THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Alyssa Peek: I kept going to the store in my neighborhood until I had the courage one day, and I had a picture on my phone and I just said, hey, I’m a local artist. Can you look at what I have on my phone? And I showed her and she’s like, wow, I’m really interested. And I said, oh, good, I have a piece in my car. Can I bring it in? I think she took five pieces in two hours. She sold three pieces. She called me back. Yeah, because I left them there on consignment. I’m like, see what happens? That was my first. And then I went into the next town and I said, hey, I’m selling out in that town. Maybe you want to see what’s going on. So I don’t like the cold calling. It hasn’t really worked for me. It’s about going into the store, showing my face, showing them my work and having a conversation.
Speaker 2: It’s the Inspiration Place podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to the Inspiration Place podcast, an art World insider podcast for artists by an artist, where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the art. And now your host. Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman: Hey there Artpreneur. This is Miriam Schulman, your curator of inspiration, and you’re listening to episode number 348 of the Inspiration Place podcast. And I am so excited that you’re here. Today we have with us a contemporary artist who’s known for her unique fusion of photography and mixed media, creating evocative works that capture emotions and narratives. With a background in art from the University of Illinois and a successful 23 year career in the New York City fashion industry. She founded Peak Photography in 2013. Her art blends photography, painting, illustration and texture, inviting viewers to see the world through a fresh, imaginative lens. Based in SAG Harbor, New York. She draws inspiration from the East End’s serene landscapes. She’s also a headshot and personal branding photographer for women over 40. A speaker and a presence coach, she lives with her husband Barry and their dog Lucy. Please welcome to the The Inspiration Place Elissa Peek. Well, hey Elissa, welcome to the show.
Alyssa Peek: Thank you for having me. Happy to be here.
Miriam Schulman: So excited to have you and share all of your successes. I love all the art that’s behind you.
Alyssa Peek: Thank you.
Miriam Schulman: Can you talk about that for people?
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: This is this.
Alyssa Peek: Is one of my newer work where I am incorporating photography that I took by image transfer or other means and then doing collage on top of it. So it’s bringing texture and emotion. So there’s this one with gold leaf. There’s this where I did image transfer and then just a picture of the image transfer and then paint it on top of it like layers. And I’m just discovering the layers and layers of my own creativity.
Miriam Schulman: Bring the one that is behind the smallest one with the rose in it. Bring that one closer so we can just talk about it. And by the way, if you’re listening to the podcast and not watching this on YouTube, come over to YouTube. Okay, so tell us what this image is and pretend you’re talking to somebody who’s blind who can’t see it since a lot of people are listening.
Alyssa Peek: Okay.
Alyssa Peek: So the background is layers and layers of textures of things that I just put on this board and actually didn’t like and hate it. And I ripped it all off. And then what was left was this remnant of a background. And then I painted on top of it. And then I’ve had these two photos. These are two separate photos that I then took this photo and image, transferred it onto this collage and transferred this image onto a collage. So it’s two different sets of flowers on top of a collage.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah. And so it’s very abstract for people who are listening or people who who need somebody to tell them what it is that I notice which which is a thing. That’s why you have people walk around museums. Okay. So it’s very abstract if you look at it, which is what I like, because you can’t really tell what it is until you start thinking about it and trying to decipher. But on the upper corner, it’s kind of like an up close image of a flower, whereas the lower corner it looks like more the field of flowers. Is that right?
Alyssa Peek: Yeah. And my look in photography is always blurry. So it’s actually like a blurry picture of an up close flower. Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah. It’s it’s really beautiful. And that rose color, which is very much on trend right now, by the way. Not that you’re.
Alyssa Peek: What the cinnamon.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, whatever it is. Yes.
Miriam Schulman: I mean, I don’t want to speak for a moment about that because people feel like, well, why am I why am I going with trends? Am I going to lose my voice as an artist? And I don’t know what your thoughts about? Actually, I want to know what your thoughts are about that. Well, here’s.
Alyssa Peek: Well.
Alyssa Peek: I’ll just talk about that particular color because I saw your challenge to do a piece with it. And I’m like, I need to go to the store. I need to get that color. But that color is so not me that I still may play with it. But I have a particular color palette that is blues and greens and pinks that really speak to my heart. Like I did a solo show in 2016in New York City, and when I had all my work lined up to hang, I started crying because I was like, oh, this is like my self-portrait. Every piece is a part of my soul, and that color just doesn’t fit into my soul.
