Worth Reading

Recently, my friend and fellow Mississippi artist Ron Lindsey introduced me to a twice-weekly newsletter by the artist Robert Genn . I wanted to read the newsletter for a month or so before recommending myself, and have found that there are some very accessible insights in his writing.  It is worth reading.  Here is his most recent write-up...

Two artists November 2, 2012 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."

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