Artists Helping Artists

30 Minutes A Day

The one thing I have loved about the art industry (from the artist’s standpoint) is how supportive the majority of artists are toward one another. It’s a real challenge making a living as an artist, but it can also be one of the most rewarding, intriguing, and fulfilling experiences of your life. I have met many wonderful people, and made some lasting friendships that I will cherish for the rest of my life for sure. These people helped me, mentored me, and offered me the kind if encouragement, support, and advise that I was unable to find through family and friends.

I am a member of The ACE Art Group artist co-op. Members pictured from left to right:

Pia Davis, Bill Cramer, Emelina Figueroa, David Romo, and Melanie Banayat

I, too, enjoy returning the favor and passing on what I have learned thus far to emerging artists.

Here are some ideas on how to spend 30 minutes a day marketing your art career.
Click here to Download file

• Apply for a Business Tax Registration certificate and Sales Tax permit that allows you to purchase supplies wholesale and charge sales tax.
• Purchase your domain name (register.com) and establish an internet presence. (either your own site or an artists' co-op site). If it’s your own site consider using ‘your name’ for your domain name to increase your name recognition. And it’s best to stick with a “.com” Address instead of .biz, or .net. because people are use to addresses ending in .com
• Hire a professional photographer, or assembl the photographic equipment necessary to properly document your work (emphasis on properly!)
  
• Document your work with properly labeled slides and organized digital files at 300dpi, and 72 dpi
• Do the necessary research to come up with a target list of places (galleries, museums, consultants) that may be receptive to your work.
• Subscribe to relevant art publications such as, ArtCalendar, Artweek, ArtNews, Art in America, etc. and whatever other publications will keep you posted on the activities of the contemporary art world in your community and elsewhere.
• Make a commitment to yourself to devote at least ‘X’ number of hours per week to the business aspects of your career...sending out slides/digital images, visiting galleries, making follow up phone calls, researching opportunities, talking to other artists.
• Read your local art reviews and visit exhibitions
• Organize files for yourself to keep track of in coming and out going correspondence, emails, phone calls, and contacts. (A contact management program, such as ACT, or Entourage can be invaluable.)
• Send out at least one package per week that will familiarize a gallery, private art consultant, curator or collector with your work.
• Agree to spend at least 1 hour per month online checking for new websites, e-commerce sites or art sites that may be of value.
• Email your website link to at least 3 people per month
• Assemble a personal mailing list of friends, target galleries and potential collectors that may be interested in your work for use when you send out exhibition announcements. I strongly suggest collecting email addresses to utilize email blasts!
• Have simple business cards printed with your name, address, phone number and email address, to distribute to anyone potentially interested in your work. If possible, include an image of your work on the card.
• Create an updated bio that outlines all your previous exhibitions, education, collectors, and awards.
• Write an artists' statement, not only for distribution and publishing on your website, but also to help you talk intelligently about your work, should someone ask.
• Create a simple consignment receipt and bill of sale for future use.
• Determine pricing parameters for your work.
• Prepare a referral list of resources for future use: framers, photographers, packers and shippers, printers, etc.
• Come to terms with the possibility of rejection and feel confident you can handle it.

Remember, this checklist is just a beginning. You will need to personalize it and adapt it to your specific needs. But, if you commit yourself to devoting time to all the activities listed above, you will have accepted the responsibility of seeing yourself as a working professional artist. Over time, the results you see WILL give you the exposure you want and your work deserves.

Artists Helping Artists

Employee of the Month

What is the best gift a customer can give you?
(or in this case, fellow artist)

Hint: It’s not money.

It is an act that shows that a customer REALLY cares about you . . . Like a referral, help, or even a simple gift or words of support & encouragement.




A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog about being “unemployable” (in reference to myself). Then yesterday I received a bulky letter in the mail from my dear friend and fellow artist, Lenny Mazzo (from California), along with this funny, but awesome button and the following note:


“Found this at a garage sale & thought of you. Since you might never get one of these from an employer, I thought you might want to give it to yourself sometime you feel worthy of it.”
Take care, Lenny

Lenny,
This is one of the best gifts I’ve ever received! … A good laugh, and a fun day at work. I love it! Thank you!


So, with my awesome button proudly pinned to my shirt I decided to take you all on a tour through A Day in the Life of the Employee of the Month. Of course, being an ARTrepreneur, I wear many hats. Today I was wearing my ‘Gal-Wednesday’ hat out running errands. Sorry, no art studio work today.




Packaging an order for a Giclee Print.

Here I am with Sandy at the Prescott Post Office.

Now I’m with Rachel at The UPS Store

614 Division Street,
Prescott, Arizona
Phone: (928) 445-2226

As soon as I walked into the Division Street Frame Shop Clementine noticed the big red button and immediately looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, “Employee of the Month? Who are you working for ?!?!?”

Clementine does the matting for my
'Strength of Women" art print.

