I seem to find myself re-reading a great book on stoic philosophy called Meditations. Its actually twelve short books compiled into one. I may be reading other books at the same time but reading short pieces of this one keeps me in check, and reminds me to stay true to my personal ethics. You may have heard of it, it’s by a stoic philosopher named Marcus Aurelius. He was the last good emperor of the Roman Empire. There’s a ton of knowledge in this book, and it also has hundreds of quotable lines that resonate with gratitude, respect, honor, reason, and universal truth.

One of my favorite passages in the book speaks about conducting oneself in a peaceful and harmonious way by staying on the path of “true reason,” and to do so without ever expecting anything in return. If you’ve ever found yourself not giving someone a gift on Christmas or a birthday simply because the person receiving the gift may not reciprocate, then this book will help you realize that it may not be the best way to approach something that’s supposed to be considered a selfless act. Here’s the passage from book three, passage 12 of Meditations:

“If you set yourself to your present task along the path of true reason, with all determination, vigour, and good will: if you admit no distraction, but keep your own divinity pure and standing strong, as if you had to surrender it right now; if you grapple this to you, expecting nothing in return, but self-content with each present action taken in accordance with nature and a heroic truthfulness in all that you say and mean - then you will lead a good life. And nobody is able to stop you.”

I can read that passage over and over. It makes me realize different truths every time, which is also why this book takes forever to read. It makes you reflect on how you have lived your life and what you could do to make things better.

If you know me personally then you know that this is one of my favorite passions. Not getting drunk, but sipping on the most satisfying nectar ever created by man. I know not everyone is into drinking whiskey, and that’s probably because it’s a taste that you have to acquire over time. If you care to venture into the fabulous world of distilled spirits, I would try easing into it by using big ice cubes. This calms the intense flavors to the “uninitiated” and using big ice cubes keeps the liquor cold without having a ton of water melting into your drink. Once you’re drinking bourbon on the rocks with ease then you can try it neat.

I recently finished a bottle of Eagle Rare and it reminded me that it was the first time I ever tried bourbon, or any sort of whiskey for that matter. I believe it is the perfect bourbon to get started on if you’ve never had any, and this is for a few reasons. First, it is incredibly smooth and it smells sweet like honey. The second reason is the price. Although it’s not the cheapest bourbon you can find, it’s usually somewhere in between $35-$40 so it won’t break the bank. That’s the great thing about whiskey and bourbon. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have something incredible and world renowned. Eagle Rare is made by the oldest, continuously running distillery in America, Buffalo Trace. They even survived prohibition. And no I didn’t just read that somewhere. I have actually taken a tour of Buffalo Trace, and I did it before drinking whiskey became trendy. Suck on that!

It has recently come to my attention that not everyone listens to podcasts. Of course I know that, but I can’t seem to figure out why. Don’t get me wrong; I will make love to my iPod because I do love music, but once I discovered podcasts my music took a back seat in a lot of ways. I am lucky though because I’m my own boss so I can listen to podcasts for up to 12 hours a day depending on the duration of my work day. I’m able to educate myself throughout the day by listening to them and all while doing my full time job as an artist.

I listened to one of my favorite episodes on the Joe Rogan Experience (JRE #725) a few days ago. It was actually the first JRE episode I ever listened to while I drove straight through from Colorado to Detroit by myself for a car show I was setting up at. I was so hooked and enticed by his podcast that I had no problem driving a crazy distance by myself. This episode spoke of recent evidence of ancient civilizations that were around way before we originally thought. This was recorded back in 2015 but it’s still an amazing one to listen to.

I know I just got done telling you that I listen to a lot of podcasts, but after work is done my family loves to listen to music and just enjoy each other’s company. I’ve been listening to a lot of Miles Davis lately because he is the subject of my latest project. I want to be able to convey the emotion of his music through my artwork so I’ve been obsessing over his brilliance.

I know that jazz isn’t a mainstream thing like it once was, but if you’re a lover of good music, you must listen to Miles Davis. He is revered for good reason. If you’ve never listened to Miles Davis then I would recommend you listen to “So What.” It’s the first song on the album Kind Of Blue, which was the album that helped make Jazz a mainstream thing back in the late 50’s. I also especially love this song and this album because it features my favorite Jazz musician of all time, John Coltrane on Sax. This was back when he used to play in Miles Davis’ band. If you listen to this song and don’t like it, you can lose my number…

I just got done wrapping up my last piece of automotive art (at least for a little bit). Now that it’s done I’m waiting to get my woodblock back from J.HIM Woodworking here in Peoria, IL. I met this dude and instantly liked him. He is gluing up solid basswood planks for me the same way you would build a wooden countertop. It’s going to be 5ft x 3ft and I’m carving an awesome picture of Miles Davis on it. I’ll post my sketch of Miles in the first week of February on Instagram and Facebook.

On Selling Art

 I recently got an email asking me how to sell art. I told the sender of that email that I would answer her on my website so it could benefit anyone who wants to read it. This is a very hard question to answer because it has a lot of moving pieces to it. And like any business, if all the parts of your business aren’t running cohesively, then you’re going to fall short. I know artists just want to be artists, but in order to be successful you have to learn to be disciplined and take care of all of the details. If you decide to take short cuts and save a buck, then you’ll be hurting your chances of success. I wanted to spend some time talking about selling art in person, since selling art on the internet is a whole different ball game, so we can get into that on the next post.

