Tips On How To Be Awesome (wink)

Attitude is the single biggest attribute you must attain in order to be regarded as awesome.

Your interpretation as to what is going on is FAR more significant than what is actually going on. Think like that you’ll considered to be quite awesome.

Establish your OWN way of doing your thing. This is how you separate yourself from the herd.

Never avoid doing something for fear of what other people will think. Do not be unarmed by presumption. In other words, tell yourself (not them) “I don’t give a s___ what you think, I’m going to do it anyway!”

Never take criticism personally. Lose the emotional attachment to your art. Go pro and look at your work from an objective point of view. That’s business, not emotion. Create with emotion, but ditch it as soon as your work gets to the auction house.

Know you are outstanding, but always share your wisdom and never claim it as your own. The person who claims to know it all is a fool. The person who claims to know it all AND be the innovator of his wisdom is not a just a fool, but should be avoided at all costs.

ALWAYS remember that you cannot be awesome on your own. You need other people around you who are also awesome.

BE REAL and you’ll attain real friends, business associates and collectors.

Be accommodating.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. I can assure you there are people out there who already do. They don’t need any more company (wink).

Say what you mean and mean what you say.

Your aweseome!

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STOP Procrastinating

Psssst… STOP procrastinating.

The problem with procrastinating is that you allow yourself to start believing that it’s okay “to not do stuff”.

Then we make the excuses…

And allow that little voice that is telling you, “I really want to get started…

…but I don’t know where to start…

what if I start at the wrong place and waste all that time because I should have started somewhere else…

…but I don’t know where that somewhere is else is…”

…to completely throw us further off track.

Heard that voice before?

Yeah, we all have.

The thing is, if you don’t know where to start or what action you need to take to get things going then it doesn’t really matter what you do.

All that matters is that you do something.

Just DO something.

Take some action.

If you have been putting off making a call, then pick up the phone and ring the gallery.

The person on the other line is human just like you… and therefore has the same concerns, fears, wants for their family, are in need of a vacation, probably is embarrassed to admit that they watched Everybody loves Raymond too much, have kids that are too loud, a sister-in-law who simply will not stop at 3 glasses of wine at the family barbeque and demands for the the karaoke machine to be turned on…

Get my point?

We all are, in a general sense, the same in many ways.  So to avoid putting off making that call, think of the person on the other end of the line as a person just like you.

Don’t let procrastination get in the way of experiencing life.

Hey I have a secret for you…you are going to make mistakes, you are going to cop some criticism, you are going to wonder at times if it is all worth it.

Well it is all worth it… because this is your life… and apparently, so I have been told, we only get to do it once.

So, what are you waiting for? Don’t deprive the world of your gift. Phone people who can help you share that gift.

Stop procrastinating and do it.

No more cookies FOR YOU until to make the call (wink)

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Believe In Your Potential

Ever since I created the CAKUart website, I have received emails from some artists who have really struggled to find some direction.

I think it’s too easy to simply say, “Hey man, you have to believe in yourself,” because this sounds like standard rhetoric to a struggling soul.

Believing in yourself is paramount; there is no doubt about that. But there are 4 factors that need to be considered in order to become the best that you can be.

Step 1. “Potential”

The first step is to be able to realise our potential. Knowing our potential is really like being able to look through the window of our life.

How do you realise your potential?

• Keep an open mind… ALWAYS
• Remove the words “I can’t” from your vocabulary

• Keep creating… then create some more.

• Rid your thoughts of “age” excuses (”Oh I’m too old for that”) and energise your mind, body and soul. In fact, rid yourself of all excuses (wink).

• Push your self… explore outside common boundaries… face new challenges.

• Take your resources into the unknown.

These are just a few ways that you will discover your potential.

Step 2. “Action”

When you know your potential, take action. But take action right away.

Allocate TIME to what you want each and every day (study, research, training, creating, designing and planning)

It doesn’t matter if you can only find 15 minutes on some days. It’s all about maintaining a level of consistency.

