today is my brother's birthday and my birthday is on friday.
when we were kids, more often than not, we'd celebrate our birthdays together. two birds, one stone = two kids, one cake. :) and even though i didn't really like that at the time, the memory is very sweet now.
a few weeks ago, my brother started a conversation about the importance of trying, in any small way, to make this week somehow different than all the weeks that have come and gone. the blur of time and routine. and he made a charge to hold that as a weekly goal.
and we talked about how reading a book or taking a walk is very much a political act these days. every choice endorses a particular way of life. how a person chooses to spend their time states a preference about what a person values. and making those choices thoughtfully gives rise to positive action. as a form of Resistance to the deep level of consumerism/greed that our nation currently resides in, taking a walk or sitting on the floor of a used book store and reading some poetry for free is a very good way to begin. while i'm doing these things i'm outside the nagging feeling of Powerlessness. i'm outside that circle of defeat. instead, i begin struggling toward a deeper faith. faith in anything. faith in everything. but faith nonetheless. my conscious comes forward and i can look at the world through a new lens that encompasses compassion and realizes the need to keep sight of what Nietzsche said:
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.
or this statement by Albert Schweitzer:
Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.
these are very hard things to do. very. but the attempt toward maintaining one's honor and personal values in the face of anger and outrage is so so so important. there is a heavy wind of angry blame blowing across our country. maybe it has always been there but, the current level of hate-mongering that seems to have become permissible (if not outright acceptable), is scary to me. it is alarming to me. and it has taken a huge amount of personal strength to not fire back at people who practice hate speech (in whatever form).
it's one reason why i was so quiet on my blog last week. i've been trying to swallow my own advice and apply it.
and so today, in honor of my brother's birthday and the massive triumph he has accomplished in overcoming our personal past, the fact he IS a self-made man who employs an inspiring amount of dedication toward the goals he has chosen for himself, i will undertake the huge 3.5 mile run this morning. when i come home, i will eat a healthy breakfast of fruit and greek yogurt, i will get back to my work, i will draw and write and read and learn something. learn anything. and i will make a conscious sustained effort to not inadvertently practice (and thereby endorse) modes of interaction that i find to be unethical, abusive, and yep immoral.
blame is a superficial emotion. guilt does not require blame in order to exist. and anger is not wrong or bad- it is how a person chooses to express it that is either positive, negative, or of no consequence whatsoever. i will choose to express my anger by focusing my attention on my own morality and see where I missed the mark... find the place where I slipped, look for the site of improvement that exists within myself and take action there.
my brother is 32 today. on friday i'll be 30. :) i am looking forward to this new number in particular. i'm enjoying seeing a grown-up Womanhood take hold of my body and mind. i'm enjoying noticing how i am coming in to my own now. i'm enjoying seeing my brother grow and change and become stronger and more and more dedicated to ethics. i'm enjoying figuring out how to blend lived experience with theory and philosophy and the creative impulse. and, for however hard it is to accomplish, i enjoy the charge to somehow make this week of my life different from all the others. i can start by making myself, my inner world, a bit different. to make my insides match my outsides and vice versa. to live what i believe. and to choose what i believe with care, love, and lots of self-examination.
happy birthday, andy. i love you and i am so proud of you.
Showing posts with label value. Show all posts
Showing posts with label value. Show all posts
Aug 30, 2010
Feb 12, 2010
long live!
drizzle drizzle drizzle.
sniffle sniffle sniffle.
the rain just keeps on coming down.
i got some new bright yellow rubber rain boots to clomp around in though so it makes these remaining winter days a bit sunnier for me.