Dodge Dakota 39x70x20 by Lenny Mazzo
Click on image to see more of Lenny Mazzo’s artwork.

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Employee of the Month

Miniature Series

It's the Little Things That Matter

'Kiss' by Melanie Banayat
Available as a limited edition giclee print

Sometimes artists need to change things up a little to add some spice to their routine, and sometimes they need to change things up out of necessity. Lately I’ve had requests for more note card designs, which is exciting to me. However, most of my original artwork is created in a semi-large scale, which takes a lot more time to create. I have a long list of ideas for note cards just waiting to come to life. I often wish I could create as fast as the ideas come to my mind. Wouldn’t that be a trip!

So in order to address this issue I’ve decided to work on a series of smaller scale originals. The side benefit for my customers is that I will soon have some smaller scale original artworks available, which is going to be a first for both me and my customers. I’m looking forward to exhibiting some of the works from my miniature series during the up coming fall art festival season.

"To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being" - John Lubbock

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." - Napoleon Hill

We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.! - Mother Teresa

'Quiet Time' 36" x 36" original oil on canvas
by Melanie Banayat

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Miniature Series

Nasty Gas Prices

My Bike vs My Truck

Lately these outrageous gas prices have me trying to conjure up some clever way to use alternative means of transportation for my art business, and my life in general.

I went camping with my kids last week (LOVED IT!). We dusted off our mountain bikes and brought them along . It was so fun. I took the kids onto a trail through the woods, and we all had a blast. It had been many years since I’ve done that. Back in my 20’s I use to mountain bike ride a lot (back when I was a lot thinner and in much better shape, of course.) I forgot how much I loved bike riding.

Yes, that's me, half hidden behind my daughter's big feet.
I'm with no make up, day three with no shower, looking pretty scummy,
kickin' back by the campfire . . . I loved it!

Then later that evening as I sat around the campfire mesmerized by the flames I began having silly delusional ideas about hauling my artwork, my pro-panel portable walls, and my 10'x10' canopy via two wheels and a bicycle trailer in tow to my art festivals saving tons of money, and getting in really good shape to boot! Yeah right! Then it began to rain and my fantasy was washed away with reality.

Click on image


Practicality

After giving it more thought I realized that "my world" during a common weekday outside of work simply does not lend to a pedal pushing lifestyle. First of all I live 5 miles outside of town, on a two lane country road with 55 mph traffic, and no designated bike lane, which is a pretty inconvenient obstacle.

The next big problem is family life. Even if I had a tandem built for six it would be pretty tough to chauffer the ‘family’ around to their endless schedule of school, activities, sports, friends, shopping, and make it back home in time to make dinner, do homework, check emails, etc… I'm not Superwoman - and I wouldn't want to be.

However, it’s certainly not difficult to see the value of bicycling. "There's health costs, there's social costs, there's planetary costs and there's quality of life issues."

The ugly fact is I drive everywhere, and the more I think about it, the more disgusted and frustrated I am about it. The maintenance, insurance, gasoline, oil, emissions, registration, licensing, taxes, repairs, parts, tires, parking fees, government fees, societal costs, safety and injury factors.

Call me whatever...
Comparing the pros and cons of a car versus a bike, to me the bike just sounds like the right thing to do. Whenever I think about how bikes and cars fit into the bigger picture, that really gets to me. I’ve set my life up in such a way that I’m cornered. The answer isn’t lower gas prices – the answer lies in my daily choices, and my long-term choices. Who I (we) elect at the voting booth, where I choose to live, what type of work I do, etc. I know, I know, that’s a pretty broad answer with many aspects to consider, but in reality – that’s the bottom line.

Don't get me wrong, I'm just as peeved about the high gas prices, the Government BS, and the greedy people who control it all just as much as everyone else.

What to do?
Do you have the answer? Best that I can tell is that it’s going to be a long, uncomfortable, and winding road.

. . . And I don't know about you, but I’m pretty tired of hearing myself complain!

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Nasty Gas Prices

So, it’s in the Genes!

More Pieces Are Coming Together

When asked if I get my artistic talent from my mother or father I’ve always said neither, since neither one showed any artistic interest that I know of. But now I can answer that question differently from now on.

Patches 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
Click on image

Yesterday I received a very wonderful surprise -- An email from my Uncle Eloy, whom I’ve never met in person before, I’ve only spoken with him once on the phone, and corresponded by snail mail and email for a few years after; he lives in the Philippines. We made contact for the first time about 15 years ago when he called to inform me that my grandmother had passed away. The last contact we had was about 10 years ago. Then.... I moved, or he moved, I’m not sure which it was. And now....all of a sudden, out of the blue he's come back into my life. I’m so glad he found me again, especially since I’ve moved 11 times since our last contact.

