I always have the most interesting conversations with my fellow artists because it always provokes further thought.
Today was about “quality” and “respectable” galleries and venues. Do you think that just because someone doesn’t follow another’s rules that their work lacks quality or respectability?
I wonder if it is better to be told that an artist needs to meet “standards” or if one should “make” those standards. Isn’t it better to be wanted for who you are rather than be dictated to?
I come from a very strict background on one hand, but a very free-flowing mindscape on another. My father was a stronghand, he had certain expectations that had to be met, he had certain values that he wouldn’t tolerate being compromised. But one thing he always told me was to set my own rules. I didn’t really understand what he meant, because he wasn’t a real good demonstration of this ideal, but I understand now, some years after his death, that was his heart and soul talking to me, and if he could do it over again, he would. My years in the military taught me structure, taught me order, and what it was like to be confined. Now, I have been out of the military longer than in it (I retired in 97), and I am understanding more and more of what it means to make my own rules. I am understanding that the value of social pressure can be used for good, but it is also very detrimental. While it isn’t quite “Lord of the Flies” here in Kelowna, there is tremendous social pressure to conform, to only do certain things, to be friends with only certain people yadda yadda yadda. I never bought in to that sort of thing, and here is where my realization lies. Social conformity suffocates creativity.
My mother had the type of attitude that as long as it didn’t hurt anyone, anything goes, pretty much. She was/is so open minded it was irritating. But that was her gift, and one that still bugs me today for I can not consider one side of the argument without acknowledging, even grudgingly, the other. All points of view are valid, it is just choosing which one you want to adopt and fits in with your life. Just because “I” make certain decisions, or ask certain questions, doesn’t mean that YOUR decisions or actions are wrong.
In January of this year, I turned my studio into a cooperative venture with three other artists. This is going so very well, beyond my most imaginative dreams. With less time at the RCA, I have noticed a reduction in my requirement to “conform”. Odd, isn’t it. But it is a public building, it is an institution with its own rules and regulations. By reducing the exposure to these sorts of structure, I feel my mind has become much more freer – “slipped the surly bonds” of social conformity so some extent, and now certainly working on the remainder. Lately I’ve had trouble painting larger works – mostly I have been doing 5×7s, 6×8ss, you know, that sort of thing, and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. Well, I was growing, that’s what the problem was. Growth is seldom easy and mostly painful and confusing.
Below is an excerpt from an email to a friend of mine, where I am discussing what is going on in terms of art making, and attitude:
“and it is from our conversation that I think I have it figured out, just a little – and why I am doing the sculpture now, and doing sculptured drawings, and why the paper needs to be so big. I need the room, to shape and transform the space. ….. Anyway, that is what has been going around in my brain – I’ve been so used to conflict, and working from conflict, that the process of creating from a space of peace is/was foreign. It is like I am learning a new language.”
Art is really a process that illuminates what is going on within, if we pay attention. For me, the process of working with clay, adding, subtracting, being malleable, and then solidifying over time, finally to firing, is a parable for social conformity. Now I am working with stone, carving out, revealing the subject within, chipping away the rigid boundaries – I’m seeing a parallel of a path to independence and maturity….
Regarding respectability, I don’t think there is a correct answer, right for everyone. I only know the questions and comments I make to myself: By being told what standards you will adhere to, the walls of a box are created, and then you inhabit that box. That’s someone else’s box. By defining what standards you adhere to, you become known for a certain thing – is respectability all that it is cracked up to be? Does quality require respectability? Do you want to be respectable, or do you want to be alive and carefree and happy? Do you want people to want you for who you are or how you toe the line. The first is freedom and bliss and shooting for the stars, the second is chains and handcuffs and stormy clouds. At least in my world.
For my art, I will take care of the quality and respectability will take care of itself.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds,
– and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of
wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless falls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor eer eagle flew –
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high, untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force, flew in a Spitfire squadron, and was killed at the age of nineteen on 11 December 1941 during a training flight.
This is how I approach my work.
