This week, I drove to my old house in Pennsylvania to pick up some old art supplies and canvas I had left there when I moved out. My hope had been to assess what was there and potentially use some of it back in my New Jersey studio– art supplies can be expensive, at time, and I am no stranger to using what I have or gesso-ing over an old or failed painting so as not to waste the canvas. When I got there, I found three or four old, painted and half-painted pieces, including a huge 60″x48″ canvas. The date at the bottom of the painting read August, 2005.
And it was terrible. Really terrible.
I loaded them up and drove them to my home in NJ with plans to get each into the studio and painted white immediately. I didn’t want anyone to see them– as far as I was concerned, they didn’t represent my passion, talent, or potential and I didn’t want anyone judging my current work based on this old, awful stuff. Frankly, I was a little embarrassed of them. Continue reading
I have struggled with the idea of an artist’s statement for just about as long as I’ve considered myself an artist. As a painter/illustrator, I was sure my visual pieces were capable of speaking on their own– in fact, I figured that if they didn’t, I had failed at what I consider the primary goal of all art, to communicate. Regardless, I kept coming across all the reasons I needed an artist’s statement, all the reasons I “should” have one, all the situations I would come across as a professional that would require it. And so, I struggled. I like to think that I am pretty handy with the written word, but writing about yourself and your work is an entirely different game altogether. There’s so much pressure there. Ultimately, in the years I have spent as a professional artist, I have never successfully written and artist’s statement, and, frankly, I have never needed one– but I’ve recently learned a few things about this elusive beast, and now I’m going to share them with you. Perhaps you will spend a few less years writing terrible things about yourself than I have.
Among those in the art world– and by “art world” I don’t mean you and I, I mean the galleries, dealers, and agents running this business– there are mixed feelings about artist’s statements and whether they’re necessary at all. It turns out, far less of these people require them than you may think, though some still look for a statement in introduction or even use them in shows. The problem is, most artist’s statements are just plain bad. In theory, they should offer some limited insight into the art itself– who the artist is, the technical process, the artist’s belief system of philosophy, or how the piece fits into a larger body of work, and the like– without stepping all over what the art is able to say for itself. The artist’s statement should be demure and totally okay with playing in the background, while the art remains the focus. The artist’s statement should offer insight and information without being required when it comes to actually viewing the painting (as a side note, if your visual art piece is not accessible to the viewer in some way outside of a lengthy and elaborate statement, perhaps you should consider becoming a writer instead…). And the artist’s statement should add to and compliment the work is accompanies, not distract from it.
Unfortunately, the increase in artist’s statements has come along with an increase in awful. Continue reading
Once you become an artist– in any capacity– I can guarantee you that someone, somewhere is going to ask you to work for free. It might be a doodle, a drawing, a “quick” design, a piece that comes along with “tons of exposure for you,” or a “great addition to your portfolio,” and the person asking for it would like to use it without paying for it. For every artist who gets roped into doing unpaid work at one point or another, there is an online rant about why you shouldn’t be working for free; and for every online rant about why artist’s shouldn’t work for free, there’s a post or snippet about how artists have become “money obsessed” and have forgotten how to make art for the love of making art. And every once in a while, some huge company will have to deal with a bunch of angry creatives for trying to offer the “opportunity” for artists to let them use their work, again, without having to pay for it. It happened to Google in 2009, when the mega-company offered dozens of prominent and up-and-coming artists the chance to contribute their work to their newest web project and be paid in “exposure to millions.”
The artists were unimpressed, and even insulted, by Google’s offer. Thousands rallied, albeit digitally, against the company, who reported profits in the range of 1.5 billion that year and still refused to compensate the artists it was asking to participate. Still, despite the artists who refused the offer on principle, Google still found those who were willing to work for exposure alone. You can read the NY Times article here.
So where does the line exist for we creatives? Should we do work without getting paid for it? I would like to suggest that the answer is yes… and no.
