Inspiration Lost
I've been mulling over this blog post for over a week now. It is deeply personal and if you are looking to read some practical business tips or soul-inspiring words of wisdom, this may cover both bases or not, doesn't matter too much..I still need to get it out. Why does deeply personal intersect with business? Because I'm an artist. This past year I have definitely forgotten the first part of that equation..the deeply personal or, as some may call it, my soul.
First, some background....
Hello, my name is Charlotte, and I am an artist. Like any form of addiction, admittance is the first step. I've been introducing myself that way for several years now and becoming not only comfortable, but proud. When I hung my shingle out for the world to see 2 1/2 years ago, I was determined to succeed. I had tried this shortly after college and right after I moved to Texas in 1996 and not done so well. (This is fodder for another blog..not today.) This time would be different! I was older, wiser, smarter, thicker skinned and prepared. I've read almost every recommended "art business" book out there. I've done my research, taken seminars, talked with numerous other artists, and web-searched an unbelievable amount of time.
Pieces started to fall into place almost immediately. I've been accepted into quite a few juried exhibits, won an award, been hired for commissions, and started showing into local juried art festivals. I've been doing the festivals for just over a year now with minimal success. I think this is where the trouble began. I could make this part really long but I'll skip the boring details and cut straight to the point. I have 2 separate bodies of work now (in reality, two separate 1/2 bodies of work!). I have my coastals and my southwest.
Most of the latter has been painted this past year and in response to the positive feedback from my Chipotle Chicken. They are nice, some are great, most just would look good in your kitchen, but some I don't think I could stand to hang on my booth walls again. Several are..well..boring!
Why are they boring? Aha..now we come to the heart of the matter or, rather, the lack of heart in the matter. Since last fall I've been painting "price points"
and "popular work" and "local color schemes." Don't get me wrong, the paintings, as a whole, are not bad..some are great! But none of them will I be upset to see go, unlike my precious Last Two Beachfronts, although I desperately want it sold, I'll go home and have a good cry about it.
So how did this happen? Why do I have a booth full of nicely-priced but good-mediocre art along side of high-priced, excellent art and neither gets sold? A couple of things..and this is where the personal kicks in.
1) I got greedy.
I wanted success too fast. Sales, any sales, was my goal.
2) I wore the business hat too much.
Most art business books accuse artists of the opposite..but all business and no muse makes an artist stale!
3) I'm trying to please the masses
What do chickens and beaches have in common? pumpkins and seagulls? Not a lot truthfully. Customers are confused by the subjects, colors, prices, etc. in my booth. I had quite a few people think they had encountered another artist's work when they turned around and looked at a different wall.
4) I've been looking down not up.
Art sales isn't necessarily a numbers game. I've been showing my art in the wrong places and to the wrong people. The same people who head for the local craft fair to buy the $20 pottery or $15 mass produced print are not the same people who are going to my my $2000 paintings on a whim. That's not to say I've not met some great people who I am very confident will be collectors one day..but wow..art festivals are an extremely expensive way to just "advertise" to a future customer.
5) I've had a rough year.
I know, this sounds like a cop-out..haven't we all had a rough year, decade, adulthood, life? I'm
not whining (ok..maybe a little) but, as most who are close to me know, I lost a dear friend this past year. Not to death, thankfully, but the grieving process feels very similar. My oldest daughter decided she was an adult late last year and moved out into the big, bad world a bit too early. She's had her ups and downs and I've been bleeding inside with every step she has taken. My visit with my family this summer has helped heal some of my wounds and now I have the job that is harder than being a parent of a kid..being a parent of an adult. I know she'll find her way and eventually we'll develop an even stronger friendship, but, for now, I'm just trying to step back and let go a bit. Isn't she beautiful?
Ok..so where does this all leave me? Reread the blog title...Inspiration Lost..I feel that way about my art lately. My shows were so dismal this spring that I contemplated hanging it all up...packing it all away. The whole past year came crashing down on me in waves after my last show. I am so thankful for my patient husband and supportive friends here in Texas and my loving family and the healing powers of the coast back in North Carolina. Without all of that love, support, and sand, I think I'd have found a big hole and crawled in for a good long time. Is it the artistic nature or just human nature that makes us want to run and hide when it all seems to be not working?
Anyway, I haven't figured out all the answers yet but what I am doing is putting one foot in front of the other and trying to take each day a little slower. I'm currently reading Living the Artists' Life by Paul Dorrell and it is helping me feel "normal" with the bit of depression and frustration in my artistic pursuits. I'm still avoiding my art business a little more than I should, eating & drinking a little too much, sleeping too little, but I'm working on it...one day at a time.
