MARKET PLACE / EASEL

1. Opportunities for All?

There is no shortage of Artists, most towns and villages have a few although not many would claim to be

self-employed full-time professionals. The majority are part-time amateurs with their paintings exhibited in

local art exhibitions or the Internet or supplied to local galleries on a sale-or-return basis. And, with the

exception of those with no commercial ambitions, the majority of us relish the prospect that some financial

return might be generated from the product of our easels. Taking the step from part-time amateur to full-

time professional is not as difficult as it might sound once you remove the idea that the terms "amateur" and

"professional" are a measure of the artist's skill or accomplishment. Time was when a Gentleman would

have taken exception to being called a "professional" - a term only used to describe a tradesmen. It was the

Amateur who had the time and who possessed the wealth to indulge in research and invention. Nowadays,

if you were to place some of the brilliant amateur work hung in local art club shows against the poor

examples coming from the easels of some our hugely successful professionals you'll see what I'm getting at.

Rather than using the word "accomplishment" it might be better to use "confidence and financial need"

when comparing the professional with the amateur artist. Compared to the part-time amateur the self-

employed full-time professional needs to receive a steady income from their work if they are to pay the

mortgage, feed the spouse and kids and keep up to date with the normal household bills. They also need the

qualities of dedication and fortitude to remain in business.

So how on earth does a self-employed full-timer create a steady flow of work and income to satisfy both

their creative persona and their insatiable bank manager? I think that producing a pile of paintings and then

hawking them around the market place like any other piece of merchandise for someone/anyone to buy is

not a good idea. It's unreliable and demeaning and the creative spirit deserves better.

We Artists are generally regarded as a temperamental, capricious lot but compared to the often unpredictable and volatile Market Place in which we operate we could almost be seen as hardy annuals, in other words, resolutely popping up at seasonal exhibitions and reappearing year after year in local gallery displays. For most artists ours is an easel-led business, in other words, “I like painting this and that and if it sells then so much the better”. This is a fine attitude to have if you aren’t hoping to receive a regular monthly income from the sale of your work. If you simply want to paint as the mood takes you then obviously you will have an alternative source of income already in place such as a good pension, an allowance, a job or a partner who is prepared to earn for you. If you don’t, then life could be financially precarious and you might want to consider approaching the Market Place differently from those artists who gamble and speculate with their product or sit around waiting to be discovered.

Approaching the Market Place isn’t difficult; it doesn’t require expensive advertising or consumer campaigns. I’ve meet so many artists who draw on their increasing bank overdrafts to pay for expensive advertising in directories, magazines and web pages.When I ask them why they do it they will invariably answer: “Because I need to advertise if my work is to sell” “And how’s it selling?” “It isn’t” is a normal reply.What a waste of money and personally demoralising situation.There are far better ways for them to sell their work – provided they aren’t living under the illusion that their elementary creative efforts are anything more than that.

So what is this magic formula? It’s not difficult but first you need to learn the ten-word Incantation for Artists and practise saying it until it becomes automatic. It goes like this:

“Have you ever thought of having one of my paintings?”

Remembering to recite it might sound a doddle but I can assure you that few artists do remember it when someone says “My niece is turning 40 next month and I haven’t a clue what to give her”. If you’re not used to reciting the Incantation for Artists it might initially take some courage to come out with: “Have you ever thought of having one of my paintings?” But with practise you’ll gain in confidence, especially when the response to your question could be “No I haven’t, that could be a good idea”.

Reciting the Incantation for Artists in front of friends and relatives might not come easily. However the situation is quite different when talking to strangers because you can identify yourself as an Artist rather than admitting to being retired or say a Taxi Driver who paints in their spare time. When we were young we were told not to speak to any stranger. But now we are grown up and we can choose which stranger to talk to. It’s not a matter of continually promoting one’s product; it is more a case of being prepared for a whole range of opportunities for selling your painting away from the traditional outlets of the exhibition and the gallery.

