A Work in Progress

Well, I did it.  I opened my very own Etsy store.  It’s not the usual way they go on Etsy but it’s what I want to do.  Or should I say, it’s how I want to approach it. We’ll see how well it works.

I just have four items in the store right now but I will be adding to the store every week.  I also added my Etsy link on the right side of this blog with my other links.  I put on my Instagram page as well.  I suppose I should put in Facebook too but I rarely use Facebook anymore.  We’ll see.

This is pretty cool though.  And it’s step one in the plan.  We’ll see…

This image is a close up of what is at my Etsy store.

And this image is a close up of what is currently at my Etsy store also.

Photo LA – 2019

Yesterday, I went to PhotoL.A. – 2019, at the historic Barker Hangar, in Santa Monica.  It was raining.  Not a light shower or drizzle, it was raining.  You can still see the art fair today up until 4pm, (I believe but check the link above to be sure) but the earlier you go today (opens at 11:00am) the better chance you have of not being rained on.

For me, it was a good photography art fair.  I liked the old location in Los Angeles better but this this still worked.  I saw a lot of really good work and I saw work that made me feel good about the work I’m doing with my images. My website shows a lot what I’m doing except my Motion Project – it’s not ready to go on the site yet.  But this might have been my last Photo L.A.  You know when you get that feeling that something is out of sorts – something is not quite working.  The last time I went to this art fair was 3 years ago and I got that same kind of feeling then too.  I have experienced that “feeling” in different setting and places from here to the other side do the world – and I have had these “feeling” since I was a child.  No one said or did anything to me nor did I see something along those lines.  But there is non-verbal communication going on all the time – I have learned to be cognizant of it.  But this is a great event for photographic art lovers.

I even met Ms. SusanSpiritus at her gallery’s booth, G05.  That was cool but I was really awkward – there went my first impression.  And I met the artist Ms. Hui Yi, who was with the SoPhoto Gallery out of Beijing.  Yes, all the way from China to participate in this art fair.  That’s cool and she was nice – she briefly explained her work to me too.  Photo L.A. is really a great chance to see some exceptional photographic art.  If you can make it today, you should go.  It’s not free but you’ll see some amazing work.

 This is what I drove through to get to Photo LA.

 It doesn't say it on the label but this is from the Susan Spiritus Gallery.

And this is one of Ms. Hui Yi's images I took of her post card.

Essence of Art

I read an article on The Washington Free Beacon website titled, “Finding the Essence of Art

Review: ConstantinBrancusi Sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art”, by Emily Ferguson.  I bit and clicked on the article because of the title, “Finding the Essence of Art”.  Well, I’m always on the hunt to find a way to be showing my work in galleries and museums.  As I see it, of course knowing the essence of art will help me do that.  And this guy, Constantin Brancusi, had some cool pieces too – I remembered a couple from when I was an undergrad (work we discussed in a class).  I loved the very first sentence in the article, “Watching two people argue about art is like watching two people try to ice-skate uphill.”  I was like, “yup”.  The rest of the article was good but more review than finding essence really.  A good review though – better than the stuff I write and call a review.  But I did revisit some since of what has been bugging me ever since I changed majors back in 2012 to become an art major rather than a finance major.  I’m not on a quest to get rich – it’s why the finance major became a business minor.  All I really want to do is make a good living (like make what I make now in my non-art job) being an artist.  That’s all.  So, what’s been bugging me is selling my work or rather me not selling my work – this doesn’t go the way I want it to unless I’m selling my work.  Ok, you’re like, “what does this have to do with the article you read?”  You should read the article and gleam that for yourself.  It was interesting but this is not about that.  This is about art (pause) work.  I need to move the needle on sales so I can get to where I want to go with my art work.  Maybe chasing the gallery thing may not be for me.  I need my own customer list.  I need to control the promotion of my work.  I need to be in charge of the operation, the business, that I am pursuing. I need to figure out the essence of my grind, my hustle – how I should be putting in work.  I’m moving into a world where perceived value is viewed as actual value and I need to understand that and adjust accordingly.

I’m still doing the portfolio review at the Palm Springs Photo Festival in May though.  I’m just saying.

This is an example of AP print of the Window Pain series (yes, pain not pane), part of the Victor Valley Project.  It is a 13” x 13” chromogenic print, cross processed, medium format, matted in a 16” x 23” frame.  This will be for sell soon.

United States Army Retired

After twenty years in the Army, you get a few token things to remind you of the odyssey. The tie pin is one of those things many toss in a drawer, if that, never to be seen again. I guess because it's an odd thing, this retired Army tie pin. Still, it is a reminder that you put in 20 years, or more, in uniform getting your boots dirty around the world. It says you made it pass go and got to collect $200.  But what do you do with it if you don’t wear ties?  Do retired women get one too?  I think they should replace the tie pin with a “Retired Army” coffee cup (one of the nick names, in the Army, for coffee was ‘lifer juice’ – alluding to those who were in for the long haul) or a “Retired Army” shot glass, that way we ‘lifers’ could get better use out of the ‘gift’. It's been 13 years since I was given this tie pin. It seems a lot longer than that; it seems a lot farther away. Well, I'm on a different journey now. My goal is to be a working artist. That is to say, I earn my living from being an artist; you know, my ‘day job’ is being an artist. I hope I stressed ‘artist’ enough. The tie pin is a good reminder that this present goal is achievable too, but it takes time. And it reminds me to have fun with the adventure as well, like I did with my Army adventure (it wasn’t fun all of the time but there were a lot of fun moments). And having things to remind me is good because sometimes I forget to have fun every now and then – really.

Oh, the image.  The retired Army tie pin is a part of this photomontage.  If you need to see it by itself, it’s on my Instagram.  The link is over there on the right.  Like I said, artist.