blog 1: Galleries
 Help! Where do you start!!
Galleries, Residencies, Competitions, Grants, Merchandise, Fairs and shows, Teaching and workshops, Freelancing, Passive income, Websites, Social media and Online stores - it's all very confusing. In this series of blogs Nicky and Gina are going to run through the many possibilities. To kick off with we'll discuss Galleries Having your work exhibited in galleries is not only a great passive income (you can get on with your artwork while someone else is doing the selling!) but also a great way of networking and building a customer base. It might seem really daunting going into a gallery to show your work but there are things you can do to get your foot in the door as well as things you can do to really sell yourself to a gallery Research – It's really important to research the galleries first . . Will your work fit in?, if it’s a gallery that predominantly sells landscape paintings, they might not have a market for life drawing studies or still life paintings, but they also might be looking for something slightly different or a medium that they don’t showcase a lot of. By doing some research you’ll know if you're offering something refreshing that you can sell them on. Making contact - Make a phone call to schedule an appointment with the owner to show them your work. Going in in person is a nice idea but with no forewarning it can put people on the spot. People put on the spot generally say no! They might also be quite busy that day and the last thing you want to do is be an inconvenience in their day, the phone call is also quite gutsy and people take notice of this. Emails get forgotten about so easily! A copy and pasted email sent to every gallery in the area is easy to spot and quite offputting. Portfolio- This is really important, I can't tell you how many times people have walked in to the gallery with just a phone in hand to show me pictures. You really can’t establish anything from this and the ‘oh hang on let me just find this picture’ whilst scrolling isn’t very professional. One of the main problems we have as a gallery is artists professionally displaying their work correctly, so if your portfolio isn’t professional looking and well displayed then there’s not a lot of hope the work to hang is going to be different. Online presence – it’s a must! The most annoying thing in the world is when you have a really great artist, but can't find them anywhere online! People need to be able to find you, to contact you as does a gallery. Have a strong presence on social media, gallery owners often look here when they are searching for some new artists. Guest slots - sometimes the best way to be a permanent artist is the longer game. . Getting a foot in the door. If your artwork sells then they might like to add you to their list of permanent artists. At the very least they’ll invite you to exhibit with them at future exhibitions, if you have a few of these every year it can be a nice little income. Likewise gallery open exhibitions are a good way for a gallery to meet you and get to know you. Vanity galleries - this is when you pay for some space and also pay commission. Do lots of research about the venue, customer base, peak times of the year first It can be expensive but a good way to get noticed. Extra tips • Make sure you have some crowd pleasers in your portfolio, as a gallery based in Swanage we need lots of pictures of the favourites, Corfe Castle, Old Harry Rocks, Durdle Door. They might seem a bit boring with so much of it out there, but its what sells! Get your business hat on and see it as a challenge to make some art that will sell with a refreshing look. Display everything nicely! If you have a meeting with a gallery, make sure work is professionally framed, or that you are committed to this, it is a bit of an output, but we can see those Wilkinson's frames a mile off and the display makes a huge difference to customers so it does to the gallery owners as well. When pricing your work try to make your private sales on a par with the gallery prices. Yes, you pay high commission, but factor in the cost of yourself sitting on a market stall or working on your website, storing your artwork and carrying it around, the location of the gallery and number of sales, the long term exposure to the public, paying a good commission is really worth it. If you want to sell your work more cheaply at markets, as well as at galleries, make different products for each venue. Remember, though, that customers will be annoyed if they have paid more elsewhere. Returning customers are an important part of your art business. Galleries can also be annoyed about it. Finally don’t take it too hard if they're not ready for your work yet, rejection is part of being an artist unfortunately, lots of opportunities don’t manifest themselves, but everyone’s in the same boat, art is subjective and everyone has different tastes. Persevere and keep applying yourself! Next time we'll be talking about artist residencies. Which comes first the chicken or the egg? The same can be said for art and decor. Do you decorate your room and then find artwork to match, or do you buy your favourite pieces, focus on a few colours and use those in your paint, carpet and furniture colours? To buy the art first makes sense but it can be difficult to know your budget before essentials like flooring and somewhere to sit or sleep! Then there are complications. You may not be starting from scratch and already have some colours and themes you are already happy with or simply