Lili Krakowski on sun 31 dec 06
Oh dear!
I read both Wil, and Linda and felt very very very old. Ancient.
Yes, Wil, we all have hit road blocks and we all (love the phrase) "have
been boxed into a circumstantial corner."
And Linda, I have no idea who the goof balls are who think it obscene for
you to want to sell your work, but, unless they are independently wealthy,
and do not need to earn a living, they sell their time, "products", ideas,
skills...so wotze the difference?
There is an over-arching point to be made here. It seems you both need some
terrier genes. Terriers, bless them, will grab a hold of something they
WANT, and nothing will make them let go. You can pick up a small terrier by
lifting up the toy it is holding. You can drag a big terrier across the
floor by whatever it is holding (like your ankle) The terrier is my
metaphor (My goodness, did she say "metaphor"? Oh, no,not on a nice Sunday
morning like this!) for tenacity. Blind, stubborn, tenacity. My other
"metaphor" is tug boats. You know how the ocean liners, and ore-carriers,
get bogged down, and how the yachts are either swamped or becalmed? Well the
tug boat--NOT attractive (albeit cute) NOT fancy--just steadily, slowly,
plows on.
So Linda and Will make yourselves a picture of a terrier at the helm of a
tug boat. Hang it up. Think on it. THAT'S GOTTA BE YOU!
Linda: If you love the work you produce, then you should "get it out there."
Obviously size and subject matter are a consideration, but you certainly
can/should offer some of your pieces to a larger circle. I have known
several painters who have given works to their doctors, dentists,
hairdressers, schools, hospitals for the frank reason of giving themselves a
display space. People ask about the work, the word gets out. Some
painters/potters barter. (A dentist I had in NYC had traded her services
with members of the NYC Abstract Expressionist crowd in the 1940s....Duh!)
You also can arrange a home show, or get together with some others and have
something like a home Christmas Sale next year. It sounds as though
borrowed from "Disparate Housewives" but a group of artists and craftsmen I
know in a suburb organized themselves into a little group, and have two home
shows a year. Some HAVE gone on to getting shops or galleries to carry
their work.
I think, Linda, you should work on a support team of other craftspeople,
make rude suggestions to the goofballs, and just decide you are going to do
maybe three things to promote yourself.
Wil. You sound tired and discouraged, and I am concerned and sorry. You
must be a very nice young man to give up your time and ambitions to look
after ailing relatives, and then to take in and look after "inherited
animals."
There is, you know, though I can't recall it now, a technical term for the
exhaustion that caregivers feel. It is REAL, it is NOT a phony thing, it is
NOT you, so maybe in your community there is a support group (call the local
Hospice, at least around here they run such groups) and see about talking
about some of this. I am not joking, or being dismissive. I have seen it
in friends, acquaintances, and I know there are several on this list who
have been there, and know more about it than I. Maybe one or two will speak
up.
Having said that. I think your burdens are throwing you off track. People
on this list longer will tell you (possibly with expletives attached) that
I fulminate against university art programs because they create an unreal
world and do not acquaint students with the reality of La Situation Potiere.
You do not say where you live. I learned only yesterday that Oregon is not
on the ocean*, so don't go geographic on me! . What I mean is--rural,
village, small town, city, big city, megalopolis.... Each has
possibilities. If you are truly rural then there is some one who has a
small outbuilding s/he would let you use, esp. if it is not in good shape
and you will fix it up.
In a village there may be some old empty building or someone will have a
part of a garage that again you might be able to use.
From towns on up, there will be other craftspeople some of whom might share,
or possibly go in with you in getting a space.
In a village or small town the hardware store, lumber yard, feed mill,
"craft" store all may know craftsmen...In this
small town there are three serious woodworkers, bunches of welders, several
"glass" people, a number of quilt makers and basket makers....and there was
an RC priest who potted. ALL these types understand craft problems, the
problems craft people face, and may, (Nay, I will say "will) have ideas.
(In a nearby town three women--admittedly with $$$$--leased or bought a
small abandoned one floor building and made it into their joint studio.
They then rented out studio space, after a while took students, after a
while started having shows, after a while got grants for bigger projects.
Which does not mean that three people with and old building and sweat equity
could not start a studio...)
In a bigger city there are Ys, community centers, recreational centers,
musea, and such who may offer classes, and you might talk to the teachers.
Art supply stores most likely know people.
As to jobs.....I have no idea whatsoever about what you do on the
computer....But if you cannot get a decent job in that at your present
location, you know the 2 choices you have. Move, find work in something that
supports you, your animals, your clay habit. And, I will state the obvious.
(Doesn't she always?) With your experience as caregiver you may be able to
get such a job in a nursing home or CP center, or supervised living
center...It may require a few classes...BUT: I knew a man who worked as a
nurse at night, sculpted by day. Many on this list are nurses, or what now
is called "health care givers." In other words the corner into which you
were boxed may turn out to be a springboard.
Both Linda and Wil: lettuce know what happens. There are numbers who read
ClayArt and are in the same/similar situation as you.
*Mr K broke the news to me....
Lili Krakowski
Be of good courage
sacredclay on mon 1 jan 07
Lili, whenever I read your postings such as this one, I am truly
encouraged and am in awe in your writing skills that is so elequent. As
a teen, I used to think that Niagra Falls was in Nevada, not in my
homestate of NY. Thought Michigan was neighbors to Washington State.
Please don't ever stop posting. I truly find you inspiring! Warmest
regards, Kathryn in NC
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