Jennifer Berry Art

How I got started selling my art on the internet ::

In 2005, when I first started selling my paintings on the internet I was homeless with my two golden retrievers living in my van (painting in vacant lots, out in the desert, anywhere I could find room to work, basically) and selling my work at art and craft shows all over the country.

Sometimes it truly was a load of fun but it did get old after about two years so one day while jacking some free wi-fi off a coffee shop in Fort Myers, FL (thanks Mike! Still appreciate all the free lattes) I thought I'd list a few paintings on eBay just to see what would happen.

Here's a shot of my art fair booth entry slide from back in the day.
I don't miss setting this thing up 3 or 4 times a week.

I mean, how much worse could things get at this point? I barely made enough to buy ramen noodles after paying those insane show entry fees and buying the dogs their gourmet Gains Burgers and bottled water (nothing but the best for Lucy & Henry).

[For all of you that were worried about Houdini Henry and his recent run in with the law... you can read all about it here...]

So, the first painting that I listed on eBay went into a bidding war and ended up selling for $350. I was hooked. I've been listing paintings ever since. Within a couple of months I'd actually made enough to get my own apartment and get off the streets.

We usually slept in the parking lot of whatever Walmart we were closest to and the security guards always looked out for us so we were basically safe. But thanks to all ya'll we now have a roof over our heads.

And I've even been able to move into a real live art studio in downtown Albuquerque where I finally have enough room to really get some work done.

Here's a detail shot of one of the early eBay paintings 'Ruthful Leader'. This one was painted in a Denny's parking lot in Colorado Springs.

My art now sells in galleries all over the world (Seriously, in June I shipped 30 paintings to a gallery in Israel. I'm starting to ship as many paintings to galleries each month as I do to individual customers.) but I still get asked (like... every day) why do you still sell so many paintings on eBay?

To be very honest, two (3) reasons:

A. Because on eBay I may only get about 400. on average for a painting but I sell dozens every month. In galleries my paintings sell for about 4x the price but after I split it with the gallery it's only double the price — and I sell easily 10x more paintings on eBay than I do in galleries so... um... do the math.

Talk to anyone who buys art on a regular basis and they'll more than likely tell you they've already bought art on eBay. All the kids are doing it. It's like... the new black... or something.

A1. And here's an addendum to A that I just thought of... Art sales are down and galleries have big bills to pay so they are loading up on very mainstream and rather provincial looking stuff lately (appealing to the masses) and that's just fine if you're well... the masses but... eBay allows artists with very little overhead to be as 'whack' as we wanna be and people are buying it... so... Isn't this what art is supposed to be about?

I mean I'm all for turning a buck. Fine. But aren't artists supposed to be digging for something here? Ripping things up? Marching to a different beat and all that? Not focusing on the latest fashion colors and marketing tactics. Picasso would puke.

Non-sell-out integrity is not easy to find in the world today and it's even harder to find in galleries that are too worried about paying the bills to take risks. On eBay, I can take all the risks I want and the best part... I get to connect directly to the people that 'get it' when I do. That Rocks!

B. Because it’s changing the future of art. People who have never bought art before are buying it here every day. Millions of people.

They can sit in their homes without being made to feel like a plebeian from some snooty gallerist or pay inflated prices to middle men to tell them what to like, cementing in their minds that they’re incapable of making this decision on their own – the ‘better leave it to the professionals’ crap that’s been inculcated in us regarding art, rendering it unapproachable to anyone but wealthy insiders.

The internet is putting art in the hands of the people and a sales venue in the hands of artists and everything is getting turned on it’s head and no one even knows it yet.

Art is becoming approachable and thereby desirable by more and more people every day, all over the globe. It’s genius as only a complete accident can be.

I mean, what better way to make art approachable than to be able to shop for it in your underwear?

And p.s. - thanks to everyone who expects a little more from their art than it color coordinating with the freaking sofa!

I get asked a lot 'how do you work?'

Any way I can would be the most honest answer but they always give me that blank look like they were really hoping for more... I work a lot... I work constantly.

I often get up in the middle of the night with an idea make a big mess and then sleep half the day. I once worked 40 straight hours with no sleep.

And I can now say from experience that yes, it is possible to hallucinate without drugs.

But in an effort to be more specific, how's this:

I spend a great deal of time with each painting, often working back into them for days and weeks before I feel that they're ready to sell.

I am a prolific painter, to say the least. I usually finish two or three paintings a day because I've found that this method of working is the only way that I can keep the 'painter's block' at bay.

