Split Personality

Apples and Stripes, Oil on board, 9 x 12, currently at Atlanta Art Gallery

I've been painting American Indians forever. Maybe longer. I still enjoy painting them but lets face it, painting the same subject matter in the same style day after day can get tedious. And when that happens the paintings start looking tedious.

A few years ago I started painting still lifes which I have always loved. There is a myth in the art world that your customers will abandon you if you venture out beyond your (or their) comfort zone. To that end, I started a new website that just had my still lifes. I even considered painting under a different name. Here is what I learned.

1) I felt schizophrenic painting under two names so that was abandoned pretty quickly.

2) Painting still lifes got me into juried shows that I'd not been able to get into with my American Indians. I won awards.

3) The galleries I'm in only want my American Indians. That makes sense. They took me into the galleries because of my American Indian paintings.

4)Although my second website (http://www.fineartoils.com) has just still lifes, my original site (http://www.khenderson.com) has both subject matters. I also post both subject matters on Facebook and several other websites. It's just easier for me to do.

I have gotten into 2 galleries with my still life. They both know that I also paint western/American Indian. BUT while the western folks don't care that I paint contemporary still lifes I think that the Contemporary folks have a prejudice against western artists.

I'm now in the process of separating my 2 styles: A second  face book identity, new pages on websites where I post etc. I'm still painting under the name K. Henderson, but my New Self in some cases is KHenderson Fine Art.

My goal in doing this is to find Back East galleries for my still lifes, galleries that turn their noses up at western art.

I'd like to hear from those of you that paint in different styles. What has your experience been?

5) 

Snail Mail vs Email

Sacred Heart, detail on postcard, original painting 36 x 36

Back when I first started painting I did a lot of art fairs and exhibits. The great thing about them is that you come face to face with folks and you can build your mailing list. On the down side, most fairs don't attract the original art collectors, they are geared toward the inexpensive print buyer. I was lucky enough to participate in Red Earth art show in Oklahoma City for several years and got quite a nice mailing list of my collectors. Most galleries won't give you the names of your buyer making it difficult to build your list. But that's a discussion for another post

I used to mail out newsletters, postcards of show openings etc. But with the ever growing popularity of email  the the outrageous price of postage, my Snail Mailing has really dropped. Some people just won't give you their email address or they mean to but never do or *gasp* don't have email. I've lost contact with some of my collectors by neglecting them. How could I let this happen?

So for the next few days I'm updating my Snail Mail list by searching the internet for current addresses. I'm happy to report that most of my collectors are still right where I left them the last time I wrote. Whew! I've also found a few on facebook and I will pursue that further

I will be sending postcards to all of these folks to try and acquire an email address. But I'm also planning on contacting the folks on my email list and try to get their mailing address. Why? I think folks like to get post cards from artists. Don't you? And most artists no longer do this. I'll stand out in the crowd. Email will continue to be my main source of contact but I'll also be adding an occasional post card to the mix. 

A Typical Day in the studio

I've been neglecting this blog lately because I've been busy painting. I'm trying to get some new works to my galleries and my gallery in Santa Fe, Gallery 822, is having their anniversary show soon so I'm trying to finish a few pieces for them.

And I played hooky yesterday to take a trip to the fantastic Carlsbad Caverns. Beautiful!

Today, I updated my other blog with some exciting news. I'm about to photograph a few paintings I finished last week and then it's off to the studio. This evening I will look over my To Do list and see what projects I need to pay attention to and I will prepare for a new painting.

That's my typical day 

Finding Potential Customers. Maybe

Silver City Marshal, oil on canvas

Almost all the followers on my blogs, Twitter, Facebook etc are artists. And while I love my artist friends and find great value in what they have to say, my goal this year is to find more art buyers.

95% of my work is sold through my galleries and I love what they do for me. But I don't sit back and wait for them  to do everything. Especially since most galleries won't share their customer's names

I'm fortunate that most of my art fits into a 'Niche Market' : Western Art. Today I went over to Facebook and found a company that sells high end western decor. I looked at who their friends were and started requesting to be their friends. Now, many will not befriend me, and many will not be interested in buying my art. But my theory is that the more folks that know about me the better my chances are of selling more work. I spent about 45 minutes on facebook  connecting with people and will continue doing this a little bit at a time.

I also paint vintage toys. I belong to a few vintage toy groups on facebook. Other group member would be a good fit for my work.

What kind of art do you do? Where do you think you can find new buyers? Don't wait for them to find you!