Eric Fischl on "Second Act"

It's not like I started my first act yet but it's good to be reminded that doing art is a long journey. Getting the first taste of success and recognition is just the beginning.

" They shouldn’t abandon their first thing until they are tired of it, but they must know that their life is not going to just be that first act. There is a second act coming and they should prepare for it. That’s where the real test is. It’s not as big a leap in terms of finding your voice, finding a gallery, getting people interested in what you do. That’s all huge. The second act is subtler, but it can erase you or land you as a major artist."

http://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/eric-fischl-interview

Unsolicited Submissions

http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/2009/11/marketing-mondays-unsolicited.html?m=1

Henri Matisse

An excellent BBC documentary about Matisse. So inspiring!

http://youtu.be/Ob8FWxrKVZY

Career Builder 101

Great tips about how to build an art career: http://youtu.be/6WA0KecvP-g

Tips I like:
1. The more comfortable you are with yourself, the more comfortable you are about putting yourself out there, the more successful you will be.

2. Hit them up four months later. Just keep hitting them up. They're gonna see that you are hungry. As long as your work grow every time you hit them up, eventually they will give you an opportunity.

3. You should be able to explain your art in a nutshell. 

How to Show Your Art at Galleries

A very informative article about how to show your art at galleries,

On Commitment
"They're aware that the payoff is not always immediate, and that if they're going to invest time, money, publicity and wall space in your art, they want to at least see some promise for an evolving, engaging and ongoing narrative. In other words, they look for signs that you're serious about your art, have some sense of a game plan, guiding principle or philosophy, and are committed to being an artist and showing your art for many years to come. There's hardly anything galleries hate more than to back artists who suddenly decide to do something else with their lives and poof off into the ether forever. Vanishing artists and one-hit wonders do not make a gallery look good."

On the Artworks
"They want to hear your whole story, not just today's headlines, but where your journey is taking you, and what drives, motivates and inspires your creative process. Do you have more than one idea? Do you have a vision? Is that vision clear and well defined and articulated? Are you breaking new ground, exploring new territory? Or are you rehashing the past, stuck in a rut, stagnant or backing yourself into a corner? Are you productive and serious about spending time in the studio? Most importantly, do you have a significant body of current work that is complete (or nearly complete), fresh, original and HAS NOT been shown or exhibited elsewhere... or if not, are you capable of creating one by a to-be-determined date or deadline?" 

http://www.artbusiness.com/how_to_show_your_art_at_a_gallery.html

Monotype Printing

Slowly but steadily, I put the negative print I just created through a heavy-duty press while man-powering the machine. I have never felt a stronger connection and intimacy with my artworks. Maybe it is in our nature that the more difficult the process is, the more we appreciate the result.

The negative print is sitting on top of a light box

Negative print of a snowy birth forest

An exciting aspect of monotype print is that you can only get one original copy out of  a negative print (I'm not talking about putting the original print through a copy machine). Once you print it, all the paint on the plate is gone. So no matter how attached you are to the result, you just have to keep moving forward and building on previous images.

Catherine lent me a book about monotype printing at the end of the workshop. I guess I always gave people an impression that I have not learned enough :)

Learn to Paint in One Day

The workshop truly was fun, as long as you don't care about getting messy.

Orange is the new black

The rock&roll superstar Olya Losina

We all became kids at that moment

To find out more about the "Learn to Paint in One Day" workshop I attended, click here.