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People are surprised when I explain that the business of art requires the same organizational skills as any other small business.  It seems the perception of an artist is someone who paints when they are in the “mood” or “inspired” and then dabbles at painting between luncheons and shopping, living a life with very little responsibility and a lot of leisure.  This may be true for some who are retired and paint in their spare time as a hobby, but bears no resemblance to the intense, structured, jam packed schedule of a working professional artist.

During the next few weeks I will post a series of short articles based on a course I once taught called “The Business of Art and the Artist”.  These lessons will help if you have been dreaming about making money from selling your own art.  Most importantly, you will see that the business of art requires much more than just picking up a paint brush and creating a few paintings.

I’ll begin in the middle, because that is what I’m doing at the moment, counting inventory for 2006.  In order to keep track of more than 100 editions in print we keep a database in the computer.  At the end of each year we count and enter how many prints remain.  The database makes it much easier to keep track, before computers we kept a three ring binder with a hand written page for each edition.  We also maintain a database with all 870 originals I have painted.  It can be sorted by the year painted, medium, title, or by year sold.  This database can create a report to track originals that are on loan to exhibits or on consignment to galleries.  Another database is used to monitor framed prints, and can be sorted by the size and style of frame, color of mats, framing costs, or date sold.  These databases make the task of preparing income tax much easier.

One of the biggest misconceptions about income tax deductions is that the full retail price of the artwork can be deducted.  I hear this constantly from people soliciting donations.  Unfortunately, artists can only deduct the cost of the print and framing, or the cost of the materials in an original, not the retail value.  For example, I can only deduct the $25.00 worth of paint and the cost of the canvas and frame for an original that took months to paint and could sell for five figures.  I see no reason to donate an original, it is just not good business.  I get a pitch almost every day from a worthy charity trying to convince me what a good deal it would be on my income tax.

We also count my inventory of brushes, paint, canvas, and watercolor paper, and Bob’s frames, glass, and mat boards.  Once this task is complete, we can order supplies to fill shortages, and evaluate what is selling and not selling.  This information is valuable for future planning.

Later this week I’ll post another article.  Meanwhile, Happy New Year 2007!

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Business of Art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.