On second thought, I think I’ll have a nap.

I’m not very good at setting goals, planning how to reach them, or following through. I usually fall down at stage one, because I can’t even figure out what it is I want.  If I get past that, I’ll probably throw my hands up in the air because I can’t figure out how to get there. And even if I do know what I want and how to achieve it, there’s a really good chance I’ll get worn out thinking about it, take a nap and forget what I was going to do.
Not too long ago I ran across a Google Hangout video of Jason Horejs (of Xanadu Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ) and Barney Davey (Internet art guru) talking about the business of art, and all the things that we artists are supposed to be doing, but of course, are not. And we will NEVER be successful without all these highly regimented plans and courses of action. Now I feel so inadequate.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I know a lot of artists. A number of them are what I would call successful. They’re all a lot like me. So I figure maybe if I relax about all this ‘business of art’ stuff and just give it a stab, it would be a good thing and not give me heartburn. Certainly can’t hurt.
In fact, in a moment of weakness I signed up for a free email course offered by Jason Horejs, even though I realized it was a marketing tool for his book. Again – can’t hurt, right? Every few days I get an email giving me some things to think about and suggestions for what to do. A lot of it I already know, and maybe even actually do. And as much as I hate artist’s statements, I will admit that after thinking about Jason’s suggestions, I came up with one that rings true for me.
But blimey! I can’t for the life of me write an artist bio! I’ve written about 14 of them and trashed them all. I can’t decide what to do about this. Jason thinks they should be 3 to 5 pages long, and that sounds ridiculous to me. Who cares enough to read all that? But when I try to make it short and sweet, I have to leave out so much that I think has contributed to making me an artist … but then I think “who cares anyway?” … but then if I don’t do this I’m not giving it a good effort … but then why waste all this time if no one will read it … but …
And now I have heartburn. On second thought, I think I’ll have a nap.

Technorati Tags: artist statement,artist bio,business of art,Jason Horejs,Barney Davey,Xanadu Gallery

What a wiseguy … emphasis on wise

I’m going to print this LARGE and post it on the wall of my studio.
Waiting for inspiration before making art is like waiting until you lose weight before you start an exercise program.
You’ve put the cart before the horse. The effort has to come first.
It’s not until you’re in the studio, puttering with your materials, looking at the pictures you saved and the art you’ve already made, that you think “Oh! That’s a cool idea, but what if …”
What are you waiting for? Get in there!

Technorati Tags: inpiration,studio,Chuck Close

I think I need an intervention.

I believe I mentioned that I am one of a group of local artists who have decided to get together once a month to discuss our goals, both artistic and business related, for support and networking.
I LOVE this idea. Especially because I work out of my home, and am therefore one of the pitiful people who rely on Facebook for interaction with other humans. This could be a tremendous help in working toward staying more accountable, defining what it is I really want to accomplish, and meeting more artists in the area.
But I must admit, what this has really done is emphasize my ADD.
I spent some time before the first meeting putting together a list. List are wonderful, aren’t they? You feel SO good about yourself while you’re compiling them, but once you look back and realize that all you did by spending time on list-making was justify not actually DOING anything, that feeling fades pretty fast.
I spent an entire evening compiling a list of specific short-term goals, specific mid-term goals, specific long-term goals, and some general things I wanted to put more focus on. I then spent several days revisiting and refining my list.
And tomorrow we meet again and I have to explain (at least to myself, if not to the others) why I have accomplished very little in the studio. And by very little, I mean almost nothing.
I did accomplish a couple of business related items on my list, but without the studio work, the business related items are pretty pointless.
And today, instead of working in the studio, I’m sitting at the computer whining to you.
*sigh*

Technorati Tags: intervention,networking,accountability,goals

Copying as a learning tool

Many years ago I spent a fair bit of time researching traditional Chinese art.  I was in my “Chinese phase” (one of many phases in which I would take as many books as I could carry home from the library on a given subject).  One of the things that I thought was particularly interesting was the mention, in several places, that when a student went to study art at a school, they were set to copying the work of acknowledged masters.  They weren’t allowed to choose subjects or even compositions on their own until they had spent several years repeating the brush strokes of the great artists of earlier periods.
Of course, this struck me because in the West we are discouraged from copying or even really mimicking artists, alive or dead.  But the concept made a great deal of sense to me, never having had the advantage of an art school education.  This would be a great way to learn to paint – I could copy a painting I liked and when I didn’t get it right, I could critically examine the original and mine side by side and see where it went wrong.  Sometimes I could fix it, but even if not, I would learn something I could carry with me to the next painting.  The above painting is one such exercise.  The image in the lower right is copied from a book by Alison Stilwell Cameron called Chinese Painting Techniques.  The calligraphy is from a book of Chinese poetry and is called I Want To Go Out, But It’s Raining.  What the poem says is beside the point, but I love it and will share it anyway.

