When I first started oil painting in late 2017, I really didn’t have any plans for it. For a long time, I had envisioned myself painting at an easel, holding a palette, working in oils, and producing paintings I might want to hang on my walls. I didn’t even know if I would like it enough to continue beyond painting the 100 landscapes I committed to. I wanted to give it a good, honest try and see where it led. I guessed it would probably lead to a nice side hobby.
I was surprised when people wanted to buy some of my earliest efforts and shocked when a few of my early still-life paintings were licensed for reproduction. It helped tremendously that I already had an established customer base and a licensing agent for design work. That gave me a big leg up. But what I’ve come to appreciate even more after reading the book Camille Pissarro: The Audacity of Impressionism is the fact that new artists don’t have to go through traditional gatekeepers. The connectivity of the internet and platforms like Etsy and Society6 have made it possible for artists and creatives to share their work directly with potential customers.
You don’t have to be represented by an art dealer or be accepted to a gallery show to have your work seen and sold. It poses a tremendous opportunity for new artists or even artists who are ready to change their style, their art, or how they sell their work. Even though I have a licensing agent who presents my work to companies for reproduction, I have also received inquiries for licensing pieces because they were seen online. There are so many possibilities that wouldn’t have been available even 15-20 years ago.
Pretty early on, I decided to put some of my work on Society6. It was free to do so and I believe in having a brand presence on platforms where my audience might be. Over the years, I’ve sold enough here and there to add to my overall revenue, and, the nice part is, it’s all profit. The paper designs have been the biggest sellers, but I’ve seen interest in my prints grow as I’ve developed as an artist and added new paintings.
A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Society6 requesting an interview and permission to feature me in their Artisan Spotlight, specifically for their Charming Nostalgia category. I always felt like my work might be too traditional to gain real traction on Society6, so the request for a feature was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know when it was going to happen, but I popped in on Society6 yesterday and saw not only the Artisan Spotlight but several of my pieces featured around the site.
The still-life print below is one of mine…
It’s probably coincidental, but even the dresser looks like it’s painted in MMS Milk Paint Boxwood. Doesn’t it?
This is one of my landscapes featured the the background of the image below as well as over the nightstand in the close-up…
The horse print on the wall on the right is mine, too…
In addition to seeing my work featured so prominently on Society6, it was spotted at the Nashville Antiques & Garden Show…
And another one of my still-life paintings is a part of the McGee x Threshold collection at Target. (You can find it HERE.)
And, thanks to a commenter on this post, I just learned that a few of my pieces are available at World Market, too!
Of course, this is all very exciting to me, but I wanted to share it as an encouragement as well. If you want to set off on a new creative adventure without knowing where it will lead, that’s okay. If you decide to want to sell your work and make a living from it, you don’t have to follow the conventional path or have the details all figured out. Just make your art, share your art, and follow the winding road where it leads.
PS – If you’re interested in licensing work, HERE is a post with some tips and how it works.
20 Responses
World Market sells two paintings by Marian Parsons, are they your work as well?
Oh my goodness, yes! I didn’t know those were there.
How do you not know your work was in world market? Did you sell the license and they resell it to the others?
The HERE link wasn’t active for the license information I’m very interested in reading if you could provide me that I’d appreciate it!
I fixed it, but here is the link – https://missmustardseed.com/pear-platter-prints-tips-on-licensing/
This is so inspirational. How I long to sell my art, but I don’t even have the faintest idea of how to go about it. Where do you suggest “testing the waters”?
I once knew an elderly woman who was a gifted, self-taught painter of enormous realist paintings. She said that she was always rejected from galleries because they would not recognize her works as legitimate because she hadn’t been “properly taught” at some famous art school. Her paintings were breathtaking, and I had the privilege to swap paintings with her one year. Best of all, her painting to me was of my children! She told me that whatever you do, don’t underprice your paintings when selling them. If you don’t value your own work highly, others won’t either.
I’ll have to write a post about, but I think you have to try different things to see where your work sells best. It might be an online marketplace like Etsy or you might have better success in local craft, artisan, or antique markets. You can also partner with local shops to sell prints and originals. I would definitely suggest sharing online in some form. Instagram is a great platform since it’s visual, but I would suggest having your own site that you own to showcase your work. Society6 is closed to submissions right now, but there are other made-to-order sites where you can upload your work to have it produced on various products if you want to try that. It’s about taking a broad approach and then following where you audience is.
And yes, that talented woman is exactly who I’m referring to with the old school gatekeepers. It really was about where you were educated, who you knew, what initials were after your name, etc. Really?! Just to be an artist? It’s like they had to make it an exclusive club which, unfortunately, excluded a lot of talented people. I love that those gatekeepers can be bypassed now.
Thanks for the inspiration! Best wishes on your journey. Any tips for selecting an agent to work with?
You can find a post here about working with a licensing agent – https://missmustardseed.com/pear-platter-prints-tips-on-licensing/
I don’t really have tips on finding one beyond sharing your work so people who might want to represent you can find it. You could always search for agents who represent an aesthetic that would be a good match for your work and make a pitch!
Great info! So when your pieces show up in a store, do you not know in advance where and when they are being sold? I guess I don’t understand that part.
Yes, it is an odd part of licensing that I don’t always know where my work will end up. Since my work is submitted to the manufacturers, I am pretty far removed from the customer.
Is “gathering clouds” by Marian Parsons on framedart.com yours? Looks like your art is on wayfair, art.com, greatbigcanvas.com, even home depot’s website! I just searched “Marian Parsons Painting” on google and was amazed by how many places have licensed your work! Holy cow!
Yes, those are all mine as well. Sometimes they are all put out by the same group just on different sites.
I’m still pinning away for one of the pieces of art you did on library drawer cards. I tried so hard to get one but they always sold out. I have an addiction to small pieces of art. And it made me happy to see the picture with your boxwood paint on the piece of furniture. My husband made me a Shaker Step Back cabinet just so I could use your boxwood milk paint. It stands proudly in our living room.
Is “Sarah” your middle name?
I was wondering the same thing as Mona, why are they calling you Sarah on the artist spotlight on Society6 when your art is listed as Marian Parsons. I’m really hoping it isn’t a typo.
It’s incorrect and I’ve asked them to fix it. 🙂
Wow. The blurb is not even that long, so you’d think someone at Society6 would have noticed the wrong name. It’s nice that they want to “spotlight” artists, but it’s less than helpful if they don’t even come close to the artist’s actual name. And the artist had to alert them to the error!
I thought that little violet painting by Studio McGee was yours when I saw it. I bought it to tuck into my Christmas Stocking!
It’s so cool to see your paintings go into the world and what they can become.
I’m asking this out of curiosity about the licensing process , so I’m not trying to tell you what to do: I see that you initial your work at the bottom right of your paintings. If you used your full name, wouldn’t that drive people to find your website for people who wanted to learn about your work (and perhaps want to buy an original)? I did that with the name of a photographer on a piece that was sold by Pottery Barn and now I follow her work.
For a while, I wasn’t signing them at all because signatures were getting cut off and often looked awkward when cropped for printing. My name is almost always included on a tag on the back or packaging of the print, so people could use that to look it up.