Thanks!

"What Every Consumer Should Know" (detail)

Thanks to Alyson Stanfield for featuring a detail of one of my artist's books in the current Art Marketing Action newsletter on artbizcoach.com!

"What Every Consumer Should Know" (detail)

"What Every Consumer Should Know," handmade artist's book - acrylic box with accordion books. Books are clear vinyl sewn together with ink-jet printed transparencies inside. 1994. One of a kind.

Alyson always shares great ideas, tips, and resources. Be sure to check out her blog, too!

I hope this is a joke...

Please tell me it's a joke.

I saw this in the classified section in the most recent issue of ArtNews under "Job Opportunities:"

"60-year-old male major artist in Queens seeks female assistant, collaborator, organizer for learning experience of a lifetime. All mediums. 2 studios. No money involved. 917-214-4899."

Sign me up!

It's gotta be a joke...

I'm off, again...

Installation view, Seeking Shelter

Tomorrow morning (way too early), I'm going to be heading out to Douglasville, Georgia (outside Atlanta). My aunt and cousins live there (and my mom was born there). When my aunt was visiting here a year ago or so, she mentioned that there was an art center in Douglasville and I should send them a proposal. I did and they offered me a show!

It'll be fun to see my aunt and cousins and all the cousins' kids. We're hoping to visit the aquarium in Atlanta, too. I'm hauling my work out there and will help install it a few days before the opening on Sunday.

If you're in the area, please stop by!

The Tornado Show: Seeking Shelter
Multi-media installation by Deanna Wood
Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville
Douglasville, Georgia

July 8 - August 17, 2007

Opening reception and ice cream social
Sunday, July 8
2 - 4 pm

For more information, call 770-949-ARTS

First National Encaustic Conference, Part 3

OK, enough silliness - back to the conference report...

On Saturday, the first full day of the conference, I attended the morning panel discussion. The panel was moderated by Joanne Mattera and included Timothy McDowell (artist), Katherine French (curator), Richard Frumess (artist and founder of R&F Paints), Hope Turner (gallery owner), and Barbara O'Brien (curator and critic).

I found the discussion interesting and lively. I took some notes on the highlights:

On the fragility of encaustics - no one seemed to be concerned - just suggested that you have to be a little more careful. Tim McDowell related a story he'd heard about Anselm Kiefer - Kiefer's gallery person called him to let him know that the new owner of one of his straw paintings was staring at a pile of straw in their living room. Kiefer replied, "It must be beautiful."

Someone else mentioned that throughout history, wax has been used as protection and a preservative.

Encaustic lends itself to expressionism. Color can be entrapped in and bounce out of the layers of wax in the painting.

On encaustic painting as a ghetto or cult - most panelists agreed that the idea or formal image is the most important aspect of a work of art, not the medium chosen by the artist. The medium can be interesting but it is secondary (this idea was repeated several times).

Barbara O'Brien stated that art doesn't speak for itself, an artist has to educate the viewer.

Miles Conrad asked the panel if encaustic is seen as a medium used mostly by women. He has noticed an overwhelming majority of women artists entering his encaustic invitational every year. Someone on the panel suggested that perhaps women are more open to trying new media or are more willing to learn from other people (I have noticed, too - I've been teaching workshops for a year and a half and haven't had one male student...).

But historically, male artists had passed down the knowledge of the encaustic process - Brice Marden learned from David Aronson, who learned from Karl Zerbe...

On shipping encaustic work - Someone said that they use 1st or 2nd day FedEx and only ship on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday to arrive on Friday. This eliminates the danger of the artwork sitting in a hot truck or warehouse over a weekend. Never use the US Post Office. Never put anything in contact with the surface. Use a crate within a crate. Someone suggested using Ethafoam. Tim McDowell says he usually ships overnight. He also suggested never to list the contents as "artwork." They won't pay the full insurance value on artwork. In the description line he writes, "hand-painted signs." They'll insure those...

