Friday, September 13, 2013

Pottery

I couldn't come up with a more exciting title for this? Pottery .... hm. Oh well. I certainly didn't take a stellar pic of it either.
So, Friday the thirteenth.
I admit I've been a tad blue.
 I have to say Robert Genn's clickback article "Happy times here again?" started me off. http://clicks.robertgenn.com/happy-times.php There was that darn last paragraph:
Selling of "Painting a Day" and such for $200 is okay but it's not a career. EBay and Etsy are still garage sales. Amazon, to its credit, is pioneering the sale of paintings online with the apparent endorsement of what appear to be galleries. 
I really like Robert's Twice-Weekly letters. He just happened to rain on my parade that day. Garage sales?
Then my issue of American Art Review came. Their Fortieth Anniversary Issue. Now, I have a very soft spot in my heart for this magazine. Their associate editor Jill Redmond and I had a random and lovely conversation back in February (she used to live nearby where I live and we shared a few memories of the area.) We talked for about 40 minutes and part of the conversation was about how magazines, especially art magazines, are a not a draw for the younger audience, especially a magazine like American Art Review which is really more has more of a historical slant. I love art history.
So the other thing that sunk my boat? The editor, Thomas Kellaway, summed up the fortieth anniversary issue with a few thoughts and here are two of his:
#1 Most people can, unbelievably, live without art. 
#3 Art is desirable to a significant but small group of people. 

This, in itself, certainly isn't a surprise. Is it? I mean, I wouldn't subscribe to the latest issue of Bus World. I don't care for buses so I would say they are desirable to a significant but small group of people. But ART! Not Art!
But both of these articles ended with upbeat thoughts. Robert's final sentence was: In art galleries and out, my prognosis is that more original art is going to be sold over the next two decades than in the entire history of art. Stick around; there's going to be some grazing. 
And Thomas Kellaway's was "Collectors do buy art that is advertised in magazines." 
So... encouraging.
I know... no, I KNOW I paint for myself. (and I take terrible pics of my work and that certainly doesn't  make them shine.)  But I'll keep plugging along, learning and polishing my rough edges. In fact, I've actually completed three paintings during this time. Now if I could just take some decent photos...
Cheers all. I apologize if you've found my ranting a downer. 
Oil on board 6x6"  Yes, available for sale $25 at.... sigh, .... Etsy. (Snapdragon wanted it but I said no. She steals too much of my work)

God's peace.
Karen


13 comments:

  1. I actually thought this was interesting reading Karen, and let's hope Robert is right and to be a part of all the sales :-))) Love your vase , you really get a feeling of the material and the weight, great light too. Have a nice Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh man - discouraging stuff. I don't know - when I sell something through my little garage sale it's an amazing feeling. And if I were a collector with the means, I would do both - buy accomplished artists' work through galleries etc, as well as rummage online for those undiscovered gems at a bargain.
    Love this painting btw - it seems to have a case of the blues, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahah thank you Karen. I should have called it Pottery Blues lol

      Delete
  3. Snapdragon has good taste!! I always enjoy your posts and paintings Karen.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! You sound like me on a good day!
    Nice rant --- we all have thought the same at some point.
    Then nice things happen - then they don't -- it seems a perennial cycle.
    As I currently don't have to walk five miles in the morning to fetch a can of water on my head - life is good.
    YOU know the value of your art and so do SOME other people -- it's just making the connections that seems tricky. The more I push, the more difficult things get and then an opportunity pops out of the blue (maybe Prussian).
    I love the way you get involved with stuff. AND I vividly remember your first comment to me on Deviantart!!

    Thanks my friend over the blue pond (maybe Phthalo)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your "pottery" painting Karen...I know, I have trouble with cool catchy names too. :)
    I think internet selling for art is still so new that no one really knows how far it'll go...that's just his opinion and he might be right or he might be wrong. I never take articles too seriously, I read them and take the tidbits that are interesting to me and leave the rest. Do what feels right for you at this moment and it will all be good!
    As far as the other article...I believe it but I don't understand how one can live without art...

    ReplyDelete
  6. wonderful pottery painting!! but pah-leeze!! don't rest your career on the opinions of others. all you need to do is focus on and see your work selling on on the walls of a host of joyful returning collectors and nothing else. outlooks and opinions change every day. at one time the earth was flat! you keep seeing your works selling and it will no matter who says what where. i read a wonderful passage once...there are so many walls on the planet and there's room for us all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow Suzanne that is the greatest saying! Thanks for the inspiration!

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...