Market Materials

This guy would jump on the internet so fast it would make your head spin. He is a marketing genius.

I'm taking a long course on the internet about marketing one's art.  It is challenging me to re-visit my marketing materials and is generally a lot of fun.  Good thing I like noodling around on Photoshop.  Here is my new logo. 

My new business card is posted below.  When I get them printed, I will be glad to mail you one.

A great place to go to school for your art business: Art Biz Coach Blog.

Press Release

Photo: Lorie Klahn

Casey Klahn

Because, once in a while, I have to post a photo that doesn't have red or orange added.

Press Release.

Awards.

Free Association

Pinks & Greens
7.8" x 6"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

Let's noodle around the net for a little on a Saturday morning. Very little focus, but I thought you'd enjoy some of this content.

Rarely, if ever, have I looked at the blogger site, Blogs of Note. For some reason I did take a peek and actually noticed a couple I have seen before. If you want some new ideas, this is a good place to go. And, unlike many other blog aggregates, they seem to find their way to artist's blogs occasionally. Here are a couple of eclectic art/craft blogs, Nat The Fat Rat and The Hermitage. Notice the follower bling and see the way blogging can be when you do it very well. Where does Rima find a plug in?

A photo/art essay on What is Beauty? is up at the TelegraphUK. Do you want to post your own version? I know I do. File that under soon.

Also from London, you can get a fine review of the Real Van Gogh art and letters exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts by reading Katherine Tyrrell's post. I followed the links to several newspaper reviews, and read Vincent's last letter, which was in his pocket when he committed suicide.

Why don't you go here and read Margery Caggiano's blog, From the Studio? It is a gem, with a wide view of fine arts. Need some figure painting and drawing blogs? Start with Tina Collins, at Starving Artist. You'll enjoy her blog, and she links to numerous figure art blog sites. Wonderful!



A new pastel web site out of Europe is the Soft Pastel News. A daily report covering pastel art, news and events, it is a rich read for those of us who enjoy the medium of angels.

Is your art broken? It might be, and you just don't know it, yet. Sorry to be so provocative, but I was hit with a clue bat, myself, when I read Micah R. Condon's art marketing site, ArtIsBroken. Read it and don't weep - get busy!

Enjoy your day.

Paper Work

How do I reload elements on here?

There is nothing like finding all of those paper work projects of yours need to be done all of a sudden! Having PS Elements quit working provides some extra challenges, too. I blame my old PC. Thanks for checking back on me, and I'll be out of the administrative hole I'm in soon enough, with more news and studio stories.

Hint: I'm hanging an exhibit in the Seattle area next weekend! Stay tuned.

I haven't forgotten about my Paint for the Prize series, either. You will see the post on Content here very soon.

Studio Life

Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt, 1906
o/c, 79" x 59"
Henri Matisse

In my studio, several threads are being woven at the same time. I am reading a biography of Henri Matisse, who was a noted Fauvist and a pillar of Twentieth Century art and Modernism. I had just finished a couple large volumes on World War Two, and feeling like I needed another big tome, so I found this @500 page whopper on Matisse. Then, feeling all smug about myself, I realized it was the second volume! I grabbed the Taschen Book on Matisse to round out the visual side of my study, and I'll be hitting the Amazon site to chase down that first book.

When it comes time for me to post on Matisse, you'll see the heroic as well as the staid side of the great Frenchman. Would you be pleased to exhibit your painting at salon, only to be openly reviled and mocked? How would it feel to have the patronage smearing the still-wet oil paint with their fingers just to amuse themselves? Stay tuned for more on the colorist whose shoulders we all stand upon.

Because my exhibition schedule is through for the summer, I am taking advantage of this time to Get Organized. That means I am doing filing, computer back up and cleaning, studio organizing, goal-setting, calendaring and what not. I see by my notes that I took the G.O. class from Alyson Stanfield back in November of 2006, and that led directly to this blog and much coherent forward progress in my art career.

As a means of clearing my head, I am getting outdoors and refining my plein air methods. Look for a beautiful post on Eastern Washington farm country painting at Pastel, soon. You will be treated to my elaborate and Rube Goldberg talents of securing my easel against the ever-present wind. In the near future I will be putting together a workshop for pastels, and I am exploring the possibility of putting my less color-dependant (more realistic) artwork into print. You'll be the first to know about that here at The Colorist, BTW.

On the home front, my two Lieb Kind will be in grammar school soon, and that translates into three full-time days a week for Daddy Klahn to be an artist in his studio. Woo Hoo! Next year, when my littlest is in First Grade, I will finally be a full time artist - a life long goal. Now, I take the attitude of a full timer, which sometimes helps, and sometimes hinders, studio progress.

For a touching display of home life and sending the child to Kindergarten, see this post from last year. Also, next week will be family Bible camp, so I will be out of touch with you starting mid week. Sun, lake shore, a small amount of someone else watching the kids, camp fires, a little bit of plein air painting, some rock bouldering (a type of climbing), and no house chores. Ahhhh.

Newsletters That Kill

The Art Biz Coach
Alyson Stanfield

It is not everyday that I get to conduct an interview here at The Colorist. And even rarer still the chance to hob-nob in the greater world of art business. Are you an artist in need of guidance in marketing your wonderful art? I'll take that as a yes.

Alyson Stanfield, the ArtBizCoach, has written a new book you must read:
I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion.

Yesterday, I linked you to her terrific web sites and the book info page. Everything at the ArtBizCoach is action-oriented. "Do This" is Alyson's catch phrase, and she is sure to get your business side up and running if you'll read this great reference and motivational book.

