The persistence of creativity (You maybe interested in getting these emails?) After my last letter about art skills persisting after dementia has set in, there was another bonanza of material in this inbox. A dozen or so wrote to say that grandma can't recognize the grandchildren--but she can still paint. Others, like Allan Soffer, mentioned "the spontaneous, non-thinking process we call 'the zone,' followed by a period of examination and corrective activity." Artists wondered if this corrective activity was part of the main brain that goes, or the creative one that lingers.
Going by my own experience and the observations of others, serious artists can be pretty involved in their art. Living with and troubleshooting their work on a daily basis, they become hyper-focused. Another subscriber, Leslie Hoops-Wallace, observed "When working on a painting, everything else seems to take a back seat--the brain is too occupied with the painting process--and decides not to sweat the small stuff." This thought gives a clue to the persistence of creativity. In a possessed state, the creative mind may begin to find the regular stuff--like tidying up or recognizing the grandkids--of secondary importance.
Fact is, at one time or another in an artist's productive life, the brain-easel axis can actually take over and become the main event. Depending on your point of view, this is either unfortunate or fortunate. Our anecdotal correspondence seems to confirm that persistence of creativity may be simply the result of prior focus.
Something else came out of these emails--there's a big difference between, say, the composing of music and the performing of music. In performance of the elderly, motor skills and muscle memory may have weakened. Brain function itself has often slowed down. The elder composer, painter or writer, on the other hand, may just have to take more pains to get it right. Several correspondents wrote: "My work is taking longer now because I'm fixing more things." This indicates to me that older artists might be "fussier." Maybe fussiness is a characteristic of age, just as audacity can be a characteristic of youth. Come to think of it, a few workshoppers told me that their main goal was to help mature creators become audacious again.
Ironically, some older artists reported having the "I don't care anymore" attitude. This can go either way--sloppy work, or enhanced creative abandon. Flamboyant age trumps conservative youth.
Best regards,Robert
PS: "Age breeds caution and a yearning for security. Youth invites risk and challenge. As we grow older it becomes important to be able to balance our sensibilities with our curiosities." (Elizabeth Azzolina)
Esoterica: There were lots of opinions. Georges Braque wasquoted: "With age, art and life become one." Artists welcomed the idea that their talent and capabilities might prevail after other joys had failed. Some pointed out that a lot of creative persistence has to do with the honouring of a perceived truth.
In the words of Pablo Casals (not a subscriber), "To be young all your life, you need to say things to the world that are true." Then there's the bittersweet "running out of time" problem. On his deathbed Edgar Degas (another who has not yet
subscribed) was reported to have said, "Damn--and just when I was starting to get the hang of it!"
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Last Tuesday was my birthday. I was getting ready for my day in the studio when the phone started ringing. For some reason it has become popular to sing "Happy Birthday" to people over the phone. The sentiment was pleasant and very much appreciated. Over and over I was enjoying the familiar lyrics. I put on my headset to fully grasp the beauty of the singing. Michelle, who is helping us out for the summer, eventually got my attention by sign language and asked if there was anything I needed for my birthday.
I needed to get out of the studio. We jumped in the car and disappeared into the local forest. I set up and made a little painting while Michelle set up and made a little movie. "Forest Spirit" is another of those Shoulder Clips that we have shown you before, but this one is in real time, a bit languorous and laid back. For her first flick, I think she caught the feeling. I'm not pretentious or even that proud of the stuff I do in the bush. But there's something mind-bending about the outdoor act of art. I recommend it to anyone on any day, birth or otherwise. First, there's the grace that overtakes you when you leave your other world and get onto the bosom of nature. I often think it's more a matter of inhaling than rendering. When you find the spirit of a place, you need to honour it--and you bend your mind to do so. The brush slows but the heart quickens. Second, there's the ease in which things flow when there's nothing riding on the outcome. It's pure play when you let it happen. For some inscrutable reason, the "zone" is more happily found when the lone painter has nothing much to lose.
Third, there's this remarkable sense of event. It's like catching a wild salmon as compared to buying one in a fish shop. There are sounds, odours, movements--I'm sure the very air contributes to composition. The outdoor art event builds parameter and anecdote and carries more memories per minute than any incandescent room. I'm not saying plein air is everything, but it's more than a breath of fresh air. It's the most fun you can have with your clothes on. For the maker of art, it's the breath of life.
Best regards,Robert
PS: "What's the good of a birthday if you can't get what you want?" (Gracie Fields)
Yesterday Juliana McDonald of Ottawa, Canada wrote, "I have been a prolific painter over the last 7-8 years and my older work, large and small, is piling up without much hope of display or sale. I would like to invite people to buy them from my studio at a discounted price (say half of the value, taking off what a gallery would take) so that they can be moved on to a new home, and I could recoup some of my investment of time and energy. My concern is I don't want people who bought work previously to feel that the work is devalued through such action. Any suggestions?"
Thanks, Juliana. In professional circles the only person you sell to at half price is your mom. All others pay at or near the established prices. That's what keeps you professional and dealers coming back for more. Sometimes painters find it hard to realize that all paintings can't be sold, nor need to be. This may be because they are substandard, but not always.
