WarmGlass.com

It's time that I put some sort of bio together. Just like lots of other things, I don't know the first thing about it. Would any of you be willing to share info on ideas for these things? Ideas for formats, text etc.


Any help would be so greaty appreciated.


thanks millions

jerry

yea me too. rosanna

Are you talking about a bio or an artist's statement? Two different things. The bio is easy--just a paragraph or so of where you are from, what schooling you have, sort of your trip to becoming an artist. An artist's statement is much harder--talking about what you feel about your work, your inspiration, etc. I found this really difficult to put into words. What I did was to go to a bunch of different artists website and read their statements to get a feel of what the general content was. There were some really great ones of a paragraph or two that really captured what the work was about and the persons feelings about their work etc. Then there were some that went on for a whole page which I thought was a bit much. I'm still not happy with mine but at least I got something put together to have when asked for it by shows/galleries and to have on my website.
Good Luck!
Amy

First look at your work and do a quick list of the features and highlights of why you creat what you do. An artist statement is what you want to say to others about why you work in your medium (inspirations) and what you are trying to say (what you want others to know about you).

There are business who write artist statements for others but in the end only you can say what's your art about. Many community colleges have workshops regarding marketing and the artist statement.

so is a bio andartist statement the same thing? rosanna

This is my understanding of the differences ...

CV --includes work history, teaching/lectures, educational information
Bio --is a chronical of what you've done in full
artist statement --tells what your work is about and reason you did the art
artist resume ---is highlights of education, the shows/exhibitions you've been in, applicable work history, publications written by or about you, and does not necessarily have to chronical your every move from enfancy.

I have a studio biography that includes education and work experience in art for both of us.... this gets modified as life happens, usually on an annual basis. My artist's statement is a spontaneous and short paragraph that expresses a sentiment of the moment.... related to my art and usually for a show or press release. Both are a piece of cake once you've done it enough. Have no fear! You won't be imprisoned or make the history books for either one.

To see an example of a Bio, look on my website at http://www.comstockartglass.com in the section "About the Artist". I just realized that although I have my artist's statement in my brochures, it's not on my site. Oh well, just another thing to add.

Geri

And just for the record, Ms. Toot-Her-Own-Horn-NOT put together a very nice website worth visiting..... but, didn't post a notice of it here. So, I'm doing it for her. Toot-Toot. While your visiting, go see Jody Walker's website, too. Also worth the time. One thing I do miss about the old board is that many more folks had links to their web pages right on their posts.

Dani wrote:...One thing I do miss about the old board is that many more folks had links to their web pages right on their posts.

I miss that too Dani. Seems like everybody got shy, I feel like I know the person if they put a picture of themself on their website and it's a friendly place to visit.


Paul

Paul and Dani,

I'm confused by your posts about people not posting their websites...at the bottom of posts, there's a button labeled WWW. If you click on that button, it goes to the poster's website.

Most of the posts in this thread seemed, at first glance, to have this feature enabled.

You add it when you register or change your registration and it will be at the bottom of every post you make without your having to do anything.

Or maybe I'm just completely missing what you're saying here.

Laughing -

Geri

Actually, we're probably just missing the hidden tricks! LOL. And I'll bet lots of other folks did, too! Thanks for pointing it out.

Dani, you do the link to your website in your personal definition/profile area. Sorry, should have explained that.

I think it's a good idea to have my picture on the studio pages.

Less of a shock if somebody decides to visit the studio -they don't get so frightened/struck with awe if they know what to expect!


Paul
(Too old & smelly to be vain)

It's a visual thing for me..... for example, if your Artisan signature were a link, I'd be more inclined to use it.... the icons below I overlook for some reason; they are just part of the design-y stuff on the page, if you know what I mean.... the same on every page, nothing to grab the attention. It's probably just a personal quirk.

You're right Dani, that would be the natural thing to do.

A little slow, but better late than never!

A good place to look over lots of glass artists' websites is <http://www.contempglass.org/linkartists.html> This is a large national collectors' group and there is a page of links to glass artists' own websites.

If you're goodlooking, do put a nice photo of yourself, in your site. I with great discretion opted to take a photo of my cluttered and messy studio, with me turned away and working.

What you put in your website depends on the reason for the site: selling via the web, general publicity, creating a market, etc. I set mine up to help people find me when they saw my work elsewhere, and to answer common questions, and to, ahem, give information to all those art historians out there...

Carol Cohen
<http://www.carolcohen.com>

Generally speaking the bio and the artist's statement are in narrative form, while the resume and CV are in reverse chronological order.

The bio should be a narrative about your journey as an artist. It can include non-glass information if it's relevant.

The artist's statement is just that - a statement from the artist to the viewer/potential buyer about the work. It can be about a particular body of work, or about your artistic philosophy in general. If you work in several different series, it can be useful to have different information regarding the different series so that others can understand your influences, goals, design esthetic, etc.

Your resume should be specific to your art career. As your career progresses, you will end up editing your resume down. The CV is used to list everything that you have ever done.

I hope this helps. It is tricky figuring this stuff out. Well written support materials are a big help to the people selling your work, and to the buyer in feeling connected to you. I believe that people who buy artwork really want to capture a small part of you and your creativity. If you can help them feel a personal connection to you it will help the work resonate with the buyer.

Tina Keller