Just got back from our week-long trip south of the border to beautiful Guadalajara, Mexico.  Bogdan was lucky enough to be included as an artist in the first annual FAIN Art Fair in Guadalajara.  FAIN is a group out of Argentina, who I believe last year did their first fair in Mexico City, and this year have expanded their reach to three Mexican cities: Monterrey, Guadalajara, and the capital.  The entrance is free, but the curation process is such that Bogdan's photography was accepted, while my abstract work was not.  So although they bill the event as being designed for emerging artists, they do have some pretty good curation going on.   Not just anyone gets in.

We tried to figure out how we would get 11 framed photographs to Mexico in our luggage, and it became quickly apparent that they weren't going to fit.  Even if we were to have been able to package them all together, neither of us would have been able to carry them onto a plane.  So we decided to contact a printer/framer in Guadalajara and produce the images in Mexico prior to our arrival.  I can't tell you what a delight it was to work with Paulina and her team.  They printed the images on high quality paper, provided us with cut plexiglass, and allowed us to show up before the event and construct the framed work in their offices.  That was an added expense for us, beings how we already had the work printed here at home, but we were able to save a lot of money, as the whole process was much less expensive that it would have been here at home.  For some reason, it is prohibitively expensive to ship things to Mexico from the States, and apparently, it's not nearly as expensive to ship the other direction.  Printing in Mexico also meant that we didn't need to worry about transporting anything across the border.

The show itself was very well attended, and I believe Bogdan's work was a hit.  We saw hundreds of people over the three day event, and everyone seemed legitimately interested in the art.  I don't know if it was because there was an entrance fee for admission, or perhaps it was because the show was new to town, but there seemed to be a very high quality to the crowd, and they seemed to really be into his work.  I can't remember when I last spoke to so many people about the "story" of Bogdan's photos.  It was quite rewarding, and quite inspirational for us both.  I've never been to an art fair as a vendor, but if this experience was typical, art fairs are definitely the way to go.  

At the end of the weekend, Bogdan sold only one photograph, but to a young woman who's story blew us away.  She is a great art lover, and has a very stressful IT job.  She was talking with a counselor, who suggested that she needed to develop passions outside work, and challenged her to actually start to collect art as a hobby.  She researched the fair's online catalog, and fell in love with a particular photograph of Bogdan's.  Being a dutiful and responsible person, she waited until the fair began, and she visited all seven gallery sites before circling back to purchase her first art investment, Bogdan's image.  She was so excited, and such a lovely person.  That alone made the trip worthwhile.

So at the end of the day, we spent a lot more than we made at the fair.  Was it worth it?  I think it was.  Bogdan met and chatted with a lot of people who he would never have met otherwise, and obtained over a hundred followers on social media over the three days.  We met other artists, made contacts with framers and printers like Paulina, and we squeezed in a sort of a vacation.  There's no doubt in my mind that the event was a success, and one I would repeat any time in the future.

In this podcast, John talks about how puzzling it is to try to determine why someone listens to a particular podcast or vlog series, and not another.  The question then arises as to what are the reasons that the listeners of this online content in particular listen to Conversations for Freelance Creatives.  People gravitate to a variety of online content based on their needs for authoritative information, entertainment, and some degree of escapism.  Perhaps the latter, a lifestyle type format would make the most sense.  
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Episode 22
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“Conversations for Freelance Creatives” is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between creatives in all sorts of fields at all sorts of levels.  We want to discuss what we’re learning, what we’ve experienced, and whom we’ve met in our journey of running a freelance creative business. John Bishop is a visual artist living in Houston, Texas. His work is largely abstract, and explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. Bogdan is a videographer and fine art photographer who constantly seeks to stretch the boundaries of traditional photographic work, with the added flare of his artistic eye.  Both artists’ work can be seen online, or at their studios at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, in Houston.

John Bishop: http://www.johnbishopfineart.com

Bogdan Mihai: http://www.bogdanfotoart.com

Bogdan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogdanoninstagram/

John’s Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/johnbishopfineart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnBishopart

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnbishopfineart

Buburuza Productions: http://www.Buburuzaproductions.com

Lots going on this week.  John was able to deliver all but one of the Panca Marga paintings purchased at the gallery opening last month, and place all of the unsold artworks in the studio.  Bogdan is busy reinventing some beautiful line art drawings and illustrations with hand embellishments and gold foil.  He has also bee working more on his sculptural photography, and getting it all ready for the open studio art events for the next two weeks.  