I just received a nomination for the Kreativ Blogger award from Art Marketing Secrets Guru Daniel Tardent. Thank you Daniel!
Daniel and I met on Twitter! It really is a small world – I really recommend you go visit his content rich website Art Marketing Secrets, he really does know them all! Plus he is looking for guest bloggers, what a great opportunity!
Here is some background info on Kreativ Blogger from Daniel’s blog post:
Kreativ Blogger originated in May 2008 in a post by Huldas Verden. The Kreativ Blogger award comes with the following requirements:
The Rules
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.
2. Copy the logo and upload it on your blog.
3. Link the person who has nominated you for the award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated. (Note – I cheated just a little with this one by using Twitter and Facebook to notify!)
7 things you might find interesting about me -
1. I love languages and used to be able to speak about 8 of them – English, French, German, could read Spanish, Italian, and speak minimal Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, in addition to the programming languages of html and php. Unfortunately if you don’t use it you lose it. Learn the root words and you can deal in any language.
2. I am a Trekkie, and was at one of the original conventions in Calgary in 74 (or so). I was 11 or 12. I think it was Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan and George Takei who were there. My idol is of course Leonard Nimoy.
3. I believe in reincarnation, energies beneath the surface, and channeling. I am certain one of my lives was during Henry the VIII’s reign, as well as late 1700s – early 1800s, both in England.
4. I love Shakespeare and his sense of humour – I like that he pokes fun at the characters and the characters don’t always know it. I am a great reader.
5. I do not suffer fools gladly, and have to remember that one’s stupidity and ignorance is not always on purpose. (my own too!)
6. I have no problem laughing at myself, as it prevents me from taking myself too seriously.
7. This was really hard for me to write and think of 7 interesting things. It took me almost an hour.
7 blogs I nominate for Kreativ Blogger Award:
Rebekah Wilkinson – http://www.rawdesigns.org
Studio 113 – http://www.artstudio113.com
Carrie Harper – http://www.thepearworkshop.com
Gurney Journey – http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com
Susan Knight - http://knightchatter.blogspot.com/
The Oatmeal – http://theoatmeal.com/
Joe Vass and Cindy Aspden – http://ca.youtube.com/user/JCVdude – a video blog is just as valid, and they have a ton of interesting videos!
Nov 242009
Sometimes the sad truth is that you may not like how a curator displays your work.
In a nutshell, too bad for you.
You have the option to either see it as the curator sees it, or the message that the curator is trying to get across or understand how the curator had to work within the space confines, or you can take your work out.
If you take your work out, you run the risk of looking like a high maintenance prima donna, or in my eyes, at the least, very unprofessional. But that is your choice.
When you submit work for an art show, whether in a gallery, an informal community centre such as the RCA Galleria, or in your own space, you need to remember to think about a few things, and to do a few things, BEFORE you submit, and then remember these AFTER you submit. A Call to Artists is a Call to Artists, regardless if the art will be presented in a gallery for a fundraiser, or if in a public gallery for a show, or a commercial gallery for sale.
First, is the Call to Artists. Your job, and the scope of your responsibility is the artwork. I’ve addressed the majority of the issues already in this blog post here. In the Call, there may be specific requests or requirements, such as having the works ready and wired to hang, or framing issues etc. If you have any questions at all, the time to ask them will be at the Call to Artists. Even if the Call does not state, use your initiative to ASK about space issues – should you submit a large work or a small one? ASK about potential client attendees – should you submit to a price point, or a specific subject, or a specific size or should they be framed?