The next time someone tells you they are moving house, celebrating a family occasion or knows someone who is soon to retire, recite the Incantation for Artists to them; you could surprise yourself. Invite them to visit you or select suitable items and arrange to visit them. In this area of the Market Place there is a call for both ready-made and also commissioned art so you might even consider painting something especially to fit the occasion.

The retail market for ready-made art is unpredictable and many provincial galleries struggle to remain viable. The majority stay afloat by operating a sale-or-return policy in order to keep their sales room stocked. In a sense an exhibition can be seen as a “temporary gallery” experiencing many of the problems. If it’s an income you are seeking then it makes sense to consider better alternatives than to simply painting a picture, hanging it up with a price tag in the hope that someone will eventually buy it.

Next chapter we will consider how to identify the wealth of opportunities awaiting us in the Market Place.

MARKET PLACE / EASEL

2. Opportunities Galor! In the previous chapter I suggested the most useful phrase a self-employed artist could memorise is: "Have you thought of having one of my paintings?" However I admit that not everyone will want to offer their work in return for money; just because you produce pictures it doesn't follow that you need to exchange them for money in order to prove there worth.  I've met artists who can afford to paint away to their hearts' content and have no reason to market the result. They tell me that to offer my painting on the open market is being ungracious to the muse that inspired and helped me paint it. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those poverty-stricken artists who produce paintings with little or no commercial appeal whilst living in the hope that someone/anyone will buy one.

As a self-employed artist I need to produce a steady income from my work if I am to afford my life-style therefore I can't take too many risks such as producing speculative work or competing with my fellow artists for commissions. My way is to target occasions and opportunities as I find them and create niche-markets for my work and services. It is not as difficult as it sounds.

There appears to be no shortage of attractive opportunities for self-employed artists, if you keep your eyes and ears open you'll see them everyday everywhere; be it the Isle of Skye, Eastbourne, Abergaveny, Penzance, Cork or Basildon. Wherever there are people then there is a need for artists and their artwork. All it takes is a super-awareness of the life going on around you. Watch the news and read the papers, every day there are local news stories of forthcoming celebrations and achievements. Once you have attuned your ear and eye you will see just how many opportunities there are.

If there are plans to refurbish or furnish property and if you have a studio full of unsold artwork then that is the moment to make contact and recite "have you thought of having one of my paintings?" When people are celebrating births, marriages, retirement, home moving, new projects, birthdays, contract completions, anniversaries, prize winning, graduation, sporting achievements then this would be an excellent opportunity for a commissioned artist to come forward with: "have you thought about commissioning a painting to fit the occasion?"

If you belong to a common interest groups such as a work team, sports and leisure club, religious and spiritual movement, parenting group, pet or gardening club, if you are a musician, gourmet or traveller, then you will have a link to that specific world and speak the jargon. Through your contact with other members you will already be close to a range of opportunities related to celebrations, anniversaries and events.

How to come forward with the suggestion that your friend, colleague, group member or fellow traveller consider buying or commissioning a painting is up to the individual but I find the most effective and direct method, especially when delivered sensitively, is the "Have you ever thought of ……….?" approach.

Ready made original or reproduced artwork is invariably called for when buildings are being built or renovated. There could even be a purchasing budget in place for such items under the heading "decoration

and furnishing". An announcement that "The Old Bell Hotel is under new ownership and is to have a face lift" offers an excellent opportunity for an artist to offer the studio product as does a new office development, visitors centre and so on.

This way of doing the business requires practise and self-belief and you'll find this method of approach is an important part of most other successful self-employed businesses. If you are lacking in self-confidence then why not sign up for a local course in confidence-building? It might be the best investment you could make at this time.