On getting into galleries - Look at galleries in your area. Look at the gallery's stable and get a dialog going with the gallery director/owner. Produce a web page that focuses on your art. Keep it businesslike and easy to migrate through. Go to openings and network. Just because a gallery says no once, it's not final. Send them information later with new work and they'll often look at your work again. Don't give up. Gallery owners put a lot more weight to recommendations from their current artists.

Debra Ramsay

After the panel, Tricia Lazuka, Heather Harris and I walked over to see Hot Stuff, the juried group show of encaustic work. I took photos of most of the work and you can see it here. I'm working on finding the names for each work, so if you know who did any of them, please leave a comment.

To be continued...

Related links:
My Flickr set of the Hot Stuff show
Joanne Mattera's in-depth synopsis
Linda Womack's on-going report
Daniella Woolf's blog
International Encaustic Artists

Time out for a little drama...

This makes me laugh every time:

First National Encaustic Conference, Part 2

on the Salem Ferry

On Friday, before the conference started, I decided to make a trip to Provincetown (on the tip of Cape Cod) to visit the Ernden Fine Art Gallery. They showed my work last summer for the first time and I hadn't been able to visit before. I didn't let them know I was coming because I honestly wasn't sure I would make it!

Joanne Mattera and Nancy Natale gave me some helpful travel tips and I was able to figure out a way to do it. I had rented a car since I flew into Manchester, NH, but in order to drive to Provincetown, I would have to go through Boston. Now, I had been to a conference in Boston a few years ago and had made the mistake of renting a car, so I knew that driving in Boston is a dicey proposition...

Ernden Fine Art Gallery, Provincetown, MA

So I got up early and took the ferry from Salem to Boston. From Boston, I took a ferry to Provincetown. I surprised Dennis, the gallery owner, when I showed up at the gallery. Of course I took some photos...

Ernden Fine Art Gallery, Provincetown, MA - my work is on the right

I was impressed with the gallery. Since one wall was mostly windows, they had built some portable walls to create more hanging space. I really like the work of the other artists that they represent. I feel like I'm in good company.

Another reason for the trip to Provincetown was to meet up with Mary Richmond, a blogger that I have corresponded with occasionally for a few months. She's a ceramic artist and painter and also a writer and naturalist. We had lunch and she drove me to the beach - it had been too long since I'd had my toes in the sand, and it was great to get a tour from someone who is so knowledgeable about the area.

Mary (l) and me (r)

My visit was far too short, because too soon I had to catch the ferry back to Boston. The ferry back to Salem wouldn't have gotten me back in time for the start of the conference, so I took the train. And in order to get to the train station, I had to take the subway. Luckily a nice woman in the ferry office looked up my route and told me how to do it (silver line to the red line to the orange line and then the train - during 5:00 Friday rush hour to boot).

I'm always so jealous when I visit a city with public transportation!

Anyway, I arrived at the conference at the beginning of Joanne Mattera's keynote presentation, so it worked out perfectly.

Joanne talked about the history of encaustic and some of the early pioneers of the encaustic process in the 20th century, expanding on the information in her book.

Here are a few of the notes that I scrawled:
The Fayum portraits -
The painters might have used bicarbonate of soda to mix their wax.
They were painted during a 300 year period.
Metal and gemstones were applied to the wax.
The gold leaf was most likely applied after the person's death to symbolize the passage to the next world.

There was a get together of the International Encaustic Artists after the keynote at one of the area hotels, but I was beat from my "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" type of day, so I decided to skip it.

I ended up going back to my hotel and grabbing a bite to eat in the hotel bar/restaurant. There was a "loud talker" in the group sitting next to me so I couldn't help overhearing their conversation. I thought at first that they were professors or something because they were talking about historic places to visit in England and then some kind of organization that they were in. After a while, though, I realized that they were witches!

Only in Salem...

Oh, I forgot to mention - the next day Dennis sent me an email saying that he had sold one of my paintings!

Release - 12" x 12" - collage, oil, and encaustic - SOLD!

