Every young girl wants some pink ballet slippers or toe shoes. They are the epitome of femininity.
Now on with my article for today….Regardless of what you think of this man or his work, I think he is correct about committing to work (in my case painting) when there seems to be little reward.
Charles Bukowski, Selected Letters, Volume 4: 1987 – 1994, edited by Seamus Cooney; published in 2005 by Virgin Books, Ltd, ISBN 0 7535 0933 4
(The last of his published letters – he died in March 1994.)
About the need for solitude:
To me a closed door is one of the most beautiful things on earth. Their door or mine. . . . Every time the phone rings here, I feel invaded, a chill runs through me and it’s mixed with anger and I don’t anger often.
About continuing to work, when there seems to be little reward:
The long haul is the killer and few come out the other side of the wall. . . . By this, I don’t mean we should take our work as a serious or holy thing, but more as just the best thing to do, that there is to do. So why not do it?
About the value of the work:
Well, the war’s out there, the bomb’s out there, everything’s out there and there isn’t much we can do. One big flash can solve it. If not, the national debt can just about destroy the economy. Nowadays nations fall apart over night. I really have to almost laugh when I look back at those who called themselves the lost generation. All those poor idiots were moaning about were ants in the picnic basket. There’s time yet, but for what? Minor adjustments. The major ones have gone by us. I feel strangely like I did when I sat on that same barstool for 5 years cadging drinks. We can only make slight moves within the the fix. But never to quit within this darkness. We are still here. The slightest dent against impossibility is the miracle. That is why as these keys bite against this paper, I even feel good. Joy is not gone even in the face of reality. A good poem, like a good drink, is still worth something, like a cat walking across the floor toward you, both of you feeling and knowing the shining of yes.
About dabblers in the Arts:
I believe what we have to fear is the feeling of the general public toward poetry and/or art. They have no idea what it is but they have the thought that anybody can do it if they feel like it doing it. In fact many of them already label themselves as Artists. They may even have attended classes. They are piddlers in the field and most of the field are piddlers. These won’t lay down any blood to get their work done, they won’t gamble with madness, starvation in their need to get the work done. They don’t feel it that way. They want fame and name but they won’t give up their comforts and their securities.
About the necessity of work:
I’m glad writing came along for me and that I’ve had some late luck. But I would have kept going, no matter. It’s all stuck inside of me and has to keep coming out. . . . I don’t see how people can do anything at all without writing or painting or something of the like, some excessive splash against the darkness. It’s just too damned dumb to to sit and take it straight like most of them do.
About achieving financial success from the work:
The whole matter that has occurred is beyond miracle. Still, I don’t have to tell you it isn’t the money, never was. Because we wrote it for ourselves, for the joy and madness of it. Great then and all right then. And if there’s a fall back, a cut back, fine. We’ll accept that too. What we want to do is keep going as we have since the beginning until sickness, accident, senility, death or whatever the hell, stops us.
About maturity and creativity:
Age needn’t be a detriment: see Cervantes. Maybe it’s the luck of doing it for so long but I feel the words just grip at the page better. When I sit down I get a power glow and it just emanates. Yet, I am aware that everything can vanish overnight, I can become a common old fart weakly tickling at the word.
About working when nothing else is left:
Leukemia in remission, feeling better very day. The doc has warned me though, relapses do occur . . . Popped out some poems last night but I will save you from them, no real piss-biters in the batch. Sometimes I just like to write to stay loose. In fact, that’s the way I work it most of the time and when a good poem just happens to arrive along with the others, I think, hey, what the hell, look at this!
This painting is 11 by 15 ” painted in traditional Watercolor on really great 300 lb hand made Watercolor paper. Its for sale for $200. 00 I love trees and this painting became all about this tree. I sometimes look at trees and think “these trees were here before me and will be here after I’m gone”. Its amazing how long they live.
2.5 by 3.5 Artist trading card. $15.00 watercolor on paper
This is part of my ancient ritual series dipicting rituals used to mark the passing of time and events in our lives.
Most artists struggle. Either they can’t seem to get down their vision of what they want or they don’t know what they want, (they’ll know it, if they see it). I think this struggle is part of the process. Its too bad because of this constant push/ pull it sometimes seems not to be worth the effort. Its why some people give up doing their art. Also, I see people giving up their art because they don’t have enough buyers. Buyers equate “good artist”. No buyers (not counting family and friends) means not a good artist. This definitely is not the case.