The art retail trade offers a range of opportunities because it spends its time buying and selling and the successful retailer depends heavily upon the supply of saleable items. The artist who breezes in with a "have you ever thought of having one of my paintings?" could elicit a negative response, not always but often. A far better marketing strategy for this first approach might be "What are you thinking of?" This is because the successful retailer will already have a good grasp on the needs and lifestyle of their customers and how they wish to serve this need. They might also have other long-standing suppliers firmly in place and initially have no wish to extend their list of suppliers.

Inviting a retailer to identify what type of subjects, styles, formats, sizes or presentations they are on the look out for could offer the artist a potential doorway into the gallery or shop rather than presenting the retailer with the uncompromising bulging portfolio accompanied by a tentative: "this is what I've produced and do you want some?" The "what are you thinking of?" strategy offers the artist time to either produce something to meet a specific need or rummage through their studio for something suitable to take along to the next meeting.

Over the years this direct method of targeting opportunities and promoting my product has proved both financially satisfying and reliable. In front of a client or retailer I have the opportunity to brainstorm ideas, sketch out and discuss thoughts and dreams in a far better way than any intermediary can do. I regard a sales agent as an intermediary. Although the majority of agents are good at their job, I realised long ago that success in business is all to do with establishing good working relationships with others. Having an agent do my chat up lines with potential clients or retailers whilst I stand at my easel pathetically waiting for the affair to begin is a really dreadful idea.

In the chapter we will consider the subjects of "confidence building and making effective agreements".

MARKET PLACE / EASEL

3. Having the Confidence to Communicate

Good face-to-face communication is a learned art and essential in the development of self-confidence. It is present when both parties are feeling acknowledged and valued. It is particularly good when dialogue is accompanied by visual expression, especially when information is being passed from one person to another. The use of diagrams and rough sketches provide an excellent means for illustrating the interaction.  It is amazing how a rough sketch or diagram can quickly highlight confusion or misunderstanding and help to clarify the information passing between speaker and listener. To quickly sketch out the ideas for the final piece of artwork in front of the Client can assist in the building mutual confidence. Firstly it acknowledges both parties and secondly the outline of an idea is easier to develop once it has been anchored onto paper. I call this sketch dialoguing.

Example: My Client had the idea for a painted reconstruction of a forgotten local scene set in the mid fifties. There were no photographs available but fortunately one or two local people from that period were still around. I asked Doug, an elderly retired railwayman, to describe what he remembered and from his stories it was obvious that his long-term memory was still active. He suddenly said "You must include the Rabbit Man in your picture""What's the Rabbit Man?""In the fifties we used to send Cornish rabbits up to London. George had his hut opposite the station and the kids called him the Rabbit Man" I did a quick sketch of what I imagined the hut would have looked like."No, you've got that wrong" said Doug, "the roof went the other way"I rectified the sketch and then added an imagined Rabbit Man.

  

      

"He had bad legs and had a seat by the door" said Doug.As I added a door in the middle plus seated figure beside it.

          "The door was on one end and George always wore a brown bowler hat"                                       

 I altered the sketch to suit. "The kids used to come down after school; he always had a sweet or a story for them"

I added a group of kids "Don't forget the rabbits" said DougI began to sketch some boxes "No, not in boxes, he would hang them up all round the eaves"This form of sketch dialoguing is visually recovering memory. The final painting includes this archive narrative. Without Doug and the sketching this memory could have been lost forever.

                                             

Receiving instructions for a commission has all the ingredients necessary for the creation of misunderstandings, assumed agreements and confusion. Example:

Client offers Artist a painting commission. Artist: "What sort of thing are you looking for?" Client: "Something bright to jolly up this dull room"Artist: "I like painting large and bright, my work always reflects this"Client: "I like Greece, sun, sea, flowers, animals, anything that would look good on that wall"Artist: "I prefer to paint in a loose style and not to have too many fixed ideas before I begin"Client: "Well I'll leave it to you to come up with something"Artist: "I'll give it some thought; if you don't like the result then you can always say "No"Result: The Artist produces large bright painting, the Client says "No" and the consequence is a lose/lose situation.