Both Bogdan and John were honored by being accepted in the 37th annual open juried show hosted by the VAA, Visual Artists Alliance here in Houston.  This year the juror is quite impressive, Dr. Henry Cooper, PhD, Senior Curator and Head of Modern Art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.  It is a huge honor to get into the show, and the thought that Dr. Cooper spent time looking at, and selecting, our work is honor enough.  

Otherwise, we've both just been working hard to create new art pieces for the studio, and continuing to search for exhibition opportunities.  Bogdan was accepted into the FAIN show in Guadalajara and we'll be flying to Mexico later this month.

We're also looking at doing some work on my parents' home to turn it into a proper art studio.  We hope to use the space as a place for painting, sculpting, framing, stretching, storage, and a center for all the administrative business aspects of running a small art business.  If all goes well, we may be able to give up one of the studio spaces we're renting in Houston, and make the house here in Huntsville the center of our operations.  We'll keep you posted.

“Conversations for Freelance Creatives” is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between creatives in all sorts of fields at all sorts of levels.  We want to discuss what we’re learning, what we’ve experienced, and whom we’ve met in our journey of running a freelance creative business. John Bishop is a visual artist living in Houston, Texas. His work is largely abstract, and explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. Bogdan is a videographer and fine art photographer who constantly seeks to stretch the boundaries of traditional photographic work, with the added flare of his artistic eye.  Both artists’ work can be seen online, or at their studios at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, in Houston.

John Bishop: http://www.johnbishopfineart.com
Bogdan Mihai: http://www.bogdanfotoart.com
Bogdan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogdanoninstagram/
John’s Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/johnbishopfineart/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnBishopart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnbishopfineart
Buburuza Productions: http://www.Buburuzaproductions.com

So let's look back at the past year or two.  People who started working from home pivoted, ordered things on their computers, home schooled their kids, created virtual work spaces, and actually saved a lot of money.  Many of these people, since they were spending so much time at home, began projects around the house, beautified their homes, and sought out entertainment and enrichment online.  Reports are that artists who already had the infrastructure and presence to sell online often did as well or better in their 2020 sales than before the pandemic began.   

This was a wake-up call for us, since in our art business, we really hadn't built that online presence to the degree that we could benefit from this sudden shift.  We had websites, and online stores, but virtually no content available, and nowhere near the reach we needed.  We overhauled our websites and online shops.  We started marketing like crazy, filling social media feeds with our faces and our artwork.  We created new content online through YouTube vlogs, video and audio podcasts, and a weekly blog.  We joined online groups of artists and art collectors, we participated, joined in, commented, and did some guest appearances.  We did all that in the past year and a half, and have noticed that we are slowly building a base of followers and collectors.  

For me the real struggle is not shoveling out the money to advertise, but rather knowing where to shovel.  I think many of us conflate the terms marketing, sales, advertising and publicity.  I think they could all arguably be part of marketing, but the other have very different strategies and outcomes.  If we can agree to use marketing as the larger term, the umbrella under which the other terms shelter, then what do the other terms mean?  I look at any marketing strategy as forward-looking.  While marketing as a whole enhances the knowledge of and presentation of my art and my career as an artist, advertising becomes the precise steps that I take to present and sell my paintings, and enhance my visibility as an artist.  So there may be any number of advertising campaigns employed to achieve one marketing goal.  So then what is publicity?  Well if advertising is forward-looking, then publicity is about right here, and right now.  If advertising is about planning, then publicity is about responding.  So let's just talk about advertising.  I mean planned, calculated, and measurable ad campaigns.  What does that look like for an artist?  

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Season 1, Episode 20
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“Conversations for Freelance Creatives” is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between creatives in all sorts of fields at all sorts of levels.  We want to discuss what we’re learning, what we’ve experienced, and whom we’ve met in our journey of running a freelance creative business. John Bishop is a visual artist living in Houston, Texas. His work is largely abstract, and explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. Bogdan is a videographer and fine art photographer who constantly seeks to stretch the boundaries of traditional photographic work, with the added flare of his artistic eye.  Both artists’ work can be seen online, or at their studios at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, in Houston.

