hang on tight...

Here's the progress on the "Elegant Spider" (working title) painting.

12x16 inches, oils and airbrushed scrylics on GessoBord.


April First is getting closer!

I met with the owners of the gallery, and the curator, last Monday night. We measured the space. Fortunately (given that I'm not going to have a ton of work on exhibit) it's not a huge place, and I should have enough pieces so that the main display wall doesn't look too crowded, or (worse) empty.

I have several things to take care of tomorrow. They're probably going to take most of the day; I'm not expecting to get much done in the studio. But, Saturday and Sunday will be heavy studio days (they've gotta be!), and I hope to finish at least two paintings this weekend, and get two more much further along.

And, I started a new sculpture tonight!

(25 June 2001 edit: the sculpture referred to, above, has been destroyed. It was in Sculpey, and I plan to sculpt only in porcelain from now on.)

Getting Personal...

I haven't blogged much about my "personal life", mainly because I want this to be an art blog; a record of my progress towards becoming a full-time fine artist. As a person who is trying to approach my art as a "professional"--working on my art regularly, regardless of my moods, health, etc.--so I try not to let the "personal stuff" interefere (too much) with my art.

I found out today that my father has (roughly) six months to live.

This was not a shock; my father has been in a nursing home for two years, and his health has been declining rapidly over the past several months. But today was the first time any his medical staff have put any sort of "time-frame" on the remainder of his life.

My solo show opens one month from today. I have a ton of work to do over the next thirty days, and I am feeling confident that I can stay focused, and create some really cool stuff to exhibit at the show.

And, there isn't much that I need to do for Dad; between the Hospice folks and the staff at the nursing home, he's getting the best care possible.

But, the meeting with his "care team" this morning brought back lots of memories of similar meetings for my mother before she died in 2005.

And, I have also been thinking a lot lately about the many times my father helped me set up art shows in the past. I don't think my Dad ever really "understood" my art, but he could not have been more supportive. Time and again he helped carry paintings, lights, extension cords, and displays, to and from various exhibition spaces: across parking lots, down long shopping mall corridors, up and down hills (at outdoor shows); in rain and snow, baking hot sun, and the dead of night.

And he, the consummate complainer about nearly everything, never complained about anything to do with an art show.

Not once.

I'm not doing outdoor shows or mall shows these days. At the galleries I've worked with lately, there's always a few folks around to help carry something, steady a ladder, or keep an eye on my tools while I grab a couple more paintings from the car.

I'll have plenty of help when I set up my solo show at the end of this month.

But it won't be the same. Ever again.

This show's for you, Dad.

(And, thanks!)

Progressing slowly...

Elegant Spider, 16x20 inches, oils and airbrushed acrylics on GessoBord...

I've been working on the Elegant Spider painting over the weekend, and it's coming along nicely (I think). I had actually started painting the background earlier in the week, only to realize that the background really needed to be (at least partially) airbrushed.

So, I removed the paint (using a scraper followed by a paper towel soaked in Gamsol), and--once the area was more or less dry--began airbrushing Friday night.

I think this is going to be one of the nicest "spider paintings" so far.

I (basically) have one month to finish up whatever stuff I'm going to have in my show. There are (at least) four other paintings I'd love to have in the show, but they haven't even been started yet. The chances that I could start and finish them in time for the show is rather slim; and working on them would take time I could spend finishing work in time for the show.

(I did spend some time--too much time, actually--working on the drawing for a new painting. While its nice to regularly work on new ideas, I probably should have spent that time finishing paintings for my show...)

A month is not very much time (and I've never been highly skilled at time-management!) so I'm trying to focus on finishing the six or seven paintings that I've already started, in time for the show--and leaving the new stuff to get started once everything else is finished.

If there is time to work on (and hopefully finish) something new before April First, fine.

If not, I have applied to exhibit in this year's "Fringe Fest" in July, so I'll have three full months to work on "new stuff" before that show.

[sigh]

The Inward Spiral (of doubt)...

I started work on a large (36 x 60 inches) painting recently. This painting will might end up taking several months to complete--though I hope it gets done much sooner than that. (Of course, I'll be working on several other pieces during that time as well...)

I'm more than a little nervous about this painting, for several reasons. The main reason is that, except for reworking The Presentation of Spiders, I haven't created a narrative (large/major) painting since I was in college. (I graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute, with my BFA in painting, three years ago.)

When I started college in 2003, I felt that I had scores of good ideas I wanted to develop. By the time I reached my seniour year in the Spring of 2008, I had been through so much second-guessing (via some fairly harsh critiques from both my instructors and fellow students) that I had begun to doubt whether or not I wanted to paint (and/or was able to paint) at all. n fact, I came very close to dropping out of school after finishing juniour year. A painting major, I nonetheless created only two paintings my entire seniour year; both at the beginning of my first seniour semester. The rest of my work as a seniour were sculptures!

Questioning one's self can be a very good thing. But, questioning one's work to the point of becoming "artistically paralyzed" isn't good at all. It was a struggle to finish school, and I fell really good about how far I've come--as an artist--since graduation.

