dtlaverk

Battling the mundane

DT — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:32:40 +0000

The daily struggle for me as an artist is to keep the mundane world at bay, while trying to focus on the sacred, spiritual world, from whence my creativity flows. It is a battle every day, but some days more than others. Unfortunately I must work a job (not as an artist) to pay my bills, like many others do. My job is part time and allows me days to work in the studio, market my work online, go out and take photos to work from, etc. It is a thin line, though. that keeps the grind of the world of bills, chores, and maintenance at bay. It wears at the confidence of my spirit, when nothing sells and the stock of art builds up and the part time job doesn’t bring in quite enough. Where can I turn . . . when I was young I had the strength to say ‘the hell with it’ and paint and change my life style to accommodate my artistic needs. But now, I seem worn thin by this struggle, the clock is ticking and I do not know how to stop it. Oh, some days are much better than others, I have great ideas and my paintings are, for the most part, very good. I know that the part time job is not working out right now, I should look for another. But I really want to do my art, as I near 60, the finite-ness of my life weighs heavy on me. If I could get ahead of the mundane and draw the line in the sand . . . here is where I make my stand, I am an artist and nothing more. I feel that the moment is always close, just around the bend, but then the mundane slaps me upside the head and says, “here’s a broken car, here’s a shift at work you only make 30 buck, here’s a stack of bills, here’s the flu you got no money coming in. . . ” This breaks my spirit and turns my mind to mush, I have no ideas, my paintings suck. And so it goes, I hope this rant does not come off too whiny. But I had a bad couple of weeks. I know that these spells happen from time to time. I just wish this one would end and soon!

8 commnent(s) for this post:

Administration says:
2009-11-14 09:54:14 It does not sound whiny at all! We have all had these times, some long lasting, others mercifully fleeting. Occasionally it helps to let it out.. to say I have had enough, I am at the end of my tether...and somehow, just saying that can give us another spurt to carry on. However, if the job is getting you down and is part time, leaving you more...perhaps you could spend an hour of that extra time looking around for different work. You then feel as though you are stepping outside the mundane or depressing, and making a move toward a lighter time. Your art is as important as you are...it is a part of who you are, so if you are low, then your work will be low. You can use that. It does not make it bad art, just different, and shows a different time of your life. That is what artists do, translate pain as well as good onto the physical canvas, from the mind. This time will end, you know that deep down. You are a strong man with a deep heart and a great sense of humour. These WILL see you through. I probably have not helped at all but I truly believe this is just a glitch in life and you will come through stronger.
Buddha says:
2009-11-14 11:06:15 I echo everything Beth has just said, those periods in our life without strife are usually pretty unproductive in my experience. I have to take one day at a time. Use the little time I have for art for creating and spend no time on making my presentation to the world. I hope the world finds me :-)
Bridgette says:
2009-11-14 12:02:10 I think many of us can relate to this. Painting is my only source of income and although I don't usually have a problem with slow sales , I often battle to find the time I need to really let my creativity flow and produce sufficient work to sell. I am a single mum to 3 teens and so often my days are completely taken up with household chores and attending to their needs. I don't think "non creatives" understand the extent to which we really need to stay focused on the sacred spiritual world from where out creativity flows and just how frustrating and demoralizing it can be when we have to constantly deal with the mundane . There is nothing whiny about how you are feeling. I understand your desire to draw the line and be what you are , an artist and only an artist ! I wish you well
inkandbrush says:
2009-11-14 13:00:53 Every Artist has had those feelings, you are not fussing at all!! Right now.. I want to finish with the sofa part of the painting I am working on at present. But because of some mundane chores yesterday, am in a lot of pain and hardly can move. So no painting on my Traditional painting today. One reason I also do fractals. I have to create in some manner, fractals allow me to do so on days like this. Anyway.. do not worry about your age.. my Grandmother painted until she was 89 years old, so you have many, many years ahead of you! Also think it is our Religion of Art, that keeps us going, keeps us looking ahead. Things will get better and you will be ok!
DT says:
2009-11-14 15:30:28 Thanks you all for the words of encouragement I know this to shall pass, I just want it to pass NOW!

Brave new world of marketing art

DT — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:17:55 +0000

In this modern internet age we artist have been handed a whole new set of tools to bring our work to market. There are hundreds of online Galleries, maybe thousands. There are ‘print-on-demand’ site where you can upload digital images that collectors can see and order prints of. There are social networks (mySpace and FaceBook and thousands of smaller social networks) to join and find friends and fans on. All of these spread the word and images of the artists work. Thousands of people can view, make comments, be directed to the artist’s website, all without the artist walking out of there studio.