Step 3. “Results”

Your ability to take action will determine the results you will get.

When you have realised your potential and you have taken action, be sure to measure your results.

So for example: let’s say you have determined that you have the potential to produce 6 paintings for a local exhibition in 3 months time. Now you have taken “action” to load up on materials to complete the work and spoken to the exhibit organisers, arranged some self-promotion and created a blueprint plan of attack.

When the exhibit is finished make sure to sit back and measure your results against the time, money and energy you put into the whole project.

By being consciously aware of your results gives you so much clarity and allows to make better use of that time, money and energy next time.

The important thing is not to concentrate too much on the negative and positives (Ok, I admit, I do strut my little dance when it all goes splendidly well – wink) concentrate on the result.

Take note of things like feedback from people who bought your work and from people who didn’t buy your work.

Take note of the challenges you had and how you over came them or didn’t manage to break through them.

Step 4. “Belief”

Lastly, you need the belief that you have the potential to take action in order to measure your results. In other words, you need to have a real sense of certainty that you have the potential to take action and produce results.

This certainty that you have the potential lies within how well you identity with yourself.

The biggest problem we suffer from is doubt, and that is often caused by not being sure if something will work or not. So if we are unsure about whether something will work or not, then we are little apprehensive about even trying. Also, doubting our ability to do something is often caused because we don’t actually know what it is that we have to do.

So what you need to so is ask yourself “Why” is this important you. “Why” do you need to realise your true potential? “Why” do you need to take action? What will it mean if you don’t see your potential, take action and produce results?

I have discovered that just wanting to achieve something isn’t enough. There has to be a jet engine attached to your purpose, and that jet engine is “why” do I want what I want.

This will help to develop your real sense of certainty, which will in turn help you to see your potential, then take action and produce results.

Power to you and your art!

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A Little More Conversation

When I first started exhibiting my work, I didn’t really interact much. I didn’t completely engage myself in any real conversation with my prospective buyer.

Admittedly, I was a little preoccupied with making sure that I was organised. In other words, I was a little over anxious. A little nervous I guess.

So I was a preoccupied with…“does my stall look okay? Oh shit, I didn’t sign that painting properly! Oh no, I really shouldn’t have had that last coffee, as now I have no-one to relieve me while I go to the loo…”

But after a couple of showings I quickly loosened up and engaged in some great conversations. I remembered someone said to me long ago that people are not nearly as interested in you as they are interested in themselves.

So I simply put that piece of advice to good use and sold a bunch of paintings as a result.

Off course there were plenty of people I had conversations with that didn’t end up purchasing any of my work. But it was interesting to note that quite a few contacted me weeks, even months later about buying my art or wanting something commissioned for their home.

People will buy your art because they like what they see. But in some cases, if you are not receptive – as I wasn’t when I first started because I was futzing about and getting distracted – then it’s unlikely they will approach you to express interest in purchasing your work.

After I settled into the whole art of selling your art, I began approaching people with an emphasis on who they were, rather than the typical “Hey let’s talk about my painting” type of introduction.

I knew that if I could get someone talking about him or herself, they’d be more susceptible to wanting to know more about my art.

Essentially, I made the conversation all about my stall visitor and a lot less about my paintings.

While this is a good way to go about “not having to sell your work,” it is also a great technique for the shy artist, who is not yet completely confident with exhibiting their work. The answer is to talk less about your work and steer the conversation to being about your visitor.

It takes the spotlight off  you, makes you feel a little more comfortable and allows you to get to know more about the person you are dealing with.

The more you can get your potential buyer to open up about themselves, the more will be revealed about what they like and don’t like.

It’s through doing this I discovered many people actually wanted something that had not yet been created – so right there was an opportunity for suggesting commission work.

The main point is to talk to people without any expectation of a sale. I have spoken to so many people and never made a sale. But I have had some amazing conversations.

