Mentoring and receiving mentoring is vitally important to an artists' career. I have had both sides in my long career.
Sunday, September 20, 2020
Career Mentoring
Mentoring and receiving mentoring is vitally important to an artists' career. I have had both sides in my long career.
Friday, September 18, 2020
Purpose
I read an article yesterday in a science journal that reinforced my long time belief that being goal oriented and having a purpose filled life is the key to a well balanced, positive thinking mind.
The article research showed that purposeful life goals prevent narcissism, and mental instability. Goals promote independent and higher order thinking skills. There was no particular emphasis on the level of education. I believe that this view of life can benefit people at any stage or education level. My daddy had a third grade education, yet he became a successful machinist at a university because he was purposeful and had goals of self education. He was a prolific reader.
A purposeful life keeps me busy. I don’t get caught up in the chaos and hatred swirling around. Yes, I care deeply about public issues. I put my money into support for organizations who fight for human rights, who fight to protect our planet. I don’t get involved in the shouting matches with unstable purposeless people.
I keep to my goals both as a painter and person of decency and civility, helping those I can. I believe most Americans are decent and patriotic, on both sides. I refuse to give up my conservative and independent friends because we don’t always agree. There are lunatics on all sides. I move forward!
Life is purposeful for country painters.....
Monday, September 14, 2020
Gratitude
I’ve been on a course for a few years now to
improve myself as a person and a painter. I’ve discovered the key to my
improvement is simple gratitude. we can focus on the good in our lives,
avoiding the chaos and meanness in our current world.
There is nothing I can directly do to end the
violence, political anger and strife whirling around me. I simply inch forward
one step at a time, helping other artists when I am able and wake up grateful
every day. As I age, I have become aware of the rare privilege of being a
painter.
We record the culture and visual elements of our
time here on earth. We landscape painters record in our own unique texture and
style of the life, earth, smells, and tastes of the places we live. We are highly
influenced by the regions where we live and grow up.
I believe when we offer dignity, kindness, and
appreciation to others, we are an example to those around us whom we can
influence. Artists have great power, in that we are admired and are influential
to our collectors and students. The way we behave is noticed by others. It is
not just our work that we put out to the world, but also ourselves.
If you are an angry, resentful artist, frustrated about your place on the food chain, perhaps you are missing the greatest opportunity, that of being grateful to have this wonderful gift. No one forces us to be professional artists. We make that commitment, knowing that it will be difficult financially for most, and there will always be artists who paint better than we do. Instead of anger and jealousy, let us redirect ourselves into artists who are grateful for the privilege each day.
Life is privileged for country painters.....
Sunday, September 13, 2020
Momma’s Blueberries
Blueberries always remind me of my momma. She was a fine gardener. She always had a good sized garden in the field next to the yard. She grew all the regional vegetables with abundance. She lined tomatoes up on every window sill to finish ripening. I can still taste that rich flavor of her tomato sandwiches with Duke’s mayonnaise.
She also had a beautiful row of blueberry bushes, carefully tended. Even in her old age, she picked berries early in the morning. I can close my eyes and see her in her big straw hat and basket, slowly picking each ripe berry. She would wash them in the big green colander and make deep dish blueberry pie. We ate the pie with vanilla ice cream.
I have been trying slowly to bring the fallow bushes back. They are full of weeds and have been neglected, no longer producing. In the cool months, I do a little cutting and weeding out small sapling trees. It is slow going, as I detest yard work. Eventually I hope to bring them back to their formal glory in honor of my momma.
Life is wonderful for country painters.....
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Followers or Friends
Followers
vs friends is a topic worth considering. Social media has become a race for
followers, to some artists. I know more than one artist who has given up their
thoughtful posts on social media, because they don’t think people care about
what they say. They don’t get a lot of comments, or large numbers of followers.
I
don’t share my thoughts to get followers. I have about 1000 followers on
Instagram. What does that mean? Nothing! I have never sold paintings on
Instagram. Artists have the idea that these platforms are for selling art.
My
thought is that social media is for friendships and admiration for others who
do much to improve the world. I’m lucky to have many friends, due to my career.
I’ve become friends with many thanks to social media. None of that is a
popularity contest, nor should it be. I leave that mindset to the Kardashians
of the world. Yes, I am deeply grateful for every painting I sell, but my posts
come from the heart, stories of my life and career.
Every
now and then I get a comment from someone who has never commented before. They
tell me that they look forward to my posts each day. Who knew? It means the
world to me. Every friend I have means everything to me. Perhaps artists need to rethink social media.
Life
is wonderful for country painters......
Monday, September 7, 2020
Painting Rut
It is
easy to lock yourself in a same old same methodology as a painter. I know
painters who have used the same palette, same size format, same medium, brush
work, and subjects for years. You will not know when they painted a painting,
because their style never evolves.
A lot
of pros get into this rut because they have gotten a market for this work. It
is very slick and well done. If you do the same thing all the time, you get
very good at it. I can understand their reasons, but there are high risks too.
Style
quickly becomes stale and less marketable in terms of repeat collectors.
Collectors love new work. If your new work looks like your old work, they tire
of it quickly. If work doesn’t grow, anything new is unattainable, because the
artist has not developed further with new skill. Some of my collectors like the
struggle paintings I do, while studying new technique and new subjects. The
efforts are far from perfect, but there is a fresh quality to the effort.
My
most advanced work is trees and agricultural lands, but by trying other
subjects, I feel excited to go back to my beloved trees after trying something
new. Painters need to stay excited to grow and thrive. Give yourself permission
to do bad paintings if they help you to learn and grow. I do.