Ok, anyhow, I have been very frustrated this past year. If you go back through older blogs you will read that I have always been a professional artist, but in order to survive and financially support my family I really didn't make "A"rt. I drew portraits for a living. I still do. I don't mean that I draw like GREAT portraits either. I draw 10 minute profiles from life, often times for tips. I also draw pets from client's photos. I am quite good at what I do, but it is not high art. Art snobs shudder when they look at my work and often walk off in a huff. I also teach drunk people to paint. (upaintnparty.com) I work a lot. In fact I need to hurry up here so that I can finish that German Sheppard sketch... heavy sigh..
A few years ago I decided that since I wasn't getting any younger, (but I am still hot! HA!) I needed to do art shows. That's what real "A"rtists do right? I sort of thought that doing all of these art shows would open my eyes to the world of art. I did learn a lot, but I still feel like there is something major missing. As a result of feeling even more like an art hobbyist I am devoting an hour a day now to studying art history and theory. I did take it in art school, but that was 25 years ago, and I was usually very hung over so I don't remember much about my history studies.
I realize now that as an artist I simply can not live in my own little bubble. Every art movement is the result of artists before them. the art world is fluid, and the artist who is not familiar with the current trends and ideas is going to flounder. There is nothing new, only a fresh way of saying something. Since I want to do more than draw fluffy and Fido I must understand art history. This little cartoon says it all!
I feel like I was pretty hip on art history up until we get to the abstract stuff, then I sort of lost interest. It didn't help that my history professor droned on and on and on in monotone voice while he clicked from one slide image to another, and it also didn't help that I went to art school in the 80s where most of my professor's personal agendas concerned art from the past 20 years. Being a natural rebel I really hated having non-objective art shoved down my throat, and so I drew portraits. One professor from my alma mater recently called me an art robot who, through teaching portraits, creates other little art robots. I did go to some great parties in art school though so it wasn't a total loss.
As I read up on contemporary art and then eventually move into today's current trends I will share my findings on the blog. It's not that I think anyone will actually read this, but simply that when I write it down I tend to remember things better. It's sort of like my personal diary that I kept as a teen, except I wont mention who my recent crush is on this blog. Ok ok, twist my arm...I have a huge crush on Mr. Hugh Jackman!
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