People ask why I paint and what I hope to gain by it. I am not big on posting personal stuff here and I am still going to keep the nitty-gritty to myself but this is more personal than my average post.
Let's start with why I paint. I have been reading Seth Grodin books and thinking about marketing lately. What!!? Market art work? Yes. I don't paint all of this to jam my basement full and keep it "pure" or "for art's sake". That does not mean, however, that I paint for targeted sales. I have been told that if, as an artist, you do not create a cohesive body of work people will be confused and no one will take you seriously. So what. I don't always take myself seriously. I am OK with making my own rules and if it works... cool... if not...cool. I truly love to share my art. Really! I love it when someone thinks enough of it to spend hundreds of dollars to own it. I would be lying if I said that I do not feel validated by that. Also, I sell small works on paper for $15/$25 which is a far cry from my standard per square inch price this year. I just want people that love what I do to be able to have it. There is so much more in it for me than the money, but the money is key to continuing.
I paint for many reasons and lately it is a therapy of sorts. (personal alert!!)
I started painting (again after about 12 years) out of joy and contentment and, in my opinion, experienced happiness 10 fold by sharing it with others here, on Pinterest and Facebook and not to mention the flood of attention from other blogs. The past few months have been trying, to say the least, and it has taken an enormous and visible toll on my health. I don't want to go into details but frankly, I look like shit and I am pissed off most of the time, but oddly, I can still laugh a lot. and paint I must or... I don't know...
Frankly, its fun to paint, so I do, and I don't think that by selling this work I am selling out. I have no clue about watercolor technique so I have simply been playing to see what I get. All of these images are my watercolor stress relievers. None of these will appear for sale.
Any tips on dealing with stress? I totally wanted to say getting rid of stepkids, LOL! Sorry about the TMI.
