Art Is A Necessity Only To The Artist

Bill. is this your personal expectation? like space-time itself, art is relative.

I'm just really concerned for where we are all heading. We don't have a career that is a necessity, and the harder times get, the harder we must try to succeed....but then there is the inevitable.

Bill, "We" is so inclusive and general. while I would not encourage "Fine Art" as a primary career; it is a career enhancement and a great second career if one has the stamina to see it through to fruition.

The best way to find out if art is a necessity in life is to try life without it. Any volunteers? Being alive is not the same as having a life. That food, housing, transportation, and cigarettes are higher on the list than art is sad, but that doesn't make it necessarily true. Food and housing is nice though

With me...it's the ONLY career I will ever have, so I have reason for "concern". I have been talking to other artists as well who feel the same way. We are just not any good at having a "job", even if we tried....it's just the way we are.

Good point Rudy. What can we live without? A LOT of things. Then there is that which we can't...no matter what. In my world, Art is one of those things.

The stereotypical "Starving Artist" is such a cliche and it is profiling in its purist form. if one cares to perpetuate this stereotype, please cut off your ear and send it to
PO Box 1800
Who Gives A Dam
NY NY 123456789

Why are all those kinds of organizations always in NY? lol

Fine art or commercial art? If anything, visuals are becoming more and more relevant in this "quick to scan" world.

Um, let me put in this way, don't quit your day job. For most artists the world over, their creations are NOT going to earn them a living. Some artists will earn a living, some will become super rich, some will make millions for others after they die and are "discovered."

To succeed as an artist you have to be good, lucky and a self promoter 24/7. I do not promote myself and have zero interest in doing so and so I accept the consequences...in terms of very few sales. It is what it is. Honestly, I get more fun from FAA by engaging in the discussions and admiring the work of the other artists here.

Not earning money from my work does not stop me from creating images by roaming the streets with my cameras. It gives me much pleasure to do so.

Art is a necessity for human life. We have art all around us in terms of music, paintings, photographs, dance, movies, plays, etc...

If you are not making it as an artist, you are not promoting yourself in the right market, or you are not lucky, or you are not making the right connections. There are enough rich, very rich and super rich art collectors the world over just waiting to part with some of their vast wealth for your art. Trick is to find them.

BILL...
I just looked at your art....Wow...You are fantastic. You just need to find your market....somehow...

To chose a career that leads one to despair is exactly that....a choice! to tell me that Art is the only thing one can do to make them happy is very very sad......Artist can find ways to incorporate their art in all that they do.

Well Frank, I quit my miserable day job 6 years ago. Too late for your wisdom, my friend. It's "CAL or Bust now" Thanks for your encouragement, but you see, that's my point here. I see the work of many fine Artists and they are barely making it. It's not the work they produce.


Ed, any Art you try to make a living at now days.

H, do you choose your "career", or does it chose you?

200 years after I die, somebody will watch a TV program like Antique Road Show or Art or Kitsch? and in that program somebody will show up with a picture.. WOW, a real Rudy Umans!! How did you get it? I bought it on a flea market for $12.95. (due to inflation) :)

Thanks Rudy, that really made my day...on top of having Strep.

Even cave men had a "need" for art!

I'm a little confused Bill

In your OP you said - and I'm paraphrasing - Art is a NECESSITY to ARTISTS but not so much the general population anymore - that they have only so much money to spend, so they're more concerned with paying their bills, buying food, and buying cigarettes and not so much art. Did I read it correctly?

Sticking to how I read your OP - yes, I agree with you. It's a given that art is a necessity to artists. That said, most of my non-artist friends don't really give art a consideration... they don't spend a good amount of money for their walls - they have it to spend on it but it's not important. In fact, I have a good friend who had 3400 sq ft of living space and at least half of her walls were left bare... Once her bills were paid and the fridge stocked, it was more important for her to go out to dinner and/or a movie a few times a week than buy art. It was more important for her to go to Disney, Sea World, or Universal for the weekend, or take a long weekend at the beach. I see it almost everywhere when I'm with my non-artist friends... Art is not a necessity to them if they have to pay for it.

it's only important to my artist group friends - to we creatives who can't live without it.

I do agree with Edward that visuals are important to people in this fast "quick to scan" world... but paying for it is another story all together, IMO.