So where did the Client and the Artist go wrong? I believe the Client wasn't at fault because they answered the Artist's first question clearly and innocently enough. It was the Artist who swiftly established his/her position and didn't encourage the Client to explore their ideas for the painting any further. Far from seeing them as their co-creative partner the Artist saw their Client simply as a purchaser. What a wasted opportunity! It took 200 words for me to describe the above scenario– here it is again as a rough sketch.

 

The above diagram also includes the money symbol. The Artist has a fat fee in mind whilst the Client has a fixed budget in mind but neither has the confidence to admit to it. This particular Artist is reluctant to mention the word "fee" and chooses to delay airing the subject until the moment is right, which might coincide with the delivery of the painting. The Artist needed to take control of the meeting, drawing the Client into the creative process rather than maintaining the wall between them. Assumptions and misunderstandings could have been quickly identified and swiftly resolved. Misunderstandings are to be expected as a normal part of the process of minds attempting to meet each other. But they can and should also be eliminated as quickly as possible. Misunderstandings usually come about when words are the only means employed in explaining exactly what one is thinking. Trying to communicate in words can separate people whilst pictures are understood by those with eyes to see and in any case are an international language. It serves all artists to learn how to visually dialogue with others particularly when ephemeral ideas are being thrown around. Sketch dialoguing can very quickly illustrate information whilst streams of words can stifle the brain and the ability to hear. If self-confidence is simply an attitude of mind then developing the ability to illustrate attitudes can only be for the good. The next chapter deals with the subjects of setting commission fees and pricing paintings.

MARKET PLACE / EASEL

4. Who’s Paying for This?

There was no shortage of wine at the preview evening of our local art society's summer exhibition. On show were over a hundred and fifty paintings and all for sale.  Although I attended the preview as an invited guest and even as a potential purchaser, I was also there to produce a report on the occasion for a local newspaper. Differentiating between visitors and exhibitors wasn't easy because artists are notoriously diffident when it comes to wearing a badge, standing alongside their painting and answering questions.

I targeted one lady who looked as if she could wield a paint brush to good effect. "Have you any work on show?""Oh dear" she replied nervously "Well I do have a couple of pieces somewhere over there"I pushed a way through the party towing her behind me. We stood looking at her small oil painting of a field with a horse looking over a fence in the middle distance; it was priced at £48. "Would you like to tell me about it?"She thought for a moment and then said "It's simply a horse looking over a fence""Yes, but why did you paint it? Is it your horse?The lady coloured a little and then impatiently said "No, I just liked the look of it""Is it oil or acrylic?""Oil, I don't like acrylic".

That was it. I had been looking forward to a conversation about her enthusiasm for the subject, the medium or what turned her on as an artist. Instead of which it was a one-way dialogue which effectively removed me as a potential purchaser of her work. If she had taken the trouble to connect me with her work then perhaps our conversation might have ended with her asking me "Would you like to buy it?" and me replying "Yes please". When an artist demonstrates little or no enthusiasm for their work then perhaps £48 including frame is the right price.

ENTHUSIASM has to go hand in hand with PRICE if the painting is to have public appeal and produce proper money. This is especially true at gallery or exhibition previews. Artists should never surround themselves with friends and acquaintances with who they can meet at any other time, nor make themselves difficult to access. A preview is the artist's communication opportunity and the better people understand your art the more they will be inclined to buy. Setting the sale price for the artwork can be rather hit and miss though.

There can be a huge difference between the fee charged for commissioned as against ready-made artwork. It's similar to an Architect who designs a house for a CLIENT and a Developer who sells a speculative house to a PURCHASER. The difference is reflected in the price of each. It's the speculative, ready-made artwork we will be considering here.

Let's assume that you are on the lower rungs of the ladder and have little experience of showing or selling your work. In the space of a couple of minutes you produce a coloured impression on a piece of paper and

consider it as a significant creative moment in your career as an artist. You enthusiastically slap on a price tag of £10,000 because you deem it an important piece of work. Inspite of your enthusiasm you might have some difficulty in convincing others of it's worth because you have little or no evidence of successful shows, critical reviews or proof that you are "collectable".