Here is a portion of Uncle Eloy’s email:

“i had browsed over your paintings and they are impressive. the rillera genes are working well with you. rillera is the maiden family name of your grandma. the rilleras here in the philippines are very good in arts. the late uncle med rillera was an instructor in a trade school (he was very good in plaster of paris sculpturing. his son cousin rodel rillera (nephew of your late grandma) is also an artist like you. he paints in oil and made sculptures. most of his works are abstracts. you know, you have to be an artist to interpret the said work of art. yours truly is also an artist by heart."

"i was able to see your interview with AM Arizona and its the first time ever that i saw you and heard you talk. its a wonderful feeling."

Thank you so much for letting me know about the artistic family ties, Uncle Eloy!

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So, it’s in the Genes!

Following Your Dreams

Isn’t following your dreams
living the American Dream?

Maybe it doesn’t always pan out, but the journey
sure does make for an interesting adventure.

Made in the USA greeting card by Melanie Banayat
Click on picture to see more details

I received a message from a fellow Prescott artist, Tony Reynolds, who posted a very cool comment on his blog about me. In reference to his blog he made the following statement, “can’t be depended on to hold a single thought long enough to be a good employee!” I completely related to that! I have been "unemployable" since about the age of ten. LOL!

I can laugh at that now, but only because I've finally accepted that my heart was simply elsewhere. I kept avoiding doing what my heart desired, because I was trying to please everyone else who felt that a career in art wasn't going to make me much of a living. Not to mention the fact that it also put fear in me where I believed that any attempt for a career in art would only end in failure. When I finally decided to define what "a living" was for myself I realized I wasn't "living" when I was doing what I thought everyone else thought I should be doing. Hmmm? What a wicked, twisted, cycle of dysfunction.

Now a days I can see more clearly. "Making a living", from my perspective, is doing that which brings you great joy, peace, and purpose in life. The part where we have to pay our bills will naturally follow suit; I believe and trust that in my heart. And if I'm not making as much material abundance as other people feel I could or should be making by doing something else -- that's their issue, not mine. I 've experienced both sides. I've tasted great material abundance as well as nothing but two suitcases of clothes, a few dollars in my wallet, and a car (no home). Neither side brought me joy. Years ago I managed to build a rather comfortable life filled with material things by pleasing others, but I never seemed to feel fulfilled. Because of my unhappiness, I was forced out and left to start over from ground zero.

When everything that I had built up in my life was suddenly gone I realized I had just been given a clean slate, a blank canvas and a great opportunity. So I went for it... 'My' American Dream.

Happy Independence Day Everyone!
I hope you are living 'Your' American Dream, or at the very least in the midst of the adventurous journey on your way there!

Click here to visit Tony Reynolds blog.

Click on the picture below to
visit Tony Reynolds website.

Sentinel by Tony Reynolds

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Following Your Dreams

Art Reflects Life

Current Events
Recorded on Canvas

In high school I couldn’t stand History classes -- US History, Arizona History, World History … whatever. I’m not positive if it had more to do with the subject matter or the presentation…but I would venture to lean toward the presentation, because I remember being more preoccupied with the teachers psoriasis on his forehead than with the lesson he was teaching. And……his drone voice got me doing the head bob thing. Very embarrassing!

But that all changed in college when I discovered that I could take “ART” History to meet my history requirements. I was so into Art History! Of course, we were still studying the same stuff as we did in World history, except with a twist. The whole “art” aspect of the class kept me interested and attentive. I loved seeing how artists recorded life & history on canvas, or whatever medium they worked in. They recorded everything from major historical events that happened around the world, to the small but meaningful events that happened around their own lives.

click here to see more details about the 'Green Goddess' notecard

My latest painting, Green Goddess, is a record of my small but significant life. Well, the more I think about it I suppose it’s really about more than just my small life, because it’s really about what’s happening in our world these days. Green living.

We often do things unconsciously, and discover later the coincidence. I wanted to do a painting about Green Living, and how inundated my little world (our big world) has become trying to live a green life (which is not a bad thing). So, I did the painting, had it photographed, designed and wrote the words for the notecard, and posted it on my new miligirl website. That same day my daughter, Mikhaila, walked in my office and looked over my shoulder at the “Green Goddess” notecard on my computer. She read the words on the card and stated, “oh my gosh, that me!” I took another look at the card and the image and replied, “Oh my gosh, you’re right!”

The color green has been my favorite color ever since I discovered that it was my father’s favorite color. Then it became my daughter’s favorite color when she discovered it was mine and her grandfather’s favorite color. Mikhaila rarely goes a day without wearing something green. Her friends even tease her about it. Furthermore, I did this painting before Mikhaila got her hair cut and styled just like the image in the painting. The weird part is that she didn’t realize that the hairstyle she chose was just like the image in the painting. Once again, art reflects life. I love it!

Click here to visite the MiliGirl Collection Website

"There are two ways to live, you can live as if nothing is a miracle' you can live as if everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein



MiliGirl Note Cards make unique gifts for women. Find and send the perfect "Just Because" greeting card at the MiliGirl Collection online store.

Please share this post with others - Thanks! Melanie Banayat
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Art Reflects Life