"Being an Artist is funny..."

Being an artist is funny and frustrating.

I recently posted a bunch of pictures on Instagram and other social media sites of some of the work I have done. Everyone liked my work and were excited to see the progress on a painting I am currently working on. While I am sure they all meant all the kind comments and praise, it's funny how all that praise disappears when they ask how much a painting is, like they really intended to buy it. They ask the price and I tell them and then either the comments stop all together or I get a reply like “well I will get back to you” or “it's really too big/small for the room I was thinking about”. When I first started painting many of my paintings were given away, simply because in my mind they were not good enough to sell and I was painting as a hobby, not as a passion. However in recent years, I have stopped giving them away for a few reasons, I have moved on to higher-end canvas and paint, I also use much larger canvas and that gets expensive but the main reason is that I feel I have found my voice, I have something to say as an artist and I put a lot of thought and work into my paintings, I paint with purpose and meaning. Painting isn’t something I do for fun, it's something I need to do, something I am driven to something I am compelled to do. The funny part is in the art world in general my work is not expensive. I have artist friends who when they sell a painting it goes for 3 to 4 times what I could sell a similar-sized painting for. OK if you have trouble paying your rent maybe then my paintings are expensive. I do charge a fair rate for my work and I will continue to do so.

So to anyone out there who isn’t a collector of art and would like to be, here are some things to keep in mind.

Do not try and fucking haggle, this ain’t a swap meet/flea market, and it's insulting to the artist. Any reputable artist charges what they charge because that's what their art is worth. I don’t go to your job and ask for change back from the fiver I put in your g string while you were on the pole. If your boss came to you tomorrow and said “I want you to do the same job you are doing now, but I am going to pay you 3 dollars an hour less than you are making now.” What would your reaction be? When you haggle with an artist that's what you're doing.

If you are just curious about the price of a painting simply because you are curious that's fine. Feel free to ask, don’t create some story about why you are asking or why you decided not to buy it...just be honest and ask. I get it your curious and that's fine I respect honesty.

You may see a piece or painting and think “I could do that!” well maybe you could, but the fact of the matter is you didn’t. In that instance you have two options. You can keep your comments to yourself because if you don’t you're a jerk OR if you think you can do it...then do it. Just remember just because you think you could replicate a piece of art easily doesn't make you an artist. There are plenty of sweatshops with people creating the same abstract painting over and over and over...so they can be sold at places like Walmart...that's not art, that's cheap merchandise. It might look nice on a wall but that doesn't make it art. Also just because you don’t get it doesn't mean it isn’t art, there is plenty of art that I “don't get” as well. Art is subjective.

You don’t have to be “good at drawing” to be a good artist...actually you don’t have to be a good artist to be an artist...digest that comment for a minute.

Just because you don't sell paintings, just because it's only hobby doesn't make the art itself any less important, it doesn't diminish the art. I wasn't comfortable calling myself an artist until recently and I have been creating art as far back as I can remember... It needed to be more than a hobby before I felt I had a voice and I felt OK calling myself an artist but that's me. You do you