Exhibition

June 2010. Phoenix Alta Lofts is hosting a First Friday opening exhibition for Phoenix 22. I heard there will be a band, some wine and snacks and people with checkbooks. (Okay, made that last one up. Don’t steal my hope.) The gallery is located on the North East corner of the building and will be open through the normal First Friday hours. (6pm – 10pm)

See it

I say if you haven’t had a chance to see the Phoenix Series work in person, you haven’t seen it. These images were made specifically to be viewed at 32×48 and the difference is incredible. If you’re downtown for the chaos that is Roosevelt Row take a stroll down the street and say hello.

The Phoenix 22 catalogue is now available. If you’ve been collecting my work from the beginning you will know this is how it all got started in Phoenix. Over the last three years I’ve created an annual catalogue of the Phoenix series and had a book signing to celebrate another year of work. I certainly have learned a lot building and designing my own books and find they are an invaluable way to promote my work.  Also I’m  honored and lucky that so many participants in social media contribute insights into the work. And I love to use those insights as copy in the catalogue to highlight the reaction of the viewer.

Self publishing

I’ve been very happy using Blurb.com to self publish my books. It is an expensive endeavor to print single copies of your work. However, I feel it is a worthwhile cost and investment both personally and as a collector. I as always use the highest quality materials in the production of the books, which are large 11×13″ coffee table books with premium paper and a luster finish.  The size of the finished volume allows the work to show off details of the images that might go unnoticed on the web. Even though they say print is dead there is that *something* about having a physical art piece in your hand and owning something that can be shared and collected.

Collect the books

Currently the volumes Phoenix 21 and Phoenix 22 are available for purchase in my bookstore. I’ll be happy to sign any copies that you bring to future opening receptions.

*Phoenix 20 is currently being redesigned to fit the series design and to create a cohesive set that may be collected together.

The event at District Gallery in SuTRA Midtown yoga can only be described as a big success. From all the support we received from the community online and off, to all those that made a point to stop by and see the work. I am blown away.

Thank you SuTRA

A public thank you is in order for Matthew Fritz, whom I constantly felt was going above and beyond for me and this show. He really took the pressure I normally have squarely on my shoulders before a show and made it much lighter. If you’re an artist looking for gallery space I’d highly recommend working with SuTRA.

Participation is King

Mike Jones was able to pick up his participation prize that night and selected Phoenix 22 – 13 (shown above). He won the print by leaving a million comments on my flickr set for the series. Okay not a million but he was there everyday I posted an image with great insights and reactions to the work. Thank you Mike!

Times up

I don’t want to go on and on like an awards show winner, but I’m very grateful for all my friends and supporters in Phoenix. I remain convinced that I know the best people in the world and that great things happen here all the time.

Your turn

If you stopped by the show let me know what you thought about the event in the comments. What was great, and what can I do better next time?

Participation

I’d asked for people interested in the Phoenix 22 release to help spread the word and participate by leaving comments on my Flickr, Facebook and Tweeting. I used the comments that broke out of the “I like it”  to express more about how the image affected the viewer in the book. I’ve tallied all the participants work and want to announce the winners here.

Winners

Congratulations!

@jerrythepunkrat wins first place with 29 points. Going by the moniker of jerrythepunkrat Mike left some great insights and first reactions that made it into the final copy of the book.

@toniambartz wins second place with a very close 25 points. Tonia or LilMsT on flickr left some wonderful comments and reactions to the work that added some needed humor into the book. Well done!

@iamchanelle is the 3rd place winner with 10 points. As a fellow artist it was great to get her insights about the work and I’m happy to include those thoughts in the book.

The prizes are as follows:

1. 16×24″ print $200
2. The new book Phoenix 22 $100
3. A Tyson Crosbie Photography morse code T-shirt $25

Buying Art

I’ve been lucky to sell several original pieces over the years. Here are my patrons reasons for buying art.

• Connection – Feel connected to the artist or the work.
• Style – Collect something – typology, a color, a genre.
• Support – Support artists that inspire you.
• Investment – Art appreciates in value.

Selling Art

Once you start selling art the questions start coming from other artists. Mainly, “How did you do that?”

First put it up for sale in the real world and online, exhibit everywhere. When pricing the work I’d say use the craft definition of pricing to start with. It is a simple equation: Material cost x 2. This is a bare minimum pricing and suitable for high volume production or hobbyists. If you intend to survive as an artist I’d look at some of the following considerations for increasing the value of your work.

Considerations for selling valuable art (that probably only matter to other artists and museums):

• Originality – How many of these will be made? If only one, this creates a rarity and increases the value.
• Materials – Archival, top quality production will last longer and be easier to care for.
• Authorship – A direct connection to the artist, usually  in the form of a signature.

Support the artist

Selling art allows me to fully explore other aspects of my creativity. Not all projects are commercially viable but these explorations are vital to stoking the fire and driving the process for producing future works that are.