The majority of local artists who regularly supply ready-made work to local exhibitions or galleries find themselves bracketed into the "below £500" price range; this is true for internet sales too. Sales of over £2,000 remain relatively uncommon. This indicates that the speculative artist who is aiming at financial success is well advised to climb the ladder step by step rather than attempting one giant leap and falling flat on his or her face.

Setting the level of your annual financial expectation based on your needs is a good starting point for assessing your rate of output, price structure and marketing area. It should always take account of local social conditions and buying practises and the fluctuations in consumer climate. If your level of lifestyle requires an annual income of £15,000 which equals £300 per week then you will need to develop a market for your work and spread your marketing area to suit. If you need to earn double that annual income then you need to increase your production rate and/or expand your marketing area further.

The ready-made art Market Place is a highly competitive one so in order to maintain your position do make sure your prices are similar or perhaps a little less than you competitors in the same Market Place. Compare your prices with other artist's work that sells well rather to work which doesn't. For example if your comparison is with a similar artists whose price range is between £150 and £5,000 with the majority of sales seldom exceeding £900 then you can interpret this as a ceiling for your work for the time being. Sale price rather than asking price should be your measure. If you are determined to stay put as an exhibitor at your local art society show then this would provide you with a similar measure for your pricing.

You should aim to have sold at least half of what you produce within a six month period. So long as your rate of sale is maintained then your success might warrant an annual increase of between 10 to 25%. But the bottom line is always for the work to stand out for its quality rather than its price. Do whatever you can to make it possible for people who like your work to afford it. These people are your biggest fans; your collector base; the ones who will stand by you throughout your career. In the world of ready-made art, the artist needs as many fans as possible. Things are different for the commissioned artist which we will deal with in the next chapter.

MARKET PLACE / EASEL

5. You’ll Pay for That!

In the last Advice issue the producers of "ready-made art" were asked the question "Who's Paying for This?" I suggested that the Market-Place for this category of Art could be compared with the domestic housing sector where the price of speculative housing needs to be competitive. It is generally accepted that speculative off-the shelf housing is a cheaper option than an individually designed house - the product of a detailed co-creative process between an Architect and Client. The resulting products might look similar but whilst the owner of the speculative house might say "I bought this" it is the owner of the architect-designed house who can say "we built this".

The relationship between a speculatively-produced painting and a commissioned painting is similar; the former is purchased off the picture hook whilst the latter is the result of a co-creative venture and a predetermined agreement. It's the extent to which the creative process is shared by the Artist and the Client that decides if the amount paid is a "price" or a "fee". For this reason a price is usually lower than a fee unless, that is, the Artist is a Super Star in which case the price might be elevated into the realms of "silly money".

The Artist's fee has to cover the costs of visiting, listening, dialoguing, sketch designing and negotiating followed by the execution and completion of the art work. Sometimes it might even include aspects of personal counselling as a Client struggles with new ideas and concepts. If they are to remain in business then the Artist needs to receive a reasonable income from their work although only he or she knows what, for them, is a "reasonable income". For commissioned Artists there can be no standard fee for all, simply because there is no standard lifestyle for all.

The fee for a commissioned piece of artwork is the result of a personal agreement between the Artist and the Client. It is most unusual to find a prospective Client shopping around for the cheapest Artist unless, that is, the commission is the result of an advertised competition where there will be a number of Artists bidding for the opportunity. It is more usual to find a private or corporate Client placing greater emphasise on having a good rapport with, and confidence in, the Artist. The last thing they want is an uncomfortable feeling that the Artist is not up to the job and will produce shoddy work.

