Wednesday, January 30, 2008

It's the ART, Stupid

It's officially over, the smARTist telesummit... and it was so worth it. The panel of 13 diverse presenters was amazing; each brought their perspective to the table, and even though alot of the information overlapped, I found I responded to different people in different ways, so I was able to get so much out of the event. All of the information about "balancing your life" and "marketing your art" was inspiring and makes me want to go out and try everything at once.

But wait! I can't do that. In fact, I can't really do ANY of that. Yet.

Which brings me to my point:
it's the ART, stupid!

Okay, I've known this. I can't go out and promote something that doesn't exist. And while I HAVE made alot of artwork, I still don't feel I have that somewhat elusive "body of work". In other words, I've got to make more art, the result of which will be a better sense of my self and my art. Sounds good.

So the real work right now is the work.
(I knew that.)

4 comments:

ccmhats said...

Good for you, Melissa!

I bet that conference was great. I listened in on some of the preview calls, but decided to wait another year.

Instead, I am taking an organization class through ArtBizCoach.com, and working on my artist statement with Alyson, besides...

I am loving both, as it does seem like a good time of year to get motivated and on track.

However, you are right about it being about the art! Sometimes I get so busy promoting and organizing that my creative energy fizzles before the art is done...

Art first! Art first! (let's say it together, for solidarity...)

melissa lanitis gregory said...

Okay: "Art first!Art first!"

In retrospect, I could have waited another year, because I really do need to focus on the work before I can promote effectively. But I still think it was worth it... I'd love to know how working with Alyson on your statement is going, and how that works. I was thinking of getting Ariane's book; have you seen it?

ccmhats said...

I haven't heard of Ariane's book... what's it about?

Working on the statement is going in fits and starts...

It involves lots of journalling on my part, and I think I will be working more with Alyson towards the end, although I can email with questions before...

I seem to need the accountability of having someone around waiting for me to produce the writing...

The organizing class is fantastic! Very energizing and done in a private blog format... really fun, and great to witness progress within the group!

melissa lanitis gregory said...

Ariane Goodwin's book is called "Writing the Artist Statement". I know I need to redo mine, but feel like I need to get a better handle on my relationship to my art...I guess that's where the journaling comes in! Maybe I'll have a look at Alyson's site again; I really like her approach to things. What sort of stuff does her organizing class cover?