Monika Blichar

Vendor Tips: Sell Your Art

by Monika Blichar, Art World Expo Owner and Producer

Selling art can be tricky. I mean, lets be honest about buying art. It isn’t a necessity like food or shelter nor can it improve your employment skills via education or training. Investing in art doesn’t bring you a fancy certificate for a future job position, nor does it help you do your job better because its settings has better apps than your last device. It can’t help you put gas in your car or buy new running shoes for your kids, nor can it help you get dog food for your puppy. So, what is the motivation for people to buy art and how can you sell your art regularly despite these drawbacks?

Have a look at these vendor tips; be sure to send me your ideas and I might just post them in my next blog with credits to you-website and photos included of your art too!

1-Market to a Specific Audience

Whether you make wood sculptures or plaster casts is irrelevant. Who you are marketing to is what is important. Afterall, if you are targeting college or university students just because you’re currently in college or university, it may work for bumper sticker art, cards or prints, but once you decide you don’t want to sell 500 items at $5, your chances of selling a piece at even $100 to a student is slim. Before you continue your marketing today, think about who your audience is and then find ways to reach that audience.

2-Social Media

I harp on artists all the time about using social media to promote their art. What other free tools are there? Social media is definitely the number one tool to reach the maximum number of people for no monetary investment. Artists in our events will promote their work and use our #artworldexpo hashtag; you’re more than welcome to use it too and we’ll share and retweet your art. That’s the beauty of it really-you can reach so many people and if you use good hashtags, others will share your work too. Be sure to comment, like, and share other people’s posts, images and content in order to spread the love! In terms of social media, whatever you put in, you’ll get back.

3-Follow Up

Many artists sign up for markets, events, and trade shows; preparing everything correctly including draw boxes for contests, email marketing newsletter campaigns, and then; fail to follow up for numerous reasons. Whether you didn’t do as well as you thought at your event sales wise or you just didn’t get the number of people through your booth as you though, the biggest waste of time after an event is that you didn’t follow up with people you met or who entered your draw box. That is where the REAL fortune is. Adding people to your mailing list, inviting them to your Facebook Page, or keeping them in the loop for your next event is the KEY to creating relationships that will help you grow your business and sell more art.

I always love to try new things when selling art. I diversify my work and my workload; making adjustments all the time. What worked two months or two years ago, might not work today. The important thing is that you always experiment with your sales strategies and sales goals with the knowledge that there is something for everyone and someone out there is looking for exactly what you have.

If you liked these tips, be sure to SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER to get more tips like these plus special offers, industry news and notifications about our latest events and projects on a regular basis. Be sure to share these tips and send us your ideas for your chance to be featured in our next post! Email us at artists@theartworldexpo.com

Monika Blichar is an Entrepreneur and Artist. She is owner of MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery in North Vancouver and producer of Art World Expo and Painting Dreams International Art Tours. She is always pushing boundaries as an artist and creative entrepreneur. Her love of the arts has been a part of her life since childhood.

Painting Dreams International Art Tours-Barcelona 2017!

Have you always wanted to visit Spain? See the sights, visit the Gaudi buildings, bask in the colourful creativity all around you? Here is your chance to visit this beautiful country with Painting Dreams International Art Tours!

A 12 day creative artist retreat awaits the emerging or experienced aritst. Guests on tour this year can expect daily art instruction from founder Monika Blichar and co-teacher Irene Eaves. Both women have a combined painting and teaching experience which includes painting, drawing, mixed media and intuitive painting. Guests will receive daily art classes inspired by a joint venture workbook available exclusively to tour participants inspired by Spain’s architecture, landscape and colour. In addition to our art practise, we will be helping guests enjoy museums, art galleries and day activities after classes. Guests can expect a full day of art and culture with evenings to themselves as well as a free day to contemplate their art, explore the surroundings or venture off on a day trip solo or as a group.

Read the Full North Shore News Article About Painting Dreams International Art Tours featuring Founder Monika Blichar here: http://www.nsnews.com/entertainment/dossier/travel-inspires-monika-blichar-s-creative-journey-1.2331560

If you are interested in travelling to Spain for the 3rd annual Painting Dreams Art Tour, please contact Monika Blichar at 604 999 6177. A free information session is set for February 15 at 6:00pm at MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery in North Vancouver, BC. RSVP HERE

Art World Tips: Why Should You Network?

by Monika Blichar, Producer & Owner Art World Expo

A shot of the Diamond Dolls Networking Group in 2013.