--Donna Proctor

Well put Donna. An Art Collector on here recently told me that she wished she had less windows so she could put up more Art. So the other problem is that people who want/need Art in their lives, only have room for so many.

I feel it is getting more important that Artists encourage Artists....even get personally involved, as really...in a way....we are a "family".

Rudy, you speak much of my sentiment...lol Things seem to only matter once they have been discarded, or so it seems. As the years roll by, the dirt, the grime, the story of times gone by are forever embraced by a longing subsequent generation. Flea market sales for $12.95? I hope my work survives the ultimate trail to the Flea Market, likely my only museum or final resting place. But I think it may not make the journey. Unfortunately, the large scale and cutting edge style of my work may result in too much difficulty for a transport to a flea market; a first stop may be the city dump....too bad for me and my legacy, but perhaps a haven for pickers.

It seems that the true definition of "necessity" all boils down to what you would spend your last dollar on.

Kenneth - I like to be optimistic. The important sentence was "WOW a real .....whatever name...." :)

@Robert Gabriel: I am totally on your page. I have a tremendously successful portfolio here on FAA, meaning almost everything I post ends up featured 3 or more times. So my work is popular here- Which feels great! But it got so I was frantically marketing my stuff to the point that i didn't even want to create anymore, because my work does not sell and my self esteem plummeted to below zero! It just doesn't sell. Period. So I had a good talk with myself and remembered one of my primary values: Success is living your passion. I've never counted success in terms of income. So in that sense I'm a superstar, and that's enough for me! I enjoy my participation on FAA, post bit on FB and Pinterest bz its just fun and my friends and family who will never buy it still enjoy seeing it, and I make new friends. But obviously I don't count on my art to make a living!

@Philip Sweeck - I couldn't agree with you more! (I make my living as a shrink.)

I agree along with Donna's line of thinking.

Purely self indulgent form of expression.
And thanks to the 'Net - viewers are bombarded with hundreds (thousands) of great images a day - the desire for color and design is satiated.
Grab anything for wallpaper for your cell or laptop. Change daily. Hard to choose just one.

Live has changed ; we want all the benefits of technology , but are having a difficult time adapting to what that has actually done to the market.


EDIT: Agreement with Maggie. Marketing took over painting , & lost the joy. Stepping back this summer with a major home project - hoping to come back refreshed & excited to create. I'd rather be painting .

Some Art is functional/practical.... there are a few occupations that are considered both necessary and art-forms. Architecture is the first to spring to mind. Anyhow..I have funded many a weekend away by trading functional/practical art... namely lovespoons. We all "need" cutlery and the utensils I carve are undoubtedly works of art. I am sure there are many other examples of useful art and I would love to hear about them. :-)

edit: certain cultures just use sticks to eat and cook... my mistake.. but I need cutlery :-)

right. so?

people who have the basics usually want more and that's where we come in. because we don't have to compete with other growers, etc, the products don't have to be cheap. art has always been a luxury, same with sports cars, fancy clothes, watches, and all the other things that would make you pass out if you saw the price in the store.

---Mike Savad

art has been moving pretty strongly for the past 2000 years (min), i don't see it slowing any time soon. unless there is some huge disaster and the focus is on rebuilding, i don't see it as stopping.

---Mike Savad

Hang on....I will....

Looks like people are being thrown over a cliff in Dore's art....oh...no...thatz a wall.

Art Is A Necessity Only To The Artist:
The thing about photo manipulations when the art has been lifted from the web and manipulated; its primary value is with that of the manipulator.
BS: is this possibly the reason why you see doom for yourself and you just want to share it with whom ever will listen to you?

Aren't you making assumptions here? I have full permission from the publishers of Dore's work to use his work. I never got anything off the web. Where do you get such high rez work anyway?

Being over 100 years old, one does not need permission to use the work.

that is not always true. At least not in the US. If is was made before 1978, the copyright expires 120 years after it was created, so nobody can claim any copyrights if it was made before 1894

For work that has been published in one form or another, like with most famous and lesser famous flat art pieces, the expiration is 95 years if made before 1978. If published after 1978, the expiration is the life of the creator plus 70 years.

