If You Want to Be An Artist

from Robin

My friend Tess shared this with me from Stapleton Kearns... he has a great blog btw. You will find a wealth of business and painting advice, lessons, Q&A, etc.

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IF YOU WANT TO BE AN ARTIST, HERE IS THE SECRET. GET UP EVERY DAY, AND DO IT ALL DAY.

I am not well organized, forget to write stuff down and would rather paint than do all of the the things that those creepy books written by career counselors recommend. But I guess I can come up with a few things.

• Find Earl Nightingale and study his material. Here is a link to a post I have written on that. I am not a devotee of self improvement literature. Earl is different.
• I often carry an index card in my left pocket with five things that I want to get done during the day. I check them off as I go.
• I avoid making appointments. I want to paint, not meet with people so I try to keep my schedule freed up. I will obsess about the damage to my work schedule caused by an hour long appointment sometime next week. If I have an appointment during an upcoming day, I look at that day as lost. I try to get as many things done after the light fails as I can, grocery shopping, laundry, family etc.
• I have no hobbies, I don't play or watch those sport things. I don't play video games or Farmville (whatever that is).
• I don't have a television. If you watch two hours of TV a day and wonder why you are not making it as an artist, you are kidding yourself about the size of what it takes to do this.
• I don't seek to earn money from other sources than my art. I don't own a rental unit nor do I buy stock, I am afraid it will divert my attention from my work, part of which is to make a living. If a dollar comes into this house it has to be from the art. I don't do jobs or employment.
• I have a a mental list of my contacts the people who are my dealers and fellow artist travelers. I call them routinely and check in. Speaking with my friends who are professional artists who are also at their easels helps. I have about a half dozen of those, and talking to them helps me build a model for my own efforts. We are working together, separately. Their lives are very like mine. We provide emotional support for one another. You need to have a network of people who you want to be like. I have that in spades, very important to me. These are successful painters, you would know their names. We become like the people we hang out with.
• I keep mental track of my time at the easel. Doing business things, talking on the phone, etc is all essential but it is not time spent on your art. You have to account for it separately.There is a lot of advice for artists out there on business management, most of it written by people from the business world who want to help us spaced out artists. I know a few artists who do all that stuff too. Often their work takes on the same quality though. It is real important to put your art first. ALWAYS THE ART COMES FIRST. Then worry about marketing it. Good art will sell. I don't mean to say that you don't have to do all of that phone calling a list keeping, but it is not as important as the art. I know a very successful artist who has no e-mail, no web site and no business card. He does do the phone a lot though.
• I use Google calender it is on G-mail. It notifies me before appointments and I can look in there and see what is coming up. Many computers are sold with calender and event programs and you probably have one.
• Once a month or sometimes more often, I call all of my dealers. I don't do it to ask if they have sold my work. I do it just to talk, I need to work with friends. If I can't be friends with a dealer usually things don't work out.
  

I will think about this some more and see what else I can come up with. I will do a post aimed at the serious amateur who has to have a life outside of the studio, which I don't.

-- Stapleton Kearns

Where Does the Time Go?

from Robin Cheers

This week has really gotten away from me. Here it is, Friday afternoon, and I have one incomplete small painting to show for my week. Last week, I painted 5 larger paintings.

What changed?

Well, last week I was determined and focused. I took my daughter to school and came directly to my studio to get to work. I didn't schedule interruptions and luckily didn't have any crop up.
This week, I had several appointments, met friends for lunch, took the car in for service, etc. As a result, when I had art time, I was too tired and distracted to focus on it.

The results are a feeling of annoyance with myself for letting so many things distract me from my work. I think the most successful artists clear their schedule for art. They schedule appointments later or on weekends, they treat it as a job where a boss is checking your timeclock. Sometimes its not feasible, but its important to try so the other distractions don't end up being your work.

Encourage each other and build each other up!

Very encouraging teacher, Timothy Horn.

by Kate Merriman

OK, since I just posted about a Zen experience, let's mix it up!  (And don't worry, no particular religious view is required here, just finding these inputs inspiring my thoughts about art and creativity.)  This was a verse that I got from the Salvation Army (somehow) and that I had taped to my car's dashboard for years. 
From Thessalonians:  "Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

Simple, eh?  Yet, not so common in real life. 

