We're Worth the Money!

Doctors and lawyers are called professionals, and are paid in sums that, in most cases, guarantee a luxurious lifestyle. The kind of intense education they've undergone, and frequently upgrade, builds a respect for their professions that pays them well. Some put in eighteen hour days and work weekends, and these don't have a lot of time to enjoy their wealth.

Artists should also be called professionals. We start learning as children, and never stop the process of developing our skills during our lifetimes. Expensive travel and workshops. Equipment and supplies. Minds that are always open to new experiences in expanding our talent and inspiration. If we think of ourselves as professionals, it adds an left-brain consciousness to our right-brain creativity.

On paper, so that you'll be able to look at it again during periods of self-doubt, total up the value of the physical necessities for your overhead. Two large easels, one French easel, canvases and masonite, frames, oil paint, watercolors, with brushes for both. Add in your entry fees for shows, and shipping costs to get your art to these shows. Art magazine subscriptions to learn where to enter these shows. If you travel to art fairs and exhibits, add the tent, vertical surfaces for hanging paintings, horizontal surfaces for paperwork and crafts, and seating. Motels, travel expenses and larger vehicles or trailers should go into this list. Learn a word: amortization. Then look at all the equipment you've worn out and replaced, and how often you run through your brushes and paint. The cost of replacement is amortization. (I realize I'm only talking about painting, but you sculptors and crafters make a list, too!)

That's the physical. Now add in the mental part of absorbing new information through your art sources: museum or gallery fees, researching new venues, setting up a web site, and the bravery of approaching respected galleries about representing your art. This is the part I still haven't gotten the guts to do -- after all these years of growing in my art, to be rejected by a gallery would feel deadly.

All of these things, plus the continuing education of attending demonstrations and workshops, reading books by master painters and draftsmen, should all now be applied to the physical costs of materials, equipment and amortization. Add it up as if you're an accountant making up a business plan for someone else -- then apply it to yourself. I'm taking the prices off the paintings on my website. I'm following through on a business plan. My next step is finding a gallery. Rejection happens to everyone. It's just business, and we all will find the right gallery for us.

Remember what your doctor's receipts look like? "Short visit, return visit, lab," etc.? Include everything and remember that you're a professional. Never sell yourself short. That self-respect and knowledge will bring in more people who love your art enough to pay well for it.

We're definitely worth the money.

Nancy
www.nancyparkart.com
paintslinger.blogspot.com

Painting with an Artist Friend

I never realized how lucky I was to have a friend who was an artist and a peer in achievement. We enjoy getting together and painting. We both volunteered to do demonstration painting at the Festival of the Arts in Oklahoma City April 22nd. We also volunteered to come back on the 24th. It was windy, so we set up inside the tent this time, and Verna posed for me instead of painting.

On the first day, she set up her easel about eight feet from me, facing the other direction, so it was obvious to another volunteer, Fred (whom we had never met), whenever we walked over to each other and offered constructive advice. We also ask each other to give a critique during a session. Somehow, it never seems intrusive when someone you respect as much as we honor each other. I have learned very much from her, and I’m sure she feels the same way about me. She was helping me to lose edges and soften shadows. I was helping her to emphasize her light source with a cast shadow and making her center of interest the area of greatest contrast.

Fred, the “stranger” artist, did not realize what we were doing, and thought we were behaving rudely to each other – until he finally noticed that we were very receptive to each other’s suggestions. Then he asked what we were doing. When we explained, he recognized the advantage immediately. After an hour or so, he came over to me to ask me to “critique” his painting!

I’m not sure that what Verna and I were doing felt like a critique when we asked each other for help. I think of critiques as reviews of finished work, whereas we help each other during the painting. One of the reasons we can do that is that our styles are different and complementary. Neither of us expects the other to follow the leader, so the friendship is both comfortable and challenging at the same time. Any advice she gives me, I take seriously and usually act on it. She gives me the same respect, and I think the differences in each individual’s area of knowledge is extremely helpful in learning and growing.

I wish that everyone had such an artist friend. We are both lucky in finding one another, not just as friends, but as cultivators of technique, talent, tips and education. This is a portrait I did of her at the Festival of the Arts – and yes, she gave me advice freely as I painted. Such gentle advice falls lightly on the sensitive artist’s soul. Find such a friend – I know you can!

Nancy Park

www.nancyparkart.com
Paintslinger.blogspot.com