Business Matters

Back in April of '07, Shelley at Wild About Music gave me a chance.

That chance has allowed me to do what I do today.

WAM had a location in Santa Monica, CA across the street from where my mom regularly eats breakfast. She'd been on the lookout for places that might be interested in my Vinyl Art. See I'd sold them only through word of mouth locally to people either my wife or my mother-in-law knew. The goal was to be able to pay my own health insurance for a year. If I could do that, then I'd be able to keep going.

I needed a more steady source of sales in order to follow my passion. Wild About Music was a perfect fit for my work. SXSW was coming up in Austin, so Shelley, after looking at a packet of inkjet prints of photos of my early work, decided to show several during the craziness in Texas. The Led Zeppelin Page and Plant and the Stevie Ray Vaughan I sent sold before the festival even started.

Since then, both the Zeppelin and the SRV pieces have done consistently well. B.B. King, Willie Nelson and others have sold occasionally. But thanks to the sales from WAM, I was able to pay my health insurance.

As the economy tanked, art sales predictably have dropped. Fortunately, my online presence has kept me afloat with sales here and there and now has led to more opportunities for wider and more focussed exposure.

But Shelley's still there, with a couple pieces of mine in the front window and a bunch more hanging on the wall as you go downstairs from the merch section to the gallery section. Last month the SRV sold again.

So I'm doing something special, for Shelley and hopefully for my art. I'm sending her the double portrait above. It'll be marked at $325, less than what 2 separate pieces would be, even though my costs, all told, are higher. I want to draw attention to her store, my art, and as a result our precious memories and culture. So go if you're in the neighborhood. Because business matters.

Peace.

ON CONSIGNMENT - 07/22/09