have to work with. You may want to be right on trend or you may have sentimental items or antiques and a preference for the more traditional or classic look. As an art gallery of course we would suggest you choose your artwork first . It's really important to buy a piece that you love looking at! If it doesn't fit with your new decor that would be a shame. However it's just not that simple for everyone and it might be too late by the time you hear this suggestion! A more realistic approach is to use the framing, positioning of objects, and the incorporation of accent colours to create a room with harmony. Hopefully this blog will give you some ideas. Decor colour The on trend colours for 2021 are grey and bright yellow. Add to this some blue, also fashionable for the coming year. When thinking about colour from first principles there is the science behind the colour wheel. This tool helps you find colours that harmonise together, for example complementary colours are blue and orange, yellow and purple, and green and red. To read more here's an excellent article from Better Homes and Gardens. https://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/basics/color-wheel-color-chart/ Decor themesYou may wish to stick to a theme in your room. This could be the content of a picture, a pattern on a cushion, a certain style or similar / complementary colours. You might have an eclectic mix of objects perhaps in age (contemporary or old fashioned), pattern, or subject matter but if they are all one colour this will make for a harmonious but very interesting look. Or perhaps you want to have an on trend themes. For 2021 these are nature, animals and natural well made products. Art styles
We all know the difference between a traditional and contemporary look. But at the moment provided things harmonise in a different way it's fashionable to have an eclectic mix. When thinking about artwork it might be exciting to think about the various styles of art and mixing them together in one room but with a theme running throughout. Let's have a look at some styles of art: Contemporary is the current phase, modern refers to mid 20th century following on from the modern art movement in the late 19th century. Soon contemporary will be replaced by a new description. Before modern art artists tended to paint landscapes, religion and wealthy models in a realistic way. Of course this was before photography so it also acted as a record. Modern art brought with it abstracts and pop art, in other words art became less representational. However modern art is a continually moving genre being flexible and current even today. Art subject matters
This means what the painting, ceramic or sculpture is of. Current subjects are animals, nature, abstract shapes, faces in one continuous line and the female form. Wellness Art
Wellness art is a new genre. As people are more aware of their mental health they are looking for something that makes them feel uplifted and calm. Creativity is well known to improve mental wellbeing. Appreciating others' creativity is an extension of this. It often acts as a stimulus for taking up something creative yourself such as the trend for adult colouring books. A calm and peaceful sculpture is the latest trend in creating that feeling. Continuing this theme is art inspired by nature. Natural wood, greenery , leaves, waves, all bring a sense of calm and grounding. Maximalism in decor
This is a very recent fashion but stems from the Victorian era. It's the opposite of minimalism - lots of objects, pictures, colours, textures and boldness. It's a great juxtaposition to minimalism and very stimulating. It suits the collector in us but may be less calming. Luxury and qualityPlush velvets, trimmings, deep carpets and high quality craftsmanship are in vogue. It is a comforting trend particularly taking into account the fact that we have lock down and are more aware of our home environments. So all in all, with the current world situation, it's even more important to be happy and contented at home. Your environment has a part to play in this. The most important thing is to buy something you really love, something that will give you great pleasure to look at whether it be to relax or provoke. Hopefully this blog will help you make some decisions.
So you've been to the gallery or looked at the artists' galleries on this website, but you're still not sure. You're asking yourself:
Then there are framing options. The framers we use have over 1100 options! That sounds daunting but once you categorise your preferences it's much easier. Most of our originals and prints have an off white mount and a textured off white wooden frame. We find this is neutral so if in doubt it's a good point of safety. Another safe bet is an off white mount with a black frame. This is great for more graphic style pictures with strong black lines. A bold look can be achieved with a black mount and black frame. It really makes to the painting "ping". This can be stunning with the right painting but may not be to everyone's taste. At the moment the trend is to have a collection of different frames in a room, perhaps in varied sizes, colours and type of wood, so really you can't go too far wrong whichever you choose.  Lots to do during lockdown as a gallery owner or an artist. Most of us can work on our artwork from home or in our studios. Here's a fab image of Katherine Message working at her wheel to create her beautiful porcelainware. I've been painting ferociously myself but there's lots of other aspects as well.
