Loving Art & Conversing with Artists

Guest post by: Barbara Garro
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Rev Up Your Passion! - By Barbara Garro

Having spent decades in Corporate America, living in the artists' world has brought many delightful surprises and some horrifying questions. I am continually amazed by the questions friends, family, strangers, fellow artists, neighbors, and service providers ask me.

Here are some examples of the worst questions that I hope will give you a chuckle or an empathy:

1. Are you selling anything?

2. What do you really do for a living?

3. Does anybody buy your work?

4. I've always wanted to paint--do you think you can tell me what I need to know over lunch?

5. How long did it take you to paint that? (If you give what the person perceives as a short time, you are charging too much. If you give what the person perceives as a long time, you can't be very good.)

6. Do you make a living painting?

7. Why don't you have anything alive in your painting?

8. I'm a decorator--what percentage do I get off?

9. How much of a discount do I get if I buy more than one? (I always wonder if they do that at Macy's.)

Here are some examples of the best questions that I hope you may consider asking artists:

1. Tell me the story behind this painting. (My favorite, because every one of my paintings has its own story.)

2. Which masters have influenced you the most?

3. Where may I see more of your work?

4. Do you accept commissions?

5. Would you be willing to work with my decorator?

6. Would you share a bit about your life as an artist?

7. Do you teach?

8. How do you decide which paintings to put in a show like this?

9. Would you put me on your mailing list and keep me informed of your events?

While a few artists are shy around strangers, many artists love speaking with the public, sharing secrets and stories about their work, and getting feedback about which pieces are the most pleasing to viewers. Everyone enjoys positive feedback.

Artists understand that not every person will like every piece of art. Is it ever appropriate to make negative comments about a work of art within earshot of the artist? Consider an art selling space a store. People go into stores to buy what they like. Can you imagine someone taking an article of clothing to a clothing store manager to state all the things they don't like about it? Just think how much more enjoyable it is to concentrate on art that speaks to you. You aren't likely to buy a piece of art at every show you attend, but it's hard to forget the first time a piece of art captured you and you just had to have it. Without question, you knew you had to own it. Even if you had to make payments to buy it, you had to make it yours. Where is that piece? I'll bet you still have it.

I would love to hear about your first art purchase. Spare no details. Describe everything. Share enough of them and I will do a "Wonderful World of Art" Newsletter devoted to them.

My first "fall in love with a painting" came at a young age. My mother and I were shopping for a painting for my Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Fred's wedding anniversary. This was in the 1960s when huge art warehouses were popular in New Jersey where we lived. We tramped over three floors of ceiling to floor art, looking at hundreds of paintings over four hours before we chose a water/woods fall scene resplendent in sparkling colors. Nearly 50 years later, that painting still adorns their living room. I still think it is one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen.

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Rev Up Your Passion! - By Barbara Garro

About the Author: Barbara Garro

RSS for Barbara's articles - Visit Barbara's website
Currently, my private and group coaching clients are taking the Garro 40-Day Creativity Challenge with me. It is so exciting to give yourself three hours every week for eight weeks, weekends off unless you mess up a weekday!

As the author of Grow Yourself A Life You'll Love and From Jesus to Heaven with Love: A Parable Pilgrimage, I have been coaching people to achieve their goals as writers, artists and believers for nearly fifty years. Along with my Business, Finance & Economics and Business & Professional Communication degrees, I also have a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, am a Certified Property & Casualty Underwriter, and graduated from Corporate Coach University and Coach Training Institute. People tell me my workshops and books have helped them stay on their goal tracks by knowing what to do when life gets in their way. My corporate career included Director of Risk Management for Comcast Corporation and positions in tax management, credit management, shareholder relations management. My Character Architectural Technology System has a registered mark from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and helps me show people who they are and how knowing that can help them achieve their goals in a way that works for them. As an avid social networker, find me on Lunch, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Filed By. My books are sold on Amazon.com and CambridgeBooks.us as well as ElectricEnvisions.com

Click here to visit Barbara's website.

More from Barbara Garro
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