Lake County >> Artists who can make a living through their artwork alone are few and far between. But master potter Gregg Lindsley is one of those fortunate few. In two weeks he’ll be helping others do the same through the Art of Marketing Art, a class organized by the Lake County Regional Economic Development Committee for the Lake Leadership Summit. The class will teach artists new skills to potentially increase their art sales.
Lindsley will go into detail about the work artists should be selling, where to find their market, who exactly their market is and “various problems that people have along the way in trying to make and sell art,” he said. “It’s not as easy as one might think.”
With over 40 years of pottery experience, Lindsley knows what he’s talking about. Through his business, Earth and Fire Pottery, he has a line that includes mugs, butter dishes, mixing bowls, casserole dishes and many other items. There’s a uniformity to his designs, and Lindsley’s customers have an expectation when it comes to his work. He can also throw mugs in three minutes. These are all important aspects of his business model. Combined, they make for a steady income through art sales.
In order to make a living at art, someone has to generate roughly $2,000 to $3,000 a month from their work. “I have a lot of experience on how to do that,” Lindsley said.
It has been said time and time again: when art thrives, the community thrives. And it’s a position backed by data. “Budget numbers bear that out, for real,” said Rebecca Southwick of the Lake County Regional Economic Development Committee. “The gross national product for art and artists is roughly commensurate to construction.”
So the committee decided to organize an event which would give artists the tools to sell their work. They reasoned if they fostered the arts in Lake County, the magnetism of the area could grow. “It turns out that it really does make a community a place where people want to live and work,” Southwick added.
For the class, they turned to Lindsley, who has an obvious knack for selling his work. Southwick’s husband, an artist himself, was experiencing trouble finding buyers for his larger art pieces. Lindsely informed him that if he wanted to make a decent profit off his work, he needed to focus on smaller oil paintings. One of his suggestions was to make iPhone cover renderings of his work.
“He has a different take on not creating art simply for yourself but also having an eye toward, if you really want to be an artist and live off your art, you need to have an audience,” Southwick said.
While he hasn’t instructed a marketing class for the Lake Leadership Summit before, Lindsley does have years of experience teaching. In the early 2000s he worked as the ceramics teacher for Mendocino College. Since leaving that job, he’s been instructing pottery classes twice a week in Finley. He’s looking forward to discussing marketing. “It’s going to be wonderful. I’m going to open up and talk to folks and then we’re going to talk about it,” he said. “Whenever you teach a class you have to gauge the interest level and expertise of a class. Teaching is an organic manner.”
The class will encompass much of what Lindsley has learned over the past four decades. “You can’t lose sight of what you want to do,” he explained. “If you listen to your customers, and also yourself … you have a better chance at succeeding.”
Though she’s not an artist herself, Southwick approaches the matter in much the same frame of mind. She feels many people seem averse to the idea of mixing commerce and artwork. While creating art for the sake of art is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, turning a profit can be helpful not only for the artist, but beneficial on a larger scale. “A lot of art is supposed to be pure and you do it for yourself,” she said. “If you’re trying to live off of it, you’ve got have an eye toward someone else’s opinions and someone else’s take.”
It can be difficult for artists who spend hour after hour on a piece. They just can’t get their money’s worth. “It’s easy to own a grocery store because everybody wants food,” Lindsley pointed out. “If you’re looking to make a living at it [art], there are certain things you need to do.”
Lindsley said the problem lies in finding a buyer for a work more so than becoming a locally-known artist. The biggest hurtle to overcome is the economy, considering art usually isn’t on the list of items to buy when money is tight. “There aren’t that many people in Lake County with lots of money,” Lindsley added.
He hopes artists will walk away from the Art of Marketing Art with “a better understanding at how to make money at what they do.”
Southwick urges artists to sign up for the class. “Bottom line is, our committee sees such stellar art … from here in Lake County and it breaks our heart that it’s not as sustainable as it could be and it doesn’t have a wider audience,” she said.
The registration deadline for the Art of Marketing Art is Jan 4. The class will be held Wednesday Jan 13 from 5:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. It costs $20 and is limited to 25 people. Sign up at www.embracethelake.com.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
