Karen and Ruth Ryan share 20 years worth of wisdom and advice gained from owning one of the Northern Rivers longest standing commercial galleries.
In the up market North NSW town of Bangalow you can find veteran local business, the gorgeous Barebones Art Gallery. From a one room gallery sporting its fair share of the North Coast’s best Mandala and Yoni artworks, Barebones has grown in its 20 years into an exclusive multi spaced gallery linking the highest quality local and non local artworks with a national and international market. Karen Ryan left behind a career in fashion to relocate to the North Coast in 1993. A year later she was followed by her mother Ruth, a nuclear medicine technologist, who bought the building which houses the gallery space. With Ruth’s son and his partner visual artists completing their tertiary studies, the Ryans drew on each of their creative and scientific strengths and a family based arts business was born
C – You have been running this business for 20 years, what are the changes you’ve seen?
K – Just before we opened the President of the Chamber came down and said he was really worried, he said “Karen, I’m really worried about you having a gallery in this town. It’s not going to make it.”
C – And you guys are still here!
R – But it was a very different day. It was a very, very different town. It was a lifestyle. We had lots of exhibitions and it was fun. Our exhibition openings became one of the main parties in town.
K – We’d have a big theme exhibition every year that was huge.
R – It was a big party, and it was great fun. Everything has been fun.
C – And still, twenty years on?
K and R – Yeah!
R – We haven’t lost sight of the fact that you’re living the dream up here. You are living the dream. And we’re not chasing a world market if you know what I mean, we’re actually enjoying life.
K – I find you have to work harder nowadays to be able to afford to live up here to what you did in the ‘90s. In the ‘90s so many of the business people lived above or behind the business, it was a residential street as well, now it’s not and with the rents and everything you do have to work harder and be more focused on it, where as before it was a lifestyle.
R- It was a real beautiful country town.
K – Had a bit of a wild element to it. Now, it’s a bit chique.
C – Has that been good for business in a way? For people living up here Bangalow may have lost some of it’s charm but for people who come and visit they come here to shop, they love the chique element. Has that been good for business?
R – Most of our business is out of the area. Ever since we started we’ve kept records of exactly where people come from so we know our customers. Now it’s probably dropped down to 75% out of the area, mainly Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
C – And do you reach those customers because they come into the gallery when they’re on holiday, or do you reach out to them online?
R – Both, but this is one of their first stops.
K – We have people who come here every holiday.
C – Where are your artists from?
K – Our printmakers are predominantly from everywhere. Not a lot of printmakers up here. Our 2D work is mainly Northern Rivers. In fact, at the moment there’s a lot of Bangalow.
C – What have been some of the main struggles of having an arts based business in this area? And that’s over a lot of years!
K – The ups and downs of the tourism trade, you get really busy and then the downtime.
R – It’s a discernible histogram.
K – There are many different things, there’s also the fact that now Australians are traveling overseas for their holidays so they’re not coming up here so much. That money is being spent overseas.
R – And the dollar makes a difference.
K – But having said that we’ve had some of our biggest months this year.
R – August/September was our biggest in twenty years!
C – So how have you managed that ebb and flow then, as a business?
R – We’re just good managers. We just don’t take trips to Italy!
K – You know when those times are going to come we don’t overspend. You sort of know, roughly.
R – Yes, it’s predictable.
K – Well, it’s not as predictable anymore. What we’ve found, and it might be because of people’s access to news now – because we get news 24 hours a day, all of us, it comes at us all the time – that whatever’s happening globally creates a knee jerk reaction to sales.
C – So at the moment, for example with a lot politically going on around the world are you feeling the impact of that?
K – When I say “news”, it’s more the economic news.
R – It’s more when Tony Abbott and his hench, his financial advisor, get on TV. But also the art scene is changing as well. It’s changing in the same way as people’s attitude to media is changing, because art mirrors the sociology of the times. So, there is that same instant attention span of what, three seconds if you’re lucky? – and it’s affecting the art world. We have to react, we have to change what works. We actually display to meet that demand. I mean that’s an example. (pointing to one of the art works hung in the gallery)
K – Oh, this is very on trend. “On trend” I wouldn’t have used that phrase six months ago!
R – I don’t know whether I like that phrase actually.
K – No, I’m not mad on that phrase. Don’t use that phrase!
R – No, I’d drop that phrase if I were you.
K – Don’t print that phrase!
C – How important do you think it is now to have a web presence?
R – Oh, I think it’s very important.
