Art Print Issues by Barney Davey

Crossroads: Artists Finding Happiness in Obscurity

It is natural to have high aspirations for a career. Artists, in particular, seek affirmation and, to no small degree, admiration for the work they create. While there is that undeniable secret satisfying moment when one steps back from a finished piece and simultaneously is filled with joy from the accomplishment, there also is the longing to have the finished work be applauded, purchased and cherished.

There Is a nearly indescribable secret silent moment in appreciating just finished work 

Most of us don't share that solitary moment, we treasure it. It is ours. If I write a post here that resonates well with me, I may read it again, not for proofing, but to savor the moment or the turn of a phrase. I may find my mind wandering to a passage days later. When I was steadily making fine furniture, (I still miss my basement woodworking shop in St. Louis, but not the weather.), I would have the same experience as described above. And, I have always known that the secret moment is an unspoken universal part of being creative.

Some choices can haunt us if we let them

I started thinking about poor choices the other day when I came across a 40-year old cassette I recorded from a long lost vinyl LP. It had on it the second album of incomparable Terry Reid. I hadn't heard it in decades and had forgotten what a great voice he had and how well he plays guitar.

In his heyday, Reid opened for the The Rolling Stones in 1969 and Cream in 1968. Around the same time he turned down offers to front Led Zeppelin and later Deep Purple. Looking back, it would be hard to imagine he had no regrets over those decisions. For all the listening pleasure he has provided me, I wish for him peace of mind with his career choices.

While most artists, visual or musical, will never be faced with making choices with such incredible potential, the possibility is always there that we will make less than the best decision. We ultimately may need to accept we took a turn that led us away from the limelight and into obscurity. Regardless of the scale or magnitude, learning to live in peace with our decisions and find happiness despite them is one of the best things we do for ourselves, and our families, too.

Growing where you are planted and appreciating what you have are keys to happiness

The reality for most artists is the big international stage is not where their lives and work will play out. Reality dictates it's going to happen on a smaller scale. There certainly is nothing wrong with enjoying success on a smaller scale. Perhaps other than big money, a successful rather obscure art career can be just as satisfying as one where we are the big fish in a big pond.

My personal experience is to have known hundreds of artists who enjoy success out of the limelight. They support their families, have comfortable interesting happy lives and manage to do so without being known outside of the relatively small number of collectors, gallerists and dealers who help them market their work. To my mind, it is hard to find fault with such an outcome for a career.

When you consider there often is a steep price to pay for fame these days. Lack of privacy in our celebrity crazed era is a perfect example. Most of us have no clue to the maddening effect of having our lives publicly scrutinized in excruciating detail. To create, be appreciated and paid well for our work is blessing enough for most, as it should be.

There is always time to stage a run no matter how old you are or what circumstances you face

And, if you are one who yearns for the spotlight, that moment in the sun, but feel like life has passed you by, you should arrest that feeling right now. Consider that Frank Lloyd Wright turned out nearly a third of his entire body of work in the last 12 years of his life. Imagine the fire burning brightly and the creativity still flowing at that rate from age 80 to 92. Yes, he was a genius and a creative tour de force, but he is also an inspiration. If you have the get up and go, it's never too late to make things happen.

When Greatness in Your Art Career Competes with Your Full-time Job

If you are able to successfully work full-time at your art career, you are to be commended. It is not an easy thing to do in the best economic circumstances, much less the pervasive difficult one we are experiencing now.

(Photo by madame.furie, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.)

For certain, each of us comes to embrace a career in the arts in a unique way. For some, success seems to come almost too easy, for others achieving financial independence as an artist seems a distant pipe dream. There also seems to be no set pattern as to how these differences come about.

Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. - William Shakespeare

From my perspective, you could line up the unsigned best works of both the most successful artists and other highly talented ones toiling in obscurity, and neither a majority of collectors nor critics would be able to tell you which work belong to either category. If you buy into that theory, then you also must accept that there are intangible, or extenuating factors that mitigate the outcome.

If you have read my book, How to Profit from the Art Print Market, you know I have studied the careers of successful artists in the art print market for years. A major point of the book was to try and distill some common traits that helped fuel their success. Things that were not in common were subject matter, and while all have undeniable artistic skills; none exhibited talent so rare that their work could not be easily replicated by other talented painters.

