Closing a Door and Opening Another?

"Feel So Fine" springtime foal is now home and available for purchase.

For several years I've had my artwork in a very nice shop in the nearby small village of Central Lake. It started out as mainly a consignment shop for local artists and craftsmen, but over the years the shop has transitioned into more and more stocking commercially made very tasteful home decor and clothing.

I had good sales in this shop for quite a few years, but in the past 2-3 sales fell off considerably to almost nothing.

This past week the owner of the shop called to ask if I wanted to come get my artwork, and I readily agreed. It was something I had been intending to do for months but hadn't gotten around to. With sales so low and the shop no longer emphasizing local artists and craftsmen, it didn't make much sense to leave the art languishing in the recesses of a side room where many visitors didn't go.

Yesterday I picked up the original art, prints and the few note cards that were left. No one had told the young clerk, who was alone in the shop, that I might be coming in or where to find my art. It took her a long time to find it in their back room, and not all of it could be found in the whole shop! I had kept very careful records of what was in the shop and what had sold over the years so arrived with my own inventory list of what SHOULD have been there. 

If I had any regrets about leaving the shop they were quickly dispelled. Remembering that although the owner, an animal lover, had always expressed great admiration for my art, the woman she later hired to order the merchandise and approve the art and do the displays did not seem to share her enthusiasm. More than once I found original paintings of mine hidden behind lamps, and when I stopped in last year, I no longer had my own designated print rack; in fact my prints were nowhere out to be seen. Is it any wonder that none were selling? This was a big hint that it was time to go.

At this point my feelings are very mixed but mainly positive about this "loss" of gallery representation. Merry was very good to me over the years, and sales were good when I had given up other marketing outlets like art fairs and horse expos. In some years, the shop was my only source of income. 

Now that the art is home, some pieces will be available to show to honest to goodness local galleries where actual art buyers will be looking for their next purchase. That will be a better fit for me at this point, and that is my near term goal. 

That is the door I hope to open.