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Artist -noun [c] Creative
Entrepreneur
A Tale of two artists’ driven passions for business success
In the world of art galleries, art museums, non-profits,
co-ops, and various other art showing venues, the life of an artist isn’t all
about making art in the studio – a mythic life of a reclusive non-conformist. Today’s artist has to be a smart
businessman/woman, taking into account all the corporate models followed by
successful small business owners and tweak the industry standards to fit their
own unique “products”; utilizing all social medias, networking and market
evaluations.
Local San Antonio artists, Cliff Cavin and Russell Stephenson,
have individualistic outlooks on how to run their successful art careers. Cliff Cavin, a regionally recognized mid-career
impressionistic painter has logged more than 35 years of being an artist, while
Russell Stephenson is a younger emergent contemporary sensation, currently represented
by 5 galleries in Texas. Both know the
competitive nature of the art business and constantly strive to be flexible in
the ongoing rollercoaster we know as the economic climate of the art business.
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Still in high school, Cavin knew he was better at art than
anything else. After graduation he
enrolled in the Warren Hunter School of Art, a private two year program under
the renowned San Antonio painter, Warren Hunter. Landing a job as a commercial artist, Cavin
spent the next 4 years being a commercial artist, not a studio artist. With a small stint in the valley working on
the sidelines of the art world, Cavin entered into the family trade- United
Tile, a business run by his father; only to retire from that same business in 2013
with about 40 years of Project Management in construction. Now what does that have to do with art? -- Nothing. That’s the point. For Cavin, the financial demands of a family
warranted the need for a day job that “paid the bills”; meaning economic
stability. His initial emergence in to
the art world of San Antonio was not financially stable. “I sold paintings here and there, but I
remember selling my first big painting in 1988 for $3,000 at 37 years old”, he
says.
1988 was a turning point for Cavin. His first trip to New Mexico transformed
everything. “I fell in love with New
Mexico, the colors were spectacular; my paintings changed overnight”, Cavin
recalls.
Cavin went from being a draftsman to a watercolorist to an
oil painter in the mid to late 80’s. “I knew I could make more money from oil
paintings”, he confessed. “There were a lot of watercolorists in San Antonio at
the time, and it was everywhere. I visited an exhibition of the Cowboy Artists
of America and saw that their paintings were going for $50,000 and $60,000 to
$100,000, so I decided to change my tactic. I knew I could paint great pictures
of the things I was already painting in watercolor.”
With a host of gallery representations including Nanette
Richardson Fine Art, San Antonio; Mountain Trails, Santa Fe; Southwest Gallery,
Dallas; Bill Zaner Studio & Gallery, Boerne and J.R. Mooney Galleries, San
Antonio/Boerne, among several others – Cavin painted what he found inspiring,
seeking success by way of “painting what I liked”. “You don’t have to worry about styles, you
just do it. As you grow you will see people always copy other people’s art,
that’s part of learning, but eventually you develop your own style…even without
knowing you did”, he explains.
“I found
the colors of my surroundings, Texas and New Mexico to be my muse and hoped my audience
felt the same; evolving in style and aesthetic along the way.”
With an artistic resume that spotlights exhibitions at the
Dallas Heritage Museum, the Briscoe Western Art Museum, the Kerrville Cultural
Center, Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila, Mexico; and 14 years with the Alamo
Kiwanis Club Western Art Invitational coupled an 8 year history at the National
Western Art Foundation Night of Artists: Museum Exhibition, Cavin’s history
showcases clients from McAllen to Dallas, from San Antonio to Mexico City.
“I have a love for painting, for art. I think people are
born with it. I love doing it”, he states. “When I have too many commitments,
my paintings suffer; it becomes a job not a dream world where you can create.
You become directed by your obligations”, he confesses. However his understanding of whom he is and
where he wants to be are completely justified in his mind. “There are a lot of people better than me {at art}, but I am a lot better than
others”, he insists.
That understanding is what has made him successful. Cavin knew
if he was in larger galleries, he would not float to the top of the pool, but
by being in more intimate galleries, his work would have more opportunity. “If you start selling in the $100,000 price
bracket, you limit yourself to a certain demographic, but if the price of the
art is lower, theoretically there are more people who can afford your work”, he
concludes.
Russell Stephenson, on the other hand, is beginning to
establish his business models and understand the unpredictable demands of the
art market. Born into art, Stephenson
was always drawing and coloring; insisting these are “developing aspects of
mark making and creativity. “It is a primordial urge…my parents encouraged me
and I did it for fun, but with time I got good at it. I never thought of art as
a career and business”, he says. He
started selling drawings in the 4th grade to classmates for lunch
money. In the later part of high school
he fell deeply in love with art and that was the only thing he wanted to do.