You see the same thing in music, too. That is, there are innumerable players who can pick up an instrument and play a song as well as the original artist. Just spend some time on YouTube to see what I mean. There are dozens of unknowns who can play and sound like Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton and other iconic guitar players. However, the talent to emulate and replicate is not the same as to create. Therein lies a huge part of the difference between obscurity and success. Other factors, including ambition, timing, geography and luck often play a part in the equation.

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls. - Joseph Campbell

Creativity is more than innate talent. Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestselling book, Outliers: The Story of Success, talks about the 10,000 Hour Rule. He gives examples of The Beatles playing eight hours a day in a Hamburg nightclub, or Bill Gates in a whiling hours upon hours in a computer lab in his early teens, or Tiger Woods on the golf course from a very early age, or some 15-year old violinist appearing on stage at Carnegie Hall. In each of these cases, you find people who have devoted themselves to their passion in ways most of us don't understand.

The example of the teen violinist brings to mind this well told joke:

    A man on the streets of Manhattan approaches a stranger and asks, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”

    The stranger thinks for a moment and replies, “Practice, practice, practice.”

It is agreed then that success comes to those who take their innate talent and work very hard at improving what is already above average at the outset. Basically, combining a great work ethic with talent and desire is the key to climbing to the top of your profession. The reality for most of us is life gets in the way.

Making realistic and unselfish decisions that keep us from pursuing our dreams is not necessarily a bad thing.

Although we desire to have the success we feel is possible, we find ourselves strapped to some other reality, like having a growing family, or aging parents, or just needing a steady income to maintain a lifestyle wherein we are most comfortable. Or, maybe we just need the assurance of having affordable health care for us or other family members.

There is no shame in accommodating other needs in your life. It is just the way it is for many of us, me included. It would be fabulous if this blog and a few more books and other projects I have in mind would pay all my bills. In fact, given the time to develop I know they would. The problem comes from the immediate need for a steady income and good health benefits. I am neither able nor willing to trade those for the chance to grow my business faster.

All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure. - Mark Twain

Often times, the ones who crawl to the top are able to ignore the worries of no health insurance or the fact that there is no guarantee of a check in the bank next week. Do you imagine The Beatles had health insurance while toiling away in Hamburg? I am sure they did not. A risk they took as young healthy men perhaps ignorant of the potential for disaster should a medical calamity come their way.

Gary Vaynerchuk, the social media sensation and bestselling author of Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, a book that offers a primer on how to become successful in your given field using social media as the basis for it, talks about what you need to do to get there when you are already stuck in a full-time job. He looks at a day and says if you are willing to give up the hours from 9 pm to 1 am, you have four hours every day to grow your second business.

I get that idea and resemble the concept. In many ways, it is the business model I have followed for the some years. I work during the day and come home to have a meal, walk the dogs, and spend some time with my wife. Then I get to my other job. That is writing blog posts, editing my book, and working on the other projects at the top of my list.

Though your ambitions may be large, to be successful, keep your list short. - Barney Davey

The one thing I have found useful is I keep my list short for those things getting my attention. It is painful to have to let some things go, or to put them off longer than I wish, but it is the only way to move the dial toward completion on those things I have determined to matter the most to me.

That is not to say I don’t have other plans. I have a huge list of things I want to do. But, the reality of being constrained by time forces me to focus on just a few items. I liken it to triage. I work on those things that are both most likely to advance me towards independence and those things that are most easily achievable to do given my limited time to work on them.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. - Stephen Covey

If you are a painter, it might mean working on those images that you know will get the fastest and best return on your time investment. That is not to deter you from the massive masterpiece lurking in your mind. You should keep sketches and ideas in a log to maintain your interest, but not give in to spending time on such a project at the expense of those things that have a more immediate need for you.

For those who have 12 – 16 hours in a day to work on the things they love to do, you can fit in churning out the work that will pay the bills and still have time to spend on the longer term projects. For the rest of us, we have to learn the patience and humility of biding our time even though we are chomping at the bit to throw ourselves into the projects that we know will propel us to independence and new levels of greatness in our careers.

He who fears being conquered is certain of defeat. - Napoleon Bonaparte

The one thing we cannot do is succumb to fear. We cannot fear failure, or just being mundane. We have to maintain the upbeat attitude that in the long term we will prevail. We have to accept we will get sidetracked, or completely derailed at times.