There are normally two main goals when you submit work to a Call: exposure and sales (or cv if work is not for sale). Why wouldn’t you do the absolute best you can to satisfy and succeed in those two goals?
rant/ RESPECT the deadlines! Can I say that any louder? RESPECT THE DEADLINES! That means you need to mark your own calendar, and be responsible for work drop off, and for work pick up…. ON TIME! When I coordinate a show, I don’t want you calling me every week and asking me when to drop off work, or when to pick up work, when I have already provided you with that information! (I am thinking of one particular artist who did that. I no longer take their calls.) I am not your mother, or your caretaker, or your angel on your shoulder! I gave you a timeline, use it! Am I frustrated? Can you tell? lol! Okay, that felt better. If you don’t have a calendar, get one. Then, after you get the calendar, use it. The excuse “I am an artist, I am above/I don’t know how/can’t/don’t want to” is bullshit. I don’t care if it is a hard copy book, or one online, just get one, then use it! Yes, that is a direct command from General Trops! I use google calendars, I can access them from anywhere on the web, my whole family is on there, so if I need to figure out if an appointment is doable, I log in and check. So simple! /rant
When a curator is installing a work they have to work, at the very minimum, within constraints such as space, and what other works are submitted. The best overall look for a show is the number one priority for the curator. Simply put, artist egos have no place in determining where an artwork goes. Larger works are usually placed first, or depending on the message that needs to be conveyed, the artworks that are placed first are usually the strongest in that message. Something I should say again, is that artist egos have no place in deciding where an artwork goes, most especially in a group show.
Make sure your artworks are labeled! Recently I had the opportunity to coordinate and curate the Evergreen Art Gallery of about 40 or 50 works – I would say at least 75% of the works were not marked on the back. Nothing. No title, no medium, no artist name, nothing. When the same artist submits five pieces, and none of them are marked, what do you think is the likelihood of the correct tag being put on the work? Or if an artist submits an unmarked diptych or a triptych, what is the likelihood that they will be arranged properly? Obviously if the artist does not care to mark the piece, then should I care to make sure the right tag is on it, or it is in the right order? oops… that is sounding dangerously like another rant. Well, I think you get the idea.
When you submit work for a show, it is the curator’s job to ensure it all works within the space and the artworks as a whole. The artist is responsible for their work arriving and departing, and the curator is responsible for the gestalt presentation.
Present your best artwork in a professional manner at all times, and the curator will do their best too.
Nov 232009
Read the first part of this blog post at http://juliatrops.com/blog/2009/11/23/deservingartistprices What follows will make more sense….
or not…. 
I am reasonably sure it is the European culture which still pervades our society today, where hard work is necessary in order for something to be given weight and value. Tilling the fields and milking the cows are all very valuable skills and required duties at one time, but come on, in this day and age, how many companies milk their own cows? Even the farmers are subject to mass reproduction agriculture no differently than it pervades the art community with its giclees and prints.*
Art is not hard work
Art is not seen as hard work. Anyone can copy another’s work – it takes no brains and no talent – but, I challenge you to come up with an original concept and an original execution, pay for the supplies and the methods to market the work, not to mention the time to do all this, and tell me again how easy and inexpensive it is. And you wonder why we price our works they way we do.
Though, as an aside, I have to say that giclees and prints* are priced outrageously and people will buy them, and I shake my head every time. The pricing of mass produced items to originals is completely out of alignment. Next time you want to buy a giclee/print* take a hard look at the price compared to an artist who does originals. And if you want that artist’s work that bad, save (I know, it is a four letter word) for it, or ask if there is a layaway plan.
In Kelowna, despite public outcrys of admiration and support for artists and art, artists continually get the short end of the stick. Most certainly, I have been vocal about my dislike of silent auctions and art, I have been vocal to artists encouraging them to be smarter about who they donate to, and to make their donation relevant. I have been vocal about artists who I consider foolish enough to put original artworks in silent auction with no return whatsoever. An income tax receipt is a poor substitution for cold hard cash, so don’t tell me I’m getting something! I still have to claim the artwork as a sale even though I received no funds!
Local artists are soaked for entry fees in to such events as Music and Arts Festival (which promises the potential of exposure and sales) even though I remember advising to keep the artist booth prices down because of the local economy and attitude towards artists. (A side opinon: the Music and Arts Festival or Life and Arts Festival, whatever you want to call it, needs to be run by a BUSINESS, not a non-profit.) And when artists donate artworks to actual gallery formats such as the recent Evergreen Art Gallery at the Rotary Centre for the Arts, where all the art had solid gallery appraisals, some attendees, who can easily spend $200+ per ticket, ask “where’s the deal?”
