When do you decide enough is enough? As an artist, how do you define yourself; and, what standards have you set, if any? Recently, I have been presented with some opportunities which, previously, I would have acted on...for whatever reasons. Whether it was to get the "creative juices flowing" or to network or to get my work "out there" (wherever that may be...if you find out, let me know) or to get published or to "flex" my creative muscles (I have enough muscles I'm learning about) and so forth and so on. You get the idea. We all have our reasons. As legitimate, fun, or exciting as they may be. However, there comes a point in time when these decisions can be detrimental to your art, in such a quiet, subtle way, you may not even realize it, like me.
I found myself confined by the restraints of all the rules each of these activities were built around. My work was becoming stifled trying to keep up and being a good "team player". The culmination of these rules was creating a rigid framework for me, with very little room for me to maneuver.
Clipart from Clipartheaven.comThis evolution began earlier this year by removing myself from the company of anyone negative. You know those people, always carrying the DRAMA sign around. With them, more DRAMA follows. Or, those with such closed, narrow perspectives, things must be done their way. How about the people who can't help but to make a snide, sarcastic comment about someone? Art should be fun, shouldn't it? Working with someone who makes art work was not someone I wanted to have around.
Then, the Hoffman Challenge Deadline came and went, by my own choice. (Discussed more in a previous post entitled "Studio Time" on August 9, 2009.)
Followed by these past months of deciding against submitting my work into publications and participating in shows and other events. Each carried their own set of reasons, working against the image I envisioned and was working towards:
Clipart from Clipartheaven.comTime Factor: It would take months before my work would be returned to me, with no guarantee of publication. I already had other ideas for these same pieces. Perhaps, at a later date, when my new line is complete, then, I might reconsider it.
Clipart from Clipartheaven.comBackseat Important Projects: Well, work that was important to me would need to take a backseat for fun, profitable pieces that needed to meet the pressing deadline.
Work Not Returned: This never sits well with me. A couple of shows stated my work would not be returned, regardless if they used it or not. What would they do with it? Give it to someone to promote their own business? Have it stuffed in a box in a dark, dusty corner, crammed with other artists' work, crying out to be seen and appreciated? I don't know; but, I didn't like it.
Clipart from Clipartheaven.comLosing Artist Rights: One show indicated I would need to give up all rights to my piece and its designs. Ghastly!
My real defining moment came with this last item that I began questioning, "At what point is enough?" How much of myself, as an artist, am I going to have to sacrifice? At what price? And, is that price worth the cost?
So, at what point do you stop "playing the game" or doing what's supposedly "good" for you, for your art? What are you willing to accept and not accept, in the name of your art, and, yourself, as an artist? Perhaps it's a never-ending process, like our work...