When we are down, we are not out. It will be in keeping the faith in our ability and creativity and staying in touch with our desire to succeed that will be what pulls us back online, syncs our actions with our goals, and drives us to our ultimate success. There is a oft-used cliche, “What the mind can conceive and believe, the body can achieve.” It applies as much here as in any where or in any other way it could be used.

With patience to pace ourselves, we can climb the highest peaks.  Welcome to the journey, I will see you at the top!

The Wit & Wisdom of Sonia Simone - Great Advice for All Creative Types

I became a fan of Sonia Simone's work the first time I read a blog post from her. To say she has a way with words would be an understatement. Lots of people have that talent. What she adds is a keen mind and a deep understanding of effective copywriting and Internet marketing. Two skills nearly all of us could be better at using.

I'm sure her talents are why she is the Senior Editor for Copyblogger, one of the most heavily trafficked and highly admired business blogs on the planet. When I read her post below, it resonated with me to such a degree I asked her for permission to reprint it here. If you have already read it, I would not be surprised. It was tweeted 523 times, more than any other recent post on Copyblogger. Regardless, its pithy advice remains worthy of re-reading

The Three Surprisingly Simple Keys to Success

Back when I was writing novels and working on getting them published, someone gave me a piece of advice.

“You need talent, luck, and persistence. Pick any two.”

It’s probably been twenty years since I heard those words, but I still think of them all the time. They don’t just apply to getting book deals, of course.

Whether you want to paint, write, play music, raise a happy kid, design beautiful houses, or run an online business that makes you happy and rich, you can reach your goals with just two of those three.

At first glance it might seem like two of them are out of your control. But let’s look at that more carefully.

Talent

What most people call talent is usually nothing more than passion.

If you love it, you’ll do it all the damned time. And the more you play, the more you write, the more houses you design or symphonies you compose, the better you get.

Yes, there are a few “effortless talents.” There are people to whom the words come so easily you just want to smack them in the head. There are people who play music as easily and naturally as I eat ice cream.

But more often, that sense of ease comes from passion and nonstop, almost obsessive practice.

If you have absolutely zero talent for your chosen field, you’re going to have a tricky time. But usually, it’s a matter of fanning a spark of innate talent until you start to become quite impressive.

The more you work, the more talented you get.

Luck

I’m quite a lucky person. I was born in an extraordinarily wealthy country, at a time when women could do pretty much what we like, and in an era of vaccination and modern medicine that kept me from being carried off by some infectious disease at the age of 3 or 4.

Those are all massive strokes of luck. They had nothing to do with anything I did — I just lucked into them.

But what most people call luck is very different. It’s “being in the right place at the right time.” Having things just fall into place. Coming up with opportunities just when you need them. Knowing the right people.

This kind of luck comes from a few different places.

You can improve your focus. Just like you suddenly see red convertibles everywhere once you buy a red convertible, once you start focusing on luck and opportunity, they pop up like dandelions after a spring rain.

Nothing magic makes that happen. Those opportunities were there all along – you were just looking at something else.

You can improve your frequency. If you want to roll a pair of sixes, you’ll have much more luck doing that with 10 dice than you will with 2.

Pitch a guest post to 10 A-list blogs and you’re a lot more likely to get a spot than if you pitch 2.

Talk to 1000 prospects, rather than 200.

Audition for 10 gigs, rather than 2.

You can improve your likeability. Who “wins” the customer, the juicy contract, the retweet, the great job?

Sometimes it’s the one who’s the most “talented” — the one who’s producing the best output.

More often, it’s the one who’s better liked.

Be nice to people. Make yourself helpful. Don’t throw tantrums (public ones, anyway). Don’t build yourself up at another person’s expense. Make generosity a habit.

That successful raging jackass we all know? He may build some temporary success for himself, but everyone’s rooting for him to lose. His karma is gaining on him, in the form of a whole lot of people who would rather distance themselves.

The more you work, the luckier you get.

Persistence

This is the simple one.

Just don’t give up.

Keep writing. Keep making music. Keep blogging.

When something works well, do more of that. Learning from failure can work, but learning from success is even better. Big successes come from nurturing your little successes.

If there’s someone in your life making you feel dumb for your “pipe dream,” stop talking to that person about your goals. Possibly stop talking to that person at all.