When I used to think of traditional networking, I used to think of early morning breakfast meetings, serious business suit types, and 60 second pitches with those little dingers to make sure you don’t go over your allotted time to talk about your business. 6:00am is not the best time for me to tell people about what I do, let alone try to condense my passion and creativity into 60 seconds! This is likely the case for many artists and creative types. (I’m also quite a recluse, believe it or not, and dread going to large events!) Instead of forcing myself to attend early morning meetings and go out to late night events, I dedicate my time to networking in different ways.

First, I focus on who I know already. My immediate circle of contacts are invaluable to me as I have known them the longest or have already had dealings with them. Who is in your network already? As an artist or creative entrepreneur, look at who you know already and see what they can help you with. Do you need places to post content, locations to show your work, or introductions to business professionals? Ask people you already know to help you out and send you referrals or recommendations. I’ve discovered that this can be done on Facebook too and that people are quite helpful with their comments and recommendations.

Since I really enjoy working from home and my studio and rather not waste precious time driving and running around the city to events or meetings that may or may not be worthwhile, I scour my social media networks. If I am looking for specific businesses or people, I search on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I send message to people or businesses directly through these channels first, and if I really feel that there could be a good collaboration, I also proceed to send them emails. If I really think that we should meet, I call and try to book an appointment or invite them to come by our studio and gallery.

Last, what I really tried to focus on in terms of networking last year and what I will continue to do this year is fostering relationships with my existing clients and affiliates. I worked hard to stay in touch with people; either via phone or email. I invited artists to participate in other opportunities throughout the year including our first Artisan Holiday Sales Catalog and being featured at local markets in our exhibition stalls. I worked hard to create relationships that were meaningful to me and also that benefited both parties when assessing business strategies and long term goals.

This year, I challenge you to look at your networking goals and really find out what you are looking for in terms of what you want from your business and career. For me, I know that the best things in my life come from authentic relationships, concise planning and intuitive instincts. When I look at my business and my relationships, I see a network and community that I love. This, I truly believe, also helps me succeed! After all, if you aren’t doing what you love, no amount of networking will help you!

Have some thoughts about this article? We love to hear from artists in our community! Be sure to touch base with us at artists@theartworldexpo.com or comment on this post! Get in touch with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and join our conversation there too!

2016 Christmas Arts & Craft Fair-CALL FOR ARTISANS

We are pleased to be co-producing the first Christmas Arts & Crafts Fair in partnership with the Belweder North Shore Polish Association. The wonderful Pipe Shop Building on North Vancouver’s waterfront is our venue!

We are looking for amazing vendors to participate in the event this year on November 20! Show runs from 12-7pm and we encourage all kinds of arts and crafters to join just in time for the holiday shopping season!

A spot is $60 and includes a table and chair! If you would like to participate, please send an email to artists@theartworldexpo.com for the submission form or call 604 999 6177.

Painting Dreams Art Tours Featured in North Shore News!

A big thank you to the North Shore News for featuring our owner and project creator for Painting Dreams International Art Tours this weekend in the paper!

This summer, Monika took the second annual retreat to Wroclaw, Poland-the European Culture Capital for 2016. Monika taught art classes and coordinated activities such as gallery visits, museum tours, gnome hunts, castle visits and walks through the city.

This tour was made possible from our sponsors and affiliates: Twin Peaks Construction, Art by Edy, MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery, Art World Expo, Make and Break Arts Foundation, Daddy Blogger, Jireh Stone Vancouver

Read the full article: http://www.nsnews.com/entertainment/dossier/travel-inspires-monika-blichar-s-creative-journey-1.2331560

Artists interested in travelling to Barcelona, Spain in 2017 can join us for the next art trip, please email artists@theartworldexpo.com or visit www.mabartstudio.com to register online. The next meeting is scheduled for September 25, 2016 from 2:00-4:00pm. Instructors for the 2017 tour will be Monika Blichar and Irene Eaves.

Art Workbook by Founder Monika Blichar Helps Spark Creativity

“You’re Going to Make It-A Creativity Workbook to Help You Make Your Best Art!” by Founder of Art World Expo Monika Blichar has been a real hit this summer!

Monika has been working with emerging and established artists since 2009 via various projects including teaching at MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery in North Vancouver. In response reflections about how to help people be more creative in their art and lives, she put together a unique workbook to help even the most beginner artist ignite creativity!

