Category: Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York

Sold! The "Art" of the Art Sale

Thankfully, the art event on Sunday was very laid back and casual. Originally, I thought that was strange. I’ve entered work, and was rejected a few times, to events that charged a fee for each entry, was a juried event, and the organizers earned a small percentage of sales. They usually want an artist statement and biography, among other requirements like size of art, submission in pdf form, CD, photo. Plenty of stressful things.

This event had none of that, and it had me a little worried. What kind of thing was I getting myself into? “Call the organizer” was the info I got after I saw all they wanted was my name, number, and “Art”. Should I do it? Should I not bother? It ended up being just the right thing for me. The venue was relaxed as well as the chairpeople.

Just show, sell, or not. Great.

The other artists were fun to meet. This photographer, above, saw things in this postcard of my painting of a pepper stem, that I can’t repeat. She asked if it was a subliminal message. The word “hermaphrodite” came up. Really? Wild. I still see just a pepper stem.
This artist standing with me at my booth was an amazing cartoonist who made a cartoon book about the heroes of the Greek Revolution. Amazing work.

Here I am packing up a sale for a lovely show attendee. She came by my station and we talked about my work. We discussed my process, my motivation, the subjects, and my background as both a person and an artist. This lovely lady ended up buying two of my Greek landscape watercolors.

Then her friend came by and asked the price for the painting of a marigold. After I told him, he wrote out a check! We were all so excited. I asked them if they would take a photo together with the works they purchased and they agreed. Just wonderful, lovely people to meet.
I sold quite a few blank notecards of my paintings, and near the end of the night, two of my necklaces were purchased. It was fun for me to learn people wanted to buy so badly they went to the nearest ATM for cash!

Excitement of the Art Exhibition

The art exhibition and sale I participated in this weekend went very well, to my surprise. I really didn’t know what to expect, how many pieces to show, who might attend, and if prices would be in the range of the possible customers. Any nerves I had at the start left me after I finished setting up my space and mingled with the other artists.

My booth at the Art Event

A large part of the show was meeting different people, looking at artists’ work, finding the direction of their work, a lot of art speak and exchange. Some artists brought work just to exhibit. Others wanted to sell to make room in their studio for more artwork. I did plenty of networking.

One never really knows what kind of art the public might be interested in purchasing. Since this was a show of Greek-American artists hosted by the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, in a largely Greek community in Astoria, NY, I thought I might include some Greek inspired watercolor paintings, along with my still-life work of late. A boat and beach scene here, a Greek column there, a monastery work, a portrait of a grandfatherly man, a few breezy paintings.

Sometimes people want to see anything but heritage kind of work. They may want a fresh look at a colorful something else. I displayed a variety of work, and brought along my portfolio too. On the odd chance a viewer might be interested, I brought along some of my jewelry pieces. Just for fun.

There was a variety of mediums displayed, oils, woodcuts, acrylics, photography, and cartoonists. All very interesting work, styles, and personalities.

People wanted to know about my background, my process, the inspiration behind my work, and we enjoyed lively conversations. Another exhibitor came by my station and said “Tell me about all this!”

More about my event excitement tomorrow. Right now I’m tired and I need to paint something new.