Watch out for what’s sometimes called “inventor’s syndrome.” That’s what happens when you’ve invented some product or system or service that you think ought to change the world, but which, sadly, nobody wants.

Stay light on your feet. Find the story that you want to tell and that your audience wants to read. Find the intersection between passion and service.

Be too damned stubborn to quit, but not so stubborn that you won’t try new approaches.

And will you succeed?
Yes you will indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)
~Dr. Seuss

Make your own talent, make your own luck, and activate your stubborn streak, and there’s nothing that can stop you.

Know what goes great with talent, luck, and persistence? Some first-rate marketing information. You’ll find it in the Copyblogger newsletter, Internet Marketing for Smart People. Lots of practical advice you can put into place right away, to make yourself so talented and lucky that you can’t help but succeed.

About the Author: Sonia Simone is Senior Editor of Copyblogger and the founder of the Remarkable Marketing Blueprint.

Win “To Inform and Delight” Milton Glaser documentary on DVD

To me, as with many in the art and design community, Milton Glaser is a hero. I have written about him many times. This post, Milton Glaser - 10 Things I Have Learned - The Secret of Art, has had more hits and retweets than any of the other nearly 300 I have published since 2007.

Previously I have been honored to be asked to help promote the theatrical release of the documentary on him, To Inform and Delight. In a raffle for my blog readers, I gave both a copy of his book, Drawing is Thinking, and his iconic Bob Dylan poster to the winners who were announced in a later post.

Now to help celebrate the April 27 DVD release of To Inform and Delight, you have a chance to enter and win a copy of the DVD version of this inspiring documentary. Click the sign up button and add your name and email address to be included.

If you have previously registered, send me an email to barney @barneydavey.com and let me know you want to included in the raffle for the DVD drawing. As before, names will be added to a spreadsheet and a random number generator will choose the winner. The drawing will close in two weeks on April 19. The winner will be announced on April 27, the date of the the release.

Because the film is so entertaining and offers so much to learn, I have watched a preview copy twice. Art is all around us. You see it in supermarket signs and restaurant windows. If you live in or visit New York, you see the effects of it everywhere and undoubtedly much that comes from the fertile mind and hand of Milton Glaser. The New York Times had this to say in a review of the film:

"The hallmarks of his work are its simplicity, wit and elegance; it may be commercial art, but with a capital A. One of his strategies, he says, is to appeal to the problem-solving part of the brain by creating simple visual puzzles."

I love the cleverness of his way of thinking. often presented, much like the man, in a compelling and unassuming manner. Milton Glaser is a born teacher and we, his students, are so much the better for it. Film critic, Paul Brenner, offered these observations about Glaser and the film:

At one point in the film, Glaser takes a swipe at 'fine artists' who work in solitary confinement to create artworks that find their way (hopefully) into the arms of single purchasers: 'I could never get the idea of making a painting that somebody would then put in their house. It seemed weird to me. I wanted to do work that was public, that was on the street, that people saw.' And, although Glaser himself possesses fine art that hangs from the walls of his apartment -weird -- as far as New York City is concerned, he has kept to his vision as a public artist and has made his stamp on his hometown as pervasive as Robert Moses, only less Hitleresque. Glaser has an unfettered love for New York City and this love is reflected in his designs. He remarks,'New York does the job that America is supposed to do.' And, at least for Glaser, his designs do the job that art is supposed to do.

Finally, here is a description from NewVideo.com, the company releasing the DVD:

For many, Milton Glaser is the personification of American graphic design.  Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I ♥ NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser's remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, MILTON GLASER: TO INFORM AND DELIGHT.  From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men.

Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser's personal life and capture his immense warmth, humanity and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

Sign up now for your chance to win this DVD

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Milton Glaser Documentary Premiers May 22: Register to win a poster or book!

Register to win a Milton Glaser Poster or book from Art Print Issues (Ed. note, the drawing has concluded and the winners notified)

For many, Milton Glaser is the personification of American graphic design.  Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and the enduring I ♥ NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser’s remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary portrait, MILTON GLASER: TO INFORM AND DELIGHT.  From newspapers and magazine designs, to interior spaces, logos, and brand identities, to his celebrated prints, drawings, posters and paintings, the documentary offers audiences a much richer appreciation for one of the great modern renaissance men.