If you’re at a point where you want to sell your art in person, then that probably means you first need to find an outlet to sell your work. This could be art fairs, trade shows, a street corner, or in my case, I decided to sell at car shows. The reason I started selling my artwork at car shows was because most of my art is centered around car culture. Do you have a certain subculture that you can leverage to get pieces sold? Maybe you paint a lot of pictures of whiskey glasses and bar related art. If by chance this is the case then you should think outside the box for certain shows you can attend. Perhaps you can sell this type of art at the next cigar convention? Yes, there are conventions for damn near everything these days. The point I’m trying to make is it may not be as easy for you to connect the dots the way I did with my automotive art and car shows. So if you are that person that loves to paint whiskey and bar art, then you have to find shows that attract people who share those interests. A cigar convention may not sound like the best place, but I’ll bet that bar related art has a great chance of success because whiskey and cigars go hand-in-hand. It’s up to you as an artist to find these types of connections, so you can get your art in front of the right people.

Setting up at art fairs is great and there’s nothing wrong with it, but you’ve only connected one dot by selling there. People go to art fairs because they love art. It’s always better to seek out shows that can connect multiple dots. If you make a lot of art that depicts the craft beer market, then take a chance and set up at a brewery over the weekend, or better yet pay for a booth at the Great American Beer Festival. People don’t necessarily look to buy art when you do shows that aren’t art based, but people do love to spend money on their interests. If you’re confident enough in the quality of your artwork, then I would recommend trying this approach. Although being an artist is about expressing yourself, creating something from nothing, and all that artsy stuff, you’ll still be better off making calculated decisions when it comes to venues to sell in. Will you always be successful? Hell no you won’t. It’s up to you to be persistent, and continue to adjust your approach when things aren’t working out.

Now that we have selling outlets squared away, we can talk about all the other stuff you may or may not have thought about. Have you ever heard that old expression, “You have to spend money to make money” . . . ? As cliche as it sounds there’s a ton of truth to it. Booth fees can be cheap, but they’re often times expensive as hell, especially if its a big show with a lot of spectators. Oh and do you have a booth to hang your work in? Did you make sure to frame all of your artwork to have your presentation as professional as possible? Are you going to have travel expenses like fuel, food, hotels, or Airbnb’s? Even after I payed for a booth, table, chair, checkout stand, and everything else needed to run a show I would usually average somewhere around $1500-$2000 in expenses just to get there. Granted I usually always traveled far for shows, but it’s what I had to do if I wanted better chances to sell my art. Being a “starving artist” is definitely hard, but if you don’t take some chances then your odds of coming out on top and actually making this a career are slim. So spend that money!

Okay now I can finally answer the question on selling art. My approach to selling is very simple. Step one: Be nice. Step two: Be NICE! Okay really, this is the most important thing when it comes to selling a complete luxury. I have gone up to artists that I admired for a very long time and I was so put off by the way they treated me that I stopped supporting their work. I don’t care if you know you’re the best artist in the room, or the entire world for that matter. You must always treat people with respect, especially since your goal is to have them exchange their hard earned money for something you made in your basement. Don’t ever forget to be kind to everyone, even if you know they aren’t going to buy anything. There’s always a chance that they may know someone who will, or most importantly, they may turn in to a lifelong friend - it’s happened to me many times. In fact, keep this rule and engrain it into your everyday life.

Get ready for step three. Always greet someone who comes into your booth. Don’t be scrolling through Facebook or taking a nap. Believe me, I’ve seen it. You always greet people because it’s disrespectful not to. The greeting will open up some conversation with most people. Some artists have a hard time talking to potential customers for the fear of rejection. This is an idea that your own ego creates and you should toss all of these fears in the trash. People may be rude to you sometimes. People will ask you silly questions. People will tell you what you should be doing. Most people have very good intentions. All of this is okay and it’s something that you need to learn to get used to. It doesn’t happen all the time, but you’re bound to run in to this. Don’t let it stop you from achieving your goals.

Now you know how to be nice and how to say hello to people, so we can move on - You may think I’m kidding, but I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’m still amazed at how often I see this not happening. I would make sure to have a short script or a short story about your art. The reason for this is because you don’t want to be pestering a customer the entire time they’re in your booth. You want to be helpful and informative when you need to, but definitely don’t be circling them like a vulture. I always make sure to let people know the process of creating my artwork and I let them know where the prices are. I also let them know that a lot of pieces are also available unframed. After I tell them all of that I just tell them to let me know if they have any questions and I leave them alone for the most part. You will be surprised how many people have questions for you and want to talk to you about your work. If they are showing interest in conversing with you then by all means talk to them.

That’s it! Nothing more! If they like your work they might buy it, but remember, they either get it or they don’t. There’s never a good time to be pushy with your art. Selling art isn’t like selling a car, at least it’s not to me. One of my best friends, Joey, is screaming in anger right now. He’s a badass salesman and loves making deals. I know he wants to pull his hair out when he talks to me about selling. Could you imagine asking a potential buyer what you would have to do to get them into this new painting? What if I could take $100 off? NO! They either like it or they don’t. I’ve sold cars before, and trust me, that was the most stressful job of my life. Don’t stress yourself out about making sales. If you have a good product it will sell itself. What’s more important, in my opinion, is positioning yourself in a place that brings the customers you need. People who are into your subject matter. Also, being respectful and making sure your set up looks professional because you want to show people that you are serious about your work and it’s not just an afterthought.

I hope this gives you a little insight on the way I successfully make sales, and if you found this helpful, please share it with your friends and family. Also, subscribe to my email list so I can let you know when I’m posting something new, and be sure to follow @TheRealOldSchoolAlex on Instagram.

Much Love To All,
Alex Carmona