4 ms·

Interesting q. I have a bunch of family and friends who regularly put on or participate in art shows. (In fact my wife just came home with a check from a recent

Interesting q. I have a bunch of family and friends who regularly put on or participate in art shows. (In fact my wife just came home with a check from a recent show and I'm super proud of her) I really recommend that you talk to or informally interview some local artists. They can give you solid advice and probably tell you what you need to do next. They may even offer to review your progress. If you're doing this as a hobby, I think I would really ask yourself what kind of publicity you need for this to be worth it to you. If you can make art and be happy, you're done. Publicity adds all kinds of drama, expense, politics, especially the more you focus on it. I have some artist friends who paid to play and got lots of publicity, and then lost it as soon as they stopped paying. Personally I have some ribbons but I don't find publicity that helpful in being the kind of artist I want to be. Everybody's different. Good luck to you.

onemoresoop 5y ago
> If you can make art and be happy, you're done. Publicity adds all kinds of drama, expense, politics, especially the more you focus on it. I have some artist friends who paid to play and got lots of publicity, and then lost it as soon as they stopped paying. As an artist myself I fully share your thoughts on this one. I create art (paint) for my own pleasure and don't have any desire to show it to the world exactly because I don't have the energy to deal with all the drama it brings about. I also feel that any external attention would probably take my attention away from the actual practice. Meanwhile I just go to my shared studio when nobody is there and spend 8 to 10 hours on sessions and that simply gives me the greatest satisfaction. One thing I came to cherish is spending time in the flow state. At this point I have hundreds of works that are quite interesting and born from that state. It's a beautiful experience and great therapy too. I feel like things go through me but they're coming from a different realm, as if I'm there as a medium to communicate and just adjust small things but not perturb the movement with hard decisions while in that state. My thoughts meander along, different things pop up from time to time but in a very gentle way. I just love this and it is one of the things that I discovered accidentally, though I have to admit that I've been looking around for most of my life. At some point I may show them to the world but only if I find a solution that is completely effortless to me. Why perturb the practice if I get most benefits out of it already? I just try to not fall into these traps. For example, I work small and stackable and work on 5 to 10 works at a time. I've got friends whose houses are filled with their past work or paying for storage to just keep their crap around. That would definitely stop me in my tracks. I decided it's all crap in the end, crap that we don't want to burden ourselves or our families with. This personal philosophy enabled me to not attach to my works at all. There are still some people who see my works from time to time and if I see that they're communicating or my works communicate with them I just give them away for free or donation. There is a feeling of slight regret when I give something away but the idea that my work may touch someone else compensates for that. Money, yes, I'd love to be able to dedicate my time fully to my practice but again, trying to 'make it' in the art world and get paid enough money to quit my regular job is likely to ruin it all for me. I'm extremely grateful that I found my thing, had been feeling lost for a while before this came around.

onemoresoop 5y ago

> If you can make art and be happy, you're done. Publicity adds all kinds of drama, expense, politics, especially the more you focus on it. I have some artist friends who paid to play and got lots of publicity, and then lost it as soon as they stopped paying. As an artist myself I fully share your thoughts on this one. I create art (paint) for my own pleasure and don't have any desire to show it to the world exactly because I don't have the energy to deal with all the drama it brings about. I also feel that any external attention would probably take my attention away from the actual practice. Meanwhile I just go to my shared studio when nobody is there and spend 8 to 10 hours on sessions and that simply gives me the greatest satisfaction. One thing I came to cherish is spending time in the flow state. At this point I have hundreds of works that are quite interesting and born from that state. It's a beautiful experience and great therapy too. I feel like things go through me but they're coming from a different realm, as if I'm there as a medium to communicate and just adjust small things but not perturb the movement with hard decisions while in that state. My thoughts meander along, different things pop up from time to time but in a very gentle way. I just love this and it is one of the things that I discovered accidentally, though I have to admit that I've been looking around for most of my life. At some point I may show them to the world but only if I find a solution that is completely effortless to me. Why perturb the practice if I get most benefits out of it already? I just try to not fall into these traps. For example, I work small and stackable and work on 5 to 10 works at a time. I've got friends whose houses are filled with their past work or paying for storage to just keep their crap around. That would definitely stop me in my tracks. I decided it's all crap in the end, crap that we don't want to burden ourselves or our families with. This personal philosophy enabled me to not attach to my works at all. There are still some people who see my works from time to time and if I see that they're communicating or my works communicate with them I just give them away for free or donation. There is a feeling of slight regret when I give something away but the idea that my work may touch someone else compensates for that. Money, yes, I'd love to be able to dedicate my time fully to my practice but again, trying to 'make it' in the art world and get paid enough money to quit my regular job is likely to ruin it all for me. I'm extremely grateful that I found my thing, had been feeling lost for a while before this came around.