Airtable and My Art Catalog
As an artist, keeping a catalog of paintings and artworks can be mind-numbing but it has to be done.
I've used several different products and services over the years, but lately I've settled on entering everything into Airtable, a cloud-based relational database, and using one of their templates specifically for art catalogs.
Airtable's free plan is quite generous: up to 1200 records as of October 2022. And the templates can be customized for your needs.
I started using Airtable in 2021 to catalog the music and audio recordings I've published. That was quite a daunting task as I have over 2500 titles, and each title has various codes and criteria associated with it.
Artworks were a different challenge.
As a visual artist, one thing I like about Airtable is being able to add multiple images for each entry. This isn't something I could easily do in Excel, or even some of the commercial, web-based services I've tried in the past.
After a bit of experimenting with Airtable, I've arrived at the above picture. In the future, I may add more columns. That's easy to do.
After a bit of experimenting with Airtable, I've arrived at the above picture. In the future, I may add more columns. That's easy to do.
Having a Description for a painting may seem like a robotic and difficult exercise, but it's a practice I've carried over from being a recording artist. I often "pitch" songs and tracks to curators and music supervisors for submissions purposes, and I like to save the pitch that I write. I think this is a similarly good practice for paintings and artworks.
I hope you've enjoyed this quick blogpost about Airtable, and consider using it for your organizational needs in the future. There are many similar products all over the web.
*
Who am I?
I'm Mark Rushton, a professional recording artist and fine artist who has managed to hang on to creativity.
I've released music and sounds since the early 2000s under many different names, including my own. I largely create ambient, beat-driven electronica, and avant-garde music and soundscapes, as well as field recordings and sound effects.
I'm also a fine artist / painter, making original paintings, limited edition prints, and functional merchandise.
Join my email list: https://www.markrushtongallery.com/mailing-list
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markrushton/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/markrushtongallery
Mark Rushton Gallery: https://www.markrushtongallery.com
Mark Rushton Web Site: https://www.markrushton.com
Mark Rushton Gallery Blog: https://markrushtongallery.blogspot.com
Music links:
License Mark Rushton's Music for your project: https://www.markrushton.com/musicservices/
Spotify - follow Mark Rushton: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o7In5aHAnzK7WYGHY5Khx?si=fIvBiAxdQEOVHrVPbO7QfQ
Spotify Ambient Rushton Podcast Rotating Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5EC4Y2eIYArYsxVb8LEGsH?si=K9RdQuJ8RB-pYsjHQzqMZQ
Services I use:
Airtable referral code: https://airtable.com/invite/r/M3Ydt3Ze
Walmart+ referral vode: http://share.walmartplus.com/mark8673
Songtrust referral code: https://app.songtrust.com/signup/?discount_code=178652a-Ecs