I receive so much poor customer service these days that it really stands out when I receive great customer service. I put together a list of 5 ways for artists to provide great customer service for their clients.

You have to think like a retailer when selling your art. Is it difficult to find Amazon, or Walmart, or Target? Of course not. These retailers are easy to find, and easy to buy from - so why shouldn't you, as an artist, be easy to find and easy to buy from? Artists are art retailers because we trade art for money, the same as any other retail outlet.

Your email list is your biggest asset if you are a small business owner, or simply an artist that wants to sell more paintings. Your list could literally be your Golden Ticket to more art sales.

Selling art, like any other product, is a numbers game. The more people that see your art, the greater your chances of a sale. So it makes sense that the larger your email list, the larger the audience for your work, and the greater chance for you to make a sale. Simple, right?

"Morning 3" is an acrylic painting completed on a 36" high x 72" long 1-1/2" deep gallery wrapped canvas. This piece is reminiscent of a landscape painting. I imagine it as the morning sun breaking free from the early morning darkness. High contrasts of dark and light values create an implied spatial distance.

A question from a viewer asks, "How do you finish the edges of your canvases?" There are two options for finishing canvas edges:

1. Continue the image from the front around the edges.
2. Paint the edges another color.

This painting is done on a 30x30x1.5 gallery wrapped canvas. I had in mind before beginning a landscape type format with a ribbon of light coming through. I actually used a Wolf Kahn painting as an example for the concept and color combination.

Artists are an amazing group of people.We are trained to see things that others, without the same training, don't see. On a recent trip to Florida I was looking at boats in the harbor. I saw the shapes that the light makes on the highlights and the shape and color of the shadows on the opposite side of the boat. I tend to see almost everything in terms of shapes, values and colors. My wife sees a boat. And most others with no artistic training just see a boat. Hey, nice boat!

When I travel to teach abstract painting workshops across the US, I cannot lug around a bunch of canvases to do my painting demonstrations on. I carry with me gesso covered watercolor paper instead because it is lighter and takes up less space in my portfolio case. Consequently, I have some paintings that I don't sell in my studio. To put these paintings in exhibitions, I have two options for presentation: 1. I can frame the paintings or 2. I can mount the paintings on wood panels.

The title of this post is taken from a Miles Davis quote that reads, "Don't play what you see, play what you don't see." I modified it for my own use as a painter. I was recently reminded of this quote while I watched a 12 phenom play jazz piano. His name is Joey Alexander. He is one of the most talented jazz musicians in the world and he is only 12 years old. As I watched him play I thought, he is playing what he doesn't see - there was no music in front of him. His eyes were closed as he improvised the notes and chords; I was spellbound. 

As painters we sometimes analyze what we do while we are painting. This approach for me is detrimental to my results. I prefer to empty everything out onto the canvas and then analyze and edit it later. This is directly related to my "Paint First, Then Think" philosophy, whereby you paint everything first with no analyzation of the results (Paint First-right brain). Once I feel I am finished, I retreat to my thinking chair to analyze the results (Then Think-left brain). I use both sides of my brain, but at separate times during the process.