Replies: 14 Comments
on Wednesday, March 14th, shailendra tiwari said
It is the pleaure of painting which inspire me to paint. my biography and my bank balance and my contacts and my stratagic alliance allare diffrent dimentions not realy affecting the creater inside me.Galleries supporting my art and plethora of friends shall one day write biography and if not my work shall stand alone as a LIFE the biographies are for DEAD
shailendra
Artist
Bhopal
on Thursday, March 1st, Redsfineart said
This is my first encounter with this art blog and I find it interesting, this idea of emerging artist. I have been making a living as a fine arts painter for twenty years. The concept of emerging artist is a broad arena. An artist, at least in my case and those artists that I have had the fortunate chance to ponder our lifes work with, all have one thing in common, there is no one avenue to success in the arts. Galleries,critcs, art societies,art shows and the multiudes of other means of getting ones work to the public, are all attempted at one time or aother. The arts are a fishing expedition that needs experimental bait on the hook to see who will bite at your particular style on that particular day at that particular venue. The bio\ resume is a reflection of our successes, and the failed attempts that are not present in the Bio are the steps to growing a successful arts career. Art as in life is a series of attempts, some work and some don't, but you can't fail if you don't quit. Let us emerge each day as the artist we want to be and not the artist that is dictated by critcs, galleries or society.
on Sunday, February 25th, sammy@hotmail.com">sammy said
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on Wednesday, February 14th, walt said
Age has nothing to do with whether someone is emerging or not. It has to do with when you first become visible to the art world. Usually the time is measured from when you graduated school. But in the case of someone who is self taught it is somewhat nebulus. Unfair perhaps but nebulus. It's hard to compare between someone starting with a body of skills against someone who may have only just begun learning those skills. This is one of the reasons it is so hard for the self taught. There is no sense of what or how long it takes. I keep reading on the aa forum about those who began painting last year, no education, no sense of what is going on in the art world and they are disappointed and frustrated, even angry that they haven't begun selling well enough to make a living from their art yet as if this is a job for which an employer hired us and pays us a salary.
It is perhaps easier for someone who has lived a bit, has run a business, has some experience in researching and understanding how markets work and has put some money away so they can survive the down times.
I've been painting since I was 10. I didn't go to art school for six years out of high school. They were six very frustrating years even though I sold some work and even showed twice in two different galleries where I sold some work for ok money. Not that I didn't enjoy my freedom. But few would pay any attention to me and now I know why. I was hit or miss. I might make a nice work once in a while but most of them were seriously incomplete or just plain s u c k e d. I had no baseline quality-- I was in fact only a student of myself at that point. I had nothing to guage what I could do or even what I was really achieving. I was very needy for feedback and confirmation. But few were interested. I sold a lot of work for almost nothing because I had no idea what it was worth. If I needed $10 I sold for $10. If I needed $50 I'd have to sell 5 works. Each of those may have taken me a week to make and $10 worth of materials. I thought at the time, well you have to spend money to make money. But in reality I was in a constant 'going out of business sale' My money would have been better spent going to school, at the very least in taking lessons from someone who knew some of the basic skills I didn't have. In my 5th year out I was ready to quit due in part to the fact that I'd met my wife and realized the way I was pursuing my dream made no sense. And I was so financially strapped that art school seemed too far out of my reach. Even though I had a valid dream I was beginning to doubt it.
Luckily my brother collected some of my work and without telling me he entered me in a scholarship competition and I won a small scholarship. I was never a good student, never saw art school or any other school in my future once I got out of high school. Once in school I found I'd learned an awful lot in my few years of self study. It wasn't a bad thing at all. I'd taught my self to draw to about a sophomore level, I could actually paint better than most juniors and many seniors...the good ones not the ones who still hadn't figured things out. And I'd learned something about design and composition as well as some peripheral skills like some basic woodworking, welding, some business skills, some study skills...I was finally ready for art school even though I didn't know it. My brother knew it though. Thanks Tim! You changed my life.
By the way...my brother was in his first year in art school when he entered my work for that scholarship. He had a view from a taller hill than mine.
