Reinvent Oneself

i haven't a clue what i'd rebuild myself as. if i could or did know, i would have done so by now.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I reinvent myself regularly, not purposely, but a natural morphing, as it were.
It's what, IMO, has kept me alive in this fickle business.
I started out apprenticing in portraits on stained glass for churches...moving into all religious art needed for churches and synagogues.
Continued with commissioned portraits while I taught art for 4 years...then left teaching and opened my own business full time.
Went from abstract to abstract expressionism, providing art for residential and commercial spaces.
Went back to religious work 5 years ago and then added abstract photography 3 years ago.

No matter who you are, life is going to throw you a curve ball now and then. Sometimes really big ones! If you know who you are, what you're good at, what you believe, then you can overcome almost any obstacle, adjust as necessary and get back on track.

But if you're lost to begin with, curve balls are just going to make your situation worse.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Roger I like your question, Marlene and Dan I like your answers each in its own way. Personally I feel that being inwardly open to change is part of the essence of creating art.

I constantly reinvent myself not because fear of my works become stinky fish but wanted to see how far I can use the talents I have.

Yes I often go in different directions looking to improve things or some times it's just about exploring new things, these fish here are a prime example, I hope they are not to stinky.This digital image was made from an image of my original copper sculpture, thanks to a thread here about DAP I found an easy way to transform my sculpture images maybe into sellable prints.

I don't mind the 'curves' that life throws at me - I'm just real tired of the slugger with the bat that mashes me flat.
It's way to late to reinvent myself - I would go for a new body though.

Yes, all the time, although I don't feel the need, just desire. And I'm free to do so, since I don't have anyone or anything holding me back. I love freedom.

Like Alice in Wonderland said, "I knew who I was this morning but I must have changed a thousand times since then," or something like that.

In terms of working on my FAA portfolio, I could probably be a little more serious. Maybe I'll save that for the winter months when days are short yet the hours are long.

Are you feeling the need for change, Roger?

I've had so many curved balls in my life, I've lost count! But then again, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be the person I am today... so actually, I welcome them :))

I think the term "reinvent" is rather extreme, I take that to mean completely changing everything, essentially starting from scratch. I can't see myself ever going nearly that far, but I am in a constant state of evolution. It is possible that 20 years from now the current me would be unrecognizable but it will be due to a thousand small steps, not one big one.

"Reinventing Yourself" by author Steve Chandler

A great DIY book for anyone thinking of or wanting to do it.

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

Yes.

Here is an example of my reinvention, before and after.

A change up every 10 years or so is good. Unless you are willing to wait (like that 90 year old women that was suddenly discovered for her minimal work) for your work to become back in fashion.

Well reinventing of oneself is good. Since it gets boring if its the same over and over again. Sort of clicking refresh in the computer. Besides that as an artist your clients would expect a better and different works of yours, everytime they see your new works.

For me the answer is definitely yes. I began taking steps to re-invent myself so to speak when I hit what many might consider a 'landmark birthday'. At the same time there were some health issues going on and I was not happy with who and what I was and so a major 're-invention' seemed like the order of the day. No I have not totally completed the project but I have made some progress.

Roger,

As I comprehend more of what I am doing, I reinvent myself, my art, my marketing of my art.

I think it is very necessary.

I am not a fit for the artists guild or the art league, two local organizations. My stuff is so different from taking brush to canvas I dont fit in.

The Guild has another reason for not wanting to do business with me. They have their local clients. I have none. So
all I can do is take some of their sales. I might not increase their sales. I had too much to gain and they had too much to lose.

Hurt a bit at first, but well over it a day later. First major rejection. The letter said they saw merit in my work. Just not a good fit.

That of course means reinventing how I will market my work.

It also leads me to delineate in my mind who I want to hang my art with as a fit. Complimentary fit.

Dave

David, none of the work you've shown us here is YOURS. It's Vermeer's and Van Gogh's and so on. Perhaps that might have been a factor for the rejection?

No JL, the US Copyright Office recognizes all of those works as mine.

You are wrong.

Their art was very limited. I brought no buyers to the table. I would possibly only take buyers from them.

I know you have repeatedly said they are not my works blah blah blah......you are wrong. At least the US govt says you are wrong.

No offense meant by finally getting back to you with reality.