Miriam Schulman: It can though. So here’s a couple things I want to say about that. So because like that piece you have has it.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: All right.
Alyssa Peek: It does. But it’s not the.
Alyssa Peek: You had asked for the main color.
Miriam Schulman: So I would have I would count that.
Miriam Schulman: I hope you’re going to send that in.
Alyssa Peek: Oh so yeah.
Miriam Schulman: Send it in. Because one of the things that I sent in the most recent email. So what Alyssa’s talking about is I sent a call to action to my Artist Incubator members. And by the time this podcast slash YouTube video goes live, we’ll be able to link up to the two videos that I have. One challenge I said was use Pantone’s color of the year or show me how you. You may have incorporated that color, which is a taupe color, which is not a color I see in your art. And then the second one I sent them was Benjamin Moore’s Cinnamon Slate. But if you look at Benjamin Moore’s sites and I just sent this email out yesterday. They don’t just pick a color of the year. They also tell you a palette so they show you these are the blues that would look good with this color. And these are the greens. And it’s kind.
Alyssa Peek: Of oh look at that.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah moving to the softer colors. But the other colors that you have it may not be Benjamin Moore’s pick. It may not be Pantone’s pick, but Valspar picked a blue color that’s very similar to your blue. And then the other color, I think is Sherwin-Williams picked like a minty green color, which is also in your color palette.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: So we’re all influenced by the world around us, whether we want to be or not. And that is true of us as artists, and that’s also true of our art. Collectors are also influenced by what’s trending and what’s going on and what is in the cultural zeitgeist. So like what you are responding to and what are you or needing to do looks like calm to me.
Alyssa Peek: Yes.
Alyssa Peek: But also.
Alyssa Peek: It’s.
Alyssa Peek: Interesting because my newest work is this.
Alyssa Peek: That has the.
Miriam Schulman: Read that I’m talking about.
Alyssa Peek: There you go. So this is my newest one because.
Alyssa Peek: So that one to me too.
Alyssa Peek: Okay. I live at the beach. Right. And so I am always bringing the outside in. And it’s so green and it’s so blue and that that’s the influence in most of my work. And then lately I’ve been craving color. But I’ve also come to realize I love flowers.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: Which I always do. Ocean. Ocean. Ocean. Coastal. But in my heart, every piece I have of my own in my house is floral. I don’t even have beach in my house.
Alyssa Peek: Like, interesting. Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: And so I 2025 is about me embracing flowers, which I have another one here to show you. Not that this.
Alyssa Peek: Is.
Miriam Schulman: Pull that one back up. No, pull that one back up again.
Alyssa Peek: There’s also.
Alyssa Peek: This one. No, we’re not ready for that.
Miriam Schulman: Pull the other one back up.
Alyssa Peek: By the way.
Miriam Schulman: That one is also has rose colors. Hello.
Alyssa Peek: Why do you.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, so I’m going to just talk for people who are blind who can’t see it. Upper right corner. Very strong. Burgundy red. It’s almost as strong as my hat. Then there’s a central color that’s a softer rose. There is some taupe in it, like. There’s some writing or newsprint or things in it. There is blue, but it’s balanced out by these strong pinks. That was something that the Wall Street Journal was talking about, that what’s now on its way out and home decor are things that are more tepid. And what’s coming in now are Deep Purple’s Browns, Reds, ochers. And it’s something that we’re craving because these are colors of the natural world. So in other words, what’s going out is that kind of Apple Store look, do you know what I’m talking about? You ever walk into people’s homes and it looks like an Apple Store. It’s all white.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, and.
Miriam Schulman: Now people want something.
Alyssa Peek: Color.
Alyssa Peek: Saturation.
Alyssa Peek: Yes.
Alyssa Peek: And I think that, like, these works and this were my photography, which is my fine art. Photography is more soothing, calmer.
Alyssa Peek: Yes.
Alyssa Peek: Peaceful. Serene. And my newer work is more saturated, I would say. And my.
Alyssa Peek: Soul.
Alyssa Peek: Like I’m craving the saturation of color.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, I.
Miriam Schulman: Mean, even. Look what you’re wearing. How that there’s more of, like, a dark green on your blouse that’s in that artwork.