By the way, I'm 54. I've been painting for 44 years. It still feels good. Better now than ever. And I've had the honor of helping a lot of talented students 'teach' themselves to be artists and even helped a great number of them launch their careers.
Every artist is self taught. After all its the artist who has to do the hard work in the studio no matter what the teacher tells them. But it helps to have someone behind you giving you some direction, to point out your strengths and weaknesses, a timely tip or critique here and there and the encouragement to discipline oneself and reach for creative quality.
Today there are more cultural centers, community colleges with art programs, Sate, City and other alternative arts groups offering seminars and things like drawing nights where everyone chips in a few bucks to draw from the model, even gallery space with few biases, and tons of web based groups like this one. There are more books on the subject than have ever been printed since the arts and crafts movement. An education can be had in many forms. But I reiterate-- all artists are self taught.
on Wednesday, February 14th, Paul Dorrell said
Olivier: 49? I always knew you were a teenaged punk--with a French accent. I shall remember to play; thanks. That used to always come naturally, but since the book came out, work has consumed me--never a good thing.
Mark: You're younger than I. And the gentlemen in his 70s is younger than both of us. Ay, age has nothing to do with it.
on Wednesday, February 14th, Mark said
Soon to be 54 here, very soon, but still feel 18. I have been at this business of art, part time and full time for over thirty years and I am still an emerging artists (some things just take time,LOL). Age has nothing to do with it. As a painting instructer, I had a gentleman (in his seventies) who had had a stroke, THEN, took up painting. He could barley talk his right arm was practicaly usless, and he was right handed so had to paint with his left hand, and not only did he do well, he got into shows and sold, some. I have many students in thier sixties, seventies and one is eithtysix, wow, and they work hard and do well. See why at 54 I feel young still.
on Tuesday, February 13th, olivier said
HE HE I'm 49 little janet,too bad Paul. Emerging? I don't know but enjoying painting for sure. I had another career and might be a plomber or politician soon if not a terrorist. Here it seams we forget the spiritual fuel of our choice. Show me your work. I don't think galleries has a good understanding of the art world today, it's too risky in a business way.I'm sure they is much more to accomplish, being self taught must be a PLUS in my understanding having so many children drawings moving me. Paul we are all kids in this world, just play
on Tuesday, February 13th, Paul Dorrell said
Janet: If the resume is for the purpose of gaining acceptance into a gallery, or jurying into an art exhibit, I think I'd minimize the references to your day job in this instance. Sure, your degree and job inform your work, but in the art world, gallery owners and jurists will primarily be interested in the work itself, and the venues in which it's been shown. If you don't have enough of those venues to fill a resume yet, well, a brief bio may serve you well.
40? Shoot, that ain't nothin. Georgia O'Keefe was just entering her prime at that age. I'm 50 my own self, but am somehow convinced I'm still going on 25 (I think that's called Male Denial).
on Tuesday, February 13th, janetlittle@mac.com">Janet said
Olivier, my sillier side comes out when I contemplate writing some of this stuff too.
As an "emerging" artist, albeit not a young one, I'm struggling with this kind of task. I'm 40 and worked in broadcasting and graphic design for years before making a shift into fine art photography. So when it comes to fine art, I am self-taught, even though I have a master's degree in publications design.
So far I've been including that background in my bio because, well, that's who I am and what I've done. Do you think this may help or hinder me when I seek gallery shows, etc.?
on Tuesday, February 13th, walt said
Her schooling should have covered some of this material at least. Art schools tend to do a better job of this than Universities as the latter is more interested in pushing their standing as a grad prep school. Of course grad schools tend to be part of the University system so the lack of interest in the professional aspects (career is a negative term in many graduate art programs) tend to continue at the University grad level. There they are most interested in getting you a teaching position.
We have our students, whether fine arts or commercial, cover basic information about how to go about getting their careers started. (Career is not a dirty word for us.) And, like a university program we push them towards critical thinking, and life long learning as well. In my department we have a senior level class that covers the resume, bio, research into the field of their interest (including gallery sales in which illustrators participate more and more these days), taxes, a business plan, marketing, and maybe most important of all how to think like an entrepreneur including how to present their work, talk about it and pitch their ideas to potential funders. This, to me makes a lot of sense.
