Art World News

With Mystery Tattoos, Sustainably Minded Sculptures, and Gold-Accented Concert Posters, the Seattle Art Fair Revels in an Eclectic Selection

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

At this year’s Seattle Art Fair, there is art for every budget—including those who literally can’t afford to spend a penny, courtesy of Dinos Chapman, who is offering free tattoos of new works of art he is making up on the spot. The catch? Recipients aren’t allowed to see the design until after its completion.

“You pay nothing—just you might have something horrible on your arm,” Chapman told Artnet News.

The British artist, now based in Los Angeles, has done performances at fairs before, drawing insulting portraits and defacing bank notes with brother Jake Chapman, with whom he split professionally last year. But the Seattle Art Fair (which kicked off on July 27 and runs through through July 30 at the Lumen Field Event Center) was the first one to agree to let him set up a glory-hole style tattoo station—titled Mistakes Made, Nothing Learned—with the only restriction being that the tattoos not contain anything obscene.

Kate Lovejoy gets a tattoo designed by Dinos Chapman, site unseen, through a glory hole at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Ben Yan, courtesy of the Seattle Art Fair.

Kate Lovejoy gets a tattoo designed by Dinos Chapman, sight unseen, through a glory hole at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo: Ben Yan, courtesy of the Seattle Art Fair.

Chapman has been in the hot seat himself—and wasn’t so lucky when he let a tattoo artist and friend who is responsible for most of his 13 tattoos ink him with the design of his choosing.

“It took four hours, and I didn’t know what it was until it was finished. He managed to convince me he’d tattooed a cock on my chest. But it was actually a devil’s anus, and I was slightly disappointed as I had gotten used to the idea of a cock,” Chapman recalled. (That said, it’s not even his least favorite tattoo. That would be the words “I’m with idiot” on Chapman’s bicep, below a finger pointing to his chest.)

At the Seattle fair, with local tattoo artist Colin O’Shaughnessy Tucker manning the tattoo gun, Chapman expects to execute 18 to 20 tattoos during the run of the fair, drawing a new design on the spot for each participant. (All of the slots were full ahead of the VIP preview thanks to pre-registration.)

Kate Lovejoy sees her tattoo designed by Dinos Chapman for the first time at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

Fairgoer Kate Lovejoy, an education director at an area art school, signed up because “it seemed like an invitation to interact with regret,” she told Artnet News. “I enjoyed the process of thinking about whether I had regrets or not.”

In the end, there wasn’t so much chagrin as joy: “It’s beautiful! I love it so much!” Lovejoy proclaimed after pulling her arm back through the hole to see the finished tattoo of a strange geometric creature.

It was Chapman’s first visit to the Seattle Art Fair, which launched in 2015 and is now in its seventh edition. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the fair returned in 2022 under new management by Art Market Productions, which took over from the late founder Paul Allen’s now-defunct Vulcan Arts and Entertainment.

The Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

The Seattle Art Fair. Photo: Sarah Cascone.

This year’s outing features some 70 international dealers—down from over 100 exhibitors pre-Covid—hailing from as far afield as Japan, Argentina, and the U.K., as well as a strong contingent of Pacific Northwest and West Coast galleries.

Perhaps the most unexpected was Fotowat Atelier, of Isfahan, Iran, which was selling jewel-like miniatures by owner Mostafa Fotovat, his daughter Atefeh Fotovat, and his other students.

“These are done on camel bone with natural pigments: lapis lazuli, skin of pomegranate, saffron,” Atefeh Fotovat told Artnet News.

Persian miniatures from Fotovat Atelier at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

At only their third U.S. fair after outings in San Francisco and the Hamptons, the gallery was doing brisk business for delicate figurative and animal paintings and decorated boxes, priced between $500 and $8,500.

Across the fair, most of the offerings were contemporary, with a smattering of mid-to-late 20th-century works dotting the aisles. The admitted “odd man out” had to be Chicago’s Galerie Fledermaus, where a rare print of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss priced at $125,000 was the centerpiece.

Jerry Suqi of Chicago's Galerie Fledermaus shows off rare portfolio of Gustav Klimt prints. at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

Jerry Suqi of Chicago’s Galerie Fledermaus shows off a rare portfolio of Gustav Klimt prints at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo: Sarah Cascone.

“We show a mix of historic and contemporary with a unified aesthetic that happens to span 150 years,” director Jerry Suqi told Artnet News.

The Kiss was on offer alongside the full portfolio of calotype prints the artist had produced between 1908 and 1914 using as many as 18 etched-glass plates to create each image. But among the booth’s early sales was the $18,500 gilded charcoal drawing Sofia Summoning Spring (2023), a darkly romantic figurative work by 33-year-old artist Alessandra Maria.

Sofia Summoning Spring (2023). Courtesy of Galerie Fledermaus.” width=”1024″ height=”900″ srcset=”https://www.mecreates.com/story/news/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/dsc_7935-2-1024×900.jpeg 1024w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/dsc_7935-2-300×264.jpeg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/dsc_7935-2-1536×1350.jpeg 1536w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/dsc_7935-2-2048×1800.jpeg 2048w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/dsc_7935-2-50×44.jpeg 50w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/dsc_7935-2-1920×1687.jpeg 1920w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Alessandra Maria, Sofia Summoning Spring (2023). Courtesy of Galerie Fledermaus.

The fair also boasted an impressive selection of special projects, including a hanging mobile in the form of a model of the solar system by Jeffrey Gibson titled The Many Worlds, presented by the ICA San Francisco and New York gallery Sikkema Jenkins.

