Style, Direction, Series

They say you must find your style and stick with it, be unique to yourself.
How long can I keep making the kaleidoscopes? (As with most of us who are artists I have a short attention span and get bored quite easily) I enjoy making them and they are unique but how many pieces can you make when no one buys them? Maybe I will make the occassional kscope and work on other areas. I am taking more and more photos and find myself somewhat of a purist, I don't like doctoring them in photoshop so much, but then there comes along that unique photo that just cries out to be altered, added to and included in a montage, so I do it. I almost let the photos speak to me after the fact.
I do have a new series that I think I am going to put up in a show. I have an open invitation from the Artist in Praise gallery. If I want a show - bring in the pieces.
This series is a group of photos I took on late afternoon along the river. I am going to entitle the series "a different perspective". I took quite a few shots along the river banks as we went on a pontoon ride. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining, the deep shadows and the leaves of the trees blooming with colors of all varieties. The water was so calm and you could see the reflections of the riverbank so clearly in the water.
As I looked at these photos I (thinking way outside the box as usual) realized that it was more fun to up end the photos and look at them with a different perspective, they seemed more interesting! I think I will do a whole series on trees. I seem to have quite a few tree pictures that are stunning, individual trees, tree lines, leaves, branches and so on....I think a series would be good.....
I have ideas for other series as well. So by doing this am I neglecting my trademark? Or am I diversifying and showing what else I am passionate about? Do I open up new markets by doing this? See there is that business side that seems to need to creep in when I am doing my art. I would love to just sit and create but I want to share it as well, and in sharing it I must focus on the business side of art. Because this requires money to frame, display, enter shows, and so much more. If I could just get my artwork to support the framing and show fees I would be happier, then having to count on my day job (which I hate) to pay these things.

So I guess I shall see if sharing my other work is good thing or not.

Here is a sample of the tree line I was talking about.
A fresh perspective....

Call Back

The museum that I made an inquiry too about the Digital Media called back. They said this was a new area for them. If I give them something that must play on a computer I will need to supply them with a computer. If I give them a DVD they can play on a TV they will provide the TV. Hmmmmm what choice do I make? ha ha! TV definitely!
So I am excited about taking my animated Kscopes to a new level. My big decision now is do I take the 15 minutes of animated kscopes and let them stand on their own or do I put words in with them, bits of wisdom, in and around them. Everyone loves watching kaleidoscopes, but do they want that experience interrupted with words? I don't know I can't decide, but I must decide soon because the deadline is August 22. This could be a new open door for my artwork and the direction it can take.

Second thing, I talked to a prominent local gallery that I am a member of and asked them about selling my work in the gallery. They have a sling of sorts that members can put work in and customers can buy them. They said $45 is the price range they sell the most of. So now I must figure out how much matting, and printing costs and what size I can do that in. My work just doesn't hold up well in the smaller sizes. It is my opinion you can't see the details and I don't like them that small, but hey I want my work in the hands of the potential client for the big pieces right?

What I have done today...and yesterday

Okay, I didn't call on the notecards. I don't feel comfortable calling on work time, and when I get home at night I am too tired. If you are a young artist still living at home I advise to promote, promote, promote while you still don't have bills to pay. Or be prepared to be broke as you work to promote your artwork.
I did however mention my artwork to a whole group of ladies from all over the country in a chat room I participate in. So maybe I planted a seed there for some one to see my artwork and help spread the word.

One thing I did was get signed up for the email list of a local art gallery. They send out all the calls for art that they think would interest people in our area. There was one show that has a call for art up by Chicago. As I was reading it something inside myself said I need to polish the animated versions of my artwork to present for this show. So....I am going to pursue that. Another problem I have in being a free spirit is in letting deadlines for these calls come and go and missing them. I keep telling myself I am going to get one of those cheap calendar books and keep track of the deadlines in that so I can keep them in front of my face, it is too easy to lose them in this cyberspace called "My Documents".

So today I called the museum where the call for art is at and asked them if by Digital Design they meant animated digital art such as my own, and if so in what format did they want me to present it. I am waiting on a call back.