Linda Womack blogged about her experience at the conference, too. Check out her blog, Embracing Encaustic.

To be continued...

First National Encaustic Conference, Part 1

I'm still trying to digest everything that I learned at the conference. I thought I'd break it down into several posts to make it more manageable.

I arrived in Salem late on Wednesday night. My ex-husband works for Southwest Airlines and he was very generous to give me a free pass, which meant I had to fly standby (exciting in a nerve-racking sort of way). I had been invited to a reception at Joanne Mattera's house on Thursday evening, so I definitely wanted to be there in time for that.

Joanne was so gracious and warm. It was such a delight to meet her and see her beautiful home and studio. I was too shy to take pictures in her house but I got up the nerve to ask her if I could take some shots of her studio.

I got to meet and talk with several artists there -
Sandi Miot from California, who has produced a beautiful show catalog of her work (she used viovio.com and recommended them highly). She does really dimensional work. I asked her a bunch of technical questions about her process, too.

Heather Harris from near Seattle, who made me very jealous because she's moving to Italy soon.

Daniella Woolf from California, who I didn't really get a chance to talk to but her work is really amazing. She pointed out that we have the same initials.

Kim Bernard from Maine, who does lush paintings and beautiful sculpture.

Nancy Natale from Massachusetts, who does beautiful abstract paintings. She also really helped me out with advice on getting to and around in Boston.

Paula Roland from Santa Fe, who teaches encaustic monotype workshops. I've had a couple of students that have taken her workshop and I was excited to meet her. I attended her demo and I'll talk more about that later.

Tricia Lazuka from Ohio, who does encaustic painting and monotypes and also works in ceramics. She and her husband had driven there from Ohio.

I met several other people there but don't remember their last names... I'm hoping they put out a directory of the attendees that will help jog my memory...

Here are shots of Joanne's studio:






I'm blogging about all my tourist-y sight-seeing activities on my personal blog, in case you're interested...

To be continued...

Travel Fatigue

I returned today from my trip to the Boston area where I attended the First National Encaustic Conference. It was so much fun - lots of great information, networking, and ideas. I'm overwhelmed.

It was so much fun to talk to so many people who understand what you do. I'm so used to having to explain what encaustic painting is. It was refreshing to just talk about what kind of work we do. And of course, we all shared with each other about our techniques and processes.

I'm going to go through my notes, sort through all the business cards and postcards that I picked up, and upload my photos. I'll post a report in the next couple of days once I sort it all out!

Beyond the Scrapbook

Alison Hahn - Burned (detail) - altered book

Tarrant County College
The Art Corridor II
Southeast Campus, Arlington, Texas

May 7 - June 15, 2007

Reception
Monday, June 4, 4:30 - 6:30 pm

Artist's books by Joy Christiansen, Brett Dyer, Hannah Frieser, Allison Gillies, Danielle Grove, Alison Hahn, Jana Perez, and Deanna Wood

Curated by Deanna Wood

With the popularity of scrapbooking, it is apparent that people are motivated to present their family memories in an aesthetically pleasing way. Beyond the Scrapbook shows how artists utilize the book form to present their family memories in a way that transcends the traditional forms and materials generally associated with family scrapbooks; essentially creating works of art from painful, joyous, or mundane events and stories remembered from their childhoods.

These artists sometimes use standard, traditional scrapbook materials but also introduce new materials and methods such as photocopies, solvent transfer, photo manipulation, and non-traditional bindings.

In “Soap or Being Raised on Avon,” Hannah Frieser takes a comical look at the hazards of getting caught using bad language. Frieser created a book that tells the story of having her mouth washed out with soap. The book is nestled in a box that contains sweet-smelling handmade soap embossed with the offending words.

In her book titled, “Mom’s Lunches,” Alison Hahn lovingly pays tribute to her mother. The book is “inspired by the memories of the lunches my mother packed for me and my brothers and sisters growing up.”