First and foremost, as a creative, you are providing a service to society. You are exploring and answering questions of imagination, boundaries, and culture. You are making a visual record of the time and place in which you live. This service that you are providing– whether you are a painter, and illustrator, a graphic designer, a photographer, etc.– is immensely important. As such, you time, your talent, and your services are valuable. That means they’re worth something, and in this day and age, “something” is most often monetary compensation. At the same time, I am not of the belief that a a lack of active payment, clients, or commissions should stop anyone from creating and producing art. There is something to be said for creating for the sake of creating and for the love of what you do. Only by practicing our craft do we get better, and if you are a creative and you do not create, you open yourself up to experiencing great frustration and dissatisfaction in life. I don’t think that the argument of whether a creative should work for free is really asking- “Should you do work unless it is paid for by someone else;” and to approach it as if there is any suggestion that one should not create for the pure love of their craft or for their own sake is to misinterpret the issue.
Inevitably, though, you will be asked by someone to do something for free. Whether or not you choose to take the job without any compensation is entirely up to you and your own professional guidelines, however, here are some general suggestions I would like to offer as a result of my experience over the years… Continue reading
Saying it’s been a while would be a massive understatement. I’m pretty sure I haven’t legitimately blogged since August. To be fair, I spent September through December finally finishing my last semester of graduate school, and am now the proud owner of a very fancy and very expensive piece of paper.
In all seriousness, my degree is in urban studies and community arts, and I am endlessly proud of myself for actually working through this and finishing, regardless of how long it took me; and I’m endlessly grateful for those people in my life who have supported me and encouraged me throughout the process. I am also pretty grateful that it’s over. Don’t get me wrong – I have always loved school, and I have always been a good student, but I was ready to be done this particular phase of my life.
I spent January and February recovering from the process. I know, that seems totally dramatic, but it felt like I worked nonstop for months and months and kept promising myself a break that never came. When January arrived and I had actually graduated, all the breaks I promised had added up! The last two months have seen me functioning. Not really reaching out and doing anything huge or worthwhile, but maintaining. Keeping the house, keeping my standard clients, doing a few small artistic projects, getting dinner on the table most nights, and not much else. For the first two or three weeks, I felt intensely guilty about this. Intensely guilty about not doing enough, taking advantage of my new skills, doing something that justified having this new degree, and, frankly, not blogging.
Guilt is a funny subject for most creatives– we all seem to feel it much more intensely than others because, many times, our creative productivity (and sometimes our jobs) rely solely on our own internal motivation. Most of the people in our lives don’t eve recognize our art as anything more than a hobby, and if we’re lucky they may classify it as a “side job,” let alone do they realize the work, effort, and constant self-motivation it takes to do something because you love it, and not simply because you get paid for it. No one pushes you to be a creative– it’s something you’re born with, and it often has to begin and end with the resources we have on the inside as individuals. There is no boss pushing and motivating, no company offering incentives and raises, and sometimes, there aren’t even parents and loved one pushing and hoping for your success as a creative. If I had a dollar for every time someone in my family asked, “Are you working yet?” I wouldn’t worry about promoting myself as an artist. Continue reading
The past two months have gone something like this: grad school, vacation, grad school while on vacation, grad school upon returning from vacation, a vacation from the vacation, final exams. Notice the lack of breathing in between – and the lack of art making, and of course, blogging.
Through the haze that is my second-to-last semester of grad school (so close!), art found me – even when I had decided that I wouldn’t have time for any side projects until the week after finals. Months ago, I signed up for elance.com – if you’re a commercial creative (designer, web designer, illustrator, etc.) and you haven’t checked out elance yet, do. It’s lovely.
I initially looked at the site because it had been recommended to me in my search for a web programer. As a graphic designer, I get a lot of clients who want me to make them websites. Since I can design them but not actually make them working sites, I normally outsource the programming portion. While I was searching through the droves of potential web-guys from all corners of the globe, I decided to also sign up as a contractor myself – extra work never hurts! That meant, among other things, that once a week I would get an email with a summary of the jobs available for bidding that most fit my profile. I hadn’t yet taken the time to completely fill out my profile (grad school, again), so the suggestions I was getting were a little all-over-the-place. Somehow, in my mostly unhelpful email from elance two weeks ago, I stumbled across a woman from the west coast looking for “word art”. Even with a blank profile and no history on the site, I bid on her job and linked my bid to my etsy shop so she could see some of the typography paintings I had already done.
She hired me immediately.
She asked if I would do a piece featuring the word “move” and the colors purple and teal. It just happened that there was lovely story behind the to-be-gift, and she was kind enough to share it with me via email. Continue reading
There has been a lot going on here in my little home studio!