Artfully directed by first time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the film glances into everyday moments of Glaser’s personal life and captures his immense warmth and humanity, and the boundless depth of his intelligence and creativity.

The documentary premiere is set for May 22. Look for it at an arthouse theatre near you. You are certain to be delighted. 

Last year, I wrote a post reprinting, with Mr. Glaser's kind permission, his iconic 10 Things I Have Learned. To help illustrate the post, he kindly provided a marvelous image titled The Secret of Art. It neatly showcases his  eye and elegance, and his wit and wisdom.

Register to win a Milton Glaser poster like the one above or or a copy of his book, Drawing Is Thinking from Art Print Issues (ed. note The drawing closed and the winners have been notified.)

In honor of the film premiere, and to help raise awareness for it, we are conducting a no-obligation raffle where you will have the chance to win a poster like the one above or a copy of Drawing is Thinking.

 

The rules are simple.

• To register, follow this link and enter your name and email address.
• All entries will be placed in a spreadsheet. A random number generator will be used to determine the winners.
• Winners will need to provide a valid USPS address for free shipping. 
• Multiple entries, duplicate names and email addresses will be disqualified.
• The drawing will take place on May 31.
• Winners will be annouced here and notified by email in early June.

Phony Prosperity Plummets - Chinese Oil Painting Biz Hits the Skids

Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and bestselling author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America had an December 20 Op-Ed piece in the NY Times that caught my eye. In China to the Rescue? Not!", he discusses how China is not in a position to stimulate its domestic demand and thus help lift the rest of the world's economies out of their collective downward spiral. In a nutshell, it's not going to happen. 

Phony Prosperity Too Good To Be True

In the phony prosperity propped up in great part due to our partnership with China, where we bought ever cheaper stuff we thought we needed, but really didn't, while they bought our deepening debt, it worked until it didn't. That's where we are today. Now Chinese workers are feeling the same pinch as are those in U.S.

Chinese Oil Painting Suppliers Feeling Economic Pinch

To illustrate his point, Friedman used the example of how the art village of Dafen, the world’s leading center for mass-produced artwork and knockoffs of masterpieces — had been devastated by the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble. Apparently what used to be said about our neighbors to the North and South is now a global phenomenon. That is, when the U.S. sneezes, they would catch a cold.

Art Business Has Sex Appeal

Friedman could have picked from any of thousands of other industries where low cost Chinese manufacturing has knocked the pins from under them. It proves that although relatively small by comparison to giant businesses making furniture, machinery, etc., the art market is intriguing. It will good to remember on the days when you have second thought about painting for a living you are in a sexy intriguing business. The kind a well known columnist will showcase in an Op-Ed piece.

Sex appeal aside, you have to instinctively realize that this news from China is as much a cause for concern as it is an opportunity to look up the meaning of schadenfreude. So, take a moment to feel some glee for knowing your knockoff nemesis has hit a very rough patch. Then take a breath and realize there is little upside for you in their downfall. 

Holiday Sales Hit Retail Businesses Hard

The news today on retail sales is it is alarmingly abominable. The deepest discounts and desperate bundling techniques failed to shake dollars from consumers wallets. Considering that we are in a business providing a product that is to most a completely dispensable luxury, none of this is good news.  

There has been a slew of articles from business pundits, art and otherwise, offering untold guidance on how to survive the current downturn. It ranges from the practical to plain pollyanish. There seems to be so much that if one were to digest and act upon all of it they would soon find themselves enveloped in a paroxysm of paralysis induced by a potent combination of overexposure to bad news and bland advice. Undaunted, yours truly weighs in with observation and opinion.

Consumers Have Spoken - Make Sure You Are Listening

The consumers have spoken; they get it. They are scared and not buying things they don't need any longer. Keeping up with Joneses has given way to keeping up with the mortgage. This puts artists in a bad position, especially those who have not yet developed both a strong dealer and collector base.

Anyone who would seek to soothe you now offering advice laced with few bars of "Everything's gonna be alright," or "Don't worry, be happy" is be taken skeptically. While it's not time to get a gun and head to the hills, it's surely not time to be laying out grand plans for major expenditures either. Certainly, it's not a time to take lightly that economic conditions are eroded nearly beyond comprehension or to be persuaded a turnaround will be measured in months. Here is the unvarnished truth. It's going to take years to fix the problems we are dealing with now. And, that is if we don't take more unexpected shocks on the economic, war or terrorism fronts.

