Sunday, April 25, 2010

sleep and art

i wish i could sleep like tess and gwen. last night, i did, with close to ten hours in bed, reading a little, and sleeping. this is what infections do to me, or maybe it's the antibiotic. this year i seem to be in a battle against microbes...
i am a weaver. at least, that is my background, but these days i think of myself as a papermaker/book artist. i go back to weaver because there's a long connection, back to my mother, elva weaver, her father, john weaver... you see where this is going? west virginia. mountain people are intelligent problem solvers, used to eeking out a livelihood on a scrap of mountainside land. my mom could keep cars going, make a dress without a pattern, cook a meal for one or thirty, clean a cruddy floor so it would shine. with a kid on her hip. 


i once saw a book about families and their stuff. each family was photographed outside their home, with all the people and possessions outside in front of the house. western households had lots of toys, places more marginal had their foodstuffs displayed.


so what use or worth is what i make? i know i'm not good at weaving functional stuff, i tried it. i often make stacks and stacks of botanical or rag paper, but they are rather expensive (in every sense). the artists' books that capture my imagination nowadays are one of a kind or small editions. is it worth it? is art worth it? 

25 comments:

  1. I think that is a good question, especially in the context of art for arts sake. People often ask me if I sell my art and are surprised when I do not. Since I see art as a connection to a more universal source, I rarely put a price on it. It is other than or beyond tangible and may be the only truly valuable thing that I do.
    when you start to make art for only money it is just another job. i already have one of those.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ahh, but martha, art for art's sake is art nonetheless. and doesn't any maker deserve a living wage?

    ReplyDelete
  3. It would be so nice to strike a balance with art and money. However, speaking purely for myself here....I'd rather have my art/creative life without money than the other way around.

    I get so much pleasure from creating...more than money could buy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is absolutely worth it! Whether you sell it or not...Whether it is expensive or not... After all, it is something that we (most of us at least) must do... and while money is necessary, isn't art also necessary? For me it is...

    ReplyDelete
  5. yep, i think art is necessary. and i think art should be affordable. and i think artists should make a living wage. chris, could you have your art/life without money? what about buying a pair of boots to wear to work in the garden to grow your food?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now that I have no day job, I've been pondering this (to some extent) as well. I agree with Dianne that it is absolutely essential to me to make what I make. In the past, I made my living helping others to find and hone what they want to make and to say, and by passing on techniques for both making and problem solving, enhanced by the occasional sale. As an alternative to having your work become a commodity, there IS support out there, in the form of residencies and grants, but they can be fickle; the pursuit of such support also becomes a full-time job with no guarantee of payment, much like the making. So does the effort of simply putting your work out there. (So, I have no answers, just a few more puzzles to toss into this stew. I've also just been having a conversation with a gallerist who is in the same boat, running an excellent space that cannot be supported by sales).

    ReplyDelete
  7. interesting about the gallerist, because in my naiveté i often see s/he as raking in the dough, so to speak. the good ones work hard to bring our work to the public, and to make sales, which benefit us all. as much as i want funding, i whine about the admin. that goes with it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. She called it a labour of love. Pretty much what we're talking about. Re: the admin for funding, I find it highly whine-able, particularly when you don't get it after all that work :-).

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes it is. Life has to be about more than what is useful and needed on a physical level, otherwise it's just about survival and I don't know if that is enough.... Having said that, I struggle with what that means on a global level because, of course, life is very hard for many.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Its a constant tussle but I feel the arist needs to be paid.Art without money doesn't work.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Art is a necessary part of life....even the cave people drew on the walls. But it was after they had shelter and food in their bellies.

    ReplyDelete
  12. i mostly find that you are very popular when thing are free.

    hard to be just an artist.

    i'm confused.

    ReplyDelete
  13. so perhaps there should be not only national health care, but national art care???

    ReplyDelete
  14. in my experience, i think the bottom line has
    to do with each individual's sense of what
    "a living" is. when we say we can't earn
    a living with our art, what exactly does that
    mean? and then it comes down to what has
    value? what do we NEED? to feel safe, housed
    adequately, fed? how does that need to LOOK
    to others?
    i live very simply in a place that doesn't
    require much and also doesn't "look" like much
    probably to the vast majority of americans.
    but I eat well, get around in an old toyota
    truck and an old honda hatchback. and i feel
    free
    free in general and free to do "art" which to
    me is an integral part of life.

    ReplyDelete
  15. grace, this is the way i live, few extras, and i buy art from other artists, small things. and i sell a bit myself. not much...

    ReplyDelete
  16. and how does that feeeel? buying art from
    other artists?, small things.? do we wish
    they would just give it to us? I don't think
    so. Adding food to the table of each other
    is adding to our own.
    Jude recently added Making, marking, mentioning Christine Mauersberger to her
    Crossing Paths.
    Christine's blog entry for 4-15-10 tells of
    her experience with Sunpainting in Honduras
    in 2006. 2006
    in the comments toward the end, she stated:
    "I think about the women almost every day".
    ....this would be 4 years later....
    I looked at her photographs and at the faces
    of the women and children
    and for me, their expressions answer many
    questions about what making Art is "worth".
    also, in light of this particular discussion,
    a question might be...
    if one of those women wanted to "make a
    living" from her sunprints, or supplement
    her living from her sunprints.... how would
    you feel about WANTING one, buying some of
    her work? And how is that different from
    selling your own?
    Selling what one creates to me, does not
    diminish it. It helps us live, helps us make
    more. Helps us not spend every minute of our
    lives doing something to pay bills that will
    after all is said and done, amount to nothing.

    sorry, i could go on and on. But if we wonder
    whether it has value to just make something
    beautiful for the sake of making something
    beautiful, we should go look at those women.
    I find mySelf thinking of them almost every
    day now too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. oh, and i'd been wondering for a long time,
    WHERE do you sell your work?

    ReplyDelete
  18. i sell locally, but if you're interested in something you see, or want to see a photo of something, drop me an email.

    ReplyDelete
  19. me again, more sorry,
    it's funny, there's something that kept me
    from asking straight out..."velma, do you
    sell your art? your books, your paper?
    I would like to have some. for myself, a
    book. for my own art, paper." Why does
    that feel.....funny. We will just use the
    word funny. instead of rude.
    or crude.
    I think there's a lot here to ponder.

    ReplyDelete
  20. why don't you have a little shop on the sidebar?
    I ask this, not really needing you to answer,
    but because I sometimes wonder if we are not
    ashamed or something, embarassed or something,
    to SELL OUR ART
    we would rather sell our LIVES, at jobs, or
    in marital relationships (sorry)

    ReplyDelete
  21. grace-email me here if you want more info-vdbolyard@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. velma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    is it worth it?????????!!!!!!!!

    we don't make art just for other people, or to sell it.

    REMEMBER, WE MAKE OUR ART BECAUSE WE HAVE TO.....BECAUSE WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DO IT!....IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS....

    and that's enough!

    take care bolyard, i know you have the true heart of an artist!

    we all have moments when we are unsure.

    ReplyDelete
  23. because we have to. absolutely.
    thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I often get this same thought,

    Why am I doing this art, why am I driving myself to do more and better and more interesting stuff all the time. What for.

    Not sure what the answer is. But I do know that I love making stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  25. wow
    I loved the entire post that you wrote Velma, and then saw there were 24 comments. After reading those, I must consider , must think about it all.

    What I wanted to say was yay for you for even bringing this topic up.
    I teach piano so that I don't have to make a living from my art.
    I make my art because if I didn't, I would die.

    ReplyDelete

be in touch!

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *