In my first blog, I told the story of how I got into painting furniture and selling it in shops and galleries.
I mentioned the briefcase I painted and took with me, when I strolled into galleries, in the hopes of getting bookings.
It was simply a balsa wood painter’s box I bought for about $19 at Michael’s.
I shot photos of my furniture–using the little camera I had at the time–and taped the photos to yellow and white paper, which I then took and had color photocopied onto 8.5 x 11.” paper. I cut up the images, sprayed both sides with several coats of polyurethane sealer, and decoupaged them on the front of the painter’s box, on top of the colored borders I’d already painted on the box.
For the back side, I color photocopied one of my own oil pastel drawings, and sprayed that with polyurethane sealer, and decoupaged it on the back of the painter’s box, on top of the rainbow-colored border I’d painted on the wood.
There was room inside to place the 3-ring binder of color-copied images of my furniture and my handmade business cards. A voila!
I know that the internet is where’s it’s supposed to be “at,” but I think when people buy art it’s an impulse buy. That’s why I still feel it’s valuable to show up–in real life locations–to let folks see your work, and talk to you about it, and handle it.
If you’re an aspiring artist, I encourage you to make your own version of a “bookings briefcase.” It’s a lot of fun and generates conversations which can lead to…