yesterday, i sent out a big round of valentines and bummed around at the bookstore for awhile before i decided to go to macy's and look at all the designer goods. but cruising through the racks of clothes left me feeling very empty all of a sudden so i left. i hopped back in the car and listened to patti smith all the way home. as i drove and yelled and sang along with her, i realized that i have a bad habit of just swallowing my anger. i don't tend to express it very often at all. and there was just something about the rain and the emptiness i had just experienced and her voice that let me know that there are some things a person should be angry about. that anger can be the exact right emotional response to some things in this world. learning the difference between what is and is not appropriate is the tricky part. and perhaps that's way i've been so silent when it comes to anger... i have precious few tools to help me come to such conclusions. and then i thought... maybe that's one of the roles of poetry??? of art in general??? a way to present these uncomfortable things and emotions to the world... a slower way than screaming or yelling. and the slowness of it (and i mean in terms of the time it takes to make a painting or make a poem) forces an examination of emotions that, though ugly or uncomfortable or "shameful", imbue these things with an insight that those of us who grew up roughly might have lacked... that not all anger is bad anger. that anger doesn't have to be scary. that it doesn't necessarily lead to abandonment or abuse or neglect. maybe anger has a value too?
and then when i got home, i received an email from my buddy rebecca alerting me to the fact that yesterday - sylvia's death day - designer alexander mcqueen killed himself.
just thinking about it, just typing those words... my breath rolls out thick and slow. the horrible sigh. the horrible, horrible regret. the horrible, horrible question mark.
we must find a way to be ourselves. we must. who we are at the very core. whatever untainted piece is left, whatever small kernel of delight, whatever hint of justice that is buried down there. we must find it and bring it out. i must do this. the more and more i wrestle with all these big questions, i keep ending up with the same answer: be who you truly are.
and for as cliched as it may be at this point in our history of things, shakespere got it exactly right. "above all else, to thine own self be true". goddamn. i think of this quote every day and every day it kicks me in the teeth! it really does! when i start to zero in on myself and stop thinking so much about other people, their motives, their behavior, their wants, needs, struggles, i begin to truly see my own. i am, for the first time in years, seeing for sure what my values are... and also receiving the hard knowledge that comes when i look at the moments in which i've abandoned them. these are the failures against temptation or loneliness or whatever whatever whatever the day may bring. and sometimes i cry in shame over these things but i will not look away. these are the facts i need in order to stand back up. these "failures" are the moments when i stopped being my true self, when i allowed myself to be led around by the nose by someone else's emotions and behaviors. these are the moments that i can cling to, to use as a tool toward building a better life. they are my amazing, shining opportunities to really see who i want to become... who i choose to become, not what the world would have me be. that pressure, that outside demand, is too great. it is too much.
and patti smith sang, "those who have suffered understand suffering and thereby extend their hand...:
isn't that the great role of art? isn't that the hand of humanity sweeping across our pain? isn't that what we are here for? at least some of the time? to find a way, an avenue that allows us to not be beaten down and corroded by pain but rather to allow it to polish us... to polish and protect our great loves? to cling tighter to value and goodness? to not abandon them in moments when we need them the most?
drizzle drizzle drizzle.
sniffle sniffle sniffle.
ramble ramble ramble.
but i'm serious. knowing myself completely and finding the courage to just be that is the hardest, most beautiful, most important task i have ever set out to accomplish. and so, among all these big ethereal abstract questions, i simplify my day-
i make valentines because, when i think of who i am or would like to be, i am a girl that values small (albeit sappy) gestures of love and romance.
i paint every day because i want to be a person that paints every day.
i write every day because i want to be a person that writes every day.
i make silly postcards and send them off in to the world because that is an action i admire and i want to participate in things i admire. i want to welcome these great, glittering storms of compassion and beauty and pain even in to my life. i want to be polished. i want to be strong. i'm tired of losing time to a state of confused longing. i may feel that way... but i can feel it and still move forward. i can make valentines. i can hang heart shapes in the window. i can write letters and poems and make paintings and know that these things, these objects, these gestures give voice to my core self... that i can choose to be who i truly am without apology or excuse or argument.
people will believe whatever they want to believe. this is something that is out of my control. i can choose to have faith in my self and in the goodness of my life... in the goodness of my particularities.
i admired mr. mcqeen's particularities.
the fruits of your labor, sir, have not gone unnoticed and your entrance has been granted. rest well. rest deep in love. we'll see you on the other side. i'm sure your good work will continue there and i can't wait to see it. :)
alexander mcqueen sneakers
spring collection 2010
sniffle sniffle sniffle.
the rain just keeps on coming down.
i got some new bright yellow rubber rain boots to clomp around in though so it makes these remaining winter days a bit sunnier for me.
yesterday, i sent out a big round of valentines and bummed around at the bookstore for awhile before i decided to go to macy's and look at all the designer goods. but cruising through the racks of clothes left me feeling very empty all of a sudden so i left. i hopped back in the car and listened to patti smith all the way home. as i drove and yelled and sang along with her, i realized that i have a bad habit of just swallowing my anger. i don't tend to express it very often at all. and there was just something about the rain and the emptiness i had just experienced and her voice that let me know that there are some things a person should be angry about. that anger can be the exact right emotional response to some things in this world. learning the difference between what is and is not appropriate is the tricky part. and perhaps that's way i've been so silent when it comes to anger... i have precious few tools to help me come to such conclusions. and then i thought... maybe that's one of the roles of poetry??? of art in general??? a way to present these uncomfortable things and emotions to the world... a slower way than screaming or yelling. and the slowness of it (and i mean in terms of the time it takes to make a painting or make a poem) forces an examination of emotions that, though ugly or uncomfortable or "shameful", imbue these things with an insight that those of us who grew up roughly might have lacked... that not all anger is bad anger. that anger doesn't have to be scary. that it doesn't necessarily lead to abandonment or abuse or neglect. maybe anger has a value too?
and then when i got home, i received an email from my buddy rebecca alerting me to the fact that yesterday - sylvia's death day - designer alexander mcqueen killed himself.
just thinking about it, just typing those words... my breath rolls out thick and slow. the horrible sigh. the horrible, horrible regret. the horrible, horrible question mark.
we must find a way to be ourselves. we must. who we are at the very core. whatever untainted piece is left, whatever small kernel of delight, whatever hint of justice that is buried down there. we must find it and bring it out. i must do this. the more and more i wrestle with all these big questions, i keep ending up with the same answer: be who you truly are.
and for as cliched as it may be at this point in our history of things, shakespere got it exactly right. "above all else, to thine own self be true". goddamn. i think of this quote every day and every day it kicks me in the teeth! it really does! when i start to zero in on myself and stop thinking so much about other people, their motives, their behavior, their wants, needs, struggles, i begin to truly see my own. i am, for the first time in years, seeing for sure what my values are... and also receiving the hard knowledge that comes when i look at the moments in which i've abandoned them. these are the failures against temptation or loneliness or whatever whatever whatever the day may bring. and sometimes i cry in shame over these things but i will not look away. these are the facts i need in order to stand back up. these "failures" are the moments when i stopped being my true self, when i allowed myself to be led around by the nose by someone else's emotions and behaviors. these are the moments that i can cling to, to use as a tool toward building a better life. they are my amazing, shining opportunities to really see who i want to become... who i choose to become, not what the world would have me be. that pressure, that outside demand, is too great. it is too much.
and patti smith sang, "those who have suffered understand suffering and thereby extend their hand...:
isn't that the great role of art? isn't that the hand of humanity sweeping across our pain? isn't that what we are here for? at least some of the time? to find a way, an avenue that allows us to not be beaten down and corroded by pain but rather to allow it to polish us... to polish and protect our great loves? to cling tighter to value and goodness? to not abandon them in moments when we need them the most?
drizzle drizzle drizzle.
sniffle sniffle sniffle.
ramble ramble ramble.
but i'm serious. knowing myself completely and finding the courage to just be that is the hardest, most beautiful, most important task i have ever set out to accomplish. and so, among all these big ethereal abstract questions, i simplify my day-
i make valentines because, when i think of who i am or would like to be, i am a girl that values small (albeit sappy) gestures of love and romance.
