My name is Graham Matthews and I am the owner of Artpromotivate. I am 43, recently married, with 2 step kids.
Art has been a passion of mine all my life. I have created art in some form for as long as I can remember.
In 1996 I decided to apply for art school. I spent 4 years at the Fine Arts division of Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. I learned a lot there, both about art techniques and developing my personal creativity.
It was what I didn’t learn that now astounds me. I came out of art school with little knowledge of the gallery system. I knew little to nothing about art promotion. So, I had to learn all these things on my own.
But, I had a student loan to pay, and mounting bills. I have have had to work at several non-art related jobs in order to support myself and pay off my loans. I worked as a logger, boat fibreglassing, fish plant worker, and various labour jobs over the years. Some of these left me very little time, if any, to create. Painting is actually the last thing on my mind after a long day of labour work. I just want to rest. But, I have always found time to create, whether it be in my sketchbooks, or on the weekends.
Currently (for the past 7 years), I have a seasonal job in a local fish plant. The plant is only open during the summer months (April – October), allowing me plenty of time to produce and promote art in the winter. Although I am grateful for this, my dream is to be a full time, self-supporting artist.
UPDATE: That fish plant closed its doors this year, putting about 200 people, including myself, out of work. Currently, I am working full time writing for Artpromotivate, and as an artist.
To that end, I have been taking a very active role in the local and online art community. I am using all the methods I have learned to promote my own art, and sharing them with you at Artpromotivate.
The articles are about things I have learned over the years, through research and experience.
Feel free to leave comments, and if you do not want to miss any updates please subscribe.
If you need help with anything at all, I will be very happy to help.
Thank-you!
Graham Matthews
You may find me at these online web profiles:
Twitter
Google+
Facebook
Linkedin
Pinterest
Fine Art America
Graham Matthews Art
wow! I have almost a mirror history/background as you...maybe a few different forks in my road... ;)
ReplyDeleteartzyamy.com
find me on facebook:
Amy Lindemann
artzya33@gmail.com
hello Graham
ReplyDeleteon 2008 i founded the Current art group that has 4 now more than 4000 members. the reason i founded this group was the lack of valuable information in the art field especially 4 those that want to experience the international markets. so it s important we ll share our knowledge and experience
have magic in your life
Ted Barr
Hi Graham,
ReplyDeleteI am so thankful for all the information I find on your blog, well done! I am trying to get in the picture with my automotive sculptures and as you know one can get easily lost in the marketing jungle. Keep up the good work!
Marc
www.marcvellekoop.com
Your story is very similar to many who struggle to find the time to do the things they love. Like Croce's song says "But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do Once you find them" this resonates for everyone and for the creative types it is a constant issue. With the Fish Plant closure it seems to me that beyond all the focus and determination to accomplish your dream, you now have a motivator as old as time - survival. I hope it will drive you to greater heights in your artwork than ever before, and you achieve at least some of your dream for your life's work.
ReplyDeletep.s. Question, was the plant closed this year (2013)? I just wanted to double check.
Thanks Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteIt opened for about a week and then closed again... and it appears now that it will never reopen. But, as you say, there is a BIG upside to this. It has motivated me to pursue all the things I did not have much time for before. I'm painting much more, and I am devoting much more time to this website.
Hi Graham, stumbled from twitter. Loved your website. Do drop at my blog Indian Art http://indianartscene.blogspot.in/ which is abt art news, events, guides, reviews, etc. I hv recently redesigned my site & am still cataloging the info, would love to hv feedback from you. Thx.
ReplyDeleteNalini
I love your site! I agree about promotion of art. I think it is important to promote/market art. I went to school for Internet marketing and I am a digital artist as well. My art and the Internet are in the same family to me. Thank you for this site.
ReplyDeleteDreamers, idealist, stalker of lost worlds, stealer of time, followers of the evolution, awake.
ReplyDeleteThe mobilisation has now a place –The Grove– the grove of art.
World's Finest Artistic Network
www.artgrove.com
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Art Promotivate,
ReplyDeleteI saw you had listings here for online resources for artists as well as a listing of top Calls for Artists. I want to ask if you could consider CODAworx to be listed as a resource for your artists, we update our RFP/RFQ/Calls for Artists daily.
Here is a link to our site: www.codaworx.com
CODAworx is a global online community that showcases design projects featuring commissioned artwork in interior and architectural spaces. Since 2012, the site has been an online hub for the commissioned art world where anyone can showcase work, hire artists, and get hired. Designed for use by artists, design professionals, and industry resources, CODAworx provides its members with a platform to earn recognition for their design + art projects and connect with other members of the creative community.
Here is also a link to our 2015 Year in Review that we sent out to our international list of 25,000 art + design professionals. It highlights a couple of the exciting art installations we facilitated last year with our RFP Toolkit and some of the big stats from our site.
http://go.codaworx.com/2015/yearinreview
Thanks, and let me know if you have any questions. I would love to have our site be a resource for artists on your site.
Nick Anderson (nick@codaworx.com)
Online Marketing Manager
CODAworx
Thank you Graham, for your most interesting 'About' article - very frank and honest information! Many of us can relate to, and agree with your attitude. Most of us are artists, long before being content to see ourselves AS 'artists' - but very few understand the importance of the art-promotion! I'm comfortable with calling myself artist, and now ready to learn about 'art promotion'
ReplyDeleteI used to be on your email feed but I am not receiving any emails anymore. i tried to subscribe, and they said I was already subscribed. I really enjoyed your articles. How do I get back on your feed list? Thanks, Marilyn Lowry
ReplyDelete