The Measure of the Artist

The question of artistic success is one that has plagued artists for centuries, and often weighs heavily on me as an artist.  I wonder whether what I'm doing makes a difference in the world, or whether the simple creation of a piece of art is valuable absent a monetary amount that someone is willing to pay for it.  Of course, pricing one's work is a whole other animal that is similarly problematic, and I recently faced this when I created a commissioned piece for a fellow Albany-dweller. 

We had spoken of the piece and I produced a rough sketch along with a discussion of the work's meaning, as well as a ballpark price.  Once I had completed the work, I realized it did not take me as long as I had projected, and, having used an hourly rate as a basis for pricing my work for a number of years now, I quoted a lower price.  My commissioner (and artistic supporter) immediately let me know how foolish this was, and told me to leave the hourly rate for my "survival job," stating that as far as the artistic work goes, if I can do it, I can, whether it takes me 15 minutes or 15 years.  Quite encouraging, I'd have to say. 

So back on to success -- certainly, having had a piece of art commissioned and sold, I felt momentarily more successful as an artist.  But does this mean that if several months pass from this point without another commission or original piece sold, that I will feel less successful?  Possibly.  Or will I feel successful as long as I am creating work?

In 2012 I completed two pieces.  For this, there were a number of factors.  In 2013, I created 12, one of which spanned three large canvas panels.  I figured that as long as I am creating one piece a month, with a full-time job that is unrelated to my artwork, I'm doing pretty well.   It is now March of the next year, and I have created three pieces, one of which I am not completely sure is finished.  This is my first experience of having to put a piece away in hopes to come back to it later with fresh and clearer perspective.  Does this mean I have reached the depths of what it is to be an artist?  Or does it mean I am working at too surface a level?  I don't know.  But I do know that in 2009, when I was not working full time, I created 20 pieces of art, and none were as sophisticated as the work I am doing now.

And I guess the biggest measure of personal success is really only individual feeling, anyway.  I just keep reminding myself: art is slow. 

And I do feel successful.

"The Time Is Almost", 4"x4", cut paper on wood panel

 

"Song Springs Devotion", 6"x6", cut paper on wood panel

To Know Bounds

Though I have not posted for a while, I have not been absent from art.  As many changes have taken place for me in the new year, so too have things been taking shape with collaging.

Below is the piece I completed in February.  The moth is a totem you may remember from one of my posts on reading signs and spirit guides a few months back.  As you may recall, the moth is about relationships, about following your senses, observation and intuition to know whether a relationship, of any type, with a particular person, is right for you.  The rabbit I recently came to discover is one of my totem animals.  I had wondered over the last few years, in creating pieces with totem animals, when I would discover which animals represent me.  Though I know I do not yet have all of them, the rabbit is indeed one.  Rabbit is about boundaries.  It is about knowing which boundaries are appropriate to keep and maintain strong, and which ones to leap beyond, to risk venturing outside of them in order to grow and change.

When these two totems come together, they suggest that we must all be aware of what boundaries are necessary for particular relationships to thrive.  How far to push?  How far to be pushed?  Where do you begin and I end?  We do not have to sacrifice our boundaries to achieve closeness.  We get to protect ourselves and hold ourselves sacred, and still be loved.

To Know Bounds
cut paper on canvas panel, 8"x10"
© 2013 Nicolette Callaway

Woodpecker

It is not everyday that I encounter a woodpecker, which is why I've never created a piece with a woodpecker in it.  And yet this morning, as I was leaving my house, I noticed a woodpecker, beating away at a tree.  Beautiful and full of rhythm, I watched it for a minute before having to get in my car and drive away. 

It is said that when a woodpecker enters your life, it means that you are safe in the foundation you've created for yourself, and you can follow through with whatever you've begun, or, I suppose, have been contemplating.  In doing so, you will create new rhythms and awaken new sensibilities and skills.  The woodpecker tells us to listen to our own bodily rhythms and sounds, and determine from there where to move to. 

Have I been listening?  I think so.  Can I make my own new rhythms?  I believe I can.

But still the question remains: "Do I dare?  And do I dare?"

Signs and Flexibility

As an addendum to my last post on reading signs, I want to say that one must be flexible.  This holds true for everything in life; we will all get further if we keep our thinking about things flexible and expandable.  And if one is practicing any form of art (expressive, visual, literary, etc.), this will necessarily occur (except when one is experiencing artist's block, which generally means that one is being too rigid or literal in their thinking -- aka, being overwhelmed or afraid). 

But in any attempt to follow spirit guides, or signs, outside of an artist perspective, one must not have too strict of an idea of what they're a sign of.  An experience with a spirit guide can hit at the core of a feeling and be dead on, but as for what to DO about it, well... that spirit guide may not be giving you any advice.  That's when the other guides show up and lead you further.  So while we may get hit with one encounter, we've got to keep open and listening.  And, of course, we always must be observant about the actuality of the situations we find ourselves in, and do our best, while feeling the feelings that may come up, to think rationally, and act based on rational thought.  Which is, indeed, flexible.

