SPECIAL UPDATE: A simple dream to awaken beauty

When you truly engage with information, experiences, and people you are presented with in a given situation, you are in a process of discovery. Sometimes, all those three things: information, experiences, and people, simultaneously converge and then BOOM you have this incredible moment where you breakthrough into a new way of seeing things - perspective. There are only few things more powerful than getting perspective.

But that convergence and breakthrough into perspective involves a collision between old ways of engaging with information, experiences and people, and new ways. It's interesting to note that for the new to emerge, there is often a collision with the old, especially when old perspectives refuse to yield. Although this is true of the way older and younger generations sometimes interact, the sobering thing to remember is that this is how our attitudes and ingrained beliefs and behaviours wrestle it out inside of us as well.

For example, in the past week the Spirit began to unsettle me with new information, experiences, and people, all three at once! Bringing about a convergence of these three elements, the Spirit began to question me about my ingrained attitudes and beliefs about money, economics, class, organizational management and business. I found myself caught in the midst of a collision between old attitudes and behaviours and new possibilities about these important things.

Some of the questions that arose from this collision went like this: Why do you measure your value by the things you do, is  there a better way of knowing you are inherently valuable? For whom do you paint for? Is it limited to who can pay? Doesn't that perpetuate current unjust divides between haves and have nots in society? Do you want your business to perpetuate current attitudes and preferential treatment which are inherently based on the prevailing monitory system? Can you realistically make your art accessible for everyone, doesn't cost and other related things inevitably add up? Can you afford to sell cheap art in a field, where the wages are already notoriously low and where the prevailing social attitudes concerning the dignity of labour of artists is already quite deplorable? In the end, what is your art about? 

These are really tough questions, which caused me to evaluate the tenants of my faith, and kingdom principles against those systems I had accepted without questioning. I am sure these questions do not have simple answers. At best, one would only be able to propose answers that are works in progress, answers that need to be tested through experience and feedback.

At the end of the day, I needed answers. I was inspired to try out a new business idea, that would narrow the economic gap, if not completely eradicate it.

Let me humbly present my two lines of art: "Affordable Art" (AA) and "Gallery Works" (GW): two lines of art, each with a specific and different end goal. 

Affordable Art: The purpose of this artwork is making the visual image accessible to most people, at a low cost. The visual experience is more important than the quality of the supplies and materials used. These types of art are directly available from the artist. Craft and student grade acrylics will be preferred for pigments. Art work will be clearly marked on the back as Affordable Art. In order to keep my AA line of art at a low cost, I have self-imposed boundaries concerning time and canvas dimensions: a maximum of 3 hours on a piece of work, and a maximum of 16 x 20" in canvas dimension.

Gallery Works: The purpose of this artwork is to deliver a visual experience created out of artist grade pigments and supplies. These works are often sold at Galleries which represent my work. Pricing varies according to quality of materials but are comparable to industry standards. Artwork will be done with artist grade pigments, and marked Gallery Works on the reverse.  Gallery works will most of the time be at a larger scale, and will often involve significant prep and finish times.

In terms of skill, I am confident that both types of work will demonstrate the current level of skill of the artist. In terms of care and investment, all works of art I do will carry an equal level of depth of experience, engagement, and passion. I am proud of both types of art because they will be works completed with the beautiful Spirit. who imbues all things with life :)

I want my artwork to be about honouring people, not just people who fall in love with my work, but simply cannot afford to buy it at Gallery quality, but also people who are ready to invest their hard earned money on quality, and longer lasting artistic work. I also want to honour my vocation as an artist, my peers, and the galleries who do amazing work to represent artists. 

By having two distinct lines I want to affirm my belief that
- inexpensive art does not have to be the mass-produced work that has zero depth or investment from the artist;
- good art must be accessible to all
- limited resources are not an obstacle for creative expression;
- there are alternatives to copyright violations which do not dishonor the hard work of the artist;
- artists' work in society has value, and the way we treat them, the way we compensate them directly reflects what we think of their work

I am slowly discovering what my art is really about. It is about awakening people's souls to Beauty. Coming up with a way to make my art more accessible, is then a step in the right direction towards this goal.

I confess I am a novice at all this. So if you could take the time to give me feedback about this, and ask me questions, I would really appreciate it!

Thank you!

2 comments creative entrepreneurship, winnipegart

Share: