0:00

Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist , the

0:02

podcast , where we hope you connect with God

0:04

to bust through the roadblocks that have

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held you back for years , create the work

0:08

you love and really live the life

0:10

you know . God created you to

0:13

live as an artist in His kingdom . I'm

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Matt Tama , your host . Let's get started

0:17

. Well

0:20

, hey , my friend , it's Matt . Welcome to the podcast

0:22

. So glad that you're with me today . Well , hey

0:24

, my friend , it's Matt , welcome to the podcast , so glad that you're

0:27

with me today . Listen

0:30

, over the last few weeks , tanya and I have had a little well , a little bit a lot

0:32

of change in our life . Our son , cameron , actually has relocated

0:34

to Salt Lake City , which we're super excited

0:37

about . He's hoping to get a job at

0:39

a ski resort up there and live

0:41

his best life and do the next thing that God has for

0:43

him , which we're super excited about

0:45

. And it gave us an opportunity to do

0:47

the total empty nester

0:49

thing of once we got through pulling the U-Haul

0:51

to Salt Lake City over two days

0:54

from Texas which , by the way , if any of

0:56

you have ever done that , there is nothing out there

0:58

in between here and there , just about

1:00

, and it is a long way . Let

1:02

me tell you that . But

1:05

we were able to take some time on the way back to go through moab

1:08

to arches national park , which is a lot of fun

1:10

, and then uh down to durango , where

1:12

we actually uh ran into surprisingly

1:15

to some , some old friends uh in

1:17

the internet marketing world , which was a

1:19

lot of fun . And then we spent two

1:21

days in santa fe , somewhere that neither

1:23

one of us had ever been but wanted

1:25

to go because of all the incredible reputation

1:28

of art that's

1:30

there . And you know , if you don't know

1:32

Santa Fe , I think this

1:35

quote that somebody told me the other day

1:37

while we were there really sums it up . We

1:39

were in a gallery and talking to a

1:41

gallerist about the work and

1:44

artists that they have in there and

1:47

she said and this gallery had been there for

1:49

40 years , so they're like one of the deepest

1:51

rooted galleries in Canyon

1:53

Road . And she said , matt , santa Fe

1:55

is the NFL of the art world and

1:57

Canyon Road is the Super Bowl

1:59

. And I was like man . That is a

2:01

great , great analogy . In

2:04

Santa Fe , they say there are over 300

2:06

galleries in that region and

2:08

so it is really a hotbed

2:10

of incredible art

2:13

and art collectors . And

2:15

if you can make it in Santa Fe . You know your

2:17

art is there . You've really , really

2:20

done something , and so it reminded

2:22

me a lot of Asheville . You know Asheville

2:24

is really known more for fine craft

2:26

and , whereas Santa Fe is

2:28

really known more , in my estimation , of paintings

2:31

and bronze sculptures and

2:34

things like that really contemporary art . But both

2:36

incredible towns . But really

2:39

learned a lot and just absorbed

2:41

a lot while I was there , uh , and I wanted

2:43

to share , um , just some

2:45

, some highlights of this . We're actually going

2:48

into this a lot deeper inside of the mentoring

2:50

program , uh , this week , uh , and talking

2:52

a lot about what I learned , but I wanted to

2:54

bring this on the podcast to you just to give you a

2:56

taste of of some of the things , um

2:58

, that I learned and observed and Tanya and I just

3:00

talked about on our long . I think

3:02

it was like 12 hour drive home just from Santa

3:05

Fe , so we had a lot of time

3:07

to process , but 12

3:09

things I wanted to kind of kind of bring out . And

3:11

the first thing is this and you , you may have heard me say

3:14

all of these things before , but they're just

3:16

things that were really on my mind

3:18

as we were in Santa Fe . Number one where

3:20

you sell your art matters

3:22

. You know the old real estate adage

3:24

that says location , location , location . Uh

3:27

, that is so true , and if you want

3:29

to sell your art , you have to be where people

3:32

are actively looking for and

3:34

purchasing art . If you want to catch fish , you

3:36

got to go with the fish art right , and so

3:38

if you're just hanging your art

3:40

anywhere , you can , but it doesn't intersect

3:42

with where your ideal clients are , you're

3:44

wasting your time . Number two who

3:47

you sell your art with matters

3:49

, because you're judged , and your

3:51

art is judged by the people you sell with

3:54

, just as much as the people

3:56

who are selling

3:58

you , the galleries that you're in and

4:01

that sort of thing . So the reputation of the gallery

4:03

and the area and the other artists

4:05

that you're being presented

4:07

with , it matters in a huge way

4:09

. It raises or lowers expectations

4:12

and it creates either anticipation

4:14

or confusion about your work

4:17

, and so you have to be thinking

4:19

about that . That's why being somewhere you

4:21

know , like New York , like Asheville , like

4:23

Santa Fe , like you know reputable galleries

4:26

it makes a difference , because it brings

4:28

a higher perception of

4:30

your work . Number three selling

4:33

art requires setting the stage

4:35

, and I think that was one of the just fun

4:37

things to be able to walk down Canyon Road

4:40

and see all these incredible galleries

4:42

that have been there for a lot of years and you know , from

4:44

lighting to placement , to wall

4:46

color , to just the general ambiance . Great

4:49

galleries know how to set

4:51

the stage and I think great artists

4:53

that are . Whether you're selling your work in a show

4:55

, you know , a retail show

4:57

, indoors or outdoors , or through a

4:59

gallery , you got to present your art in a way

5:02

that causes it to be seen

5:04

and celebrated and enjoyed in

5:07

a high-end way , not just slapping

5:09

it up with the cheapest thing that you can and hoping , you

5:12

know , for the best . Number four

5:14

success requires

5:16

asking for the sale . You

5:19

know most of the galleries that we entered we

5:21

were , we were welcomed by , uh

5:24

, somebody that was a total professional

5:26

, uh , super friendly and

5:28

the . The conversation was always hey

5:30

guys , welcome , so glad you're here . Are

5:32

you , uh in the in the market for a new

5:34

piece of art ? Today ? It immediately

5:37

went to hey , you know , are

5:39

you ? Our intention is to sell you something

5:41

. You know there there's no dancing

5:44

around , dancing around the issue Are you in the

5:46

market for a new piece or looking for a new piece of art

5:48

or whatever ? They just kind of set the

5:50

stage and I think so many artists

5:52

. When we're selling our work individually or in

5:55

a gallery , you tend to back

5:57

up from the sale , not wanting to be pushy

5:59

. But listen , it's great If I'm in a gallery

6:01

and I'm looking , I want to be

6:04

helped . It's

6:06

great if I'm in a gallery and I'm looking , I want to be helped and I . And if you're just looking

6:08

, just tell people you're looking . But it really set the stage that you know we're not here just for

6:10

philanthropic reasons , we're here to make

6:12

a sale and we'd love to help you take

6:14

home a great piece of art

6:17

. In line with that number

6:19

five , I would say this the best gallerists

6:21

tell your story

6:24

and they tell it well . You

6:26

know the most impressive galleries that we went in

6:28

while we were in santa fe . Uh , you

6:30

know , yes , had friendly staff and

6:32

all that sort of thing and , yes , talked about the

6:34

sale , but they watched what

6:36

pieces that we were drawn to and immediately

6:39

kind of darted in and

6:41

gave us some feedback on

6:43

the piece , on the artist , their history , the process

6:46

, the story , the piece , and that really

6:48

accentuated the experience

6:51

for us . It made it enjoyable and informative

6:53

and it helped us build a connection

6:55

with you , know us

6:57

as potential buyers , with the artists

6:59

, even though they weren't there . And

7:01

again , I'm always you know we're

7:03

always talking about that and teaching you how

7:05

to to make your story better and

7:07

to connect with people inside the

7:10

mentoring program . But I just I would say , if

7:12

you're anywhere selling your work

7:14

and you're not connecting with

7:17

people about the process , the

7:19

origin story , the inspiration , who

7:21

you are as an artist , you're missing a huge

7:24

, huge place of

7:26

relationship , because nobody buys art because they

7:28

need it . They buy because of connection

7:31

and people connect through story

7:33

and so that's just a really

7:35

something that was highlighted for us . You

7:38

know just some , I think , some real practical

7:40

things . Big art sells

7:43

. Uh , although there are a lot

7:45

of galleries selling smaller works and you

7:47

know smaller traditional landscapes and things like

7:50

that , I would say the vast majority of

7:52

the work that we saw being sold in

7:55

santa fe was contemporary abstract

7:57

work . That was big , big , big

7:59

, like you know 48 by 60

8:02

, 60 by 72 , even even

8:04

bigger paintings , sculpture . They had big

8:06

size , big impact and big

8:08

price tags . And I

8:10

just I always tell folks in the mentoring program it's like

8:12

guys you got to remember , people that

8:15

have big houses buy

8:17

big art . And if you're just

8:19

buying the art that you think would fit in your house

8:21

, you're missing a huge opportunity

8:23

. All right , just like that . You

8:26

know big sales , quality sales

8:28

as well . Quality matters , and

8:30

that's number seven , because , regardless

8:32

of the galleries that we were in in Santa

8:34

Fe , every piece of art

8:36

that we looked at , honestly , was just

8:38

simply perfect , from

8:40

the finishes to the framing . Uh

8:43

, there weren't blemishes , there weren't scraps , there

8:45

weren't unfinished parts , there weren't pieces

8:47

that made you go , uh , did they know what they were doing

8:49

with that ? No , the work was presented in

8:51

a way that screamed this is

8:54

the highest quality , it's

8:56

worth paying for , it's worth

8:58

investing in . Now , this

9:00

was an interesting thing for me

9:02

, and I just was . It was one of the

9:04

things that was really surprising in

9:06

Santa Fe as a whole . Number eight

9:08

most galleries represented very

9:11

few artists . You

9:19

know , in a world of oversaturation , it can feel like sometimes

9:21

it was refreshing to see galleries that really bought into the

9:23

work of as many as eight or 12

9:25

, maybe 15 artists , but some even

9:27

as few as four or six artists

9:30

within their catalog . Every

9:32

artist had a significant amount of work

9:34

in the gallery in a variety of sizes , and

9:37

it gave me as a buyer

9:39

, and Tanya , as a buyer , you know full view of

9:41

their range and style and overall aesthetic

9:44

, rather than just seeing , kind of , you

9:46

know , a piece of work here and there . And most

9:48

of those galleries had the

9:50

work collected all

9:52

together for each artist . So each artist had a room

9:55

or each artist had a wall or a couple

9:57

of walls . That again really gave you

9:59

a full , immersive view

10:02

of their work . Now , because

10:04

of that number nine , the competition

10:07

was stiff because

10:09

there are limited galleries and everybody wanted

10:11

to be you know wants to be in a place like Santa

10:13

Fe . Competition was absolutely

10:16

stiff and you know , to be in a gallery

10:18

like that , your work's

10:20

got to be unique and it's got to be masterful

10:22

