Hey Chin Yew Yes, this is a good idea! Ming had written to me about it & I got busy & never replied yet. But hadn’t forgotten – just sometimes I need to be prodded a bit or I will spend 3 years thinking about how I ought to do some thing – “yes, ok, tomorrow….” (:
Ok, here’s my little story:
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Been painting for 12 years: love making paintings, do not love trying to sell the stuff! Even so, put my work into a cafe sometimes – maybe 7 or 8 cafe shows in 12 years. Also in renting a studio space, there would be a yearly “Art Crawl” in every city I’ve lived in & my work would be shown in the open studios. Somehow managed to sell a few paintings every year, just enough to keep me going.
Never tried for any sort of a career, too busy painting. Some job to pay the bills, always part-time. Didn’t care about money except gotta pay the studio rent, although sometimes I couldn’t afford a studio & had to work at home, which is very difficult for me. I’m not practical at all, I like to paint big paintings which take up half the room!
“What am I doing? Why am I doing this?” There is no answer except that I am an obsessive and compulsive person & need to do this, otherwise I will die. Hard to explain that to people who focus on making money, buying stuff, saving for retirement.
Then I heard about 30dayartist from Perng Fey, who was featured in Jan 2006.
Checked it out, got excited, made my application to Ming & Chin Yew. Full of ideas about what I could do in a month of concentrated art-making. My application was accepted: I would be Ms June.
Then I had to learn how to blog, a major accomplishment for this computer-shy artist.
Then financial reality hit & I had to get a different job, full-time hours & a daily commute for the first time in many years. Juggling time, I still manage to paint.
I generally make paintings by layering many coats of translucent colours – each layer takes 2-3 days to dry, and some paintings have 20 layers or more by the time they’re finished. This time-consuming process seems worth the results I sometimes manage to achieve.
So June rolled around & there I was, doing 30dayartist, trying to paint in this laborious way… talk about rigid expectations! On top of that, having my art on daily display caused my performance/perfection complex to soar to new heights – Sure, I can make 40 excellent paintings in 30 days, layering my glazes in the evenings after work, I just have to be really well-organized…
ha-ha-ha-hahahahahahahah-haaaaaaaaah!
One thing I learned from being on 30dayartist is that sometimes “plan A” has to give way to reality, and having a “plan B” is a good idea. And “plan B” should consist mainly of going with the flow. As in: if you have 30 days to make 40 pieces of art, make them quickly and don’t worry about making masterpieces.
Another thing I learned about being on 30dayartist is that I cannot work this way. I don’t need to paint every day to know that I am an artist, but I do need to reach towards creating masterpieces, even though I know I may never succeed.
On the other hand, after my stint I had a lot more paintings hanging around & I began to really question why I make the stuff but do so little to try to sell it.
I didn’t paint at all in July.
I didn’t paint at all in August.
In September I began to paint a little – and I began to make a portfolio, thinking that I had better get off my butt and try to sell my work, because otherwise it would be difficult to continue to think of myself as an artist.
So I put 5 pieces into an art-rental service I’d heard about. Almost immediately an architectural firm rented one, then decided they liked it so much they bought it outright. They are now renting a second painting & who knows? Maybe they will buy that one, too! 
Then in December a gallery accepted my work. A real gallery with a regular clientelle, with a curator who is working to sell my art to this regular clientelle, a gallery advertised in art magazines, etc.
How exciting – and it may never have happened if I hadn’t made a whole bunch of paintings in June 2006, which cluttered up the studio, which in turn made me think about the meaning of art & its place in my life. Also, after putting my work on display for a month & publicly proclaiming myself to be an artist, I had to back up my claim, didn’t I?
…and now I know how to blog, too – and how to use Flickr, and in general how to do more with my computer. This is great.
So thanks Ming! & thanks Chin Yew! for granting me a spot on 30dayartist, and giving me your support throughout June. In the end, doing 30dayartist has changed my outlook for the better.
I may be a long way yet from financial “success” with my paintings, but I am now taking steps to improve my chances!
verna vogel
