An Open Letter to Young Artists

Dear Young Artist:

My other half, Michael Bray, has taken on the research intensive job of cataloging my artwork. It's something we've been discussing, something that should have begun years ago and is imperative now that I'm fast approaching social security age. He's jumped in with both feet and is dumping images and whatever information he can dig up into a data base on a daily basis. I want to advise you as a young artist to begin this process right from the start of your artistic career, even if you don't think you're ready.

I didn't and I really wish I had. At least I have help at this late period. Not taking myself seriously and involving myself with the racing industry in the first half of my life, I shrugged it off telling myself I wasn't a serious painter or yet well-known enough. Now that my resume impresses even myself, it's a neglected aspect of my business that's about to bite me in the butt.

When I was a young artist spending most of my time at the track, I did still manage to paint and I did sell. Off and away those pieces went with no record of their existence at all. Don't let this happen to you. Those artworks sold because some of them were okay, not great, but at least should have been documented in some manner. When I evolved into being good enough for gallery representation, I was quite naive and never insisted on the collector information from the gallerist - just grateful to have them exhibit and sell my work. In one way, I understand why they don't want to freely impart this info - there are lots of unethical artists who will undercut a gallery. However, I advise you to stand your ground, insist on it and even walk away if they won't comply. I've sold hundreds of paintings through galleries and although I have images of those artworks, I have no idea where or with whom they ended up. Not good.

Michael has recently entered over 200 artworks that were sitting here on this laptop of three years. There is still an external hard drive and two old computers for him to plod through. Then, boxes of old slides and photos. Here's our typical conversation:

M: "What's the name of this painting?"
S: "Can't remember"
M: "What size was it?"
S: "Medium size (arm illustration)."
M: "I need to document the exact size."
S: "Can't remember."
M: "Do you think it was 18x24?"
S: "Yeah, that sounds about right."
M: "What happened to it, did it sell?"
S: "Uh-huh. Gallery X sold it."
M: "Who bought it?"
S. "They wouldn't tell me."

This is not a conversation for a professional artist to have with her business partner. I'm embarrassed but I'm telling you because I want to impress upon on all of you at the beginning of your fledgling career how important it is to keep decent records. Not just financial bookkeeping but a thorough cataloging of everything you create. In my defense, I've kept very good records for the last 10-15 years and can tell you who bought what, where, when and how much, members of the collector's family, what they do on weekends and what kind of car they drive. Regardless, that leaves several decades basically unrecorded.

Don't let this happen to you. It's a pain but make it a habit. You'll thank me later.

Regrets...I've had a few...
Sharon

Website Hacking Update

Google has removed the dreaded "Reported Attack Page"from my website and e-mail.

My biggest concern was losing the trust and confidence of the very people to whom I've worked so hard to create relationships. Clients, collectors, potential collectors, people who just like my artwork, my friends and fellow artists. I know if I landed on a page blasting that red-text warning, I would click away as fast as my spastic index finger could tap a mouse. That possibility was so disheartening - over and above losing several years of work.

Time to move on. I'm pleased with FASO, the website hosting service for artists, and I've put up a very simple site just to get back online. It's so easy even Michael is helping me. Not much design flexibility, however, did I mention I wanted to simplify? I'm determined to enjoy this.

Thank you to everyone who was supportive through this ordeal and I'm grateful for all who have stuck with me. Change of subject:

Oh no! It's Dave on the loose in the studio!

With relief,
Sharon
www.sharoncrute.com

EPCOT 2012

After delivering the first three greyhounds last week to my client in West Virginia, we headed down to Florida. Green and warm, we enjoyed perfect weather. One week was not nearly long enough, especially when trying to connect with so many great friends that I dearly miss. I also pined for the river and will plan mightily for two weeks next year. Unfortunately, there are no alligators in upstate New York.

The week concluded with plein air painting at EPCOT. I'm so honored to be invited and this was my third year. Assigned to Italy, I readily pulled out my oils and got to work.

Friday's effort produced a strong painting that sold. Many thanks to a couple of wonderful new collectors, Barbara and Bruce!

Saturday was an equally great day and the piece also sold! Hugs for Cheryl Anne who was visiting from the west coast.

Although sales are a an amazing bonus to painting in the park, we're really there to engage with the guests, especially children. Most people never have the opportunity to observe the process of art-making or converse with artists at work. I find this friendly banter great fun and the day flies by with laughter.