With the work I'm preparing for my upcoming solo show, Arachnaphilia: For the Love of Spiders, I'm starting to feel much as I did when I started school. I feel that I have quite a few really good ideas once again--and I'm really ready to start work on them, and see them through.

Still, I've set aside the large painting (for now); the priority from now through March 31st is to finish the stuff for the show.

After that, though, I want to start work on the next "series" of pieces, and I want them to be physically larger than the paintings I've been making over the last two and a half years, and I also want them to be more developed, conceptually.

There will be more spiders...!

Picking Battles...

Elegant Spider (in progress), 12x16 inches, charcoal, graphite, & oils on GessoBord.

Every choice to do one thing, is also a choice to not do all the other things that could have been done, instead.

My solo show is less than two months away. I expected to have many more paintings finished by now.

(In other words, I'm way behind!)

Last month, the Kansas City Art Institute announced an upcoming alumni auction and exhibit. The juror is the new director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum.

While it would be very cool to have one of my paintings seen by the director of the Nelson-Atkins (!) the deadline to submit something to the auction is March 1. It would take me the entire rest of February to produce a decent painting--and I would not want to submit anything less than my best--and I really need the rest of this month (along with next month, too, of course) to prepare for my solo show.

So, I've decided not to worry about entering the alumni exhibit.

I think being ready for my solo show is more important.

Art Full-Time...

An artist friend of mine, who quit his job several months ago to become a full-time artist, posted on Facebook today that he's looking for another job.

He has been one of my best "cheerleaders"; he's been very enthusiastic about the "spider" paintings, and has really encouraged me to get my latest stuff into galleries and shows around town.

I was really hoping he'd be able to create art, full-time, from now on. (I'm sure he was, too!)

Times are tough, my friends. Really tough!

Ever since reading his post, I've been thinking about what it really means to be a "full-time artist".

A while ago I posted something in the "Art Business" forum at www.wetcanvas.com about creating 'a decent year's' worth of art. Basically, artists who wants to make (for example) $30,000.00 (net earnings) from art sales, need to create and sell! around $75,000.00 worth of art in a twelve-month period (since galleries take--on average--forty percent, plus there will be taxes to pay, as well)!

This is not an easy task! First, it means creating (on average) around $6,000.00 worth of art every month for an entire year.

To put this in perspective, last year, I made $4,500.00 worth of art--total (at my current prices). Now, last year, I did start several pieces which will be finished this year, but the work that went into them, will be added to this year's total.

I do have about a dozen pieces available that were created before last year. But, even if everything I started last year was now completed, and if we added the older stuff in with the new, I still wouldn't have anywhere near $70,000.00 worth of art to sell.

And then, even if I had $70,000.00 worth of art "in stock", I'd only earn (forty percent of) it, if every single piece was purhcased.

And that's only if one wants to earn the (rather modest) sum of (roughly) $30,000.00 a year. Any artist who wants to earn more than that, is going to need to create and sell a correspondingly larger amount of work. (Or, be able to charge correspondingly higher prices!)

I think I have a good idea of what makes a good painting. I think I have some decent original ideas. I know my materials fairly well, and know something about how to use them. I am starting to get into local gallery shows, and I've sold several pieces in the past few months.

But, there is still a TON of stuff I don't have any ideas how to do. I don't know how to make enough art (while still working a full-time job) that I'll have enough art available to be purchased, that I can sell enough to feel comfortable quitting my full-time job, to become an artist full-time.

And, I don't yet know how to consistently sell my work, so that most of what I make, is bought in a reasonable amount of time.

My goal is for me to be able to create art full-time. I know that this means I'll have to become much more business-savvy than I currently am. (I suspect it may also mean that a percentage of the art I am going to make, will be made primarly for the market, rather than for "art's sake". What percentage, I have no idea. Hopefully, not too large...!)

Anyway, maybe this information will help someone out there--and I hope it hasn't been too depressing. It's not sexy, and it certainly isn't fun, but I may touch on this subject again from time to time, because it is a huge part of what it means to try to make a living as an artist.

The Presentation of Spiders (in progress)
20x40 inches, oils on panel.

Well, the group show in February seems to have fallen through. The gallery owner is remodelling the gallery, and doesn't expect the work to be done in time for a February opening. His March show will be an exhibit of tattoo art, so...that's that.

But, it looks like I'll be hanging the six unsold "Face" paintings at at yet another gallery in the popular, downtown KC "Crossroads" arts district--

--tomorrow night! I don't know much about this place, other than it comes rather highly recommended. I know they have "First Friday" openings--only occasionally, but well-attended.

So, I'm hopeful. It's odd, that in little over four months since the first show of my work post-college, I've now worked with three different Crossroads galleries!

It feels good. Really good. I'd love to sell the completed "Faces", buy more paint, upgrade my computer (visit the dentist, fix the cars, take a real--our-of-town--vacation...)

The image is a painting I started my seniour year (Fall, 2005) that has haunted me ever since. It was never completed during school, was harshly critiqued by my instructor, and is one of those paintings that I've always felt needed to be done.

So, I'm doing it. I'm hoping to have it ready in time for the April opening.