4/21/2017 1:18:56 AM
I Would Do It All Over
The Doing
The journey to being a professional artist is long and intense.
It is not for sissies for sure, but I would do it all over again the same way.
For me, the journey rewarded me well and I still am looking forward to learning even more as I know there will never be a time when I know it all.
It started as an insecure girl with messages from my elders that art did not pay a decent living unless I became an education major/teacher. Art College was a gift that would never had happened without a benevolent uncle, but art college was not what I hoped it could be for me. I knew I could get a job as a graphic designer and in the 70's, I became a cut & paste, hand-drawn technical director using only scissors and type from a machine. I learned spatial design and shape making from trial and error. I taught myself calligraphy and designed by hand logos with branding images. It was the start of my desire to create something from nothing. I put Charleston Magazine together by hand every month. Now, it is done by computer.
Then marriage and babies happened and I had a tremendous need to take more painting classes while being a stay at home Mom of two boys. I tried my hand at painting while freelancing the magazine graphic design job at night while the boys slept and my husband worked as a chef. I flirted with the notion of being a professional painter. Never thinking my work was solid enough to go for it, I started hanging a few paintings in our business and they sold. Then I got the nudge from a neighbor who was a professional artist who invited me into his home on Thursdays to paint. He planted the seed in me, but with a few years left to live from bone cancer, I felt and witnessed his urgency to SAY what he wanted to say in paint. He was glorious to watch and I was able to buy two paintings from him, one being the last one he did, 90% uncompleted, but fabulous, which he was painting before hospice was called. He inspires me daily, taught me a heck of a lot, and I definitely know he was truly a gift to me.
Amazingly I got asked to do a show at our community's art alliance space. With that came an arts review published in the city paper by the paper's art critic. She called me a dilettante, not ready for prime time as a professional artist. She reviewed the show as un-cohesive and lacking focus. She did say the use of the same frame on all the paintings helped the look of the show, but I did not have a style that seemed like one artist. The review said that the show looked like multiple artists. Never in my right mind did I think myself truly a professional, so the whole review threw me into another plateau of growth. What was I....a Sunday painter that just got lucky enough to get a show by the cultural director? Was I cut out to be a professional painter? Was I good enough? Did I even want to be in the arena to be judged? I stayed up nights and read about how other artists set out on a path toward this goal. I soul searched and learned a lot about myself. How naive I was and how humbled I became. I started going more to museums and looking at the cohesiveness of other painters work. I bought subscriptions to art magazines as there was no internet then to observe things. I forged a path to create a style that seemed ME. What style was Me? Was I a landscape painter, an expressionist? Or was I am abstracted painter? I liked it all, and I actually could do many styles from my interest in design. So, I set out to find cohesiveness and prove the art critic wrong. I took lessons from a plein air painter and learned it all comes from painting start to finish outside with the right equipment. I used only linen canvas which I know now that sticking to one type of surface creates your cohesive look. I set out to use only oils, another look. (I use Cobra brand). I learned how to glaze, scumble and varnish to create the surface I wanted. I set out to abstract the landscape using bigger shapes and minimal detail with a big brush and a big palette knife and finish up with a small palette knife, creating the texture and vivid colors I like. I learned how a certain brush in certain areas helped the palette knife to perform. And how other brushes can create magic or brush out the strength of the paint. So much to observe and learn I felt overwhelmed. But excited in the discovery of it all. Discovery became my mantra. What can I discover today? Then one night I had a glorious moment of learning about being in the zone when time stood still and hours passed like minutes. At sunrise, I was still in my paint clothes, witnessing the phenonomen of flow. It was my pivotal moment. So, launching into a commitment of becoming a professional, I had to create a brand for myself. Meaning, how to figure out how to properly use my name. How to sign my paintings a certain way, branding myself "Colorist of the Carolinas," the brand I still have today after all these years. The brand worked, the path was forged. My mantra began, "A positive person sees an opportunity in every difficulty." One day I will meet that art critic again and thank her!
Then I got the wild idea of opening up a gallery. It lasted 12 years as an artist owned gallery and then my husband and I moved from Charleston, my only home, to the mountains of Highlands, NC for him to retire, and I opened a second one! Yea-ah! So I thought I had to have my own gallery to sell. And I had to make my own notion of a living. Not always a great idea. After a few years painting in the gallery, I learned to let go of that notion and place myself in professional galleries, and that has worked out fine. However, not all the galleries were a perfect fit for me. I had to let go of a couple, and a couple let go of me. The ones today are like family and I am not interested in any that don't feel like family to me. I listen to my gallery director. I do all I can for that gallery and I take directions and assignments without hesitation, because they earn every penny, and I like to paint for a living and earn my share. I do believe in sharing consumerism because the marketing is key. It is very simple if you put your mind to that goal. And become a team player.