H, this BS thing which started as a joke is now wearing exceedingly thin. Please call him Bill now. We all know what you meant when you started it and it was not funny then and is not funny now

To clarify things...

If Bill granted Drew permission to post his work, please accept my apologies in advance. If not, then my statement stands.

Well Jeff, I didn't give Drew permission, but I am not one to make an issue of it.
I have been wondering what the "H" stood for....as I didn't know if "H" was a male or female. I hate not knowing who you are talking to on here.

@ Rudy: Dore died in 1883. the 1894 died line is covered ;)

@ Bill Stephens, I can call you Bill Stephens can't I? Well the Moderators have spoken.....
As a friend, the simple observations that were presented to you are possible answers to your original premise and of your personal economic down turn. You still have not explained why your premise is being extrapolated to fit the entire FAA artistic community. obviously there art artist who are prospering at FAA both do to the efforts of FAA and their own ingenuity.
if such evidence is presented then the initial premise according to the definition of logical proof is incorrect at any point then the premise is incorrect and a new supposition needs to be explored.

There are millionaires getting richer as we speak as well and other's who are losing millions at the same time. What sales are for a few here has nothing to do with the global picture, for EVERYONE is subject to the same fate in the case of an economic crash. Millionaire and beggar will be sitting side by side.

Here is another vid for food for thought (for those who care).

If "EVERYONE is subject to the same fate in the case of an economic crash", then art would not be a necessity even for the artist, so your premise (which is really about an Armeggedon or tribulation, you just don't want to say it) from the start is faulty. Art is only a necessity when it is needed and, if volcanoes are exploding and tsunamis are rolling, I'm thinking painting a picture would not be in the top 5 of anyone's to-do list.

Bill,

Your spreading fear mongering, which has nothing to do with:

"Art Is A Necessity Only To The Artist"

If you have nothing more that addresses why you opened this discussion, then I will consider it closed.

Well, my "caves" will have Art work on them.

Jeff, I am here to help EDUCATE folks and what is ahead by the economic experts. Are we not all adults here and able to talk about economics and how it affects Art sales?

No Bill,

You are here to discuss the topic. If you're done, I will close this now.

I'm not done.

I will be in a few hours though as I will have a very busy weekend into next week.

Artist PRODUCE ART no matter what their circumstances. Money or no money. This is part of being a true artist.

I actually think that some of my best work was when I had the least income.

Okay.... Artists produce art.

Got it.

The issue is if things go worse.....would that affect what we produce? Well, no electricity would cut out digital work and such. You can still take pictures with solar chargers for your camera.

Talking of things going down....can anyone get Gmail to work?

With all due respect, no one asked to be "educated", Bill. We're all adults, we can think and do for ourselves.Again with the assumptions...

So you are saying you have no need for ANYONE EVER to share with you what you may not be aware of?

who the heck is cutting power? i think would the basics of modern living, art would be cast off. i know i couldn't do any of it without the power, and not much reason to do so. your creating your own dystopia, and not doing anyone any service.

you haven't educated anyone. you only showed us some video from youtube. at least this one wasn't from 2005. i would believe other sources before i believed you. we don't need an education, if anything we are more schooled than you.

always realize where your data comes from. anyone that films a video using a voice over that sounds like he was in a public restroom, with an echo, you have to be wary.

http://stormcloudsgathering.com/

this is the site that's from, it's full of government linked conspiracy. it's like the national enquirer about the US government. looking at all those stories, you can toss out anything that guy said. if you hang out in sites like this long enough, you might end up in some kind of home made bunker, buying a months worth of food at a time and trying to become some kind of survivalist, but not so far removed as to not live without electricity, otherwise you wouldn't be able to view that site.


---Mike Savad

I can't speak for everybody else, but I have no need to be educated about baseless conspiracy theories of which I may not be aware. Nor do I want to be. Bleah.

be aware that when you share it should be accurate so people can do something about it. it shouldn't be full of assumption and conjecture. having a pretend idea that you can help people, when you are getting your intel from conspiracy sites, it won't help many. you should lead by example and move some place that has no power and no internet. otherwise your in the same boat as everyone else, and anything your doing, won't help any of us.


---Mike Savad

No Bill, you ARE done. This thread is closed

You know enough about the rules to know that we do not allow this and this is no longer an art thread, if it ever was.

Take a break from the forums