I won't be posting any new paintings for a week or so, because I'll be at the Hall Haskell House all week for my art show...
Funny thing...I was sooooo excited for this show and that I have finally carved more time out of my insane life to create. I had all my paintings ready to go and felt relatively proud of my body of work. Recently I was talking with a friend's husband about my upcoming art show and about pricing and other tidbits regarding the art world and he informed me that I wasn't "a real artist". I sheepishly, stupidly, dumbfoundedly agreed with him when he said this. He told me his definition of a real artist was someone who didn't create paintings to sell and didn't worry about what others thought. I didn't realize how much this got under my skin until I was hanging my show today and I just felt like everything I was hanging was simplified into a commercial peice of crap because 1. I was selling it and 2. I was showing it, making it evident that I cared what people thought.
Then I realized...Wait a minute! What about Sargeant who had a flourishing career painting commisioned portraits and murals, or even Michaelangelo who painted the Sistine Chapel at the request of the Vatican or the Impressionists who began the Salon de Refuses because they were tired of being rejected by the Paris Salon (hence they CARED what people thought). Anyway, I have a nasty habit of not thinking of good comebacks til after the fact. Meaning I am bothered and hurt, and the person who did the hurting isn't thinking a bit about it....I had really hoped to go into this week and my reception on Friday with a different vibe and I am STUPIDLY letting one negative comment bother me when I get so many compliments on a regular basis! Man I gotta learn to stick up for myself!
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3 comments:
Dear Katie May,
who the heck does this person think he is to critique an artist? DO NOT let anyone EVER say that to you again.
The comeback for people who go on about the purity of creating for the pleasure of it with no expectations of monetary compensation is:
"My family likes to eat."
That should shut them up and if it doesn't turn on your heel and walk away. That's what they deserve.
How did it go?
By the way I'm here to pick up your link to use in my blogroll which I'm reconfiguring to show thumbnails. Stop by and see ;)
XOXO
People have weird ideas on what a "real" artist is... and even weirder ideas on why they should tell you that they don't think you qualify. I say it is just people's way to tear you down and build themselves up. Be true to yourself and follow your heart and close your ears to those people. And look... you are having a show!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY...You did it!
His comment says more about him than it does about you. It's sad that someone else's negativity can have such an impact on us, but he was probably totally unaware of the hurt (we hope) and was just voicing his own insecurities. When we take a comment like that and feed it with our emotional response, it just grows. One of the coolest things about getting older is that it's easier to 'shut the door' on comments like that so that they just wither and die, and the poison turns to water.
I think your work is highly successful in showing emotion and heart. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.
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