Painters are fickle folk.
We like our work to be appreciated, we like to think our life's study/work has not all been in vain, and most of all we like to see the occasional 'red dot'.
We can work for decades, then one day sell a minor work for a few £'s, and it all suddenly seems worthwhile. It's not the money; it's the appreciation.
Personally I've had more work stolen than I've sold, which in its own way is flattering, but I'd like to have had more financial return. This has probably been my own fault as I've allowed some disastrous galleries to show my work, and placed my reputation in the hands of rank amateurs. I've occasionally exhibited in quite prestigious locations, but always in mixed non-selling shows.
I'm working more at the moment than I have for the past few years, and I'm toying with the idea of showing work again, but I would certainly be much more selective about the location and its curator/manager than I have been in the past.
My last exhibition here in France was enough to put anyone off!
30 comments:
That is good news that you are painting more now. It is wonderful to have joy and satisfaction in what you do but it even better to get paid for it. I wish you the best in getting a reputable venue and art dealer.
Thank you.I'm also probably less 'up tight' about it now too.
I feel for you on many levels Cro. My father loved to paint but never had the showings or the support he needed to be even mildly financially successful. But I have many of his pieces and they give me more joy each year. He was simply ahead of his time, now his style is called "folk art" and it's popular in the US. I need to blog about that soon. It's good your painting more. Please keep blogging about that and if you ever show in the U.S. let me know. I'll be there.
Oh, oh, oh! This is EXACTLY what I have been looking for but didn't realise it. But my instinct tells me an original Cro Magnon is way out of my league. Dammit.
Amazing how a little red sticker can bring so much joy!
My aims don't stretch as far as the U.S. but If I'm invited, I'll let you know.
They're too expensive for me, so maybe you're right.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
:)
I thought you only sell your work on private connections, not wanting to give horrendous pourcentage to galleries etc.
That's what you answered when I asked some time ago , if your work is showed in exhibitions. You seem to be such "un homme carré" in your opinions that
it 's strange that you did not manage well , but probably I do not understand . And how your work was stolen ? The Red dot arrives only from time to time I suppose..
The last exhibition I was in was a collective show where nothing was discussed beforehand about sales. Towards the end of the show the gallery rang me to say somebody wanted to buy one of my drawings. The gallery woman said they would be taking 50% commission. This made pricing my work rather difficult as for me to make anything the price went rather stupid. The buyer backed off. I no longer show work through galleries. I used to give my work away or exchange for work with other artists. I now only sell and get expressions of interest through Instagram.
That's interesting. I know many artists (having been a potter and mixed in those circles helped) and there are so many considerations including, of course, Lady Luck.
I used to sell through galleries, then changed to having an agent. A lot of my work was stolen when I was at college. The Tutors stole some, and other students also stole to use as their own for applications to post-graduate courses.
Those collective non-selling shows are usually a waste of time and money.
Frankly I'm rather like you, I'd prefer to give stuff away.
I was offered a place at the Royal College of Art by Carel Weight, but turned it down. Had I gone, I would have met all the influential people from the world's Art Scene, and would possibly have become quite well known. I had a wife and child at the time, and two years back in London didn't appeal.
My rewarding moment was when an American patchwork magazine published some of my work. It was so nice to find out that they were worth some one taking and interest in and gave me the impetous to continue making more.
Briony
x
For creative people, recognition is far more important than monetary reward. But it's still nice to receive a cheque.
I can imagine that the art world is a difficult world to be in ..... not very consistent and lots of criticism plus a bit of praise. You have to have a thick skin I would imagine. I wouldn't have thought that there were many galleries near you ..... where would you have to go to show your work Cro ? XXXX
Every time H.I. has an exhibition, it is my job to run around putting up red dots. Usually about 15 in one hour, then nothing for the next two weeks. Everyone knows that if they wait for the show to finish they will get a discount.
Well I certainly could live easily with the picture in this post Cro.
When you're dead you'll be famous. Red dots everywhere!
Interesting that your tutors stole your artwork. For his 'A' level Art exam my son painted a stunning 'David Hockneyesque' oil painting of a swimmer which the head teacher (the same one who is in collusion with Berkeley Homes to build a super size school on green belt fields and 300 new 'enabling' houses - the decision, after a three week appeal, is now with the Secretary of State Sajid Javid) selected to hang in her office. I have tried several times to trace its whereabouts to no avail and suspect it is now in her home. It was finely painted and brilliantly executed, especially the hands of the swimmer and the splash of the water. Oh well, I have the preliminary sketches in his art folder which I still love to look at. I guess the moral is to only show work you don't mind losing and may be why so many artists paint the same thing over and over again?
No, I was thinking more of England. We'll see.
I think it always happens that way, if you're going to sell it's usually not long after the opening.
It's one of my 'Landscape as Calligraphy' series.
Good to know. Confetti for a funeral.
I once entered a painting for a competition, and later found it hanging in the office behind the gallery. No-one seemed to know why it was there and not in the show, and it disappeared when the show was over. I was compensated as 'lost' by their insurance.
You posted a few pencil drawings with wash a year ago (?) that I was very interested in. I thought they were wonderful.
I to have been wanting to do more art. I was a commercial artist for many years and it has a it's own problems.
cheers, parsnip and thehamish
Whatever talent one has, and however limited it may be, it is our duty to use it. That's what I was always told, and have always believed.
Where would one find a Cro painting, other than France?
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