How to Tell People What Kind of Art You Make

It happens all the time. You are at a party and it slips out that you are an artist or that you make art. Immediately someone will ask – probably because they don’t know what else to say, their knowledge of art that of a box turtle – "What sort of art do you do?" Here are a few ways to handle this sedulous question.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Moxie

1. The Elevator Speech
   
   This you practice at home. It is a description of your art that you eventually know by rote that takes less than two minutes to say. Record yourself describing your art to a friend – there is nothing like describing your work to a real person to get to the meat of things. Your friend can tell you what is not clear, and how your description may improve.
2. A porcupine-like ceramic by David Traylor (c) Irony
   
   I knew someone who, when asked a question they didn’t care to answer would say with a strait face, “No, but I did see Coal Miner’s Daughter.” If you are feeling particularly frisky you might go the ricochet route and say something like “I describe my works as abstract porcupine love tops,” and then change the subject.
3. Break it down
   
   Come up with a few different answers in order to keep things interesting for yourself. Break down the essence of your artwork into camps of what materials you use; how the art makes people feel when they look at it; your intent or message; the colors, images or scale. Any of these areas are worth an answer of their very own.
4. Pull out your iPhone
   
   This is a killer solution if you have the dough! Upload digital images of your artwork onto your iPhone and allow people who query you to scroll through the images with a wave of their finger. They’ll be so impressed that they will probably try to pick you up. But that’s an entirely different eHow subject.