I am an artist. I have been an artist all my life. It really is the only thing I know how to do. I can teach art too - and I do - here and there - I will be teaching in Pueblo in September and in Colorado Springs in December... I could teach in my basement right now if I could get the students... I don't have a gift with kids - I can teach any adult who is open to learn to make art - these days though - art seems superfluous - in these times - it seems unnecessary in people's minds. In my opinion it is totally vital - it's the connection to the Intuitive that could turn the ship around - but I can't seem to get that message out to people. I do my art - I have 2 paintings I am working on right now - for example - One is almost done - one is new - I am moving into new territory. Great - for me - I am alone - here - doing the art. I priced the art on my website - at about $4 per sq inch - cuz I do have a Masters in Fine Art - and I need to make a living - plus the work could not sell for nothing - it looks like there is a lot of work in it - But in this economy - shit - I am on foodstamps - how can I expect anyone to buy MY art? Well anyone who is not RICH? Who has a disposable income now but the rich? I hate the rich - well - not individually - there are some people with money who have mastered it - but most people I know who have money are cut off from everyone. This brings up interesting questions for me - as an artist - Part of me just wants to go put the paintings in the park and leave them there for someone to take - fuck it. I can't stand the idea of trying to "sell" HEART to shut off people just to get by. Instead, I trust the Creator that I will be taken care of - somehow. And then I don't do put the art in the park... can't seem to bring myself to do it. I wish I was a singer - not a visual artist. Visual Art seems so meaningless in this society - although I know that if it were in the schools it would be saving the kids - like it saved me. It is NOT meaningless - not everyone can sing - but everyone can do art - and it is the connection to spirit - but people on the whole seem to want to be cut off from the Spirit these days. I just feel confused - don't know what to do - http://www.joannawhitney.com is where my art is... look at if you like. In my fantasy I live in a big cooperative house with a bunch of hippies and we get by on our garden with chickens and cows - and make art and live together - but here in Denver, I don't know ANYONE who lives like that. One of my best friends lives in a tipi in Leadville - by himself - its getting cold. I know a lot of "former" hippies - I am a NOW hippie - NOW - is the crisis - Joanna
Art is one of my biggest passions I like styles from all sorts of areas, such as surrealism, Dada, Pop-Art, Magic/fantastic Realism (check out Zdzislaw Beksinski for some great examples). I create bits and pieces in my spare time (mainly psychedlic symbolism and pseudo-esoteric appearing stuff) By the way I looked on your website and your work is amazing Especially the Sacred Geometry section.
Joanna, I am a huge fan of art and the creative mindset of people. I can't draw/ paint for shit, but I rather be the viewer/audience. I can see that your problem is marketing your art. Anyone can have talent, but you also have to have a business mindset or work with someone who's good at it. There's people who have talent but don't receive anything value from it like money. Study the art industry sale markets and trends. Spend time at art trades show to interact with people. This will give you a clear visual of what going on in the 'art industry' and you can find innovating ways to sell your art and make a profit for your hard work.
Hey dreams - whatever about marketing - I hate marketing and I don't have a marketer - Everyone has talent - some people practice it and others don't - not the point - I was just sharing how I feel about ART and how I feel about the economy and how I feel about the rich buying art - wondering if anyone HERE had any NEW ideas about it - it's an age-old dilemma - and everyone tells me this same thing - but that's not the point really. I was just expressing something about it to try to connect with people in this forum to hear about how they feel about it - that's all. The Creator will either send me a marketer or transform me into a marketer or not - no big deal - but thanks for the advice. I have been an artist for 40 years so I am familiar with these ideas about "marketing". I just don't agree with them necessarily and because I don't have a 'salon" with other artists, I was trying to strike a conversation with hippie artists. Besides that - "marketing" without ethics has become this extremely out-of-hand situation here on planet earth - and honestly I want no part of it - it cheapens the art. Later.
The thing I love about art, as I've posted somewhere else on this forum, is being able to put something on paper/canvas that the viewer has never seen but they can interpret whatever it is that I've painted/drawn. The image is right there. I'm not too sure how to explain what I mean in a more obvious way because it seems so painfully obvious... My view on how the majority of the world views art now is more about preferring to spend £20 on a print that matches their new curtains or wallpaper than spend £200 on an original that won't fit the colour scheme. It's more about the material than the heart. So I'm gonna take this statement head on in the next few years and combine the 2 because I want to paint for my living, and I'm lucky enough that my parents are gonna support it I'm only 19, no degree yet - but if this fails I'm hoping to grab a degree in illustration and go from there.
Eyesoftheworld, I think there are 2 types of artists, those that HAVE to paint, and those that choose to paint. One of my biggest struggles has always been to sell out to sell ? or just do what I live to do. I chose to live over selling. Bad thing is I have 300 or so paintings and pieces of artwork in storage, and sleeping on a couch at a friends house. lol . Good thing is, painting is my life, I miss it. I'm empty without it. Best of luck and keep up the great work !! Have you ever considered bartering or trading artwork for stuff you need ? Just a suggestion. Peace
Skooky - I am WITH YOU - just glad to hear from another one like me - I am one of the ones who HAS TO paint. Right now I am living in a house I have been given to paint (with housepaint) for an undetermined amount of time - so there we are. I have given away hundreds of paintings to friends and family and yes I have traded art for services but I don't think my dentist will take art - I might ask him - I don't know that there is an answer to this dilemma - I can't sell out - I will sell and I don't have a problem with having relationships with buyers - but as the economy gets more interesting those opptys get further betw - it's an interesting way to live... but I think the Creator makes special allowances for us because we don't go by the status quo. Later...
Hey Meaty Mush - good for you - go for it - see how far you can go - but illustration is a totally different ball of wax than fine art - especially these days when its all done in Illustrator - I got my BFA in Illustration but became a fine artist - i was a tattoo artist for a while - for me - any form of commercial art really backed me up - so I just can't do it - and the computer is a real spirit block - so - go for it and I hope you stick w your art. Blessings...
Why not try to balance the 2? If you can find something that you love to paint and the buyer loves to buy, there's no loss and all gain... in an ideal world. Try ignore the recession and it makes for a much happier mindset
I once traded a painting to a psychologist for a session. lol I've sold paintings, and have gone on tirades about the whole selling thing, cause well, while I have had quite a few shows and exhibitions, I rarely made sales because of the "that makes me uneasy" response I often get from most of my paintings. People don't seem to like to live with the way my paintings make them feel. Once in awhile I have gone on a tangent painting flowers and landscapes just to prove a point, and those almost always sold. Point Proven. I don't worry about selling anymore, I paint what I feel. That suits me just fine.
Thanks Eyes And yeah, I can see how illustration would be completely different, having to focus on someone elses ideas instead of your own. It's just that theoretically it can back me up for a wider range of art related careers than a degree in Fine Art Fair point Skooky, got any links to your work? Quite interested now
I put a few pictures of some paintings in my albums/photo on my profile. I don't have a website or anything like that.
I have been learning how to draw, I can paint but not things I am more into abstract art. I just have a hard time storing mine, I have lost so many different pieces of work and I would like to know is How do you store your art, without it getting weathered?
I do not see your art with that link.....I get a page with Asian script. Anyway, art is my world, or a big part of it.....It always has been, so I love it, as I paint...and I never try to over analyze it. I never painted for the money....although I have sold quite a few paintings. I paint what I feel...period, so I am not commercial really.
