magnanimous wrote on Nov 7
th, 2007 at 6:06pm:
sorry i am straying away from the subject a little but i see a few mentions of having pieces sold in galleries. i have been told by my flat woodworker friends that i should submit my work to galleries, I was just wondering one if my work is really good enough for a gallery and secondly how do you approach a place like that to buy your work?
Generally, you pound the pavement. You visit galleries, see if they fit your style, and approach the owner(s). You talk with them about their clientèle, and get a feel for the general population that utilizes the gallery. After that, you bring your work (work that would fit in the gallery) and show them what you've got. Generally, I don't press, I tend, more than anything now, to do photo submissions of my pieces when trying to get in a new gallery. There are several in the area that have requested my work, but they just don't fit my market. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that my work is Like Chris', because it isn't. It isn't priced the same, nor is it going to hit the same market as his. (I'm using you because I will own at least one of your large forms someday)
When that's all said and done, you work out an arrangement to rotate what is in the gallery if it isn't sold. Sometimes, you are lucky and pieces sell right away, sometimes they don't. That's the way it goes.
I'm fortunate, now, that I have two galleries that are on purchase order. They buy from me, then resell it. If they have a piece that doesn't move, I will buy it back from them, no problem. I like this, in that I get my money upfront, and know where I stand with it. No chance that I am going to get shafted by someone talking a clerk down in price ( it has happened in the past... a "quantity discount"). Not everywhere is going to do this, and most certainly not when you are first starting.
If a piece hasn't sold in a month, get it out, and get something new in. Plain and simple. Two reasons, it might not be the right piece, but you start to do that a few times, and it creates a sort of, "Hey, that guys work is selling, maybe we should look at them a little harder." from the patrons that frequent the gallery.
As far as gallery pricing goes, if you are selling within a couple days, your prices need to go up. If it is over a month ( as a rule where I am...plenty of room for adjustment in the beginning phase) It needs to drop. NEVER drop the price on a piece immediately, and leave it in the gallery. Rotate it out for a month or two, then try again at a lower price. Chances are you'll get that person that looked at it before to look a little harder. (MOST of the time, people won't truly realize that it is the same piece. They think it is one similar.)
Above all, give it time. There are a lot of different aspects to galleries, and it takes a lot of "face time" to become established. We aren't all Rude Osolnik, or Mark Damron, or Dave Bowers, or Keith Thompkins; familiar names to us all, but even more familiar to the buying public in their markets. Those guys, and guys like them, have really busted their collective butts to reach the level at which they are turning, and the level at which they are selling pieces. ( I pulled those names out of a hat, because...well...I respect those guys and like their work.) It takes time, and hard work. Not hard work only turning, but following up on your calls. making sure that lighting is correct for the piece, making sure that yu aren't stuck back in a corner that people think leads only to storage. A LOT goes into it, and you have to have a handle on every aspect of it, you have to be willing to make some sacrifices, and you have to be willing to step in the gallery and sell the pieces if you need to. Sometimes I've moved pieces in a gallery by stopping in and on the off chance someone would be looking at a piece. Many times, if they are a collector or enjoy the aspect of woodwork in general, they will ask you questions, and gain a new appreciation. I have one person that I have to call every time a new piece goes in, because I did that. They bought one of my first pieces in that manner, and now they expect first showing of new. I am more than happy to accommodate that, because they buy. Plain and simple.
Anyhow, that's my little rambling, shambling, sometimes egomaniacal, take on galleries, and getting your work in them.
Remember one thing above all. It takes a lot of work with galleries.
Edit: I know there are some guys here that can add to this, and I hope they do, because I know I've left things, important things, out. It is inevitable, that's just the way it goes.
And, as always, your mileage may vary... free advice is worth what you paid for it...grain of salt...ALL of those apply. Its late and I'm tired. I'll try to revisit this tomorrow when I'm at least mildly coherent.