Once a week
Yesterday evening, the Art Lover Ground event took place in Barcelona, where I had the opportunity to show some of my paintings. When I arrived in Barcelona, some of the artists had already installed their art, others were desperately figuring out the right presentation. The event staff, especially Karina, was very supportive and helpful for ...
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Next Saturday, I am attending the Art Lover Ground in Barcelona, an international event where young, emerging artists show their art and build up their network with art lovers. I am not that young in age anymore but young as an artist and very excited about showing some of my paintings at the event. 25 ...
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Comme tout artiste, je voudrais montrer mon art à une audience plus large. Pour cette année, je n’aurais peut-être pas la possibilité d’exposer mes peintures dans l’ARTFabrik car le lieu a été vendu et transformé en lieu privé. Par conséquent, j’ai postulé dans certaines galeries dans notre région, la plupart dirigées par des associations à ...
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Es war eine last-minute Entscheidung auf die Art Basel zu fahren, ich wurde sozusagen von meinem Liebsten ein wenig geschubst, diese Messe zu besuchen. Er meinte, es würde mir gut tun, ich bräuchte einen Überblick was in der Art Welt so angesagt ist und sollte mal schauen, wie der Kunstmarkt so funktioniert. Er brauchte nicht […]
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Gestern haben wir mit unserer Ausstellung “L’Art Quotidien” die Saison 2017 in der ART Fabrik eröffnet. Die Vernissage war gut besucht, die Gäste zeigten sich sehr angetan von der Ausstellung. So eine Vernissage ist eine unschätzbar gute Gelegenheit für einen Künstler, um Rückmeldungen zu seiner Kunst zu bekommen. Und so habe auch ich die Chance […]
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Dans quelques semaines, nous ouvrirons notre ART Fabrik pour la saison estivale et nous sommes en train de préparer notre vernissage d’ouverture. Nous commencerons par la céramique de Joanna, des bijoux d’Harry et des peintures de ma part. Joanna a un volume incroyable de merveilleuses céramiques qu’elle a fait au cours des dernières années, malgré […]
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Painting itself is fun, interesting and sometimes a challenge, and I am happy when people tell me that they like my paintings, but my goal is to sell them.
I do not have to live on it, but of course I want to sell my art. This is a form of recognition that motivates and encourages.
So how can I make my paintings better known and show them to a broader public?
The first step was this website, bundled with the corresponding social media activities via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
I had the opportunity to show my paintings at exhibitions in Hamburg and Fitou, where I also sold some of them. Exhibitions are an excellent opportunity to get in touch with art enthusiasts, to receive feedback and suggestions and to sell.
The commercial art market is a special thing, it is quite difficult to find a gallery as an unknown artist, where you can exhibit.
There are, of course, some interesting approaches for how to show my work. I’ve looked around a bit, how other artists do it.
It is relatively easy to present one’s work and, at first glance, this possibility seems very tempting. The disadvantage is, there the artist is the product and the art is rather secondary. The more artists show their work on a platform, the more interesting is this website for investors, advertising and target group-specific offers but also for art lovers. Some platforms offer advice and curation, some are free and raise acceptable sales provisions.
The larger platforms are financed through sales promotions and complementary services for artists and art lovers, the smaller via monthly subscription fees.
It is not a big effort to put a portfolio on some of these websites and show one’s art to a broader public, e.g. https://www.saatchiart.com/christinegraf
Difficult to get in, most do not take any new artists under contract or have already planned their exhibitions for the next two years.
A gallery does not want to take any risk and show unknown artists. The market is flooded by artists who already have a name and are still hard to sell.
With a little bit of luck you will be able to show a few pieces of your work for a short period of time, especially if the gallery is in a tourist region.
This approach can work quite well, if several artists come together and cover a broad portfolio. We tried this last summer with the ARTFabrik and despite of this spontaneous idea without major planning, we were quite successful.
We will refine this concept and continue to pursue it next year.
These are short-term exhibitions in shops, banks, offices or public buildings. Some business owners are very open to this idea, as it also helps them to present their own products catching the eye of their clients in an attractive way. It takes a little planning, of course, and you have to look at how that fits the concept of the business.
Particularly in tourist regions, numerous events are organised, where local artists have the chance to present themselves. These can be by regular (art) markets or even one-time, yearly recurring exhibitions.
Here, too, one must be well-networked to have the chance to exhibit at all.
So I will go on the search, where I can exhibit next year, be it in the region where I live, in the German-speaking area, UK or elsewhere in Europe. Any suggestions and invitations are very welcome 
Contact me!
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We still have summer temperatures, but the holiday season is over. In Fitou things get quieter again, now only insiders spend their holidays here, people who value peace and the good location between sea and mountains.
The ARTFabrik adapts to the season and is open until the end of October, only Friday to Sunday from 18:00 to 20:00.
Our experiment with the ARTFabrik was quite successful, we had many visitors, received good feedback for our exhibition and also sold some of our art.
Of course, we would have liked more of everything: more visitors, more sales, but for a spontaneously created art gallery the start was not bad!
We got many requests from artists, wishing to exhibit with us and now we have to think about whether and, if so, how we want to move on.
In any case, we need more publicity and thus a good plan when, how and whom we want to address. In addition, we have to network more, to cooperate with other artists, galleries, art associations and share ideas and resources.
Just these two points require a lot of time and efforts, and as already written, we – the organizers must discuss how we can and want to integrate these tasks in our everyday life
We are very receptive for suggestions and support
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The Art Fabrik opened first of July, and it has been an interesting and friendly experience so far. Surprisingly many people from the village came to the opening, surprising because most Fitounais’ are usually quite reluctant embracing something new..
The reactions were all very positive. Some visitors were the first time at an art opening and bit shy at the beginning, but that changed quickly. It was nice to see how the people were in contact with each other and with the art.
Of course, when looking at my paintings the question “What does that mean?” popped up. I then replied with a smile ”What do you see ?” It had something like an art lesson at school analyzing a picture, but that changed quickly when the viewer sunk into the picture and hung on it’s own thoughts. It was interesting what they saw in the paintings and amazing what they revealed of themselves.
Art is the mirror of the soul. Art has a symbolism that we try to understand, we try to find words to describe it. Art is a purely personal experience, and one can never fully explain art, because depending on momentary moods and feelings we change our perspective and find other words describing it, we create a new interpretation of the artwork and we are intensifying our self-perception.
The ART Fabrik brings people together, not only to look at art and talking about it, but also to talk to each other.
We are proud of it!
I am trying all sorts of old painting techniques and experimenting with colors and materials, and of course I want to show the results of my work. This website, in association with social media activities are one way, but art needs to be seen and experienced live.
We have a nice, big, empty space that has served us until some time ago as an office. And we live in an area where many people spend their vacation. It’s nearly so obvious to open an art gallery.
Thus, we met with a few friends, who also create art, and the idea of the ART Fabrik was born. The gallery will present paintings, metalwork and jewelry.
Next week we begin with the re-arrangements, on July 01 is opening.
We are looking forward to many visitors, art lovers and curious people who just want to see what their neighbors do.