Some conversations have been absolutely hilarious. Some are sad. Some are truly weird. Some are a little confrontational. Some are too political. Some people are drunk, loud and talk a whole bunch of nothing. Some people are so quiet and incredibly difficult to engage in a conversation. Some conversations have been with some of the most interesting people I have ever met.

But it’s through these conversations that I have been able to understand the person who is interested in my art. It’s more inspiring to delve into the lives of your customer, client or collector than it is to talk about your art all day long.

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Selling Yourself

A few years ago I spent a few weeks selling my work in an open-air exhibit in the city.

Each week as I was setting up, I would watch one artist put a few sold stickers on his work – at 8am before the crowd started arriving.

Why?

To indicate that he was a successful selling artist.

The sold stickers would help to persuade the public to perhaps consider buying his work because he was successful.

Sneaky?

Perhaps.

I have to admit that it was something I could never do, nor did I need to because I did quite well for the time I was exhibiting my work there.

By putting a sold sticker on a couple of paintings, that had not actually sold, was in his eyes a good selling point. He did sell some art each week. But I am not sure if it was because of the sold stickers.

Sometimes I would sell a painting before 9am. What I would do then is ask my buyer for permission to hold the painting for the rest of the day, and whack a sold sticker on it and leave it hung.

If the buyer lived locally I would even offer to deliver the painting as a thanks for leaving it on display – particularly if they did not want to hang around all day to wait for their painting.

The point I am trying to make in this post is there are many ways you can encourage the public to buy your art. One is through just being yourself and producing quality art.

The second is to “invite” people for conversation. I spend so much time talking to people about “them” at exhibits. I sell paintings as a result. I even sold a painting to a guy who’s wife whispered to me, “This is the first piece of art he has ever bought, he is totally not into art so you have done something right.”

It might have been because I spoke to him about him for half an hour while his wife wandered around the exhibit. Not to mention that my art is quite alluring (wink).

But the point is, you don’t really need to be tricky (i.e: using sold stickers before your painting is sold – regardless if it actually works) you just need to be “you” and people will respond.

Power to you and your art!

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Stomping On Your Fear Of Failure

I once read a quote that said something along the lines of…

“An artist can’t really fail, because to be an artist is a success in itself”.

So in other words, the decision to be an artist is quite a brave one. It’s quite a bold move. It deserves admiration.

Some believe it’s not really their choice to be an artist anyway… it’s  an obsession that can’t be controlled.

In regards to failure…

It’s my belief; that you can only really fail if you stop doing what you do.

Energy V’s Profit

Let’s move our thoughts from the common goal that many artists wish to achieve for a moment, and that is to produce salable art.

I think the ultimate reason why an artist may quit is because they did not succeed in reaching a certain level of energy in their art – and not because they can’t sell their work.

I have tested this theory consciously. I discovered that my greatest frustration as an artist was in the struggle to develop a good level of energy when producing a piece of art. It was sometimes a battle because the piece wasn’t going in the direction that I wanted it to. It didn’t inspire me; therefore it had no real level of energy.

I think this is the biggest personal fight an artist has to contend with.

I also discovered something else; I was looking at my art, as I was producing it, through someone else’s eyes. Right there is the biggest cause of failure – trying to produce art in accordance to someone else’s expectations.

Working through some other persons expectations and not your own could well be likened to working with a fear of failure.

Note: Some commission work is based on the buyers input. But if it becomes the buyers project, then you have a real challenge. Avoid getting stuck in any project that does not inspire you. To produce something that doesn’t really have your heart in it, kind of goes against the whole philosophy of being an artist.

Don’t Fear Failure

So how do you remove this fear of failure?

It’s kind of simple really: Relentlessly work at maintaining your natural expression without expectation of applause, money or fame.