Dave

This is the second copyright notice I have received. I am waiting on a third statement. I will be entering a fourth application less than two months from now.

JL please drop your nonsense in a public place. If you want to write me privately that is one thing, but telling me what my art is and is not
as if to embarrass me can stop NOW.

Those images are in the public domain, so yes, you can use them, even sell them, but that does not make them yours, dude. You did not create them, and everyone who looks at them knows it. THAT'S the reality. Calling them "your work" is ridiculous. I wonder - CAN you draw? CAN you paint? Maybe you should give it a try - you know, "reinvent yourself". Then you'll have works that ARE yours and then you can call yourself an artist. What you're currently doing may be legal, but it isn't art by any stretch.

"Their art was very limited"? Are you serious? Then what does that make YOURS?

David, you need to get used to people telling you it's not art and it's certainly not your art. Defend it. Give people a reason to think it's something more than Public Domain images with a filter or two. Fooling the government or gaming the system is no big deal.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

kkkkkkk

Dan,

What is your opinion? Because I am not sure where you come down on this from what you are saying there.

Dan, cooled down and I understand you.

JL,

Art is many things. Not all drawing or brushstrokes. Life on earth is moving into the digital age.

Once upon a time a man or woman invented the color blue. You use that color. Is that wrong?

Another person invented the canvas. Can you use that?

And another the brush. Off limits as well?

Then the face was painted, off limits? No more faces?

etc etc etc.......

The turtle was not your idea. The heart shape you use was someone else's idea and form.
The color red you are using in the heart shape was invented and used many times before
you used it. Should that color be off limits?

Words? Off limits? If it is not a word in the dictionary is it the only word you can use? Dictionary words
have been published before....off limits?

Dave

I think reinvention comes into play when you hit a brick wall with the style you have developed and need change even if only temporary until you get some inspiration back for the style you had chosen to work with. I reinvent quite a lot and to be honest I believe it is good for the artist as you delve into things that you may not have ventured into in your normal line or style of work.

"I am not sure where you come down on this from what you are saying there."

David, I'm saying that -- so far -- you have done a poor job of convincing anyone that your work is art. Your strategy is to simply insult people who tell you it isn't. That just shows insecurity. Help people understand why your work is art, not why you think they should "get some air."


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Dan,

see revisions above.

I agree, some folks do not get it.

Things are invented by folks and reused by others. New creations are works by the new creators of works.

colors
lines
shapes
etc
etc

all have been first used at some time. They are all reused by all of us.

Faces
turtles
hearts
pins
blue skies
etc
etc
etc

all have been first used by others. When you reuse them in your own forms they are your work.

Digital work opens up a new vista, a new control for artists to work with.

Dave

What Dan says is true. And by the way, I've seen people take the Mona Lisa, a work in the public domain, and do some very clever things with it that make THAT version of the Mona Lisa theirs. For instance, I've seen a drawing that turned her into a Goth girl. And I've seen another that turned her into a tattooed lady. Those are creative ways of using art in the public domain to concoct something new.

Another example - one of FAA's best sellers is this creation:



Now that's obviously derivative of Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" - which is okay, since Van Gogh's work is in the public domain; there's no copyright issue. But what makes this creation art is that it's not a direct copy of "The Starry Night" with a filter or some junk dropped on it. The artist took the source subject and re-interpreted in a fresh new way, and it's marvelous. I can see why it's so popular. It deserves to be. The artist even included Van Gogh himself in the painting! That is beyond awesome.


Thus endeth the lecture for today.

Hi,

I am in the process of re inventing myself from ceramic artist to photographer. I am having a ball. In ceramics, I was always pushing the boundaries of the possible which meant maybe 6 months of experimenting...sometimes with good results. sometimes disasters....How can I explain the tension of two ten hour firings and a day before I could open a kiln to see if my idea had worked...or almost worked and it needed more research and another go.
Now, I feel so free, I feel like I am flying....minutes after you take a shot you know if it has worked and can build on it...loving it. Strangely enough a lot of the things I learned in my ceramic work is just as applicable in photography...so nothing is wasted.
I guess my next makeover will be when I loose my sight as they promised I would ten years ago. I believe there is a visually handicapped group of photographers in Australia...just hope I don't have to do that particular make over. Having said this, Lloyd Rees who was a well known Australian landscape painter went impressionistic when he was loosing his sight and I liked those works best.

