I must admit that I get a little frustrated with Artists selling their work at Auctions for completely outrageous sums of money. Maybe I am just a little jealous of selling a work of art for an amount of money equal to that of the operating budget of a small country.
Hey, I could do an awful lot of great things with five million dollars. I am not sure if I want to sacrifice that much of my life and time and commitment to get to that level of selling my work. There is a huge misconception that making money with art is easy. It’s not.
Because of this, I am beginning to think that art and money are incompatible terms. Not because you will never sell a painting or work of art. The truth is, you probably will. Maybe quite a few. But an artist who just loves doing art must also be able to promote themselves to come to any amount of attention in the art world.
It all depends on the type of artist you are.
Here is the crux of the situation. Some artists get noticed. Some don’t. Art will break your heart time and again as you struggle with your own style, your own feel and perception of the work you pour yourself into so much. In many ways, this is characteristic not of the paint and the painter, but of the inner struggle we all feel gazing at ourselves in our true form.
There is an old saying that the “mirror does not lie”. Everything that we create is a reflection of who we are in that moment. A vision of who we are striving to be and a window into our souls.
So do you create to sell or just sell what you create?
On one hand, I’d love to sell a few more paintings. It would be a tremendous opportunity to help get out of debt and pay off some old school loans. But, I also find for myself that there is no enjoyment in painting for the sole purpose of selling my work. So I do art for myself. Sell when there is interest, and enjoy the process more in the meantime. I think in this, there is freedom to innovate and break the mold of popular culture. I think that is why I admire the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. I think he enjoyed the process more than he enjoyed just building houses. He designed within boundaries of course, but they were boundaries of what he was capable of rather than what other people believed should be done.
My passions in life are my family, my relationship with God, creativity and expressionism. This blog, decloned, reflects those passions. My belief is that all true creativity comes from the Creator first and foremost.