What Can You Do?

Watts Wacker, the brilliant futurist, a subject of a previous post here, who along with co-author Jim Taylor wrote the 1997 international bestseller, The 500 Year Delta: What Happens After What Comes Next . Here is part of a review of it from the InnovationWatch.com Web site:

The 500-Year Delta ultimately is about the shifts of perception needed to prosper in a future that is fundamentally, unrecognizably different. It is about surviving and thriving in an economy inhabited by two kinds of workers: owners and temps -- in a marketplace where customers must literally be bought, one at a time, and where mass merchandising utterly ceases to exist. It is a world, in short, where borders -- political, economic, and technological -- simply disappear.

Desire for Authentic Unique Goods On the Rise

Considering the book and review are a decade old, it is interesting how both now seem quite prescient in describing our current condition.  A point made in the book that to me is yet more poignant today, one that carries a lesson and offers a path for visual artists in this most difficult time is this: In an age where nearly everything is mass produced there will be a very strong yearning for products that are authentic. You may feel it yourself. Sites like Etsy, EBSQArt and The Artful Home and publications such as NEET Magazine all respond to this yearning. These are just a few of many serving the market as conduits between independent artists and consumers.

As a visual artist, you are in luck.

You have more control over what you produce and how. You have ways to easily stretch what you do and how you offer it. A recent segment on the Oprah program was titled Wallpaper Makes a Comeback. Hand-painted wallpaper is an example and inspiration of how you might stretch yourself and fill that need for an authentic one-of-a-kind product. Can you make wallpaper? Are their other ways to utilize your talent and training? I'm betting there are once you put your mind to what is possible.

You don't have to paint wallpaper to make authentic products. You don't have offer originals only either, although there is a movement for that notion with the painting-a-day phenomenon as one example. There are plenty of other ways to stretch yourself and find niches for your creativity.

Tap the Knowledge of Your Giclee Printer and Other Suppliers

Talk with your giclee printer, they see way more than you do. Ask what you can do to collaborate to use the technology to create reproductions of your original that are each unique in some demonstrable way. Consider everything including substrates, sizes, colors and graphic wraps, etc. Challenge yourself to think of what you can do. Test your theories about what you would never do. There are certain to be things among them that upon second review might just offer a new opportunity.

You Don't Have Make Your Own Canvas To Be Authentic

Authentic doesn't mean it has to be made from scratch. If you bake a pie with pumpkin filling you scrape from the pumpkin and use a store bought crust, is it enough to say made from scratch? Or would a purist say you had to grow the pumpkin, wheat and sugar cane to make it authentic? You already know the answer.

The point is consumers have become fickle and not inclined to buy stuff right now as the dismal Christmas retail season bears witness. What they are inclined to buy are things that offer meaning to them in their lives and that bear the mark of authenticity. Your challenge is to find ways to connect your images to your audience, to provide them with work that goes beyond decor. Work that resonates with them so they want to live with it in their home. That mission is really the same as it always has been. It's just today your focus needs to be more intense and in tune with your art buying public.

Slow Down, Produce Less, Make It Authentically Right, Charge More?

If might just be the time to make less, make what you make more pricey and more unique. Doing so could be an antidote to trying to mount a marketing scheme aimed at production run sales. In other words, just because the Chinese artists in Dafen are getting clobbered, it is still not a good time to attempt to go after their market share.

What Is Success?

There is for each of us who pursue a dream, a parallel reality track. The latter is the one on which we run our daily lives, the former is engine for our aspirations. Most of us need both to get by, to make sense of our lives.

Sometimes the two tracks intersect in the most meaningful and profitable ways. The stories from these chance occurrences fuel the dream track. Often times the vagaries of everyday life widen the distance between the two. For many of us, today's challenging economy turns the distance from a minor rut to a major chasm. A chasm that causes reflection on the plausibility of successfully pursuing a career in the arts.

Pursuing a career as an artist in any field is a daunting task under the best of circumstances. Sure, there are the storied fortunate few who seemingly don't pay their dues, but instead are catapulted to stardom at an astounding rate. Such success is what we all hope for, but planning on it to materialize is akin to buying lottery tickets as a financial plan. Since the odds of winning the lottery are the same whether you buy a ticket or not, it's not advisable.

What is Success?

