‘I guess it\u2019s a different world now for artists starting out. Nowadays, having an internet identity is second nature…’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If I were to maintain a steady and achievable income, I had to go it alone. I was released from my contract in March 2014, and in a way I feel like I\u2019m starting out again\u2026after almost 15 years! \u00a0My first job was to revamp my website www.sarahgraham.info<\/a>,\u00a0so I properly invested in that last year with a local web designer, the emphasis being to show my archive of paintings as well as possible, and a few info pages I can easily update as my career evolves. \u00a0Having your own patch on the internet is vital, it helps form your identity, and when I signed with my publishers I made sure I was able to retain that. \u00a0In fact I\u2019ve had my own site since 2003, I used to work part time in an independent gallery, and a local web company offered to use work experience staff to build websites for artists at the gallery in exchange for artwork. \u00a0This is a great way to do things if you can, try to realise the value in what you do, and sometimes that can be traded for other people\u2019s skills who are also starting out. \u00a0I guess it\u2019s combining creative forces for the greater good, mind you, there have been times I\u2019ve not always got this exchange of skills perfectly balanced!<\/p>\n I guess it\u2019s a different world now for artists starting out. Nowadays, having an internet identity is second nature, and I expect most are even capable of building their own bespoke sites. \u00a0I realise there are a lot of free platforms, I\u2019ve recently started using a very affordable shopping site which will link to my own once it\u2019s better stocked.\u00a0 As I say, I\u2019m still in the process of building a new body of work, and until then I myself am researching how best to go back into print.<\/p>\n Sarah’s Big Cartel site it\u00a0sarahgrahamartltd.bigcartel.com<\/a><\/p>\n One thing I think is important: it\u2019s healthy to keep your professional identity online separate from your personal one. \u00a0So although I use all the mainstream social media, Facebook has proved particularly useful in connecting with people now I\u2019m independent again. I make sure I don\u2019t post what I\u2019ve had for breakfast on my art page! \u00a0Obviously it\u2019s hard to draw the line as an artist, after all you are your work, but just keep mindful of this balance.<\/p>\n Ultimately, though, nothing beats seeing an original painting in real life, and for years I simply told myself all that mattered was to actually make the work exist, then stuff will inevitably happen to it! \u00a0For me right now, my main focus is getting it on actual physical walls again, next year will see me return to independent galleries and the Affordable Art Fairs, both home and abroad, and I like the idea of finding unconventional walls too! \u00a0My current show in Soho is at a very bohemian venue called Maison Bertaux, a 100 year old patisserie cafe that exhibits artwork. \u00a0The show is called \u2018Alright Sweetart?<\/a>\u2019 and runs until the end of the year.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a recent commission \u2018Pop Star\u2019 70x110cm oil on canvas, and a painting that is perhaps my most well known to date as it was used by Kaiser Chiefs for their 2012 singles collection \u2018Souvenir\u2019 – the painting was called \u2018Kaisers Rock!\u2019 80x120cm, oil on canvas. \u00a0It was used as a backdrop for shows and festivals, so easily wins the prize for most \u2018noticed\u2019 artwork by me!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was a time all you had to do was get it on walls, the internet is such a vast platform with so many options, I genuinely feel like it\u2019s still a beast I\u2019ve not quite yet tamed! I\u2019ve gone through quite a transition in recent years as I decided to leave the world of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-featured-artists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2431,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions\/2431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘Pop Star’ & ‘Kaisers Rock!’<\/h2>\n
![\"PopStar70x110WEB\"](\"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/PopStar70x110WEB.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"KaisersRock\"](\"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/KasiersRock.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Kaiser](\"https:\/\/www.zippi.co.uk\/thestudio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Pop-Star-Kaiser-Chiefs.jpg\")
<\/p>\n