Clearly coming from a different childhood experience, Jana Perez created “i am not crazy,” an artists book of Xeroxed photography which deals with her mother's battle with depression and the artist’s response to it both as a child and as an adult.


Deanna Wood celebrates the fun and freedom of childhood with her book titled, “At the Park.” She photographed her son playing and swinging at a park. The artist created an accordion book that hangs from chain on a metal structure that mimics a swing set.

These and the other artists featured in Beyond the Scrapbook have each presented their family histories in very different ways. Some celebrate their past while others delve into the dark side of family memories. But each has used the medium of book arts to preserve the past and create a work of art that transcends the traditional scrapbook.

A viewer can touch and feel these books - the texture of the paper, the weight of the book in his hands, the smell of the contents, and the interactive nature of turning the pages. Artist’s books beckon the observer to become a participant in the art as she immerses herself in the artist’s lives in an intimate way that is unlike any other art viewing experience.

See installation shots here.

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Gallery hours:
Mon-Thu 8 am - 9 pm
Friday 8 am - 5 pm
Saturday 9 am - 3 pm

For more information, contact Devon Nowlin at 817-515-3406.

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I'd like to say a special thanks to Devon for doing such a great job with installation and marketing!

Houston Workshop

Kathy, Lauren, Peggy, Maud, and Karen...

I had a fun time in Houston and met some great artists in my workshop. Lauren organized the whole thing and Maud let us use her studio in a great artist studio/warehouse called The Foundry.

I used to complain about Houston (hot, humid, smelly, did I mention hot?), but changed my mind when I found out what a great art community it has. Great museums. The Rothko Chapel... And it's close to the beach, so I guess it's not all bad.

Peggy, Lauren, Karen, and Maud

No beach for me this time, though. I also used the opportunity to deliver a couple of new paintings to the Koelsch Gallery. They have a beautiful new space in The Heights. Of course I forgot to take pictures there...

So today I'm off to ship some paintings to Ernden Fine Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts, have lunch with a long lost friend and then I'm going to take photos of a show that I curated. More on that later...

I'm Off!

Everyday Disasters (detail) - 7 accordion books in a plastic pill case - 1995

...to Houston to teach an encaustic workshop.

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog recently. I actually did start a post but haven't finished it yet.

I had an open studio, delivered artwork for a book show I curated, packing up artwork for galleries, and I'm working on the bookmaking workshops that I'll be teaching soon.

I'll post an update on what's been going on and report on the workshop when I get back!

Current Show

installation view - Seeking Shelter - Manhattan Arts Center, Manhattan, Kansas

installation view - Seeking Shelter - Manhattan Arts Center, Manhattan, Kansas

I installed my show at the Manhattan Arts Center last week and attended the opening on Saturday. It was tiring but fun to install everything.

This is where I spent about four or five hours, despite my fear of heights! I had help from some great volunteers, though, so it went really smoothly.

The show will be up until May 26th.

The reception was fun but not well attended (apparently there were a lot of events going on in the town at the same time). I've learned to not expect a lot at receptions. I had a show a few years ago where the gallery director (also a friend) got me so worked up about the reception - saying it was going to be packed and that I was going to sell everything - that when only my friends and family showed up (and nothing sold), I was very let down. I cried all the way home. So now I just look at the reception as a way to meet a few people and talk about my work.

Also, art centers and university galleries are not known for selling a lot of work. Their function is to educate the public about art. So I see these shows as a way to get my work out and get it seen. Perhaps someone will see my work and be interested and follow it and eventually become a collector.

So I'm going to do one more this summer in Douglasville, Georgia, and then Lawton, Oklahoma next fall. After that I will retire this show for a while. I'm not going to send any more proposals out for this particular body of work.

Now I'm going to focus on getting my work into commercial galleries.

The beginning

Today was my first day of "freedom." Friday was the last day at the day job.

I sent off my entry to R&F's Encaustic Works 07. Tonight I'm going to get my entry ready for New American Paintings (this is the year!) and possibly respond to a couple of other calls for proposals.

