Autumn of roller coasters

Fall has come to an end, and after a long and patient sowing, a few little flowers have finally bloomed. It has been a season of small satisfactions, allowing me to dream a little; but it has also been a season of brutal confrontation with the market demand, which responds to complex dynamics, still elusive to me.

Artfinder

An appreciable first result came when I passed the selection to join the Artfinder marketplace (considering that only 30% of applications pass the selection). Artfinder.com is now one of the largest online marketplaces for independent art, based in the United Kingdom. I believe that a key role in this result was determined by the work I did on my brand and especially on my website. A site that I built and dismounted three times, on which I worked really hard to make it functional and have a professional appearance. In fact, as also stated in Artfinder’s guidelines, it’s not enough – to be admitted – to have quality works to offer, but it is essential to show familiarity with the digital work (specifically: an updated website, quality photos, care of social channels…). Artfinder welcomes every new artist with a video call, during which a consultant answers any questions and guides the artist in setting up their shop on the platform. It was really a nice feeling, to have an experienced person from the UK available to me, even just for half an hour, who is interested in my works and guides me to place them in a commercial channel.

Accessories

During those weeks, I was also engaged in decorating leather accessories handmade in Italy by the artisan Giorgia Fanti. Many of you know these products made and decorated entirely by hand. They are unique pieces, which have sold well from the start. Since Giorgia and I started, I have decorated over 100 accessories, about half of which have been sold through our social channels and word of mouth. I would say it’s a good result! Both for me and for Giorgia, hand-decorated accessories are a side product in the context of our respective professional paths. For me, the central role is always represented by pencil portraits; for Giorgia, the main work is bags. So, we are proceeding calmly, in bits of time.

In all this, I felt like creating prototypes of paper bookmarks. However, in the first attempt, the paper used proved to be too thin and deformed. Paper earrings, another thing I wanted to do for a long time, had a much better resistance. I created a prototype by attaching paper discs to silver ear wires. These earrings have so far withstood use (I have worn them day and night), so there are premises to make more.

The market

In October, the opportunity arose to attend my first market in Berlin. I brought accessories to the market, and some prints of my drawings. I even did two markets, but both went badly. If you want to know more, I wrote about the experience at the market here.

Last realistic drawing

After the setback of the market, came the sweet satisfaction of having immediately sold – through my Instagram profile – the last realistic drawing I made: Luna. A few days later, my works were selected by Artfinder twice, and included in highlighted collections on the site.

Social media strategy

The plan I made to enhance the visibility of my Instagram profile through an Ads campaign has started to show some small initial results.

Catawiki

At this point, after weeks of frantic work – from realistic drawing, to accessories, from e-commerce to the market – I was very tired. And maybe I could have spared myself the precipitous descent on this roller coaster ride that is the artist’s life. I could have stayed there, with my last finished drawing sold immediately, and my Instagram account growing a little bit. I could have stayed there, at the panoramic point, enjoying the view, a bit above the clouds, where dreams reside, and from there maybe I would have even forgotten the brutality of the market experience. But instead, I said yes to Catawiki’s auction. But I will tell you about that another time 🙂

For now, I’ll stop here. Thank you for tuning in to these fragments of my life. See you soon!