What is An Artist?

A hobbyist will  engage in more creative activity in an individual than any of the creative professions.   That is because most of the "creative" professions are about volume sales, and the people actually doing the creative part will not share the burden.   Or, as in the case of architecture, so complicated that the creative aspect  only involves 2% of the tasks.  Lets face it, modern jobs are dull and repetitive, based on a Factory model.  (And, slaves to statistical analysts because people like to "stack the deck" and guarantee sales.  Like that's even possible.)

Traditional means of support, patronage, family money, government grants, etc. all seem to require the Artist to participate in the visions of others.  If the Artist is independent of these connections, the vision belongs to the Artist alone; and, the Artist is probably dead.  

It is possible for the Artist to have a day job, or someway of providing, separate from creating art.  Get one that doesn't have managers who demand unlimited access to your time.   Trust me, there are people, managers, clients and coworkers who are never not working and expect 24 four access to you.   

Also, some jobs are more physically demanding than others.  The Artist has to take that into account, but that is more of what an individual can handle than some broad principle.    

Supporting oneself with a day job is an old idea.  I ran across it in, of all things, the Bible.  The Apostle Paul, who was the first evangelist, supported himself as a tent maker instead of taking money from those he preached to.  

This concept is so far from the tv evangelists of today who constantly beg for money and fight for audiences.  Even in religion, the job can destroy the vision of the preacher.  

The Artist cannot ignore life.  Food, shelter, and clothing are not provided by simply having faith.  There is some effort involved.     

The words that stand out in this post are Artist (as opposed to artist), support, and vision.   There is an unsaid word, which is definitely implied, and that word is Time.

Support

That which prevents death and allows the Artist to keep exploring.

Vision 

Something that people say when they are describing the body of work of an artist.  The meaning varies from person to person.  It's also what I am looking for when I explore.

Time

The most important coin in the universe.  This musing is about how the Artist spends Time. 

Connections 

An unavoidable condition of Human Existence.   They can be cultivated or limited.  Some crave connections and others, they are more selective.  Again, connections are based on individual traits. 

Artist

The one who creates art is called an Artist by other people.  How I see it, essentially an explorer of perception.  

Study Artists like Andy Warhol and it becomes clear that what you do is not as important as how you present it.

Maybe this says it more clearly:

Painters sells paintings.

Artists sell themselves.  

 

  

Thoughts on Painting In The Modern Age

Progress Photo of A Figurative painting.
Done last year, 2020
Personally, I like doing this sort of project.  Changing directions can yield some nice developments in technique, and artistic vision.  

This painting feels sort of redundant.  

Photography can capture this composition in more detail and will be much closer to how we see things. 

Hats off to super realists.  They continue to demonstrate the artist painter's ability to match the camera.  That is not a small accomplishment.

But, a photographer can finish a project in days, if not hours.  And the digital image has an amazing potential for mass production of images.  Of course, I used a camera to document a painting in its early stages.

The mechanization of art started long before Warhol made a career of pointing it out.  In some ways, it started in the Renaissance.  The studios of those times were more workshop than what we consider an art studio these days.  Of course, painting occupied a space similar to social media back then.  A single person studio might not have been able to keep up with demand. 

Today, Art has the potential to reach more people than the Renaissance artist ever dreamed could exist.  

What is Painting's standing these days?  

I'm still digging through the mountain of images and talent on the net.  Still reading historians and people who know more about the subject.

Painting hang in homes these days; but, more often, they are seen on phones, tablets, and all sorts of screens.  A public gallery of sorts, where people who cannot spare the money for an original go to see art. 

So, so it seems that painting still serves the educational role that religious organizations and government use so well - confirmation and propaganda.  

Do paintings entertain?  The painting process videos on instagram, you tube, vine, etc. seem to be entertaining, if with a short shelf life.  Gallery shows are still popular events.

The wealthy still collect major works. Or, commision pieces to support artists.  I am not really sure why some wealthy people collect and commision art.  From what I've seen, the  collections of individuals seem to be about a love of art.  Corporations see collections as investments.  

Oh, commissioning architectural projects, well that is a bid for immortality.  Remember the Pharaohs?  It kinda works.

I don't think much has really changed, except the venues and the scale of the audience.

The monetary value of art is still whatever a person is willing to pay.  Which is why mass production lowers the monetary value of most art.  Someone is always willing to sell for less.  This is probably more important to the artist trying to make a living.