Cheers,
Denise

l

David, there are others who try to make money stealing other people's art - they're called "forgers". They paint fake Monets and the like and sell them to gullible buyers. But at least forgers have some artistic talent - in fact, often they're very good painters in their own right. But they're still thieves, talent notwithstanding. Think about it. ;)

JL,

I have my own taste in things. I express that.

My work is still developing which is good news for me.

I try to work in aesthetics that would be considered serious. Humorous in art theory terms does
not mean funny, but less important.

Dont get me wrong I have an outsized sense of humor. I do not put it in my work.

At first as I developed my ideas I was limited in my thinking or creativity due to the newness of the software to me, my
comprehension of it in other words, experience etc....and my ideas on how to keep the work serious while using design
elements to alter PD works. As I get more experienced my ideas are developing.

Earlier works reflected much more of the underlying original artist. So when the copyright office sees my Milkmaid they see
a huge change of the background a large percentage altered. You see not much of a change.

But now when I make a new work far more is being done. The work in each new piece has advanced. Now when
you see what I have done more lately things are far more ONLY my statements. And that advancing will continue.

Dave

David, it's nice you have fun with software.

Now try taking some drawing and painting classes. Then, if you discover that you have ability, maybe you won't have to dump digital paint on the background of a Vermeer and try unsuccessfully to pass it off as yours (as Dan pointed out, that's not fooling anybody). That would be an actual "advancement".

JL,

You go with a camera to Times Square. People are milling about. The billboards are lit up it is night time.

You take a few really great shots with people and billboards and coffee shop signs etc.......

No brushstrokes, no drawing, perhaps an understanding of design elements........maybe not.....

Is that good or bad art? Say you like some of the shots. Is that your art?

Dave

JL,

I am having fun that is what matters to me.

I have had a drawing class and two studio classes in college. I did very well in them.

I am developing a new form of art.

Almost all digital art is humorous. I want to make serious digital art.

Dave

Denise, I'm sorry, I did not know about your eyesight issues. I hope you'll be able to keep taking photos for quite a while. As you know, I am a fan and I always look forward to what you are doing. I think I hear what you're saying about ceramics. I have never done that, myself, but I've tagged along on bronze castings, and it's such a long wait-and-see process, I think it would drive me batty, lol. You'd have to have a lot of patience, as well as sculpting skill.

You have a great attitude! Now I'm going to go look up Lloyd Rees.

Denise,

Very serious work, very good work. Like it. Glad the doctors so far have been wrong.

Dave

I'm sorry, I was under the impression this was a Roger thread, not a David, JL and Dan thread. Take it to a private message or, better still, drop it.

Yes Roger I had to twice. Once to hide from an abuser and once because I wanted to become the person I knew I could be. I would never do it to hide again.

Some do it for love, some fear, some just to change their lives. However, not sure you meant anything so deep :)

Artists do it all the time to grow into their art

A lot has happened here on this thread while I was away.

As far as I'm concerned, when the thread takes on it's own energy and goes off track, I find it stimulating...It means we have vital, strongly opinionated people here, and to me, that is what Artists and their Art is are all about.

Even after saying that, I'm going to try to put this train back on it's track.


Denise,

I can see in your striking photographs a strong,tactile quality, you must certainly have gotten from your years with ceramics...And what ever fate might bring, you'll always be able to see with your hands...My heart goes out to you.


I have to go now, for a while this morning,, and since it takes me forever to type a simple sentence,I'll be back when I have more time to compose my thoughts into a cogent form about why I started this thread

In the meantime please be free in expressing your thoughts.

And to those powers to be, Please don't close this thread

@Dan Turner15 Hours Ago
'No matter who you are, life is going to throw you a curve ball now and then"

Dan, it's not the curve balls that bother me.

However, it's the BEAN BALLS that I can't stand. OOww! That smarts! :-)

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com.=/

Yes!

We have to consider what happened to Kodak and other leaders in the market. Kodak had all the money and resources to be on top, but it didn't see things were changing.

Roger.......If I could reinvent myself, I would start over as a young, handsome, successful artist . ;)

I like what Michael G has said......you hit a proverbial brick wall.
When I realize that I have taken something as far as I can take it, then it's time to turn and discover something new with which to experiment. Overworked, under inspired work never seems to become authentic art.


