The business of being an artist and just being one
Business of Being an Artist involves working at it, you know like planning, promoting, selling marketing, being seen in galleries and exhibits, etc, etc etc. Some of it comes naturally, such as marketing in the sense that I have a joy of talking about art and sharing it however I am finding the rest of it so darned distracting and exhausting.
Being an artist.
I have had such joy doing things that just evolved, like the knit knot tree, free art fridays, knit graffiti, "your documents please", and currently the sketchbook project even though it has sort of driven me slightly bonkers ( I am looking forward to doing a couple of small embroidery pieces for a show at the Eclipse Gallery).
There isn't the baggage of the business side of art involved with these projects for me. I didn't LOOK for them as a means to promote the business of being an artist. It is just purely the process of doing it and for me that is really the driving force. What comes after is icing on the cake.
SO
this year I have decided to leave the icing up to fate
this year I am just going to BE AN ARTIST
Latest Sketchbook Page
I found this how to make a pig pop up card on wikiHow, although I haven't used it in the way they may have intended, eek!
It pretty much sums it up
He was NOT a nice man
It was decided years later to stop calling him that because it was an insult to pigs.
this year I have decided to leave the icing up to fate
this year I am just going to BE AN ARTIST
Latest Sketchbook Page
I found this how to make a pig pop up card on wikiHow, although I haven't used it in the way they may have intended, eek!It pretty much sums it up
He was NOT a nice man
It was decided years later to stop calling him that because it was an insult to pigs.
Comments
You know what I say to that? RIGHT ON!!!! :)
I definitely feel that I jumped into the whole exhibiting thing far too quickly, and I wasn't very comfortable with it, although in it's own way it was exciting. But it was so stressful - planning, transporting, hanging, promoting, taking it down again. I may exhibit again later this year, but it's being planned by someone else, and I won't allow myself to be pressured this time - I'll only join in if I feel I have something worth showing.
Anyway, when did this blog become about me?! Sorry about that!
Maybe you should get yourself a PA!
Love the pop up pig! :)
I got a book few years back "self-promotion for the creative person" and thought hmmmph, that's more work than working for The Man. I can hardly wait to see what you'll come up with while you've thrown off all that extra rigamarole!
don't apologize undaunted, I like that you share your view and experience.
Marcia, no way would I be up that time am LOL!, I think sometimes the time is from a different time zone or when I wrote it it was published at a later time (not when I actually wrote it). As for what I will come up with, hum, I think I shall just LET it happen :)
My studio has a window onto our street (used to be an entrance to what was once a bar) and every couple of weeks I put a different painting on display for people who pass by. I get a kick out of this as it puts art in front of people who don't necessarily go to galleries and exhibitions. It's amazing how many people stop and look. I find this quite satisfying as in the current economic climate there is not a snowball in hell's chance of selling anything - shops are closing by the dozen.
I'm also enjoying the freedom of painting without any pressure and I like to think its helping me develop in new and different ways.
I think it will.
I sometimes think people should have a health warning label on them - much in the way they do with cigarettes these days. It's a theme that I intend to use in future work - behaviour that is. I hope your sketchbook really makes people stop and think. Some might even see themselves in it!
I agree Ed, while I love socializing and am sociable, I do find the business of art itself quite exhausting.
San, Lana, the eyes on the pig gave you a sense of the sinister for a reason, they are the eyes of a notorious child killer. I chose his eyes because they are evil and that is how I felt about the man the pig represents.
Telling, isn't it?
Your pig with the human eyes made me think, Brit. Thanks for sharing it.
(I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work this year.)
- Julia