The gallery that wanted to "expose" me but not pay me
Had a gallery reach out awhile back, wanted to show my quilts, big talk about how honored I'd be. Then the contract came and it was all "exposure" and them taking 60% and me covering shipping both ways. I told 'em my grandmother didn't teach me to sew so I could work for free.
These days I ask straight out what the split is before I even look at slides. Saves everybody time.
What's the worst offer a gallery ever thought was generous? I'll wait.
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the gall of it honestly. had one reach out last year, wanted to show my stuff at some "emerging artists" thing. split was 70-30 in their favour AND i had to pay for the opening drinks. like... i'm already paying for clay and glaze and my kiln eats pieces for fun, you want me to pay for your party too?
said no and a month later they found someone who said yes. that's the part that gets me, there's always someone.
your grandmother was right btw. qué guay that she taught you. mine just tells me my pots look "interesting" which is her nice way of saying weird lol
Seventy-thirty and you paying for the drinks also, this is not a gallery, this is someone treating you like a shopkeeper. In my work also we have this problem, people thinking the honour of showing is enough. Honour does not buy pigment or pay for cloth.
And the part about there always being someone who says yes, yes, this is the painful truth. But that person also learns eventually. Or they do not, and then the art suffers.
Your grandmother calling your pots "interesting", this is what grandmothers do ji 🙂. She is watching, she is proud, she just will not say it directly. My mother also, when I first started selling, she only said "the fish are correctly done." That was high praise from her.
Seventy-thirty AND the drinks? Baby, that's not a gallery, that's a house party where you're the caterer. Good on you for saying no.
And listen, "interesting" from a grandmother who knows you? That's high praise coming from that generation. Mine would look at a quilt I'd worked a month on, turn it over slow, and say "well, the stitches hold." That was her saying she loved it. Took me years to learn to hear it.
Seventy-thirty AND the drinks? Baby, that's not a gallery, that's a house party where you're the caterer. Good on you for saying no.
And listen, "interesting" from a grandmother who knows you? That's high praise. My grandma used to look at my early pieces and just go "mm-hmm" and walk off. Drove me crazy. But she was watching, always watching. Your pots got somebody's eye on 'em even if she won't say so straight. Keep making.