Hosting an open studio event.
Opening your studio can be a fun way to share new work with collectors and friends. This is a unique opportunity for people to get an inside look at the nuts and bolts of life in the studio.
During my pregnancy its been hard to stay away from painting – but this was a great event to plan. Its worth giving yourself a few weeks to organized inventory and display. Design and print invitations and gather a collector list!
Its time consuming and for most artists its a herculean effort to tidy their studio space. I wanted to open my home studio to a few close friends and collectors so as the nesting instinct kicked in I embarked on cleaning my house from top to bottom and basically having rooms open for guest to see my paintings hanging throughout. Most artists have their open studios in the lead up to the holidays, as our baby is due early October 2014, this wasn’t going to work for me. It was a great way to get organized and work is ready to send to gallery’s for the fourth quarter sales period.
Its worth mentioning that all works are gallery ready and there is no discounting or undercutting gallery prices, I rely heavily on my gallery’s for support and sales throughout the year. For collectors this an opportunity to visit, see whats coming up and hear first hand what challenges and successes have been happening. Gallery’s are showroom ready year round….and I am always happy to meet clients should you request this. Some collectors like to meet the artist, some don’t. In the same way some artists are sociable – and some like to be reclusive. I’m a big advocate of being a recluse especially in the phase of developing a new body of work…its the only way for me to get stuff done and its important to have my own space, free of criticism, opinion or interruption.
An open studio is not a public event! Its important to keep the guest list, invitation only. My invitation gave guests a preview of Landscape, Seascape and Botanical paintings and a special preview of some works planed for my 2015 Figurative Show (March 6th, 2015 – save the date, more details to follow).
For more information on how to host an open studio?
Listen to this great interview with artist Melinda Cootsona. Melinda is author of the book “Open Your Studio: Nine Steps to A Successful Art Event”.
Email for price information on any of the photographed works of art.
claire@cjk-studio.com