So I have done two things to promote my artwork this week, and that is better than what I have been doing. In a sense I gave up, took a break, a siesta, a walkabout...whatever you want to call it. I wonder if I will ever know how much that has set back any progress I had made up to that point.

I had no understanding of just how hard of work being an artist truly is!

So what have I done today?

Okay, you should do something for your artwork everyday. So what have I done today? Nothing...I really must make up a to do list, even if it is to take a cool photo. The fog has been really awesome the last two mornings. I really must take my camera to work.
Tomorrow I will call and see how much notecards cost or do an internet search. Small seems to appeal to the market in our city.

Artwork opens doors

I have been realizing that my artwork can open doors. My boss at my day job told me that the reason she hired me was because of my artwork. Never mind that my job has nothing to do with the artwork I create. And now today I have an interview for a job and the person said, don't you belong to the Artist in Praise group? I have seen your work.....

I have a piece in the local art gallery show. I have to admit I have been very lax in trying to promote my work and in creating new work. It has just seemed useless. What is the point in creating artwork and having everyone love it, working hard to promote it and then you never sell it or go anywhere with it. I sometimes feel like I need to go back to creating it just because it gives me great pleasure in creating and not because it can make me money. But yet I would like to be a full time artist and live off of my art.

Hey secretly? Just between you and I? I would like to be like Picasso so that when I go into a restaurant or a store all I have to do it sign my name because my signature is worth more than anything I am trying to purchase! Wouldn't that be awesome?

I bought a marketing workbook for Artists, it has questions you are to answer and then it helps you with the marketing of your work. I have had a really bad time of it emotionally with all the garbage going on in my personal life, so I am waiting to be in the right frame of mind before I start on it. When do you suppose that will be? I am in good company when it comes to that area of my life. So many of the greats sound like they have lived my life. So maybe there is hope for me since I have so much in common in that department!

Bottom line is I have given up on my artwork going anywhere and I know I mustn't give up. Has anyone else been there? What keeps us going?

Inspiration

Today is a local art fair. I love to go and see what others are doing and to gain inspiration for my own work!
More later.

I went to our local art museum yesterday and paid for an artist membership, very inexpensive compared to regular membership. I had no idea there was so much of an art scene until I got the newsletter that came with the membership. Wow! That was a good $20 investment right there! I am hoping to network with other artists, and like minded individuals. After all Warhol had Benquoit, and Picasso had O'keefe (or was that the other way around? hmmmm) and who do I have?

I went on a picture taking spree out in the country on Thursday and I also went to the botancial gardens with a friend. Yesterday I picked up a magazine about taking your photos and creating sketches from them or water color effects. I hope to play with that after I have read the whole article. Hopefully I will post an example here for you.

just creating art is not part of it

Anyone who thinks an artist just gets to sit around and create art has no idea of what being an artist is all about. What good is it to create a masterpiece and then wait for someone to discover it? No...you must promote yourself, your work and your talent. You must be a marketer, an advertiser, a schmoozer, a networker, and a salesperson all wrapped up into one. Your skills must be vastly beyond just being cretive and talented. If you give up on any of these then all you have is your art sitting in a closet somewhere. And then of course if you are creating your art you don't have a lot of time to do all of these other things, or if you are doing all of those networking things then you don't have time for your art. It seems to be that being an artist requires a LOT of discipline. OK creatives out there....how many of us have THAT? It seems we might benefit from a scheduled time to be creative...but maybe I don't feel creative at that moment, then what? I must figure out a way to balance this dilemma!

An update

I started working full time and of course since I have a steady paycheck coming in I don't need money and I am too tired to try and do artwork in the evenings.
I had a friend who had a son who was going to go to go to college for his pottery. The professor said that he was to devote his life to his pottery or not bother coming to his school. No job, nothing but devoting himself to her pottery. We really didn't understand this at the time but it makes sense to me now. I have stepped back and don't "need" to make my artwork earn money for me so it drifts. I still take photos, I still think about what I can do to promote my artwork but I am too "BUSY" to push it.
So there you have it.....
How do I make money to dedicate myself to my artwork. I still must support my family.
Any thoughts out there?