I started freaking out a little about money today - just minor things like worrying that I don't have enough and wondering where it's going to come from...

I tend to be more pragmatic and cautious, so saying things like, "The universe will provide," seems a little flaky to me. It sounds great until you try to explain it to a parent or an ex-spouse...

Today I also helped out with the installation of the local art group's national juried show (I unpacked the artwork again this year, so I have lots more ranting to do about how not to pack artwork - I even took pictures of some of the worst offenders!).

Tomorrow I'm off to Kansas. I'm spending the night with my brother and his family in Overland Park. I had my work sent there from the last show in Iowa, so I'm going to pick it up there and drive it to Manhattan for installation. The reception is Saturday, April 14th from 4 to 6 pm - if you're in the area, stop by and say hi!

My friend Colleen will hopefully be able to go to the reception, so that'll be fun.

Last night I watched What the Bleep Do We Know? It sounds similar to The Secret. It was about reality and quantum physics and all that. I liked it but I need to watch it again. That stuff just blows my mind...

I get back on Sunday and plan to spend a lot of time in my studio next week. I want to finish up my Waxy Buildup pieces and get started on the next thing. I want to explore the concept of palimpsest - where writing has been erased and written over.

Oh, and I've also curated a show that will be on display in May at Tarrant County College in Arlington, Texas. It's a show of artist's books called Beyond the Scrapbook. More about that later.

Well, I guess I should pack!

Rejection Letters, Demystified...

I got a great comment on my most recent post about rejection letters. I had wondered why I was getting so many hits on people searching for "rejection letter." Were they trying to find other rejects with which to commiserate? Were they looking for wording for their own cruel rejection letters?

A gallery employee named Freshie Beth posted this comment:
"Awesome post! I work in an art gallery and I was honestly googling "artist rejection letter" to try and come up with better wording than what I usually send to artists, which I know is short and not very sweet. What can I say - I get two or three submissions a day and I have other things to do than come up with a nice, thoughtful rejection letter for each and every one. Usually the work is so awful, I'm trying to hold back and not be mean (I am blunt by nature). As a gallery director, I can translate those letters for you... When they say they're not currently seeking other artists, they're saying that they don't want to fit you in. If they liked your work and wanted to sell it, they would bring you in unless their gallery really is just a 10' x 10' space. They either don't like your work or it truly isn't a fit with their gallery. Some galleries have very narrow focuses or they just really know what their clients buys and don't want to waste your time or theirs. Our gallery has a variety of subject matter, but it is cohesive and I can tell what "fits" and what doesn't. If we reject someone, it's 95% because the work isn't good enough for our semi-high-end gallery. Out of 50 submission, I might get one that I actually think we could sell. Then, 9 out of 10 of those artists flake out and we never hear from them again. We even offered to have a show for a new artist who we spoke with a few times, then - nothing. Where did he go? The whole process is pretty ridiculous!"

There's a lot to digest there.

She confirms my original hunch that gallery directors really mean that they don't like your work when they say things like, "not a good fit," or "not looking for new artists..."

So I was thinking that it might be funny to, instead of just sending a SASE along with my materials, send a little self-addressed, stamped postcard reminiscent of those notes you sent to the kid you were crushing on in third grade:

This doesn't give them the option to say any of those things that are open for interpretation. It's either yes or no. Wouldn't you rather know why they don't like your work? Or why they don't think it's right for their gallery?

I was surprised by her statement that 9 out of 10 artists flake out. Are aritsts really that flaky? That makes me sad.

I wonder if her experiences are similar to those of other gallery owners?

Thanks

I just wanted to thank everyone for their encouragement and support. So many great comments!

This is my last week of the "real" job. It's scary but exciting. Most of the time. I keep having these periods where I think, "What am I doing?" But luckily they pass quickly and I focus on my goal again.

Next week I'm going to travel to Manhattan, Kansas to install my show. I'm looking forward to it.

More written inspiration:
I just finished a little book by Deepak Chopra called Creating Affluence. It's made me want to learn more about meditation.