The impressive piece, which was was always going to be a showstopper, was even buzzier thanks to Gibson having been announced earlier that day as the U.S. representative for the 2024 Venice Biennale.

The Many Worlds, presented by the ICA San Francisco and New York gallery Sikkema Jenkins at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Ben Yan, courtesy of the Seattle Art Fair.” width=”731″ height=”1024″ srcset=”https://www.mecreates.com/story/news/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Many-Worlds-1-1-731×1024.jpg 731w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/The-Many-Worlds-1-1-214×300.jpg 214w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/The-Many-Worlds-1-1-1097×1536.jpg 1097w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/The-Many-Worlds-1-1-1463×2048.jpg 1463w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/The-Many-Worlds-1-1-36×50.jpg 36w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/The-Many-Worlds-1-1-1372×1920.jpg 1372w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/The-Many-Worlds-1-1-scaled.jpg 1829w” sizes=”(max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px”>

Jeffrey Gibson, The Many Worlds, presented by the ICA San Francisco and New York gallery Sikkema Jenkins at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo: Ben Yan, courtesy of the Seattle Art Fair.

Another standouts in that sector was Seattle-born Marita Dingus’s Where the Castoffs Grow Materials (2022–23), a series of suspended figurative sculptures crafted by the feminist African American artist from found materials.

“Marita has been a very important artist here in Seattle for more than 30 years,” said dealer Sarah Traver, founder of Seattle’s Traver Gallery. “People have come to know that she uses found and discarded materials, so she gets gifted a lot of things when people are cleaning out attics or garages. And Marita, more than any other artist I know, really embodies her work. She makes all her own clothes and she’s really conscious of her own consumption.”

As the first day of the fair drew to a close, Traver was pleased with the initial results, citing sales of several of Dingus’s works, which start at $800 and go up to $20,000. “It’s been really busy in here,” she said.

Where the Castoffs Grow Materials, presented by Seattle’s Traver Gallery at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Sarah Cascone.” width=”768″ height=”1024″ srcset=”https://www.mecreates.com/story/news/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_0747-768×1024.jpg 768w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/IMG_0747-225×300.jpg 225w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/IMG_0747-1152×1536.jpg 1152w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/IMG_0747-1536×2048.jpg 1536w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/IMG_0747-38×50.jpg 38w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/IMG_0747-1440×1920.jpg 1440w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/IMG_0747-scaled.jpg 1920w” sizes=”(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px”>

Marita Dingus, Where the Castoffs Grow Materials (2022–23), presented by Seattle’s Traver Gallery at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo: Sarah Cascone.

Walking the aisles on the bustling opening night, which attracted 5,000 visitors, you would never know that the fair’s future had once been uncertain.

The evening featured spirited live performances of local artist Tariqa Waters’s new educational TV talk show, Thank You Ms Pam. A large, boisterous crowd gathered to watch acts roller-skate dancing to the tune of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” at a colorful performance lounge, which featured a Lucy-from-Peanuts-style booth advertising psychiatric help for 5¢.

Thank You Ms Pam at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo by Ben Yan, courtesy of the Seattle Art Fair.” width=”1024″ height=”768″ srcset=”https://www.mecreates.com/story/news/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MS.PAM-2-1024×768.jpg 1024w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/MS.PAM-2-300×225.jpg 300w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/MS.PAM-2-1536×1152.jpg 1536w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/MS.PAM-2-2048×1536.jpg 2048w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/MS.PAM-2-50×38.jpg 50w, https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2023/07/MS.PAM-2-1920×1440.jpg 1920w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>

Tariqa Waters, Thank You Ms Pam at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo: Ben Yan, courtesy of the Seattle Art Fair.

There were even crowd-control measures in place at New York’s Harman Projects, where master screen printer Chuck Sperry—famed for his concert posters for acts like the Queens of the Stone Age, the Who, and Dave Matthews Band—was releasing print editions of five new works. The artist had also delved into his archive for the occasion, selling rare test prints and back stock of older designs.

“Chuck prints them all by hand. He makes his own emulsions and custom colors. It’s pretty fascinating,” dealer Ken Harman told Artnet News.

Sperry’s poster career began 30 years ago, but about 12 years ago, travels in Europe inspired him to begin creating his own independent designs, influenced by the work of artists like Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Klimt.

Gallery director Raul Barquet, artist Chuck Sperry, and gallery owner Ken Harman at the booth of New York’s Harmon Gallery at the Seattle Art Fair. Photo: Sarah Cascone.

“I’m using oil-based inks with gold and silver metallics that I mix from powdered pigment, with colored glazes overlaying transparently,” Sperry told Artnet News. “I like to think that I’m elevating the concert poster to fine art. And it’s very gratifying when the fans of my older work get turned on to what I’m doing now.”

Brice Bielaski of Auburn, Washington, got to the fair at 4 p.m. and was still waiting for his turn to make a purchase four hours later. “I’ll be happy with anything they have left,” he told Artnet News. ” All of Chuck’s work is very collectible.”

“We have more,” gallery director Raul Barquet assured Artnet News. “We were expecting this!”

Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.

Seattle Art Fair 2023 opens to ‘great excitement’

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

A ‘Thoroughly American Opera’ and More: The Week in Reporter Reads

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

Articles from around The Times, narrated just for you.

This weekend, listen to a collection of articles from around The New York Times, read aloud by the reporters who wrote them.

Has Scott Joplin’s ‘Thoroughly American Opera’ Found Its Moment?

Written and narrated by Zachary Woolfe

Has Scott Joplin’s ‘Thoroughly American Opera’ Found Its Moment?

