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Stained Glass & Mosaics

How do you go about showing/selling your art?

16 years ago

Another "itty-bitty" small-town girl here.

If/when I get up enough courage to make something that I feel is "worth selling," I'm wondering how you go about getting your name out there, or in galleries? WHERE are these galleries? Keep in mind that outside of Boston, the rest of New England usually goes un-noticed, and there doesn't seem to be anywhere to sell/show these types of things. I only know of one "itty-bitty" small-town Library on my way to work which has art displays each month. Likely I could start there...but the other part is: I'm not a talker, either...which may put a huge damper on this kind of arena.

But I'm not at this level yet...however, I'm a homework doer, so I should start taking notes early, right?

Do you do craft fairs to start selling your wares? How do you know that your item is not something that someone will get "hurt" using? (Ie: are there insurance liability concerns when selling hand-made items?) People are crazy these days, and will sue you for anything.

How do you successfully market yourself?

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Comments (10)

gretch1964
16 years ago
I have a web page,and do craft shows and ebay and also esty. Once bought it is there problem with what they do with it. I'm not responsible.
debrady
16 years ago
The articles here on Selling Wholesale, Approaching a Gallery, and Creating an Artist's Portfolio will help you. I also especially recommend the one on Launching a Business.

Here is a link that might be useful: Glass Campus Tutorials
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seaglassic
16 years ago
I love etsy..who are you on there, Gretch?

Becky ;(*_*);
rosemarythyme
16 years ago
MM: I used to live in NH (Springfield--outside of New London). Check out this site. I only just started mosaicing while in NH but found the League had wonderful craftsmen! When you have a free day, check out the closest to you.
http://nhcrafts.org/shops.htm
mosaicwench1
16 years ago
Word of mouth keeps me pretty busy.

I like to "look" at etsy and have bought a few things there, but I never want to sell there. I don't want to ship my glass art because A) it's so heavy and prone to breakage and B) the shipping would be more than the piece is worth.
rosemarythyme
16 years ago
Hey DEBRADY! WELCOME! and thanks for the tutorials!
nicethyme
16 years ago
Dennis, that site is a wealth of info! I bet your courses are great too!
gretch1964
16 years ago
I'm gretchice on esty seaglassic. I just started over there.
mmqchdygg
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks so much! And thanks, rosemary for your notes, since NH is where I am...southeastern...near the seacoast, but drive to Concord daily.
The League...yes, very familiar with their work, and very intimidated at the same time. They are DEFINITELY in a 'league' all their own. Incredible artists in that group.
debrady- thanks for the helpful link! I'll bookmark all these references for when I'm ready to use them! Thanks so much!
d3bbi
16 years ago
Good question, MM. I've sold to friends and relatives mostly. I started when I was invited to have a table at a church weekend event. So that is another resource to look at. I would like to sell more but I find it hard to get a stock of items together for a show.

Debrady, that site looks great! I've bookmarked it.

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