i paint every day because i want to be a person that paints every day.
i write every day because i want to be a person that writes every day.
i make silly postcards and send them off in to the world because that is an action i admire and i want to participate in things i admire. i want to welcome these great, glittering storms of compassion and beauty and pain even in to my life. i want to be polished. i want to be strong. i'm tired of losing time to a state of confused longing. i may feel that way... but i can feel it and still move forward. i can make valentines. i can hang heart shapes in the window. i can write letters and poems and make paintings and know that these things, these objects, these gestures give voice to my core self... that i can choose to be who i truly am without apology or excuse or argument.
people will believe whatever they want to believe. this is something that is out of my control. i can choose to have faith in my self and in the goodness of my life... in the goodness of my particularities.
i admired mr. mcqeen's particularities.
the fruits of your labor, sir, have not gone unnoticed and your entrance has been granted. rest well. rest deep in love. we'll see you on the other side. i'm sure your good work will continue there and i can't wait to see it. :)
alexander mcqueen sneakers
spring collection 2010
Feb 10, 2010
pep talk
i've been thinking about valentine's day.
i want to participate.
i've always wanted to participate in it but didn't or couldn't because of cultural mandates and expectations and blah blah blah. lame stuff like that. i don't eat candy and never really crave it. and i like roses but that's really not necessary.
i don't really want anything... except to honor my own values. from here on out, i'm going to make the holiday my own.
it's a topic i've been thinking about a lot for the last few months. pages and pages of notebook scribblings dedicated to VALUE- what it is, how to get it, and then, how to keep it. much easier to write about in your little notebook than find opportunities inside your daily life in which to express it. i realized yesterday that, as a teenager, my values were very much linked to ideas of justice and fairness. i was highly idealistic, yes, but i've always thought the world can benefit from a little idealism now and then. somewhere along the line during my huge 2-year long depression, i stopped thinking about justice and fairness in the correct way: that these things are mine to give... not mine to expect. and somehow this is linked to valentine's day in my mind this year. the need for some sort of heartfelt ritual. the need for at least a little bit of sentimentality and mushy appreciation for the good things in one's life. and having a day set aside for this when it's okay to get mushy and dote on things or people or projects is totally what i need right now. no apologies, no excuses, just a little bit of wholesome fun. anything that aids a person in discovering who they really are... who they were as a child and embracing that person again, i'm all for. sweetness, kindness, curiosity, playfulness... these are qualities to admire. they are qualities to pursue and hold on to. a code.
and so i spent the bulk of yesterday cutting out heart-shapes and drawing and trying to come up with an image that would hurt and haunt and cut but also spin and play and cry with joy. i'm still searching for it but i'm well on my way. i will participate.
there's a saying that goes, "fake it til you make it". basically, a game of pretend but not as horrible as that may sound. maybe "walk the talk" is a better expression.
when i think about the kind of person i want to be, why not just start behaving like that person. if i want to be the type of person who makes valentine's day cards, what am i waiting for? same thing goes for everything else. if i want to be a writer, i have to write. and write first, write long, write hard before i assume that title. i learn to paint by painting. i can learn patience by being patient. i can believe i have value if i practice value... if i manage to find the strength of character necessary to guard my own life and path and choice and goodness with every ounce of grace and resilience i've got.
i'm rambling but what i really want to say is that little by little i'm seeing how absolutely necessary it is to be myself. really, truly, unapologetically myself. because a person's true self does not need to be apologized for. i'm attempting to recover from the horrible things i threw at myself while i was locked down at the bottom of a very deep, dark well. the horrible things i told myself... the horrible things i believed.
cutting out heart-shapes helps.
