you need the item. You can make up one product and try it out and if it isn’t working do something else without committing to a run to five hundred. It’s worth a try.

And just for the record I’m holding out for a T-shirt with a certain artist’s buffalo, hint…hint…hint