Art on Lark

Come check out Art on Lark 2012 this Saturday, June 9th, 10am-5pm (tomorrow!).  There will be music, food, and of course, lots of art!  I'll be hawking my wares closer to Madison Ave, offering fine art prints, card prints, original artwork, handmade jewelry, hand sewn fabric bags, and, of course, sock monsters! 

I'm looking forward to the weather getting rain completely out of its system today so that tomorrow is bright and calm and balmy, with nonexistent wind action.  Let's see the power of positive thinking!

"What else is art but the expression of love of yourself and of humanity?"

Prints are up on Etsy

The images you may have seen before, but the items are new.  All prints are on 8.5"x11" archival museum paper, with the image centered at a size slightly smaller than 5"x7".  They're ready to go in a frame, or if you want to get fancy, you could stick them behind an acid-free matte.  Most are limited edition runs, but my signature piece, "When The Time Is Right" (fox and owl), is an open run.  They're really quite a nice addition to any wall, mantle or buffet.  Check 'em out.  www.nicolettecallaway.etsy.com

Artist Liberation from Artist Oppression

My downstairs neighbors started blasting club music in their living room at 1pm on a Sunday, and I decided to leave my apartment and head for a coffee shop when I realized that the floor wasn't going to stop vibrating any time soon.  Obviously, I cannot cart all my art materials to a coffee shop, and in thinking about my neighbors hindering my ability to work on my art in the small amount of time I have outside of my day job, I decided to talk a little bit about Artist Oppression.

While this may be a foreign concept to many readers, it is a commonality that artists everywhere experience.  It keeps us in low-paying full-time jobs so we can pay our bills and have health insurance, or keeps us in unsatisfactory living situations in order to lower rent, eating poorly for lack of proper funds, and not having health insurance so we cannot go to the doctor when we get sick, etc.  We work and work and work to produce, but have few opportunities that pay us for that work.  We work for free.  We doubt ourselves.  We are not "normal."  Our profession is not "lucrative."  Yet we are encouraged to "keep [our] dreams alive."

Why is this?  Why are we encouraged to "keep at it" when everything we face in capitalism makes us feel undervalued, devalued and, ultimately, worthless?  It is because any society without art is a dead society.  People view art--visual and expressive (performing)--to view society, to get their attention out, to laugh, cry, and reevaluate what occurs within that society, how we live in our world.  In this sense, artists are the world's counselors.  We see things and think about the world differently.  We, through our creative work, epitomize humanness.  Our creativity allows us to move humanity toward full intelligence faster and more directly.  We can increase the speed at which the universe advances toward meaning and freedom, and we create new important complexities within the environment.  We facilitate new ways of being.  In this sense, the presence of the artist in the world is vital. 

My experience is that of every person I speak with about my art exhibiting some sort of distress pattern.  Sometimes I am lucky enough to have a person take a real interest in my artwork and what I am conveying with it.  Even then they cannot bring themselves to purchase an original piece of art.  When I say a piece of work costs $500, most people balk.  My question is this:  how much do you pay your mechanic to work on your car?  $65-95/hr?  How much do you pay your masseuse?  Similarly?  How about your plumber, your electrician, your therapist, your doctor?  An artist is no less specialized in their profession, so why should they be paid less?  At $500, a piece of art that I spend 10 hours on ends up paying me $50/hr.  That does not account for the cost of framing or materials.  What if that piece of art cost me 50 hours of time?  I'm then making less than $10/hr, all added up.  Heinous is not too strong a word to use here.  Most people do not think in this way.  They require that someone else endorse the work -- an agent, a gallery, a publisher, etc.  These things do not increase the value of the work.  The work is inherently valuable. 

Of course, then we get into the discussion of bad art/good art.  What is good art?  What is bad art?  Certainly there are techniques and studying that goes into creating work.  But I suppose my answer is this:  an artist who is aware of the world and how she functions in it, how she connects with it and other humans, and fights toward full intelligence and sustainability through her art, is an artist who will produce "good" art.  Does this play into artist oppression?  Maybe so.  But this discussion is at least a gesture toward movement out of it. 

Delmar Farmer's Market -- Last Chance!

Tomorrow morning will be your last chance to check out what the Delmar Farmer's Market has to offer.  At Bethlehem Central Middle School, this market has many vendors, selling everything from veggies, cheese and meat, granola and baked goods, to soaps, creams, jewelry and art!  Although I would say that cheese, veggies, and baked goods aren't a very far leap from art. 

So come check it out tomorrow, Saturday 12/17 from 9am-1pm for some last-minute Holiday gifts.  You won't be sorry!

Sock Monsters Are Up On Etsy!

Finally, a sock monster is available on Etsy.  Customizable, no less!  So from my last post, you can now take a look at what these little creatures have to offer.

this funny rocker dude is going to be in the hands of a happy little boy very soon!

a little blurry, but cute!  she's been sold, though.

this floppy little guy is still available, but not for long!

What Does a Falcon Say to a Crow?

I'm not sure. You'll have to figure out what you think the answer is yourself, after taking a look at my new piece. A triptych, this piece is larger than any other I've done -- 17"x11".

Falcon Says to Crows, 2011

cut paper with matte medium and acrylic glaze, 17"x11"

(There's a bit of a seam in the scan, as I had to scan in two pieces.)