Thoughts From Marsha

What do you do when sales are low, or nothing is accepted into art competitions?

Dunes Magic 7x5 Acrylic

How do you feel sometimes when you think your art is just not performing in the "success" arena of your choice?

Is it in your own mind that things don't feel right when you are nearing completion of a piece? Or is it when you have work in a gallery and it is not selling? Or is it when you receive notification of "not accepted" into a show or competition?

Do you start questioning yourself?

I know that was a lot of questions, right! But, we all go through times when we question ourselves and what we are doing. We get thru these times and continue to pursue our passion by "keeping on" and "showing up" at our place of work. We also might call on friends to have discussions with, just affirming that we are not alone in our thoughts and feelings.

I am more known for being a "pastel" artist... even though I started out in and paint about half the time in oil, and a little bit in acrylic. So, my method of madness is usually to go to the easel and work on trying out something I haven't done lately. Right now working in acrylic is my medium of choice when playing. I so rarely do acrylic because it dries too fast, but the good thing is, it dries fast! But also, if I have been working in pastel, I will work in oil, and vice versa. I change things up somehow, even different subject matter. It always leads to unexpected things, and I have to use different processes, too!

But, then again, maybe I need time away from creating... time to refill the well, so to speak. A few other things for me: looking thru or reading art magazines, or an art book (such as biographies) of artists learning what made them tick, or maybe visiting a gallery, museum, or festival.

When looking through art magazines, I am drawn to specific works of art... so I am analyze what it is that drew me! Is this something I might have missing from my work at this moment? Is there an idea there that I have not explored?

Ah, exploration .... I have a little note on the shelf right by my easel which says, "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything creative!" (I don't know who said this, sorry!)

Blue Dogwood 16x12 Pastel 

The three paintings I have shown here are done in times when I needed to step away from "producing" paintings for sales, galleries, shows or competitions. Times I was feeling like I had lost some of my passion for what I was doing. This has been going on now for about four years... some few successes, but mostly I didn't "feel" successful. I am working through it, trying new stuff, playing in the studio, and have taken a couple of workshops that were a little different this year from artists I admire.

Pink Valley 24x18 Oil

I am feeling... that word again .... more like my more positive self in the last six months. That does not mean everything works! Why do we think it should? Beats me, when we all know the "masters" don't show us the stuff that does not work, right? Haven't we been told many times something like, "one out of ten" might be a good aim for us?

So now, I am trying to follow my own advice to my students... "make all the mistakes" and "enjoy the process" and "I am immediately freed up when I make a mistake and get to brush or scrape it off." It is no longer precious and I can do things for the right reason... learning! Never quit learning!

Besides the quote I gave you above, here are three more quotes I have on pieces of paper taped right beside my easel:

"Your content needs a unique voice. It needs a point of view. You have to stand for something. You need a thumbprint -- something about you, your approach, and your content that no one else has." (author unknown)

George Inness the great master of the Tonalist movement, defined the purpose of art as, "Simply to reproduce in other minds the impression which a scene has made upon one. A work of art does not appeal to the intellect. It does not appeal to moral sense. Its aim is not to instruct, not to edify, but to awaken an emotion."

"An eye not told what to see, sees more!" Brian Rutenberg

Again .... this one .... "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything creative!"

The last couple of months have been successful in the "sales" arena... so I am thankful for that. I am having fun in the studio and also plein air. Good things! What are you doing? I would love to hear about it.

(this is a reprint from the newsletter I just sent out!)

Marsha Hamby Savage
www.marshasavage.com
[email protected]