So what has changed for me since juggling small kids and watching my mentor paint? I have grown into a professional artist that is coherent to making series of good work. I like to do themes or series and keep that balance for the longevity of that series. And move on to the next series, whatever strikes me at the time. I love abstraction and find balancing realism with abstraction works for me. I have learned to blog, do my own websites, manage my inventory with professional sites available on the internet. I know what a hashtag is and how that works. I try to get into the flow or finding the zone whenever THE moment allows that. Travel is essential to growth as an artist and keeping the artist friends close is healthy. I go to art seminars as a student AND as a teacher. and the annual plein air art convention. I recognize that nature and really seeing things out in the field, is my main inspiration, not the content of other artists. They have their style and I have mine. I strive to be like me, not them. I applaud and support them. My artist friend's work interests me and inspires me for the sharing. Artist friends get it when you are questioning the art universe, and others who are not artists are necessary for a balance of diversity, order and beauty that life offers. Your soulmate needs to be supportive yet honest to keep you centered. Mine is smack on with his honesty and I honor that. Listen to criticism when you need to. Never allow defensiveness. Keep that criticism as a positive, not a negative. It can lead to another discovery.
And the last discovery....Learn about intention and intuition and use that daily. An important step in developing my own work has been to realize that intention and intuition come from the same inner source, are equally important, and that although they manifest in different ways they are not basically at odds with one another. Learn that! For me, the balance between them comes in recognizing and developing the painting as it evolves--those that resonate with my ideas, that feel right and true to me, that represent what I wish to express and communicate. Happy accidents become intention, discover that!
On the other hand, without spontaneity, openness and experimentation, an artist risks becoming rigid, trapped by preconceived boundaries. The ideas behind the work need to be expansive enough to allow for roaming about, or exploration, and breaking new ground. And all that has to come from a peaceful environment, like a quiet studio or a spot outside convenient to your natural interests. Only then can you harness the thing that occurs to make a great painting. Then it repeats and repeats. I promise.
I would do it all over again the same way. Even the three times I decided to quit making art. Each of those times, I did discover self compassion. I persevered. The self compassion taught me to trust more. All the hard things are easier now that I don't resist anything. I stay open, yet I recognize I need my space from demands of people and life. I take it all on an even pace. I say no often and yes when it feels right. Everyone and every thing gets equality of time and space. I think about balance every daybreak. Over coffee stroking the dogs. Teaching for me is a gift to others when the time comes. I welcome people that come to me about art, the collectors and the students equally. Every day is a becoming.
No do-overs! Just doing! Discovery. It was my gift from my mentor and I hold that dear to my growth. So, yes, I say thank you to not having a do-over notion.
It is not for sissies for sure, but I would do it all over again the same way.
For me, the journey rewarded me well and I still am looking forward to learning even more as I know there will never be a time when I know it all.
It started as an insecure girl with messages from my elders that art did not pay a decent living unless I became an education major/teacher. Art College was a gift that would never had happened without a benevolent uncle, but art college was not what I hoped it could be for me. I knew I could get a job as a graphic designer and in the 70's, I became a cut & paste, hand-drawn technical director using only scissors and type from a machine. I learned spatial design and shape making from trial and error. I taught myself calligraphy and designed by hand logos with branding images. It was the start of my desire to create something from nothing. I put Charleston Magazine together by hand every month. Now, it is done by computer.
Then marriage and babies happened and I had a tremendous need to take more painting classes while being a stay at home Mom of two boys. I tried my hand at painting while freelancing the magazine graphic design job at night while the boys slept and my husband worked as a chef. I flirted with the notion of being a professional painter. Never thinking my work was solid enough to go for it, I started hanging a few paintings in our business and they sold. Then I got the nudge from a neighbor who was a professional artist who invited me into his home on Thursdays to paint. He planted the seed in me, but with a few years left to live from bone cancer, I felt and witnessed his urgency to SAY what he wanted to say in paint. He was glorious to watch and I was able to buy two paintings from him, one being the last one he did, 90% uncompleted, but fabulous, which he was painting before hospice was called. He inspires me daily, taught me a heck of a lot, and I definitely know he was truly a gift to me.
