tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617740583088065264.post2581349282944077590..comments2019-04-17T07:35:43.044-04:00Comments on Rainbarrow Studio: Towering and Flowering (oil on canvas, 2017)Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13268421565768491579noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617740583088065264.post-34204235115525215912017-12-01T10:29:43.143-05:002017-12-01T10:29:43.143-05:00Hi, Cheri.
Thanks for your comment and for taking...Hi, Cheri.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to visit my blog!<br /><br />I don’t find the inclusion of others in my process to be necessary at all. My actual process is entirely self-directed. However, making art is a form of communication, i.e. an attempt at sharing something with others. Even if we’re doing it on a subconscious level, we make images with the intent that someone will see them and have a response. So, I think it’s important to consider feedback, once the work is complete, as a way of measuring the efficacy of our methods. If people aren’t responding to the work in the way that we intended, it may have to do with their own expectations, or it might mean that we need to modify our methods. Any feedback has to be looked at objectively. A friend or family member may praise your work, just because they like you, without understanding it at all. Someone may criticize your work based on expectations that have nothing to do with your intentions. (A woman once told me that my paintings would be better if I put animals in them!)<br /><br />You mention someone buying your work as the highest praise of all. That’s a subjective idea. Although selling my work is always a positive thing in that it provides me with the funds to keep making more art and it’s nice to know that my work is being seen by people, I don’t see it as a measure of the work’s success. People buy paintings for myriad reasons, many of which have nothing to do with formal merits of the work and some of the best painters who ever lived hardly sold anything during their lifetimes. If selling your work is a priority, though, understanding the demands of the market and your audience is essential. It’s important to understand your own personal motivations for making art. I talk about this in my video here:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEnM67rePYI&t=708s<br /><br />Personally, I make work to please myself first.<br /><br />Thanks again for your comments!<br />Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13268421565768491579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1617740583088065264.post-86230012929835226052017-11-30T18:19:10.337-05:002017-11-30T18:19:10.337-05:00I've never read your blog before (didn't k...I've never read your blog before (didn't know you had one), but this first post hit upon a subject that has confounded me my whole life. Your thoughts on the role of others in making art interests me in that you seem to find the inclusion of others in your process a positive and necessary thing. This is an issue I find totally mind-blowing. The first time I remember thinking about it was when my father told me that my drawing was so good I could "do something with it." I was about 9 or 10, and the statement was bewildering to me. I didn't understand what "doing something with it" meant, and I still don't. The closest I can come to it is that I could create something other people would like, preferably enough to give me the highest praise of all......giving me money for it. Presumably this is why we ought to listen to what others say about our work, to the end that we will know how we need to change it. <br /><br />I have been teaching my whole life, and when students begin to acquire skills, they invariably want to know how long it will be before they are good enough to sell their work. My answer has always been "whenever you want to stop enjoying doing it." I guess I don't know why I am telling you this, except that your post seemed to be giving a lot of weight to other people's reaction to your work. What gives them the qualifications to have an opinion at all? I thought you might be able to give me some insight into this since I like you and like your work......Maybe you can say something that will mke sense to me....Cheri Waltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07527610393416277898noreply@blogger.com