Ideas for keeping your Art Business healthy during a pandemic.

Art Business, Artlook, Uncategorised

At the moment life outside the studio door is looking very frightening.  Artists lead a solitary life in the best of times, so the physical isolation won’t be so bad but, as Artists are self-employed and also have families and dependants, the long hours in the studio are now filled with feelings of panic and desperation.  You are not alone.

Here is a list of strategies and things that might help.

  1. Keep faith with your gallery, they, like you, are a small business and will be doing everything that they can to keep their business healthy during this time, remember they have a big client list for you and selling your work is in their interest as well as yours. You need an honest and open relationship with each other, now more than ever. Ring them up, find out their plans and ask for speedy payment for any sales.
  2. Now is the time to have a good website that you can manage and maintain.  You can sell your work through a website, this won’t distract from any gallery sales as long as you maintain a CONSISTENT price.  Whether directly from the artist or from the galleries that represent you the price needs to be the same. You can also add a link on your website to the gallery for each work that is being sold elsewhere.
  3. Be PROACTIVE with your collectors, a postcard or a newsletter wishing them well at this time and reminding them of the importance of art (yours) to lift the spirits could be something to consider.
  4. If you do a lot of workshops then how about posting some free lessons or creative ideas on your social media pages, to help keep people calm and occupied.
  5. Spend some time sorting out your studio, re-gesso old canvasses, sort out your paints, it’s a time to be frugal so find all that old printing ink and do some monoprinting, or some charcoal drawing. Re visit a medium that you haven’t used for some time. Re furbish all your old frames and then paint new work to fit them.

  6. Sort out your inventory, really sort through all your old work and of the things that you keep, make sure you have a decent image and then put everything into your new Artlook Inventory system.
  7. Get in touch with all your artist friends, they will be the best people to chat with as they are in the same situation as you are. Share ideas, offer moral support, start a group chat on Zoom or Watsapp.
    Make sure you follow Artlook on Facebook here. There’s also a dedicated Artlook Artists Group where you can share work, have a chat and stay in touch. Look for the link from the main Artlook page.
  8. Brainstorm new and interesting ways to get your art seen, think about online but don’t forget that this time will end, and people will be hungry for cultural and social gatherings.
  9. Factor some fitness into your daily routine.
  10. Get Artlook Software and use it! It is super easy to keep updated and you can make a great looking, easy to manage website…that you can sell from.  You can have an up to date inventory system that not only contains all your work but also has your collectors and your galleries.

It is only £5 per month and, with the first 30 days free, during the next three months that will only cost you £10.

Use the quiet time to really get your art business in tip top condition so that you hit the ground running when life gets back to normal.

Sarah

About Sarah

Sarah Wimperis is a professional artist and illustrator and also works for Artlook in Client Support and as our Artist Ambassador. Sarah's Artlook website is here.