For the Artist there is nothing worse than having an uncomfortable and insecure Client. Large boring portfolios presented at the first meeting can quickly make a Client feel uncomfortable. At such times the discussion should be focussed on their ideas, their budget and expectations so as to avoid nasty surprises later on. My advice to the commissioned Artist is to always avoid nasty surprises by being upfront with the expectations.  By it's very nature commissioned artwork is unique with no competitor and seen from this perspective, is priceless. This is not to imply that the fee is unimportant; it is very important and should be agreed as early as possible and certainly before the actual painting is begun. If the word "fee" is put on hold then it can soon become a subject far too delicate to mention and that is when an unspoken uncomfortable and insecure feeling can begin to interfere with the process.

How do you cost a piece of commissioned artwork in advance of its execution? Your personal lifestyle and the income required to support it provides a reliable starting point from which to design a fee scale. Everyone will have their own idea of what a satisfactory life-style might look like and the level of income required to support it. What's yours?

As a Commissioned Artist you could find that, with all of the huff and puff of full-time self-employment, only 13 hours of a 40 hour working week is spent at the easel with the remaining 27 hours fully occupied with research, meetings, promotion and administration. This time quota means that the average total of commissioned paintings emerging from my studio each year is no more than 20 or around 12,000 sq. ins. As my fee scale relates to the finished painting size and my annual income expectations are obvious to me, it is not too difficult to work out how much my painting needs to earn per square inch.

Let's suppose your present lifestyle requires an annual income of £27,000 p.a. and that your average output is close to mine i.e. 12,000 sq. ins of painting a year. That income figure may seem far too low to afford your present lifestyle, or even too high – it is a matter of personal need. Divide the annual income requirement by 12,000 sq. ins and you'll arrive at £2.25 per sq. ins. This provides you with a midway point for a fee scale; for example a 20ins x 30 ins. painting (600 sq. ins.) for a fee of £1,350 (600 sq. ins x £2.25). From this central position the scale extends upwards and downwards according to size. You might want to increase this £2.25 figure for smaller painting sizes to reflect the comparative increase in effort per sq. ins. as the painting decreases in size. For larger paintings you might want to decrease the sum per sq. ins. step-by-step to reflect the comparative decrease in effort as the painting size increases.

Your fee scale may need some adjustments as it settles in and as you gain in confidence. It is a "swings and roundabouts" system; there'll be commissions which go really well and others which are series of hiccups from start to finish. But it is a very workable system which has, over my long career, proved itself to be the most satisfactorily methods for fee setting. It offers you the opportunity to build the lifestyle you may feel you deserve but however grand, your ambitions should always match the qualities of your skill and confidence. Like I say, it's always best to avoid presenting one's Client with nasty surprises and this goes for the quality of the artwork in addition to the size of the bill.

MARKET PLACE / EASEL

6. Nasty Surprises

We're told that Adam and Eve got a nasty surprise when they received their notice to quit. But they made

the best of it and went off and started our family. This early demonstration that life wasn't a doddle from

beginning to end suggests nasty surprises should be expected to pop up in everyone's life from time to time -

including the lives of Artists.

On one occasion I invited a high profile client to my studio to view his half-completed painting. He took

one look at it and said "It's the wrong way up". Having previously discussed in some detail the size and

orientation of the painting and agreed 4ft vertical x 3ft horizontal, his comment was perplexing. I dug out a

copy of my letter to him confirming the proportion but he wouldn't be moved. Evidently his understanding

of the meaning of "vertical" and "horizontally" were different from mine, and the rest of the world for that

matter. We sat looking at the painting while he came out with statements such as "No, that won't do" and "I

can't accept that" and "What are you going to do about it?" I resolved the situation by saying "No problem,

I'll start again", which I did. I also completed the half finished work and soon had it sold off to a local

gallery for good money.

My client happily received the finished painting but he still couldn't resist a sly dig at "the artist's mistake".

On such occasions it always serves to remember the advice given to me by the marketing director of a large

commercial enterprise: "When your client is opinionated and stubborn, simply grit 'your teeth, smile and

defer". A satisfied and happy client is your best promotional agent.

