| Author | Message | ||
  Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 614 Registered: 8-2006 |
Deecubed, I forgot to encourage you not to feel apologetic about your paintings that have copied or used something you learned in a class or saw being done by classmates. For most of art history, people learned by copying the masters or some teacher. Only recently has the emphasis been placed on the need to be unique or "find your own style." Style evolves from copying. We learn to write and print by copying and only inadvertently end up with a distinctive handwriting! Did you know that the Musee de Orsay in Paris held a Van Gogh/Millet exhibition in 1998? Van Gogh, perhaps the better known of the two, painted copies of two dozen or so of Millet's paintings and engravings. The museum was not embarrassed to hang van Gogh's copies, as well as others inspired by Millet's pastoral themes, alongside Millet! Likewise, I suggest that you not be embarrassed to hang, sell or give away your paintings that bear a likeness to the paintings of other artists. If these works by Van Gogh are found worthy by the Musee de Orsay, who is to say that yours should not be exhibited? From what you say, they are some of your most successful and deserve to be exhibited, sold, or made gifts! | ||
Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 11 Registered: 12-2007 |
Good suggestions all. Also good to hear that I am not the only one who "suffers" from this affliction. :-) The fact is, I give things away all the time, and I do as you suggest, I let folks select from the inventory. Sometimes that is better than getting paid for the pix, because I can really see that my friends appreciate what they choose. I am still new enough to selling [and painting, quite honestly] that I am surprised at selling anything at all. Of course, my primary reason for painting is my own pleasure. I am not really good at the business end, and don't want to become a slave to the process. I belong to groups that sell, and I get tired of some of the pieces I have, so I sell/give away a lot. What I still have in the Gallery in the Closet, is some of my own work that was particularly successful in classes where I might have copied something as part of a lesson, or done work that is so much like others in classes that I don't dare offer it up to "sell." I don't even want to give those away, and have others see that they might be copied from something that is recognizable. I keep them, because I have learned from doing them, and reference them again when I have a similar problem. I keep the mat boards, because in some classes, we used dark mat board to paint with opaques. Good lessons in highlights and shadows. I cut some odd sized mats for some paintings that have been cropped [cropping OUT things that aren't so good, rather than composing in odd sizes ...]. I purchase double white mats in bulk, but have the odd colored mat stock from old projects. The bulk of what is in my Closet Gallery is reference material. I take "pictures by the pound," [not so much hard copy any more as most of my photos are in Adobe]. I make 8.5 x 11 prints to use as reference for new pieces ... I crop them in many different compositions ... use some, save some. Hence all the clutter that grows in the closet. And at the end of the day, I scan or photograph all my work, but I have LOADS of photos from another time that are great references. I guess there is no "cure" for my malady ... I enjoy hearing how you all cope with similar issues. Am sure that others are far more organized and far less clutter-prone than I. Have lived long enough to know that I am a low-grade pack rat. Thanks again for your insights! | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 604 Registered: 8-2006 |
Dee, George has a good suggestion. Unless you are absolutely dependent on making a living from your paintings and want to wait and see if something won't eventually sell, it's a "rich" feeling to be able to give away things in which you have a personal investment. I would only add that you might wait to see which of your paintings family members and friends seem to enjoy and admire, then make your gifts. You wouldn't want to give them something that really didn't "fit" their homes or their tastes, but which they would nevertheless feel an obligation to display. | ||
George Unregistered guest |
Dee, another thought is; if you you say you have a closet of "mat stuff" and "frames", why not frame up the good paintings and give them to family and friends as gifts? | ||
George Unregistered guest |
What I don't sell I throw in the trash. I keep a record of what I've done in the past by cutting out a small area from some of the better paintings (as a reminder of the skills, techniques, subjects and style) and put these reminders in a scrap book. | ||
Dave New member Username: Dave Post Number: 2 Registered: 6-2008 |
I can tell you that living on a former dairy farm with a barn and the resulting space (the hayloft is pushing 3 stories high) does absolutely nothing to cure the problem. It only makes it worse. "Look honey, see how much more room there is for me to put stuff in?..." But I really don't want to use the barn to store art stuff. It is hardly a controlled environment. cheers, --dave | ||
Grizrev Senior Member Username: Grizrev Post Number: 601 Registered: 8-2006 |
Deecubed, I have the same problem and am hoping that we'll get some suggestions from folks who have gone through this stage! | ||
Deecubed New member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 9 Registered: 12-2007 |
For many of you who have been painting for a while, I have a question. What does one do with all the stuff [class projects, "good" paintngs that haven't sold, mat stuff, frames, source material, etc] when the "gallery-in-the-closet" is more like Fibber Magee's closet? I am using a small room as a "studio," as well as my home office. I have some art stuff in a lateral file, and lots of stuff tucked in corners. The clutter is making me crazy! Indeed, the "starving" of starving artist applies, and I am not able to buy expensive flat files, taborets, etc., and space is a real issue. I am wondering if any of you have suggestions on alternatives to expensive gear, or home-made options that suffice for storing all that one acummulates over the time and process of becoming an artist ... I want to hold on to some of the good stuff, and even some of the bad stuff [to later see where you've been]. Looking forward to hearing from you! |
