short notes #1
Notable things, recently: alice neel, eve babitz, new paintings, rejection
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There's no painting news from my studio as such at the moment; I've taken the last couple of weeks off from actually painting to recharge a bit. Between the beginning of January and the end of March, I completed 19 paintings, and now it naturally feels like time for the input phase after all that output (still feel weird about “not doing anything”, tho). I've been to exhibitions, read a lot and been making the most of the little bit of sunshine we've been having between gale-force winds and sudden downpours. And I’ve been gazing at the catalogue I brought back from Hot Off the Griddle:
This quote, from ‘What if time management doesn't = productivity?’, a recent episode of Haley Nahman's Maybe Baby podcast, really hit home :
"I think we oftentimes sap process of its value by assuming that the outcome is all that matters."
I listened to this as I was finishing up 'making a mess of things...' and have been thinking about it since. My whole essay was basically proof of how guilty I am of this! It's given me a fresh perspective on the whole thing. Although, of course, it's easier to appreciate the process when it's going well.
“I… acquired a taste more primary than art considers proper.”
Another quote I loved, this from Eve Babitz via Eve Babitz's Hunger, a gorgeous Vittles article by Philippa Snow.
Just ❣️ Think about it for a second. What a gorgeous punch in the face of a sentence. I wholeheartedly recommend reading the whole article.
I got rejected for three opportunities in the space of a week at the end of March/beginning of April. The third one was particularly depressing. I really felt like such a loser for a few days. If I'm to actually really achieve seeing “failure as progress” as per this essay then it needs to encompass the failure to be selected for things i.e rejection. It's been a struggle, but mostly thanks to writing about it for 'artist note' #3 (going out on Sunday) I have been fumbling my way to some kind of answer to the problem. It involves point no. 1 above.
I read George Saunders' A Swim in a Pond in the Rain a few weeks ago and, although it's aimed at short story writers, I found the ideas and advice perfectly applicable to other creative fields. I copied so many things down! This is one of them.
... all art begins in that instant of intuitive preference.
I like it because it feels like freedom to just follow an instinct that feels nice to you. It doesn't have to be more than that.
I have been working on the admin side of things and recently put eight works on paper up for sale with SOTA Marketplace, a new and quite exciting platform for selling art directly. They describe themselves as “a disruptive, affordable online art gallery built to democratise the art industry.” You can find my pieces here.
new works on paper, available now from SOTA Marketplace
I also have four canvas panels at the framers right now. They will be part of my largest collection yet for The Ode To, the gallery I work with in Stockholm. It is my personal favourite drop so far, and I'm v excited to see the framed pieces. It should be available from TOT sometime in May, I hope.
detail from March, acrylic and acrylic gouache on canvas, 15 cm x 20 cm x 4.5 cm, available soon from The Ode To
March II at the framers with a sample of the gorgeous stained ash I chose for it. Choosing wood colours was so hard this time round, but I love how this custom mahogany shade looks with this piece 🤍
It’s so exciting getting your art framed, it completes a work and makes it come alive in a whole new way. But it’s an investment and forces you to really think hard about what you have to price the final piece at. I think there’s a really interesting conversation to be had about pricing artworks — and if you know where it’s happening, or want to start one with me, please leave a comment or send me an email. I am lucky to have a gallery that can advise me, but when all costs are taken into account, my own piece of profit can feel painfully small. I tend to take a long-term attitude to this, knowing that I can raise my prices gradually over time, but outprice myself now and my work will struggle to sell and be hard to price lower in the future. I may write more about this, and some possible strategies to try, in a post one day soon.
Finally, some colour inspiration from Janice Biala.
janice biala, japanese maple ii, 1960