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-Theodore Roosevelt
i want to participate.
i want to participate.
i've always wanted to participate in it but didn't or couldn't because of cultural mandates and expectations and blah blah blah. lame stuff like that. i don't eat candy and never really crave it. and i like roses but that's really not necessary.
i don't really want anything... except to honor my own values. from here on out, i'm going to make the holiday my own.
it's a topic i've been thinking about a lot for the last few months. pages and pages of notebook scribblings dedicated to VALUE- what it is, how to get it, and then, how to keep it. much easier to write about in your little notebook than find opportunities inside your daily life in which to express it. i realized yesterday that, as a teenager, my values were very much linked to ideas of justice and fairness. i was highly idealistic, yes, but i've always thought the world can benefit from a little idealism now and then. somewhere along the line during my huge 2-year long depression, i stopped thinking about justice and fairness in the correct way: that these things are mine to give... not mine to expect. and somehow this is linked to valentine's day in my mind this year. the need for some sort of heartfelt ritual. the need for at least a little bit of sentimentality and mushy appreciation for the good things in one's life. and having a day set aside for this when it's okay to get mushy and dote on things or people or projects is totally what i need right now. no apologies, no excuses, just a little bit of wholesome fun. anything that aids a person in discovering who they really are... who they were as a child and embracing that person again, i'm all for. sweetness, kindness, curiosity, playfulness... these are qualities to admire. they are qualities to pursue and hold on to. a code.
and so i spent the bulk of yesterday cutting out heart-shapes and drawing and trying to come up with an image that would hurt and haunt and cut but also spin and play and cry with joy. i'm still searching for it but i'm well on my way. i will participate.
there's a saying that goes, "fake it til you make it". basically, a game of pretend but not as horrible as that may sound. maybe "walk the talk" is a better expression.
when i think about the kind of person i want to be, why not just start behaving like that person. if i want to be the type of person who makes valentine's day cards, what am i waiting for? same thing goes for everything else. if i want to be a writer, i have to write. and write first, write long, write hard before i assume that title. i learn to paint by painting. i can learn patience by being patient. i can believe i have value if i practice value... if i manage to find the strength of character necessary to guard my own life and path and choice and goodness with every ounce of grace and resilience i've got.
i'm rambling but what i really want to say is that little by little i'm seeing how absolutely necessary it is to be myself. really, truly, unapologetically myself. because a person's true self does not need to be apologized for. i'm attempting to recover from the horrible things i threw at myself while i was locked down at the bottom of a very deep, dark well. the horrible things i told myself... the horrible things i believed.
cutting out heart-shapes helps.
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-Theodore Roosevelt
i want to participate.
Jun 24, 2009
bare with me, it's a biggun! shoes, facebook, and the art biz...
oh man. OH MAN! these shoes are WONDERFUL! AH! what a difference! now i know why the guy at the shoe store cringed so hard when i told him that i'd been running in an old pair of beat up converse. ha! i mean, it's a completely different experience! i can run farther EASIER. it's unbelievable! and i don't breathe as hard either. i'm truly amazed how having the correct tool for the job impacts the job itself- something i've sorta always known but hadn't applied to the jogging thing honestly because (1) i've been a cheap ass and (2) hung up on the cuteness factor. stupid! lesson learned! and the brand is: saucony! take my recommendation, guys and girls, these shoes are IT! accept no substitute! this is the shoe for you! :)
and now back on to art talk-
so... facebook is just another social networking site right? well, not quite. if you make "friends" with the right people, it's actually a pretty nice tool to have in your bag. i've made sure to make "friends" with every art institution, gallery, whatever that i can think of that i admire and would love to work with one day. i get regular updates about openings and it really does help to know WHEN stuff happens if you'd like to be a part of it. also, i'm currently enmeshed in a wonderful (sometimes enraging) conversation about the role of the audience in an artist's process or approach to art-making. it's all i can think about for the last three days since this conversation started. hearing how other people interpret this issue has been both shocking and insightful and has given me tons of new ideas to consider. TONS! i haven't really gotten to have conversations about things like this since art-school. it's so much fun! so here we go...
the audience.