Feel free to post a response or questions.
Next blog...
Desperately Seeking Inspiration...some revelations and questions about the pursuit of artistic vision.
First, some background....
Hello, my name is Charlotte, and I am an artist. Like any form of addiction, admittance is the first step. I've been introducing myself that way for several years now and becoming not only comfortable, but proud. When I hung my shingle out for the world to see 2 1/2 years ago, I was determined to succeed. I had tried this shortly after college and right after I moved to Texas in 1996 and not done so well. (This is fodder for another blog..not today.) This time would be different! I was older, wiser, smarter, thicker skinned and prepared. I've read almost every recommended "art business" book out there. I've done my research, taken seminars, talked with numerous other artists, and web-searched an unbelievable amount of time.
Pieces started to fall into place almost immediately. I've been accepted into quite a few juried exhibits, won an award, been hired for commissions, and started showing into local juried art festivals. I've been doing the festivals for just over a year now with minimal success. I think this is where the trouble began. I could make this part really long but I'll skip the boring details and cut straight to the point. I have 2 separate bodies of work now (in reality, two separate 1/2 bodies of work!). I have my coastals and my southwest.
Most of the latter has been painted this past year and in response to the positive feedback from my Chipotle Chicken. They are nice, some are great, most just would look good in your kitchen, but some I don't think I could stand to hang on my booth walls again. Several are..well..boring!Why are they boring? Aha..now we come to the heart of the matter or, rather, the lack of heart in the matter. Since last fall I've been painting "price points"
and "popular work" and "local color schemes." Don't get me wrong, the paintings, as a whole, are not bad..some are great! But none of them will I be upset to see go, unlike my precious Last Two Beachfronts, although I desperately want it sold, I'll go home and have a good cry about it.So how did this happen? Why do I have a booth full of nicely-priced but good-mediocre art along side of high-priced, excellent art and neither gets sold? A couple of things..and this is where the personal kicks in.
1) I got greedy.
I wanted success too fast. Sales, any sales, was my goal.
2) I wore the business hat too much.
Most art business books accuse artists of the opposite..but all business and no muse makes an artist stale!
3) I'm trying to please the masses
What do chickens and beaches have in common? pumpkins and seagulls? Not a lot truthfully. Customers are confused by the subjects, colors, prices, etc. in my booth. I had quite a few people think they had encountered another artist's work when they turned around and looked at a different wall.
4) I've been looking down not up.
Art sales isn't necessarily a numbers game. I've been showing my art in the wrong places and to the wrong people. The same people who head for the local craft fair to buy the $20 pottery or $15 mass produced print are not the same people who are going to my my $2000 paintings on a whim. That's not to say I've not met some great people who I am very confident will be collectors one day..but wow..art festivals are an extremely expensive way to just "advertise" to a future customer.
5) I've had a rough year.
I know, this sounds like a cop-out..haven't we all had a rough year, decade, adulthood, life? I'm
not whining (ok..maybe a little) but, as most who are close to me know, I lost a dear friend this past year. Not to death, thankfully, but the grieving process feels very similar. My oldest daughter decided she was an adult late last year and moved out into the big, bad world a bit too early. She's had her ups and downs and I've been bleeding inside with every step she has taken. My visit with my family this summer has helped heal some of my wounds and now I have the job that is harder than being a parent of a kid..being a parent of an adult. I know she'll find her way and eventually we'll develop an even stronger friendship, but, for now, I'm just trying to step back and let go a bit. Isn't she beautiful?Ok..so where does this all leave me? Reread the blog title...Inspiration Lost..I feel that way about my art lately. My shows were so dismal this spring that I contemplated hanging it all up...packing it all away. The whole past year came crashing down on me in waves after my last show. I am so thankful for my patient husband and supportive friends here in Texas and my loving family and the healing powers of the coast back in North Carolina. Without all of that love, support, and sand, I think I'd have found a big hole and crawled in for a good long time. Is it the artistic nature or just human nature that makes us want to run and hide when it all seems to be not working?
Anyway, I haven't figured out all the answers yet but what I am doing is putting one foot in front of the other and trying to take each day a little slower. I'm currently reading Living the Artists' Life by Paul Dorrell and it is helping me feel "normal" with the bit of depression and frustration in my artistic pursuits. I'm still avoiding my art business a little more than I should, eating & drinking a little too much, sleeping too little, but I'm working on it...one day at a time.
Feel free to post a response or questions.
Next blog...
Desperately Seeking Inspiration...some revelations and questions about the pursuit of artistic vision.
posted by Charlotte at 8:53 PM
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