“He has created an entirely new phase of musical art and has produced a thoroughly American opera.”

The anonymous critic who wrote these bold words didn’t have a performance of Scott Joplin’s “Treemonisha” to evaluate, or a recording. In June 1911, all the reviewer had to go on was Joplin’s 230-page piano-vocal score.

“Its production would prove an interesting and potent achievement,” the critic added, “and it is to be hoped that sooner or later, it will be thus honored.”

It turned out to be decidedly later.

More than half a century passed before the opera finally premiered. When it did, its brilliance, shortcomings and unfinished aspects made it a work begging to be completed — giving creative artists room to experiment boldly with this “new phase of musical art.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Was the Rolled-Up Painting in the Dog Walker’s Closet Worth Millions?

Written and narrated by John Leland

The painting, which is almost six feet tall, now sits inside Mark Herman’s apartment. Attempts to authenticate it have so far not moved Sotheby’s, the auction house.OK McCausland for The New York Times

Was the Rolled-Up Painting in the Dog Walker’s Closet Worth Millions?

In March 2022, Mark Herman, a dog walker and recreational drug enthusiast in Upper Manhattan, came into possession of a dog, a painting and a story.

The dog was Phillipe, a 17-year-old toy poodle that belonged to Mr. Herman’s only client, an 87-year-old retired law professor named Isidore Silver.

The painting, which belonged to Mr. Silver, may be a lost work by the artist Chuck Close, whose canvases once sold for as much as $4.8 million. Or it may not.

Therein lies the story. On a recent afternoon, Mr. Herman offered the Times reporter John Leland a broken chair in his cluttered apartment and began a circuitous account of friendship, loss and a commercial art market not meant for people like him.

◆ ◆ ◆

Yoko Ono and the Dakota

Written and narrated by Anna Kodé

Word that the pop culture icon Yoko Ono has left the fabled Upper West Side apartment building that she defined for a generation has led to reflection on her impact as a resident there for 50 years.Derek Hudson/Getty Images

Yoko Ono and the Dakota

Much is transient about New York City real estate. Buildings are demolished, cafes turn into Duane Reades and rents go up. But for the last 50 years, there was a constant — Yoko Ono lived in the Dakota. She stayed even after that tragic December day in 1980 when John Lennon was fatally shot right outside the building.

For years, tourists and New Yorkers alike trekked uptown, hoping to catch a glimpse or have the chance to meet Ms. Ono. Her presence sustained the mystique of the Dakota — already well known as the coveted quarters for celebrities and artists when she and Mr. Lennon moved into the Upper West Side apartment complex in 1973.

After half a century of eccentricity, opulence and tragedy, Ms. Ono has moved out of New York City. For many, it signals that yet another link to old New York — the one filled with grit and glamour, run by artists and musicians — is missing.

The thought of New York without Ms. Ono is a New York with a little less magic.

◆ ◆ ◆

They Checked Out Pride Books in Protest. It Backfired.

Written and narrated by Jill Cowan

The Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library, where two women checked out nearly all of the books on a Pride Month display as an act of protest.John Francis Peters for The New York Times

They Checked Out Pride Books in Protest. It Backfired.

Adrianne Peterson, the manager of the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library, was actually a little embarrassed by the modest size of her Pride Month display in June. Between staff vacations and organizing workshops for graduating high school students, it had fallen through the cracks and fell short of what she had hoped to offer.

Yet the kiosk across from the checkout counter, marked by a Progress Pride rainbow flag, was enough to thrust the suburban library onto the front lines of the nation’s culture wars.

Ms. Peterson, who has run the library branch since 2012 and has highlighted books for Pride Month for the better part of a decade, was taken aback when she read an email last month from two neighborhood residents. They informed her that they had checked out nearly all of the books on the Pride display and would not return them unless the library permanently removed what they considered “inappropriate content.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Iranian Mothers Choose Exile for Sake of Their Daughters

Written and narrated by Cora Engelbrecht

Sima Moradbeigi fled Iran with her husband and daughter, with the aid of a human smuggler, after being shot by state security forces.Emily Garthwaite for The New York Times

Iranian Mothers Choose Exile for Sake of Their Daughters

One rainy spring evening, a young Iranian mother with a mangled arm, her husband and their 3-year-old daughter met a smuggler near the Iraqi border who gave them a stern ultimatum: Ensure the child’s silence or leave her behind.

The mother, Sima Moradbeigi, 26, recalled that she had dashed to a pharmacy for a bottle of cough syrup to drug her daughter into a stupor.

Under the cover of night, the family followed the smuggler out of Iran along mountain paths, sometimes crouching or crawling through muddy scrubland to avoid border guards stalking their route with flashlights. Hours later, Ms. Moradbeigi and her husband said, they arrived safely at a mosque outside the city of Sulaimaniya in the northern Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Their daughter, Juan, barely stirred.

Some mothers have concluded that it is better to risk their lives fleeing Iran to spare their daughters a lifetime under the authoritarian regime. These are the stories of three women who made that difficult choice.

Our Reporter Reads are produced by Tally Abecassis, Parin Behrooz, Sarah Diamond, Jack D’Isidoro, Adrienne Hurst and Kate Winslett.

Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Ryan Wegner, Julia Simon and Isabella Anderson.

The 4 Ps Of Marketing

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

The four Ps of marketing—product, price, place and promotion—serve as a framework for marketing success. Sometimes referred to as the marketing mix, the four Ps help guide businesses in the creation of winning business ideas that deliver what customers want, where and how they want it at a price that’s most appealing.

