Staring at blank linen

This morning I find myself staring at a blank 30x24 canvas and I know I have no desire whatsoever of painting on it. Lots of things I could paint on it but nothing that interests me, at least at this size. I also have several larger gallery wraps I could easily dive into......however for those I need a real reason like a new collection, something that makes a bigger statement as a group than a simple 30x24 canvas will on it's own. I'm actually more inclined to hard copy my thoughts than paint. It's been that way for the last few weeks.

Getting comfortable painting quick candids gave me some time to concentrate on "what am I really doing here" When I started originally, I started with a simple plan that worked quite well and I knew what I was doing........up to a point. 

Currently I'm in limbo - not using social media, tracking my collectors, doing the "news letter", or for that matter anything on any the social front including National ads, paint-outs or any regional or national juried events. I also dropped all memberships that had anything to do with art.....all in limbo. In the beginning I understood why many of these things were important...today I don't; or at least how it pertains to me now!

I see the "potential" of doing a lot of things and how it relates to me personally in this business of making art. So much, it almost becomes overwhelming, and in my book "clutter". Wading through the clutter last year and perhaps part of this year I tossed a number of "potential" things out the back door. Some were left in limbo or in my "deal with it later" pile. I even deleted this blog 3 times...oddly, I  always reinstated it.  A blog, as I found, can be a very effective tool as a second voice or hard copy while talking to yourself.... easily deleted or published.

So lately the candids played a very important part in this process by "keeping my hand in". I think to make art you need a reason to do it, walls to paint for, juried shows, selling or learning. Long "potential" list if you want to take the time with it. Because I don't and don't have a clear reason at the moment, learning is a good fall back position while in "self imposed limbo".

I've been circling this thing for almost 2 years now and I don't think for a minute this is about being discouraged, although at times it might seem that way. This is really about shedding an "Old Plan" for a "New Plan". Redefining goals for better ones if you will. Until I firm up "what am I really doing here" with a workable plan....limbo works well!

For me, I am making progress.  The good news is that The Chuck Larivey "Affordable Act" is in place and working well with the addition of the recent "Giclee Solution". Originally thought by me as passive income using copyright laws as it pertains to the working artist. 

The "Affordable Act" was really a solution to a major stumbling block; keeping myself and my work affordable to a broader audience. Artists have a choice of moving forward, building value or staying within the standard gallery fare. However sometimes, the artist doesn't have a choice how that works out. Our galleries and collectors play a major part in the "Affordable Act" and can make us "UN-affordable" as well.

If that happens, we all solve it in different ways, but we do have to solve it sooner than later....or retreat! I chose "self imposed limbo" until I figured out what worked best for me and I did not retreat.... a move that would certainly hurt the investment my patrons and collectors made in me and my art. 

Art is an investment by a collector and in a "career artist" with the anticipation they will grow in stature and of course, over time, in value. Collectors or patrons as I prefer to call them, make an important contribution on a daily basis supporting the arts, and buying my work.  By doing so, they also encourage me to stay in the game. Remarkable when you think about it, a patron who often has no artistic talent falls in love with something second nature to me as an artist... enough to take it home, hang it on the wall and cherish it on a daily basis....... I know because they tell me at chance meetings. It’s what makes them remember us and want to engage.  Because in some small way, my art made their day just that much better.  Art is a feel good thing we are engaged in and art is also an investment class understood by many patrons who collect art.

Our patron/collector is perhaps the most important cog in the artist’s wheel of fortune.

It also seems galleries would want that too, because after all, they helped establish the value in the first place. And, more importantly, recognize how any retreat affects all previous sales and future ones too......retreat might help bargain hunter sales, but is not necessarily a good long term solution and most certainly hurts collector value.