cyber,

there are lots of festivals, outdoor sales, etc. in the Northeast US in the summer, one that has been going on for 60 years is in Mystic CT and has been quite successful for artists, hence its longevity:

http://www.mysticchamber.org/events/...r-art-festival

There are many others, just a case of looking for them.

Don't forget Florida, particularly during "the season".

like emalloy's comment, the midwest also has art fairs in even medium cities. A friend of mine travels to a number of these, exposing his photography to different audiences. I think that would be the way to go, b/c you get a concentrated crowd.

Art districts seem to be a pretty popular thing. OK City, Topeka, Kansas and KC, MO all have them (I'm sure there are plenty of others). "First Friday" art walks seem to be a pretty popular thing, too. I was visiting KCMO last summer for an event and the Crossroads (the art district) was packed on a first friday! There are probably rules for exhibiting during those events. I've been to a couple art fairs in the OKC art district, which had outdoor exhibits in addition to permanent galleries.

Bitter,
tx. One has to wonder if there's a little less competition in places that one doesn't automatically think of when you think of art.
Perhaps hip med sized cities in the midwest could fit that bill.
I'll do a little research and see if I can get a sense of what's Showing and being sold in those areas.


Getchen, An artist friend of mine used to do very well selling her art in Naples. She's since moved and changed her genre of painting.
I'll ask her if she thinks my work is a good fit there.

emalloy - will check out link Tx

Do most of you prefer originals or prints because of the cost? Do you also like small or large paintings?

I just had lunch with my friend referenced above. He said it was more lucrative to go to the festivals, compared to exhibiting at a first friday gallery. Often the FF are more social, whereas at the festivals people are there to view and buy.

Chicago has many art festivals in the summer, Also look at Santa Fé,NM, Marfa,TX.

So, art festivals all over the country, but considerable expense for travel, display, fees for participation, not to mention time spent on the road instead of in the studio. Or have the time for producing the work, no extra expensive on the road and have representation in galleries and pay their percentage. I suspect after getting established, either way the net return would be similar. It might just depend on how you like to live.

"...no extra expensive..."

Make that "expenses."

You've all got me thinking. Seeing that I'm usually out of the country and only back for short periods of time, I would imagine that it would be a considerable expense to commute from one show to another.

I would think that shows in or near certain hub cities or where I stay would work better and that I wouldn't want to do many. If I did go that route I'd try to find one where I was very well received.
I wish galleries didn't take such a large %. I'm wondering if there are co op situations where one rents space or pays a smaller percentage than the galleries.

In my experience, co-op galleries require a regular schedule of hours working in the gallery, how much depending on the number of members involved and wouldn't work if you didn't live locally. Though I haven't found one, a gallery that rents wall space could work, if it included help with hanging new work when you weren't in town.

All these reasons seem to justify the gallery percentage. If you sold the work outright, the mark-up would be similar so, except for the consignment aspect, the percentage taken by galleries isn't, to my way of thinking, unreasonable. I've been on both ends of that equation so understand it can seem a lot.

I've been thinking about the commission side of the market and most people choose "known" (to them) artists for portraits of children and family members. There's a local artist that does a decent business in commissioned pet portraits. An artist friend has started a series of iconic places in our city and has sold some prints and that lead to some commissioned pieces. I just saw a beautiful original of a distinctive tiny home that has resold and is now on a gorgeous ranch or expanse of property. Tiny home owners probably don't have extra $$ to spend on commissioned art, but what about vacation home or second home owners? Maybe you could create your own niche. Paint some homes in your area and maybe your home stateside as demos. People who own second homes are likely to have extra $ to have a painting of their second home to hang in their main home or their old home to hang in their retirement home. Worth a thought. Think of what you are painting or have painted that would evoke memories in others. You seem to be drawn to detail and that made me think of Wyeth's "window" series. It doesn't have to be an exterior of a home but a detail within the home. Just brainstorming here. I have a giant piece painted by my artist friend that I bought on a Facebook "auction". I got it for a song, but he offered a much smaller piece for sale at a certain price recently. If you can create a following on a Facebook artist page, maybe you could do something similar. I bought several originals from a FB friend who was selling pieces off his website at discounted prices (he's nationally known for something different than his art). I bought several, even when money was tight. Maybe an increased social media presence as an artist. I really think you need to find a niche that works for you and I think the vacation home/ second home angle may work.

"Tiny home owners probably don't have extra $$ to spend on commissioned art,..."

Not wanting to be nitpicky here, but do want to mention that in many cases it's an expression of a lifestyle choice, not of limited means. I speak from personal experience, having lived in a "tiny" house while commissioning art. Of course it can be true but a faulty generalization probably as often as not.

MmePerdu, I've seen photos of your home and it's lovely. I used the term in reference to homes of less than 200 sf, built on a trailer chassis. Not homes on foundations that are small in size.

https://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

Although my example was of one that was moved to ranch or large expanse of property and the new owner did have a painting done of the house in its new setting.

Which prompted this post.

Starrs, Lots of good points. My Mom, who's in Maine, does watercolors of local ocean scenes and home commissions. She gets a lions share of exposure from hanging her paintings in local banks.
I also do animal commissions. That business is mostly by word of month. I really do need to figure out a way to get more exposure. I'm a bit timid about putting up a FB page like the rest of the world is already smart enough to do. I don't want to bother my friends. That and many of my friends are in the US so shipping is very costly. Thus far I mostly mule my paintings to the states when I or a friend travel up to the US.
In any event I finally feel confident in my artwork to put a FB page together. I think it's a great idea.
I do, as you know, put many of my pieces on my reg FB page. I get some exposure that way but not many buyers.

You've got a captive audience here. Consider putting a website link on your profile page to anywhere we can see your work, Facebook or otherwise, with contact information. You certainly won't be the only one here taking advantage of this particular opportunity.