Here's an unrelated to art example.
I tutor one on one with children in another 2 languages ( Ancient Hebrew and musical cantillation)...I have always specialized in learning disabled kids who can't learn traditional ways.
My granddaughter has been struggling terribly with memorizing her multiplication tables. I found a marvelous tool with accompanying workbook and have had such success with her, am so impressed with this tool for teaching, that I may start tutoring multiplication instead of language and religion.
I'll still be a tutor, but very stoked about a new subject..I will draw in a whole new group of interested parties.
That's reinvention.


WHat's a bean ball, Bill? ( that was sweet alliteration!)

I am painting a landscape now, which is a little different than my usual Still lifes. I do experiment with things like how best to keep a canvas tight, or how to prepare a canvas for a smooth, slick finish.

Gene, for tight canvas, use the keys!!

I don't have to reinvent myself,....feed back over time shows others already have done it for me,..

Amazing sometimes what others think I am all about.

Will just stay me.

Marty Saccone

Abbie, I applaud you for becoming the person YOU want to be.

Marlene.......About tight canvas:
Small turn-buckles are the best. If the canvas ever gets loose in the future, you can adjust it by pushing the corners with the turn-buckles which are permanently installed. ;)

Thank you, JL

We should all be who we want to be and not what others expect us to be. Take it from one who knows, you would never be happier :)

I just had a huge life changing event. I had to reevent myself as I was completely lost as to what I was supposed to do next. Other than being in the military which has given me the only sense of purpose in life (only thing that felt like, yes...this is what I'm supposed to do). But since my event I started to sway off course. So I discovered photography. I believe I'm headed in the right direction again. Sometimes as your headed down your chosen path you hit bumps that temporary put you off course. Refocus, redirect and if you have to, bush wack your way through until you get back on course. Doesn't feel like it at the time, but its possible. Good luck to those feeling like stinky fish.

@Marlene Burns "WHat's a bean ball, Bill? ( that was sweet alliteration!)"

It's when the pitcher hits or "beans" the batter with the ball.

Bill Tomsa

Gene, that's what keys do! ;)
Bill, thanks for the baseball definition.I like sports where the ball goes away from you, not AT you!

Could it be the same as a Bean Brain ?????

I don't attempt to reinvent myself so much as I attempt to add onto what is already there.

I get bored easily, so I'm always looking for new things that interest me.

In today's world, that's pretty easy to do.

I love this world and would never think of leaving it.

Too late to prevent the fish stink now. Almost ready to hang it up. There is no money in speculative photography, whether it be stock or art or even client work. Waiting for my life to reinvent me because that's how it usually happens.

Hi Bradford,

Art is not all about the money....it dies when it is. ...but of course we do need to earn a living.

All the best

Cheers,
Denise

Marlene........What kind of keys are you talking about







By the way........ I finished a painting today, but it is not a favorite . ( I started another )

those little wooden triangles that snugly fit into the corners, locking into the routered part of the stretcher bars.....

"It's never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot from "Reinventing Yourself" by Steve Chandler

@Marlene
You're welcome for the baseball lesson. My pleasure.

Most sports have balls coming at you except billiards or golf maybe. Even then you have to watch out for balls from other golfers behind you.:-)



@ Marty Saccone
"Could it be the same as a Bean Brain ?????"

I guess if you get hit with a Bean Ball in the head it could give you a Bean Brain. That could explain my problem.

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

and bowling ;)

I don't want someone else to reinvent my face!

Marlene

Yes and bowling.....most of the time.

First (and last time) my wife and I went bowling, many years ago, she stepped up to the lane and started her approach. On her back swing she let go of the ball and several of us had to duck for our lives. Don't even get me started on Miniature Golf with her! :-(

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

One more tidbit to consider from Steve Chandler's "Reinventing Yourself"

"No one can make you change.
No one can stop you from changing.
No one really knows how you must change.
Not even you.
Not until you start."

- David Viscott
"Risking"

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

RE:......Why This Thread?

I made my first "Reinvention" in my middle 40's when I went from being responsible for the design and construction of major elements in major buildings, to sticking crab claws into mussel shells...I move I have Never, Never regretted


And now,

I've been dealing again, with this "Reinventing" thing these last few years, and curious how others may deal with it.