K – It’s very important but I don’t think artists can set up their own sites and think they’re going to sell work online only. You will never replace touching the painting and seeing the textures of the painting, talking to the people in the gallery – you will never replace that with having a website.
R – And with art we have to have a certain amount of integrity, because we put a price on something.
K – And customer loyalty is a massive part of the business. Which is one reason why it takes quite a few years for a gallery to be truly established.
R – Yes, about seven or eight years.
K – So regular customers come back, buy their work from here, and they’ll send other people “if you’re going up there, go to Barebones, it’s been there for ages” it’s a huge part of our business.
C – So have you got a kind of curatorial process in how you pick what comes in to the gallery?
K – Yes, we’ve got a million ways of saying “no” nicely – but you’ll still get the pushy ones that won’t take “no”!
R – Because everyone up here who does a course in healing art becomes “an artist”, so that presents a difficulty for people.
K – “I’ll try art this week”, you know and next week it’s ceramics, and reiki, you get a lot of that.
C – So in terms of advice for a local artist, if they wanted to approach you what’s the process.
K – Ring and make an appointment first. I could write a book called “I’ve got something in the car”. It’s a business, and you approach it the same way you would approach an interview with a job.
R – Also get your training. Go to a recognised institution and do the course. It doesn’t have to be a university, it can be a TAFE. You want hands on knowledge of the mediums you’re dealing with – you’ve got to know what to mix with the oil.
K – And don’t use cheap materials, cheap canvases and then expect to put a four figure price on it. It shows no respect to the people that may buy it. And we don’t like taking it anyway. You’ve got to have integrity about the whole piece.
R – Integrity is a big word in the art world, because they’re trusting when we say that’s $5000 or whatever, it’s a lot of money, so they’ve got to know that it’s worth it.
C – When you assess what artworks you’re going to have in here what are you looking for when you decide?
R – We look at the CV, their exhibiting record, all that sort of thing.
K – What body of work there is, if they’ve just got one or two paintings it’s not enough.
C – So for artists that don’t have that kind of background what kind of advice do you give them?
K – Get a tertiary background or some kind of training.
R – Also sometimes the work just doesn’t fit in here.
K – We will refer them on to other places where their work may suit. We certainly say to them go in competitions so you can see your work up against others. They’re doing it on their own, so get out into the competitions just so you can get some sort of feedback.
R – We don’t just dismiss them.
K – No, because it takes a lot of courage and a lot of nerve to come in and show people your work, and get knocked back. So we certainly will spend time with people.
C – What’s your advice to an artist that does get a knock back?
K – Well the gallery should only give you constructive criticism.
R – If they don’t get that constructive feedback, disregard it and move on. But there’s always something positive to take out of it. Some people don’t fit in with the zeitgeist at the time, which is changing – maybe they’ve got to look at changing their style.
K – I had an artist come in the other day and I would have spent twenty minutes with her. Didn’t take her work, but it was a critique. She’s on her own, drawing all the time, and they were big pieces. You sit down with her and point out the good bits and the bits that could be improved. If you get caught up in something you don’t see the bits that aren’t quite working a lot of the time.
C – Having been in the area for a while have you watched artists at that fledgling state that have come in and you’ve given them feedback and then seen them develop over the years?
K – Yes, absolutely! There’s been a few that we’ve told to go to TAFE that have done it and come back in and said “I did it!”
R – And it’s lovely to see them, because the main thing that we’re interested in is the promotion of art in the community, because it’s a barren community as far as art/visual arts are concerned in Australia. So we’re supposed to be promoting that.
K – We’re doing this because we really love doing it. It wouldn’t be a nice job if you’re mean to people. 9.9 times out of ten when we say no to people they go out with a smile on their face thanking us for the time that we’ve given them and the critique that we’ve given the work.
R – We both honour, creativity. I think all artists should be nurtured, and should be treasured in the country, and that’s what we’re trying to do.
K – But even if they don’t do it professionally, you still encourage them to do it within their own time, you know, it’s a special thing, to create something.
C- What are you finding now versus twenty years ago in terms of your best sellers or the kind of products that you sell?
K – Well, twenty years ago nearly half the artists we dealt with had sannyasin names, and we’d have to write their name down because they couldn’t spell it, and they all painted yonis and we haven’t seen a yoni for a long time!
C – Is that a good thing, just to clarify?
K – It’s a good thing! And mandalas we were swamped with manadalas!
R – We’ve seen a big change and it’s interesting to see the changes in the trends, the way the world is going. It’s interesting just to look at the other galleries, see what they’re doing.