this is a topic that applies to artists who want to show their work in public. and i'm still learning the ropes on this one too so bare with me and please chime in if you've got something to say. :)
in my opinion, it's not really up to an artist WHO gets to be in their audience. it's not something you have much control over. if people like your work (or are even intrigued by it), they're in your audience. and what they have to say about your work is information that can only help you. at least, that's been the case with me. example: if i painted a picture of a cow and 99 out of 100 people said it was a painting of a duck... that's good information to have. it's information i can USE! now, to me, it'll probably always be a painting of a cow, but the truth is that i inadvertently learned how to paint a duck. i might not have succeeded in satisfying my original intention, but i've learned something... i've gained a skill that i didn't bet on. it's not a bad thing and it's not a negative critique either, it's INSIGHT in to HOW people SEE your work. and once you've made the leap to showing your work in a public venue, you need to realize that you've opened the door to having discourse. you can't shout out statements and then slam the door, refusing to let others respond. art is a form of conversation. it creates a space for discussion and sometimes the discussion heads in a direction that the artist would never have even dreamed of. that's part of the fun. and it's valuable to know how the majority of people see your work. very valuable. that kind of information is just what you need to know how to tweak your work in such a way that mistaking your intentions will happen with increasingly less regularity. and i do not mean that you compromise the work at all- it's about tightening up your skills and not thinking that you're smarter than the audience and that they're just there to be told what to do and how to think. because the cold, hard truth of the matter is that the vast majority of people on the planet DO NOT CARE ABOUT ART. evidence: the fact that art programs are always the first thing on the chopping block... even in times of economic health and stability and growth. more evidence: the common adage "starving artist". most people believe that there's absolutely no money to be made in art and that a person who decides to follow this road is resigning themselves to a life of poverty and toil. definitely not the truth but it's the common outlook and one we've all heard. and here in america (consumerist nation!), involving yourself in an enterprise of poverty is stupid. so yes, most people think art is stupid. it's sad but it's the case. it's what we contend with. most people do not spend their free time going to art galleries. they just don't. that being said, people who DO go to art galleries (the minority) are people that artists should want to have conversations with. if they care about art, they're in your audience regardless of what your work looks like or what your motivations are.
and on the topic of LOOKS and how it relates to the audience...
the small amount of control an artist has in relation to the audience is getting your work in the correct venue. example: if you make paintings, you wouldn't expect to show in a photography gallery, right? and more specifically, if you paint portraits, you wouldn't (or shouldn't) approach a landscape gallery for a show. that's NOT what that gallery is KNOWN for. and getting your portraits in a venue that caters to PORTRAITURE is the quickest, smartest way an artist can get their work in front of an audience that LIKES that kind of work. and that has absolutely NOTHING to do with compromise or anything along those lines. nothing.
just like the hard lesson i learned about running shoes and having the correct tool for the job, choosing the correct venue in which to show your work makes all the difference. it's a tool. and the experience of working with a good gallery is amazing. a good gallery will never tell you to start doing different work or to change your style or anything like that. ever. you've already considered your audience by doing the research to find out what kind of gallery suits your work. you'll run farther EASIER!
considering your audience has nothing at all to do will dumbing down your work or making things easy or spelling out every last detail. not one thing to do with it. it's about getting the stuff you've worked so hard on in front of people who will respect and appreciate it... because not everyone will. i know for a fact that my work isn't for everybody and that's okay. it's the way it should be.
who knows- as the conversation on facebook progresses, i may end up eating my words on this. and as i get further in my career, my outlook may change. but i'm going to leave the door open on gaining insight from other people which is the entire point of this post. i made a decision a long time ago to leave the door open to having a change of heart and it has proved to be a very good decision.
and now back on to art talk-
so... facebook is just another social networking site right? well, not quite. if you make "friends" with the right people, it's actually a pretty nice tool to have in your bag. i've made sure to make "friends" with every art institution, gallery, whatever that i can think of that i admire and would love to work with one day. i get regular updates about openings and it really does help to know WHEN stuff happens if you'd like to be a part of it. also, i'm currently enmeshed in a wonderful (sometimes enraging) conversation about the role of the audience in an artist's process or approach to art-making. it's all i can think about for the last three days since this conversation started. hearing how other people interpret this issue has been both shocking and insightful and has given me tons of new ideas to consider. TONS! i haven't really gotten to have conversations about things like this since art-school. it's so much fun! so here we go...