Alyssa Peek: Right?
Alyssa Peek: Right.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: And so this one I think is interesting too, because what I’m discovering is just like, again, the layers. I started painting with coffee at the bottom base layer. And then that didn’t really work out. And I started layering and layering layering and then decided to put flowers on top of it. But as I mixed up oil pastels, acrylics, newspaper some mesh and some oil sticks.
Alyssa Peek: Quite beautiful. Okay. Bring up.
Miriam Schulman: Bring the other one back now.
Alyssa Peek: Okay.
Miriam Schulman: Ah, you’re showing me.
Alyssa Peek: Oh, this is a photograph of a flower that I took. And I think the one thing in art and I’m going to be honest about this, is there’s always happy mistakes.
Alyssa Peek: Yes.
Alyssa Peek: Right. That happen. So I took this flower. I actually took it from the ground up, like looking up to the sky. So the background where you see pink on my phone, it’s actually blue sky, but I guess my printer was out of blue and printed it pink on pink.
Alyssa Peek: Oh.
Miriam Schulman: Very interesting.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, but there is some blue.
Miriam Schulman: In.
Alyssa Peek: There.
Alyssa Peek: But then I was making another painting and I laid the photograph on top of the painting, pressed it, and whatever stuck to this is what stuck on it. So it makes and I’m into I’ve always I was thinking about this last night like it’s like the flowers distressed. And I think there’s like even even not what I’m wearing today. Like, if I were to be wearing a blazer, it would have like ripped edges. I like distressed stuff. That’s why I think my photography is always blurry. There’s always a little not so perfect. I don’t like things to be perfect, right? I always like it to be a little messy, a little torn, a little something.
Miriam Schulman: Tell me how that kind of mistake messy, how that enters into your portrait photography. Like your headshot photography.
Alyssa Peek: If it does it, doesn’t it really? It doesn’t.
Alyssa Peek: No, no, no.
Alyssa Peek: But.
Miriam Schulman: There certainly has to be a point of view that people are coming to you for that. There’s an eye that you’re bringing to that.
Alyssa Peek: I definitely think there is an eye that I’m to the portrait photography.
Alyssa Peek: To the to.
Miriam Schulman: Your headshots. Yeah. There’s got to be I mean.
Alyssa Peek: There is.
Alyssa Peek: You know, I just interviewed a client the other day and, you know, they they all say the same thing to me. It’s what I can pull out of them. Like a lot of people, I really call my almost, almost like a coach with the camera. I’m there not to really take a picture of what they look like. I really want a picture of who they are. I want to see their energy. I want to see their breath, I want to I want to see them. And I will take pictures and say, like, I, I don’t see you, Miriam. Show me like I know you’re there. But that’s not Mary. I’m Miriam is not coming through. And so I really want to make sure that my clients come through themselves.
Miriam Schulman: So everything is capturing kind of an essence rather than yes.
Alyssa Peek: Yes, yeah. Yes.
Alyssa Peek: And so, like there’s an essence to the things that I am doing here. It’s not perfect. It’s not really a landscape. It’s not really of anything. It’s just I go for feeling, you know, it’s always the feeling.
Alyssa Peek: Okay.
Miriam Schulman: That’s fantastic. Okay. Now since this is a podcast for artists who want to make money from their art, or at least I think it is, let’s talk about how the Artist Incubator has helped you sell more art, sell more of your photography and be more successful because you’ve been part. You’re in the incubator now, and you’ve been part of my inner circle for a three month cohort. And I want to hear about some of those, some of the lessons you’ve had that you’ve been able to apply to making a bigger career for yourself.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, I think it’s about one calling yourself an artist, which I have been doing for a long time, but really like declaring this is who I am and what I want to do and be known as. The other is having a production schedule, which is always good. So I think that’s what this has been really good for me. Like there is no waste of time. I was on the coaching program on Monday with what’s her name? Rhona. Rhona.
Miriam Schulman: Sean Rooney.
Alyssa Peek: Sean.
Alyssa Peek: Sean Rooney.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: She was so good on Monday because sometimes I feel like I’m wasting time doing this stuff. Nothing’s a waste of time. Like everything is getting you to where you need to be. It was like it was exactly what I needed to hear at exactly the right moment. So thank you for that.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: And collecting emails like I used your card and really collecting emails. My pricing I just redid my pricing for 2025. So I’ve increased that. And I’m working on expanding into new stores because I’m different than a lot of your other retail artists that I don’t necessarily sell in galleries, but I sell in retail stores. It’s a different model.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, we have.