Sunday's painting is still available for only $150. plus shipping. It's an 11"x14" oil on canvas and you'll be getting a piece of Italy!

Ciao!
Sharon

The Big, Really Big Purchase

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) is providing the tents for the artist vendors this summer at Saratoga. The new tents measure 20'x20' instead of the standard 10'x10' size and are also complete with a floor. This is a big bonus as the issue of keeping the rain and mud at bay during storms (some are extended) is a dilemma. I"m excited as I'll now have plenty of exhibit space for my large paintings and giclees. Which reminds me...

I'm gathering all my pieces, especially the large ones, to bring to my new and spacious booth. If you've been considering purchasing one of my large, and I mean big, original paintings or giclee fine art reproductions, now would be a good time to save on expensive shipping if you're in the Florida area or within close proximity to the I-95 corridor. I can personally deliver as I make my way up to Saratoga.
Click on the title under the image for details...

The Four Elements

Vying for Position

Mirror Image

Blue Blinkers

No Blinkers

"Collectors are happy people." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Why You Should Collect Art (from a collector's viewpoint - not mine)

Rarely does a show excite me as did "The Unseen Eye - Photography from the W.M. Hunt Collection" currently on exhibit at the Appleton Museum of Art here in Ocala. Why? The collector, W.M. Hunt has written a transcript accompanying the exhibit that illustrates his passion for collecting in an intensely personal and accessible narrative. I'm not easily impressed but this is a must see show.

My fellow artists would do well to recognize the importance of describing and speaking about their own artwork as well as Mr. Hunt depicts his emotional connection to his collection.

No gallery labels, only numbers which are listed on a photocopied checklist describe the photographs. Purposely ignoring these, I wanted to experience the images without bias to Mapplethorpe, Arbus, Weston and other well-named photographers. Interspersed throughout the images is signage containing the honest, forthright and engaging feelings of Hunt written in the first person. This open invitation into the psyche of an obsessive collector makes the show absolutely extraordinary. We get to be voyeurs.

Here are a few of his quotes:

"I was a very unhappy child, full of melancholy and depression, full of dread and sadness. I was capable of great good humor and generosity, socially skilled, but I was fraught with anxiety and feelings of loss. I can’t get over how collecting offered me insight into so much of this. One of the successes of the collection is its consistency in terms how the images relate to me. When you look at this collection you don’t, in fact, need to know anything about me, but there is a through line that is amazingly consistent. It is my unconscious."

"I have always felt that I have been an enigma in need of sorting out. Collecting did that."

"Collecting photographs is a completely visceral experience, an epiphany. You know you have found a great one when the hair on the back of your hands stands on end, your heart pounds, and you can’t move your feet."

"Collectors are obsessed, ravenous for this one and then the next one. People who do not collect, won’t. They don’t connect with this intense, obsessive force. Too bad. It is huge fun."

"Great art is insistent. It demands a visceral response: unease, awe, relief, and it calls for contemplation. It resonates like a primal chord. The earliest mark making strikes me as a spiritual response to living, a primitive attempt to find or create meaning."

"Insist on engagement. Wrestle with what’s difficult. Pretty is boring. Seek intensity."

"Escape, intensity, pleasure, I like those things so I have to remind myself that my reaction or reading of a photographic image is mine alone. But as I have said, it is only my truth."

These quotes are only a few excerpts barely scratching the surface of Hunt's fearless openness. These are the people we create art for. At least we'd wish for them if we had a choice. The passionate who wear their hearts on their sleeve. I'm buying that painting because I love it and it speaks to me.

“Look, look, look. You have to look. It's the way to educate your eyes. Stare. Pry, listen eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long”. - Walker Evans

The Market Has NoTaste

As an avid fan of marketing guru Seth Godin, I subscribe to his blog and eagerly read each updated post. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing his short but effective essay that spoke volumes...hey, it's what I've been talking about. How apropos:

When it comes to art, to human work that changes people, the mass market is a fool. A dolt. Stupid.

If you wait for the market to tell you that you're great, you'll merely end up wasting time. Or perhaps instead you will persuade yourself to ship the merely good, and settle for the tepid embrace of the uninvolved.

Great work is always shunned at first.

Would we (the market) benefit from more pandering by marketers churning out average stuff that gets a quick glance, or would we all be better off with passionate renegades on a mission to fulfill their vision?

