Did you walk into your first gallery or email them? I did the old-fashioned thing and it went nowhere twice.
Got my first gallery showing by walking in with a portfolio under my arm like it was 1985. They looked at my slides. Slides. That's how long ago. Took two more rejections from the same place before a third visit landed.
These days everyone tells you to email, DM, submit online. I've had more doors shut by a well-written email than a handshake ever did. Curious how the rest of you actually got your first one. Did you write, call, or show up in person? And which one of those would you never do again?
3
4commentsSaveFollow threadShare
Honestly I've been trying to figure this out too because I'm in my first real year of pushing work out there and everyone I talk to swears by the cold email. I've sent maybe a dozen and the only responses I got were "we'll keep you on file" which feels like a polite way of saying please go away.
But I'm also terrified of just walking in somewhere with my portfolio. I'm a watercolor painter which a lot of gallery people already side-eye as not serious enough, and I feel like I'd walk in and they'd take one look at the medium and my hands would start shaking and I'd spill coffee on my own work or something.
My partner keeps pushing me to just do it though. Their argument is that an email can be deleted in two seconds but it's a lot harder to be rude to a person standing in front of you. And honestly after hearing yours took three visits I feel a little less dumb about thinking persistence might matter more than the method.
Did the third visit feel different or was it just luck finally swinging your way?
I'm a paper person so galleries already have their doubts before I open the portfolio, I get it. Walking in cold feels like asking to be judged in person instead of behind a screen, but honestly the screen hasn't been kinder to me.
The thing that helped was not going in with the work first. I went to openings, talked to people, let them see me as someone who shows up before I ever asked for anything. By the time I brought work in, they knew my face. It wasn't a cold walk-in, it was more of a lukewarm one.
Watercolor gets side-eyed plenty, but that's about the gallery more than your work. Some just aren't your place and it's better to find out early than to chase them for two years.
That lukewarm approach is smart, and it's the part people skip. They want the result without the showing up. I'll bet half the reason my third walk-in worked was they'd seen me around by then, same as you.
The gallery treating watercolor like a hobby says more about them than the work. I've welded enough frames around paper that I know what good watercolor takes. But you're right that you have to walk in owning it. That doubt reads faster than any portfolio.
How long did it take before showing up paid off for you?
Watercolor gets side-eyed because too many people treat it like a hobby, not because the medium is weak. I've seen washes that put oil painters to shame. But you've got to walk in believing that, or they'll smell the doubt before you open the folder.
The coffee thing though, that's real. First time I walked into a gallery I forgot my own name. Nobody remembers that part, they just remember the win.
If the door thing scares you that bad, pick one mid-tier gallery that shows work you genuinely respect. Not the fanciest, not the one you really want. A practice run. Go talk to the person like you're looking for advice, not a show. Worst case you learn their walls and their taste for next time.