Canadian Artist Julia Trops in Kelowna BC Canada

I have very few friends.

I like it that way.

My friendships are based on quality, not quantity. My friends are ones who I know that if I ever needed anything, I could ask, and it would be there. My friends, at this time of my life, here in Kelowna and I am happy to say, worldwide, are the most supportive I have ever known in my 47 years.

My friends help in show setups, they help in providing lights and supports such as easels, and they help in terms of emotional support when all I want to do is be irrational. My friends listen, and nod their head and wait for the storm to pass, and then, my friends talk, and I listen.

My friends give me reassurances. If necessary, my friends tell me to shut up, and/or my friends tell me to sit on my hands. My friends ask me “are you crazy? what the hell are/were you thinking?” all the time. (Hmmm, maybe I should listen more.) My friends are great sounding boards, and my friends know where I am coming from. And if my friends don’t know where I am coming from, they ask.

I have good friends.

Today’s blog post has to do with a few comments via email regarding Art Shows & Curators – Calls to Artists Part 2:

From WP:

I am not a TWEETER but had to say that as well as being informative, I found this article and it’s preceding half; intelligent, provocative and brutally honest … even harsh girl! As a newbie in the fine art world I shall remember your criticisms and instructions regarding exhibition preparation and Curator respect.

Thanks WP!! I appreciate your comments and in my email back to you I said:

Re the blog, yes, I am fairly straight and to the point, and extremely direct most especially when writing. I’ve been involved in the arts community here for about eight years now – very heavily involved. I know about 95% of the professional artists, and with the number of shows I have done (coordinated/curated), trust me when I say these things needed to be said. The same old missing information each time ie “oh I don’t use a calendar, I find it too confining” bull shit. Very frustrating. Harsh it can be for some, but I have always hated beating around the bush when a direct arrow is quicker and more efficient. I can be diplomatic when the occasion requires it, but in giving information I seldom find that effective, and the military was a terrific teacher in honing both those skills. I’d rather be direct and say exactly what I mean than be wishy washy and have miscommunications because of potential word connotation or definition conflicts.

Especially with artists – we tend to be very frou frou, (but) if a concept is said bluntly, we get it. Usually. lol! Most people appreciate it though the majority prefer to have their egos or emotions stroked. And to be fair, me too – but only when “deserved”. Today’s society is so politically correct that we have to constantly say nice things to each other – ugh, pain in the ass.

btw, I don’t use an eraser in my drawings, and my charcoal strokes are strong and bold. That should tell you multitudes. lol!

An addendum to all this with further thought this morning at the gym: to me there is a difference, a huge difference in being harsh and being mean. When I say the things I do, it is to give effective communication, to give information, not to be mean or derisive. I do tend to use humour, although some may consider it a little too dry, to illustrate a situation, but in all fairness, I am usually quite accurate.

When I say what I am saying to my fellow artists, who are also friends and acquaintances, the ones who know me know where I am coming from, and they know that I am saying this to help, not to hinder. They know what I have gone through in the past in trying to organize shows for myself and for them*, and if I had the presence of mind to say all of this at the requisite time, then most assuredly, I would say it. Some have heard me rant, it doesn’t mean that I hate them or other artists, it means that I am frustrated at the situation where they don’t know or haven’t been exposed, or haven’t thought.

What is my goal in posting this information on the blog? To get these artists to have the PRESENCE of mind to use their initiative to think about what the coordinator/curator goes through… what can make their job easier. Don’t you think I absolutely love the artists who cross their t’s and dot their i’s? I do. I think they are glorious for their professionalism, they walk on water, and I respect them highly. LB you are one of them.

It is a raising of the bar, and I know the artists in this community are up to it. They just need to know what to do.If they think I am being harsh, then I would tell them “Shelve the ego, and listen to the message. You might learn something.” But, I’d say it with a smile, of course.

*upcoming blog post

We are in a creative field where “deserving” is a dirty word. Deserving is one word in which no one, as an artist (visual, performing or otherwise) in their right mind would ever admit out loud is part of their vocabulary when referring to themselves. People who work in other industries such as the financial or medical or litigation worlds, for example, would have no problem saying “I deserve that raise!” and likely get it, simply for standing up for themselves and making their needs known.

Providing these can be substantiated either with education or experience or ability, artists deserve the prices they put on their original works. I am not going to get in to mechanical reproductions here aka giclees and/or prints*, because I do not believe the prints* are worth the paper they are printed on. (You either agree with what I am saying and understand what I am saying, or you don’t. Quite frankly, I don’t care either way. I am not looking for a cheering section and if you agree with me, you already understand that too.)

This concept is important enough that I need to repeat it: Providing these can be substantiated either with education or experience or ability, artists deserve the prices they put on their original works. It doesn’t matter if it took me 5 minutes to create the work, 5 hours, 5 weeks or 5 months. The artwork is done when it says it is done, it is my soul speaking, my heart, my mind and my body creating it. A work that took 5 months could be seriously overworked, and a work that took 5 minutes could be overworked as well.  There is a departing point where the artist is in control and then when the artwork takes over. Part of the skill of being an artist or even a creative being is knowing when that point is, when the point of the artwork being its own being has occurred. An actor can overact. A singer can over sing. A writer can go on and on and on… much like I am doing right now…..

An original artwork is an individual. Because of this individuality, the artwork deserves respect as its own being. Part of this respect includes giving it the recognition and honour in the outside world. Are you independently wealthy? Are you a bored housewife (as I was once accused of being – can you imagine me ever bored? I didn’t think so, and Suzy Homemaker I am not), or someone who doesn’t need a job because their other half is supporting them? Then anything you get for your work is a bonus, right?

Now I need to be completely blunt as this wishy-washy beating around the bush is driving me crazy. As a professional artist, you make the artwork, you put a price on it -  those people who say “artworks from the heart have no price” do not need to make any money from their art to pay their bills, they are either independently wealthy, bored housewives, or have a secondary source of income where they do not need to rely on the sales of their work to survive. These people are not professional artists, they are hobbyists.**

And, if the artwork is priceless, then by all means, pay me a million dollars for my work, because aren’t you getting a great deal!

part 2 continues here. http://juliatrops.com/blog/2009/11/23/deservingartistprices2/

*prints refers to anything mass produced, not original prints from methods such as authentic handpulled lithography, intaglio, silkscreen etc.

**I’m not going to get in to the discussion about artists on grants, that’s a separate blog post.

This week I opened an account on Etsy – this is my Under $100 shop. Everything in here can be seen at my studio – and yes, I can combine shipping! Terrific little Christmas gifts that won’t break the bank! http://jtrops.etsy.com.

I am adding works every day! Bookmark the shop and check back often!