Spook yourself into action

Boo!

Halloween is the perfect time to spook yourself into art marketing
action.
My coach recently spooked me into action with this question: "What if
you
went into a bookstore and saw your book on the shelf--only it was
written by
someone else?" Eeek! I can't let that happen. It's a question that
keeps me
going with the proposal for my book to help artists with
self-promotions.

Which scenario will spook you into action?

:: You have a terrific venue for a last-minute exhibition, but you
haven't
been updating your mailing list regularly. Sadly, no one comes because
you
didn't have time to send out an invitation.

:: A curator wants to know your exhibition and career history.
Unfortunately, you haven't kept track of the exhibition titles and
locations
for your resume.

:: The local museum would like for you to give a talk about your work,
but
you've n.ever talked about your work. You know you only get one chance
to
make a first impression. If only you had been writing, speaking, and
practicing for such an op.portunity all along.

:: You find out you didn't get into a juried show only because your
slides
were really bad. One of the jurors knew your work, but they had to go
along
with what was sent in and your images, quite frankly, stunk.

:: You missed a sale because you didn't follow up. Later you find out
that
the would-be buyer is a major collector and on the board of the museum.
Not
only that, she knows lot of other buyers!

:: You experience fire/smoke/flood damage and have no in.surance. It's
a
total loss and you have no resources to restart your business.

:: You work and work in your studio. You end up with a terrific body of
work, but no one to share it with because you've stayed to yourself.

And a few questions to haunt you:

What if you don't know your next step?
What if no one sees your art?
What if you don't reach your potential?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

DO THIS! NOT-TOO-TERRIFYING ACTION STEPS TO TAKE

KNOW THIS----------~> Keeping the right question or vision in mind can
be
highly motivating.

THINK ABOUT THIS---~> You're in control. It won't happen without your
action.

DO THIS------------~> Come up with the one question or one vision that
moves
you into action. Type it up in giant letters and post it in your studio
and
next to your computer. Share it with us on the Art Biz Blog:
http://www.artbizblog.com

Recent Work

Rare for me to post images on this blog, as I usually post them a few other places but thought I might post a few recent images of recent work here.

"Poe" - Award winner


"Dreamland" - Award winner


"Anima Mundi" - Award winner

WIP - Lucky

Boy do I ever need to get myself a DSLR camera, my Sony 5.1 MP point and shoot just isnt cutting it, certainly not when I have to capture artwork. Maybe next year, I have spent waaaaay too much money on new techo toys this year as it is!

A few images of a project for Painting studio, about a week in. Oil on panel 24 x 32"

Work to do

The title of this entry is the theme of my life since returning to college. I have put off the reading in Modern Art History for the week, and so today I have to get it done, as well as the summary/response that goes with it for the week.
After speaking to a good friend who has the same class, she recommended being more analytical, and is sending me a document that is a nice outline with how to write in a fashion that might be more acceptable to my hard-ass professor, whom I like and respect very much, but am finding it increasingly difficult to know exactly what it is she wants. Whatever it is, I am still trying.

I just want to get to a place where I am not in tears or completely destroyed after class on the drive home on Monday nights. I feel like I am a stupid person after her class, that going back to college at 40 was a mistake, because I am not quick enough to make the theoretical leaps she requires of me.

I am still mulling over if I am going to take to HS classes in the summer to try and catch me up a bit. School is so exhausting (but fun!) that I am already looking forward to my holiday break...perhaps it is because I wish I would have done better on my last big paper in Modern Art History, I got a B, but the amount of time spent and research I put in, I should have gotten an A. I just need to learn how to better in her class, be analytical and weigh everything. It is easier said than done, I wish I had more college level writing under my belt, so maybe I should take that Expository writing in the summer :)

Catching the Eye

Yesterday Duffy Masterson of Ottawa, Ontario wrote: "I've been
a photographer for longer than I care to mention and have
recently taken up painting in acrylic. I find that all the
subject matter has been expressed through my photography and
not much, if anything, catches my eye for painting. There are
always subjects to paint, but none that I want to paint. My
wife and I are packing up and moving to the B.C. Gulf Islands
in an attempt to spark the creative juices again. Have you ever
run into this kind of block?"

Thanks, Duffy. Your block is called PFS (Photo Familiarity
Syndrome) and it's as common as influenza. Some of us fight it
daily. There are many ways of looking at it and several ways of
dealing with it. Taking photos is a creative act in itself.
Some artists, as they move through their life-images, find that
less and less interests or moves them. As it becomes more
difficult to be surprised by joy in the external world,
reality-based images become used up. The trouble with
photography is that it uses up joy too quickly. Also, by
stealthily teaching dependence, photography can turn out to be
dangerous. Unlike the purist and pre-photographic masters of
landscape--Courbet, Corot, Millet, etc., by visual volume alone
it is possible to become jaded. Moving to a new environment may
not solve the problem. You need to realize that painting can
exploit a different--I didn't say greater--range of feelings
than does photography. Painting, in its most exalted forms, can
bring another kind of creative imagination into the mix. With
painting you have an opportunity to add a unique personal
spin--to put a different kind of style and signature to your
product.

For most of us, photography, in all of its marvelous
manifestations, is one of a number of tools in the kit. An
extreme purgation is to take your photo apparatus and shove it
into a vault for a year. Forget you ever did it. I know it's
tough for those of us who love to look through viewfinders and
are used to collecting images in nanoseconds. In this
deprivation, painting becomes more of a savoured event--a
timely act of deliberation, consideration and contemplation.
Painting becomes less capture and more conception. Worthwhile
subjects begin to appear from nowhere. With independent
painting you move into the lively and mysterious darkroom of
your own mind. In this place something else again is sure to
catch your eye.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power
of conception the artist has acquired." (Gustave Courbet)

Esoterica: "What do I want to paint?" is not only the main
question, it's perhaps the only question. Many painters find
they bump along and somehow inadvertently touch on a "hot spot"
where an idea or a motif suddenly gels. It's important that
these golden occasions are recognized and noted. The artist
pauses and looks around for related and peripheral ideas that
can also be exploited. It's often in this "second generation"
where the most involving and exciting work is done. "Paintings
come out of themselves," said the great Canadian landscape
painter Lawren Harris. "The idea," said Damien Hirst, "is more
important than the object."