Inside students can complete 10 exercises on things like highlighting, shading, perspective, colour wheel and even some work on portraiture. Monika also included some inspirational worksheets that will help anyone pin-point what they would like to do with their creativity and take action steps to achieve those goals. Blichar says that fostering the desire to create is crucial to well being and spurring imagination. She can’t live without creating and attributes her own creativity to doing something right-brained every day. “Whatever it is that you would like to create,” she says, “it can be nurtured and developed with an open-mind, dedication and most importantly, fun!”

Monika is always giving back to the arts community through fundraising and this is just another way for her to help others start their own work and be sure they understand the fundamentals of art. The first 100 books help support facility costs at MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery. So far, Blichar has sold 80 copies! Help her meet the goal by ordering an Ebook Here!

Finding Inspiration-3 Tips for Artists

by Monika Blichar

One of the hardest things artists struggle with is finding inspiration. We have no shortage of ideas that come to us, but actually finding inspiration for individual pieces or collections can be tricky! This is even more true when you experience a creative block-nothing’s coming!

Having spend the last two weeks abroad on tour with our annual artist retreats, Painting Dreams International Art Tours, I have thought about inspiration quite a lot. Being in a new place has not only inspired me to make new and entirely different work, but has also opened up my palette for a thirst for something more in art and creativity. I thought I would share my top three tips for finding inspiration with you while sitting in our city apartment on a Sunday evening in Wroclaw, Poland. Feel free to try them out, share and connect with me on social media and share what you’re doing to find inspiration!

1-New Environments

We all know that stepping away from your day to day routine can spark an enormous amount of insight, creativity and inspiration. Each time I travel, I make sure to document my surroundings carefully as I always find some kind of spark of intrigue in the things around me when I create paintings especially. In our suite this year, I have been delighted to see antique furniture and items that are engaging in my curiosities. I haven’t painted any of these items yet, but have taken pictures so that I don’t forget and can incorporate them into my art later perhaps.

My room where I’ve been writing and sharing my trip, art and visits to galleries. Below are some of the cool pieces in this suite.

2-Challenge Yourself

Another thing to remember when looking for ways to find new inspiration is to challenge yourself. If you’ve always painted flowers, try buildings or landscapes. If you’ve always made abstracts, try doing a portrait or a plein air painting outside at a local park. You don’t have to travel far to try new things! It’s just about the conscious effort of finding new items, people, or local things to draw on for inspiration for new work. I also recommend trying new products. Recently, I worked on the two paintings on cedar blocks below with beeswax, fabric, pearls, paint, pages from “The Winter’s Tale” by Shakespeare too! I added word cut outs from magazines and even dried leaves!

These are the two pieces that were definitely outside my norm. Both are available for purchase. $150/each or $250 for the set.

3-Research

If you are really stuck on finding inspiration. I leave you to the wonderful world of Google. Where anything is possible and researchable. Try typing in a word or era and see what you find! The possibilities are limitless and everything is “Google-able!”

Check out this Google Doodle by 11 year old Audrey Azhang, the 2014 Doodle 4 Google winner.

In response to the question, “What would you invent to make the world a better place?” more than100,000 Google Doodle contest entries were received from students in grades K – 12.

Azhang told Google:

To make the world a better place, I invented a transformative water purifier. It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers, lakes, and even oceans, then massively transforms the water into clean, safe and sanitary water, when humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life.

From: http://searchengineland.com/doodle-4-google-winning-illustration-earns-winner-30000-scholarship-spot-googles-homepage-193568

Don’t forget to like my page on Facebook and connect with me on Twitter! I share lots of daily tips, progress and love to hear from artists all over the world about their work!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Monika-Blichar-1556162547959003/?fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonikaBlichar

Painting Dreams Art Tour-Wroclaw, Poland

by Monika Blichar

Wroclaw is known as “the meeting place”. With its picturesque architecture, many coffee shops and restaurants as well as attractions to visit, any artist will find an array of inspiration. The city is full of people, art, history and culture!

Photos: City Square called the Rynek, Botanical Gardens, and a painting from 1864.

Our trip here this year is part of Painting Dreams International Art Tours. Each year, a group of artists joins us for a two week tour of a selected area overseas. This year, we chose to take the tour to Wroclaw as it is the European Culture Capital for 2016 with stop overs in Amsterdam and Warsaw. We arrived late on Saturday night and since arrival, have enjoyed visiting attractions such as the Rynek, museums, and art galleries. The city is quite busy this year and we are finding that many people speak English well. Our travellers are able to get around easily on the trolley system and our apartment is located minutes from the downtown core. So far, some of our highlights have been visiting the National Museum, the Botanical Gardens, and the Panorama.