As a gallery owner I have never spent so much time on my laptop, sore fingers as a result!! I've revamped the website, been more active on social media and been researching business strategies. We'll be pushing our profile further into Dorset. I've got some exciting ventures in the pipeline. 1. Dorset Art Weeks - 8 of our regular artists are taking part with brand new collections and hosting "Meet the Artist" sessions during the art weeks. We're also having an exhibition of young emerging artists' work in gallery 2. 2. Purbeck Art Weeks - the above will continue through to our Purbeck Art Trail, the gallery will be one of the venues. 3. A visiting exhibition in Lyme Regis at the Town Mill Gallery in August. The artists taking part to be confirmed. Now I'm having a go at blogging - early days so I'd really love to have some feedback; either about the content or how to do it well. I'll be back in the next few days to update progress on our exciting projects. Gina x On 15th July we made a bold but exciting move to 43a High St, Swanage BH19 2LT. We didn't lose a single trading day but a lot of hard work went on behind the scenes, especially very early in the morning! Now it's all set up and looking fab. Sales and footfall have rocketed which is really rewarding. We have welcomed some additional artists including Louise Pull with ammonite inspired ceramics and Laurie King, a graphic designer turned artist. Come and visit us soon we'd love to show you around....
Hi followers!
Well we are in the throes of the effects of coronavirus! Today has been surprisingly busy in the gallery so hopefully we won't be too badly affected. There is certainly no chance of us going bust, but the artists themselves may suffer. If we do have to close temporarily we'll take the opportunity to do some decorating and of course create lots of new artwork! If the virus does start to affect trade one can always buy via email and have work delivered by courier or by myself. I hope you all keep well, Gina xx Christmas newsletter 2019Well folks its that time of year again! With Christmas fast approaching all of our artists are busy making Christmas decorations and potential Christmas gifts. This newsletter is here to give you all the information on our new seasonal products and workshops we have over the winter months!
This month . . . Our harvest exhibition has been a really successful first open exhibition for the gallery and has been so insightful to the huge amount of talent in the town, the harvest exhibition will stay on show until the 13th December, the next exhibition will be a small showcase of exciting work from Purbeck and Poole painters, a beginners/improvers art class that takes place in the gallery each week, this will be showing in the gallery until the new year! As well as this we have our guest artist exhibiting this season, Juliet west is a local mixed media artist who incorporates gold, silver and copper leaf into her acrylic paintings of local scenes. Here is a small sampling of some of the works we have on display, we think they are absolutely stunning and well worth a visit! This Christmas we also have a huge array of seasonal products as well as lots of new paintings, prints, soft furnishings, glass and ceramics. We've already got our Christmas tree up! Scroll on down the newsletter for a sneak preview of some of the exciting new products we have in time for Christmas. What's new? Firstly we've got lots of Christmas decorations on display, fabric, glass and wooden for whatever look your going for this Christmas, they are all lovingly handcrafted by our exhibiting artists. We also have some new ceramics! Wonderfully unique soap dishes and tealight holders by Holly Sandham. Lastly we have lots of new fabric creations by our resident artist Nicky Stockley, new lampshades have made their way into the gallery, as well as these lovely crushed velvet cushions. New bags and scarves are also up for sale! Happy Birthday Purbeck Painters This month is the 2 year anniversary of Purbeck and Poole painters, a small beginners/improvers art class set up by one of resident artists Nicky Stockley, as we have an exhibition for the club next month we thought we would share a little about the club and some pictures of students work from over the past two years! (Nicky) I set up Purbeck painters initially after working for a company that taught beginners art classes. It was with these classes that I discovered a real passion for teaching, everyone can learn to draw and paint and its such a rewarding experience when someone creates something that they're really proud of or didn't think they could do. I wanted to make a class that was beginner friendly in the Purbecks and in Poole where I live, where complete newcomers to art could start their journey, explore mediums and find the one or more that they really enjoy doing. The original class has gone from strength to strength, our base is in the gallery but the class has expanded to Parkstone and Corfe Mullen since starting, as well as a new 'mini Purbeck painters' which is specifically for home educated children to learn art. We're getting more and more adventurous each term exploring new mediums, I'm very lucky to have such wonderful classes! Here's some of the amazing work people have achieved over the past 2 years! Upcoming workshops . . . Purbeck painters is now signing up new members for the Winter term. Below is a sneak peek of our curriculum with lots of exciting projects planned for September 2019. To book your place on the course either call into the gallery or contact Nicky: Phone: 07940256377 Email: [email protected] You can also visit www.nicolastockley.co.uk for more information on our club and our Poole