We live in an age when people will buy a Persian rug for their dining area, cover their sofa in silks, and import tiles from Italy to decorate their home tastefully and expensively, yet these same people will have pictures of art rather original art on every wall in their house. They will pay more for a custom frame and mat then for an original piece of art. Go into any model home these days, same thing, prints everywhere. (Please, I have nothing against prints.. so don’t write me justifying your print purchases) Most from 18th and 19th century artists. I guess they feel pretty good or safe rather, that this art cannot be denied as good art. It has stood the test of time. The truth is… I think people don’t trust their own judgement when it comes to choosing art. They need someone to tell them what is good art. All they have to do is trust their inner voice that says “I love this” but they don’t trust that little voice so they listen to experts…But who? do you trust Gallery owners? Especially when they are getting 50% of the profits? Do you trust your own decorator who is going to choose a piece of art because it matches a sofa? You have to admit, even I may not pay some of the high prices for some art, especially when it appears to have been painted with a stick or a rag. People don’t like to be taken advantage of and they don’t like to admit they don’t “know” art. The other problem is a simple one, people don’t appreciate original art in the US as much as in many other cultures around the globe. Now as in the past, Art was OK as long as it was something to do as a hobby but not as a career. It isn’t real work. We have a very strong work ethic in this county and some parents often put creativity in the back seat while encouraging productive hard work, left brain thinking.
So, if we don’t buy original art and we encourage our kids to do anything but become artists, and we don’t support the arts in schools what we are we saying?
Its no wonder today’s artists may feel as though it isn’t worth the effort, that the struggle to produce good art is just that, a struggle. As an artist I’ll remind you, of a few important things.
1. Its takes a very long time to become proficient at something as complex as art.
In fact, if it were easy, would you still even want to do it?
2. Don’t take the advice from lay people. They won’t help you, even if they have good intentions.
3. Be a lifelong student, don’t plan to figure it all out right now. It really is about the journey not the destination. Its a journey for one, just you.
4. Do whatever you enjoy doing, even if no one buys it. Hey, its cheaper than therapy.
I laughed out loud when I watched this… Thanks to David Darrow for pointing out this utube video. They have them on other topics too. I’ll never be able to sit with artists and discuss art again without thinking about the dog and his prints.
I have been struggling with getting this workshop filled due to a recent accident my husband had on his motorcycle. If you know of anyone who may be interested please pass this information on to them. I only have six of the fifteen rooms filled and need let folks know about this wonderful opportunity. Usually I would go to the various art groups and organization and sign folks up but since I have been spending every available minute at the Hospital, I have only used closed friends and email to get the word out.
Remember…Non painting friends may also come along, there are plenty of things to do, napping, hiking, reading, writing, blogging.
Wild Acres September Workshop
Wild Acres and The Charlotte Art League will present a fall workshop instructed by Billie Shelburn, an artist in residence at the John C. Campbell folk school. The workshop will take place September 28 – 30, 2007 at Wild Acres, a 1600 acre mountain retreat adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway and thousands of acres of the Pisgah National Forest.
Billie has studied painting with a number of prominent watercolorists privately and in workshops. She has taught art classes to both children and adults and has served on the boards of the Dunwoody Fine Arts Assoc., the Georgia Watercolor Society, and A.R.T. Station in Stone Mountain, GA. Billie is a member of the National Organization for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and is the folk schools’ Resident Artist in Painting, Drawing, and Mixed Media. Her work is represented in numerous galleries and exhibitions. Says Billie, “Watercolor can be frustrating and difficult, or… wet, wild, and wonderful!”
This class will allow 15 to 20 students to delve into creative use of materials, working with photographs, sketches, or subliminal images. The workshop will focus on learning and mastering techniques to be used in conjunction with the student’s own style of painting to produce better work. Each class will begin with a demonstration by the instructor, and end with a constructive critique session with suggestions offered. A question and answer period about successful paintings will be covered. A mini workshop on Watercolor Mixed Media will be included if desired, featuring watercolor combined with collage.
The cost of $230.00 includes instruction, all meals, and a double occupancy room. Please contact me, Shanti at 704- 678-4442 or shantmarie@aol.com to reserve your place. Single rooms may be available; handicapped rooms are available on a first come basis.
They have a great web site… check it out… http://www.wildacres.org
Our group is being sponsored by The Charlotte Art League. I’m the Education Director and will be glad to assist you in joining us for this wonderful experience. If you live in or around Charlotte NC, there are others who are willing to car pool.
I have painted this scene three times and I keep coming back to it. This one is called “The woods ll” I like the combination of purple and green. When I say it out loud, it doesn’t sound good but when I paint with them , those colors make such wonderful combinations and really enhance each other in so many ways. The purple makes the green a bit more palatable. The green mixed with the purple can make a deep rich color which can be used for shadows or just muting the purple a bit. In this painting I also love the golds and blues too… so you can see all of my favorite colors are at work here.
