Blog
Posted on 10/22/2013 8:09:04 PM
By Coraly Hanson
Comment on this
We had a wonderful two weekends of Open Studios, 2013. The first one was pretty hot, almost 90 degrees out by the pool, so as another artist friend of mine suggested, I think some maybe stayed away and went to the beach instead of driving in their hot cars to see artwork. But, I had over 100 visitors, sold eight paintings, over 150 cards, and gave away 8 paintings as gifts. I'll never make a great business woman, but life is short, and I have so many wonderful friends who can't afford gallery prices for paintings, but really appreciate them, and I have over 200 paintings in my studio right now, so why not share?
The second weekend, the weather was perfect, and I had a few more guests, so over 200 in all. I sold a total of 15 paintings, gave away 8, and sold over 200 cards, and probably gave away 50 or more. I always let people choose several cards whenever they buy a painting, and I also just give them to some guests who are close friends, especially if they live out of town. Since the cards have my website on the back, I feel they are a form of advertising, and hopefully a source of joy, too.
In 2010, I had close to 800 guests and sold about twice the number of paintings total, but this year I had only a little over 200 guests, and about half the sales than in the peak years. I do think the economy is still a concern for many, and in the Santa Cruz area, home prices and rent are so high, it takes up a huge part of people's income, so art often feels like a luxury instead of a necessity. It was delightful to make some new friends and meet new collectors who loved the studio and my artwork. We also had several couples come from our Young Adult BSF class from 15 years ago, and it felt like a reunion! Three couples were married at our house in Aptos...one we hadn't seen since! On the first weekend, we had eight members of my cancer group come, and even some who have been quite ill, so that day it felt like a wonderful off-campus support group meeting.
Thank you so very much to all my friends who came to help me for both weekends, to my dear husband who did so much work to support me, to the many collectors and friends who came and made such encouraging comments about my paintings, and especially to those who bought paintings this year! It was great fun, and is very motivating to keep painting and of course trying to improve!