Success is as deeply personal as thing a person can decide upon for themselves. Certainly, society has its markers, notably fame and fortune. I say success is being happy in achieving what one sets out to do. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are happy with the results of your chosen endeavors, then you are blessed and successful in my book. Taped to my computer monitor as a daily reminder is a classic description. It is a famous short essay that often is incorrectly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

What Constitutes Success - Bessie Stanley, Lincoln, NE 1905

"He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction."

Stanley won a contest sponsored by the Lincoln Sentinel newspaper. The $250 prize was a remarkable sum by 1905 standards. Adjusted for inflation, it would be $5700 today. But, her success was not monetary. It was to become a legacy that lives on more than 100 years later. I like to think the personal joy and satisfaction she took from merely writing the words was for her success enough. The rest, money and timeless legacy, just icing on the cake.

Sometimes when one is painting or creating with a mercenary goal in mind, this joy is hard to find. Not to say one can't feel righteously proud of creating something regardless if it was made purely for artistic expression or purely because it was certain to sell.

Creativity and Commerciality Cannot Co-exist for Some Artists

For some artists, it is difficult to work at making art as if it were a craft such as bricklaying. It robs them of the joy in creating. For this reason, you find supremely talented artists who labor in anonymity. But take no pity for them, most have made a conscious choice about what success is for them, and being commercially viable is not one of them. At least it is not a driving criterion. I personally get this. I have a day job marketing for a successful high tech firm. It pays the bills and provides the bennies and allows me to publish this blog on my own schedule without being at the mercy of a publisher or advertiser's demands.

Some hobbyist artists will create priceless gems only a few will every enjoy in comparison to star artists. But at the moment of self-satisfaction wherein one quietly and privately basks in knowing this work of art before them came from their imagination, skill and creativity, a wonderful warm glowing feeling is generated. And, that special moment runs as deeply and pleasingly in a happy hobbyist as it does the most acclaimed artist.

You can't take self-satisfaction to the bank, but you also can't put a price on standing before something you made that gives you pure joy in having it come from your hand. With any luck, your work will live out in a legacy in ways you as the creator can never imagine. This is true whether you achieve tremendous success or make your art for the enjoyment of your family, friends and, of course, yourself.  

Art Is What You Make It

There is no argument we are cursed to live in interesting times. Events of the past few weeks have made things too interesting by far for most of us. Let's hope the last minute maneuvering to save the US economy works. Too bad most of us are clueless as to how this happened.

On a wing and a prayer our economy flies now

We all understand home prices jumped to unheard heights when the interest rate was dropped down to record lows and stayed there for the longest time. In a nutshell, supposedly smart people who should have cared and known better turned out to be average people with above average greed.

Homeowners were sucked in along the way as many succumbed to the Pied Piper's tune telling them prices would not go down and they could use the equity in their home like a free ATM machine. It was a glorious party, but now the hangover and reality have set in with a monstrous financial headache. It's not that simple, but the essence is there and applies to the highest gilt-edged boardrooms as well as modest two bedroom bungalows.

Can these really be the best of times?

Now, if you are not so depressed about the undoing of our national financial underpinnings, you might be wondering how you can sell some art. I have been saying in workshops, consulting sessions and private conversations for some time that these interesting times are arguably the best of times for visual artists. How so you say? Simply, there are more ways to create your art and more ways to get your art to market than any previous time.

You are not relegated to choosing between oil and acrylics and paper or canvas. You might be start your creative process with the Nikon D90 DX 12.3MP Digital SLR Camerafor digital photography to capture an image and manipulate it in Photoshop. Or to perhaps learn exciting techniques for making digital imagery in Painter. If you choose the latter, you'd be wise to partake of the tremendous knowledge from Masters such as Marilyn Sholin. You might be digitally painting on the fabulous Wacom Cintiq 21UX 21.3" Tablet with Interactive Pen. 

Are you working in convergence media?

If you are doing these things, I think you are creating something I call convergence media. Like mixed media, the term it borrows the name from, it requires pulling together in unique fashion an artistic vision using a variety of techniques, tools and products to create the final image. Then again, you may be putting paint on canvas as always and just using technology to do image capture to print giclees. And, there is certainly nothing wrong with that.

