Chapter 2

In the chapter "Creating your artists packet", I found that it gave a lot of helpful guides when it comes to putting together an artist's packet. The author did repeat himself often, but I found his experience and knowledge on the subject matter impressive. In an artist's packet, it's recommended you include a CD of your work, a cover letter, an artist's bio, a statement about your work, reviews from previous gallerys, a SASE, and a piece of cardboard to protect your work in the mail. It's important to always present your work and self professionally, otherwise galleries often throw your artist's packet aside.

Your CD should include your best work possible, with enough images it takes to look through in a few minutes (10-20). It's important not to overwhelm the person with images but to give them an idea fo your work and style. The cover letter is a general greeting and should be short and simple; not more then a few sentences long.

An artist's bio is basically your chance to brag about all the wonderful experiences you've had, whether it be a group exhibition or studying under a world know artist. The gallery will take you more serious if they know your investing time into your art and improving it every chance you get. For an artist's statement, the recommended length is one page, explaining your thought process and inspiration for the art. The author recommends leaving "we" out of an artist's statement because that's automatically including the viewer in the thought. You could also include reviews of your work from previous shows (if you have any) this gives the gallery a chance to see how your work was viewed in the public, a positive review can go a long way. The last important part to include in an artist's packet is a SASE, a self addressed enveloped with enough postage to return your artist's packet. The author suggested always writing the return address for the gallery your sending your artwork to, because they often don't address it. This way you know who's sent back your work and who to follow up on. If you don't include enough postage with your SASE, you may never get your artist's packet back.

Overall this chapter gave me a lot of insight into how much work you should put in an artists packet. You want to always appear professional, even if your medium is creative. If you're not professional about your artwork, galleries will never take you serious.