Does this work? Will this become the future of art marketing? I have in the past few years sold art from the internet, a couple of paintings and a few prints. It certainly does not make me a living, but it is better than not sell these pieces. I have never been a great self promoter, so the internet has allowed me to spread my vision to people who would not have had a chance to see it otherwise. The internet has let people from China, Turkey, Italy, Canada and the U.K to become familiar with my art. That is all good, but I do not think that digitally seeing my work is the same as seeing it in person.

I do not think that the virtual gallery will replace the physical gallery, anytime soon . Last week I went to a gallery in the city near where I lived. I went to see a ‘virtual’ friends work, in person. Albeit the artist work is beautiful on line, but to see it in the context of the other work on display was breath taking. To be able to lean in and see the texture, the brush strokes and the details that the artist had used – not replaceable. The print-on-demand prints are very good and the details of the originals come through. Seeing them on the site, however, does not do them justice. These site are selling , and they sell a lot of art. I would guess though that the majority of those sold are more photographs than paintings. That is just speculation on my part.

The other down side to all this Internet Marketing is the time commitment. Updating your FaceBook or mySpace page takes time. Photographing your art is tricky and requires time, then you have to upload it to the various sites you are on. If you do not do this regularly your fans and friend lose interest. All this time takes you out of the studio so your products drops . . .so it becomes a vicious cycle. It has always been that way to promote ones work, chasing galleries and shows, finding people to to come to see your work, convincing them to purchase your work – when all you really want to do is paint (sculpt, draw. . .etc.)

So I use these tools I email galleries and write blogs, and upload pictures and send out photos of my work, hand out cards that have my website listed and my many phone #s. All of this is marketing art in the modern world. If you feel like it let me know what your thoughts are on this, and any insights on sites you have found. I am glad to be here on yet another site!

7 commnent(s) for this post:

1stAngel says:
2009-09-28 10:43:19 I write lots, but normally about other people. I tend to forget myself in it all. However, this network means more people have seen my work too. I now send my work direct to FB using RSS feeds from my sites. This way I have the fanbase growing there and they see all I do, which brings others to this site along with showing them everyones work here. I have just set up the chatroom here and will be adding to the side of it, a video player that will show hints, tips and other helpful things like, how to set up ablog, for the people that are scared by the whole idea. Marketing is all very well, but with the RSS feed from this blog here, you can make it much easier too:)
Syd Baker says:
2009-09-28 12:11:44 I had a Facebook place early this year, advised to as a way to attract people to my Red Bubble selling site. I got really frustrated with the lack of any responses at all (maybe I was doing it wrong, I am terribly shy about marketing) and then heard that Facebook was going to claim copyright privileges on anything that was uploaded, so I got the heck out of there. Maybe things are different now, but I'd sure like to know a better way, I've read lots of marketing articles and I have trouble with aggressive approaches.
ID says:
2009-09-28 12:49:48 Glad it's not just me who feels this way! I've tried various avenues but just don't have the heart for vigorous self-promotion. The internet has provided a new channel for artists to "get out there" but simultaneously diluted the impact available. I'm seriously considering forgetting about sales and concentrating on what I enjoy.
1stAngel says:
2009-09-28 15:08:12 That is why I have opened the chatroom. As you know I opened this site to help people do things easily, and am trying to build the site up so that I can easily give advice AND more importantly, help doing this. I am also opening a Q&A session soon where you answer a question and I can give you the answer. Mainly about the marketing tools etc. I want to do it for purely members only so watch out for a new group soon :)
inkandbrush says:
2009-09-28 21:27:55 FB has changed its rules back to what it was orginally. I am on FB and I have to say,I think it is starting to slowly pay off. While I would like to market locally, I live in a very poor area and what few Galleries there were, are now gone. That means I would have to go to the city and with no transport. Just isn't going to happen, at least not right now. The most important thing you can do is "target" market your Art. Wither it be via a Magazine or a Banner on a very large World wide site. Take advatange of any free advertising and network with other Artists. Leave business cards or Postcards people can use but with your contact info on it, at any local shop that lets you do this. I also blog both on my Blogger and now on Angel's site, I also have a main web site and I do these myself to save money. There are so many things you can do, to help sell your Art.

Hello world!

DT — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:16:37 +0000

Welcome to 1stAngel Arts Network. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

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Mr WordPress says:
2009-09-28 09:16:37 Hi, this is a comment.
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