Windsor Market - Interior design showcase
 

I am in final negotiations with a local designer showcase to set up a studio within this market place.

Here in Tulsa, across the street from the major mall is "The Windsor Market". Within this large retail space are over one hundred designers and merchants displaying their wares for home interiors. As you meandor through this open space you see mostly mid to high end furniture, fabrics, and all manner of household nicknaks. There is also a upscale restaurant. Literally thousands of people pass through this market each week.

The displays are not manned. If you want to purchase a piece you bring it to the front area where the purchase is made and the sales tax is collected. The market settles up every two weeks and collects 8% of the sale price. Space is leased at $3.25 and $3.50 per sq. foot depending on the term of the lease, 6 or 12 months.

I plan to display my portraits and other art for sale. I will also set up my easel and paint. On certain high traffic days I plan to bring in a model and paint.

The market has displayed a good amount of enthusiasm for this idea and has offered me a very prime spot with a huge north facing window wall right outside the restaurant.

another view ...

Most of what is displayed in the way of art are the typical prints and giclees. There are very few pieces of original art and certainly nothing like what I have proposed to do. I have to paint somewhere so why not here? I can paint peaches and pears when not doing a commission.

This area at the top of the stairs is a sitting area for the husbands and whoever doesn't want to shop. Just around the corner from this spot is the restaurant and my position.

Wow, I wish there was someplace like that in Seattle! Sounds like a very good arrangement for you. Let us know how it goes!

Mike,

This is a fabulous idea and I wish you much success. If you have not already thought of this, may I recommend you take some promotional material in the form of greeting cards.

I have taken photos of every painting ever created and had it developed at Costco at a very reasonable rate. I glued these photos on large, high quality, off white card stock and placed each card with its envelope in a separate plastic protective envelope. Under the photo I handwrote my signature and the title and on the back there is information on how to contact me and visit my website.

I sell these cards at $3 dollars, very affordable when you consider the quality and size. Furthermore I have found that people love to take a card home after they have chatted with me about a work that caught their eye and it acts as a reminder of my work and how to contact me. It has worked wonderfully for me, so may be it will work for you as well.

Good Luck!

Thank you Enzie, that's a good idea. I am getting excited and maybe a little nervous about working in public. But, I am basically a ham and a show off so I think I will adjust. Thanks again for the idea.

Mike,

How's it going in the Shopping Plaza?
I'd love an update if you'd be so gracious.

Oh Valerie,

I was hoping no one would ask. I did not renew my lease after six months.

I just went back and re-read the thread Public Commentary which gives a bit of my experiences at the market. I wish I could have stayed, I really enjoyed it there. I felt like I gave it a pretty good shot. I worked there at least 3-4 hours a day almost every day. On the busy days I was usually there all day long. After a full six months I had received not one single commission. As I look back, I never even got close. Even my attempt at teaching a drawing class, first to children and then to anyone, did not meet with any success.

I've tried to analyze why I was not successful (in fact miserably unsuccessful), carefull to avoid the very obvious. I'm pretty sure I could have sold a lot of 16x20 oil portraits on linen for $100-$300. There were enough people who were genuinely interested, right up to the point where they discoverd how much an oil portrait cost. I think I could have done some portraits of dogs and cats, I got a lot of inquiries about that. But there seemed to be a disconnect with a guy, who would sit in this public place and do his work, and the amount of money that he was asking for the product.

I know there are many people who sit in public places and are successfully creating portraits of people on the spot. Twenty minute sketches for $25-$50. This is much different from what I was attempting. I was creating my work, painting in public, displaying my finished examples and asking 100 times that amount.

For this crowd, for this artist, for six months, it didn't work. Ultimately I had to give myself the boot. This was created in the one drawing class I gave to a 75 year old woman.

Mike,

You are an extraordinary man with the heart of a lion.


;)

Mike,

I'm sorry to hear about this. Though it may be too soon to tell, what do you think might have made it successful? Not working there, but having a lackey-type represent a display of your works? Not working there, but representing your work yourself? Having a similar (or modified) situation in a higher-income area?

My sympathies
Lisa

It could have to do with your choice of venue. If this is a designer's showcase your paintings might be viewed in that context. Decoration goes for a lot less than Art.

Valerie,

Thanks for the nice sentiment, a common theme once uttered by all my ex-wives. But, appreciated nontheless.

Lisa,

It's a difficult thing to measure. I believe that the act of painting in public was a definite plus. A lot of people seemed to be intimidated by what I was doing, but, I don't think that type would be a customer anyway. I continue to believe that, with some exceptions, the principal can sell the goods better than anyone else. Also, I have been involved in sales long enough to know that my presence was not a deterrent.

As far as location, this was the high income area. I continue to believe that there were enough people genuinely interested in the product, but they could not overcome the sticker shock. Had I got one simple commission per month I would have considered it a good start and gladly stayed on.

The interesting variables would be if I had shown a much higher quality of work (very much targeting children) or, if the same set up were taken to Charleston, NYC, or Atlanta. Being generous to myself, I would say that the public is really not that hard to impress in terms of quality. Committing real money to a portrait, instead of a used F150 pickup truck, is a cultural issue that will take more than six months to overcome.

Marvin,

I now see your comment having already written the above. Yours is an interesting observation, and, it may have been a large part of it. I think if I had not been there to elaborate and educate, my paintings would have been completely misunderstood and dismissed. I was always trying to overcome this context problem.

I really thought that if I could get in the face of enough people I could sell the goods, little by little. Up to that point I had been working at my home studio which, save for a few knuckleheads and degenerates, had no traffic at all.

Mike,
Geez, you make me laugh! And considering I knocked my Mac Monitor off the desk this morning while trying to fix a broken mouse, and dropped my protein shake in my lap not 20 mins later, that's saying something!

I know about the lion heart 'cause I have been a street vendor for 20 years. I have painted children's faces for $5 a pop. Not portraits, mind you, actually held their beautiful cheeks in my hands and put paint on them in the shape of unicorns, dragons, etc. I made tons of money, lots of friends, and miss it alot. This 50 year old body will not take the hours of county fairs anymore and I thank it for that.

Sometimes I'd make $1500 per day if I was in the right market. It needed to be where the Dad would gently "boot" (for you) the kids in the fanny and say, "Sure, go ahead and paint 'em!"

One time I drove 12 hrs to San Diego, attended an up scale fine art show, thought I'd wow them with my face painting. I spent 4 days, tons of money and took in $3.00 THREE BUCKS! These well off people put the money in college funds rather than let them have a little fun. Interesting! Good lesson learned for sure!

Anyway...soon to hit the show circuit with more "real work" at fine art shows, and I'm excited. This time I'm being very careful to have the right work at the right price and lots of options for the customers.