The east wind blows rain,
Vexing the rambler.
The road turns to mud
From fine dust.

Flowers sleep, willows drowse,
Spring itself is lazy.
Who knew that I
Am even lazier than spring?

                                             -- Lu You
                                                 circa 1200AD

I was always conscious of the Western taboo on this subject, so as soon as I could begin to create my own original work, I moved on.  But I think it shouldn’t be viewed that way.  This is probably a practice that all artists could benefit from throughout their lifetimes.  There is always something more to learn.
Having said that, a fair number of mosaic artists I know have seen their worked not only copied, but for sale online.  That would be bad enough if the original artist were credited, but he or she never is.  So before I go any further let me be firm about this – NEVER, EVER, MAKE A COPY OF SOMEONE ELSE’S ART FOR SALE.  It should only be for learning purposes.
What brought this up is running across this blog post this morning:  Artists Don’t Own Subjects! by Jean Haines.  Although her main point is the association of subject matter with particular artists (sunflowers with Van Gogh, Venice with Sargent, etc.), she mentions copying as a valid learning technique, and set me to thinking about this.  I really think maybe I’ll return to that as a learning aide. 
How do you feel about this?  Do you use copying as a learning tool?  Why or why not?

Technorati Tags: learning tool,copying,Jean Haines,taboo,I Want To Go Out But It's Raining,Lu You,Chinese art

“I usually get in trouble when I expose myself for free”

Let’s talk about this whole “working for free” conundrum and it’s corollary again, shall we?  It’s not exactly like beating a dead horse, because I guarantee you that horse isn’t dead.  In fact, that horse seems to be getting around an awful lot.
It’s not news to anyone that in economically difficult times, private individuals as well as municipalities, schools, and all manner of public funding sources generally cut their spending on the arts.  Is it because they don’t consider it necessary?  I think not, because that seems to be when you hear so many stories about artists being asked to do something for free “because it will give them great exposure”, or to accept an unpaid internship in the hopes that some day, somewhere down the line, they’ll be offered a paid position.  Society in general doesn’t want to live without the arts, it just doesn’t want to pay for them.  I think people have been party to enough discussions about the arts and their benefits to have assimilated the view that art is important.   If the arts are an important part of society and the education of our children, then to refuse to provide the music for an event or to volunteer for a public art project ‘for exposure’ is surely a miserly thing to do, no? 
The assumption is that if an artist can get enough name recognition during the down times, then when things pick up, that artist will be rolling in the dough.  But let me ask you this - who is going to be willing to suddenly pay for something they are accustomed to getting for free?  You know the old story about ‘free milk and the cow’.   The more common it becomes to find musicians and artists doing work without remuneration, the more difficult it becomes to get them a fair wage down the road.  Most all of the people I know who are trying to make a living as artists (whether visual, literary, performing, or music) are struggling against the whole “work for me for free and you’ll get some great exposure” attitude.  An artist and writer friend of mine recently said his stock answer to a request like that has been “I usually get in trouble when I expose myself for free”.  We need more artists to give an answer like that. My personal favorite response is "People die of exposure, you know..."
When I bring up this subject, the corollary rears it’s ugly head.   I often am asked why I don't produce oodles of little "saleable" (read *cheap*) things, or do pet portraits, or other presumably high demand work.  The implication in that question is that I’m being unreasonable in expecting to create what I’m driven to create, rather than “what the market demands”.  I don’t know that I would be suddenly successful with that anyway.  Is there a demand for that?  Do we suffer from a dearth of cheap products purchased on impulse?  But I have two reasons for not taking that approach – 1) art is creativity, not mass-produced retail products.  There is precious little creativity in churning out inexpensive and expendable little gewgaws to capture an impulse market.  To expend your energy doing that leaves preciously little for creating what you find fulfilling.  Pet portraits are a perfectly valid artistic endeavor, and if that’s where your passion lies, then you can possibly make a nice living on that and be fulfilled.  But that brings me to number 2) it would be drudgery for me.  That's not where my passion lies.  If I am to make a living by doing something I consider drudgery I will get a job which at least provides a regular paycheck. 
I can almost hear the voices – “Who do you think you are, that you should get paid to do what you love, rather than work a dreadful job with dreadful people like most of the rest of us?”
And I would answer “Who do you think you are, that you shouldn’t?”

