The Business of Selling Out.
Being an artist is an interesting dichotomy. I have an MFA in set design, and after seven years in the theatre departments of three different colleges, I have rubbed my fair share of shoulders with artists and I have rarely met one that doesn't struggle with the line between being what he or she considers "a true artist" and "selling out" to make a dollar. Or lots of dollars. As artists, we want to only create things that are meaningful and inspired and born out of pain or suffering or joy or some extreme. But we (most of us...) would like to actually earn money and not have to work as a barista and live with our mothers. (no offense to those who do either or both...)
My mother is amazing. And I would totally live her, don't get me wrong. But I want to create and earn a good living doing it. Is that too much to ask? So, if I create things I know people will love and buy, am I selling out? Am I no longer a true artist because I made little sea turtle and not something with a political and/or social agenda?
The idea to create notecards was actually my mother's suggestion. These 5"x7" textile notecards are the smallest pieces of art that I make so far. They are the simplest and they are one of my best sellers. They came about because my mother told me that she loves to buy things from local artists when she travels, but often winds of buying notecards instead. There are two reasons. One is that she is kind of done collecting things for her home unless it's something extremely special. (She's already passing out the special pieces that she owns to us kids because she's afraid we'll fight over them when she's gone.) But, even if she does find a special piece of art she loves, she can't always afford an original. Notecards are always affordable and easily framed and serve as a reminder of a trip or an artist or a beautiful image that artist captured. Because she is drawn to them so much, she kept telling me I needed to add them to my repertoire.
But, here's the problem. It's very difficult to create an original work--not a print--for $12-$15 and have it be profitable. And since I am making a career of my art, I definitely had to make it profitable. Breaking even with a fun hobby ain't gonna feed my kids! It took me several attempts, but I finally found a process that works for me and is a mini version of the same process I use for my quilts. And at first, I could hear those old artist voices in my head saying I was selling out. I was making cutesy little tchotchkes to earn a few extra dollars and I wasn't creating "art". But I've learned a few things in creating these cards.
Simplifying down to a very basic, clean, graphic design is not only more difficult than it may seem, but it is also a true skill. Any artist will tell you that form and line and composition, no matter how big or small, is one of the keys to a beautiful piece of art. I have a tiny amount of space and time to catch your eye and make you fall in love. It's much more difficult than a piece you might stare at for a long time, discovering all of it's intricacies. It takes an clever, somewhat calculated eye.
Forcing myself to only spend a few minutes on each design makes me very frugal with my lines and I have to pay close attention to where I place the details. In other words, I have to edit. I have to keep the most important thing and scrap the fluff. I can do that with colors, patterns and the shape of the appliqué. All those things go into the creation of one 5"x7" piece of art.
Perhaps the most important thing I've learned is that one man's simple design is another man's meaningful symbol. Maybe creating a flower is not such an emotional process for me. But, when a woman comes in grieving the loss of her husband and she sees an rose on a card that reminds her of him because he bought yellow roses for her when she had their first child--suddenly that insignificant (to me) little piece is going to take on a emotional meaning, and isn't that what true art does? It's not up to me to spoon feed the meaning of my art. I believe that often the piece of art chooses the owner. A person walks in and sees it, and past experience or a loved one or a special connection to a place or a person creates the meaning behind the art. Yes, sometimes there is a story behind a simple design that I make. But that doesn't really matter all that much if this elephant card reminds a woman of a once-in-a-lifetime trip she took to India with her mother.
I do think these little cards are special. And I think they're art. Maybe art with a lowercase "a", but "art" nonetheless. Am I selling out? Maybe just selling.I've included tons of photos here of different notecards I've created in the last couple of months. I try to have a wide variety and will write more about my process soon, but wanted to talk more about their significance today. Enjoy!