Amazingly I got asked to do a show at our community's art alliance space. With that came an arts review published in the city paper by the paper's art critic. She called me a dilettante, not ready for prime time as a professional artist. She reviewed the show as un-cohesive and lacking focus. She did say the use of the same frame on all the paintings helped the look of the show, but I did not have a style that seemed like one artist. The review said that the show looked like multiple artists. Never in my right mind did I think myself truly a professional, so the whole review threw me into another plateau of growth. What was I....a Sunday painter that just got lucky enough to get a show by the cultural director? Was I cut out to be a professional painter? Was I good enough? Did I even want to be in the arena to be judged? I stayed up nights and read about how other artists set out on a path toward this goal. I soul searched and learned a lot about myself. How naive I was and how humbled I became. I started going more to museums and looking at the cohesiveness of other painters work. I bought subscriptions to art magazines as there was no internet then to observe things. I forged a path to create a style that seemed ME. What style was Me? Was I a landscape painter, an expressionist? Or was I am abstracted painter? I liked it all, and I actually could do many styles from my interest in design. So, I set out to find cohesiveness and prove the art critic wrong. I took lessons from a plein air painter and learned it all comes from painting start to finish outside with the right equipment. I used only linen canvas which I know now that sticking to one type of surface creates your cohesive look. I set out to use only oils, another look. (I use Cobra brand). I learned how to glaze, scumble and varnish to create the surface I wanted. I set out to abstract the landscape using bigger shapes and minimal detail with a big brush and a big palette knife and finish up with a small palette knife, creating the texture and vivid colors I like. I learned how a certain brush in certain areas helped the palette knife to perform. And how other brushes can create magic or brush out the strength of the paint. So much to observe and learn I felt overwhelmed. But excited in the discovery of it all. Discovery became my mantra. What can I discover today? Then one night I had a glorious moment of learning about being in the zone when time stood still and hours passed like minutes. At sunrise, I was still in my paint clothes, witnessing the phenonomen of flow. It was my pivotal moment. So, launching into a commitment of becoming a professional, I had to create a brand for myself. Meaning, how to figure out how to properly use my name. How to sign my paintings a certain way, branding myself "Colorist of the Carolinas," the brand I still have today after all these years. The brand worked, the path was forged. My mantra began, "A positive person sees an opportunity in every difficulty." One day I will meet that art critic again and thank her!
Then I got the wild idea of opening up a gallery. It lasted 12 years as an artist owned gallery and then my husband and I moved from Charleston, my only home, to the mountains of Highlands, NC for him to retire, and I opened a second one! Yea-ah! So I thought I had to have my own gallery to sell. And I had to make my own notion of a living. Not always a great idea. After a few years painting in the gallery, I learned to let go of that notion and place myself in professional galleries, and that has worked out fine. However, not all the galleries were a perfect fit for me. I had to let go of a couple, and a couple let go of me. The ones today are like family and I am not interested in any that don't feel like family to me. I listen to my gallery director. I do all I can for that gallery and I take directions and assignments without hesitation, because they earn every penny, and I like to paint for a living and earn my share. I do believe in sharing consumerism because the marketing is key. It is very simple if you put your mind to that goal. And become a team player.
So what has changed for me since juggling small kids and watching my mentor paint? I have grown into a professional artist that is coherent to making series of good work. I like to do themes or series and keep that balance for the longevity of that series. And move on to the next series, whatever strikes me at the time. I love abstraction and find balancing realism with abstraction works for me. I have learned to blog, do my own websites, manage my inventory with professional sites available on the internet. I know what a hashtag is and how that works. I try to get into the flow or finding the zone whenever THE moment allows that. Travel is essential to growth as an artist and keeping the artist friends close is healthy. I go to art seminars as a student AND as a teacher. and the annual plein air art convention. I recognize that nature and really seeing things out in the field, is my main inspiration, not the content of other artists. They have their style and I have mine. I strive to be like me, not them. I applaud and support them. My artist friend's work interests me and inspires me for the sharing. Artist friends get it when you are questioning the art universe, and others who are not artists are necessary for a balance of diversity, order and beauty that life offers. Your soulmate needs to be supportive yet honest to keep you centered. Mine is smack on with his honesty and I honor that. Listen to criticism when you need to. Never allow defensiveness. Keep that criticism as a positive, not a negative. It can lead to another discovery.
And the last discovery....Learn about intention and intuition and use that daily. An important step in developing my own work has been to realize that intention and intuition come from the same inner source, are equally important, and that although they manifest in different ways they are not basically at odds with one another. Learn that! For me, the balance between them comes in recognizing and developing the painting as it evolves--those that resonate with my ideas, that feel right and true to me, that represent what I wish to express and communicate. Happy accidents become intention, discover that!
On the other hand, without spontaneity, openness and experimentation, an artist risks becoming rigid, trapped by preconceived boundaries. The ideas behind the work need to be expansive enough to allow for roaming about, or exploration, and breaking new ground. And all that has to come from a peaceful environment, like a quiet studio or a spot outside convenient to your natural interests. Only then can you harness the thing that occurs to make a great painting. Then it repeats and repeats. I promise.
I would do it all over again the same way. Even the three times I decided to quit making art. Each of those times, I did discover self compassion. I persevered. The self compassion taught me to trust more. All the hard things are easier now that I don't resist anything. I stay open, yet I recognize I need my space from demands of people and life. I take it all on an even pace. I say no often and yes when it feels right. Everyone and every thing gets equality of time and space. I think about balance every daybreak. Over coffee stroking the dogs. Teaching for me is a gift to others when the time comes. I welcome people that come to me about art, the collectors and the students equally. Every day is a becoming.
No do-overs! Just doing! Discovery. It was my gift from my mentor and I hold that dear to my growth. So, yes, I say thank you to not having a do-over notion.
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