Though our group is small this year, we have made time to create works and are anticipating cooler weather in order to be able to paint plein air! The weather has been unusually hot for the area this year, but we have been able to create a few pieces over the last few days! Sketching has been ideal to get some ideas down on paper and our canvas pads and travel kits have been a great way to create pieces that are easily transportable and that can be made anywhere.

Sketch by Monika “Polish Princess” as well as two acrylic paintings. Inspirations for these pieces have been the city’s 300 some odd gnomes and Polish scenes, insects and architecture. Works in progress.

Kathryn has been working steadily on her bird piece. Colours are coming along and she has been working from the workbook provided to tour members. “You’re Going to Make It-A Creativity Workbook to Help You Make Your Best Art” by tour operator and art instructor Monika Blichar. You can order your own copy of the workbook EBOOK HERE

If you are interested in travelling with Painting Dreams International Art Tours, please register for our next information session on August 28 held at our studio and gallery in North Vancouver, BC. If you are out of the area, we will be streaming the meeting so you will be able to be present virtually. Please register PAINTING DREAMS IN SPAIN 2017

Painting Dreams International Art Tour-Stop 1-Amsterdam

by Monika Blichar

One of the many canals. Photo credit Sabrina Widner.

One of the best parts of our operations is being able to travel with Painting Dreams International Art Tours. On top of our annual exhibition, studio classes and programs, we love summer because each year, we are able to go to artsy hotspots and explore with other creatives! We love hosting and coordinating these trips for art lovers and adventurers

Sabrina, Kathryn and I arriving at the airport! About 13 hours of travel from Vancouver with a stop over in Chicago.This year, we decided that we would take our tour to Wroclaw, Poland and make a couple stops before and after our 12 day tour. Our first stop is Amsterdam and let me tell you, if you are an artist of any sort, this is definitely a place you need to visit! Cafes, galleries, museums and exhibitions are in abundance-every corner is filled with unique artisan works as well as a fabulous ambience from 165 canals. Amsterdam has 51 galleries, approximately 1,515 cafes and bars, 1,281 bridges, 2,500 houseboats, and 881,000 bicycles. No shortage of things to sketch or paint here!

Kathryn enjoying our first trip to a cafe in Amsterdam!

The city centre has amazing cafes to visit.

My first sketch complete with morning coffee!

From all the places I have travelled over the years, Amsterdam easily has the friendliest locals who not only smile and say good morning when they are whizzing past you on their bikes, but who are keen to help you have a great time here! If you haven’t yet, be sure to follow our page on Painting Dreams on Facebook! On Saturday, we will be heading off to Wroclaw to enjoy the European Culture Capital for 2016. Until then, be sure to connect with us as we explore the sights and attractions in Amsterdam!

Wishbeads: An Artistic Endeavor Aimed at Helping Dreams to Become Reality

When was the last time you made a wish, and really felt as if it could come true? Every child blows out birthday candles or tosses pennies into a well, and not only makes a wish, but also genuinely believes it’s likely to become a reality. Then adulthood happens, and belief in things of that nature generally tends to fade. A new product is in the works that seeks to recreate this experience for adults, and rekindle the belief that wishes can come true. Known as Wishbeads, it’s a unique arts and crafts kit.

Wishbeads is more than a just a bracelet-making kit; it’s an opportunity to pause and think what you truly wish for. After visualizing a wish, it’s then written onto paper, and the paper is transformed into paper beads. These beads form the bracelet. Wearing is aimed at inspiring the owner to take action.

Wishbeads comes with a 21-day action journal, complete with prompts to enable the wearer to start seeing elements of his or her wish in action. The theory behind it is that if you focus on something hard enough, the law of attraction will bring it to within reach. Wishbeads claims to be able to aid in doing this, and help the wearer to manifest exactly what he or she wants from life. Do we believe that it’s actually capable of making dreams come true? We reserve judgment. What we do know for sure is that making the bracelets is a fun activity, and can provide a great bonding experience for women if done communally.

The kit is currently being financed via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It’s already creating quite a stir, with the women who have already created Wishbeads bracelets waxing lyrical about the experience. Perhaps this marks a return to those halcyon days of making wishes and really believing in them. Who knows, maybe Wishbeads will one day become the adult equivalent of blowing out candles or tossing a penny.