This weekend has really kept me on my feet, quite literally. (Something that is not super easy when you're 8.5 months pregnant and less than 2 weeks away from your due date.) Yesterday, my husband and I went to the Art Walk in Little Italy, downtown San Diego. Today we walked the length of the Encinitas Street Fair. What struck me is the difference in product and the amount of effort that goes into selling it.
First, being an artist, I appreciate the amount of thought and creativity that goes into each piece. The difference between the two venues-- at the Art Walk, you could see that each artist had gone to some effort to create a unique, individual style. Speaking from experience, this is something that is not easy to do. At the street fair, many things were cute, funny or pretty, but I felt as if I'd seen them before. Not to mention the type of merchandise swung more towards funky t-shirts and kitschy ceramics than paintings or sculptures. One you buy for a lifetime, the other you may box up during a move and never unpack.
Perhaps this is in part due to the price difference. If you're willing to spend quite a bit of money on an art piece you have to really like it. When nothing is valued over $30... it's just an impulse buy. I didn't find myself handing over any cash at either venue. Nothing sparked that emotional connection that said buy me!
What I did realize is that selling art is NOT easy. I've known this to be true all along. It just brings it home on a hot sunny day at noon when all the artists are sitting around with bored, resigned expressions and at least 6 hours to go. Having worked in sales I know that the best salespeople do care about the product, but they aren't emotionally involved the way an artist is. If you really care about your creation it is incredibly hard to take criticism from random tourists just passing through. Artists aren't generally known for having a tough skin. This is a major part of the reason we have galleries with salespeople. It's also part of the reason we have the cliché of the starving artist.
Someday I'll contemplate selling my art, in the meantime I'll concentrate on creating it.
Art Walks and Street Fairs
Chemulpo to Songdo IBD: Korea's International Gateway by author Donald Southerton is here!
New Project!
Well it's been a while, and I know that's an understatement. While the blog hasn't received much love lately other things have been moving forward in my life. My daughter Kat was born in early May not long after the last post. All that walking at the street-side art fairs worked it's magic.
There is something separate in the way my mind works when I'm creating art vs. writing about it. Somehow writing can seem more of a chore, while creating, painting, or drawing is never a job. Even though writing is a form of creation itself, I don't loose myself in the experience. I find that when I'm working with my hands and my eyes I have no sense of time or hunger just the urge to keep going. So, if you've wondered why there are large gaps in these posts, now you know that I'm off creating.