Miriam Schulman: A few different paths, but yeah.
Alyssa Peek: You’re.
Miriam Schulman: Selling I mean, some people are selling in galleries, some people are selling in the festival circuit, some people are only selling online, some people are doing what you’re doing. So there there is no one path up the mountain. One thing I think that it’s important for the listeners to hear, Alyssa, though, is where I see artists stumbling is when they try to go up the mountain with three different paths at the same time, instead of just picking one and reaching the top. Does that make sense? What I’m saying? Does that resonate with your experience?
Alyssa Peek: It does. Like my path is retail and that’s William. Now, I haven’t really tried retail with this work because, you know, retail is different animal like, they want that finished product. They don’t necessarily want the unfinished. So I actually have an appointment next week to speak to a gallery about this. But that would not carry my my fine art. Like it’s different. I think it’s different buyers possibly.
Miriam Schulman: Well, I mean, you could do retail with that body of work as well. What Alyssa is referring to is she has her fine art photography, which she has in retail shops, and the only issue she has is that if she were to put the same art that we’ve been discussing that is in the video that you can see side by side with the photography. It can be confusing for the collectors. Is this the same artist?
Alyssa Peek: Right.
Miriam Schulman: So it’s almost because you have these two bodies of work, you have to double your efforts to find different venues for your other body.
Alyssa Peek: You know, it’s.
Alyssa Peek: Interesting because with photography, I do limited editions of 18, and things can be custom sized and done and come in different sizes. Original art is original art, right?
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: One and done. So it’s it’s a learning curve.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: Let’s share a little bit about your fine art photography business, because there’s a lot of people listening who really would benefit from that. Do you mind sharing like how much your photography is retailing for? And if you don’t mind sharing like what it sells for retail framed and then like what you get from that.
Alyssa Peek: So I only sell it framed. I have a custom like way I frame it, so I like to have it framed. And a 30 by 40 is $1,800, a 24 by 36. I think it’s I just changed my prices. I want to say a 40 by 60 is 3800. I’ll just give you those two.
Miriam Schulman: Yes. And no one’s going to hold you to it if you miss. Yeah. We’re not going to say. But on the podcast you said so.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah. And it’s interesting because I’ve gone to a smaller size, because I have a particular store and I just really increased my prices there because I don’t like, as you always say, I don’t like to sell small art, like most of my art I sell is 30 by 40 or larger. I’ve done up to nine feet for two pieces, so I’ve done big pieces, but I just did raise the price of my 20 by 24 to 995.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, so let’s say it’s let’s just make an even number just to make it easier. Let’s just say it’s a $2,000 piece that, that it’s retailing for. What is the store taking and how much did you spend on framing for that?
Alyssa Peek: So the store takes 40% and it’s all in consignment. I’ll say that that’s an important piece. I find that stores don’t buy art, which I don’t understand. Maybe you can explain that to me, but it is consignment. So it just means I own it till they sell it. That piece cost me 265.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, so in other words, you make. Let’s just pretend it’s a $2,000 sale. The store gets 800. The framer gets 200, and you. You make it $1,000.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, well, the way I’ve really been working it out, because we’ve talked about pricing models. Because I pay my my printer and my framer is the same person. Yeah. So it’s almost like I’m buying a product. Yeah. And then the way I do the 40 by 60 is I make sure the retailer and I are after framing or making the same amount.
Miriam Schulman: Exactly as close.
Alyssa Peek: To, because there have been times when they were making more than me Because of the cost. And that’s why I just raised my prices on my smaller pieces so I don’t have to feel good. Maybe it’s like a $5 I’m losing, but I was losing $25 and I don’t want to lose the 25. Like, why should they?
Miriam Schulman: Don’t think of it even as losing or whatever. Just think of it that you’re building and I’m talking more to the people listening than I am to you. So it’s that that you need to build the cost of framing into the fact that the store or the gallery or whoever it is, is going to take a commission, and it isn’t fair that they’re buying it on consignment. They just are doing it because they’re taking advantage of artists. I mean, I don’t think the couch that’s in the furniture store is on consignment. I’m sure they have to pay for that before they it goes into their store. Right? I mean, everything in there, they’re not selling that on consignment. It’s only for artists.
