Merry’s Musings

It isn’t a great photo, but I have to add it, of my favorite fan from my three trip to Japan to do shows. 

I was thinking recently that my last trip to Japan was almost ten years ago. I remember sitting in the Daimaru department store cafe, in Tottori City, on the first day of my first show, and wondering, what on earth am I doing here, half way around the world trying to sell my art? And then, wondering, what if nothing sells?

Though I am not an actor, I do create little dramas on canvas. Truth be told, I do that in real life as well occasionally. So, I always liked the Roddy Mcdowall quote, “I still have the actor’s disease. I always think I’ll never get another job.” As an artist, I always think, my last sale will be my last sale. Is that the artist’s disease?Then the call from the show, we had our first sale and we were off to a great start. I got to watch the “SOLD” tickets multiply, and wall of sales from the ones taken with the collectors, grow.  It was the most successful show they had had in terms of number of sales. It was over thirty in two days.

In the end, the experience was amazing.  The shows were all successful though I started every one, feeling like nothing would sell. And every one of them did very well.It made up for working that hard for three years in a row. The feeling of sitting there with the person who is buying your work is incomparable.

The whole set up there was totally different. They set aside a massive space on one level of the multi-level stores. The company brought in their own displays and then, the show was hung.  All the walls were filled and the staff came in, very formal and consisting of several people. There were lots of women salespeople too and let me tell you, they were fierce. I’d hear the call of, “Sensei!”, and I was to come over and explain the story of the painting and title. I do believe there was a bit of embellishing going on because sometimes, I’d say that the title, for example, “Just Kids”, meant just that; just kids. That would be followed by about ten minutes of explanation. So perhaps, a bit of embellishing.

I had found out after my arrival that the artist presented the customer with a gift at the time of purchase. It was a miniature painting on a presentation board, edged with gold foil, called a shikishi. So having a successful show meant I also painted more than thirty paintings at the one show alone.  The second year I returned, I was ready and brought my own paints and brushes and that went a bit easier though I still worked very hard. But, what fun I had.
I had also learned, for my second trip there, to write in Kanji, “Happiness Forever”,  to inscribe under my name when I signed the back. I wanted to make a special effort for such an appreciative audience, and it was so well received it literally brought tears to my eyes. And I received applause from the staff after my first attempt.

So while browsing through my photo albums, I thought I’d show a few of these. It had taken me ten years to get around to it but there it is. The photos brought back fond memories for me.

 

 

 

The local newspaper just ran an article about buying art. Actually it was about art investing and fraud.

It reminded me of a sale I had some years back. I had sold a painting though a gallery I showed in. I had a request from the client to give her a letter of authentication stating the painting was an original, and a one of a kind.

I was taken aback at first. Of course it was an original one of a kind painting. That is what I do. Even if I ever tired to duplicate one, I couldn’t. But I realized her concerns. It was the time of the infamous starving artist sales. Or painting by committee, as I like to call them.

As an artist, I know and understand the difference in originals and prints and original prints and multi-originals, photomechanical prints, signed and numbered, un-numbered. Don’t get me started on giclées I realize that the art market has become as complicated as the world of legalese. You need a lawyer to explain a document and you need an art expert, or someone knowledgeable to explain exactly what a piece of art is. Or what form of original.

I’ll give you my opinion on it, for what it’s worth. I managed galleries in my earlier career so I have been on different sides of the business. It is a tried and true method I think, unless you do have expert knowledge on the art market and it is simple. Do not ever spend a nickel more on a piece of art, than it is worth for you to see it on your wall. Be it a poster or a print or an original, it makes no difference. That is the formula for buying. You’ll never pay too much for art that way.

I don’t care who’s name is on it. If you are considering a piece of art and the salesperson uses the word, investment, run a mile. Art is not for investment for most people, or it shouldn’t be. Art is for enjoyment. If you buy a piece of art with the idea in mind that in a few years you can sell it for more than you paid, you’ll probably never have a moment of joy from seeing in on your wall or in your home.

I’ve collected art myself for many years. The way I see art is that it is like having small window into different worlds in my home. I have some pieces by artists you may have heard of. I have ones by artists you’ve never heard of. I treasure every one of them. I’ve paid more than I wanted to on some and got rocking good deals on others. I’ve never regretted a single purchase. Ever.

Art should make you smile, feel happy or remind you of a time or experience that bring up emotions, good or sad even. It should communicate something to you. Add ambience, or atmosphere to a space. If what it communicates and makes you feel is worth the price tag on it, buy it. In my opinion there is no other reason to. Or reason not to.

 

I had an e-mail from a collector the other day, and she wanted to know, “Why all the otters?”  She was looking for a farm scene. I have certainly done a few of those in my career, but none recently.

It reminded me of a time several years ago when I was working part time in a high end shop in Carmel. We had some beautiful leather jackets. One day the owner came in with his son who was visiting from out of state. He tried on jacket after jacket until finally, the owner asked me which one I liked the best. I replied, “I like what the customer likes .” 

For now, the customers are liking the otters. So I am liking them too. I don’t mean that in a cynical way either. I love what I do. But it is a business. As part of that, I need to paint what the customer is looking for. I love painting enough to throw myself into anything I am asked to do. If I get a commission for a Paris scene or San Francisco Victorian, I get emotionally involved in it. I have to. To spend hours working on a canvas without having a bit of passion for it, would be worse that boring. I’d end up with something that I could not give a customer.

So as the otters are currently, swimming right out of the gallery, so to speak, I am painting otters. And here is the latest. It has a little reference to the amazing new exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, called, “Tentacles.” But the otters are the best.

