Before approaching a gallery, do your homework: take a look at their website, or visit the gallery and see what kind of work they have in stock and how your work will fit in there. Does the gallery deal in emerging artists or well-established artists? What style of work do they show and what is the price range - will your work fit in to this? What kinds of exhibition opportunities are there? How is your work presented and handled?

Contacting a gallery. Every gallery will be different, we at Solander prefer to initially receive an introductory email including a little background on your exhibition history/ practice and 5 or so images plus (including their titles, medium, size etc) and your contact details. As you will probably be aware, many galleries receive a number of approaches a month, so keep your correspondence clear and give the gallery a little time to mull over your proposal. Follow up with an email or phone call after a few weeks. Hopefully the gallery will contact you to arrange a time to meet you and view your work.

When bringing in works for consideration, present them in a folio or protectively between card. Most places won't make a decision instantly so be prepared to leave work with them for consideration - include contact details, perhaps a statement about the work, current cv showing any exhibition history and a consignment note. A consignment note should state the title, edition number, medium, date produced and price (including or excluding commission) of the works you have delivered. Note whether the prices you quote include gst. When dealing with multiples such as prints it is vital that there are good record keeping systems to keep track of editions and that begins with you.

Artwork left at a gallery for possible consignment should be ready to go up on the wall or into folios if accepted. All prints must be titled, signed and numbered according to good print practice and be in excellent condition. There is good advice from Stuart Duffin here on signing and numbering.

Framing should be done using acid free materials and works on paper should never be in direct contact with the glass.

If you have not sold work before or are unsure of prices, it pays to have a rough idea to start from. It can be helpful to look around at work by artists who have a similar exhibition history and experience, similar sized work and technique, in order to judge where yours fits in. Also consider how long it took you to make the work (although we are not talking real estate here - so it's unrealistic to charge on a square centimetre basis!) the size of the edition, material costs, freight etc. Keep in mind you can always increase your prices later. It is also important to keep your prices as consistent as possible across all your galleries.

We recommend a great little booklet by The Artists Alliance called "The Guide for Visual Artists". Contact them on (09)376 7285 or check out their website.