Alyssa Peek: It’s only artists. I don’t understand it. I wish I could change it. You know, sometimes I have put my foot down where they want a piece. That’s not maybe my strongest piece. And I’m like, well, you’d have to buy that from me, right? If that’s the one you really want. Because otherwise they’re asking me to invest in a piece that I know maybe is a tougher sell.
Miriam Schulman: Interesting. Yes it does. Yes it does. I’ve had that experience where somebody insisted that, like it was, it was they wanted prints framed in their windows, and they insisted I put art there that I didn’t think would sell. And I wish I had done what you did. Like like, no. If you want that, you have to buy it because. Yeah.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: Smart. Some galleries will, by the way, buy artwork when they really want to represent an artist. But at the core, stop isn’t going to do that.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah. And I think it’s also important to be in stores that your price point also fits in. Right. Because they’re selling sofas, I don’t do well so well in the stores. We’re selling only tabletop. Yeah. You know, they’re selling napkin rings because the price difference is too much. But if they sell furniture and they have an interior design angle to their store, that works for me.
Miriam Schulman: Well, also, isn’t your artwork being shown over the sofa? So they’re buying a look? Yes, that makes a big difference.
Alyssa Peek: Yes, it really does.
Miriam Schulman: Which is also why we have to pay attention to what is trending. So luckily for Alyssa, with her fine art photography, beach is never going out of style.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, but it’s funny because I had peace. I had this one piece that was like I couldn’t keep it in stock, and then one day it just died. It just.
Miriam Schulman: One.
Alyssa Peek: Day.
Miriam Schulman: That happens.
Alyssa Peek: You know? So it’s beach, it’s blue and I don’t know. So it’s maybe there’s something about it that.
Miriam Schulman: You know, something always has a lifespan. Like that was something that I learned about in the. So people who who are listening, who do surface patterns or licensing that designs have a shelf life like you can’t they? They’re not selling the same fabric forever and ever. It’s like usually it’s an 18 month shelf life of a certain design, a certain pattern, a trend. And even though we don’t think what we’re doing is something that’s trendy, it still is even fine art. Like if you look at art history, I mean, there’s abstract expressionists. And then it was Art deco and then it was pop, and then it was like big art movements. Things rise and fall together, which is still a trend, right? We’re not immune to it. We’re not immune to it. So it’s like you can’t say, oh, I’m not a true artist if I’m not doing what I want to do. It’s like, no, actually, you are a true artist. If you’re part of a big movement and you are speaking to what is the zeitgeist of the moment, that is what being a true artist is.
Alyssa Peek: But even in my fine art photography that it’s about the the ocean. It’s never just photography, it’s always I went into Photoshop and I painted it a different color, or I flipped the wave over, or I filled in areas, and so I’ve textured it with filters that I’ve maybe it’s a picture on top of a picture or I took the image. Jumping is what I do a lot. I like movement, so I’ll jump and I’ll move to like make the blur effect. So sometimes that’s the post-production, but sometimes it’s actually taking the picture the way I do to make it the blurry and the movement. So I always want to get a feeling. I really it’s very I have a few of like just a photograph, but it’s very rare that it’s just a photograph.
Miriam Schulman: Makes sense.
Alyssa Peek: And now I have pictures where I’ve made a collage and then I photographed the collage. So it’s collage photograph and then photograph of the collage. And that’s been selling for me of one of my surfer pieces. So it’s a lot of back and forth on which medium I’m using, so it’s fun.
Miriam Schulman: Okay. And also, you’ll have to send me not you don’t have to, but it would be very nice if you send me all the pictures you’re talking about of these art, so we can put the layer it into the video for. Yeah. Okay. All right. Cool. So, Alyssa, can you speak to the artists who maybe are not in home decor shops or retail and they want to get started? Can you tell us about the first steps you took to get into a retail shop?