classes Mark Page's draw like a pro workshops run from 11-1pm and 2-4pm on Wednesdays, all materials are included and no booking is required, just drop in! The Isle of Purbeck Arts club is also looking out for new members. Gina Marshall is the chairman for this charity that supports and promotes art within the Isle of Purbeck. There are two art groups, Tuesday morning group and Thursday evening, sessions have an occasional guest tutor or you can work on your own thing. Exhibition opportunities are also available, contact Gina on our mailing address for more information! September 2019Welcome everybody to the September newsletter, we are super busy with lots of things going on this month, for starters we have our summer sale! After a fantastically busy summer period we are now hosting discounts on a variety of paintings, drawings and textile art for the entire week! We are also getting ready to hold our first open exhibition. The private view is the 6th of September and all our newsletter patrons have invitations attatched to this newsletter, we look forward to welcoming you to our first of hopefully many open exhibitions displaying a wide range of local talent!
This month . . . Our open exhibition 'Harvest' had an amazing response from the local people, we are going to be full to burst with a huge variety of mediums, abilities and different themed work. We hope you can make it to our private view to celebrate such a talented towns work but if not, don't worry the exhibition is on all month! Private view invitations are at the bottom of this email. Also this month our winter term of Purbeck painters is starting up again! Purbeck painters is a weekly art class run by one of our resident artists Nicky Stockley, the club is nearly 2 years old and has expanded into Parkstone and Corfe Mullen as well as having two classes on Mondays in Swanage. The class is available for bulk bookings as well as drop in sessions, lots of exciting new media are going to be explored with lots of great projects lined up. If anyone is interested in trying out Purbeck painters you can email Nicky for more information on [email protected] Also in this newsletter we'll be speaking to our newest resident artist, Jeneta Bird, you may have already seen Jeneta's beautiful acrylic paintings from some of our luschious landscapes, her works look stunning in the gallery, with so many views of Studland beach you could almost be there! Nicky's Corfe castle cushions An entry to our open exhibition 'Harvest' by Jane Sheperd What's new? This summer has been host to a variety of successful summer workshops at the gallery, infact so successful we just had to share some of these beautiful creations online! The 'Wild in Swanage' summer programme was devoted to using different mediums to look at different wildlife and wild flowers that make Purbeck special, we had inky seahorses, printed puffins, pastel squirrels and many more! Our new resident artist . . .Jeneta Bird I was born in London in 1956 and remember from a very young age wanting to draw,paint and create art in many forms. So much so that I feel being an artist was always going to be my destiny. I had children when I was very young so didn't really pursue an artistic career as such but was always involved in different projects. I worked as a Teaching Assistant with children with SEN for 15 years and was able to use my skills to produce artwork for learning resources. I was also given the job of Arts Coordinator in charge of displays and ran art clubs for the children. In 2006 I moved to Poole in Dorset and was able to persue my life as an artist. Since then I've enjoyed being surrounded by the beauty of the coast and countryside of Poole and the Purbeck area. I love to paint the sea and am fascinated by the ever changing coastline through the seasons. I have just finished a seascape inspired by an evening swim at Sandbanks when the colours of the sea and sky were stunning. I am constantly driven to try and capture the beauty of nature in my paintings. Upcoming workshops . . . Purbeck painters is now signing up new members for the Winter term. Below is a sneak peek of our curriculum with lots of exciting projects planned for September 2019. To book your place on the course either call into the gallery or contact Nicky: Phone: 07940256377 Email: [email protected] You can also visit www.nicolastockley.co.uk for more information on our club and our Poole classes Mark Page's draw like a pro workshops run from 11-1pm and 2-4pm on Wednesdays, all materials are included and no booking is required, just drop in! The Isle of Purbeck Arts club is also looking out for new members. Gina Marshall is the chairman for this charity that supports and promotes art within the Isle of Purbeck. There are two art groups, Tuesday morning group and Thursday evening, sessions have an occasional guest tutor or you can work on your own thing. Exhibition opportunities are also available, contact Gina on our mailing address for more information! Have you seen our online shop? Our gallery website now contains a fully stocked online shop of products, sneak a peek now at www.purbecknewwave.co.uk Next month . . . Next month we'll be sharing the results of our first open exhibition and speaking to Gill and Gina about the work that will replace all their summer sales in the gallery! Copyright © 2018 Purbeck new wave gallery, All rights reserved. August 2019Welcome everybody to our August newsletter, as we're all enjoying this typical British summer weather we've been busy in the gallery this month getting ready for our first open exhibition! Its very exciting and the response we've had so far to take part has been incredible, there is still room for more though!
