As a professional artist, I spend nearly half of my time doing what I'll call "marketing". This includes writing my artist statements, updating my bio and resume to include new exhibitions my work has been in, organizing digital images and labeling slides, putting together press packets with newspaper and magazine reviews of my work, and most importantly researching new exhibition opportunities. I am constantly filtering through various calls for art and visiting gallery or museum websites to see if my work would be applicable at the particular venue. Once I find something of interest the next step is to organize my materials according to the galleries specs (some want only slides, some only CDs, some have specific portfolio review dates and some welcome cold calls, some want to see a dozen images, some only two or three, etc.) they all want something different and this can be very time consuming. I'm not even going to touch on the process involved in applying for a grant; then we're talking about getting letters of recommendation, writing proposals and filling out lengthy applications. Then there's updating my website, posting a daily blog (gotta give something to the fans and groupies), and acquiring new "friends" on myspace and facebook (basically just trying to get my name out there and make some connections). Whew...now it's back to the studio to produce new work.
The whole marketing ordeal can be a bit overwhelming. There are so many galleries and exhibitions that might or might not be interested in my work. For me, there's also shipping issues (I have to ask myself if it would be worth the cost of shipping to be accepted in a group of solo exhibition). It can be like chasing the wind, and can be particularly discouraging to have put in a lot of work reaching out to a gallery only to be rejected in the end. Unfortunately this is the way to get your work out of the studio and onto the gallery walls. This is the way to get people to notice and buy your work; so on goes the cycle.
I was thinking about it all this morning during my daily Bible reading. In the book of John, chapter 21 Jesus' disciples had been out fishing all night but caught nothing. They saw Jesus on shore (this was the third time He revealed himself to the disciples after His crucifixion).
Verse 6: "And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some [fish]." So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.
My prayer is that I will be able to discern among the many exhibitions and galleries out there and be savvy enough to select only the ones worth investing my time in. I want to make the best choices and the best use of my time and energy.
Essentially, I want to cast out my net on the right side and with God's guidance, I will pull in a multitude of opportunity.
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