Book Review: I’d Rather Be in the Studio, by Alyson B Stanfield
Published by Andrew Leigh March 21st, 2008 in Reviews, Success.
Well, help is at hand with I’d Rather Be in the Studio: The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self –Promotion.
Author Alyson B Stanfield knows what you need to do to get your work noticed, exhibited and sold. And she’s worked with countless artists to help them do just that. That’s why she’s heard all our excuses – and let’s face it there’s always some much cherished excuse why we don’t promote ourselves and our work.
If you are attached to your excuses – if you are determined to keep on believing that those excuses (okay, reasons, if you must) explain why success is there to be grabbed by others but not by you – then whatever you do, don’t buy this book. That way you can hang on to your illusions and keep on hoping for that million-to-one lucky day when a top curator accidentally sees your work and rockets you to art-world stardom. Yeah, right.
On the other hand, if you are fed up with seeing other, often less talented artists strutting their creative stuff while you soldier on, hiding your light in the undergrowth, then this is the book for you.
Stanfield herself makes no excuses for pointing out that if you are making, promoting and selling your art, you are in fact running a business. And she doesn’t pretend that no effort is involved in achieving success, pointing out that hard work and self-discipline are vital ingredients.
People who succeed – including artists – do not succeed simply because they are the best at what they do. They do so because they have a combination of passion, commitment, focus, self-confidence, and fortitude. They know how to get things done!
And that’s where I believe this book excels – giving you the know-how and courage to get things done. It describes a variety of strategies to get your art in front of art buyers – and it tells you precisely and clearly how to go about doing it.
I’m not going to list everything that’s in this book – enough to say that it ranges from a myriad of practical ways to publicize your work, to the best ways to approach galleries. It shows you how to write about yourself and your art so that people will take notice, and how to deal face-to-face with the people that count. Stanfield particularly emphasises the immense selling power of a well maintained mailing list.
Right at the beginning there’s a wonderful chapter about getting organised. Did I really just describe a chapter about getting organised as wonderful? You know, I’m not a naturally organised person. I have to work at it. This chapter vividly explains the benefits of being organised. It tells you clearly and simply how to do it. And by that I mean right down to details such as helpful category names for your new files.
Does that sound daunting or boring? Strangely I found it anything but. It actually felt inspiring and liberating. Not only do you begin to understand the profound benefits of being organised (both for your creativity and your career), you also get an empowering sense of ‘I can do that’, and even more empowering - ‘I want to do that!’
Are there any drawbacks to I’d Rather Be in the Studio? Not many that I could see. I guess that if you were to sit down to read it cover to cover you might feel a little awed by the scope and detail. But then Alyson Stanfield asks you not to do that. The book is designed to dip in and out of as needed.
I’d Rather Be in the Studio is an impressive achievement. Stanfield is the first to agree that ‘the studio is the place where the magic happens’. But it seems to me there is another kind of magic that all too often eludes many superb artists. That’s the magic of actually building your creativity and art into a truly rewarding career.
If you just use a fraction of the information in this book you’ll go a long way towards that. Now – what’s your excuse again?
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Buy I’d Rather Be in the Studio
You can also find excellent free articles and other resources at Alyson’s website artbizcoach.com
Andrew, thank you for this incredibly thoughtful review. Yes, the amount of information is daunting. I appreciate that you pointed out that the book is supposed to be read in bits and pieces. Here’s to getting organized!