K – Even the magazines.
R – There’s a higher standard.
K – Much higher standard.
C – Is that because people expect a higher standard than maybe they did twenty years ago or has that got to do with that the area has shifted a bit?
R – It’s the gentrification of the area. The artists themselves are a lot more understanding of what you have to do to sell in the commercial art world.
C- What have you found to be the upshots of having an arts based business in the Northern Rivers?
R – Just the associations with the people.
K – We’ve met some wonderful people. The customers and the artists. Because of the sort of business that we’re in, we actually have time to talk to people.
R – It’s wonderful. The people we’ve met – wonderful. From all walks of life. Its absolutely fantastic!
K – It really is. It’s probably the most important part. You have to really like people, and like their little idiosyncrasies that often make them quite eccentric.
R – Liking people is one thing, and being interested in them in another. I love hearing about people.
K – There are gallery directors that do run galleries with a cut throat hard core business mentality. But we’ve even fed some of the artists! We can’t give you any money but the fridge is open. (Maybe don’t print that!!)
R – It’s a way of life.
K – It’s social.
R – It’s a wonderful, rewarding, social way of life.
K – But that’s the way we operate it, we could operate it more hard core.
R – We’d probably make more money!
C – And so then on that financial level, are there some things you do because it’s a wonderful way of life and you love it, and then are there some things you do just because you have to because that’s what’s the money spinner?
R – No, we don’t do anything that we don’t feel. We’ve just recently gone into new cards. And that’s so much fun!
K – Some of the artwork sometimes wouldn’t be what I would select to hang. I don’t know whether compromise is the word because they’re actually really good. And it’s not like I really don’t like that work, it’s done well, so it’s a little compromise. Compromisette! So you do do that to some extent, that’s just the nature of business.
C – And then on the running a business side of things, are there aspects of running a business business that you’ve found tough and how did you get through that?
K – I’ve had to find ways of being creative, because I found not being able to make something quite frustrating at times, which is why I also do the Bangalow show as a bit of an outlet for that. You just have to find different ways of being creative.
R – Being open every day is quite a challenge.
K – The public is exhausting.
C – And so how have you managed that?
R- Gin and tonic.!
C – Can I print that?!
R – Yes! Gin and tonic! We don’t take anything too seriously. I think that’s almost a motto of mine.
C – So what are your tips or mottos as business owners running a creative based business in the area for other businesses and artists trying to work in this area?
Tip 1 – Love and Passion
K-Well you’ve got to really love what you do first.
R- Be passionate about it, actually.
Tip 2 – Respect for people and artists
K – You really do have to enjoy people, to do a retail.
R – It’s actually respecting your artists as well because I’ve listened to artists and we know what goes on with other galleries, we hear it from the artists. They have no union, they work alone, and sometimes they’re treated like shit. They’re not paid on time, they get held down if they ask to be paid on time, they can be told that the work’s on layby when it’s not, the work’s lost when it’s not, I mean all sorts of things happen. We’ve heard of these things happening. They’re your clients. That’s your client base. Without the artists we haven’t got a show, and there’s a lot of car salesmen out there operating galleries.
Tip 3 – Integrity
K- But artists also have to do the right thing by galleries.
R – Be honest with the galleries.
K – Don’t use it as free advertising space to sell your work privately.
R – For example selling your work online. If we hang a work then that’s ours. We can share it with another gallery and if another gallery sells a piece we’ve got and it’s on our website, then we chat with them and give them a share. The most important thing is the artist has to sell work. That’s what you both should be working towards. We should all be working towards furthering the recognition of artists in this country.
K – I think you’re getting a little but utopian there.
R – That’s my problem!
K – The problem that we’re facing now as a business is with artists it’s so easy to google people that you really do have to rely on the trust, on the honesty of the artist. Someone may like a painting so they’ll google the artist and then deal with them and then the artist sells the paintings privately. What the more professional artists do is they either refer the customer straight back to the gallery, or tell us that they’ve been contacted and if the customer likes one that’s in the studio they then share the commission with the gallery because this is where they saw the work. Because if you cut out the gallery then you’re using the gallery as free advertising space to sell work behind the gallery’s back, and many galleries will drop you straight away if you do that, because this wall space, it costs money. It costs money to have the doors open.
R – In fact a lot of galleries are actually selling their wall space to artists.
K – They’re hiring the walls, because of that.
R – Because their artists are selling on the net. The integrity is a bit slack from both parties, and galleries still have to pay rent.
K – We’re in here seven days a week to promote the work.
