Robie Benve Art

  Once again, being a student at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center, I get the opportunity to participate in the Annual Columbus Recreation and Parks Department’s Studio Sale.  This year it's moving to a new location, bigger and with lots of free parking. There will be 50+ artists selling their creations from all mediums: ceramic, jewelry, fiber art, printing, fashion, painting, and more. I have been blessed to be chosen as the featured artist to be interviewed by the news about the sale. Thanks a lot to Gary Seman for this wonderful interview! (link) Below is the short video that Gary took during the interview with me inviting people to come to the event. I think this is my fourth year participating in the studio sale, or maybe the fifth? I lost count! lol It's a two days event full of smiles and awesome feelings, I love being a part of it! I'm bringing several of my paintings, including several oils and some from the new series of ...

Me setting up my booth at the yART 2015 What a great day. I worked hard to get ready, setup, and organize, but it was all worth it. I partecipated in the yART, a small local art fair, a low key event for which you don't need a fancy booth and all the shananigans that some bigger art fairs require. Nevertheless I had a nice setup, and I made quite an investment in frames, to have everything looking professional. My amount of work was multiplied by the fact that I also coordinated the adjacent booth, belonging to the Dublin Area Art League, that recently has kindly elected me its president. Getting the two things going and organized have taken some effort, but at the end I was overwhelmed by the great response from the members, the wonderful artwork that has been turned in, and the amazing look of the DAAL's booth. Dublin Area Art league booth at the yART Of course I need to share the credit with the volunteers from the art league that made today happe...

This month few of my paintings are showing at a local Starbucks. I feel it: I am ready to sell my art. Yes, I've had price tags on my paintings when I entered them in exhibits. I have even had my own booth at the Dublin Art Fair - where I sold very little, but I as a first timer I was happy with that. Truth is: so far I've not pursued sales actively.  No marketing strategies, no talking about my art as a product, only as something I love to do. I'm becoming more and more proud of what I do, and my inventory is getting too big for my own walls. Now I think I am ready to explore ways to actually market my things. A couple of more pieces at the Starbucks. So, I have a crowd of questions in my mind. How do you sell your own art? What is the best way for a self-taught emergent artist to start selling? Where do I start? As amazing and relaxing as creating art is, there is something embarrassing about showing your art when there is a price tag on it. But ...