 

Technorati Tags: rant,stop working for free,exposure,public art

The more things change….

On a day in which had a many tiresome hours to kill, I turned to my shelf of art books and began rummaging.  I settled on William Morris, Artist, Craftsman, Pioneer by R. Ormiston and N. M. Wells.  I have skimmed this one several times, but I set to really reading  it today.  I was reminded how much I align myself with Morris’ ideas on beauty, art, craftsmanship, and the destructive capabilities of industrialization.
Morris is often characterized as an ‘anti-industrialist’, but that really isn’t accurate.  After all, he started a design company that utilized mechanized processes to produce wallpapers, upholstery fabrics, tapestries and carpets on a large scale.  But it is true that Morris had much to say about the dehumanization of industrialization.  It wasn’t with an eye toward halting progress, but toward bringing back the dignity of a day’s hard work for those who labored day in and day out to keep the gears turning.  He believed that Victorian industrialists were quite comfortable with the idea of using up human lives like fuel for their forges, without regard to the illness and misery those lives suffered as a result.  The authors state “[H]e became part of a movement that swept through Europe.  The rise in industrial fortunes had brought with them a nascent resentment and suffering of those on whose backs growth was being made; the Victorian Age was a capitalistic bludgeon, creating iniquities as quickly as it created wealth.”
A capitalistic bludgeon.  Wow.  That rings so true for me.  Every time I step inside a Pier 1 and see their simplistic mosaic tables and mirrors (no doubt crafted by 9 year olds in China) with a price tag that wouldn’t even cover my supplies to replicate, I die a little bit inside.  I know that a large percentage of the population doesn’t know the difference in quality between those mosaic pieces and my wall art, and that it is my job to educate them.  I know, too, that I could create wall art with larger pieces and cheaper glass in order to lessen my expenses (although not enough to be competitive with Pier 1 and other such retailers).
But if I were to try to compete with retailers whose manufacturers have access to slave wages and cheaply produced materials, my art wouldn’t be as beautiful or as soulful. 
Morris writes “There is a great deal of sham work in the world, hurtful to the buyer, more hurtful to the seller, if only he knew it; most hurtful to the maker.”
The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?

Technorati Tags: William Morris,Arts & Crafts Movement,industrialization,cheap labor,art

OH NO!!

I recently had to have my hard drive replaced on the computer, as you may remember from my angry post a few days ago. The wonderful technicians at the computer repair store were fast and efficient and very friendly.  They found all of my files and photos and were able to put them back.
EXCEPT……
God only knows where eArtist (my art business software) stored my contacts (where all the physical addresses were kept – email addresses are online) or MY ENTIRE ART INVENTORY OF THE LAST 6 YEARS. But after reinstalling the software, it’s all a blank slate.
Hear that?
It’s the sound of my head hitting the table.
Repeatedly.
The art inventory can be reconstructed. Although it will be time consuming, at least I know I can find photos and detailed info on each piece to plug in. But the contacts? I don’t know if I have all of them. I recently started entering physical addresses into my email marketing program, just so I would have a backup. But I’m pretty sure they aren’t all there.
So I’m begging asking everyone who was on my physical mailing list (for postcards of upcoming events) to please send me your address again. Please send it to mosaicartbyla@gmail.com
Thanks in advance.
And on a happier note – a peek at the latest WIP:

Technorati Tags: eArtist,hard drive,aaarrrrggghhhh

Rant alert

Well I’m going to open up a great big can of worms here.  Don’t try to stop me, it’s what I do best.
As you know, I have been serving as the Gallery Director at CrazyLake Art Gallery for nearly a year.  And I have spent a lot of time thinking about the attitudes about art and artists espoused by visitors and often, unfortunately, reflected by artists.
In fact, it’s something I have been pondering in the context of my own art business for several years.
So here is my interpretation of the comments I’m hearing regularly:

Artists don’t deserve to make a fair wage for the work they do, whether in producing art or teaching it.

