Artist’s Minutes, How to Survive as an Artist

 

Two Dog Flats, Evening 08

 Where do you find the time to create art

and support yourself too and don’t forget the family if you have a wife, husband and of course the kids, dogs, cats, horses and whatever.  

Juggling all the balls is no easy task for the working artist.

An old friend of mine told me once, “If you have a Goldfish you may as well have a zoo”.

If you are lucky and established enough to make a living selling your work,

you are a member of the fortunate few. As the world revolves around us in turmoil with what seems like never ending financial and societal pressure, many of us have to work a day job, some of us may have to work several.

Then we have to be Artists on top of everything else.

If you are an Artist then you understand the have to be. We creative’s are trained from the beginning to be teachers to make a living. That was the purpose of the MFA programs. Others of us find work in galleries, non-profits, restaurants, whatever pays the rent.

And oh those creative odd jobs,

you know the ones that tax your soul, but you do it for the money anyway.

So how do you get time to do your work.

That was question I asked myself this year. I too have a day job and I can tell if you read on, you won’t feel too sorry for me, but maybe I can offer some soul soothing advice to you. About ten seasons ago I took a seasonal job for the National Park Service as a Historic Preservation Carpenter at Glacier National Park. I was trained as a carpenter before I went to college. After college I taught in various programs, worked in non-profits and museums and filled in the gaps with construction jobs. It seemed I always had a side job working as a carpenter.

 

Route 49 Two Medicine GNP 08

My current job offered interesting and challenging work, restoring and preserving buildings throughout the park. Glacier is a big park, the size of many states with tens of thousands of acres, if fact the acreage is well over a million.

If you have been to Glacier Park then you know it is a landscape of magnificent beauty as are most of our national parks.

My job takes me to every nook and cranny of the park. Constantly surrounded by and living in the landscape is a wonderful experience.

But I always seem to be on a mission.

I have to get somewhere and get some project done and that leaves little time to really enjoy the experience as an Artist. The job offers other enjoyments to be sure, but is demanding of time and attention. My employer expects me to pay attention to my work, but it is easy to enjoy the office when it is spread over such a majestic landscape. Being so large it takes hours to get to many job locations in the park, windshield time is what we call it, although it could be time in the saddle or on foot, on the trail.

That’s when you are out there in the thick of the landscape, but you are always moving always working so you pass it by with forgettable memories of where you have been and what you saw on the way.

I have to tell you I have countless forgotten memories of breath taking experiences that I just passed on by without stopping so much as to take a moment to enjoy, not even a picture did I take. In fact I usually found my self thinking about being somewhere else, in some city doing the whole art thing, until I decide to look.

Yes Look at where I was and Look at what was right in front of me.

Every job has “My Time”, when you are going too or from work and in my case when you are living at work as I do for a week at a time. Those brief little moments, when you can stop and look at where you are. That is your chance to let the Artist out to play, if only for a few minutes.

But what I am talking about is a few quality minutes, “Artists Minutes”.

That may be all you have some days when you juggle the world, but they are wonderful. I bought a little digital camera, a pocket camera to record my Artists Minutes to remember my moments. This year I recored the season changes and caught some fantastic moments during those brief minutes that punctuate my day job. I take those images with me back to my studio where I can again experience those Artist Minutes. I look at how the wind on the Eastside shapes the trees. How the sun lights the prairies, how the sky is sculpted across the mountain tops and how the stars illuminate the night sky. So when I get back into my studio I can remember and work.

 

Stormy Weather 08

 

Now you may not be as fortunate as I but you do have a world around you.

Look at your world and you will find art waiting to be made in it that reflects your environment, that reflects your experiences. The Artist, Photographer Sally Mann while being a mother created art of that experience, photographing her children at play. She created a profound body of work during those moments. Van Gogh, who may not be a great example, turned his everyday experiences into paintings by looking at what was right there in front of him. And so can you.

I know that with your head down and your nose to the grind stone you have little time, but if you start taking those Artists Minutes, those minutes that are yours you, will find wonderful things, you will find your art.

So set aside all the worries about the economy, the elections or what ever else is consuming your mind and time and take a minute, a minute for you the Artist.

 

Many Glaicer Aspens 08

 

 

Summer on St Mary

 Oil on Canvas 48X60 inches, David Eubank 08

Filed under: Art, Environment, How to, On Art, Painting, Photography, Uncategorized , Glacier National Park, How to Survive as an Artist, Sally Mann, Van Gogh

Is Investing in Art a Safe Haven for your Money, Is Art the New Gold

Skull, damien hirst

• Is Art the new gold, that is the question Sarah Thornton asks in her October the third article published in the Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/10/03/basarah.xml

• Recently as many news articles have pointed out the sale of art has exploded with prices going through the roof.

The Damian Hirst auction at Sotheby’s exceeded all expectations, 200 million. But did it, is the question that Sarah Thornton asks and I would agree. Damien Hirst released a multitude of New Artworks directly from his studio that were then auctioned off at Sotheby’s.