Perhaps they number too many for the market to bear. Apart from destroying them, consider making the odd discreet gift. Life is a gift, why then not art? Charities make noble recipients. Giving the gift of art is a chance to show your love.
Having said all that, a possible route is to auction the work.
People understand that auctions often do not realize "realistic" prices. Auctions generally operate outside the gallery network. It's important not to flood this market--you must still keep your work rare. Auctions are full of bottom-feeders these days, as well as folks with vested interests who want to push prices higher. Participating in the auction world, particularly with outstanding rather than marginal work, can actually have a beneficial effect on your career.
Another route is to assemble a retrospective of top quality pieces, perhaps thematic, and offer them to public galleries.
This manoeuvre opens new friendships and adds legitimacy. If that fails, offering them on permanent or semi-permanent loan to any number of worthy institutions is also good business.
Hospitals, clinics, tax offices, as well as the foyers of public buildings often have a need for art. While it can be expensive to frame and display such a project, the exercise can be worthwhile. Finally, if you don't feel like lending, you might consider leasing to some office or other private space.
Lessees often see art as an opportunity to deduct the cost of looking good.
This morning David Sharpe wrote, "What's your opinion on marketing directly to the public and bypassing traditional galleries? I want to buy small print ads in community newspapers and city-life magazines showing my work and pointing the readers to my website. The idea is to ship direct to the public from my backyard studio and reduce the gallery commission slightly so as to not drastically devalue my work in the marketplace. I'll give buyers a slight Internet price advantage. Is it, as Bill Gates said, 'a friction-free marketing tool?' "
Thanks, David. It would be nice if it worked, but it generally doesn't. If your name were Mohammad Ali and you painted, you might pick up a volume of hits from folks who needed a connection to a celebrity. While you may be sharp, you're just a guy who paints well. Sad to say, even excellent work is not a big enough push to get folks electronically beating down that backyard-studio door.
Most sales are made by direct connection between an eager dealer and a willing customer. The Internet has turned out to be a godsend for dealers, if not for artists. Some of my dealers find 40 percent of their business is Internet related.
The current buzzword is "clicks and mortar." Savvy, established galleries now make it easy for customers to electronically access art as it comes in. As they say in the gallery world, "Online showing is the killer app."
All artists who might consider being their own dealer need to think about its possible effect on their current or potential dealers. Artists who sell themselves hard can get nixed by the mainstream. Representing yourself is tiresome for many and can be the kiss of death for a few.
My advice is to concentrate on your work and leave the commerce to others. Don't worry about their percentages. Sharing glory and treasure builds your creative independence.
I thoroughly believe in websites for artists. On my site, www.robertgenn.com, we get fewer than a hundred visitors a day. However, many of these are curious, qualified collectors. My home page immediately spirits them to my dealers' sites. Besides making the beautiful connection, the system is generally friction-free.
Best regards,Robert
PS: "The first question I had to resolve was: What specific behavioral influences would cause a person to go to my site?
There are four: (1)Researching me or my work, (2)Casually encountering my site link from another website, (3)Responding to an ad, and/or (4)Looking for a specific subject on a search engine and finding me." (Marques Vickers, author of "Marketing and Buying Fine Art Online: A Guide for Artists andCollectors.")
Esoterica: If an artist's work is not attracting friends and not selling in galleries, it's not likely to find buyers on the Net. Furthermore, relatively unknown, serious artists who run ad hoc ads in print media seldom realize their investment. As creative people, we need believers and dedicated helpers who will go to bat for us on a daily basis. We need a personal rooting section, even if we have to cross some palms. Art goes on walls by making friends. "I get by with a little help from my friends." (John Lennon and Paul McCartney)
Current clickback: If you would like to see selected, illustrated responses to the last letter, "Half price sale," please go to: http://clicks.robertgenn.com/half-price.php
Every few days someone asks me to send a personalized checklist of things they need to do and think about while they're painting. As everyone's creative concept is really quite different, this is a tough order. Even though I may have looked at the work, their continued flourishing depends on a unique vision and a sense of individual entitlement. We are all specialists of some sort, and specialization demands we make our own checklists. In our game there's no silver bullet, no one size fits all.
Here's a word for your own checklist--and how to make one.
Checklists are not recipes. They're self-generated lists of thoughts and ideas that just might add strength, value and importance to the work. Based on what one knows about the better works of others, the vastness of human potential, and one's own personal ideals, it's an elevated to-do list.Contemplation is the key. The artist arrests herself at any stage in a work's progress. Short notes clarify processes and indicate directions with further potential.
It's a temporary side-step from the "zone." For those with this kind of intuition, it's a self-taught facility to be both in the flow and observing the flow. Practitioners can have the eerie feeling of watching themselves work.
Before anyone phones those guys in the white coats, here are some examples from my current list:
Paint with your eyesThink what things might become
Let the brush talk
Be in love with change
Find the elegance
See the big picture
Make it a pattern
Identify the extraordinary
Don't get gauche
Keep it fresh at all costs
Take your time
This stuff is all about a personal search for truth within one's own vision. Getting there is half the fun. If it were a recipe, everyone's truth might be the same. Only you can make your checklist and join the search for your own truth. Start your checklist now.
My opinion is that the best thing would be to work on till art lovers feel drawn toward it of their own accord, instead of having to praise or to explain it - Vincent van Gogh
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