and it's got to be desirable and it's

10:24

got to have a history of sales

10:26

and marketability . Again , this is the big time

10:29

right . And so it was really

10:31

clear to us that every artist who

10:33

was featured in the galleries that we

10:35

visited were either mid-career

10:38

or late career . They had a strong sense

10:40

of uniqueness and style and

10:42

voice . They were not figuring out

10:44

how to mix color and do composition

10:46

. I mean , they knew what they were doing , they had honed

10:48

it for years and that's why

10:50

they were there and it was a joy

10:53

to be in that kind

10:55

of environment . A couple of other things

10:57

just . Lastly , you

10:59

know , all of the galleries that we went

11:01

in had big signs about

11:03

offering shipping , and I thought that was

11:05

great because it seemed like most of the people

11:07

that we were interacting with and meeting in

11:10

Santa Fe were from out of town , and so

11:12

the assumption was from the gallery owners that the

11:14

work needed to be shipped . And so

11:16

you know , for you and for me

11:19

as individual artists , always having

11:21

that option to make

11:23

the process easy that when somebody buys

11:25

from you can you can ship it . That makes

11:27

it easy to do business with

11:29

you and and it doesn't , you know , put the onus

11:32

on the person about how they're going to get this

11:34

. You know big piece of expensive art home

11:36

. You can handle that , and those

11:38

galleries handled that beautifully and

11:40

, um , I just thought that was again just another

11:42

way to make sure that it was client

11:45

focused , easy to do business with , and

11:47

, um , made it simple to invest

11:50

in a piece of art . Now , one

11:52

of the things that I

11:54

will say that was interesting we got to talk

11:56

into a gallery owner of

11:59

a very well-established gallery and just

12:01

about the art business and that sort of thing

12:03

. And what does she see

12:06

happen to that that make

12:08

it versus don't make it ? And she said one

12:10

of the biggest mistakes , um

12:12

, that artists make is that when they start

12:14

having a little bit of success in

12:16

a gallery or kind of a string of purchases

12:19

, um , they automatically want to jack

12:21

up their prices 30 percent and come

12:23

try to renegotiate their terms with the , the

12:26

gallery . They kind of get the big head right and

12:28

she it almost always turns into

12:30

a disaster . And so as much as

12:32

I talk about you know , most

12:34

of the artists that we work with need to up their

12:37

prices . It's important to price

12:39

your art realistically but

12:41

also raise them slowly and

12:43

realistically over time and at the same

12:45

time , do that in concert

12:48

with the galleries that you're working

12:50

with . If you're working with galleries , you know value

12:53

that relationship . Don't squeeze them on

12:55

their commissions . You know trying to get five or 10

12:57

more percent out of them If they're selling

13:00

your art well for you , you know , lean

13:02

into that . See them as a partner , see

13:04

them as somebody that is telling your

13:07

story and shipping your work and paying

13:09

the rent and the light bill for

13:12

having your work out there . It is a huge

13:14

, valuable relationship

13:16

that we all need as a part of our marketing

13:19

as artists . And then the

13:21

last thing I would say is this

13:23

Always be

13:25

willing to take a risk

13:27

. For me , I'm a talker

13:29

, of course , and so I'm always kind of starting

13:32

up conversations and that sort of thing . But

13:35

it was amazing as I was

13:37

just friendly to people and Tanya was just friendly

13:39

to people how the Lord opened up

13:41

doors . I actually

13:43

went to see an artist

13:45

who I'm a big , big fan of

13:47

and have taken some cold wax and oil

13:49

classes from . I went to their gallery to

13:52

see some of her work represented and

13:55

told that , you know , as we were there , they were asking

13:57

how we found the gallery and why we were there , and so I told

13:59

her that I was a student of

14:01

this person and she said , oh , do you paint ? And I said

14:03

, well , I've been painting , you know

14:06

, for the last five or six years , but I'm

14:08

actually a basket maker for the last 30

14:10

years , and I'm kind of bringing those two things together . And

14:13

so immediately , the gallery owner said

14:15

, well , wow , that sounds interesting , I'd love to see

14:17