R – I mean, we know that some of our artists do sell work. People will write down the name, shoot up to the studio and bang. But the professional artists wouldn’t do that. Because that’s the selling point is the CV. To charge 30, 000 for a painting, you’ve got to have a CV that supports that price, and galleries will be on the CV and solo shows. The thing that an artist is aiming for is a CV that supports the price he wants.
K – The gallery is the constant.
C – How important is it then for an artist to have a web presence?
K – It’s actually not that important. It’s a way for people to have a gallery of their work online and the galleries listed on the webpage. But if someone does email the artist the professional ones often don’t really talk to them they just email them back and ask which gallery they saw the work in and then sell through that gallery.
R – So the artists that don’t go that way are –
K – Usually not the professional ones. They’re the ones that need the money now, and quick, quick, quick. Here today gone tomorrow.
C – So if I’m an artist, and I’m living off Centrelink, and every single cent counts, how do you, or how do I in this article and when I’m working with artists convince them to think long term about what they’re doing, when artists are desperate?
R- Sometimes they should go to another country or get another profession. They’re not all good. We’ve got to have some standards. I might want to be a dentist, or a surgeon, I’ve got to do the hard yards. It’s not a God given right that you’re going to be an artist – you’ve got to do the hard yards. Get yourself some galleries, I mean you might even need pop-ups, see where your work fits in to the area, the buying public, go into competitions, maintain some authenticity about what you’re doing and go with the galleries.
K – As people we can justify anything to ourselves – people smoke and they can justify it while they’re smoking, you can justify doing that “I’m on the dole and I need everything” but really it comes down to your own integrity. You still have to face the gallery owner, knowing that you’ve done the deal behind their back and relying on them to show your work.
R – An artist is actually putting themselves in a marketplace. If the aim is to sell work they can’t do it on their own. Eventually most professional artists would like to win a major prize or get a get a major placing in some overseas studio and they can only do that if they’re represented by major galleries or they have a good CV.
K – You know we’ve had artists living on the smell of an oily rag that have sold work privately and come in with a cheque and said this is your commission because you’re the only gallery I’m in and they saw it in here. It’s the integrity of the person, and you can justify not doing the right thing, as I said we justify all sorts of things, as human beings, all the time, but it’s what’s right and wrong.
R – It’s the professionalism when I actually compare the art world to the science world. If you’re a scientist you’ve got on the wall your credential saying what you’ve done, whatever it is. In the art world, you may not have that, it’s what the market thinks of you, it’s a totally different way of assessing the worth of a painting. But the way it’s done in our society is, if you happen to win a major prize, like the Archibald or something, the whole world thinks you’re a major person in that profession, so you’ve got to play the game, because you’re actually in the market – it’s assessed by the marketplace. It’s very difficult. But you need to be thought to have integrity and be authentic. It’s not black and white like the science world and I find it fascinating – I don’t understand creativity but I really honour it.
K – You have to be adaptable. You’ve got to be able to say right, this isn’t working, flip. You can’t ever take something that’s not working as a knock back and you’re on your knees – you’ve just got to say alright, change.
R – I think you have to be super optimistic actually. Believe that you’re going to do well, and you will. It’s all you have to do.
K – You can’t wallow, if something’s not working, you can’t take it personally. It hasn’t worked, think of something else. See, even that is a creative process.
K – artists spend too much time on their own.
R – They are intensely introspective and they’ve sort of got to be introspective if they’re working.
K – To a degree, but the time that they spend on their own is often unhealthy and they lose the place where they can say it’s not working, dust yourself off and do the next one. They get caught up in their own head.
R – Don’t allow the introspection of creativity to take over your life.
K – Don’t be too precious about it all.
R – I think you’ve got to be constant, there’s no use in saying I don’t feel like opening today, I think I’ll go to the beach – you can’t do that. (Having said that, today I’m going to close a little bit early!)
A final major tip for artists?
Tip 4 – It’s a Job
R – They obviously have to have ability, creative ability but then they’ve got to be disciplined. You’ve got to have natural ability to draw and paint and design and do what you’re doing and you have to have the discipline, none of this I don’t feel like that, you’ve got to paint every day at a certain time.
K – It’s a job. You’ve got to treat it as a job.
R – It’s a job. You’ve got to go to work at 7.30. If they don’t have that, forget the whole thing. And we don’t mean to bring them down to earth but you know, it is as important in our society as digging a ditch down there is at the road works. We’ve got it on the wall outside – “Wealth and power don’t last, art and science do.”
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