Castanet, the local news website with a forum for discussion refuses to have art subjects in their “Entertainment, Food, Literature and the Arts” section because of lack of interest and the perception of advertisement in discussing our (art related) events. Here we are, the lowest income bracket and we give to charities and support our community, yet this public forum gives no inch. I find that very embarrassing. But, this forum will discuss what you are reading, and all the concerts and music you wish, and, well, perhaps that is the mentality of that forum – so in otherwords, don’t look for any brainiacs at Castanet. I’ve already tried.
At Night of the Arts recently, November 19, Charlie Hodge was quoted as saying “it is the artist everytime that steps up to the plate”. Yes it IS the artist who steps up to the plate, because we know what it is like to have nothing, and hope, (though some may deny this), that maybe, just maybe, through the charity’s nebulous promise of exposure, someone will search us out and actually purchase an artwork from us because they like our work.
It hardly ever happens.
Why?
I believe a number of factors are at play here:
- social mindset that local art is somehow inferior
- social mindset of art at silent auctions “where’s the deal”
- social mindset of artists who feel “pressured” to give works to charities
Local Art is Inferior?
Those with the means to purchase original art in this city rarely go and search out local artists, instead they rely on the galleries. Fair enough, it has been done that way for at least a hundred years, why change it now? :-/ Local artists are the grassroots of the city, the people who support the community when they can’t afford to, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find many of them at the Foodbank. Yet we give and give and give. What comes back? Some good karma, eventually, I guess. Maybe this lifetime or the next, but how well does that pay this month’s bills? Try taking that to the bank.
It seems art is only valued if you pay for it. The same people who attend $200 a ticket dinners have no problem going in to the commercial galleries and spending thousands of dollars there, yet they ask “Where’s the deal?” at a fundraiser, where an artist out of the goodness of their heart, has donated a work.
If my work is good enough for your silent auction, isn’t it good enough for you to purchase? I am so tired of being told, “I’m going to wait til the next silent auction to pick up a piece of yours”. Well, keep waiting, buddy, it ain’t goin’ to happen. I’ve also been told, “oh yes, I am going to buy a piece after you donate.” That worked on me a total of ONE time. A new policy I am instituting in the New Year “with every purchase, I am happy to donate to your favourite charity a work of equal or lesser value.”
For those artists who feel “pressured” to give works to charities:
Ask yourself this question, it’s an important one. Are you a professional artist or a hobbyist? A lot of people think they are professional artists these days. Everyone can draw, we know that, everyone can paint, everyone can sing, everyone can act – the difference is what do you do with that ability, how do you use it and do you respect your talents?
Is your intention to make the majority of your income from your art? Do you have a pst number? A gst number? A business name, a business license? Do you spend the majority of your time on your art? Do you give your artwork the respect and honour it deserves as a creation from your heart, mind, body and soul? Have you committed to your work? Do you have a specific place for your work where you can go to create – (it could be something as informal as a corner in the dining room, or an unused bedroom etc)? Do you have a firm price structure? Do you deserve the prices you put on your work, or do you just give most of it away anyway?
It is my contention that the social mindset regarding art at fundraisers, and I am told by artist friends around the globe, that Kelowna is not special in all this, is one of “Where’s the deal?” We as professional artists need to stand together as a group, locally and globally, and say no more! We need to change the social mindset of donating to charities. Charities are big business, don’t fool yourself otherwise. No more donating original art to silent auctions unless it is specifically relevant, no matter what income level it is directed to! Don’t believe the hype of “you will get exposure”. Unless your name is specifically mentioned in all the advertising, don’t bite the hook! If you are a professional artist, stand your ground. This is one of the important times in your life where you can’t cave in to perceived social pressure. Hold on long enough and the social pressure you are feeling right now will be turned back to the fundraisers. The perceived social pressure will require them to treat you fairly.
And why shouldn’t it? Art is hard work.
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