Wading is Better Than Blind Jumping

Stepping into the arena of Fine Art can be scary and expensive. Everyone can create art but few can forge a living from Fine Art. Today I heard a story of one, who with no experience, jumped in with both feet expecting to make a big splash only to find there were rocks in the water. This person learned a hard lesson. There is more to it than simply creating art. Knowing where the rocks are and wading in is better than blind jumping.

One needs to know the business end and how every aspect of the business works. Too many artist think because so many friends love their art they are ready for a one man show and that they can have it anywhere. I went to hundreds of art exhibitions to see the art, to support the artist and to learn. Listening was the greatest thing to do, and then to really think about what I heard. At the first exhibition I heard compliments coming from everyone, but no one reached for their check book. After thanking everyone for coming the artist looked around and found he had no sales. Only relatives and friends had come to see his work. He hadn't established a name or really promoted his exhibition. He assumed people would just come to his show because his work was so damn good. He expected a sell out. Few artists have sell out exhibitions - even famous artists seldom have sell outs. 

Without being a nuisance, artists starting out should ask other artists questions about getting started. You might not get a straight answer because it is different for everyone. We have a place near by that should be the perfect place for an unknown artist to get started. It has a bad reputation as far as getting people to come to exhibitions but with some work, an artist could begin building a name, and a name is most important. Build locally and expand small so you have a solid foundation. Set down a two-year plan of what you need to do and where you want to be in two years. Maybe you want to try street fairs for the first two years and build a following of people really interested in art, people you can invite to one man exhibitions and send newsletters to. Remember you not only have to build a name, but keep it in your collectors minds. Besides newsletters, mail out postcards with your most unusual piece on it. Think up other ways of building your name and keeping it out there.

Good luck everyone.

Pride & The Struggle

                                                                       Unfinished

There needs to be a struggle with one's painting. Without a struggle there is no art. Struggles come when we are learning. When our vision is greater than our abilities. We push for perfection not knowing what perfection is. Only when we recognize perfection do we understand why we are struggling. We want each painting  to be better than the last which creates the question of what is better? So we need to better define for ourselves. These are all ideas passing through my mind when working as an artist.

I create the struggle though challenging myself with new ways of presenting old subjects or taking on totally new subjects. My struggle, at present, is how impressionistic to go with my present painting. Too impressionistic and it will not be me. The subject is totally me but how I handle the paint could totally lose my characteristic look. Pride will not let me go too far astray from how I do things, I want people to recognize my work without having to look for my signature.

For me impressionism is a difficult style. Photorealism, for me, is fairly simple. It is just spending more time working on a single piece. With impressionism each stroke matters. I take my time placing each stroke and every stroke has a different color. Maybe I am doing it all wrong and that is why I struggle so much... One peony took me all day to capture on canvas the other day because of how I wanted it to look. I wanted it to look as though I just whipped it in there, but still have some of the individual characteristics of the peony I had actually photographed. It required some careful placement of each stroke . Had I used live peonies some would have been put into the painting dead... I love painting from life which is something I struggle with. It hurts my pride to resort to photos, but to get what I want in this case I have to use photos or artificial flowers. 

In my head I see these paintings that I struggle with framed and hanging in people's homes before the canvas is even on the easel. I see my collectors pausing to look at them and smiling, appreciating the work I put into them with out seeing the work itself. I want to lift their spirits and so I paint visual candy. I am lifting my own spirits while doing these paintings so I do not mind the struggle as long I get a smile at the end of completing each painting. I myself need those smiles at times. 

Artists are aware of all that is depressing going on in the world. Sandy Hook threw me off for weeks and still does. I paint for myself but my hope is I am helping in someway with what I do. I know seeing the works of other artist lifts my spirits every day. Thanks Brian, Bruce, Cate and the rest of my buddies on Facebook. Actors, dancers, drummers all make the world a better place.