Alyssa Peek: Yeah. So I kept going to the store in my neighborhood, and I just kept going in until I had the courage one day, and I had a picture on my phone and I just said, hey, I’m a local artist. Can you look at what I have on my phone? And I showed her, so there was no cost involved, right? And I showed her and she’s like, wow, I’m really interested. And I said, oh good, I have the piece in my car. Can I bring it in? So I went to the car and I brought it in and she’s like, oh, that’s interesting. You have more. I thought, be right back, I ran home, I brought her some pieces. I think she took five pieces in two hours. She sold three pieces. She called me back. Yeah, because I left them there on consignment. I’m like, see what happens? And that was my first. And then I went into the next town and I said, hey, I’m selling out in that town. Maybe you want to see what’s going on. So I just really try and make it. I don’t like the cold calling. It hasn’t really worked for me. It’s about going into the store, showing my face, showing them my work and having a conversation. And if they don’t want it, they don’t want it. My husband makes fun of me because no matter where we are, I will like, knock knock, knock. Can I come in and show you my work? He gets embarrassed. I’m like, I don’t know. The worst thing they could do is say no. So let them say no. And sometimes they’ve said no for whatever reason, but find another store. So I’m currently in five stores.
Miriam Schulman: It’s beautiful. So eyeball to eyeball, it’s there’s something that we talk about. It’s like being belly to belly.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah. And 2025 live is what will make your business thrive. And this is exactly what Alyssa is talking about. She’s going eyeball to eyeball, belly to belly in person so they can see that the human being behind the artist, she’s not sending them an email written by ChatGPT. She’s showing up as a real human being.
Alyssa Peek: I think it’s also about the relationship that I have such a good relationship with these stores, and I’ve also walked away from stores where the relationship wasn’t working for me.
Miriam Schulman: Let’s talk about that share story. Okay.
Alyssa Peek: So there’s a store. I won’t name names, but there was a there’s a store in Nantucket, and she was actually selling so much she couldn’t keep track of, like, it was like a lot. And it was to ship to Nantucket from here. It’s not so easy. One piece arrived, damaged, and then it had to return. And. But she just couldn’t keep track of her business. And I felt like I was back in the garment center, like with reports. And, I don’t know, it just got like it was it was a lot of work to keep up on her, to be follow her sales. She couldn’t even follow her sales and it just became a lot. And another woman, a store in Southampton I sold to and they’re just I don’t know, it just wasn’t this low. She sold my work. I mean, it wasn’t a problem, but the relationship between me and her, it wasn’t. I didn’t feel the love and I just didn’t. I don’t know, after a while, it just kind of petered out, like any relationship. So I think you have to really, you know, it’s easy. I have a store in Pound Ridge where I could easily hire someone to deliver my stuff to him, and sometimes I do, but if I can get in the car and drive it there and deliver it to him or my store in new Jersey and deliver it to them. I need that face time with them. It’s important. It’s important to see how they show the work, what else is in the store, and just for to chat over coffee, it’s important.
Miriam Schulman: So it is. And there’s something about the energy of showing up that they’re like, they, they, they’re in your corner, especially if they are not investing in your inventory. And it’s all in consignment. They don’t have any skin in the game at all.
Alyssa Peek: Well, the only skin they have is floor space and wall space. Right. So that’s what they’re giving me. And I think this came up in our pods last week, which I love, my pods, you know, people who are trying to get into galleries and get into galleries. It’s a different mindset with a retail store and consignment. There’s something to say that there’s not much at risk for them. The retailer. Right. So it’s a little easier to break into than being, let’s say, in a gallery which just has a different air about it. And so, you know, I actually I don’t know if you want to hear this now, like I actually stopped doing art shows because where I would do art shows for me to drive to the space to drop the thing off, have to work two hours at the show to have to come back. If it didn’t sell, pick it up. It ended up to be like six hours of my time in summer traffic to make the $200 on the small piece, because they only let small pieces in the show. And I’m like.
Miriam Schulman: Okay, I stopped doing those types of shows that I think you’re referring to very early on, where it was the jury to get 1 or 2 pieces in a show.
Alyssa Peek: This isn’t even juried it’s member, but because they have so many members.
Miriam Schulman: Members have no small but or member. Yeah, one or the other like I was, I was like, I don’t want to be part of your small work show. I’d rather have a solo show of all small works myself, where it’s all my art, and then I spent the, you know, any time promoting. So I stopped doing those 1 or 2 pieces type of situation very early on in my career.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah. So but it’s something I would advise to other advisors to really see how much effort that they’re putting in to put the one piece in the one show to drop off the driving, the picking up the that like it’s a lot.