Riding the crest of the wave,during the 70's,80's and 90's when anything made by hand was appreciated and produced sales, I did pretty well,

The first" reinventing" was actually " readjusting", as sales in "Normal" venues started to slump, I started to concentrate on the venues where the public mindset was more open to my work...

So, I became a Rennie, even though I continued to do some of the better "Normal" shows.


But as I approached my 80's..As logistics became more and more of a burden, one by one, I dropped those "Normal" shows

Now, as far as Face-to-Face shows. I'm now, a Full Time Rennie.

.
That gave me time, to ponder on what to do, once I can't even do that.

Thus, here I am, with all you guys in this Digital Universe, as a complete "Reinvention" with my "Pixel Pointillism" designs popping up on all sorts of surfaces and my "Feral Coots" finding a way to be on every coffee table throughout the world.

Yet it's not really complete, since I still have to rely on that "Sticking crab claws into mussel shells" thing to provide me with a reasonable source of income.

But this battle goes on in my mind, as to how much time and effort to spend on each of these two different universes

One thing I do know....I've got to wean myself off this Forum....I come back only,ever so often

You know, come to think of it, one of my favorite TV genres - and the only reality TV I watch - are shows about renovating living spaces. My fave right now is "Rehab Addict". It stars this pretty blonde lady named Nicole Curtis who specializes in restoring old homes to their original styles. I also watch a show called "Fixer Upper", and it stars this very engaging couple from Waco, Texas, Chip and Joanna Gaines. They have a bunch of cute kids, and they help people pick out a fixer-upper to renovate.

And it just occurred to me - I used to wonder why I find such shows so appealing; I know nothing about carpentry and I don't even have a house. Now I think I know what it is I like about those shows: renovation - fixing up a shambles until it's whole again - putting back together an old broken dream - that resonates with me. It's an allegorical form of therapy. I highly recommend it to anybody who needs a lift. :)

I watch a show called "Open House" on some of the NBC stations.

They tour homes and condos for sale that start around 10 million dollars and go up to 35 and more.

I imagine my art hanging on many of the walls.

Roger, it sounds like you are transitioning. I think we all go through this, whether it's planned or not, at various times in our lives. I love your little mouse, by the way. There is no description, and I'm curious as to how you made it. But it's fine if you'd rather not divulge. I never dreamed I would end up spending so much time on the computer, either. Just sort of evolved that way, at least until I transition again.

JL, I am addicted to the reno shows! I have one on now (with the sound turned off, because I can't stand Hilary's voice, lol). I'll watch anything that showcases creativity, except the food shows.

Bill, I love that quote by George Eliot. Talk about reinvention! As you probably know, he was actually a woman. Mary Ann Evans, who used the pen name George Eliot.

Me too, Patricia - I don't cook either (thank god for microwaves), so I don't watch cooking shows - EXCEPT one called "Cake Boss", which I did watch occasionally. Some of the cakes they came up with- in the shape of dragons and castles and other weird stuff - were amazing. They always use a lot of fondant though - I hate fondant, blech. It has a texture like Play-Doh.

Back on track, house renovation is akin to reinvention - you're reinventing your domain, your world, your territory, when you rebuild a room or a house. Sometimes I wish my apartment manager would let me redo my apartment - man would I have fun!

Marlene...... You mean the little wedges ! .... Those are not good enough !.......lol

They are called keys, Gene...have worked fine for me for 50 years.....hmmmmm......

You can't get canvas tight enough for my taste either, that's why I work on panels and boards.

I wish I knew how many electrons of mine fit on a pinhead. Tight fit.

lol

not signed, no guts.....

Marlene.......Have you checked the 'tightness' of your canvas after about 8 or 10 years?........;)

I don't reinvent myself. It just happens.
Every so often an oportunity arrises and I take it.
I won't know where it will lead but it will always more interesting than the status quo.

i wud love to be a victoria secret model but i can't. :D im tired of painting and writing novels. i want something new. pole dancer perhaps... :D

Reinventing myself, adding digital paintings from my own photographs to my body of work in addition to my copper sculptures, just upgraded my membership also.Here is an example, hope I'm not getting all excited about nothing.

I've never had any problems, Gene.
At worst, I'd hammer the keys in a bit and an even spray of water.