Along the same lines, I just started reading Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain by Sharon Begley. She talks about Buddhism and neuroscience. Really interesting.

I'm also slowly re-reading The Courage to Create by Rollo May. This is one of those books that I keep around and pick up over and over again...

Not related to art, really, but I also recently read Apartment Therapy. I don't live in an apartment, but I've been reading their blog for a while, and just happened to notice that the library had it, so I grabbed it. I hadn't really paid much attention to the actual "therapy" that they do on the blog, so the book was different than what I had anticipated. But I really liked it. I took on my living room and my bedroom - clearing out the clutter and making them much better spaces. I also started buying myself flowers - such a nice treat!

I deserve it.

The Adventure Begins

from http://www.trulyfreestock.com/

Well, I did it. I jumped off the cliff. I gave notice at my job last week. I decided that I'm not going to wait for the right time to start being a full time artist - I'm just going to be a full time artist.

I keep trying to rationalize it (to myself) and justify it (for everyone else), but it comes down to believing that I can do it. I'm already doing a lot of the work that needs to be done, I just need to continue and even step it up.

What's on the horizon:

-Expanding my workshops - continuing the encaustic workshops (possibly adding a 2-day version) and adding bookmaking workshops

-Raising my workshop prices (I haven't been charging enough)

-New studio space - and when I move I will possibly offer even more classes - drawing and painting for adults and children. Maybe even gallery/retail space

-Some sort of craft endeavor with Etsy or my potential retail space - possibly selling my collage boxes, handmade books, etc

-Possibly teaching as an adjunct at one of the area universities

-Two solo shows - Manhattan, Kansas and Douglasville, Georgia

-Volunteer activities - for my local art league and other groups

-Encaustic conference at Montserrat College in Massachusetts in June

-Waxy Buildup show with Trayc Claybrook - we're sending out proposals, looking for a venue for our two-woman show

-maybe even turn this blog into a book

So I feel like I definitely have lots of things in the works!

I also have an idea for a whole new series of work and I want to start making books again and I want to start doing some acrylic painting again... I'm so energized and excited that I just can't wait to get started on everything!

Thank you to everyone who has left such great comments. Thanks to Mary for the encouraging email - I love how you called your life as a working artist an adventure - the inspiration for the title of this post.

I will keep you posted!

Goals and Visualization

Vizualizing my work in a museum... (make your own at dumpr)

For the last few months, I've really been thinking about my goals. I'm trying to figure out exactly what I want and how I'm going to get it.

I recently finished a great little book, This Year I Will... by M.J. Ryan. It's short and very easy to read. It's sort of a motivational book to help you first figure out what your goals are and then find the best strategies to accomplish them.

That lead me to The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. I think Alyson Stanfield mentioned it on her blog and I happened to see it in the library and grabbed it... And it's rocking my world. It's basically the same kind of book, but much longer and much more detailed.

And then, at the same time, I reconnected with Trayc Claybrook, who had recently seen The Secret, which features Jack Canfield... She also mentioned Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain, which I had read or listened to on tape a gazillion years ago...

None of this stuff is new, and much of it is common sense and so simple, but it's amazing how easy it is to get trapped in bad habits and negative thoughts. I took a bunch of classes through Landmark a few years ago (which were awesome), but I felt like I'd sort of slipped back into my old ways of thinking. All these books have helped me get re-focused.

OK, so all that to say that I've refined and re-energized my goals. I had been working on a 5-year plan - I would work for the security and benefits but continue to create and market my artwork in my spare time. Eventually, in a few years, I would be making enough money as an artist that I could quit the day job when the time was right.

But after reading and doing this work, I've realized that the time will never be right. I've just got to do it. But it's very scary. If it were just me, I don't think I'd be as scared, but I have a little human depending on me, so that makes a huge difference.

I have a short-term goal to move my studio to the town that I'm in (the studio is currently about 15 minutes away in another town). I'm looking for space now. This will allow me to be there more often and expand my workshops and classes. And maybe even have a gallery and shop.

