Overnight Success
Most artist love to create art, period. And most are not overnight success. It takes a long time and money to get to the point where you have something consistently to say in your work and an audience who wants to see/pay for what you have to say. Being creative is not an easy task.
A concern for a couple of artist that I know is that they at times feel stuck creating the same work over and over again because they have bills to pay and this is the stuff that sells. They are concerned about their health (We don’t always work in the best condition) and securing health insurance at a reasonable cost. I know this may be the same concerns that most people have but I have a soft spot for artist of all kind.
Knowing --Art of Learning 
Hey I really like this portrait Bob. It looks very contemplative. Like your colours.
sally
October 18, 2006 at 12:12 am
Thanks Sally, I appreciate your stopping by.
Bob
Bob Martin
October 18, 2006 at 5:15 am
Beautiful portrait.
Sometimes if I think about it a bit, it seems as if I am doing the same thing over and over in order to meet my commitments for shows and galleries. But I don’t feel stuck and am still enjoying the whole process and really, there are subtle changes happening all of the time. But I do wish I had more time to work on other things and I can totally see how I could get into a complete rut.
So I try not to “think” too much about my direction and just enjoy what’s going on right now.
Tracy Helgeson
October 18, 2006 at 3:15 pm
Hi Tracy. I agree, we may think to much. There so much chatter out there about our not having saved enough, or the cost of health care etc. that once we start thinking about these things it takes the joy away. For myself I know that I am the happiest when I am painting.
Bob Martin
October 18, 2006 at 3:51 pm
What a beautiful painting! I love the colors in this one. My two cents on being an over night success: many artists get caught up in their validity. As young artist, we are taught “you must learn the rules before you can break them”. “You must study with the masters first”. “You must live (in other words: experience depression and loss) before you really have anything to say in your work.” Sometimes if success comes too easy and we feel we are not “worth” it yet (for having not studied with a master yet, gone to the “right” art school etc) we will squander our success. A lot of artist romanticize the struggle and question “how can I possibly be an artist if its so damn easy?”
The Kid
October 23, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Thanks Kid. We don’t need to squander anything else in our life. If something is easy, it must mean that you are good at and enjoy doing it. For some silly reason it takes a life time to understand, easy is good.
Bob Martin
October 23, 2006 at 11:31 pm