"I am an idealist. I don't know where I'm going but I'm on the way." - Carl Sandburg

BUY ART!

Tally Ho & Dreams of Kansas

A couple of years ago I invited Florida landscape painter Linda Blondheim to a hunt meet of Misty Morning Foxhounds out of Gainesville. We both took hundreds of photos and had a grand time. Horses, hounds, nature and friendly folks who take time to enjoy life - what's not to love? And did I mention the rest breaks for mimosas?

Creating these smaller pieces provides opportunity to experiment with various color theories. One of my favorites is split complementaries. In this painting, the dominate color - a warm shade of orange in the ground the subjects are standing on crosses the color wheel to it's opposite - blue. The split is actually the colors on each side of the blue complement - here being blue-violet and blue-green. The blue-violet dominates the shadows and the blue-green occurs as a strong under painting in the background trees. It's not as complex as it sounds. A decent color wheel illustrates clearly.

"Anticipation" oil on canvas, 11"x14"

The inspiration for the next piece came from a conversation with a mid-western collector. My imagination kicked into gear as he described the summer storms rolling across the plains in his native Kansas. He recounted bright eerie light washing over the landscape as the dark storm clouds gathered in the distance. Not unlike Florida.

Do you like my lightning?

"Nervous Yearlings" oil on canvas, 11"x14"

Yesterday I gave a painting demo at the Appleton Museum of Art for the Ocala Art Group. I hope I inspired them with my oddball perception to passionately embrace their subject matter and inject it with stories of their vivid experiences.

“Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Marvelous Minis for Merry Making

Has a ring to it, eh?

My gallery partner Jackie Schindehette and I are hosting an exhibit of miniature paintings on December 11th from 5:00-7:00pm at our studio/gallery Voilart! in downtown Ocala. With the economy attempting to recover yet still appearing a bit disheveled, our tiny paintings give patrons an opportunity to purchase an original oil at affordable prices. So quit blowing all your hard-earned bucks on electronics that are obsolete as soon as you leave the store, take months to figure out and have to be replaced next year. BUY ART!

Art is valuable, it's classy, very distinctive, tells a story, has pretty colors and makes your home or office a lovelier space. Art enhances your life. You can meditate peacefully on art, contemplating the layers of meaning. Interpret your piece as you like. Let it move you. Show off your original acquisitions to your friends, impress your clients with your knowledgeable art speak. If you're a young person, buying art is hip, cool, and your peers will be intrigued as you break away from iworld. Art is powerful, intimate, tranquil, personal, thought provoking, emotional, sensational. Art says you're cultured, intelligent, educated and affluent - even if you're not so much. Don't speculate about the future, buy what you love now. Allow art to speak to you. If you are fortunate and the artist of your piece becomes famous, you can pass it on to your kids and they'll have bragging rights. An heirloom tradition. Plus, art is just wonderful and beautiful as it is. BUY ART!

"The New Pony" oil on canvas, 8"x10"

If my paintings don't appeal to you, heck, buy Jackie's. She creates Florida landscapes that will caress you with a warm breeze when you're up to your eyeballs in snow. Art creates longing, inspires your imagination, dreams and desires. BUY ART!

"The Private Chat" oil on canvas, 11"x14"

Contemplate the conversation occurring in the above piece... BUY ART!

"Collectors are happy people." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It Has Arrived At Last

Food smells, ringing phones, neighbors meandering about, cats using litter boxes. If there's one thing I've learned throughout my incredulous painting career, it's that collectors are not quite comfortable visiting a home studio. Which brings me to clarify Reason No. 1 for embarking on the creation of Voilart! Studio/Gallery. The downtown retail space lends me some street cred. No more cramped garage - just a sleek gallery of well appointed paintings and an oversize easel standing like an authoritarian fraulein whipping me into submission.

Jackie helped me paint the 16 foot sign. Not too shabby for non-sign painters.

"One Mile and a Sixteenth (and change)" oil on eighteen 12" canvas panels.

When an artist creates a piece that strays from the predictable suspects, proper hanging and presentation is always a challenge. How satisfying to finally arrange the elements as they were originally intended. Although I always encourage creativity with my associates, this is a great homecoming of the artist's brainchild.

"There is a wonderful feeling when you walk into your own exhibition. You see the work as a true extension of yourself. Win or lose, your interests have led you to an accumulation of your personal expression, signed lower right, mounted to best advantage". - Robert Genn