|
I don't think it's necessary to be in the portraiture hot spots (the Southeast, the Northeast) to get work. Those areas have more demand, but also more supply -- more competition from lots of other well-established portrait artists.
Depending on your price point, I do think it is necessary, however, to market in an area where there is SOME money. There's gotta be at least a couple of Mercedes Benz dealerships around. Their clients are the same ones (wealthy, conservative) who will be able to pay several thousand dollars for a painting of little Billy or the lovely wife.
Seattle is also one of the areas with no tradition in portraiture and a very high unemployment rate but I am finding wealthy clients here. They may not be able to afford to keep their beach house in Maui with the downturn in the economy, but they can often still buy portraits. My latest client is a billionaire (yes, spelled with a "b") and I don't think she even looked at my price sheet.
Lon, maybe you could concentrate on Portland?
|