First gallery. How'd you actually land it?
I got my start the long way. Knew a fabricator who knew a framer who knew a gallery owner who needed someone to fix a broken piece of sculpture on a Saturday. Did the job, didn't charge, came back Monday with a portfolio of my own work. They hung three pieces. Took two years to sell one.
No residency, no MFA, no cold call. Just asked a guy who owed me a favor for an introduction.
How did you get your first gallery? Cold email, walked in, referral, someone saw your work somewhere? Curious if anyone actually landed one through the front door, because I never did.
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Good question, and I think your story is closer to the norm than people admit. My first real gallery came through a collector who'd bought a small still life at a group show. She mentioned me to her dealer over dinner, apparently. That was it. Not the work in a portfolio or a cold call, but one casual word in the right ear.
The front door thing, honestly, I've never seen it work. The galleries that matter are small businesses run by people who are tired and suspicious. They don't want to be sold to. They want someone they trust to say "this one's worth your time." It's frustrating because it means the system runs on social capital as much as paint, but there it is.
What struck me in your story is the repair job. Not charging, showing up, being useful. That's a kind of intelligence that says more about a person than any CV. Galleries are betting on the person as much as the work, whether they admit it or not.
I'd be curious how the three pieces did at least. Even unsold, being on those walls changes how you see your own work afterward. Or is that just me?
The still life thing is the part people don't want to hear because it means you can't control it. You put the work out there, and then someone else's dinner conversation does more for you than your whole portfolio. I've had pieces sell to strangers who turned out to be connected in ways I couldn't have guessed, and I've had my best work sit unsold for a year. There's no logic to it.
But I'd push back a little on the front door thing. I've seen it work once. A friend of mine, painter, walked into a small gallery in Athens with three small canvases under his arm, asked if they'd look. Owner almost didn't take them. He did, out of politeness. She kept one. It took a year for the rest to follow but that first one came from nerve, not a referral. So it happens, just rarely, and usually with someone young and a little shameless who's got nothing to lose yet.
The tired and suspicious part though, yes. I think most gallery owners are just tired. They see a hundred portfolios a year and most of it's decent and forgettable. A word from someone they trust cuts through all that noise. It's not even about connections in the sleazy way, it's just that someone saved them the effort of deciding.
Ha. There it is. I spent two years on the biggest thing I'd built up to that point, welded steel, six feet across, and nobody blinked. A little bronze pear on a tablecloth sold in a week. Still not sure how to feel about that.
You're not wrong about them being tired either. Most of them got into it because they loved paintings and now they're doing books and insurance and arguing with artists about commission splits. The walk-in with canvases under the arm sounds romantic but half the time they're annoyed someone interrupted their spreadsheet.
Athens friend. That's a detail. What happened after the owner looked?
Ha. A still life sold at a group show did more for your career than any portfolio ever did. That tracks.
You're right about them being tired and suspicious. Most gallery owners I know spend their days putting out fires and worrying about rent. Last thing they need is another artist walking in convinced they're the exception. A referral spares everyone the awkward hour.
Still, I keep some respect for the cold callers who took the rejection and came back. The ones who got told no and asked what would change their odds. Shows some spine, even if it rarely worked.
Where's the collector piece now? Still with the same dealer?