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10/09/2006: "A Chapter Closed!"
I’ve been told that the idea of the Art Centre will not be going ahead. I was sad at first – and I’m sorry if this disappoints some of you guys, you were all very supportive – but I also have to admit to more than a little relief. It would have been interesting to put all the pieces in place and see it take shape and come to life. I’m sure I would have met interesting people and made contacts for collaborations and exhibition opportunities, both for myself and others – the potential was great – but to be honest, without the money to do it properly I would have been reluctant to invest so much of my time, energy and expectation on something that would never acquire the ‘lightness’ my patroness and I had idealised and would end up hovering over the valley like an ominous shadow – a vision of Howard Hughes’ sea-plane somehow comes to mind.
You’re right to say you can’t knock it until you’ve at least given it a try, but how far do you keep on trying? On whose money and time? Given that the property isn’t ours I’d say Rui, Fernando and I have given it our best shot. We assessed the possibilities, devised a series of plans of action and provided evidence to potential backers of what we, as artists, could deliver. To try beyond that would be foolish. Maybe at some later stage, when I’ve won the lottery or my paintings start going for $10.000 a piece [which would amount pretty much to the same thing for me] I’ll consider going down a similar path again with a little more enthusiasm.
At this point the three of us are set on focusing on the doable. We can’t afford otherwise, and none of us aspires to being a modern-day D. Quijote. We are, above all, artists. We carry on with our creative work and we contribute as best as we can to our household budgets through the sale of our paintings, and beyond the studio we seek to increase that contribution, be it through an increase in the volume of sales or implementing the best strategies to increase the value of the work itself. This, I believe, is doable and within the scope of what an artist should do in these modern times, but we’ve discussed this on Alberto Sughi’s last blog.
If we have extra time [and funds] on our hands we can be playful and create art centres, but for the time being it’s back to reality. Rui runs the workshops I mentioned in a previous post, [OD]’s the name – Oficina do Desenho (roughly translated: Drawing Workshop). The focus, as the name suggests, is on mastering the skills of drawing and composition, but then he leads participants on through the different phases that constitute the coming about of a work of art and which often require the painful skill of learning to let go of the initial drawing. Given the extra time this, too, is doable for an artist, and so whenever I’ve had a free moment I’ve been giving him and Fernando a helping hand.
The initial idea was to transfer [OD] to the property, the idea now is to focus on [OD], full stop. The present set-up is not as idyllic but it is functional and it generates income for the two of them. Over the summer the possibility arose of expanding to an adjoining room which would allow for one extra studio. I have decided to put aside the money from a few recent sales to pay for the first year’s rent and I move in as soon as they’ve torn down the wall. The prospect of keeping warm this winter is a welcome one, and overall the arrangement is very much to my benefit: I won’t get paid directly for my collaboration with [OD] but I’ll certainly increase my exposure and sales potential simply by being present and working within that environment. To my mind [OD] has enough potential just as it is and I have a feeling some interesting things will be coming out of our work together beyond our personal work and the workshops.
Do I feel regret at leaving my present studio? No. This will probably make little sense to some but it has become a part of me – within – I don’t need to hold on to the outwardly trappings. Besides, knowing myself I know that the change of setting will bring about changes in my work – I have come to understand and accept that my thoughts and ideas don’t necessarily override my environment but that it’s the other way around: my work environment brings about a particular way of seeing and feeling things. The years I spent at the property allowed me to develop certain themes that were in tune with the place, and now, moving on to a new studio, I am curious about which ideas I’ll be able to fully grasp [which feelings I’ll come to terms with] and transform into paintings.
A new chapter opens up and I am relieved to have enough time on my hands to explore the possibilities... like I said before all this started, all I really want is to stay behind the scenes and paint [at least for the next year or so].
