The Clock Is Ticking / Make Art

The Clock is ticking ....  lately Dan and I keep saying that more and more. The Mosaic community lost an important artist this last week. Earlier in the year my husband lost a friend in his writing community. Both artists were around our age and they were taken suddenly without warning. I am sure the mosaic artist must have had unfinished work on her table and the poet probably had poems left unedited.  We also lost Dan's Father just last year and so yes, we are constantly looking over our shoulder these days at that bitch mortality. We are looking at the mirror and saying it out loud. As we prepare the evening meal after a long day at work we are saying it out loud, the clock is ticking.  Make art, the clock is ticking.

Make art like nobody is watching ... you have all heard the phrase dance like no one is watching, well I challenge you to make your art like nobody is watching. We all know that feeling of singing loudly in the shower or in our cars, or dancing alone late at night in our living rooms. Well, you need to be making art like nobody is watching. And when you are creating and it does not feel that great and uninhibited, well keep working because discipline is important too. Just keep making art.

Create more than you compare...  anybody that says don't compare yourself to others is just not living on this planet. We all compare and it can be healthy. When I compare my work to people that are better than me I am motivated to try harder. When I see people that I "deem to be no better than me" selling more art, getting more shows, awards or recognition I refuse to be a Bitter Betty, instead I am motivated to work harder. I am motivated to learn from them and see what they are doing so very right to earn their success.  Football players spend their lives comparing their performance and when they come up short they do not whine about it ... they get out there and they kick ass. Do not stop comparing, but spend much more energy creating than comparing.

Buy art from other artists ... I can not tell you how much this has made me a better seller of my own art.  When Dan and I got together we were weighed down by credit card debt. We spent around 3 years digging out of that. Once the debt was gone we were able to actually start saving and seeing a little fruit from our labors. We are still frugal people but we do like to indulge in art buying on occasion. I like to buy from my pals and from strangers too. Buying art has made me value and respect my own customers so much more. If you are not occasionally buying original art then you will never fully understand the nuances of selling when it comes to your own work.

Ok so those are my tips today for other artists. I am writing today hoping I may have an audience for these ideas, but mostly I am putting this stuff down to remind myself to take my own advice.