I have a BFA in painting and was formally trained which has mainly served to make me feel overwhelmed and often intimidated by the blank canvas staring at me - mockingly.

When I was selling at art shows and traveling around I had to get used to painting a lot and I was getting blocked, feeling like I just wasn't good enough. I felt like everything I did sucked and it was starting to weigh on me and I could hardly put brush to canvas.

Basically I was just taking it all too seriously, feeling like I had to do some sort of masterpiece or nothing at all. And of course whenever that happens it'll always be... nothing at all. Then one day, on a whim, I forced myself to do three paintings. It didn't matter what they looked like. Just do it, three paintings, don't think.

Well, I was really happy with them so I did it the next day and the next and soon I was doing better work than I'd ever done. In fact, one of my most popular series' came out of this struggle — the AD: W paintings (ADW = 80 W. Main St. was the address of the vacant lot I was painting in that day). So, as soon as I stopped trying too hard something broke like a dam and the work just kept getting better and better.

© 'the AD: W series paintings No. 1" — Read the whole story behind the popular AD:W series...

It worked wonders and now it's how I have to paint. The only problem was that the paintings were stacking up and there were too many to store in the van. They were infringing on the dog's space and they were not happy about it at all.

So enter the internet: Selling on eBay gives me a venue where I can list my two or three, sometimes four or five paintings a day. perfect.

I've met so many great people that keep in touch via email or phone long after the sale, people find me at shows and it's just amazing. Even though selling over the internet is supposedly 'faceless' I've never felt so connected with my customers.

I enjoy the extra time in the studio that I don't have to spend traveling - it used to be every weekend and now I only do shows a few times a year. And I can actually afford to fly... awesome! My eBay customers are buying the work as fast as I can finish it.

© 2008 Detail from 'Unrequited Love' — Is it possible that the unrequited love we first bounced of the hard, plastic faces of our dolls was just some kind of primitive, practice ritual to prepare us for the hard realities of our adult relationships? Read more...

THE FUTURE?

I have recently signed with some very prestigious galleries and I'm being approached by others all the time... and no, I can't name them here because my work sells too cheaply here and it would undercut them so I have agreed to sell my work under another name off line. I'll tell you my other name if you email me but I can't write it here because of those pesky search engines.

My work is now selling for much more money in these galleries and any bird paintings that you're seeing are not long for the eBay world (I've recently signed an exclusivity agreement for them all to go to a gallery) so um, yeah, now would probably be a good time to buy my work ie: birds, while you can still get it for cheap here on eBay.

Although I hope to always be able to sell here I'm afraid a time may come when I'm no longer able to because of gallery commitments. But honestly I love selling here on eBay and I hope to always be able to. That's why I've chosen to sell under another name in galleries rather than stop selling here. I feel a very strong loyalty to my eBay customers for obvious reasons. How can I say thank you enough!??

So anyway, that's how I got here, how and why I do what I do.

Thank you for your interest in my work and please email me if you have any questions. - Jen

BIO | CV | Artist Statement

• I am an artist living in Albuquerque, NM. My earliest memories are of drawing, usually people, faces and figures were always my favorite.

• I first received mainstream recognition for my art in high school student and was featured in American Artist.

• I was accepted to and attended E. Mich Univ with an art merit scholarship when I was only 15 (a high school sophomore) and I went on to receive my BFA, then Portfolio Center (a top-ranked creative ad/design school) for a couple more years...

• Then, 10 years as an art director for some very prestigious ad agencies and well-known clients.

• In 1997, I decided the corporate world really wasn't for me or more accurately the corporate world decided I wasn't for it... so I decided to pursue my art full time via art exhibitions, fairs and galleries then finally internet sales via eBay and some other online galleries.

• It's worked out better than I could've ever imagined and I've never looked back. Now, my paintings can be found in collections and galleries around the world.

• In 2005, Neiman Marcus purchased seven of my large-scale abstract paintings for their corporate collection housed at their Dallas headquarters.

• In 2007, I had a painting in a featured home in Architectural Digest.

• In 2008, I signed an exclusivity agreement with a major gallery for my bird paintings and they will now sell for several thousand a piece.

Art is a release for me, I honestly don't know what I'd do if I couldn't paint. I paint every day and still try to finish three or more paintings a day. I'm very grateful that my paintings sell as fast as I can finish them, sometimes faster.

I'm also very thankful for another year as a successful artist because of all the support from my loyal eBay customers who have made it possible. I'd thank each one of you individually but I think I've really gone on long enough here, you get the idea.

Thank you sincerely for your support and interest in my work, it means more to me (and henry & lucy) than we can ever say!

— Jen

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