that . And so I was ready with

14:19

something on my phone . I just pulled it out and showed her

14:21

some of my recent work and

14:23

it was amazing , the door

14:26

that started opening there

14:28

. And so she said , well , you know what

14:30

? I think your work would look great in Santa

14:32

Fe . Are you in a gallery here ? And I said

14:34

, well , no , but I mean I'm open to

14:37

that . And she said , well , you ought to look

14:39

at XYZ . And she gave me three or four

14:41

different galleries to look at

14:43

and so we just started , as we're in

14:45

those galleries , saying hey , so-and-so over at

14:47

this gallery , said that that you might be interested

14:49

in my work and I just want to take an

14:51

opportunity to share it with you . Well , it

14:53

was . It was amazing . One

14:55

gallery that was really the , you

14:57

know , most well-established gallery

15:00

that we went in and the one that we felt

15:02

the connection with the most the Lord opened

15:04

up a door and that gallery owner invited

15:07

me to create some work for

15:09

the gallery and to be in Santa Fe . And I was

15:11

like , wow , something that was

15:13

not even on my radar

15:16

really . But I'm always open to

15:18

the things that God has for me and

15:20

that sort of thing and being willing to

15:23

take the risk and to talk to people

15:25

and be friendly and all that . You never

15:27

, ever know where the Lord is going

15:29

to take that , and so I would just say

15:31

, being willing to take the risk as

15:33

an artist especially as you're

15:36

in a place like Asheville or Santa

15:38

Fe or New York or wherever it is that you

15:40

want to be and have your work trust

15:43

that he's working for you and working

15:45

with you on your behalf behind the

15:47

scenes to bring you into places

15:49

of divine appointments that can really be a

15:51

blessing to you and a blessing to others

15:53

. Listen , I'm sure there's lots of other things

15:56

that I'll come up with as I

15:58

reflect on our time in Santa Fe , but I hope

16:00

those things will be an encouragement

16:02

to you today as you're continuing

16:04

to build your art business and

16:06

take it to the next level . And listen , of

16:09

course , if you're trying to do that by

16:11

yourself , what are you doing ? Join

16:13

the mentoring program . Let me help you , let my

16:16

team of experts help you in search

16:18

engine optimization , building your website and

16:20

email marketing and

16:22

all the things that you need to do to build

16:24

a marketing engine and a

16:26

marketing machine to get your

16:28

work out there , to grow up

16:30

in the Lord , to become the person

16:33

that you know that God's called you to be , to

16:35

step into everything that he's got

16:37

for you . That's what we do inside the program

16:40

, inside of Created to Thrive . We've been doing it

16:42

since 2016 . We've been the

16:44

flagship , the gold standard for

16:46

artists who love Jesus and want to grow

16:48

their business , and want to grow in their faith

16:50

and in relationship with others , and want

16:52

trusted advice and

16:55

proven strategies that work today

16:57

, in 2024 , to

16:59

sell your work and grow your business . There's no better

17:01

place to do that than

17:04

Created to Thrive . You can find out

17:06

all the information right here , as usual

17:08

, in the show notes , and we would love

17:10

to see you become a part of

17:13

Created to Thrive and let us help you make this year

17:15

your breakthrough year

17:17

. All right , listen , my friend . Thanks

17:19

so much for spending some time with me here on

17:21

the podcast . I love you . I'm always

17:23

appreciative of your support . Be

17:25

sure to share the podcast

17:27

if it's a blessing to you . Be sure to comment

17:30

, like , subscribe , do all the stuff and join

17:32

me again right here . All right , remember until

17:34

next time . You were created to

17:37

thrive . Bye , hey

17:40

, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me today on

17:42

the podcast . Listen , I hope it's been a

17:44

huge encouragement to you on your journey

17:47

as an artist . Hey

17:51

, also , before you leave , make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of the other

17:53

episodes of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast

17:55

, and also be sure to connect with me on Facebook

17:58

, instagram or at my website

18:00

, which is matttommymentoringcom

18:02

. Until next time , remember you

18:05

were created to thrive . Bye-bye

18:07

, thank you

18:11

.