After high school Stevenson applied to the Art Institute of
Seattle, Washington and received a full scholarship. Being a commercially driven art program, he
felt his passions were elsewhere. “This was the beginning of commercially
designed graphic technology in the early 1990’s”, he says. “I had never worked
on a computer art, never experienced a commercial art environment, and I found
myself wanting to explore the more traditional art methods and explore a more
personal interpretation of the work around me”, he attests. He left the Art Institute after a year,
opening his own art studio and lived the starving artist life for a few years
in Amarillo, Texas.
After researching
art schools that lent themselves to the curriculum he desired, Stephenson
arrived at Pacific Northwest College of Art with a duffle bag, suitcase and a
portfolio. He married in 1999 and
graduated in 2001. With a spousal
tradeoff of school/job dealings , Stephenson and his wife planned out their
life goals, roadmaps, and career potentials; formulating relocations,
stability, and security while expecting their first child. “I worked in various
galleries doing framing and in construction for extra money”, Stephenson
admits. “I went back to school at UTSA
in their Graduate studies for printmaking to get my Master’s Degree so I could
teach. I played by the rules, if I wanted to make art as a career I had to get
the advanced degree to be able to pave the way to where I wanted to go”, he
explains. After graduation, Stephenson
found a job as an Adjunct Professor at the International Academy of Design and
Technology teaching the fundamental like Color Theory and Drawing. “As a professor,
I have the flexibility to be in the studio, and be serious about what I want to
do with the work, I am not dictated by my sales”, he says.
“However I understand I have to be always researching,
learning and knowing what galleries would be a good fit for my work…sure I went
through the make work, make work, make work and show work stage, you have to in
order to get your name out there; but there is also a time when you become more
selective of where you exhibit.
With exhibitions at Bihl Haus Gallery in San Antonio to Blue
Star Contemporary Art Museum as well as formulating an art collective, the
Texas Cannons of Proportions, Stephenson launched himself into the San Antonio art
community and within five years not only developed his voice but garnered the
attention of gallerist Lisa Ortiz and Ana Montoya.
However, as an artist making artwork in a era of social
media, Stephenson knew the need to address all avenues of online
marketing. “I had to go to where the
people are” he quips. “They are on Linkedin™, Facebook©, Instagram©, Pintrest™,
so I knew I had to be on there as well. With an internet presence it is real
easy to refer people to your artwork, to your gallery, to your images” he
says. “When we look at the new
generation of business models with new technology and the need to model our own
art businesses out of these models we have to utilize these advances.”
Coupled with this online existence, Stephenson saw a need to
educate the public as well as the art collectors on his new type of
contemporary work and explain the bridging of traditional impressionism and
abstraction with his neo-contemporary landscapes.
Debunking the stereotypes of an artist, Stephenson knows the
fundamentals of any business; the follow-ups, the need for punctuality at
appointments and meeting, stating your attitude is as good as your work.
With branching out to galleries in Dallas, Amarillo, Houston as well as San
Antonio and Boerne has increased Stephenson’s demand, but has allowed a certain
flexibility in making several bodies of work that are individually successful
in different cities and markets. He began to learn valuable lessons on demand,
rotation of inventory, client relationships, among other necessities. “How much
can you do without compromising the work”, he comments as he discusses
inventory levels and supply and demand across Texas.
Fighting being pigeon-holed, Stephenson knows his art will
change as life changes, as he changes, and understands most of the work will be
developed through the process of making it.
“I learn to let go, to let the painting be the teacher”, he
says.
Once again Stephenson and his wife set realistic goals for
education and career advancement. He says he will start researching his next
level of art making and gallery representations, and teaching.
Cavin and Stephenson both are aware of how to promote their
artwork, aka business, but with generational concerns --each striving to become
a successful business person; whether it is through technological advancements
in communication, word of mouth, or branding namesake.
Although the art market is sometimes unforgiving, Cavin has
met challenges and has kept his artistic integrity, still painting the
beautiful landscapes awarded by Texas and New Mexico, staying true to the
initial love of painting and sticking to what he likes. Stephenson lays out the road ahead
--formulating and balancing his career advancement, family life, and studio
time in confidence; giving rise to various bodies of artwork that have a proven
track record throughout Texas –evolving, experimenting, and creating.
“There is always something I borrow from the last painting
and add it to the new discovery”, Stephenson says.
I think that is what makes us all successful, we learn from
our own lessons and keep moving forward, financially as well as metaphysically—the
life of an artist, I mean business owner and leader.
By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
J.R. Mooney Galleries, Boerne Gallery Director
830-816-5106
