ArtAndArtDeadlines.com is not intended to be used exclusively by the burgeoning artist that needs a place to start. But, a lot of the artists that have been working for years still make the same rookie mistakes, too. So, for the record, I offer you The ART of Cooking: How to Get a Show.
1. Read the Recipe. If you are trying to build your artistic resume, I recommend starting with juried group shows. Most galleries offer an online prospectus that you can download and/or print. Read them carefully from start to finish and follow directions. Make sure you are sending your submissions in the right size, right format, with the right payment and on time.Make sure that you clearly understand the theme, if applicable. If you don’t understand it, don’t submit because you’re wasting your money.
3. Research Ingredients. Be careful to always use quality ingredients-canvas, primers, paints. With rare exception, hot glue and craft paint is discouraged. It never fails that the one time you’re goofing around sketching on the back of a napkin-you’ll create a masterpiece. A masterpiece can be copied but never duplicated. Doodles on the back of a Waffle House napkin are not often sought after for gallery shows.
6. Cream Only Please. Learn how to self edit. Don’t send all your work to a gallery for review. Only send the cream. An artist does not exist whose hollandaise hasn’t curdled. Allow yourself the freedom to create bad work occasionally…just don’t send it to a gallery, please.
7. No Cheetos. Photoshop is a wonderful thing. Color correction is a wonderful thing. It is amazing what you can do to the photo you took on the grayish wall in your bedroom lit only by the single bulb suspended over your bed. However, if your still-life oil of bananas does not glow like Cheetos in the original, don’t oversaturate it after the fact. If your little banana souflee is juried into a show and fails to rise on arrival, it will be returned to you C.O.D.
8. Iron the Tablecloth. Granted, not all artists are photographers, and not all artists can afford professional photographers. Not being a photographer does not excuse bad backdrops. If I see one more piece of sculpture shot in front of a wrinkled tablecloth, I may lose my appetite-permanently. Iron the tablecloth.
9. Bread Doesn’t Make the Sandwich. The same sentiment is true of frames. The fastest way to have your slides or CD thrown in the trash is to put a bright brass sectional frame on your work. Either frame your work conservatively or photograph your work unframed. I prefer to crop images tight so as not to distract the juror by framing, edges or backgrounds. Alternately, use gallery wrapped canvas.
These are the tips that pop to mind, but I’ll keep this post updated as a page called The ART of Cooking.