| Good Art Won't Match Your Sofa |
[Jun. 28th, 2000|07:00 pm]
The Image Collector
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But it sure will look good hanging next to it! If you want something to match it, go to one of those "starving artist" shows at your local hotel. There you can buy a painting that was painted in the third world by an assembly line of people getting pennies an hour. Brings whole new meaning to the term "starving artist", doesn't it? You would be better off buying a print by a real artist and putting it in the frame. When I sell a painting for, say $3000, that represents at least two weeks of work, based on 6-8 hours a day. Then, I have to pay sales tax, income tax and social security tax. If I painted full time, which I don't, (I have another job), and sold everything I painted, which most artists don't, I could make a middle class living. However, to sell that much, I would have to use galleries, which take at least 50% of the price. That means, working full time, and selling everything, I would get about $36000 before taxes. Or, I could double the prices so no-one could afford them... Instead, I chose to work full time to support my art, and, eventually, I will quit and paint full time, when I no longer need to make a living. I am an artist. That is ingrained so deeply into me that it might as well be genetic. I cannot conceive of never painting again. When I go without for any period of time, I lose touch of my center, my soul. I will paint no matter if I never sell again, but the nature of art is that it needs an audience, and an artist needs feedback. A compliment from a stranger is fuel for my next work. A sale can inspire several. I will paint anyway, but that validation is like miracle-gro for my inspiration and productivity.
Well that was scattered, wasn't it? What the heck, it's a journal, and probably no-one is reading anyway. |
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