John Bishop: http://www.johnbishopfineart.com
Bogdan Mihai: http://www.bogdanfotoart.com
Bogdan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bogdanoninstagram/
John’s Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/johnbishopfineart/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnBishopart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnbishopfineart
Buburuza Productions: http://www.Buburuzaproductions.com

Tune in to hear the continued progress toward John's first solo art exhibition.  The invitations are in, the catalogs are printed, and the artwork is framed.  All that has to happen now, in the month preceding the show, is to find enough people to show up for the event, who will buy all of the paintings on opening night, and eat all the catering he's paid for.   No pressure... I mean, what could go wrong?

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Episode 19

John Bishop Fine Art's "Conversations for Freelance Creatives" is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between creatives in all sorts of fields at all sorts of levels.  We want to discuss what we’re learning, what we’ve experienced, and whom we’ve met in our journey of running a freelance creative business. John Bishop is a visual artist living in Houston, Texas. His work is largely abstract, and explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. His work can be seen online, or at his studio at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, Studio 108, in Houston.

Website: http://www.johnbishopfineart.com

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/johnbishopfineart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnBishopart

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnbishopfineart

Buburuza Productions: http://www.Buburuzaproductions.com

Bogdan Mihai: http://www.bogdanfotoart.com

I was finally able to finish all 20 of the paintings, and I’m busy now getting them varnished, wired, and framed.  But now the event really gets cute.  I’ve had a couple of engraved stamps made, one about 3 inches in diameter and the other only 1 inch around.  I’m stamping the back of each painting with the red series logo, and will stamp the certificates of authenticity with a logo in sealing wax. Then I’ve had tiny lapel pins engraved with the logo so that each collector can get a pin acknowledging them as collectors of the Panca Marga series.  

As we’ve been discussing for weeks now, we know that as creative entrepreneurs, we have to wear all sorts of hats, and become competent in all sorts of fields in order to run successful art businesses.  We’ve also spoken about how all of the planning, marketing, publicity and sales will have to be done by me, because there’s no way I can afford to outsource all of those tasks.   But the part that will make or break the evening is the quality of the experience… and that falls to me to organize as well.

I believe with all my heart that people come to art venues as much for the experience of shopping for art as they do to actually acquire art.  I’m referring to the true collectors, who likely go to a variety of art events around town, and have particular artists they follow, even if from a distance, to see what work they’re producing.  These folks expect more than just an open door and a smile when they enter.  They’re looking to see the art, chat with the artist, hear the stories of the pieces they like, and only then, iff all the stars align, they’ll make a decision to purchase something they love.  If I develop a relationship with them, they may continue to buy my art over many years to come.

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John Bishop Fine Art's "Conversations for Freelance Creatives" is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between creatives in all sorts of fields at all sorts of levels.  We want to discuss what we’re learning, what we’ve experienced, and whom we’ve met in our journey of running a freelance creative business. John Bishop is a visual artist living in Houston, Texas. His work is largely abstract, and explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. His work can be seen online, or at his studio at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, Studio 108, in Houston.

Website: http://www.johnbishopfineart.com

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/johnbishopfineart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnBishopart

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnbishopfineart

Buburuza Productions: http://www.Buburuzaproductions.com

Bogdan Mihai: http://www.bogdanfotoart.com

Let me attempt to tell you about my solo exhibition, as it stands so far.
     I’m calling the exhibition Panca Marga, which is a Buddhist concept that recognizes that when one reaches the level of Bodhisattva, like a Buddhist saint, instead of being the end of a journey, attaining that level of perfection is rather a new beginning.  I’ll be creating 20 paintings, every 5 years, for the next 20 years.  That’s 100 paintings, between the ages of 60 and 80.  The hope is to create a very collectable series that tracks my professional career as an artist.
     I’ll be promoting the event in local calendars, through general postcard invitations, through personalized invitations to collectors and gallery owners, and the creation of a printed catalog of the exhibition.  Video content promoting the show ahead of time, as well as one as documenting a historical record of the event will also be created.  I’ll also be promoting the hell out of the exhibition on social media, trying to create a bit of a buzz.
     I want to make sure that anything that goes out to the public with respect to my exhibition is branded.  To that end, I’ve developed a certain graphic design “look”, created a logo for the show, and will use that “look” on everything I do.  That means the invitations, the certificates of authenticity, the stamps on the paintings, the brochure and press releases, and even the cocktail napkins will scream that this is my show.  
     The reception itself will be from 6-8pm on July 9th, 2021.  I’m expecting between 50 and 100 people, but with Covid still lingering out there, I’m not sure how many will venture out.  To that end, I will also have a virtual experience available as well.  The hope is that those who won’t come out in person can stop by online, as well as those who are abroad.  We worked overseas for many years, and a lot of my friends live elsewhere.  I truly believe that people come to exhibitions for an art experience, as much or more than to buy art.  My job is to create an experience of my collection, both in person and virtually.  There will be good food, music, a speech, video content, printed materials, and an easy way to purchase what people want to take home.  I’m also considering a sneak-peak event for VIPs, and Gallery Owners.  My only concern there is that I really can’t afford to cater two events, and if my VIPs come on a different night, they won’t return for the main event.  I’ll have to decide this quickly, but I may just schedule individual viewings with VIPs, and have some champagne and nibbles ready in the studio.  What do you guys think?
     I want to make sure I can imagine in detail the process a buyer will go through when purchasing my art.  Firstly they’ll have been invited, and welcomed to the reception.  There will be scheduled events during the reception to hold their attention.  They’ll start off at the table for refreshments, then I’ll give a little welcome speech, then there will be a video explaining the series, then some live music?  I want to fill the time in such a way so that just about the time they think they should be leaving, something else makes them want to stay.  If they’re online, there will be similar activities for those folks as well… minus the drinks.  When someone falls in love with a painting, they will be able to immediately swipe their card, or pay online, and get a red dot on the piece.  After the show, I’ll make arrangements to deliver the paintings to each of them, with the added offer to hang the piece in their home.  Not only does that create another opportunity for me to visit with them after the sale, but hopefully to build a relationship with them.  These are the folks who will be most likely to buy again in 5 years.  

     Graphic Design is a lot more than just pretty pictures, it’s a communication tool between us and our customers.  First impressions matter, and quality, consistent design can not only make you look more professional, it can also make you look more credible to a prospective buyer.  The stronger your design, the more people trust you.  We’ve all experienced clicking on a website, and thinking to ourselves that this company looks truly amateurish, or even creepy.  Artistic companies are no different. 
     It’s funny, because you’d think as creatives we’d be great at presenting ourselves graphically… but that doesn’t appear to be the case.  That’s where the true creative and professional skill of the graphic designer becomes so important.  You might consider hiring your design needs out to a professional, after all, you wouldn’t hire an amateur painter to do a mural on your wall.  The issue isn’t one of a lack of respect for the designer, but rather the economics involved.  Sure it would be better to hire all these services out, but if we don’t have the funds to do that, we simply must learn to do things on our own, until we CAN afford to hire the best.
     So why is graphic design so important?  Well it seems that 90 percent of what is transmitted in our brains is visual.  That’s huge.  And 3M did research that indicates that images are processed 60,000 times faster in our brains than text.  Amazing.  So your visual messaging is received and absorbed before customers even have a chance to read your witty ad copy.  Then consider that over half of us, 65%, are visual learners anyway.   Imagine just how powerful that is from a marketing standpoint.  And if visual communication is important, imagine how much more powerful video becomes.
     We need to brand everything we do.  We need to have a uniform look and style that is reflected in everything from our website, to our business cards, social media accounts, newsletters, presentations, and videos.  In fact, we should have a style guide, like the big companies and organizations do.  We should know what colors, fonts, logo designs and styles to use.  We should shy away from changing our branding very often.  Consider how long CocaCola has had the same logo.  That consistency of style and branding is perceived by people as professional, successful, and trustworthy. 

John Bishop Fine Art's "Conversations for Freelance Creatives" is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between creatives in all sorts of fields at all sorts of levels.  We want to discuss what we’re learning, what we’ve experienced, and whom we’ve met in our journey of running a freelance creative business. John Bishop is a visual artist living in Houston, Texas. His work is largely abstract, and explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. His work can be seen online, or at his studio at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, Studio 108, in Houston.

Website: http://www.johnbishopfineart.com

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/johnbishopfineart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnBishopart

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/johnbishopfineart

Buburuza Productions: http://www.Buburuzaproductions.com

Bogdan Mihai: http://www.bogdanfotoart.com

 We’ve discussed before that some people distinguish between advertising and publicity by saying that advertising you pay for, and publicity is free.  While I’m not certain that’s always true, there does seem to me that advertising is looking inward, while publicity is looking out.  I can plan and coordinate my advertising campaigns tightly, but it seems to me that publicity is just blind luck.  You throw your marketing into the wind, and hope that something good comes of it.  But that can’t be true, can it?  The issue is that I view publicity as problematic because it relies on someone else to get my message across.  That bugs me, but it’s probably a fault in the depth of my understanding of what publicity really is. 

