BonitaCohn@AOL.COM on tue 6 mar 01
Dear Tom--years ago it was explained to me thusly: Doing pottery is like
prostitution.
At first you do it for love, then you do it for friends, then you do it for
money.
I recommend keeping the love in it.
Bonita in San Francisco.
artimater on tue 6 mar 01
I know this post is in danger, and if mel doesn't take pity on me =
and himself and zap it, a lot of you guys are gonna wanna give me a lot =
of grief and bs and crap and horseshit.....but here goes:
Dear one who is riding the horn of dilemma:
They like to say you can make a living doing clay around =
here.....What they won't tell you is that to do so you can:
1. Buy a ram press and wail away like a ditch digger.....sell into a =
tiny profit margin that in no way will account for your time....
2. Get a stack of degrees and teach.....Pretty much a 40 hr week right =
there isn't it?(good teachers are saints)....Make ceramic art on the =
side....Mebbe get the job, blow off the students(do they really need =
you?) and make art on the job...
3. do workshops......(Is that like teaching with travel benefits?)
If you plan on making fine art full time then you are gonna need =
some support. It doesn't matter what the work looks like, galleries =
will generally turn up their nose unless you show them your pedigree. It =
is their way of saying they would be happy to exploit you, but you =
haven't suffered enough.....Then there are the vanity galleries where =
you get to pay to show your work(get the picture?) At the art fairs =
and shows etc. you will be competing with all those guys that make a =
living with the afore mentioned ram press....They in turn are competing =
with Walmart....Walmart buys their stuff from black mothers in South =
Africa.....You will not like the price levels....The public will ooo and =
ahhhh over your work(the 1% with any aesthetic left after having been =
raised the way people are anymore).....Then they will go buy the bargain =
bowl....It will be less kickass but cheaper.....
You don't have to believe me....just ask all these fine clayarters =
how many dollars(net) their fine art ceramic work made them last =
year.....Ask them how much income tax they paid on it.....Most of them =
will hem and haw.....Few will admit production work....A couple like =
myself will stand before you in their underwear....I work on fine art =
24/7.....I am supported in other ways....Last year my art brought in 0. =
I don't even think about selling it much....If no ones grabs me and =
makes an offer I will die with it ALLHEHEHEHEACKACKACKACKHOHOHO....cough =
cough
On the upside....lest I be accused of whining....your art will =
progress in leaps and bounds....You will soon be justly proud of =
it....My work progresses in leaps and bounds .....I am justly proud of =
it.....check out my website at geocities at which I spent the weekend =
giving ya'll another taste of the work of Rush..... criticism welcome
To sum up .....If you have to make a living doing fine art you =
might as well end it all right now.....a lot of true artists die =
young....ME? I'm having a ball
"Truth, like a torch, the more it's shook, the more it shines. " =
-William Hamilton
artimator
artimator@earthlink.net=20
http://www.geocities.com/artimator/index.html=20
http://home.earthlink.net/~artimator/index.html
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/texasceramics
"I only indulge when I've seen a snake, so I keep a supply of =
indulgences and snakes handy"
Snail Scott on tue 6 mar 01
At 10:00 AM 3/6/01 -0600, artimator wrote:
> They like to say you can make a living doing clay around here.....
>What they won't tell you is that to do so you can:
>1. Buy a ram press and wail away like a ditch digger.....
>2. Get a stack of degrees and teach.....
>3. do workshops......
>artimator
Basically, I agree. I think that half the problem, though,
is not conspiracy/greed by galleries or ignorance/parsimony
by buyers. I think it is TOO MANY ARTISTS!
(Yeah, I think I'm gonna get hosed for this, too, Artimator!)
There are many more people right now, especially in the US,
trying to make a living as artists than ever before in history.
There's just not enough buyers around to support that many
artists at a living wage; there just aren't.
So, galleries can be pretty fussy about who they take on.
Also, mass-produced goods are available at better quality
than ever before, and at cheaper prices. A buyer might be
well excused for buying manufactured tableware, and ornaments
for their home made in a third-world factory. Many of those
things look damned nice, and are handmade, too, if the buyer
even values that aspect, (which many decent, intelligent, and
sensitive people simply DON'T)!
So, those of us who persist in handcraft and art are competing
for a slice of a fairly small pie. Not everyone's going to
succeed, and the ones that do may not be the most deserving.
Life's like that. Most of us picked our fate with eyes open.
Maybe we should have a lottery, and half of all artists will
be required to quit and get real jobs! Not me, though! I am
way too self-indulgent to go back to gainful employment, so
I justify my continuing poverty by claiming moral superiority.
Anybody else want to quit, for the common good? (I didn't
think so!)
I'll just open up another pack of ramen noodles for dinner, now.
-Snail
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