November 19, 2010

So, seriously, in a painting smackdown, who would you vote for?

Notice the poll in the sidebar.
I'm asking, because in my ongoing effort to expand my empire and spread the gospel of paint, I'm going to be hitting the proverbial road again, knocking on proverbial doors. Depending on the how the votes go, this might mean some restructuring of the original business plan. Maybe a buyout. Depends. 

12 comments:

Carla said...

I beleive the MAH flowers and pools are the best ones for cold-calling. Is this the question?

MAH abstract seem to be the lifeblood, or has been. They are much more difficult for others to 'get' though.

I'd need to see more of the visionary. That last one was crazy good.

Carla said...

I had to go look at the post-sadness ones. Those are cool. I'm thinking about the figurative ones. As they are, they are really great, in a slightly off way, like your abstract work. Strictly in terms of best direction for your efforts, and 'best' meaning most likely to translate into tangible stuff, the flowers and pools.

If I just heard that though, either from myself or someone else, I'd have a hard time not rebelling against this way of thinking, at some point anyway.

They are all awesome, that awesomeness translates most readily (to more casual viewers)with the pools and flowers, imo

M.A.H. said...

Yes, that is the query. MAH abstract has been lifeblood, but it feels difficult to keep at, and say something that has not been done by me or someone else. I love abstraction and still get very excited when I see a good abstract painting.

My fear is that pools and flowers look "safe" or depressing now that I'm on the other side.

I'll post a flickr group for visionary. They are really not that much of a leap from the most recent "real" work, other than, and I will cop to this in public- it takes me longer to clean my brushes than to make the new visionary paintings. True to form, I guess, because in all seriousness I am "inspired", and then I execute as quickly as possible. I would like to scale the MTAv paintings up to 14 x11, possibly larger. maybe huge. or at least big.

All of my other work requires blood sweat and tears, and a fair amount of self-induced struggling-building up, tearing down, etc, etc. They take days or weeks to complete, even the small ones and are cakey. I am always suspicious of easy and quick, but the visionary paintings have released me from the heaviness. Plus, I like having a 18th/19th c. alter ego.

I will take note of you preference. There is a bottom line at stake.

Carla said...

Fast work is the fruited bounty from the struggly work. It'd be wrong not to pick it. I'm voting now.

Elaine Mari said...

"but the visionary paintings have released me from the heaviness." ..run with that.

I think that if yor're serious you can only hope that what you want to do someone else will want to buy. Remember, you cannot sell work you can't make. How long will you be able to make work just because it sells?

I'm finding that all the life has been sucked out of me by trying to do what someone else wants too much lately, and I am in full rebellion, making clumsy, ugly, loose, dirty work all the while thinking "it's not very good, stop it. If you are going to make bad art do what will help you be able to not have to go back to the 9-5" So I might not be giving the best advice.

Voting for the visionary.

Steven LaRose said...

I just voted twice for the Thacky, and it let me. (To be honest, I don't see the difference. I'm hoping you allow your moods/passions to fall as they will. Personally, I'm taking a fancy to wearing a wig. I'm also going to make a Goodwill run soon for some new clothes. Do you and/or Carla remember what you imagined me wearing for a dress? It was specific and I remember googling it. In fact, which post was that in?).

Also and ps. The painting you flagged is a great companion piece to the one I liked. If I get the time tonight, I'm gonna post them next to each other. (But only if I get off this stupid device and make some progress in the studio. . . over and out).

M.A.H. said...

I believe it was the post where Carla came to visit. I took to wearing a frock I found in a chest around here and decided that would be my summer painting uniform. The wig works for you.

"To be honest, I don't see the difference"
Obviously no one else does either, because no one is buying them.

I was hoping that by humiliating myself into selling cheap art, I would reap enough financial gain to pay some utilities around here, let go of my highfalutin art background and join the ranks of the the much loved outsider artist type. It ain't happening, so after Xmas, it's back to business as usual. Whatever that is.

I guess I'm a tad surly and in self pity this morning. I'm trying to do anything to avoid applying at Restoration Hardware. I'm got a decent skill set, but most lay people don't seem to associate my work with skill, so it's a tough sell.

Carla said...

Pinafore. Good luck finding one at goodwill.

I need to make a leap with this touchup biz, from blowing time messing with logos, etc. to actually going out and doing it.

Steven LaRose said...

Pinafore, that's right.
If it makes you feel any better, I just applied to be a seasonal helper to the UPS man. I won't bore you with all the other stupid-ass-mofo jobs I'd be willing to take, but they won't hire me.

As far as the cheap art routine goes, holy crap, do you realize that it has only been a week? These things take time. The two I've sold were to friends, obviously. The big breakthrough will be the first unknown buyer. Even the first unknown Facebook fan. This will be years maybe?

Oh, and get this, I've applied for a booth at the holiday craft fair in town. I'm thinking of manning the booth as Teresa. Womanning the booth, I guess. Either way, I'm thinking of tapping into the non-computer surfers. Even if no one buys something, I made some free business cards on Vista Print and I am going to start handing them out. I've never made business cards.

I guess I'm saying, don't give up in one week. Or from another angle, at least you are painting. Most humans can't find that motivation.

Pinafore. . . hmmm.

M.A.H. said...

I have pinafores.

It's not that I'm against working minimum wage. I just don't handle the public very well, and I like working with my hands. My job history reads like a drifter until I started editing and teaching. I'll publish it one day.

I guess what I'm saying is that since my "real" art sells at the same pace as this, then what's the point, other than driving the value of my art down. I thought these little numbers would fly off the internet, creating a nice little bread and butter padding. If they don't, I'm better off owning up to them as mine and pricing them to be compatible with my real work. When a collector asks why this painting is priced at X amount and a another painting similar in scale is priced at a vastly different amount, it's a big problem, at least for me. Hence the alter ego. So it's not that I'm giving up, it's just that I'm not sure how I'm going to reconcile the price difference in the real world when I start showing them as mine.

Ok. enough griping, sorry. sigh.

Steven LaRose said...

I just went to an organizational meeting for the craft fair. I was the only male. My idea of wearing my Teresa Sloven wig was shattered when I looked around the room and nearly half of the women had long silver hair. Bummer.

As an aside, I wish I had a video camera for the negotiations around space allotment. Total Spinal Tap of craft.

M.A.H. said...

I'm actually looking forward to having long silver hair one day. and a way cool knitted cape. with nice boots. maybe a vintage porsche.

I missed 2 craft fairs in town already and I don't have enough for the flea market this weekend. I should look around for more. M. Thack, although a visionary, is surprising slow with the big picture.

I think you should print the portrait of T.S on the T-shirt, or at least a coffee mug. It still cracks me up.
Perhaps a Louise Brooks or Agnes Martin bob will help you stan out from the crowd. If I ever go drag I've got a velvet smoking jacket, but it's going to be hard for me to pull off the beard and stash. The pic of M. Thack is one of my ancestors on my mom's side. I found him up in the attic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEAnG3nWqcI&feature=related

It's over.

Nov 7, 2020. Tears of joy and relief. It's been unreal and I'm ready to get back to a sense of normalcy. The desert has been tough.