These days, I am living the life of my dreams.  I have my own business and I am contributing something that I truly believe in.  Most people tell me my life is unusual. I would even say it’s extraordinary to be able to say how happy I am.  But it wasn’t always this way.

I come from a very creative family. When I was growing up, my mother studied art and design. She taught me about color at an early age, and from then on I looked at the world differently.  My brother is a sculptor and a photographer, and my sister is a dancer, composer and a musician. My friends were always artists.  In my whole life, creative people have surrounded me.

My first career was as a writer. I wrote about art, architecture and design, and I married a gallery owner. We moved to Chicago and opened a gallery together…. We arrived in Chicago in 1981 at a time when Chicago’s cultural scene was just about to break wide open. We became the 4th gallery in a brand new gallery district called River North–an area of old warehouse buildings where few businesses dared to inhabit because it was close to the projects.  The space was vast—10,000 square feet and vacant.  Challenging–but what an opportunity! We brought artwork from California to a new frontier in Chicago. We discovered new talent in the Midwest.  Crowds of people showed up at our openings. We attracted so much excitement that within a year there were 12 galleries in the building. Two years later there were 25 and the throngs of people were still coming.

But working together with my husband turned out to be too much closeness, and after a few years we got a divorce. I went to work in a museum. That worked out fine for awhile, but all the artists I had worked with told me they really missed me at the gallery, and they wanted me to represent them. So I was inducted back into the gallery business and opened my own gallery. When my family showed up at the Opening of my gallery to support me, they were all right at home in this strange new city (I was from California) because I had created a place for expressiveness and individuality. Until then, I really hadn’t realized how creative my family was and that I needed a creative environment in order to thrive. The gallery was another opportunity to create, and I put together a great stable of emerging and mid-career artists and I curated exciting shows. I loved working with the artists and being in touch with the pulse of the art world. Chicagoans love their contemporary art, and people came out to the gallery to see what was happening!

It was all great—but my problem was, I really didn’t know how to sell art. I Hated selling art. I grew up in a family of artists, not sales people. We talked about art, ideas, music and dance—we never talked about money or selling. My mother, the artist, who could do the most exquisite things with one flower and one branch, couldn’t turn an admirer’s comments into a transaction. She didn’t know how to sell it. And when talking with my artists, I talked about their art, not about whether it was salable.

Does that sound familiar?  I was under the illusion that if the art was good, then people would naturally want to buy it. But I soon found out that your art may be good, but the gallery next door could also have good art on the walls, and so could the gallery across the street. There were collectors and art consultants who bought art, but there was also competition from other galleries and other artists, and it didn’t just walk out the door.  A gallery has a lot of expenses. If you don’t pay your bills, you can’t sustain your gallery.

So, I had to learn how to sell artwork.

I had my gallery for 20 years and altogether I’ve sold millions of dollars worth of art. I sold to museums, corporate collections and private collectors. Chicago was a great city to have a gallery because a lot of people there actively collect contemporary art, and others come there specifically for that purpose. A lot of couples collect art as a hobby. I sold art to major corporate collections, and to collectors like Scott Turow and Michael Jordan. In 2003 my gallery was named Gallery of the Year. The excitement was palpable.

After 20 years with a gallery, I wanted to make a change.  I decided to move back to California.  I wanted to change the way I work in the Art World, and share what I have known. The art world in California is really different from what I was used to. So I have been working as an agent and a coach, and connecting artists with the larger art world. I’m happy to say, it’s really been successful!

I have devised a number of programs and services that will support your career success.  Please look over the options, and see what is right for you.  Contact me for a free consultation, and we can determine the best course for you to take.  I look forward to working with you to help you get the success you deserve. The world needs more successful artists!

With warmest wishes for your success,

The Art Ambassador