Call in the Experts (Luann Udell)

Hi There,

At FASO, our mission is simple: help artists sell their art so they can spend more time doing what they love. And, our platform has been proven to help artists all over the world do just that. Last week alone, our artists sold over $88,645 on FASO.

One of our artists, Luann Udell, Regular Contributing Author for FineArtviews, has shared her thoughts below about the expected and unexpected experts that come into your lives as artists. Whether they challenge you, inspire you or help to propel your art forward, they're critical in your artist journey.

By the way, for my latest thoughts on art marketing, posted daily, follow me on Twitter. Let's connect there! Or simply reply to this email. I'd love to hear what you thought of this article.

Enjoy,

Clint Watson

We don't have to know everything. We just have to know who knows what we need.

Last week's article, Your Team is Bigger Than You Think discussed the obvious and not-so-obvious "team" in your corner as an artist. This series is dedicated to opening our perception of what a "team" is and how our team supports us in our art journey.

We've covered the skills that got us here, the beliefs that keep us going, and the people who value us, and our art. Even the ones who are toxic have value, when I realized the only person who can stop me from making my art is ME.

Today, let's talk about the experts.

First, of course, there are the artists and teachers (and people who are both!) who shared their art-making skills and education with us.

Then there are the people who help us get the word out about our art.

Trust me, it's worth your time. I'd say it's well-worth the money, but... it's free! For the record, I don't share just because it's a feature of FASO where my own website is hosted.

I'm sharing it because, even though I've used social media for years, I learn something new every single time. (Ask me about my pages and pages of notes I've taken on every AMP zoom meeting I've attended!)

There are other experts available, online, too. Other views on art marketing, instructional videos for art-making, etc.

I've written before about my New Hampshire friend Gary Spykman, whose creative work is hard to put in a box. (Literally! Woodworker/furniture-maker only begins to cover it.) Gary helped me move forward on some big projects, and what he taught me is reflected in my latest shrine project.

And now here I am in Northern California, far from old friends and fellow New England artists, still working on that big project, still getting stuck regularly on my journey.

This next step is hot. Literally.

I need to make my own museum mounts for displaying some of the artifacts in the stacked boxes I've put together. I took an online class about this, just before we moved to California. But it involved welding/brazing with much bigger torches than my mini-torches, and I never felt safe trying this on my own.

I found a maker space here in Sonoma County with classes, but the pandemic shut that down. I tried to purchase mounts that might have worked, but they are expensive. I've tried other methods of display the artifacts, with not much luck.

Our local art organization that hosts two open studio events a year is on a strict budget this year. We're actually using older road signs from previous events, borrowing some from people who aren't participating this year, and cleaning/restoring damaged signs.

One of the people in charge of the sign committee shared the difficulties of removing decals (arrows, studio numbers, etc.) during our steering committee meeting (Zoom!). Aha! I can help with that! I volunteered to bring my bottle of Undo and some other glue debonders to restore these signs.

We met up in his outdoor workshop, fully masked and distanced, and tried them out. They worked! This reminded him of other, similar, chemicals he has on hand that removed every trace of Sharpies, too.

It wasn't until later that I realized, this is a guy who's been into welding and metalwork since forever. And he might be the perfect guy to help me figure out this mount-making issue.

And in another twist of fate, once I had some hope for learning how to make my own mounts, I gained more insights into other aspects and issues, like how to drill a hole inside a tiny box where a drill (even a small hand drill) won't fit. I won't bore you with the details on that, except that JB Weld glue will be involved.

So even though that wouldn't work for connecting the boxes, because of how I put them together, it has huge potential for artifact display. (No, I'm not gonna glue the artifacts!) So here's another shout-out to Chris Fox, customer service rep at JB Weld.

Just like the glass artist I mentioned in last week's article, whose partner can build a shipping crate for them, these experts are often right under our nose, in plain sight.

So what holds us back from asking for help?

For me, I'm afraid they'll say no.

Yup, a grown woman afraid to ask for help. Yikes!

But for some reason, because I'd already done them a favor, it felt okay to ask for a favor in return. And he said yes!

I'm calling Rick Butler, metal sculptor, as soon as I finish this article.

Turns out that many, many people are happy to help others in their creative work. We may fear giving away our "trade secrets" (though very few of us are actually using processes that only belong to us.) We may fear giving too much away, or having our work being copied in the process. (That copy fear again!)

Share with us if someone has helped YOU move forward in your skills and projects. And if YOU have helped others in theirs! What goes 'round, comes 'round. And when it comes to creativity, that is so true.

Regards,

Luann Udell

Regular Contributing Author, FineArtViews

www.luannudell.com

PS - This is Clint again. If you're interested in learning more about the many ways that FASO can help you AMP up your art sales, click here to register now for our upcoming webinar on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM CT / 10:00 AM MT / 9:00 AM PT.