I was at the gallery that shows my work last week, to drop off new paintings. The owner, Bill Hill told me that is was their 40th anniversary. I have been with him for almost that long, but not quite. I thought it would be nice to offer an anniversary deal on my paintings. So we talked and I decided to give a 20% discount on my work for the month of April. Maybe a few days into next, as it had taken me a week to sit down and post this.

So if you at all interested in my originals, please call or contact the gallery, or myself. When contacting the gallery, just mention this offer, and that you read about it here. If you have any questions about prices, let me know. Only the Tiny Otter series are not on sale. But if you happen to want two of them, well, we can work something out.

Their contract information is :

New Masters Gallery
Dolores between Ocean and 7th
Mailing: PO Box 7009
Carmel, California 93921

831.625.1511 or  800.336.4014

billhill@newmastersgallery.com

or

nmstaff@newmastersgallery.com

And if you contact them, don’t forget to wish them a Happy Anniversary!

If this one looks familiar, it is because I previously did it as a digital image. This is the actual painting and not a com-painting, as I call it. And I must say, I am quite happy with it. Like “Paris Skies Feast,” I started out with the digital image and did it as a painting. And with good success I think.

As an artist, for me, the holy grail is to do a painting that I want to keep. Don’t get me wrong, I love everything I do. I could not sit hunched over a drafting table for hours if I didn’t love it. I don’t call a painting finished until I can step back and look at it and feel satisfied it is done and it is the best it can be. But it has been a very long time since I have not wanted to sell a painting.

When I first began painting for a living, I would try something new. I’d be so thrilled with the way it turned out that I wanted to keep it. I have mentioned this before, but, it bears repeating. My art teacher in high school  told me that as an artist, you should never keep a painting you love, because you will never try to improve upon it.

He was absolutely right. For every painting I thought was the best thing I had ever done, I learned from it and did one I liked even better. It was usually one that, in the beginning I thought I could never pull off. I thought it was beyond my abilities. And then, I did it.

When I first did a digital version of “Kelp Forest Frolic” on the computer, I was very excited with it. Then I threw in a few more layers and loved it even more. But I thought I’d never be able to do an actual painting of it. But I gave it a shot and here is the result. I love it! But I won’t keep it. I can already look at it and see how, in the next one I can move this and that, add to it here and there. That is part of my process.

But, if anyone wants to take temptation out of my way, it is now at New Masters Gallery in Carmel. Feel free. I won’t be mad.

So, obviously I’ve been in otter mode lately. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been experimenting with taking my computer generated images and using them as a sketchbook, and actually painting them. I’m pretty pleased with them, I must say. Oddly enough, I had to get my head around the fact that, if I could paint them with pixels on the computer, surely I could do the same with paint. And I could. Some things I cannot do the same, but then, the computer does have its limitations as well.  Both are fun and very different.

I’ve also had comments about how the real otters have the long whiskers and look quite a bit different. Well, of course they do. I paint my interpretation of otters. It gives me a lot more latitude. I don’t put in their rather formidable canines either. And my otters look lovingly at each other. While, in the wild, the way otters, a-hem, date, doesn’t bear thinking about. They are a bit rough to say the least. What I paint are Merry-otters. No more, more less. I like them better my way. They are more fun.

 It really is true, as the  quote goes, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”  Confucius, by the way.

Here is my newest painting. If it looks a bit familiar, it is because I originally did it on Photoshop. I posted it here early on, in my Sketchbook. I use it as walllpaper and every time I see it come up in my slideshow, I think how much I like the image. And, of course, how I could change it and improve upon it. Always. And in all paintings.

It is one of the reason I like the Photoshop so much. When I’ve done an image on it and then, immediately start obsessing about how I should have moved this character over an inch and, that building just bit lighter, I can go in and move it or lighten it. But, though I really enjoy it and have come to the conclusion that for me, yes, painting with pixels is just as valid as painting with paint, there is nothing that compares to the feeling of a brush on a canvas.

So as I looked at the Paris scene, I thought it would be fun to actually paint it. to see how close I could get to the computer generated image.  And for the most part, it was a romp. I got pretty close to it. Now, I am not able to paint that lovely layer style glow around the moon. But I did finish off the composition. I added more buildings here and there. I like it.

Here are both versions of it. Let me know what you think.

Of course, now that I look at it, the little guy playing the violin in the painting could have gone over to the left two inches. And if you like the computer generated one more, please don’t tell me.

paris art

Here is a painting that I did many years ago. I was doing golf paintings when it was still called the Crosby. Here on the Monterey Peninsula, we are finishing up the AT&T, as it is now called. But, bless the weather gods, we got a big helping of Crosby weather. And we are happy about every drop of it. So I thought I’d put this up to celebrate. 

golf art

I seem to be in otter mode lately. When experimenting with Photoshop, I found that I could make my sea otters a lot bigger and they still worked. Because my work is very simple, if I enlarge the characters too much, I find they become less cute. So I tend to keep everything small.  I just put in more of it.

But I also remembered when I did a holiday fair at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, to sell the gift line they produced from my work,  they had taken my “Aquarium Field Trip” image and enlarged it to 10×48″. And it worked. I sat under it for the evening and took it home later on, when the evening was done.  So I know, given enough pixels, my work can be enlarged a lot, and still look pretty good. So when I tired enlarging an otter with paint on canvas, and putting in more fur, and larger features, they worked too.

So, I’m in otter mode. I am very happy with the results too. One of the first ones I tried and took framed, to the gallery, made it till that evening before it found a new home. For a working artist, that’s the good stuff!

So, yes, more otters.

sea otters art