Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi! Loretta Alvarado for The Shy Artist.
and I'm here today with
Robert Ferguson
who is this wonderful painter.
And, I'm going to ask him some really tough questions today.
So, Robert... Hi... Yes.
So, what do you do when a customer first walks into your booth?
What do you say to them?
Well, when they first walk into my booth, what I do is I look
at how they're looking at my work. Okay. That's the first thing i do.
And if i feel they're engaging in my work and then I try to start, um
I ask them a question
that they can answer.
okay what sort of question do you ask them?
And, I will ask them if they're familiar with the scene that I've painted
if they've been to that area
and or i will ask them if they're a collector of art
Okay. I'll ask them because my style is early California impressionism.
I'll ask them
if they're familiar with my style. Okay. And if they're not, then i get to
explain it to them.
What sort of explaining do you do? What do you tell them about your work to get them involved with it?
Well, it depends on the person
and how serious
they are as far as being a collector. If they're,
I feel they're very light
uh... in their interest in my work than I stay very light with my questions.
How do you tell how serious a collector they are?
Oh, by the way they answer my question.
If they're they're familiar with early California impressionism that means
that they've probably been to the museums.
Okay. so if they've been to the museums
that means they're familiar with your style. And then what does that mean to you?
That means that I can talk to them about
uh... where i was when i painted the scene. I could tell them that i write on
the backs of my paintings. I could tell them that
I have an auction record because if there are serious collectors then they're
familiar with auction records.
Um, and I can tell them up about uh... maybe how many paintings i've
sold. I can tell them
a little bit about uh... my personal history. So, you're adding value
to you work that way. Yes. Okay. uh... So i tell them things that will intrigue them and
make them a little more interested in my work, too.
especially with the stories is on the backs of the paintings
they do like that.
Oh, interesting. So then what do you do with the people who aren't familiar with your style? Or with early American style?
I go into an educational mode. I educate them uh... by explaining to them
what early California impressionism is.
Okay. And I will tell them that if they want to see... I'll name a couple of names, not too many
'cause they usually will get
intimidated by that
uh... I'll just stay very light with it
and try to horn in on what
the personal aspect that they have in common with my painting and that would
be
for example painting behind you
have they been to that location?
what happened to them in that location? what did they experience in
that
location? Now
the scene behind you, that's La Jolla Bay and I know a lot of people went to
school there... very close to there. And they would walk down this that path in that painting
to the ocean
So I can go in that direction. So, you're making it personal for them?
Yes. I'm staying away from the technical stuff.