• The question is “What is a 2008 Hirst really worth”?

Only time will reveal the answer. Thornton raises the question who really bought what or perhaps better said who or what encouraged the buyers.

• Another question is this, is there a conspiracy behind the sale of art today, is it a true and transparent market.

At the Hirst Auction Francois Pinault the owner of Christy’s, bought the most expensive lot of Damien Hirst’s artwork at Sotheby’s Hirst auction, reported in the Wall Street Journal. Did he see it as a grand opportunity to invest in art or the art sales market. Did his purchase help to sustain value in the system? Then there are the rumors, speculation that behind the scenes deals were made as Sotheby’s negotiated new sale terms with buyers prior to the sale. Switching from full payment within 30 days to six months.

• Then there were the Russian Capitalists with all of their money, buying Hirst treasures.

I really like the phrase Russian Capitalists, it is just, well a picture of where we have arrived in the global market today.

• So 200 million dollars changed hands for art at the auction while Wall Street tumbled.

So you have to wonder is this a good investment, is Art a solid place to put your money. As Sarah Thornton points out, if you pay 3 million for a De Kooning it will certainly always be worth something. Maybe more maybe less but it is a good bet it will retain more value than say some of the toxic American Financial Stocks.

• So what should you as an investor be considering today right now to secure your capital?

In fact should you as just the average Joe be thinking about moving money out of your 401 K or money market account and buying gold or art as a secure source of protected wealth.

• As my old friend Claude Hamby always said “Hold the Phone”.

Claude was the flamboyant owner of Hamby Movers, his nick name was Cha Cha. Claude never met a women he couldn’t fall in love with, one sparkling glance in his direction and he was in love. But this lead to many a heartbreak even for the charismatic Cha Cha. But when it came to business, money and the way the world works down and dirty; Claude was a gifted sage. He knew where he was positioned in the larger markets of his world. He knew how and where to make money and investments that were within his safety zone. He knew when a deal was good and he knew people and how all that glitters isn’t gold.

• Except for voluptuous women with radiant smiles.

And that my friends is what the art market is, a voluptuous woman with all the charm and intrigue to lure you in. So now if you have been hooked by the possibility of romance and riches what should you be thinking about with the glare of the bright lights in your eyes and champagne in your glass. Should you buy art as a safe haven for you wealth. What kind of art and at what level can you afford. Can you afford the art markets of the superstars like Damien Hirst, can you buy a Van Gogh?

• Well frankly if you can, then you have little worries at least for now.

You can afford to lose money or you can wait to liquidate your treasure, you will be just fine. But remember that Art is not a liquid asset, well unless you buy a Formaldehyde submerged Golden Hoofed Cow by Hirst.

• What you need to think about is where are you positioned in this world of art trading where the top seems to have no ceiling or limits.

You have to know your place and you have to know what the risk is to you and your money.

• Some time ago, about twenty years or so in the past we had the Great Bronze run up in Western Art, that is Western as in images of the American west.

Cowboys on horse back, Indians and assorted animals like bears and elk. Many of these Artworks were created by very noted artists like Remington, Scriver, and many others. Some of the bronzes were re-strikes of old molds that were owned by dealers. Some where produced in editions of the thousands. All were sold by dealers who pushed the market as high as they could using any tactic, any romantic notion of wealth and fame to get the buyer to purchase the bronze master pieces that were over valued artworks.

• Then one day the bottom dropped out of this alchemist gold market of Western Bronzes and the owners found themselves in a position of owners of scrap metal.

The bubble burst, the values plummeted and they have never returned to the original sale prices. Bronze is still bronze a mixture of copper, brass and tin. Some investors still love the work, they love their Cowboy on the side table by the bed.

• But it is still an empty bed where the romance of investing in art has gone cold.

As I have said time and time again research what you are going to buy. And you better love it for it’s aesthetic value because you may own it for a long time. Like Claude it is easy to fall in love with the idea of a hot romance, but the reality can lead to many a heartbreak. So if you can’t afford to get into the superstar art market keep your money in insured accounts and buy art that you truly fall in love with, even if it is for just the moment.

Piggy, damien hirst

• Art Market Update November 2008

Sombre sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s mark end of art boom

By Deborah Brewster in New York

Sotheby’s yesterday provided evidence that the global financial crisis has ended the six-year boom in art prices, as it reported a third-quarter loss that was double that of last time.

The auction house also lost $42m in guarantees for artworks sold during October and November.

• Read the whole Article here:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/16db7e9a-ad36-11dd-971e-000077b07658.html

• Now is the time to buy art that you love!

In fact if you plan to buy gifts for the Holiday’s consider buying original art from local artists. Your Artist neighbor is feeling the pinch of the economy too! By supporting your local artist you help build the value of their work. And who knows it may pay off big in dividends in the end. With your support your neighbor may become the next great super star and you will have made a considerable return on your investment.

• So buy local and buy often.

Filed under: Art, Art Marketing, Art News, Investing, On Art , Buying Art, Damian Hirst, Gold, Investing in Art, Money