Because this is a bit personal, I'm not using their real names. They're both about
40 years old.
"Jack" got a BFA and then an MFA from a Midwestern University. He's visited
many of the major contemporary art museums and follows the work of several
"important" contemporary painters. He's written articles on Philip Guston and
others. He subscribes to several art magazines and is "the most knowledgeable
art-guy in any discussion." After university he worked for a while in a commercial
art gallery. He sometimes writes me long, well-informed letters. He's painted
eleven large paintings (two unfinished) since leaving school. He's not represented
by any gallery. He thinks you need to move to New York and "get lucky" with a
dealer who "really represents you."
"Jill" took two years of art school and then quit. She pays little attention to other
artists. She subscribes to no art magazines but has taken several workshops. Her
hobbies include bowling and travelling. At one time she also worked in a
commercial art gallery. On two or three occasions she's written to me. She's
painted "approximately two thousand paintings" since leaving school. She's
represented by four commercial galleries in four, well-separated mid-sized
cities.
There's a great story in David Bayles and Ted Orland's Art and Fear. Here it is:
"The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class
into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded
solely on the quantity of the work they produced, all those on the right solely on
its quality. His procedure was simple: On the final day of class he would bring in
his bathroom scales and weigh the work in the "quantity" group: fifty pounds of
pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B" and so on. Those being graded on "quality,
" however, needed to produce only one pot--albeit a perfect one--to get an "A".
Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of the highest
quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that
while the "quantity" group was busy turning out piles of work--and learning from
their mistakes--the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the
end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of
dead clay."
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Artists get better by sharpening their skills or by acquiring new ones; they
get better by learning to work, and by learning from their work." (David Bayles
and Ted Orland)
Esoterica: Both subscribers Jack and Jill are thoughtful and enthusiastic artists.
Art is central to their lives. And while success and "being able to function as a
full time artist" may not be important to some of us, their current situations are
quite different. Jack rents an apartment and makes $2150 per month (plus tips
and benefits) as an airport porter. Jill works daily in her converted garage in a
home she now owns. These days she's averaging $18,000 per month. She has "no
benefits."
