Part of being an artist is reading, listening, and watching what is happening in the Art community. That is not to say you cannot do your own thing, but you should be aware of what is going on in the world. For lots of people, including artists, this is a difficult thing to do. Many of us get wrapped up in our own worlds. I came across the letter in an article, Going Aggressively Passive written by traditional artist Lori Woodward in which she suggested to read what plein aire landscape painter Joe Paquet wrote.
Open letter for all artists
Almost every artist I speak to these days has a profound tale of woe to spin. The common complaint: bad economy=lack of sales= “Whaa happened?” For those of us who make our living and put food on our family table, it doesn’t really matter what happened so much as what we can do to adjust. In our moments of panic, rash and destructive choices are made to turn a buck… we diminish ourselves and often do untold damage to careers which have taken a long time to build.
For so very long galleries were the way: the omniscient ones, and for a very long time most of them did a fine job of it. But in the end they were only merchants. No one knows better than you when you are on the right path.
Rainer Maria Rilke says, “A work of art is good if it has sprung from necessity.” The need to say something is a far cry from the need to be heard. There is art and there is product and they are rarely the same thing.
Walking out of the final Harry Potter movie last week I was struck by something larger than the film. It was the fact that Ms. Rowling built this thing, this idea from thin air, moved words around in a personal way, created a world which had not existed and turned it into a very real thing.
That is what we get to do everyday - create. We can construct what has never existed, bring something to the world and shape it with our own hearts and hands. It’s a gift we have which is east to lose sight of.
What to do about it?
Innovation, Resilience, Perseverance, and Faith
Innovation
- Change your plan; create your own opportunities to teach or sell your own work.
- More is not better; better is better. Make an effort to improve on both vision and craft.
- A good website which represents you elegantly and truthfully with new content on a monthly basis.
- If you want to be remarked about - be remarkable.
- Quality is a habit.
Resilience
If you haven’t already, learn to take a hit and get back up. Nothing works like it used to, and when it does change it will be different than before. Get used to the idea and turn to yourself. It’s your life, make better choices - don’t be a victim.
Perseverance
Like Karma, the artist’s life has it’s own organic path if you let it unfold naturally. Work ethic, love of the job, proximity and opportunity all play a role in developing a life in art. Be clear about these and adjust your life to maximize your gifts.
Faith
Now for the most important and, ironically, counter-intuitive part of it all: Belief in yourself. Read your art history - every artist has wrestled with this one. I have always believed that humility and hubris must walk hand-in-hand; you must have humility to receive the world, yet have the ego to face a blank canvas and believe that you can add something to it.
Make a conscious choice to surround yourself with authentic words, music and art to remind you of what is possible. Above all surround yourself with those who love and believe in you and are willing to hold up a mirror. In every weak moment of my life my wife Natalie has been there to hand my words back to me.
Growth is always on the edge of uncomfortably.
Be grateful, be humble, be open and create without fear.
- Joe Paquet
Joe Paquet has many messages above and personally I agree with all of them. In fact, I have said some of the comments myself or heard my artist friends say the same. We don't enter into the art world thinking we are going to be rich. We create our art out of love and emotion. It's what we feel. It's what we do. It's what we wish to express. We do have something to say in our own way. We want people to listen, and to see and hear what we are saying without using words that can be misconstrued and twisted. We are trying to make the world a better place to live by opening the minds of our fellow man to new ideas through vision and their soul. We are leaving some piece of ourselves for the future generations to find in our ART.
Lastly I'll close in reminding every one that my fine art print giveaway ends tomorrow, April 14, 2015 at midnight EST so you still have some time to enter the competition. To find out more information on the four ways you can enter to win read last week's blog post.
Until next time!
Tom