Miriam Schulman: No, it’s a lot. I didn’t think that’s what you were referring to at first. What I thought you were going to refer to, which is still a lot of work, but it’s more more worthwhile is the in-person, like two day show, which is a lot of work, but you have your own booth. It’s like you have your own pop up store for the weekend. Whereas the juried show or like you said, where it’s a member show. I agree with you. I let those go very early on, like after I racked up my my ribbons and my, you know, I would use it as an excuse for publicity. Like I would send out a press release. Oh, in the show, because they were more likely to make press about a group show than something I was doing on my own. But after that, it just wasn’t in terms of dollars, it wasn’t didn’t make a lot of sense.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, yeah, I always say, like, I’d rather give those stores the 40% commission and I’d be sitting at the pool. I mean, that’s the truth. No, it’s the truth.
Miriam Schulman: It is true.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah, it really is. They’re there to work and sell all day long. Let them. I’m happy. So happy to give them 40% commission.
Miriam Schulman: And I do want to speak about something you mentioned earlier that I want to make sure the listeners understand, which is why it’s easier to break into a retail than it is a gallery. With a gallery, they have an opportunity cost that they want to make sure that all the artwork on their walls is going to make money for them, it’s going to sell. So it is a bigger risk for them to take a gamble on a new artist whose artwork may not sell because it’s taking away a spot on the wall that could go to an artist whose art will sell. Whereas Elissa putting her art into a home decor store. Their bread and butter isn’t necessarily what’s on the walls. Their bread and butter are the sofas or the window treatments or whatever it is, the other things. So it’s less opportunity cost for them to put your art on the wall, because that’s not their main business.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah. Yeah. But it’s worked. I’ve been doing it for 12 years, going on 13 years of doing this, so it’s worked for me. The only thing I may do with this work is there is a gallery I’m looking at. Maybe I would put it in a show just to test the market on it, because it’s different work than my other work, but we’ll see.
Miriam Schulman: Okay. All right. So is there anything else you want to share with our listeners before we call this podcast complete?
Alyssa Peek: No, I mean, I’m just talking about the incubator that, you know, it’s a great program. There’s so many tools that you offer, and I can’t even say that I’ve taken advantage of them all. Like, it’s. There’s a lot, but sometimes I just walk around the house with and just, like, listen to your podcasts. And today I listen to one. It was kind of old, actually, but it was like, I don’t remember what it was about, but the theme was underwear, the price of underwear. Yeah, the Hanes versus the whatever that pricing. Anyway, that was the one I listened to today. So there’s just so much information that you offer, which is it’s good and it has to soak it all in.
Miriam Schulman: Yeah. And you mentioned your pod earlier. Tell us about how that accountability pod works for you. How. Because every pods are different.
Alyssa Peek: Yeah. My pod I think we’re just each other’s biggest cheerleaders, to be honest with you. And we share a lot of resources with each other, like, oh, I tried this, it worked, it didn’t work. Or we try and encourage each other to maybe raise our prices, or we’re excited to show each other our new work or cheer them on if they’re having a show or if they’re stuck. I don’t know, I just feel like we’ve become good friends and everyone’s work is so different from the next, and everyone is at such a different level and even price points. So there’s no judgment. It’s just, how could we help each other?
Miriam Schulman: Nice. And you don’t feel people who are beginner are pulling you down, right? If you’re more ahead than them? Because I know.
Alyssa Peek: It’s really funny.
Miriam Schulman: That way.
Alyssa Peek: There was a woman. There’s a woman in our pod. She’s still in there. I feel like I don’t know if it hurts expired or not, but I really did feel like she was pulling us down at the beginning. And then she discovered this new sense of creativity within herself. And then she had her son in law or son, build a website, or I think she went on art storefronts, to be honest with you. But like, her whole demeanor changed and like, she was like a different person. And, you know, I don’t know if the pod did that for her, but like, we’ve been encouraging her all along and like to see her growth has been remarkable, actually.
Miriam Schulman: Fantastic. Well that’s great. All right, Alyssa, well, thank you so much for spending your time with me here today.
Alyssa Peek: My pleasure.
Miriam Schulman: All right, my friend. So I will see you the same time, same place next week. Until then, stay inspired.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to The Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/schulmanart, on Instagram @schulmanart and of course, on SchulmanArt.com.
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