     While there are a variety of forms of publicists, today we’re only looking to focus attention on those working with creative businesses, and that sort of publicity usually means tapping into print and broadcast as well as social media platforms.  So we’re not talking about the publicist who is called in to handle a PR scandal, or to smooth things over when a hooker overdoses in your hotel room.  That may well be part of a Hollywood or Washington publicist’s routine, but hopefully not something we will need at this stage of our creative careers.  Come to think of it, probably not good at any stage of our careers.  We’re talking about a deliberate, strategic, and purposeful media relations campaign that engages with journalists to draw attention to our marketing goals, to ourselves, and our creative businesses.  So for our discussion, publicity means taking advantage of the press opportunities all around us.

     So there you are.  Add that to the many jobs you already are doing as a creative entrepreneur.  You’re now a publicist too.  So, what exactly does a publicist do?  Anybody watch AbFab?  Remember when Saffi asks her mother what she actually does for a living?  Eddie replies indignantly: “PR!  I PR things!”  In case that didn’t help clarify the question, your role as publicist means that you will need to draw media attention to yourself, and to your business.  Yes, I said it, to yourself as well.  See the trick is that all of publicity is storytelling, and you will need to be able to tell your story in such a way to interest the audience that a reporter or influencer is trying to reach.  That means developing a relationship with journalists, editors, and bloggers and offering them content that makes their job easier.  You have to give them the story they need.  

We have to wear so many hats when running a small business, it’s a little wonder we feel overwhelmed for a good portion of the time.  One of the most important jobs we have to coordinate is that of office manager.  Think about the places you’ve worked in the past.  There is a whole separate job description, a full-time employee, who plays the role of office manager.  Guess who it is in our art business… that’s right, it’s me.

I looked up a job description for an office manager, and laughed out loud when I realized just how much of the job I was already doing.  How are we supposed to do all of this, as well as the marketing, planning, oh yes, and create the art?  The only possible answer is to break things into smaller, more manageable bites.  That way you can still prioritize the most important activities, while filling in some of the busy work as time permits.  

Create your to-do lists each day.  If there is so much on your list that it scares you, take a post it note and write down the top 5 things you absolutely must do today, and check the longer list when those 5 are completed.  The stress and pressure of a huge list not only make you more likely to make mistakes, it can ruin your creativity and joy.  Remember, you actually like your job.  I think we’ve all seen that exercise where someone tries to put big rocks and pebbles into a jar.  The point is that if you start with all of the pebbles, the large stones won’t fit.  But if you place the large stones in the jar first, the small ones fill in around the gaps and everything fits nicely.  

Which brings me back to knowing and being honest with yourself.  Are you able to recognize when you are getting overwhelmed?  This needn’t be restricted to office work, it could expand to your creative work as well.  We all tend to retreat to certain patterns and activities that comfort us when we are stressed.  Do you know what those signals are in your own life?  Figure them out.  I know that when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I spend a lot of time drawing pictures.  Of course, as an artist, that’s generally not a problem, but it can be when I have a deadline looming near.  Be kind to yourself, and learn to recognize when your body and mind are screaming at you to relax a bit.  Remember that there was no training program when we took on this office manager role.  We are not supposed to know everything, and we all have to learn the job as we are doing it.

But most importantly, don’t ever lose the joy of it all.  Yes there’s a lot of work, yes it’s probably you who will have to do it all.  But never forget that you’re following your bliss here, and if you’re like me, you’ll walk through fire to keep your creative business thriving… and just so you know, you’re not in this alone.  There are loads of us out there who are willing and delighted to help.  

Season 1: Episode 14

John Bishop Fine Art's "Conversations for Freelance Creatives" is a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between creatives in all sorts of fields at all sorts of levels.  We want to discuss what we’re learning, what we’ve experienced, and whom we’ve met in our journey of running a freelance creative business. John Bishop is a visual artist living in Houston, Texas. His work is largely abstract, and explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. His work can be seen online, or at his studio at Silver Street Studios, 2000 Edwards Street, Studio 108, in Houston.