Image of the first sketch I did after many years not sketching.
I've known a few artists over the years - the kind for whom nothing else in the universe suffices. They must make art because they know nothing else. I know other kinds of artists too. They are the artists who must balance; that is, artists who were born with the drive to make but with other competing drives as well. Then there are the artists who yearn, people who feel the quiet inner call to create but either have little talent or great talent, but no opportunity or materials or time. And there are artists who do not know they are artists. They make with abandon and a kind of clear freedom of heart because they were simply born that way. Often these artists are children; now and then there is a grown person who manages to hang on to their child's heart.
Image of/by me.
My friend Hoja and I have occasionally discussed the notion of the artist and "selling out" or an artist who sells. It seems to me that issues arise as soon as another person enters the picture: a buyer, a gallery owner, a critic (professional, personal, or familial), a viewer, and/or a scholar. Only then does the question of value come into play.
In the more professional realm of art making, I recently came across a trio of interlocked discussions from artists (and in one case a gallery owner), who saw their work reduced from creation to commodity. Here is the record of that.
1) Aritst Rima Staines had a work commissioned; the buyer was displeased.
That story is here at Staines' blog, The Hermitage.
2) One of the people who commented in reply to Rima's story, posted a link to artist Jackie Morris' blog who described a similar tale and spoke of what it is being an artist.
Tell Me a Dragon
written and illustrated by Jackie Morris
published by Frances Lincoln, autumn 2009
3) Morris then linked to a blogged commentary by UK gallery owner John Foley. He reports on the "daily life of running and art gallery. In the entry linked to here he tells of buyers who regarded art buying as akin to grocery shopping.
(also published USA, Sweden, Spain, Denmark)
3) Morris then linked to a blogged commentary by UK gallery owner John Foley. He reports on the "daily life of running and art gallery. In the entry linked to here he tells of buyers who regarded art buying as akin to grocery shopping.
Blog banner for John Foley. The website for his Imagine Gallery itself is here.