This month . . . Hello, this month it's news from Gina, the gallery owner. The gallery is now 18 months old and is going from strength to strength with new artists, stock and plenty of visitors despite the ferry closure! New in this week are a range of copper jewellery by Jade Cameron and an unusual but very topical wicker ammonite by Suzy Hallett. Be quick to snap up a picture in textiles by Carol Cruickshank before her exhibition finishes on 1st September. This will be followed by our exciting new project for September..... an Open Exhibition. Professional and amateur, experienced and beginner artists from all over Dorset will be exhibiting a wide variety of work to the theme of "Harvest". The exhibition opens with a private view on Friday 6th September at 7pm to which newsletter subscribers are welcome. Just let us know if you intend to come so that we can prepare some wine and nibbles! Artists on our mailing list are welcome to apply for the exhibition - entries close on Sunday 1st September. Email us for an application form. To make room and as it is coming to the end of the season, we are having a SALE on selected original paintings. It starts on Tuesday 27th August until the 6th September. It's a perfect opportunity to buy something really special at a bargain price. Finally I'd like to promote the Isle of Purbeck Arts Club summer exhibition. Myself, Gill and Nicky all have roots in the club and have been springboarded by its support. Whilst we won't be exhibiting there, there will be up and coming artists to spot as well as some experienced favourites. The exhibition takes place at the Catholic Church Hall on Rempstone Road in Swanage. It's on from Saturday 17th August to bank holiday Monday 26th August, 10.30 to 5pm. As the club supports the arts in broad terms there will be a violin performance by one of the club's talented bursary students on the opening morning. All in all there is lots to see and do as summer comes to an end. And as autumn approaches so does the next term of Purbeck Painters, details from Nicky below. Here's hoping to meet you at one of our events, Gina What's new? If you haven't been able to make it yet to Carol Cruickshank's 'Purbeck in textiles exhibition you still have time! Carol has a huge amount of work on display which is gaining immense popularity for its unique qualities as textile pictures. An extraordinary amount of craftsmanship and work goes into making them and it has a satisfying quality that you can feel the work as well as look at it! 'Purbeck in textiles' is on display till the end of the month. Upcoming workshops . . . Purbeck painters is now signing up new members for the Winter term. Below is a sneak peek of our curriculum with lots of exciting projects planned for September 2019. To book your place on the course either call into the gallery or contact Nicky: Phone: 07940256377 Email: [email protected] You can also visit www.nicolastockley.co.uk for more information on our club and our Poole classes Our new summer workshop programme is called Wild summer in Swanage, there are 5 workshops, all with projects themed on our local wildlife and plants. They are all in different mediums with full tuition and all materials and refreshments provided. To book a workshop either call into the gallery or contact Nicky Phone: 07940256377 Email: [email protected] This summer we have some Kids workshops! All materials are provided. Places are limited so book soon to avoid disappointment! Either call into the gallery or contact Nicky: Phone: 07940256377 Email: [email protected] Mark Page's draw like a pro workshops run from 11-1pm and 2-4pm on Wednesdays, all materials are included and no booking is required, just drop in! The Isle of Purbeck Arts club is also looking out for new members. Gina Marshall is the chairman for this charity that supports and promotes art within the Isle of Purbeck. There are two art groups, Tuesday morning group and Thursday evening, sessions have an occasional guest tutor or you can work on your own thing. Exhibition opportunities are also available, contact Gina on our mailing address for more information! Have you seen our online shop? Our gallery website now contains a fully stocked online shop of products, sneak a peek now at www.purbecknewwave.co.uk Next month . . . Next month we will be releasing our summer programme of workshops! Make this summer ARTY! Copyright © 2018 Purbeck new wave gallery, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: [email protected] www.purbecknewwave.co.uk Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. .Welcome everybody to our June newsletter, we are just about finished with Purbeck Art Weeks 2019 and it has been absolutely fantastic, we cannot thank our customers enough for their support for local artists. There is no time for a break and a cup of tea however, the summer is nearly upon us, Dorset art market is coming shortly and replenishing of stock and paintings is in full swing. As well as an exciting list of Summer workshops to share with you this month we'll also be sharing some of the artists new projects.