But when that uncommon spirit of encouragement and generosity happen with a group of artists, sparks fly, courage grows, art expands!

When I moved to Texas, I knew just about no one except a few coworkers.  Luckily, I did a little Googling and found the Plein Air Austin group.  At that point, I didn't really consider plein air or landscape really "my thing" but I did know that I wanted to meet some fellow painters and that plein air practice always honed my painting skill overall.  So I signed up and put a paint-out on my calendar.

Well, I stumbled into just that uncommon and delightful kind of group that does share, does encourage and has a thriving, contributing membership as a result.  On my first paint-out, it was the very simplest things that made a big difference: Laurel Daniel made time to come over and introduce herself, having spotted me as someone new.  Huge!   Others were welcoming and happy to talk about how and what they were painting.  The vibe was "come on down, no matter your skill level, and let's learn and enjoy together."

Groups where the opposite attitude prevails tend, in my experience, to wither away.  I've been reading "Linchpin" by Seth Godin and am loving his emphasis on how a generous-hearted, fearless attitude gets you everything but a poverty mentality (can't give you anything because then there will be less for me) shuts you down.  Same thing as Paul was saying (I think) to his buddies in Thessaloniki.

So, my points are these:

1 - take the time to find a group that has this generous spirit, even if the discipline or focus isn't what you thought you needed or wanted.
2 - if you are part of a group, reach out to newcomers, be generous with your encouragement.  Don't think of inspiration or knowledge as something that will diminish if shared.  Think the opposite.  Especially if you are in a leadership spot, your attitude will make an enormous impact on all the group's activity; trust me!
3 - give yourself a job with the group so you are more likely to show up.  I know when I have a commitment to bring something or help out in some way, my obligation to others will stand strong where my duty to my own artistic self might be floudering.  Regularly scheduled art activity keeps me from sinking into too long a spell of creative blockage when I do have a spell.

Ideas for finding a group that might keep that creative juice flowing:

1 - Sign up for a workshop or class.  Introduce yourself to the people whose spirit and art attract you.  Ask them what groups they enjoy or recommend. 
2 - Google around for local plein air and sketching (or sketch crawl) groups.  Read their blogs or community posts.  You can often see a lot about the group that way, but go check it out in person too.
3 - Don't put up with energy vampires and wet blankets.  Just walk away.
4 - Start your own group!  My mother saw me posting about some sketch-crawl stuff we were doing in Austin and was bummed that there wasn't a group like that near her.  But just a few days later, she turned that around and created her own little group who still meet regularly and seem to be having a blast.  Go Mom!
5 - Check out "Meetup".  I haven't tried this myself yet, but might soon!  http://painting.meetup.com/
6 - Look at "Links".  Often, when I find an artist who has a great energy and passion for sharing about creativity and art, I can find a 'links' page on their blog or website.  Those links can be a good source for ways to connect with others.

Go artists!
-- Kate Merriman

Finding the Time

External blocks to creativity come in many, many forms. Especially for those of us who are parents and have young ones at home. I try very hard to be an involved parent. I believe its the best foundation for my daughter's future success and I believe that family is of paramount importance.

I've pretty much always kept my weekends and evenings unscheduled and dedicated to family time. I actually can paint with my daughter around, but not when my husband is home. Not sure why, but he feels more high maintenance maybe.

So, I keep family time sacred and meet all my other obligations, but I am not nearly so protective about my art. Why is that? And how do we nurture our creative selves when the schedule is as full as it can get? How do we make time for art?

I carry a sketchbook with me and at least practice my observation skills with quick gestures during tae kwon do or at a Brownie meeting. Those don't really contribute to paintings, but they keep my eye and hand alert. And are a fun chronicle of my days. And I mustn't discount them because they aren't a gallery quality painting.

I have found that one of the best tools for my studio is a timer. When I have a little bit of time, I set a digital kitchen timer for 30 minutes and do a paint sketch (if I haven't wasted all the time trying to find a subject.) Its a great way to start a painting too. Give yourself a short time to mass in the whole scene.

A wonderful book I found at a used book store is Craig Nelson's 60 Minutes to Better Painting. Its all about the advantages of quick studies. I highly recommend it if you can find it.

How do you carve out time to create? Share your ideas in comments below!

-- Robin