Just a few short years ago, you would have been doing none of this. Nor would you have a blog, or an online presence with your own Website, not mention the many worthy sites that will help you market your work. In short, right now, you have more opportunity to control how your art is made and more unique ways to find collectors than before.

These are the best of times to release all your creativity

If you have a spirit of adventure and a streak of creativity, you ought to be thinking of how you can use this new technology to create new ways to make and display your art. Why do vehicle graphics have to always be a movable billboard. Why can't they also be a piece of movable art? Do you have the resources, vision and chutzpah to graphic wrap something larger than a Hertz bus? Challenge yourself to go beyond your traditional thinking. How can you use your creativity to create something unique memorable and fantastic? If you rise to the challenge and answer that question and succeed with your vision, you are certain to have your ticket punched for the fast lane to awareness for yourself and your art.

Maybe your vision, budget or stomach for adventure is more mundane. Why not think about using wood, mylar, plastic or other substrates to create art. Here's an idea; you could work with a custom furniture maker to create art that is part of the furniture! The only limit is your imagination being throttled by yourself.

Below is an example of how Dutch photographer Suseela Gorter is using technology to create new ways to have her work displayed and appreciated.

Blooming Window Art - Flat Flowers Stickers (GALLERY)

(TREND HUNTER) These Flat Flowers stickers are the work of Dutch photographer Suseela Gorter. Flat flowers are photographs of flowers in a vase printed on a clear and static material. You simply stick the Flat Flowers… [More]

Start your own creative wheel turning. Let your mind wander. Daydreaming is essential to creative thinking. Write things down as you think of them. Use The Brain to capture and connect your thoughts. You have the capacity to do something unique. If you challenge yourself and respond, good things are bound to ensue.

Web Sketch - a great way to be creative with art

A long time reader and artist extraordinaire, Jane Vanderhoof recently sent the beautiful diptych images below with this message: "Barney, you might want to check this site out and talk about it in your newsletter. This is a great way to be creative with art." 

Thanks for sharing this cool Web Sketch tool Jane. I could not agree with you more; it looks like great fun! Click on the image to go directly to her Web Sketch gallery where you can read Jane's heartfelt lovely companion verse for the pieces.

Like so many nifty things on the Web, it's at brought to you at our favorite price, FREE!

P.S. If you have noticed a slow down in the pace of my blog posts lately, you are to be commended for your keen observational skills. I'm devoting time to some other projects and traveling in July and August. You can expect to see a slate of new stuff delivered at full speed starting around Labor Day.

Indie Fashion Mag Inspires

The previous Indie Art Intersection post sets the table for this one. It seems art, fashion and music come in trends with differerent global locations taking turns leading. Lately, Brit chicks have been having their way on the pop music scene with Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Leona Lewis and Adele all making hits and generating lots of fan and media interest.

Similarly, there is a wave of indie fashion mags helmed by Brit chicks as well. None better done or more exciting than N.E.E.T. Magazine. It is helmed by Stephanie J who manages the slick online publication as a one person band. What she is pulling together is a visual tour de force of indie fashion, graphic design, art and accessories. It takes a while for the mag to load, but it is worth the wait.

You may or may not have an interest in fashion, or indie fashion, but it is a source of cutting edge trends that often wind their way into the mainstream market. I would hardly describe myself as a fashionista, but I do appreciate creativity and great design. I found an abundance of both in N.E.E.T. Although this genre is primarily populated by younger generations, visual artists of all ages can take clues on current graphic design and color trends to inform their work.  N.E.E.T. Magazine is a step beyond fashion. Here is a quote from a Q&A on Prcouture and Stephanie J that sums up her concept for the publication:

Who/what gets featured in N.E.E.T?

SJ: Anyone and everyone - as long as they’re independent. Fashion designers, crafters, illustrators, photographers, fashionistas, journalists, boutique owners, bloggers, vintage lovers, stylists, make up artists, eco-friendly stores, fairtraders - in N.E.E.T. I feature original, quality and well made items.

Sometimes the best inspiration and ideas come from those things we initially thought we would never do. It is a well known brainstorming technique to think of all the things you wouldn't do. Try it sometimes when thinking of new vacation destinations. Or, flip through the pages of N.E.E.T. to discover some concepts you can creatively borrow for your art business. Maybe it's not for you art, but for your Web design or graphic design to promote your business. Or, maybe you'll find a piece of irrestible jewelry or other accessory. Enjoy!