"Paintings With Personality"

You have made some very good points here, Judy. I would think the attendees at quality shows would be more willing to make a purchase.

My aim is to improve my art with each painting that I do.

Thanks for your article.

Thank you both for your comments. Well said

Its always good to hear that you should have integrity and commitment to high standards when creating works to share out for others to see and purchase. Far too many have given way to mediocrity and gimmicks for the fast bucks. We will all be encouraged by this post. And I might add that some may be intimidated to show your work if the quality outshines many in that circle. Aiming high and climbing that ladder can be a very lonesome journey. Thats why your integrity is all the company you have. So in the end be proud of yourself and what you do.

Judy, you have some excellent points, there is likely at least another blog or two on this subject. But the surface of this subject is scratched nicely!

Shows in which artists compete for a prize have always puzzled me. Why do these artist compete? Is it their insecurity that seeks recognition that they personally have some worth? Is it just part of marketing ones product so you can make more money by presenting collectors with "proof" of your work's value?

I once asked 100 people to review 500 of my images and pick out which one they personally thought was "best" (whatever that meant to them), which one they thought was second best and third best. I told them there would be a random draw for all those who participated and the winner would get one of my paintings. The results were interesting in that perhaps 20 percent of them agreed on the same image that they thought was best. When it came to second and third best only one or two percent ever shared in the same choice.

I was left with the belief that appreciation of art is purely subjective and personal; that all art is unique; that no one's art is better than another. It is all just art.

I have been an artist my entire life, not because I chose to be one but because there was a creative void inside me that had to be filled. As a businessman I used this creativity compulsion to develop products that made millions of dollars. Because of this, I have never had to make a living from the selling my images. Perhaps, if I had had to, I might better understand why artists enter into competitions.

hi Judy -

the only high powered and quality based show that my art is every in now is when a person no matter who they are or where they live - sits down at their own computer or looks at the smart phone or device in their hand and goes to my online art galleries -

I have experienced people doing this in many places throughout Manhattan and a few times on the subway ride to Manhattan from Forest Hills, New York where I live -

the latest was extremely memorable -

I gave my card to this lady and she went right to the site of my galleries and started looking and then we had a conversation right there in the subway - the ultimate social experience for any artist or business person in today's world -

this lady is an architect who has been here for 4 months - from Egypt and whose husband is a surgeon (presumably the reason that she moved here from Egypt) and she does not travel to the city (what we in Forest Hills refer to Manhattan although we are also a part of New York City as well) that often but she was on her way today - and she does most of her work on the internet with companies that give her assignments - at this point from Egypt -

her reaction to my work was very positive and I am sure that out of all the distractions that could possibly be pulling her away from my work - she instead remain steadfastly viewing more and more of my art (there are over 350,000 images in my online galleries at this point in time) and I discovered that her sister who is back in Egypt is an artist as well which gave me the opportunity for me to tell the lady about the free offer for 3 galleries on the site where my art is hosted on for her to upload her work for other people to see all over the world -

this is the most direct and powerful way to have people view my work and perhaps it might also work well for some of the people who are reading this comment -

it is also a very positive act for me to introduce my art on the Imagekind site where my art is hosted because I am also giving a chance for over 55,000 other artists to have their work viewed as well - (something of a networking effect where everyone's viewers get to see everyone else's work in addition to mine)

so from a certain perspective - the group shows - are not about lesser quality in my mine - in fact they instead allow the viewers greater diversity and perhaps to see work that they might not otherwise see and therefor expand their minds as to what artists are working on and perhaps also see other types of work that they may enjoy and want to collect or invest in -

things are changing all of the time and I would hate to think that a person - any person who liked my work and began their adventures of buying and collecting or investing in art started and stopped their exploration with just my work - (although I have enough images for anyone to do that - 350,000 images up at this point in time) it is also nice to know that my efforts might support and encourage other artists who are attempting to get their work seen and sold and this makes this system all the more powerful and enjoyable for me -

consider this - every single artist who has their work on Imagekind - also gets the benefit of the fact that I have a gallery presence on aertnet.com

http://www.artnet.com/galleries/the-bebirian-art-collection/

and they do not have to pay for their galleries to gain this benefit -

of course there may not be anyone here who reads this that understands or agrees with this but that is OK since the differences in all of us is what makes the world that much more interesting -

in fact I actually have over 200,000 more images to upload waiting on my computers and I create newer images every day just about - so I am sure that the pace at which people learn about and make purchases of prints and canvases of my work will only quicken over time and for that I am ready for most everyone with more and more of what they came for - art -

every artist has lesser or greater works that they create during their lifetime of working but that is not to say that someone may purchase one of those lesser paintings and love it just as much as someone who has purchased that artists greatest work - their is still no accounting for taste and for knowing which piece will appeal to any one person -

Walter :-)

Hi Mary,
Welcome back to art. I would say... try them. If you don't get in, you have learned that you need to work harder. Ask a reliable friend what it is that you might work on the hardest. Learning what you need to do is never wasted money.

Judy - there is a new live streaming social media site that might be easier and a lot let time consuming where you can actually get people from all over the world to discover you art -

https://blab.im

it is free for anyone to join and I have met people from all over the world during the last few months - you need a twitter account to sign on and that is a good social system to be on as well -

and once you and a fe other artists become familiar with the platform there it might be nice to do some blabs together if you would like that -