Building a solid marketing plan structured around the four Ps can help you increase awareness for your brand and its products or services, drive sales and achieve overall stronger bottom-line results.

What Are the Four Ps of Marketing?

The idea of a marketing mix was first popularized in the 1950s by Neil Bordon, a Professor of Advertising at Harvard. Drawing from Bordon’s work along with the work of other prominent marketing and business leaders, E. Jerome McCarthy introduced the four Ps of marketing in his book Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach.

You may recall from your Intro to Marketing college course that product, price, place and promotion are the four Ps of marketing. While the four Ps have been around for decades, the concept is just as relevant to businesses today as it was when the four Ps were first introduced.

The First P: Product

The first P in the four Ps of marketing is product. A product can come in a variety of forms, such as a physical product, digital product, service, event or experience. The product is the actual item you are selling; the features or attributes you include or build into your products can help you differentiate your offerings from your competitors.

There are many dimensions that you must consider when deciding which products to develop and sell. Does your product solve a problem? Or does the product fulfill consumers’ wants and desires? Why would someone want to buy it? Product quality, design, packaging, variety, adaptability, sustainability, safety and production must all be considered.

Your marketing plan should outline the key features of your product, what makes it unique and who your target audience is for that product. This will help ensure you meet the needs and desires of your ideal audience.

The Second P: Price

The second P in the four Ps of marketing is price. Naturally, you need to price your products in a way that allows you to operate profitably. However, pricing is far more complex than calculating the cost of goods and adding on an additional amount that will let you meet your desired profit margin. How you price a product will convey its relative value and quality.

Walmart uses low-cost pricing to attract a broad audience of value-driven shoppers, while Saks Fifth Avenue sustains much higher prices, which is common among luxury goods sellers who target wealthy buyers. If you decide to serve different types of customers, you’ll need to develop a customer segmentation strategy, which will include pricing strategies for each segment you serve.

There’s also a psychological factor in product pricing, which is why products are often priced at $9.99 rather than $10. Products with prices ending in .99 seem cheaper than those that end in zero, and hence more shoppers are drawn to the $9.99 price tag.

The Third P: Place

The third P in the four Ps of marketing is place, which refers to the channels or locations where you sell your products and services.

You may want to sell products via a brick-and-mortar store or at less permanent physical locations, such as special events, fairs, pop-ups or temporary markets. Or, you may prefer to list your products for sale via an e-commerce platform—by either building your own e-commerce website or by selling through popular online marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon or Etsy.

Where you sell your products will influence how you manage product inventory and product transportation or shipping. Location also influences the relative size of your reachable market. Some businesses find they can optimize sales by offering goods and services via multiple outlets.

The Fourth P: Promotion

The fourth P in the four Ps of marketing is promotion, which is how you get the word out about your products and what tactics you use to convert prospects into buyers. Your promotion strategy may include advertising, public relations, social media marketing, content marketing, direct marketing and influencer marketing, as well as the discounts and special offers you extend to generate sales.

Even the best product in the world doesn’t stand a chance if you don’t have a strong promotion strategy behind it. While there are some promotional tactics that can be done on a shoestring budget—such as do-it-yourself blogging and social media—others can be costly. It’s important to factor anticipated promotional costs into your product pricing strategy.

Featured Partner

Nextiva

$149.99/ per month (Includes Social & Reputation)

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Yelp!, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google Business Reviews, WhatsApp, Amazon Review

Nextiva

On Nextiva’s Website

Examples of the Four Ps in Marketing

Understanding the four Ps is the first step in creating a strong marketing mix. Knowing how to execute the four Ps correctly is key to achieving success. Let’s look at examples of how different organizations use the four Ps in different ways.

Examples of Product

The music industry offers many examples of how related products are sold in different formats––from physical products to digital downloads to digital streaming to live events.

While compact discs—a physical product—are no longer the norm, they are still available in some brick-and-mortar locations as well as in online marketplaces. Vinyl albums are making a comeback among certain audiophiles, which is a reminder to consider your audience’s specific interests when designing your product.

The popularity of various product formats can change as new technologies emerge. There was a time when you needed an Apple iPod or similar device (i.e., “product”) to listen to music online. Now you can use just about any internet-enabled device to purchase music via digital downloads, or you can subscribe to popular subscription-based audio streaming sites such as Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music, which grant you access to millions of songs.

Live performances are another popular music product—just ask any Taylor Swift mega-fan about the magic of scoring a ticket to one of her sold-out concerts. Of course, when you attend a live event, you will find there is plenty of physical music merchandise to purchase—from T-shirts to pins to caps and hats to collectible programs.

Examples of Price

You can buy a watch for under $100 or spend $100,000 or more; both watches will tell you the time. The price a person is willing to pay for a watch says a lot about their means, interests, style and quality preferences and what they value in a timepiece.

Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Armani all sell high-priced clothes, jewelry and accessories. Yet, what these brands are actually selling is a luxurious lifestyle. The premium prices these luxury brands charge reflect quality and exclusivity; their target audience has the means to purchase the products and the desire to live a rich life.

Old Navy, meanwhile, targets budget-conscious shoppers with its everyday modest prices and regular promotional discounts. Dollar Tree is an example of a brand that appeals to lower-income consumers and those seeking extreme values. Dollar Tree, which has had to raise average product prices up from $1.00 to $1.25, has seen profits surge in recent years.

No one magic price range will produce exceptional results for all product lines. When pricing your product, you must consider not only the cost to produce the item but who your ideal buyer is and what they’re currently spending on the products they purchase.