The problem for a lot of us artists is that we tend to complicate things. We live in a society that has raised us to believe; that if we don’t see an instant return on our efforts then we obviously aren’t doing it correctly or were simply not cut out for our chosen duty.

The thing is… you can’t really fail as an artist if what you are producing on the canvas matches the message in your heart. You can only really be measured by your commitment, not by how many trophies or ribbons you have.

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Are You Sick Of Giving Your Art Away For Free?

Right from the beginning I have always tried to portray high value on my work.

When I first started out I was selling my work for $100 or less and sometimes more.

But even then I always portrayed a sense of value. By doing this I never really had the concerns of friends and family wanting a discount or even some of my work for free.

Don’t get me wrong; I have given a few of my paintings to family members as gifts. But I did this willingly without being “asked” for a freebie.

Value Your Work

By portraying a high value on my work, it helps to give the impression that it would be rude to ask for a free painting or even a discount.

Let’s face it, we love our friends and family and we would do anything to help them out. But that isn’t any reason why you should be at a loss (cost of materials, time and energy) just because dear old Auntie Martha is your auntie and would love it if you could give her one of your new paintings at no cost when you didn’t really want to.

I have a family member who has actually purchased 3 of my paintings, which of course now hang on the walls of his home.

The people who visit his home know that he paid for those paintings and a result this has made my work even more appealing.

I once had a painting that was hot off the easel (so to speak) and I sent a letter out to my collectors before the paint was even dry.

Within hours I had generated some interest from the people of my collector list and some very keen to buy the painting. At the time I happened to be on the phone to a family member and mentioned the interest I was having in this very painting.

She asked to see it. So I sent her my website link.

She rang me back within 2 minutes and told me NOT to sell that painting to anyone. She loved it, wanted it and was going to pay full price for it or even more if she had to in order own it.

Present Your Art Well

While I personally think I produce great art, I also “let people know that I produce great art” in the manner that I talk about and present my art (Confident? Arrogant? Perhaps. But you have to be a self- promoter in this industry).

This adds considerable intangible value to it. I make sure that family are aware of the value of my art. I’m not rude or arrogant about it, but I make it known.

Additionally, I never say things like “Gosh that painting didn’t turn out like I wanted it to. Oh well, I’ll have to try again” – at least not publicly (wink).

If you are prone to doing this you are essentially openly devaluing your work. Remember what rolls off your lips becomes your reality.

So if you are really disappointed by a piece of work, don’t just hand it over a family member for free if you don’t really want to. Paint over it and try again because if you do hand it over for free they’ll never really get to appreciate the value of your work.

Paying The asking Price

There are a couple of ways that you can begin to end the whole hassle of dealing with family asking you for a free painting.

Once way to address this issue is to tell them you are trying to build up a collection for when you have an exhibit.

However, tell them that if they are prepared to pay you for the painting, they will be essentially be helping you out with the costs associated to setting up an exhibit – therefore you can afford to be a painting short for your exhibit because now you have some money to cover to initial set up costs.

If for some reason they don’t see the same value in your work as you do and therefore do not want to pay your asking price, then explain the value they will be contributing towards your exhibit and how many people will potentially coming to view your work.

This could well give them sense of pride, especially if they love you, as they should.

So the big points to be remember here are…

Talk about your work in manner that adds perceived value to it. This will help your friends and family attach a monetary figure to your work.

Avoid giving your work away if you do not feel comfortable doing it. There is nothing wrong with giving a family member a gift in the form of a painting. But if a family member or friend asked for a free one, say yeah no problem, I’ll give it to you for free if you buy me the equivalent value in paint materials or a contribution towards some promotion or exhibit costs.

Also, hang your art proudly in your home.

If your art requires frames, then have them framed and hang them in your home. Some artists struggle with this because they constantly want to make adjustments to their work because they are looking at it so much.

By hanging your art in your own home you are essentially telling people that your work has significant value.