As you may have seen in my last post, my birthday was at the beginning of the month – I turned 28. Twenty eight marks 16 years since my grandfather taught me to paint with oils. Twelve years since I marched myself down to the guidance office at school and demanded that they replace all of my math and science classes with art and music classes. Ten years since I graduated high school and decided to attend The Art Institute of Philadelphia. Seven years since I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design. Four years since I started painting again after having given up on the art after college. And, I decided while reflecting on my 28th birthday over a glass of wine and sushi with a friend, high time I started taking myself as seriously as I wanted others to.
It’s confession time – I have always relied on others to value me and my talents more than I value them myself, because placing real value on the things that I chose to do made me uncomfortable. It made me uncomfortable because if I grabbed on to something – like art – and threw myself into it and failed, I would be devastated; but if other people insisted I should throw myself into it and I kind of did, I couldn’t be blamed if it went terribly awry. I have grappled for years with art not being a serious enough endeavor, but more so with not believing I was good enough to make it one. Continue reading
This weekend, two fantastic things happened. It was my birthday, and The Clover Market was open in Ardmore, PA. I know the two events are entirely unrelated, but I like to think that all of the fantastic artists, vintage sellers, and crafters came to The Clover Market for my birthday.
In reality, the market is held several times a year – in the Spring and the Fall – and features a huge number of artists, crafters, vintage shops, and the like. The market is juried – in the sense that you have to submit an application, work samples, and be approved in order to participate, which is probably some of the reason there was such a remarkable and consistent quality to everything I saw while I was there. Continue reading
This week has been very artistically accomplished for me – I was able to get quite a few new pieces finished that are scheduled to hang in a great little local-food cafe in Media, PA this weekend, and I’ve felt very inspired and at peace with my “inner artist” – a nice change from the angsty, hot mess she tends to be at times. While browsing other art blogs to see what was going on in the community (doing my best to avoid being the reclusive artist that I can be!), I came across a video of Neil Gaiman’s 2012 address of the graduates of The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. You can view the entire speech here, and I highly recommend that you do.
One of the quotes from his speech that stuck with me was, “Things will probably work out, and time will probably take the sting away, and the only thing that really matters is that you do what only you can do; make good art.”
These simple lines are really at the essence of what being an artist is – we have creation in our blood. It is a process that has been passed down to us from our earliest of ancestors. The art of making, so to speak, is inherent in all of us, and it’s no coincidence that it’s often the things that helps to get us through the dark times and the thing that we turn to when nothing else seems to be working. Through all of the circumstances in which we find ourselves – the ending of relationships, the beginning of new ones, the deaths of loved ones, and all the impossibilities we can be faced with – make good art.
In many ways, it’s easier to visualize putting this sentiment into action with the big things. In the past, I’ve always tuned to art when I couldn’t handle the things going on around me, but this week, not too long after hearing Mr. Gaiman’s speech, I had the chance to apply his words to a much less serious event, and perhaps learned that it’s just as important to use all the things around me to ‘make good art’ when the circumstances are just kind of annoying and not totally devastating. Continue reading
Having lived in the city for most of my adult life, I’m still pretty fascinated by my relatively new, wooded surroundings. The house I share with my fiance, his two kids (his in the sense that I did not biologically create them – but I love them like they’re my own!), and our two hilarious cats is in the middle of a 6 acre wooded property, which is in the middle of what seems to be a larger wooded property with some farms and roads thrown in periodically. In the city, the closest I found myself to nature was often a brief interaction with my houseplants – here, it’s inescapable. Nature is everywhere – and aside from the countless trees and plants, we have a very large flock of wild turkeys, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, birds, possum, skunks, and at least two large and particularly bold groundhogs, among other things living on our property. Needless to say, it is both endlessly entertaining and endlessly beautiful here.
For my Artist’s Date this past week, I took a few hours and wandered around our property (yes, it’s large enough that you can wander for hours). It was early in the morning and one of the sunnier, warmer days we’ve had in the past couple of weeks. The air was fresh, everything was wet and very much alive, and as I snapped photos for later reference in potential art pieces, I couldn’t help but feel very calm, connected, and refreshed. Everything an Artist’s Date is supposed to be.
Here are a few of the pictures I took. Continue reading