Every time I hear it from a gallery visitor, I patiently try to educate them on the value of what they are looking at, and remind them that there is a real human being behind each piece of art in the gallery.  Someone who spends a great deal of time and care on each piece, and deserves to be paid a fair price for that.  Someone who is quite possibly using this as their main means of support for themselves. 
The next comment is usually something along the lines of “well he could get a ‘real’ job and just do this on the weekends.”
And when it comes to classes, they want a full roster of classes available so they can be sure to find one that is convenient for them, and they want them offered at a price that is nearly minimum wage for the instructor.  And this is the very community that supported me as a private piano teacher 20 years ago at $20 an hour without a single complaint that my services were too dear.
There was a time when it was recognized that art was a good thing, generally.  That creativity was something that everyone should nurture in themselves because it helped them broaden their horizons and cultivated their problem-solving skills.  That people who dedicated their lives to being creative and coaching others in creativity were worthy of admiration.  Art served many functions – it taught appreciation for the beauty of the natural world, recorded and interpreted history, demonstrated moral lessons, provided glimpses into emotional states that we all share at some time in our lives.  It connected us.  It gave us a reference for trying to understand the lives and decisions of people with whom we have little in common.  These are the attitudes that support a healthy art community, and a healthy society in general.
Now everybody wants something for free. 
I realize this isn’t a problem confined to the arts.  In times like these, many people are forced to tighten their belts, and they begin looking for bargains in every area of their lives.  I would like to remind everyone that 99% of all artists are among that crowd. 
And there are a fair number of people who haven’t in fact been forced to tighten anything, but they will certainly use the economy as an excuse to extract a discount everywhere they go.
But the thing that really roasts my peppers is when I hear an artist (especially a teaching artist) making excuses for the very people who devalue the work they do!  Just because the price of a gallon of gas went up, how do you then conclude that your services as a teacher are now worth less?  In fact, it now costs you more to get to work – and you are willing to lower your fees?  Where is the logic in this?  If you were a doctor, do you suppose you would lower your fees to accommodate people’s pinched budgets?  Or is it just that you don’t believe what you do is important?  If you don’t, no one else will either.
My belief is that it isn’t an action rooted in logic, but in fear.  These are artists in fear that others will no longer pay for their art or their teaching skills if they don’t set their prices terribly low.  But this is a losing battle – once you tell the public that YOU don’t believe you are worthy of your asking price, they won’t either. 
So I will end this with a call to action to all you artists out there:  stand up and demand the respect you deserve.  Don’t let your insecurities allow you to be bullied into working below poverty level.  Don’t let your insecurities contribute to the perception in the public mind that art isn’t a real job.  I believe our society depends on it.

*I am not in the habit of justifying my prices, because I believe that if I have to explain them to someone, they don’t want what I’m offering much anyway.  But in this case I want to illustrate a point.
The only piece I have produced in which I kept record of both the materials I purchased and the hours spent was Indian Summer.  I purchased over $200 worth of materials, although a fair bit was left over to use in other projects.  Let’s say I used $75 worth.  I spent 60 hours on the construction of it, although I didn’t think to keep track of hours until the concept and design work and surface prep was already done.  Let’s add a conservative 3 hours for that.
Now let’s work backward.  It is retail priced at $900.  Subtract 30% right off the top for gallery commission (that is a decent commission – one of my galleries takes 50%) bringing our total to $630.  Subtract the materials = $555.  Now at this point I could also subtract the entry fee and shipping costs for the exhibition I sent it to hoping to get more exposure, but we’ll even leave that out.  That means that when it sells, I will have earned myself an hourly wage of $8.81.  However, if I were to go work at McDonalds and happened to work my sorry self up to an assistant manager position, I’d be making $10.36 per hour (click HERE for reference). 
I know artists whose numbers don’t work out as favorably even as that, and yet the perception from the public is that we want too much.  So my point is that I believe art is being valued at a level that puts us on a par with fast food workers at best.  And if you don’t also think that’s a problem, then I really think there is no hope for us as a civilized society.

Technorati Tags: rant,worth,value,Indian Summer