Rachel Stewart’s bold, enigmatic portraits and abstracts have a mesmerizing power. The subjects hold you in their gaze and seem to ask important questions of you. They are bright, beautiful, and unforgettable. They also sell well--very very well. We asked Rachel to share some advice on showing and selling her art.

1. You mentioned that you already had quite a big following before you started to sell art. Can you tell us more about that? How did you build that up?

I started selling jewelry around 2008, I lost my job and needed a source of income, my line of Rachel Stewart Jewelry took off and with the help of social media I built a large following for not just my jewelry but my personal style and also my artwork and later I started making purses and pillows which also gave my brand a boost.

2. Do you use email marketing to get the word out?

I did years ago, with my jewelry and though it was effective I have not used it for my artwork, I feel like people, including myself, are tired of email marketing, some companies are aggressive, I don't want to be a nuisance.

3. What sort of special promotions have you used to help sell your work?

I have not used promotions for my artwork. I'd love to offer discount codes and shipping discounts and incentives, I hope that Artspan will offer this to sellers in the near future.

4. How do you use Facebook and other social media to market your work?

I simply post consistently, and not just artwork, I post things about myself, and post photos of works in progress, I used to use sponsored ads but not in a long time.

5.  You’re selling both prints and originals. Do you have different marketing strategies for each?

No I don’t, I make sure with each post the viewer knows I have BOTH available, I always ask the customer to send pictures of the work once its hung, this is really effective because it gives people who are thinking about buying an idea of how prints look framed or how large my original pieces are. Posting pics of my work in real homes has been very effective.

6. How does having a website help you to sell your work?

Having a seamless, attractive website like Artspan offers gives the customer confidence in the buying process, especially for unknown artist and up and coming artist like myself, If a person is serious about buying your art, the website makes it easy.

7. Do you use press releases or other methods to engage more traditional media outlets?

No, I like to keep things simple.

SEE MORE OF RACHEL STEWART'S GORGEOUS WORK HERE.