I'm very excited about my plans (and scared). I'm trusting that I'll figure it out along the way.

StatCounters Anonymous

So apparently I'm not the only one who is obsessed with checking my website stats. That makes me feel better.

Julia asked about the search terms I see most often. I get a lot of people looking for "tips for emerging artists," or similar terms. Also, "rejection letters," or "artist rejection letters," and someone recently got me after searching for, "nice rejection letter to client." Why anyone would want to reject a client, I don't know. At least they wanted to do it nicely...

I get a lot of "packing and shipping artwork." Lots of searches for "vanity galleries," "artist statements," "artist resumes," and "writing exhibition proposals."

I actually only checked it once today - I was obviously busy with other things and wasn't able to obsess like I usually do!

Rejection Letters

I use statcounter.com to track the traffic on my website and blogs. I'm a bit OCD about it - I check it several times a day. I'm mostly interested in where people come from - how they get to me. Often people will do Google searches for some combination of "artist's or gallery rejection letters."

I wonder who is searching and what exactly they're looking for? Is it artists trying to find solace and kinship with other rejected artists? Or is it someone at a gallery trying to find a template for a form rejection letter to deal with the towering pile of artist's submissions on their desks?

So I looked through my pile of rejection letters and thought I'd share the best and worst. So if anyone happens to come here looking for the perfect rejection letter to send to an artist, maybe I can persuade him or her to make that rejection a bit less painful...

The best rejection letters (that sounds like an oxymoron, no?) are handwritten notes that include something personal. These are rare, but very much appreciated. I'm happy to get any kind of response, even a form letter, but I'm especially grateful for a gallery owner or director who takes the time to write a personal note. I know that they took the time to read my letter, look at my brochure, and perhaps check out my website, and that they carefully considered whether or not my work would be right for their gallery.

One of the best ones:
Deanna,
Thanks for sending images of your work. Very interesting and as you said, "shares an affinity" with work we represent.
We are a very small gallery, already overloaded with artists, so, I'm afraid we cannot at this time add to our dilemma.
I will, however, share what you have sent with other galleries - there's always a chance to exhibit somewhere in the area. It's just a matter of timing and some luck.
Best wishes...

This one was especially kind in that he said he would show my information to other galleries.

Not hand-written, but another good one:
Dear Deanna,
Thank you for sending us recent images of your work. Your work is beautiful and we enjoyed looking at images of your mixed media canvases. We appreciate your enthusiasm and interest in our gallery, unfortunately we are not in a position to add new artists.

We encourage you to send your work to other galleries in the area. You may want to visit the Chamber of Commerce website to aid your pursuit of a local gallery.

Good luck with your work!

I will occasionally receive email rejection letters - also a good opportunity for the gallery owner or director to add a personal touch.

Here's one that I liked:
Dear Deanna,
Thank you so very much for your interest in our gallery. Your submission was wonderfully designed. Elusive is probably my favorite of the series you sent. The colors and composition are great. Unfortunately your work does not meet our needs at this time. I want to thank you for thinking of us, and I do wish you the very best of luck.
Best regards...

Another good email:
Dear Deanna,
Thank you for sending information about your artwork to the gallery. I took the opportunity to visit your website (nice, by the way) and I can see why you felt there is a commonality in your and our aesthetic. Unfortunately, we aren't currently looking to take on new artists at this time. I would like to keep your brochure on file for possibilities in the future.

Thank you again, and good luck in your artistic endeavors.

These personal letters usually include a note about something that they liked about the work (which is nice to hear). Sometimes they will say that they think the imagery is not right for the gallery but not go into any detail as to what that might mean. I understand that gallery people look at a lot of submissions and can't possibly critique everything that crosses their desk, but it would be helpful to know why my "imagery is not right for the gallery." Maybe that's just a way to say they don't like it.

I think I've only received one letter that offered constructive criticism:
We enjoyed viewing your work and though it is visually intriguing, we suggest you compose larger pieces.

