The other side of selling your artwork

I was lucky to get some of my art in a gallery, but I only sold 1 thing the whole time and the lady was making me pay for the wall.

That business model is known as a “vanity gallery.”

I’m new to selling my work as I have, up until now, avoided it, because I felt that my best work was the work I was the most invested in (and I also dislike the idea that selling is likely to influence WHAT subjects I choose to paint - but, that’s another subject!). Now, however, I have decided that I AM ready to sell and I am telling myself that each piece is designated to sell, from the get go. I do the work and when it is done I literally turn it to face the wall and don’t look at it too much before I take its picture to sell it! If, after that, I feel like I AM attached to it, well there are several options - One, an artist friend advised me to do - put a bigger price on it, so, if is does sell, you won’t feel so bad about it! Another option is to paint it again, for my own pleasure, keep one and sell the other…I know, right, crazy artist’s psychology! I think every artist has to deal with it in their own way and probably practice at selling your work will make it easier in the long run. Interesting thread, Tom!

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I’m going to be blatantly honest here. I’m 78 years old and I LOVE to paint. Right now I have over 450 pieces available on DPW and another 400 or so in my Gallery that are sold. Paintings can accumulate and no matter how much you love your work there will come a time when you will be gone and your loved ones have the burden of doing something with all the paintings you left behind. ALL of my works are for sale…there are only 5 pieces in my home that are really mine and their future has already been settled once I’m gone. You can love them all, but you can’t keep them all, please be mindful of the burden you might leave behind :wink:

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I think there is a really good auction site, based here in Cincinnati, but global. They take care of a lot of the details of an estate, and many works of art are auctioned there. So, the name is EBTH.com. Everything but the House. I’ve asked my kids just to give them a call when I am gone to auction off the remaining artwork. Of course they take a commission, but it relieves the family of trying to sell off the remaining artwork.

The fam can take whatever I’ve left to Goodwill.

:grinning: I wrote in my will specifically not to give to Goodwill. Give, sell, hang on walls, even burn, whatever but not there. Just doesn’t feel good, at least our Goodwill.

I go to the town dump every couple of years with paintings that I don’t want people to run across after I’m dead. (Don’t want to turn over in my grave about it.) I have a big stack of paintings that I refer to as ‘questionable’…look them over to be real sure and then make the decision…but only after they’ve been sitting around for awhile. There are quite a few of mine in our landfill! Only once did I realize that one particular painting could probably have sold on eBay but I really wasn’t that upset about it. If I fall in love with a piece, I will make prints or notecards from it and spring for the cost of framing. Then it lives forever on my walls.

I just went to EBTH.com. Great idea and thank you!

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You’re welcome, Patricia!