This month . . .We have an exciting short exhibition coming up, starting next weekend on the 15th June we will be welcoming local artist Heather Gibbons and her work to the gallery. Heather works with oil and charcoal interpreting the evocative coastline of the Isle of Purbeck. Her individual style resonates with the wildness of this particular area emphasising the atmosphere of the time and place through colour, line and texture. This exhibition is only one month long so get there quick! Busy Busy . . Gina's had some great success selling her new Studland pieces she created for PAW, now Purbeck art weeks are over she is concentrating on a new commission piece as well as a new variation of her graphic style of ink painting. Gina's now using bold white lines in some big pieces, they are truly stunning, Gina's colour palette is well known for being striking but we are loving the new mark making that breaks up these blocks of colour. Our new resident artist, Jeneta Bird has had a brilliant first Purbeck Art Weeks, her acrylic paintings of Studland have flown out the door. We think they are so popular for their absolute spot on colour match of that lovely studland sand and heath. They are so realistic, these canvases are something you could step into! Following PAW Jeneta has been back out in her favourite place, photographing Studland and looking for new areas to capture in paint! Nicky's cushions have been a hit over Purbeck Art Weeks and there is lots of sewing and new products to be made over the summer, but for now the focus has been putting together a summer programme of workshops. Purbeck painters has come to an end until September and a new programme of five workshops called Wild Summer in Swanage is ready to be advertised. This programme is focusing on local wildlife this year, there are kids workshops for the summer holidays and hopefully some 'plein air' ones to be organised as soon as possible. You can see a whole list of workshops on Nicky website, including ones in Poole and Bournemouth. Nicky's website Finally, we have some new exciting glass work in the gallery, Moira Hazel who creates large and vividly colourful still life paintings has delivered some quirky and beautiful fused glass pieces to hang on walls. They are such eye catching pieces and incredibly good value for money .Upcoming workshops . . .Purbeck painters has officially come to an end for the summer but it is never too early to book your place for the Winter term. Below is a sneak peek of our curriculum with lots of exciting projects planned for September 2019. To book your place on the course either call into the gallery or contact Nicky: Phone: 07940256377 Email: [email protected] You can also visit www.nicolastockley.co.uk for more information on our club and our Poole classesOur new summer workshop programme is called Wild summer in Swanage, there are 5 workshops, all with projects themed on our local wildlife and plants. They are all in different mediums with full tuition and all materials and refreshments provided. To book a workshop either call into the gallery or contact Nicky Phone: 07940256377 Email: [email protected] summer we have some Kids workshops! All materials are provided. Places are limited so book soon to avoid disappointment! Mark Page's draw like a pro workshops run from 11-1pm and 2-4pm on Wednesdays, all materials are included and no booking is required, just drop in! The Isle of Purbeck Arts club is also looking out for new members. Have you seen our online shop? Our gallery website now contains a fully stocked online shop of products, sneak a peek now at www.purbecknewwave.co.ukNext month . . . Next month we will speaking to our new residents artists, Mary and Jeneta and finding out all about their artistic background and their painting practices. |
AuthorNicky Stockley and Gina Marshall Archives
February 2021
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