Examples of Place

Today’s businesses have more options and flexibility in places to sell their goods and services. The best point-of-sale (POS) systems and credit card readers let you accept payments from nearly anywhere.

You used to need a brick-and-mortar building to open a restaurant, and now budding restaurateurs and bakers can sell their edible creations via food trucks, pop-up events or shared kitchens.

Artists and crafters can sell their goods via their own galleries or display their works at others’ galleries. Artists also sell art online via their own websites or popular online marketplaces such as Creative Market, Etsy, Amazon Handmade and Fine Art America. Art and craft fairs are growing more popular, as are festivals and pop-up markets that invite artisans to showcase their work.

Many businesses start by selling their products online or via a retail location and then expand to other outlets once sales grow. A multi-location strategy is often the best way to boost your product sales.

Examples of Promotion

If you want your business to be successful, you must find ways to promote your business effectively. Some promotional efforts—such as national paid advertising—require a relatively large promotional budget, which is feasible for mega-brands like McDonald’s, Amazon and Toyota, but can be difficult for smaller businesses.

Examples of promotions that work for small businesses include creating a business website where you offer discount coupons and promote current sales. You can also ask customers for their email addresses and use email marketing software for ongoing business promotion. If you have a brick-and-mortar business, consider placing attention-grabbing banners, flags or a blow-up character in front of your business to draw the attention of those passing by.

Featured Partner

Brevo

Free; Unlimited contacts

Available

Yes

Brevo

On Brevo’s Website

Constant Contact

Yes

Advanced Automation (Abandon Cart Reminders, etc.)

Constant Contact

On Constant Contact’s Website

Other types of promotions can work for a wide array of businesses, such as customer loyalty programs. Kohl’s loyalty program, called Kohl’s Rewards, gives members cash back each month based on their spending. Since Kohl’s requires you to submit your contact information to join the program, the company can use that information to regularly email you to tell you about current sales and new products.

How To Use the 4 Ps of Marketing

Think of the four Ps of marketing as your road map for introducing and launching successful products and services. Your marketing strategy should include extensive details on how you intend to approach each of the four Ps.

For example, when developing your product, consider what’s already available and what features you can embed in your product to serve a need or solve a problem better than any other available product. How will your product stand out in a crowded marketplace? Also, think about who your ideal audience is and what they value most.

When developing your pricing strategy, don’t just consider the price point where you make a sufficient margin. Be sure you understand your ideal customer’s sensitivity to pricing. Is this a luxury item? Then deliver the quality that appeals to high-end buyers at a price point that affirms luxury and exclusivity. Are you providing the best value on the market? Then use a value-based pricing model.

Placement is also key. Where does your target market already go to purchase similar products—online, in specialty retail stores, big-box stores, discount stores or elsewhere? It’s important to place your products where your ideal clients already shop, which may mean placing them in multiple sales channels.

Finally, give special attention to how you promote your products. Your promotion strategies must be compelling and give you maximum reach for your promotional dollars.

How and where you choose to promote your product needs to align with the type of customer you are pursuing. The promotional choices you’ll select for more traditional middle-aged suburbanites will be considerably different than those you’d use to appeal to members of Generation Z. Always make sure your advertising choices and messaging align with who you’re targeting.

What’s the Difference Between the Four Ps and the Seven Ps?

While the four Ps came first, you may have also heard of the seven Ps of marketing, which rose in popularity in the 70s and 80s. The seven Ps include the original four Ps plus people, process and physical evidence.

People

The fifth P refers to the people within your organization who work together to create an exceptional experience for your customers. You can differentiate your business from competitors by creating a customer-centric culture that consistently delivers a memorable, high-quality customer experience.

If you are a service-based business, it’s vital that you pay close attention to the people you hire to interact with your customers. Bad reviews on Google Reviews or Yelp can put you out of business.

Process

The sixth P, process, is how you get your product to the customer. Is it easy and seamless to purchase from you, or are there barriers that make the buying experience difficult or issues with your shipping or delivery system that negatively impact the experience?

For example, did you ship a product to an environmentally conscious customer via a styrofoam container—or did you use sustainable, eco-friendly shipping and packaging methods? Make sure the processes you use make sense for what you’re selling and who you’re selling to.

Physical Evidence

The seventh P, physical evidence, involves things that enhance or detract from the shopping or purchase experience. Physical evidence includes branding and packaging.

When a physical environment is involved—such as in a retail store, restaurant or service office—physical evidence includes the layout, ambiance and overall aesthetics of the physical location that contribute to the impression you make on prospects and customers.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the seven Ps of marketing?

The seven Ps of marketing—sometimes referred to as the marketing mix—include product, place, price, promotion, people, physical evidence and process.

Which of the four Ps of marketing is the most important?

Many consider the product to be the most important of the four Ps of marketing. That being said, even excellent products can only be successful if a business strategically deploys all vital aspects of the marketing mix, including the remaining three Ps: place, promotion and price.

What are the marketing four Ps and four Cs?

The four Ps of marketing are product, place, price and promotion. In an article in Advertising Age, Bob Lauterborn introduced the four Cs, which he stated was a more customer-centric marketing model. The four Cs are consumer, cost, convenience and communication.

What is the purpose of the four Ps of marketing?

The purpose of the four Ps of marketing is to help businesses create a viable, complete strategy for selling goods and services. The four Ps are essential pillars for success that can help you drive better results when launching any product or service.

