Another blogger posted about this and I thought it might be just the inspiration you needed to kick it up a notch this year. It was great to see everyone last night and I was amazed to see all your work!
Like she said
I just read this today – I hope you will all take a few minutes to read it too, and then I hope you will look at your prices and wonder if you have a similar problem?
I am feeling a bit sad that our year together is almost over – I hope I see everyone on December 10th – actually I hope I see a lot of you this weekend at the holiday sale – until then…
staying open
Hi everyone, thought with the holidays rapidly approaching – which I know for many of you means that family and friends will be eating away at your studio time ( no matter how glad you are for them) – I thought a little creative uplift might be in order so
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.” ~ Martha Graham
New video
OK here’s Malcolm McLaren talking about his art school education and the idea of flamboyant failure on the way to creative success and about the idea of being an amateur. It is long and rambling but I think there’s something of value in it for each of us.
soul art TV
This won’t be for everyone, the first video especially is really touchy feel-y. But Lisa Sonora Beam who wrote the creative entrepreneur is one of the women featured.
miss you all!
I hope everyone enjoyed their labor day holiday, although I spent the whole day on the computer trying to get caught up for school, at least my house is clean and I am finally up to date with my marking! I am teaching a student success class this semester, which is basically a freshman experience, it provides them with tools to become better motivated and prepared for life in college. Obviously I often think of the comparisons between this class and SAVI.
I have needed some uplifting motivation lately, I have been running behind all term and while I have been spending a huge amount of time in the studio (which is why I am behind!) I have been focused on finishing the big installation piece I was working on, and that has felt a lot like WORK!
So because it seems like ages until we meet again, and as it will be a brief meeting abbreviated by Bonagany, here’s a lecture for you to keep you moving towards your goals. Some of you have probably seen it before, or may even have read the book, but I never get tired of watching this man speak – Enjoy!
keeping afloat
My apologies for not posting more often lately, I have been swamped trying to prepare a new course I picked up at the last minute. MY summer is officially over as I am back in school. As always I begin a new term with optimism, hoping I will have engaged students ready to learn. Of course we know how many of them will fail to reach their art life goals because out here in the trenches we know how hard it really is to stay on track, stay motivated and do the work the universe sends us!!
A while ago I promised to put up some business links for artist insurance policies – Artists Help Network has put together a pretty comprehensive list of carriers, or you could ask your insurance carrier if they offer vendors insurance. Hopefully that will set you off in the right direction!
So, it seems like a long pause between meetings this time around, what are you all working on? I am finishing up a large cast paper installation piece for a show at JCC in October, I have been trying to really stay on track with this as it is a large project and of course the paper needs to dry, so I can’t rush in and finish it up at the last minute (which we all know is our preferred method of working!!) I am also playing with some new work, connected by a thought to this body of work but working in a less structured way. And I am writing lesson plans both for college and local organizations, along with doing some gallery research and a zillion and one other family things.
I hope you are all still on track to your goals – feel free to share what you are working on here or at the website.
So here’s my little bit of education related inspiration for today I hope you enjoy it.
welcome summer
summer time & the living is easy! HA! This is how my summer looks, what about all of you? As we reach the half way mark in our year together how is your energy? Are you still excited by the things on your list, or are you beginning to realize that you want to go some place else?
This is how I keep track of what is going on in my professional life. It is in plain view in my studio. I need to see things otherwise I waste a lot of time & energy worrying about the due date for a show or application. The little notes are meetings I have committed to attending, so I don’t start to over-schedule my days. Summer is so precious to me because I get big swaths of time to create in. I am able to work on larger projects and just play in the studio instead of always being on a creative deadline. The bottom of the board contains my crazy lists, things still to do for impending deadlines. I use post-its for this area so I can take them down when I need to take action on them!
Watch your post in the next week or so as a new SAVI newsletter will be on its way filled with tips & tricks for goal “keeping” from your peers. I see from the green sheets that many of you use a big calendar or lists, would you be willing to share some pictures? If so email them to me & I will share them with the group. I find a calendar doesn’t work for me because I want it to look neat & tidy and I am always adding and re-prioritizing things and I end up re-writing the calendar just so it isn’t a mess! I’m off to enjoy a day mostly in the studio, except for a few errands for a workshop I am teaching tomorrow. Hope you have a great day!
your blog, your way post 2
this month’s installment on art blogging by Seth at The Altered Page is available here. Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday!
creative arrogance
We have spent a lot of time thinking about the business aspects of creativity. Like many of you, I still feel weird thinking about my work in terms of value measured by money/income. Why is this?
I know for me it is partly because of my education, many academic artists I encountered on the path to my degree never spoke about money. Of course they partly supported themselves with their teaching activities, just as I do now, but they also sold art, their work, and never once mentioned that. In art school I learned that art & money don’t mix! But of course they must!
This is further reinforced by the glamour of the starving artist mystique. Artists enjoy suffering for their art, it is a rite of passage, if you aren’t hungry you are doing it wrong! Well that was all well and good when I was single. I lived frugally, I was OK with nothing. But then I had children. My kids didn’t sign up for that lifestyle and it wasn’t fair to them. I had to learn how to translate my creativity into income, and to do that I entered the coporate world, I got a job! I worked as a typesetter and graphic designer for many years, with some breaks when I went to school. In the beginning I felt like I was selling out, pimping out my creativity on business cards and logo designs. It took me a long time to realize it was OK to make money doing something I was good at that came easily to me.
So for a long time I have lived in two worlds, my studio and the office. Many of you are doing the same thing. In the beginning it was a bit like being behind enemy lines, the business culture has its own language and culture, I had to learn those things to function there, and I am smart, so I could and did!! I have always been a morning person, I like to get up and get going, so getting up to go to work wasn’t hard for me. I don’t sleep much, so I could work late in my studio too, because like most people I often hit my creative stride late at night. I made it work because I needed it to work.
I am mentioning all of this because as usual, my web surfing this week has turned up a theme… art & money. First I want to share this link, from an artist who has come up with a great marketing scheme to pay her rent! She is also getting a lot of flack from other artists for being gimmicky, but a girl’s gotta pay her rent! What do you think?
The second is another TED video, this one about the communication barrier between the art world and the business world. It’s about 20 minutes long so hang in there, and the pie chart on creativity is worth the duration! I am guilty at times of crarrogance, how about you?
creative mentoring for SAVI 