Those who choose not to attend school, attended a weak program or a biased program or were not particularly receptive students are generally the ones who need the most help.
In this case the artist attended a University, apparently does serious work in what I assume is a figurative tradition with some chits to her credit, including some fairly good gallery connections, competitions, corporate and museum collections. She is far and above many of the young artists making an attempt to kickstart a career. In fact, I would suggest that she is already moving from emerging artist to mid-career artist. Life comes at you fast as the commercial suggests.
I got out of grad school in 85 and within 5 years I was already considered a mid-career artist. I was never called an emerging artist. I suppose that says something about something but I'm not sure what.
I think what I'm trying to say here is that as Paul suggests, context has a lot to do with it. ArtNews as compared to American Artist makes a big difference. American Artist is considered by many to cover the ameteur arts in America...at least it is marketed to such even if many of the artists whose work they show have larger careers. Primarily they focus on the figurative and more traditional artists. It is the largest market. But even ArtNews clips off a certain set of potential options by virtue of being a very specific market. ArtNews is largely printed for the collector as a target market even as many artists subscribe to stay in touch with that target. So I would suggest that most of the readers are artists since there are so many more of them than collectors.
Well and Paul and a number of other authors have books out there on all these matters. Paul's is as good as any I've read. And we talk about these things on the forum all the time.
I remember what it was like when I was just out of high school trying to act like an artist. I spent six years spinning my wheels. During that time I attracted some attention indeed. Had some gallery shows in Tulsa, had a big show at a large hip night club, sold some work to a major collector or two in Tulsa. And finally realised that if I was gonna go anywhere I was gonna have to go where someone could give me a helping hand. Art school.
In this economy, no matter how much the self taught lobby pushes to gain attention, it is still expected (with some justification) that an artist goes to study with someone to gain that kind of information that is not readily found on the street.
Paul, without suggesting that one can't become successful without some sort of pedigree, how many of your artists are really so called 'self taught' artists? My guess is that it is a small percentage of your stable. But I'll be impressed if it is even half.
on Tuesday, February 13th, Paul Dorrell said
Sure, but when I write these things, it's more for the inexperienced, emerging artist than the veterans, since for those emerging, it's amazing how much information is not passed on to them, or readily available. Both types coming to this site; the vets know what doesn't apply to them.
The people at Artist's Magazine are great to work with, and very open. But their mag serves a different purpose and audience from, say, ArtNews, who I've also worked with, and who of course are on the cutting edge of things. I find both legitimate for the purpose they serve, and that great artists can be found in either, as well as shallow. Different galleries will respond favorably to different mags, depending on their clients and artists. But of course it's always wise to understand a gallery's stance before you whip out the mag of choice that you might have been featured in.
on Tuesday, February 13th, Gabriella said
Paul - any artist worth their salt goes around to galleries and picks up information such as this readily available to anyone going in. It is a matter of representing one's chops in as effective a way as possible. In some galleries any mention of Artist's Magazine automatically cuts one out of any interest by the gallery. No one standard artist bio does the trick - it is as with job applications, certain things bear mentioning with certain galleries while other references spell dismissal. I think it is a matter of paying attention, close attention of what the galleries' stances are vis a vis the placement in the continuum form commercial to critical representation. This can be tough to negotiate.
on Monday, February 12th, Paul Dorrell said
Olivier: I know, it's a boring topic. Heck, it bores me just writing about it. But these practical issues have to be covered from time to time; it's a part of building a career--for those who care about such mundane things. Normally that occurs when you get sick of being broke.
on Monday, February 12th, olivier said
I like that last idea. The "neo mystique group" is born. Established in 2005 with one member.. Note you have to like good food, day sailing and fishing too; all of that with originality and some sort of humour of course. If none of that is your cup of tea, attractive pin up are welcome to contact me, please allow delays to check schedual with my wife.
Sorry I'm not made to be so serious. I tried..doesn't work out