Amanda Cobbett Embroiders Realistic Likenesses of Fungi and Flora in Stunning Detail

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

All images © Amanda Cobbett, shared with permission

With a keen eye for detail and a passion for nature, Amanda Cobbett embroiders hyperrealistic fungi, mosses, and lichen with painstaking precision (previously). Taking between one to two weeks to complete, each piece is inspired by flora found around the U.K., which she collects, studies, and recreates with fiber in her Surrey Hills studio. Most recently, the artist has focused on samples found in the Scottish Borders for an upcoming exhibition, which she says is “the result of a year’s worth of work, and includes even more intricacy than previously made embroideries…It is a snapshot in time but includes a huge amount of variety in colour, texture, and new forms.”

Cobbett complements an array of mushrooms with soil-coated roots and carpets lifelike pieces of bark and twigs in diverse lichens. Over time, she has developed techniques that allow her to work on a minuscule scale, often putting specimens under magnification to detect the tiniest characteristics. “I mix the weights of the sewing threads from the bobbin and the spool, often using a 75 to 100-weight thread to enable me to get the finest detail,” she says.

You can see more of Cobbett’s work on her website, or follow updates on Instagram, where she often shares images of her process.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Amanda Cobbett Embroiders Realistic Likenesses of Fungi and Flora in Stunning Detail appeared first on Colossal.

Thomasville artist to be featured at Turner Center gallery exhibit

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

Share with friends

VALDOSTA – Thomasville artist, Dean Little, will be the featured artist at the upcoming Turner Center for the Arts gallery exhibit.

Release:

“If you want joy in life, be an artist,” said Dean Little, featured artist in the gallery exhibit that opens Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, in Valdosta. The Gallery Opening Reception from 5-7 p.m. is free and open to the public.

The exhibit is one of more than 20 exhibits annually that take place at the Turner Center, featuring local, regional, and national artists. While Little is familiar to the Valdosta audience, the exhibit is the first time this Thomasville artist’s work will be featured in the Turner Center galleries, in fact it will be his first exhibit ever.

“This will be my very first art exhibit, so it is honor for me to have this opportunity at the Turner Center of the Arts,” said Little, who has produced a large quantity of design material on behalf of others throughout his extensive art career. “But this is personal. I finally get to choose anything that piques my interest—be it nature, people, or activity—and apply composition, lighting, and color to express my interpretation of the subject. This is why we become artists.”

Little’s relationship with the Turner Center spans 15 years and includes taking lessons under Fay Bridges Hyatt, as well as serving as an art educator. His weekly painting class, that he has taught for more than seven years, stays at full capacity as exceptional local artists seek Little’s expert instruction to take them to the next level.

“It’s been my pleasure to be an instructor of an oil painting class surrounded by enthusiastic students who share the same love of learning, experimenting, and creating,” said Little. “I truly love the art of teaching and the teaching of art.”

Little’s impressive career in graphic art and design encompassed creating marketing materials for clients such as IBM, Motorola, Chris Craft, STP, Intel, U.S. Navy, Harris Computer Systems, Gould Corporation, Westinghouse, and Allied Signal Avionics and PR for numerous national and international sporting organizations, including the NFL, NBA, NASCAR, Indy cars and Olympics.

With much support from his wife Debby, son Jason, and a host of locals who admire his talent, Little has poured himself into countless original art works, dozens of which will be displayed in the Turner Center gallery exhibition.

“Art is so subjective,” said Little. “How many of us have stood in front of a painting and said, ‘What the heck?’ There are those who will embrace it. Others may have a connection based on their own experiences, or not at all. Art is Life.”

The Dean Little collection will open Aug. 3 at the gallery opening reception and will remain open through Sept. 15. The exhibit will also include the beautiful original works of the Withlacoochee Quilters Guild in the Josette’s Gallery. For more information about the exhibit or a full lineup of art education and entertainment options, visit www.turnercenter.org, call 229-247-2787, or follow the Turner Center on social media.

This little piggy went to the art market… and made a fortune!

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

Pigcasso at work (Image: )

When Joanne Lefson rescued two sister piglets from slaughter seven years ago, she couldn’t possibly have imagined one of them would end up creating paintings worth thousands of dollars. Incredibly, the more artistically inclined of Joanne’s duo, subsequently nicknamed Pigcasso, has painted hundreds of abstract artworks that have now sold for huge sums across the globe.

“I’m working with a highly creative and intelligent pig,” says the South African animal lover who runs a rescue centre near Cape Town. “I feel very privileged and honoured to work with her.”

Joanne’s porcine prodigy lives with her sister Rosie in a barn-cum-art studio.

“She’s the ultimate underdog story – from almost being a McDonald’s sausage to artist for Rafael Nadal,” laughs the 51-year-old, incredulous that the international tennis champion has shelled out for a Pigcasso artwork, as have Hollywood A-lister George Clooney and British actor Ed Westwick.

The most that Joanne has earned from a single Pigcasso is a staggering £20,000. That was in 2021 when German collector Peter Esser purchased a swirling landscape of blue, green and white acrylic streaks entitled Wild and Free. This beat the previous record for an artwork created by an animal of £14,400 – set in 2005 by a chimpanzee called Congo.

But Joanne, who has written a book about her extraordinary sow, called Pigcasso: The Painting Pig That Saved A Sanctuary, predicts a new record will be set when her protege’s latest masterpiece is unveiled at a shopping mall in Shanghai next month.

“Pigcasso blows me away sometimes,” laughs Joanne, a free spirit with shaggy blonde hair.

“It was going to be a massive canvas with tons of colour and I picked white to brighten it at the end.

“Pigcasso then made two almost perfect circles. We turned the canvas around and she made a smile, so it’s a happy face.”

