These are perhaps questions artists have thought of but never want to acknowledge, the artist’s shadow questions.
Have you had days that you felt like you were a fake?
Would you ever pull the plug and say no more art? What would happen to you if you did?
Do you feel there are so many paintings in you?
How often are you satisfied with your paintings?
How often do you make excuses to not be in the studio?
Are you afraid to market your art?
Do you feel that male artists are still taken more seriously than female?
Are younger artists in more demand?
Are you afraid to paint what you really want to paint?
*This is my 29th painting of my #paint52 challenge. Oil on Vellum 14″ X 12″
Love your questionnaire Janet, feel like I have to answer it right away and spontaneous:
No I never feel that I am a fake.
Yes I pulled that plug a couple of times, it is not that easy to follow your dreams, it comes with ups and downs.
I feel that I have unlimited paintings in me, it is just hard to find the time to paint them all and the question “for who are you doing it?”, sometimes it is nice to keep the paintings in your mind just for yourself, I used to hide my work for years before showing it.
I work on a painting till I am satisfied, I am not a quiter, I go deep, I cannot stop till it is finished, get it out of my system.
I never make excuses to be in my studio, I love to be in my studio, I made it multifunctional, office/studio/library, so I am always ready to work at any time.
I want my art to be as perfect as I want it to be, otherwise I will not market it.
No I do not feel any discrimination in art, I think the artworld is wide open. Young, old, dead, educated or not, all artist have a chance right now with multimedia.
No I am not afraid to paint what I want, I think their are no limits in ART.
I’m so glad you answered the questions Irmgard. It tells me a lot about you. I see you are courageous and quite a professional. You know spontaneous is probably a better way to answer these questions to really get to the truth. Thank you for taking the time to do so. Hugs 🙂
The painting is stunning and you always ask great questions.
Have you had days that you felt like you were a fake? Yep! Happens when I am painting something my heart is not into…
Would you ever pull the plug and say no more art? No. I have to create daily. What would happen to you if you did? I’d become a nasty bitter person, dive deep into addictive behavior and then I would die. There. I said it.
Do you feel there are so many paintings in you? Heck no. More like I no matter how long I live, I’d never have time to paint them all.
How often are you satisfied with your paintings? Parts of a painting, every day. Entire paintings…well lets just say there are many levels of satisfaction and they fluctuate.
How often do you make excuses to not be in the studio? Very seldom. I go to the studio 5 days a week and paint almost every day.
Are you afraid to market your art? Market, no. Sell, sigh, that makes me tired.
Do you feel that male artists are still taken more seriously than female? Depends on the male… I take myself seriously and I feel that people pick up on that….
Are younger artists in more demand? Young at age, no. Young at heart, most certainly.
Are you afraid to paint what you really want to paint? Just today I made a decision to paint a series of work just because I love it. It may or may not be marketable, but I must paint it. That being said, for a short time, I considered not creating that body of work.
Thank you Shannon, was a weird day painting, I guess that is why I found myself asking these questions. I love your answers and can’t wait to see your new series.
More great questions Janet. No I don’t feel I’m a fake, but often I question “how good or talented” I am. And I compair myself with my artist friends too much. We are all different and have something legitimate to contribute.
If I pulled the plug on painting, I’d start playing the piano or singing again. Seems I have to do one or the other – music or art. It’s in my blood.
I think the number of paintings I have in me are only limited by the number of times I paint one. As long as I’m painting and thinking of subjects, there are more paintings to do.
How often am I satisfied, I don’t have an estimate, but it is probably one in three or four.
I’m not very disciplined about making it to the studio very often. It helps if there is show coming up or exhibition. I miss Gallery Morgan Hill for that reason. Always needed new work to hang there.
No I don’t think men or younger artists are really considered better. It might be true but it’s not bugging me. At least not like some forms of expression/styles that I feel really don’t showcase talent or skill. Things like pouringaint on a canvas on the floor or painting little candles glowing in the window.
I try to paint what inspires me and hope others can appreciate it.
Mary we definitely need a gallery or coop in Morgan Hill. How can we do that? I have always found your art wonderful, would love to see more of your work. Thank you for sharing Mary, I really appreciate it.
By the way, I love the painting Janet, forgot to write that down, I was too anxious to answer your questions!
Oh thank you Irmgard. I was being spontaneous, would love to paint more like that so it is great that you like it.