No matter how efficiently one ties one's camel there is always the chance that the unexpected will fall on it.

In June 2001 I received an email from someone in Texas asking if I had any paintings available depicting a

specific area of the West Highlands. I replied saying that I didn't have anything suitable but that I would be

interested in producing something to meet their requirements. It transpired that the Texan had a Scottish

ancestral connection and was developing a conference centre in Houston themed on the old family estate

lands. Over the next month or two we exchanged ideas, discussed numbers and sizes of paintings, time

frame and fees: it was a substantial commission involving a couple of trips to The States. At the end of

August I began walking the landscape, climbing hills and following rivers and burns; even visiting a

cemetery or two. The sketch designs for the first ten paintings were posted off on the 8th September. Two

days later the New York Trade Centre was destroyed.

One of the fallouts from this was that the US financial institutions withdrew their funding support from

development projects which included my client's conference centre. It happened that my client was a good'n

and went out of his way to compensate me for the work I had already put in on his behalf. But the loss of

this sizable commission left a huge vacuum in my studio. It was a nasty totally unexpected moment for the

world as a whole and many, many business and people suffered directly or indirectly.

"Never place all your eggs in one basket" This might be one way for guarding against nasty surprises. When

the Houston project hit the buffers it happened that I was already planning the Artist Solutions professional

development courses' and possibly this very nasty surprise provided impetus to finally get this aspect of my

practice up and running.

The occasional unexpected surprise does help in keeping a full-time practice on its toes. If it is the aim of an

artist aims to have everything safely nailed to floor and predictable then full-time self-employment may not

be the best choice for them. But for those who enjoy the thrill of never quite knowing what the next day will

bring it is the best of professions. It could bring a wonderful opportunity or alternatively an unexpected

nasty surprise.

I have the AAA system for immediately transforming "nasty surprises" into "unexpected surprises". These

three As stand for Acceptance / Affirmation / Action (occasionally Acceptance might be preceded by

"bloody hell"). First I need to accept the situation and force myself to face its challenging aspects. Then I

remind myself that I've probably handled worse situations in the past and survived. Finally I do something

about resolving the situation by taking positive action, for example: making a supreme effort to have the

situation resolve in such a way that nobody is left feeling aggrieved and unhappy.

There is a fourth A if all else fails namely Arbitration which means appointing someone impartial, who both

parties can trust, to listen to both sides of the argument and then help in finding some common ground for

reconciliation. This is a far better alternative than having an aggrieved old client putting the word about that

you are less wonderful than you think you are.

Unfortunately there are occasions when all attempts at reconciliation fail. You've told your side of the story,

you've offered compromises, you feel that you are being treated unfairly and say so, but nothing changes

and it's become a dark blot on your otherwise bright landscape. It might be the right moment to draw a line

under the sorry affair and move on to better things and this is where applied ART comes in useful. In this

instance applied ART stands for A = Acceptance / R = Release / T = Transformation.

 

If you can draw a line under un-reconcilable situations and move on it can open a space in your life for

better things to arrive. Holding onto grudges and sad experiences can cloud your vision so much that you

fail to recognise a wonderful new opportunity when it passes between you and your easel. This is why I

would never advise an Artist to seek reparation or compensation through the courts. Lose the case and the

emotional effect could come back to haunt you through the rest of your life; if you win your case then you'll

immediately gain a reputation for being "litigious", one which I would imagine no self respecting artist

would want to earn.

So if your Garden of Eden occasionally delivers a bad apple then my advice would be to discard your protective fig leaves, appreciate your endowments and take a step towards become even more creative.

I am always pleased to hear from my fellow Artists, discuss issues and if required, offer my support and encouragement so that your very best ambition might be achieved.

Harley Miller

Harley MillerSluie Lodge, Dunphail, Moray IV36 2QG

Tel: (0044) 01309 611708 e-mail: harley@harleymiller.com www.harleymiller.com