Perhaps because I have been remiss in getting out proper mailings, I was interested in the artist's newsletter. Some artists live entirely off of patronage from their mailing lists, and I wanted to know the best way to crack that nut.


Alyson, thanks for stopping in.

Casey, I'm really happy to be here. I knew you before you had a blog and I've enjoyed watching you build up your online presence. You're doing a fantastic job! What's on your mind today?

I want to know more about newsletters, both hard copy and e-mail types. Do you support the idea of a special newsletter for gallerists and/or museum curators?

Casey, I really don’t. I think they’re too busy to read your news and you’re too busy to write a couple of different types of newsletters. I’d feed them information the old-fashioned way: letters, brief email updates, etc. I recommend newsletters as a way to keep in touch with patrons.

Also, my patron newsletter I plan to make twice yearly, due to my slow studio production. Plus, I have the daily blogging for frequent news. What wisdom can you offer about newsletter frequency.

It depends on the format. A printed newsletter can be costly, so it doesn't make sense to do it more than two or three times a year. But I might bundle up some of your blog posts and do an e-newsletter in between the two printed versions.

As you know--since you read the book--I believe the most important criteria for writing good newsletters is having news. Everything else is secondary. If you can create good content that people want to read, you can easily do a monthly newsletter. Reread what I just said. I said, “that people want to read.” It’s not about what you want to tell them, but about what is of interest to them. People will make time for things they can relate to or are entertained by.

Also on newsletters, the best one I saw in Googling examples was a short and to the point one from a bar which included a discount coupon for hot wings. It had the brevity, the reminder and the hook. Can you offer some examples of artist's newsletters you feel hit it out of the park?

Very few artists hit a home run with their newsletters. One I particularly love is in I’d Rather Be in the Studio! and that is Elia Woods’ newsletter. It’s not all about her, but about the subjects (vegetables!) in her photo-transfer quilts.

I also enjoy Anne Leuck Feldhaus’s newsletter. Her brightly-colored paintings are always uplifting to look at and she features her animal rescue groups as well as another local artist in each issue. I commissioned two pair of earrings from an artist I found in her newsletter last fall!

I will tell you that the most boring newsletters I get are from artists I’ve never heard of who tell me about their exhibit that’s on the other side of the country. I don’t ever read these and I don’t recommend sending newsletters to people who don’t know you.

I particularly liked the chapter title: "Send a Killer Newsletter". Right away the task has gone from a business obligation, to how to excel and get results with one's newsletter.

As I see it, you have two options for hitting it out of the park with your newsletter: (1) Be a fascinating storyteller or (2) Be funny. All you have to do to see that I’m right is to recall why you read something and why you pass it along to your friends and family.

Thanks for these answers, Alyson. Looks like I'm on track now to publish my killer newsletter. If you're reading my blog, and wish to be on my mailing list for a newsletter, send me your mailing address (snail mail) to caseyklahn (at symbol) Gmail dot com, no spaces. I also send a high quality postcard with an artwork image.

Interested in winning a free copy of I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion? Visit this site, read the instructions, and enter. Your odds are good as she’s giving away a free copy on most of the blog tour stops. You can increase your odds by visiting the other blog tour stops and entering on those sites as well.

One Sheet 3.2

Since the business hopper is hopping, I need to get the One Sheet finalized. Here is version 3.2. I'm not sure if I have it all proofed for errors, but here it is for design purposes.

Should I either write one more paragraph to the statement, or delete one entry from the resume, in order to make the two columns end evenly (justify)?

Thanks to the following bloggers for their help with this:

artBizblog - Alyson Stanfield
Dordogne Painting Days - Adam Cope

Paint and Pastel - Gesa Helms
Laketrees - Kim Barker

Katherine Tyrrell
Pastels and More - Miki Willa

Jean Victory
Risha

Of Interest to Artists

Artist's content hasn't been a priority subject here at The Colorist since its inception over a year ago. Some may find that hard to believe, since there is so much ART content, here. What I mean is that I haven't directly gone after an audience of readers who are artists. But, guess what? They're here in numbers too many to ignore!

It is my opinion that patrons of art don't thrill to see the machinations and intricacies of the art making life. Ever watched sausage being made?

But, in an effort to please the base, I am finally starting a link roll that will be titled: "Of Interest to Artists". The direction of The Colorist is solidly embedded and a little art business bone won't hurt. These links aren't new to many of you, but I use them and new artists in blogging will want to check them out.

Empty Easel
ArtBizBlog
Wet Canvas
The Painter's Keys

BTW, I already have a blogroll that is "About Art", which list web sites that take a third person view of art news and art subjects.

Shelley's Art History Blog
Modern Art Notes
The Intrepid Art Collector
Art News Blog
Art Business

While we're on the subject of art business, then, I want to share the following documents with you. They are my One Sheet, which has been suggested is a good option for the artist in today's information-overload society (thanks, Alyson). The object is to get your blurb out there quickly with an image, contact info, brief resume and statement.

One Sheet 1.0 (click on to read)

One Sheet 2.0 (click on to read)

Here are my two revise proofs. I had my awesome-businesswoman spouse helping me with this last night. I gathered from her that the best goal is to stand out in a unique enough manner that the page will actually get read. I see that I need to punch the award profile forward some more.

This One Sheet would have come in handy yesterday morning, when I needed to respond to a patron's e-mail inquiry, and had the need for a really mild "horn-toot" in order to support the patron's decision. Instead of inserting a gratuitous "brag" in the e-mail, I could have simply attached this One Sheet!

Your input, please. Which is best? Other details?