The mutually beneficial relationship between human and pig forms the crux of this heartwarming story. Joanne rescued Pigcasso and Rosie in the summer of 2016 when they were just four weeks old. Shortly after opening her animal rescue centre, she came across a factory farm crammed with hundreds of genetically modified pigs.

“You could smell them first,” she recalls, shuddering at the memory. After slipping the manager some cash, she was allowed to take two piglets home where they were soon charging happily around their new barn.

Aware that pigs are intelligent animals, Joanne scattered golf balls, frisbees and footballs across the barn floor for them to play with. Builders in the barn had accidentally left behind a paintbrush and Joanne threw this in with the other toys. It was then she noticed a curious difference between the sisters.

“Rosie ate and destroyed everything but Pigcasso was less intense, chewing everything except the paintbrush which she was gentle and nurturing towards,” she recalls.

It was a lightbulb moment, as Joanne recounts in her book.

“Was she channelling the spirit of Francis Bacon? Either way, she had just made a name for herself: Pigcasso. Then she picked up the brush. For 20, maybe 30, seconds she just stood there as if to say ‘What next?’ and then dropped it gently back to the floor.”

This piece reminded Joanne’s mum of Prince Harry and sold for £2700 (Image: )

Joanne admits to having a fertile imagination so she decided to experiment by giving Pigcasso a helping hand. She attached foam tape to the handles of several paintbrushes, enabling her pig to grip the brush more easily in her mouth. Within minutes Pigcasso had picked one up between her teeth and was swinging it from side to side.

Joanne was astounded and bought a canvas, an easel and some water-based paints. “To my amazement, Pigcasso kept showing interest,” she says. “Within a short time, she was picking up the brush. I added paints into this pot and she started to create these amazing artworks.”

To start with, Pigcasso’s brushstrokes lacked structure, form and flow. “They were basic paintings, something like a child drawing,” Joanne admits.

Then one day, she observed the formation of a definite artwork: emotive black strokes in excellent proportions that were aesthetically pleasing. Needing money for her animal rescue centre, Joanne wondered whether Pigcasso might provide a funding stream to keep her in business. She asked her art collector friend Harald what she ought to charge for a painting.

“Price them at whatever you want,” he told her. “If none sell after three months, double the price!”

Then fate intervened. Joanne was already renting out a guest room for tourists visiting the nearby Franschhoek wine valley. After two New York attorneys spotted and fell in love with Pigcasso’s paintings during their stay, they offered $500 for one on the spot.

This allowed Joanne to dream big. As she writes of her cultivated pig: “If her art continued to develop at its blooming pace, could she hog the limelight and ignite conversation? Who wouldn’t watch videos of her painting, and who wouldn’t want to support a pig, a sanctuary, and art with a message? In an instant, a new goal appeared: to sell a Pigcasso for a million bucks.”

To achieve her aim, Joanne started to guide the pictures as Pigcasso painted, shifting the canvas around and looking for patterns and shapes as her pet moved the brush.

She uploaded a few paintings to a news agency website and within nine hours Pigcasso had racked up 10 million views on a social media platform. TV stations began to call and Pigcasso featured in a Swatch watch design partnership and an ad campaign for car maker Nissan. “Today Pigcasso makes artworks that can look like a bird, an animal or something else, and it’s my job to spot that and name it,” Joanne says. “Every day is different. She has days where she moves or paints slowly and other days where she’s rock and roll and paints quick and crazy.”

Joanne Lefson watches as Pigcasso produces another masterpiece (Image: )

Joanne sent a photo of one piggy painting to her mother and she says: “Mum’s reply landed in my inbox with just two words: ‘Prince Harry!’” It was the day of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s TV chat with Oprah Winfrey.

Joanne says: “My mum was spot on. Harry’s blue eyes, the orange hair and that broad, boyish smile.” She posted it on social media and it sold for $3,000 (£2,700) to a collector.

To stop fraudsters faking a Pigcasso, the sow “signs” each work with her snout.

Joanne believes her pet may be psychic: when her mum turned 69, she requested two Pigcassos at short notice – one in mustard yellow and the other in olive green. Joanne got her artist straight to work. On her return, her hairs stood up on end: Pigcasso had painted a perfect 6 on one canvas and a 9 on the other.

“It completely blew my mind,” she says. “Explain to me how a pig can do that for a 69th birthday?” Joanne is keen to stress her animal loves her role as an artist. “When I come into the barn to set up her space, she’s always banging on her stall door to paint,” she explains. “It’s a sanctuary first and she’s the boss so she decides when and what to paint and how long for. Her ears flap as she moves the brush. It’s a form of experience and entertainment and she’s very much in the moment when she paints.”

Despite this, some believe the concept of a painter pig is hogwash. Joanne smiles when asked about it.

“If you gave all eight billion people on the planet a paintbrush, they would paint something, be it good or bad,” she says.

“But give every pig alive a paintbrush and only one of them is going to pick it up and paint something. In a world where everyone is trying to be different but lots are the same, Pigcasso symbolises a true original. That’s why her artworks sell for so much money.”

Joanne has three types of investors: people who love the artwork, those who think it will be worth a million dollars one day and others who support the sanctuary and the animal welfare message Pigcasso stands for.

“It’s meaningful art, and people understand and support that intention,” she says.

To date, Pigcasso has raised more than $1million (£780,000) for Joanne’s sanctuary and adjacent dog adoption centre.

Later this month, when her latest paintings are displayed in Shanghai, it could open up a lucrative new market in China. But some may question Joanne’s decision to chase investors in the world’s leading producer of pork meat.

