Three or four years ago, I began showing a few experimental images as part of the mix in my art fair booth. They were kind of fantasy oriented with surrealistic imagery and a bit of humor. They were mixed in with an assortment of landscapes and nautical images inspired by my location on Lake Michigan. I thought that if I showed a lot of different things and subject matter in my booth I could appeal to a bigger audience. I had some mild success with this mix of subjects, but began to notice that the fantasy stuff was outselling the landscapes.
I remembered reading Connie's advice about focusing on a narrow subject so as not to confuse my audience. I wondered if that advice really applied to me. I didn't want to lose all those customers who bought my landscapes and other assorted subjects. But finally, after I had enough of the funky images to show, I took the plunge and eliminated all but my fantasy, surrealistic stuff. You know what happened? My sales almost doubled. I continued to develop this series of images, and I'm having the time of my life. People love this stuff.
Locally, here in Saugatuck, Michigan, people are used to seeing my beach stairs paintings and local landscapes. I've been showing the funky stuff, that I call the "Urban Punk" series in local galleries, but this series has been selling much better at art fairs. Hopefully that will change now because I'm opening a one-man show of the Urban Punk Series at the Holland Area Arts Council on Friday, January 15 with a reception from 6-8pm. Its open to the public and all are invited. Its a show of all the work I've been doing over the last three years... work that I'm also showing in my art fair booth.
I've still got a pretty healthy inventory of the more conventional imagery that I used to show at art fairs. I went through a lot of angst and soul-searching before putting this stuff into storage and focusing on the Urban Punk images. Its never too late to try something new and to mix up the pot a little. Here's where you can see the Urban Punk Series on my website: http://lebenart.com/pages/urban-punk
Comments
Thank you, Mark. I hope to participate in one of your shows in the future. And, Bill... Your idea for a solar-powered bubble tower is crazy! But I like it. Thanks Jacki and Christina. I'm having a lot of fun with these images, and, what makes it more fun is that they are selling.
Extremely cool...thanks for sharing and continued success!
John, I bet you have lots of fun creating your images. They are really fun and I can see why they are selling well.
After looking over your website, now you have me wondering what an Urban Punk solar powered Bubble Tower Sculpture would look like ! Hope you have a very successful show.
Sweet !
John, I love your old stuff and am really excited about the new. Congratulations on continuing to astound people with your ideas.