the audience.
this is a topic that applies to artists who want to show their work in public. and i'm still learning the ropes on this one too so bare with me and please chime in if you've got something to say. :)
in my opinion, it's not really up to an artist WHO gets to be in their audience. it's not something you have much control over. if people like your work (or are even intrigued by it), they're in your audience. and what they have to say about your work is information that can only help you. at least, that's been the case with me. example: if i painted a picture of a cow and 99 out of 100 people said it was a painting of a duck... that's good information to have. it's information i can USE! now, to me, it'll probably always be a painting of a cow, but the truth is that i inadvertently learned how to paint a duck. i might not have succeeded in satisfying my original intention, but i've learned something... i've gained a skill that i didn't bet on. it's not a bad thing and it's not a negative critique either, it's INSIGHT in to HOW people SEE your work. and once you've made the leap to showing your work in a public venue, you need to realize that you've opened the door to having discourse. you can't shout out statements and then slam the door, refusing to let others respond. art is a form of conversation. it creates a space for discussion and sometimes the discussion heads in a direction that the artist would never have even dreamed of. that's part of the fun. and it's valuable to know how the majority of people see your work. very valuable. that kind of information is just what you need to know how to tweak your work in such a way that mistaking your intentions will happen with increasingly less regularity. and i do not mean that you compromise the work at all- it's about tightening up your skills and not thinking that you're smarter than the audience and that they're just there to be told what to do and how to think. because the cold, hard truth of the matter is that the vast majority of people on the planet DO NOT CARE ABOUT ART. evidence: the fact that art programs are always the first thing on the chopping block... even in times of economic health and stability and growth. more evidence: the common adage "starving artist". most people believe that there's absolutely no money to be made in art and that a person who decides to follow this road is resigning themselves to a life of poverty and toil. definitely not the truth but it's the common outlook and one we've all heard. and here in america (consumerist nation!), involving yourself in an enterprise of poverty is stupid. so yes, most people think art is stupid. it's sad but it's the case. it's what we contend with. most people do not spend their free time going to art galleries. they just don't. that being said, people who DO go to art galleries (the minority) are people that artists should want to have conversations with. if they care about art, they're in your audience regardless of what your work looks like or what your motivations are.
and on the topic of LOOKS and how it relates to the audience...
the small amount of control an artist has in relation to the audience is getting your work in the correct venue. example: if you make paintings, you wouldn't expect to show in a photography gallery, right? and more specifically, if you paint portraits, you wouldn't (or shouldn't) approach a landscape gallery for a show. that's NOT what that gallery is KNOWN for. and getting your portraits in a venue that caters to PORTRAITURE is the quickest, smartest way an artist can get their work in front of an audience that LIKES that kind of work. and that has absolutely NOTHING to do with compromise or anything along those lines. nothing.
just like the hard lesson i learned about running shoes and having the correct tool for the job, choosing the correct venue in which to show your work makes all the difference. it's a tool. and the experience of working with a good gallery is amazing. a good gallery will never tell you to start doing different work or to change your style or anything like that. ever. you've already considered your audience by doing the research to find out what kind of gallery suits your work. you'll run farther EASIER!
considering your audience has nothing at all to do will dumbing down your work or making things easy or spelling out every last detail. not one thing to do with it. it's about getting the stuff you've worked so hard on in front of people who will respect and appreciate it... because not everyone will. i know for a fact that my work isn't for everybody and that's okay. it's the way it should be.
who knows- as the conversation on facebook progresses, i may end up eating my words on this. and as i get further in my career, my outlook may change. but i'm going to leave the door open on gaining insight from other people which is the entire point of this post. i made a decision a long time ago to leave the door open to having a change of heart and it has proved to be a very good decision.
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