All posts by Janele Madyson

Alcohol in Art or Art by Alcohol?

In an environment in which creativity can be affected by anxieties over a worsening COVID-19 crisis, can alcohol help artists focus on their art projects?

Liquor stores are seeing great demands for alcohol drink delivery services; especially now that state governments have eased down on legislation pertaining to direct selling of alcohol to consumers. Questions on whether alcohol is good or bad cannot be answered with just a simple yes or no; because organically, beers, wines and spirits are neutral substances. How a person consumes them makes drinking alcohol look problematic or helpful.

It can be gleaned from ancient arts that even in the earliest days, alcohol has been a traditional component of every culture. In fact, ceramic makers, sculptors, painters and even story-tellers included alcohol as elements in their artistic creations. In the same way, the inclusion is often used as a portrayal of pleasurable experiences; or as means of drowning feelings of misery.

Portrayal of Alcohols in Art Through the Years

Ancient Egyptian artefacts show that beer and wine drinking were already part of the earliest civilizations, since the related images were presented in great details. Greek painters on the other hand, were more inclined to have associated alcohol with mythology and religious worship. Greeks depicted Bacchus as the god of wine and almost always suggested as one who is constantly in a state of intoxication. The artworks of artists from the ancient Roman Empire served as manifestations of how alcohol intoxication during banquets often led to orgies.

During the early periods of Christianity, paintings continued to convey appreciation of wine and liquors as parts of religious rites and celebrations. However, during the Renaissance period, artists became less interested in upholding Christian dictates on what was proper as art subjects; lest they be misconstrued as glorification of immoral behavior and non-Christian practices.

Art in the 20th century saw the earlier modern era mainly influenced by avant-garde artistic ideas, especially brought on by the introduction of cubism by Pablo Picasso and fellow artist Georges Braque. Actually, Picasso himself and many famous artists during his time were known alcoholics. The list includes Paul Gauguin, George Montgomery, Joan Mitchell, and Mark Rothko just to name a few.

Art and Artists During the COVID-19 Crisis

Although sales in the alcohol delivery business continue to rise significantly in this worsening period of COVID-19 crisis, there aren’t stories to tell of how artists had to consume wine in order to draw inspiration for their art projects.

David Shrigley, a British artist who has an ongoing art collaboration with Ruinart champagne did not think that getting intoxicated was the best way for artists to go through the lockdown period. He said that artists today express through art works the things that they perceive and feel strongly about in present situations.

Last year, when the main issue in the UK was Brexit, artistic expressions were mostly focused on what Brexit could mean. This year, the main theme is the COVID-pandemic. Apparently, much has happened and will continue to happen, driving even well-known artists to create relevant and timely artwork by way of street art murals and banners.

Art Studio as a Business Venture : Backing It Up with a Good Business Plan

A passion for creating works of art can be harnessed as a business venture but it is important to have a good business plan to back up your entrepreneurial decisions.

Well you might argue that you’re an artist who knows very little about making plans for business. Know that there are plenty of business plan writers out there who can help you map out your ideas. They also act as consultants who can convert ideas into a set of sound approaches in running a successful art studio.

You know for a fact that artists nowadays no longer have to fully rely on art dealers to sell their works. There are now dozens of websites that offer budding artists opportunities to have their art pieces displayed in online art markets. Still, inasmuch as competition is tough especially in the art world, you need call attention to your works in an organized manner.

Use Web Technologies to Reach Your Target Market

It is now standard for artists to harness web technologies like having a website and using different social media sites as a means of reaching their target audience. You can even consider hiring SEO marketers who can help drive and or increase traffic to your website. Just to be clear, your target market is the group of consumers to whom you intend to sell your art work. Yet SEO works best for those who know their target market.

Identifying Your Target Market

Now you have to ask yourself whether you will create for yourself or for those whom you think will appreciate your art?

The ideal answer to that is both; but first you must be clear about the purpose of your art so you will have a clear perception of the kind of audience who will appreciate your artistic expressions and ideas. That way, your artwork will be valuable to you and to the people who can relate to how you artistically interpret their views.

Some may start out as fans who will like what they see on your website, on your Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook accounts, or in your YouTube videos. Other potential consumers may be people in your community who regularly visit the same places or attend the same socio-civic or public gatherings where you draw inspirations for your art work.

Create Opportunities for Selling Your Artwork

Create opportunities for converting them into consumers by engaging them in conversations of sharing and exchanging views. Extend invites for them to visit your art studio in case they live near your area, or will be visiting somewhere near your location. If they do visit, do not make them feel compelled to buy something. Let the interest to purchase, flow naturally to encourage repeat visits.

Still, it would be wise to have something in your studio that visitors will find affordable, especially for those who are truly interested in owning one of your art works. Think of this marketing strategy as a form of planting seeds of desire, since some customers will want to save so they can have one of your more expensive artworks displayed in their home or office.

Creating opportunities for your works of art may include holding workshops or tutorials, or after-class activities coordinated with public and private schools. Remember, the more you get involved with the people with whom you share the same vision and/or mission, the greater the number of potential consumers who will give value to your work.

The bottomline is that in knowing what you intend to do in order to grow your art studio, you will be able to identify actions to include as part of your business plan. That way you can divide your time between creating art projects and creating opportunities for selling them.