| Etsy Buy Handmade deannawood |
I added a bunch of stuff to my Etsy shop. Please check it out. If you're not familiar with Etsy, it's a wonderful collection of cool handmade things for sale. Mostly craft and designerish stuff - jewelry, purses, baby items, blank journals, greeting cards, prints, etc. But there's some good fine art there, too.
I had created my Etsy shop over a year ago and posted a few paintings but I was advised against it. Since I'm going the commercial gallery route (as opposed to alternative venues, selling only online, etc), it's seen as being in competition with my gallery. I completely agree with that. BUT, I've got all these small paintings that galleries don't want. And I need to make some money!
So I decided to create some small, fun things that are much different than my work that the galleries feature and will be more affordable.
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Now playing: the pillows - MARCH OF THE GOD
via FoxyTunes
6 comments:
Beautiful work you have on your shop. You know, I don't think selling your work online competes against your galleries. Galleries can only sell to people who physically visit their stores, whereas your web store allows you to target people who live no where near the galleries. And if you are selling different work online, then there definitely should be no problem. Good luck!
In my opinion, selling work online is only competition against your galleries if you are listing the same kind of work for less money than what it would be in the gallery. You are right to list smaller things on etsy - I have done fairly well with that. Good luck!
This was pretty much my exact philosophy when I opened my own Etsy shop. I had all of these smaller pieces lying around and others I was working on that weren't appropriate for galleries, like my large-scale paintings were. Etsy gave me the perfect venue to sell them.
Currently, I only list my smaller pieces on Etsy, with a few medium sized gallery ones. Ultimately, I've come to realize that I prefer selling directly rather than through galleries, although I still don't feel it's of any value to list huge, expensive work online. I have arranged for some larger commissions though, as well as gallery contacts in other parts of the country.
It's definitely about the well balanced mixture of both, I think. :o)
Thanks for the inspiring blog. :o)
I, too, think that selling your art online not only doesn't compete with your other galleries, but may also aid your gallerys sales ... people will hunt for your gallery and see what you've kept from them online. Just my thought.
Hi Deanna--thanks for the nice comment on my blog about the Raku. I think Etsy, Flickr, blogging--all these online venues only help increase our visibility out there. The art world is a crowded place and I don't think it hurts to let people know what you do in as many places and ways that you can. Good luck with Etsy, by the way. I've sold a few things but have definitely had more inquiries and other sorts of sales since I began there.
This is a very interesting site.
I am just getting started with this blogging and so I am trying to figure it out.
I love your work.
Patsi Hughes
Patsihughes.com
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