Who needs Etsy? Facebook’s the new Salon!

by Bill Davenport June 29, 2014

print sampler2In celebration of his upcoming bricks-and mortar art show at Andy Howell’s The Shape of Things Art Gallery and Shop in Houston (wedged into a strip center on Westheimer between ex-Radio Shack and Erotic Cabaret) local “creative Spirit, formerly known as Visual Artist” Dune-Micheli Patten is offering three prints for sale directly through PayPal. Patten created a Facebook event with the title “Fun Happy Little Happening” to publicize the sale, where he asks viewers to look at these photos posted in the event’s comments section, then click through a link straight to a PayPal page to buy them from now until tomorrow night at 11pm.

With more sites hoping to sell art online than there are suckers to buy it, Facebook is growing as a last-ditch populist outlet. Unlike gallery sites like Saatchi, dedicated shopping sites like Etsy, or even wild-and-wooly eBay, which all charge at least a nominal commission, artists like Patten and Natasha Wescoat are, with startling simplicity, using Facebook itself as a gallery. This primer by Charly Mercer tells how to step on the internet rainbow and find your own pot of gold.

9 comments

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9 comments

tom sale June 30, 2014 - 01:19

Yes! FB has been a sucessful way to sell my art. I regularly post newly made work, and often sell it directly to viewers and collectors.

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Robert Boyd June 30, 2014 - 07:53

I bought a painting after seeing an image of it posted on Facebook. I would be reluctant to do this if I weren’t already familiar with an artist’s work, but in this case I was and when I saw the image, I sent the artist a message asking if the work was for sale. It’s one more tool artists have, and it’s particularly useful for artists who aren’t represented by galleries.

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Mandi June 30, 2014 - 13:11

Huh, how about that? I had pretty much forgotten about Facebook, but I’ve done well making sales and increasing exposure through DeviantArt. I think I’ll dust off my FB art account this weekend and give it another go.

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Dune-Micheli January 1, 2015 - 14:55

There you go Mandi 🙂 !! Alriiight!!!

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Beth Secor June 30, 2014 - 16:21

I sold two paintings because they were posted on Facebook. Rock on with its privacy invasive self!

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Dune-Micheli January 1, 2015 - 14:54

Facebook is a useful tool; and is being a force in social media by many instructional videos on how to use the internet in ways to make a success….I’m still working on it

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chickengeorge1236 June 30, 2014 - 21:50

heck! after gradschool UTSA, 08, i thought the only thing that mattered was posting auctions, youtube and creating video sets for paintings, F- the gallery/ art space scenes it didn’t fit my taste now,(but ill still nip at it from time to time,out of guilt and abuse) or sending out X amount of $ for of juried shows or applying for grants, etc it just don’t hold my attention any more when you have this net following, of people buying what you post, even know it don’t go for a lot, its still better and healthy for me to keep moving. its better than waiting in line at a gallery show and taking 40% off the top.I like the quick turn around on the net. and acquiring fans.

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Dune-Micheli January 1, 2015 - 14:59

In this time period, the internet is ever-increasing in the ways of marketing and networking. The galleries are still a good resource in terms of having validation, and padding the resume (CV). However, in the meanwhile, the validation is in what we do and why we do it- on a daily basis not conducive to 9-5 but rather around the clock 9I’ve been known to leave a group gathering to go paint because something inspired me…presumably, I don’t hang out much 🙂 )

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Dune-Micheli January 1, 2015 - 14:51

Thank you for the acknowledgement Bill. In the interim of gallery representation, I find that representing the self is the truth in the artistic journey…much like Ben Lemer says [of him] dreaming of, “..a future where there is some other system of value, in the art world and beyond, than the tyranny of price.” (Lemer B. “Damage Control.” Harper’s Magazine article: December 2013)

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