I'm in the process of building a new website, after I finish it, I'll probably blog there as well, but for now it is just in its development state, yesterday I was working on it all day. Registering a domain name, installing wordpress, picking a theme, and now trying to figure out how to integrate a pay pal shopping cart. I also need to upload images of all my paintings. Needless to say, I didn't have much time for painting.
So, for today I'll post this sketch I did a few days ago. I timed myself at 6 minutes. Its a sketch of my daughter, I feel like it would have looked a lot better with double the time, but I wanted to see what I could do in six minutes. My daughter says she looks like a "Walker" (another name for Zombie, from The Walking Dead).
Thank you for reading! If you liked what you see, please consider following this blog with Google Friend connect, or follow me on Google+, or if you prefer, you can follow by email and get notified each time the blog is updated. See the right hand column to follow in any of these ways! I welcome your suggestions on how to make this blog more interesting to you!
Fine Art America is the place to go for Prints of all my Paintings.
My etsy shop is the place to go to buy my originals and request commissioned work. A few select prints are available here as well!
Art has been around as long as human beings, from the time the first person picked up a charred stick and began drawing that day's hunt onto the rock wall of the cave that was home, and all along through the years, art has changed. There have been times when it was respected, times when it was ridiculed, times when it was valued, and times when it was taken for granted. It has continued to exist through all times because it is part of being human. That little spark of creativity, is in my mind, the thing that lets us know we are made in the image of the Master Artist and Creator.
Art as business though... when did that start? Was the man in the cave considered the community historian, and given an extra share of the hunt in exchange for his services, or did the rest of the tribe look on with bemusement at his strange pastime? We will likely never know the answer, however at some point, artists began being paid for their skill and talent, and a few were brave enough to try to make their living at it.
There have been times when the art business was doing well, when people have had the extra money to buy something if they liked it, and times when it was doing poorly, and the artist struggles for food and shelter.
Where is it now? Somewhere in between those extremes, at somewhat of a crossroads. Various societal trends are impacting the art market, and will shape it in the future.
So, here are a few developments I predict in the art business, some of which are already happening.
1. More wearable art. Art on T-shirts, art on shoes, art on necklace pendants, purses, and coats. This is both printed art, and art that it is hand painted right on the products.
2. Smaller pieces. Mini canvases that can be made into Christmas ornaments and refrigerator magnets, this is art that those in the downsizing movement can still embrace.
3. Street art that is created fast, in front of the buyer, providing both entertainment and an inexpensive piece of art. Such as seen in this video.
4. Related to the above, but a little different, is visual art AS performance art, as seen in these videos (though not all of us artist have the ability or desire to do this):
5. Art for the plugged-in generation. Something similar to itunes, but for visual art. What do I mean? Well perhaps a purchase of a specific brand of digital picture frame, and then a library of digital files of artwork that could be downloaded onto that frame, with the artist getting a small royalty for each download. I think something like that would be nice for those in smaller spaces also, since they could download several "pieces" and then rotate which one would show, providing them with changeable art. It would also be more affordable than buying several original paintings or prints.
6. More "art classes as social time", such as "art parties" where people gather and an artist takes them step by step through how to create a painting, or make a mosaic, or some other project. These are already gaining popularity, and I predict more growth in that area as people are looking for an alternative then dinner or a movie when wanting to get out.
7. More commissioned work. For those people who do have their own home with room for art, often, they have something specific in mind, a specific color scheme or subject matter that they want for their home, what better way than to hire an artist to make it just for them?
Most of all though, I see art just simply continuing on, as it has since the times of the cave-paintings.
Thank you for reading! If you liked what you see, please consider following this blog with Google Friend connect, or follow me on Google+, or if you prefer, you can follow by email and get notified each time the blog is updated. See the right hand column to follow in any of these ways! I welcome your suggestions on how to make this blog more interesting to you!
Fine Art America is the place to go for Prints of all my Paintings.
My etsy shop is the place to go to buy my originals and request commissioned work. A few select prints are available here as well!
Have you ever heard an artist describe creating art as hell?
Well, that certainly isn't how I think of it! My satisfaction with my life has increased exponentially since giving myself permission to "be an artist". In general I am happiest and most fulfilled when I am creating art.
So what did author Steven Pressfield mean when he said, "The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell.”?
I'm not sure I agree with him about that, but I do see that not everything about being an artist is romantic, joyous, free, vibrant, carefree, and exciting. Especially if one really fully commits oneself to being an artist as a vocation.
Then, one finds that:
Sometimes, being an artist can be tedious, like when you set up a booth an art show and sit ALL DAY waiting for people to come by, and hopefully buy something.
Sometimes being an artist is melancholic, such as when a gallery owner says he likes your work, but doesn't have room for it, or worse yet, when he says it doesn't fit the style of his gallery (another way of saying he hates it.)
Sometimes being an artist is restricting, such as when a gallery owner tells you he will only accept landscapes, or animal paintings, or still lifes... or whatever.
Sometimes being an artist is dull, not so much while creating, but while taking care of all of the other tasks of marketing, showing, contacting galleries, keeping inventory of prints and supplies, etc.
Sometimes being an artist is worrisome, like when you look over your receipts for supplies and realize you spent 70 times more on equipment and supplies than what you made in sales over the past year.
But being an artist is not hell... its just that its not always heaven either.
Being an artist today, in this world, in this economy, is hard. Not that its ever been easy, but there have been times when it was easier than today.
You see, today not as many people in America own their own homes, instead they rent. When a person is in a rental, and they know they may have to move, they aren't as likely to invest in art. After all, that painting might look great over the mantel in this house, but the next house might not have the wall space for it.
People in America today have less disposable income than they had ten years ago before the housing market tumbled, and no matter how much a person likes art, when they are choosing between putting food on the table, and buying a painting, they buy food!
So, for an artist to have a chance at supporting themselves today, they often must look into other options aside from simply making great art for people's walls.
One thing that many of us artists do, is to look into having our art put on usable or useful items. Items like T-shirts, cups, or pillows.
I haven't taken full advantage of this alternate market so far, but I am beginning to. For example, much of my work can be ordered on throw pillows.
In addition, I've had some of art put on T-shirts, and Greeting Cards, and Notecards. I've also printed images of my paintings and put them in 1 inch bottle cap necklaces, and soon I will begin doing hand painting on wine glasses and candle holders. I may also have tote bags other items made available for order.
However, even if none of this took off, even if nobody ever bought a thing, I'd still be an artist, and being an artist would still be worth it. Because being an artist isn't about being in hell, and it isn't about being in heaven, it isn't about money or galleries or pillows or totebags or paintings on canvas.
Being an artist, is about seeing the world, in all its pain, sorrow, comfort, joy, loneliness and community, and reflecting those things in a way that is beautiful. Being an artist is about taking those feelings and emotions that are bottled inside and letting them pour forth into the created work. To be an artist is to let one's passion and, in fact one's very soul, be open and bare before the world for all to see.
As Van Gogh, the man I see as the world's greatest artist of all time, said, “I would rather die of passion than of boredom.”
To be an artist, is to be passionate.
And in the end, even if I didn't want to be an artist, I couldn't stop being one, if I put down my paints my artistic self will scream for expression until it finds another outlet.
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Thank you for reading! If you liked what you see, please consider following this blog with Google Friend connect, or follow me on Google+, or if you prefer, you can follow by email and get notified each time the blog is updated. See the right hand column to follow in any of these ways! I welcome your suggestions on how to make this blog more interesting to you!
Fine Art America is the place to go for Prints of all my Paintings.
My etsy shop is the place to go to buy my originals and request commissioned work. A few select prints are available here as well!