Be Your Own Fan

Avoid being an amateur commentator of your work also. If people say, “Oh that is a nice painting,” don’t say things like, “yeah its okay, I would have liked it to be a bit better in parts but it turned out okay”.

Tell them you agree with them and it was such a joy to paint, I can’t wait to get it out into the public’s eye.

By doing that you have added significant value to your artwork.

At times you can feel a little vulnerable because you have not yet “completely” established that reference value in your work.

So one point to consider is to keep busy with exhibiting your work. You’ll remove a bit of the domestic interest and expectation in your artwork and be able to focus more on the buying public.

It will get easier to say no when you have experienced some  sales. The reason for this is that you will have firm proof of the value of your work because the general public are  paying you for it.

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You Gotta Be Confident

What is confidence? My personal interpretation is predominantly derived from something I tell myself when the moment requires it, and it’s this: “I got big enthusiastic faith”.

Having a lot of faith and being enthusiastic may be the simple way of explaining confidence. But of course there are many actions and beliefs that make up somebody’s self-confidence.

Be a Finisher

One thing that will eat at your self-confidence is knowing that you have a list of projects that were started and never finished.

While this may sound counter productive, I always recommend you finish a project, regardless if you are completely aware that the outcome may not produce the results you had intended.

It doesn’t matter how tedious the job or project becomes, you have to finish it.

When you do finish, the tip then is to avoid focusing too much on the outcome and the result you did or didn’t get. Just make sure you acknowledge to your self that you completed the project.

Do + a willingness to make mistakes + Accomplish  = Confidence

Do You Think You’re Groovy?

Nothing will eat at your self-confidence like bad self-talk, such as putting yourself down all the time. Speak to yourself well. Stop telling yourself what you are not or don’t have.

Most of us know that advertising and many aspects of the media insult us enough (wink); you don’t need to add to it. Avoid focusing on what you haven’t done and simply get it done. You will be surprised at how much personal satisfaction you will get from just being a finisher.

I have finished many projects that were complete flops. But as I sit here and write this now I am happy with myself for at least finishing them.

Yeah sure, I was really discouraged by the failure of a few of those projects. Some of my failures really knocked the wind out of me and left me feeling quite flat for days, even weeks. During that time of feeling quite despondent, I thought I’d never have the courage to get up back up again. Fortunately, time (and desire) allows us to reflect and put things into perspective.

Despite my failures, I realise how important it is to my longevity as a “doer” to make sure I finish each project regardless of the outcome or result.

Personal Responsibility

I will never forget the day one of my first mentors started our first official meeting by writing on a white board, “Responsibility”.

He then went on for half an hour, explaining to us that we cannot truly operate any type of business and be successful until we decide to become responsible for absolutely everything in our lives.

It was then I realised how much as a society we point the finger at circumstances, people and events as being the culprit for holding us back in life.

Apart from it being vital for any success in your life, taking personal responsibility for everything in your life gives you are real feeling of confidence. Things really do begin to materialise when you become accountable for your own journey and success.

Where Simplicity Can Help

I once had a discussion with a fellow artist who explained to me that she felt intimidated when approaching the canvas to commence working on a new painting.

This type of intimidation can be reduced greatly if you simply do some solid preparation work.

So in other words, if you paint dogs… go take a lot of photos of dogs. Get familiar with the different angles, shades, colours and character.

Then do a series of sketches. Determine how you are going to use the space on the canvas. In other words, get your blueprint plan together. Instead of just having a photo of one dog, consider having your sketches close by to refer to. By doing this you can break your work down into smaller chunks and not get so overwhelmed with having to complete a painting based on just one small photo.

Don’t Be Afraid To Get It Wrong

I know from experience that your confidence will grow when you can eliminate the fear of getting things wrong. And when you do get it wrong, avoid brushing it under the covers. Expose it for what it is: a real genuine attempt that didn’t go to plan.

Just being confident is ok, but you will really feel the power of your confidence when you out it into action.

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