“Can Pigcasso stop factory farming and make every Chinese person go vegan? No,” she reasons. “It’s about changing the world one step at a time, right? If one person at the exhibition decides to go vegan, that could save 4,000 animals during their lifetime.”

She is also hoping to break into the US market thanks to a TV documentary.

“Pigcasso’s artwork hasn’t hit the Hollywood scene yet but I’m optimistic it will be extremely popular if it does,” she adds. But Joanne understands time is against her. Born genetically modified, Pigcasso is prone to ill-health. Last year, sickness meant she struggled to paint or even stand. Despite her pet making a full recovery, Joanne knows she will be lucky to reach the age of ten.

“That she’s lived this long is amazing,” she adds. “For me, it’s always been about Pigcasso living out her life as nature intended – surrounded by empathy and compassion.

‘Pigcasso’ by Joanne Lefson [Octopus Publishing Group]

“Whether she lives another day or another three years, I understand that she will eventually die – but what an incredible journey. As long as she’s willing and able to paint, I’ll go on as long as I possibly can.”

There is one picture Joanne would still love to see Pigcasso paint. “If she could walk up and write the word ‘PIG’, that could be the million dollar artwork,” she laughs.

That would really bring home the bacon.

Pigcasso: The Painting Pig That Saved A Sanctuary by Joanne Lefson (Octopus, £22) is published on Thursday. Visit expressbookshop.com or call 020 3176 3832. Free UK P&P on online orders over £25.

Leftbank Art to Host Social Events at Las Vegas Market Featuring Local Artists’

Jul 28, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

Furniture World News Desk on

7/28/2023

talented Las Vegas-local figurative artist Jackie Von Tobel (left) and Rafi Kalichstein and Josh Rose of Citizen Artist.

Leftbank Art, the crafter of handmade wall decor for the home decor and hospitality industries, will host multiple events during the Las Vegas Market, July 30-Aug. 3, 2023.

The events will feature local and renowned artists, including:

Live Painting Experience with Jackie Von Tobel – Las Vegas Market
Sunday, July 30, from 4:00-6:00 PM PDT
Leftbank Art will kick off the start of the Las Vegas Market with a live painting experience featuring the talented Las Vegas-local figurative artist Jackie Von Tobel. Attendees can also indulge in delightful light bites and refreshing cocktail drinks while enjoying the upbeat ambiance set by a local DJ.
Summer of Change: Meet & Greet with Citizen Artist
Monday, July 31, from 4:30-6:00 PM PDT
Leftbank Art will host a cocktail event and meet & greet with Rafi Kalichstein and Josh Rose of Citizen Artist (formerly FORM Design Studio). The event will feature light bites and drinks and a chance to see their latest artworks focused on the theme of change.

The events will take place in Leftbank Art’s Las Vegas showrooms, Las Vegas Design Center showroom, Suite A254 & A229. For more information about Leftbank Art, visit leftbankart.com.

About Leftbank Art
Since 1971, Leftbank Art has been crafting handmade wall decor in the home decor and hospitality industries. Our team of talented artists creates and innovates unique, one-of-a-kind artworks full of energy, creativity, and diversity. With a focus on quality, we offer a variety of styles and substrates, even three-dimensional, lighted, and multi-media creations—perfect storytelling pieces for any interior design. We believe in the power of collaboration and are committed to providing exceptional customer care through every step of the process. Our breadth of collections and designs offer something for every style and décor – from a single statement piece to the perfect finishing touch in a room. Learn more at leftbankart.com.

Harrisburg art auction to benefit Broad St. Market vendors displaced by fire

Jul 27, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

A local art auction is set to benefit the vendors displaced by a fire on July 10 that gutted the brick building of the Broad Street Market.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A local art auction is set to benefit the vendors displaced by a fire on July 10 that gutted the brick building of the Broad Street Market.

The Susquehanna Art Museum invited Harrisburg-area artists to paint the market en plein air—outside. Their finished artwork will go to an online charity auction.

Susquehanna Art Museum executive director Alice Anne Schwab has lived in the area for 33 years. She said as a longtime resident, the project was personal for her and the 12 Harrisburg artists who have signed up so far.

“It’s like neighbors helping neighbors,” she said. “We wanted to do something; we didn’t know what. We thought, ‘Let’s do something that’s in our wheelhouse.’”

The goal is to raise at least $2,500 to support the displaced vendors.

On Thursday morning, artist Steve Wetzel stood outside the market with a brush and easel. As he dabbed oil paint on his canvas, he explained how he ended up choosing to paint the sky with a mixture of deep blue, green and gray.

“I did the sky very dark, darker than this at the beginning because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thought maybe I would work on a nocturnal scene,” Wetzel said. “I finally decided that what I wanted to do was a morning-after type of painting.”

The museum is accepting additional finished pieces of art until Aug. 4 at 5 p.m. You can sign up to participate by contacting Alice Anne Schwab at aschwab@SusquehannaArtMuseum.org.

The silent auction goes live online on Aug. 9 and will end Aug. 18. You can place a bid here.

Download the FOX43 app here.

[embedded content]

Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools invites community to Youth Art and Craft Market

Jul 27, 2023 By Admin in Art World News

The Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools’ Community Education Youth Art and Craft Market is slated for Tuesday, Aug. 8.

More than 50 area children ages 5 to 18 will be selling their handmade creations, according to a press release from district. Jewelry, ceramics, diamond art, knitted and crochet items, Zen gardens and more will be on sale from 4-6 p.m. at La ola del lago at Grainwood, 5061 Minnesota Street SE, Prior Lake.

«< 190 191 192 193 194 >»