And there was another one that said:
Our client base really responds to more representational artwork.

I also like the letters that say something like:
Please do resubmit in the future as the work progresses or changes. We would love another opportunity to take a look.

or

I hope you will keep us updated on developments in your work.

I know that they are open to looking at my work again in the future. Maybe they see potential in my work or maybe they want someone with more shows or that is more established. Who knows?

Here's what sounds like a standard form rejection letter (in case that's what you're looking for):
Thank you for bringing your work to our attention. Unfortunately we are not in the position to take on any new artists at this time, as we are committed to the artists represented by the gallery and to our current exhibition schedule.

Thank you for your interest in X Gallery. We wish you the best of luck in finding representation.

When I started sending out my brochure to galleries, I would occasionally receive a letter or email back, but most of the time I wouldn't hear anything at all. So I started sending a SASE. That helped - often I would receive a letter but mostly I would get a note sent back on my cover letter. Most of them were nice but one gallery simply wrote, "This is not for us," on the cover letter and sent it back. A couple just shoved everthing in the SASE and sent it back without any note or acknowledgement at all. I understand that people are busy, but come on. That's just rude.

When I got those, I had intended to post something about the galleries in question and warn other artists to avoid them because they were rude and insensitive to artists. But I got over it. Everybody's entitled to a bad day... My good experiences have far outnumbered my bad, so I have faith that the art world is not such a horrible place.

Have you gotten any particularly great or horribly awful rejection letters?

To commiserate with other artists about rejection, check out:
Rejection Letters of an Emerging Artist
Rejection Collection

Images on CD

Sofia asked about my process for putting images of my artwork on a CD when I send out proposals.

Unless there are specific guidelines, this is what I put on my CD:
- a PowerPoint presentation (saved as both PowerPoint and slide show)
- a pdf version of the presentation
- a folder of jpgs of the images in the presentation
- resume (pdf and Word)
- artist's statement (pdf and Word)

I think that most people have PowerPoint on their computers. If they don't, then hopefully the slide show will play. If not, then hopefully they have Acrobat Reader and the pdf file will work. If not, then they will at least have some sort of image reader that will read the jpg files. If not, then I guess I've sent them a frisbee.

Here's how I create the PowerPoint presentation:
The first slide is a large background image (a painting detail) with my name reversed out in white.
The next few slides (12-20, depending on the situation) include images of my work and installation shots. The images are good quality and they fill up most of the page. I made the background black and reverse out the title and media information.
I then include a slide with my artist's statement.
Lastly, I include several slides with my resume and contact information.

I save the file as PowerPoint and then do a Save As and in the Save dialog box, where it says Save as Type, I choose PowerPoint Show. This creates a file that will run in PowerPoint viewer if you don't have PowerPoint.

I also save a pdf version by either selecting Convert to Adobe PDF (if you have this capability, you will see an Acrobat icon in the toolbar), or by printing to Adobe PDF (it will be an option under printer name in the print dialog box). I have the full version of Acrobat, so I open it up and crop the excess white border that it sometimes creates and I make sure that it opens the way I want it to.

I then also put each jpg image into a folder. I name the files so that they will appear in the same order as the images in the slide show -
01.dwood_title.jpg
02.dwood_title.jpg
etc.

I include my name in case the files or the CD somehow get lost, they'll at least know whose images they are. I also name them 01, 02, 03, etc, so that they will be in the correct order in the list.

I do the same to the title of my resume and artist's statement:
dwood_resume
dwood_statement

I also create a color print out "slide list" or "image script" that includes thumbnails and titles of all of the images on the CD - so someone can see the images at a glance without even putting the CD in the computer.

Also, I can't stress enough how important it is to read submission guidelines, if there are any. You don't want to spend all your time putting together a CD when they only want slides. And if they do accept images on CD, be sure to note if they have guidelines for image resolution, file sizes and formats (jpg, tiff, etc).

Thanks for the question, Sofia. Good luck!