Being the artist at an opening

Fredrick Leighton, The painters honeymoon image artrenewal.org

I have done this more than a few times and it is a role that I am comfortable in. I love doing openings as the artist. A whole gallery full of people, all of them paying attention to ME. I do have a few thoughts on how to do it, and perhaps they will be useful to you.

• Make a point of speaking to everybody who comes to the show. Shake their hand and introduce yourself. Hi, I'm Stapleton, thanks for coming, will you let me know if I can answer any questions for you? if they want to start a conversation stay and talk to them for a while but then keep moving. If you have a big crowd you will need to.
  
• A lot of the people who come to an opening are college age and like a glass of free wine. Its a free party for them. Greet them, nicely. Never assume anyone can't buy your art. That's a very expensive habit. Its called prequalifying your customer and it's a sales no-no. You never know. That kid with the barbed wire neck tattoo may tell his girlfriends mother about your paintings because she collects.
• I used to wear a dark suit for openings. No more. Now I wear khakis and a shirt with a collar, and no tie. When I wore a suit and tie, all night long people came up to me and said,"I'll bet you don't wear a suit very often do you?" Me in a suit clashed with their idea of an artist. In my case they were right too. I usually am covered in paint and wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. I have gone to one of my openings in blue jeans and a t-shirt and it was fine, but unless you know you can pull it off, don't.
• I don't imagine you are going to do pushy sales moves, but I think it is a big mistake. If someone is going to be pushy let the gallery do that.
• Drink the soft drinks stay out of the wine. I have been to many openings where an artist has made a fool out of themselves because of liquor. It can sometimes be a very emotional event, and if you are loaded you might lose your cool.
• So never drink at your opening.Never.
  

• When someone buys a painting, congratulate them and shake their hand. Its nice to pose for a photograph with them in front of their painting. Tell them where it was painted and why. The gallery can send them a copy of the picture later.
• Sometimes you will get amateur artists who are seething with resentment against you because they aren't having a show, and they paint better than you do! They may want to argue aesthetics with you, or give you advice on painting. Listen to them for a minute, thank them for coming and move on. Don't allow them to rattle you.
• If someone comes up to you and wants to cut a better deal on a painting, tell them that all transactions are handled by the gallery and that they do all of the sales, introduce them to the dealer, and clear out.
  
• Don't give out any business cards, your phone number or tell people your address. People will try to go around the dealer because they think they can get a better deal from you. Allowing that is a breach of ethics and when it gets back to a dealer that you have done that, you may well be out of the gallery. If you get a reputation for doing that, you can really damage your career.
• At the end of the night, help the dealer clean up, and then you will often go out to dinner with them.That seems to be the custom. Thank them for doing the show.

I am sure I have forgotten something, but I don't remember what it is. If you have a question, ask me in the comments.

I am finalizing arrangements for a New Hampshire workshop in September, more about that soon.

It is getting to be time for another reader critique. If you would like to submit your paintings to my scalpel, e-mail an image or images to stapletonkearns@gmail.com. Put "image for critique" in the subject line please. In a week or two I will do the critiques, These are a regular feature of this blog and I enjoy seeing what you are making out there.