Two years ago I and 4 other English artists got together to present our views of the area which was quite successful. It was held in a local restaurant and had good exposure. I have recieved a couple of commissions for children's portraits and three adults, one of whom was in a hospital in Spain and dying! This gave new meaning to the word 'deadline'. Also received a commission for one of my car illustrations from the owner of the local pizza takeaway.
Early days, but Ronald and I are thinking about setting up on online catalogue of SFN artists work here.
Hi Neil, Good idea to try to get a group exhibition together when the town fete is on and whilst I do think times are pretty tough at the moment for everyone, there are always those that are unaffected and want to buy paintings. I think you are right to use your portfolio at exhibitions, especially if its something that people can turn over with just one hand. I notice at joint exhibitions that we have done the French have a history of themselves and previous exhibitions/ newspaper cuttings in a ring binder or photo album and people enjoy flicking through wheras our book is quite hard as to flick through as you need 2 hands to do it (just the nature of being an actual book). Funnily enough we had some cards printed off for our last exhibition and as it was on the back on another print job the paper was really good quality. Because of this nobody wanted to take one - they preferred a business card, same information but harder to read!!!!
Susan, have had a large book of my work via My Publisher, similar to Blurb but have not used it at my exhibitions as I use my portfolio but a good idea. I also print large cards via Vistaprint when they have a free offer which i give out for free with my info on the back. My wife and I have an idea to set up a group exhibition when the town fete ( it lasts for 4 days) is on, with other French artists from the area as they must have the same problem. We will contact our Mayor see what we can arrange. We live in a very rural, farming area so I know there has got to be money about from all those EU subsidies!
We launched my husbands career in October 2010 with a sole exhibition in the mairie at a village local to us. Although I sent out a lot of invitations and I did an enormous amount of canvasing with posters to shops in the surrounding villages the turn out was very poor with only our good friends turning up to the vernissage to support us. Since then I have shied away from anywhere that involves me organising people to come to the event although on the back of that exhibition I was able to approach a local estate agent, restaurant and a homeware shop to display Ians paintings and we got involved in the towns annual meeting of the metier d'art. I have since been successful with 2 galleries - both in Tarn et Garonne where we live and have been involved in a few other local exhibitions. The most helpful tool I have found is having a book published by blurb with Ians paintings in it which looked professional and gave the impression that you were serious about your work but only cost around £25 (its all in $). I take that with me to galleries and its a great visual and a good opener for discussion, especially if your French is not brilliant, like me. I have sent out a lot of emails to galleries but I find it just goes in to a big dark hole and its far better to jump in the car and walk in with a book and a painting under my arm. Very keen to hear other peoples strategies
Hmm. Gives me food for thought. Where we live (Lagrasse, Aude 11) is very touristic, and you can't move here in the summer. We might give some more thought to renting space here for June to September, and set up gallery space. Off for lunch, and the rugby!
I exhibited at a gallery run by an English couple and was very successful at the start but was mainly selling to people other than French. I agree the selling price the same as you and the commission is creaping up to 50%. I also produce A3+ size prints, postcards and greetings cards as well. More red wine for me!
Hi Neil. You just never can tell! As relative "newbies" to France, we are still struggling with the language, although we both do some French "homework" every day. Having grappled with stuff like the weird opening hours, we are now trying to figure out exactly what are the "rules" (if any) relating to galleries.
Henry still exhibits with several galleries in Ireland, and the occasional cheque pours in from time to time, but nothing like it used to be. With most of the galleries in Ireland, you can agree the price you want to get for the painting, and it is up to them what extra price they put on the painting. In general, commission is anywhere between 25% to 45%. I have no idea what way it works here, and probably varies between regions, as well.
From our initial research in Toulouse and Narbonne, the presentation is of a very high standard, while quality of the works can vary, but sales are low. Think I need more caffeine. Talk later.
Sheila, forgot to mention that we have also set up at wine growers open days here and, as with all the venues, is very hit and miss in terms of sales. We have been to a few vernisages with a meal and music which costs a lot to set up. However, the prices of the paintings reflected this! I also take/send back paintings to the UK with which I have some connection-east Anglia and Bristol. However, I last year, I contacted a gallery on Anglesey where Wills and Kate are based and sent a three paintings of local views which was successful.
My paintings are of local landscapes but I have been thinking of more abstract and non-specific locations and abstracts. I haven't fathomed the French with regard to art but have see horrendous (my opinion) paintings sell for quite high prices at a couple of the local fetes I have exhibited at. I offer a range of prices and sizes to attract the widest audience. There also seems to be an unhealthy interest in images of London and the Uhion Jack!
Hi Neil. Am afraid I can't offer any tips are we are in exactly the same boat (or car?). We are in France only since end of last March. One of our local restaurants here in our village suggested Henry exhibit some paintings, and so there are nine on show. However, our village is small (only about 650) and I don't think the local villagers have money to spend on what could be considered as a luxury item. We did some research in Toulouse, and found one gallery who was willing to rent it out by the week. He also had "the list" and charged for that too, but it included printing and posting the invitations. It's a bit frustrating, as when we lived in Ireland, Henry made a very good living from his paintings. I posted three images last night, just to give an idea of some of the work he does. Also, he is moving towards more abstract work, which might limit the possibilities somewhat. Look forward to hearing other peoples' thoughts.