Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Of course if someone clicks away from my site because of impatience, it
is my loss as well. In closing my last comment, I wasn`t speaking of my
site in terms of marketing or sales, rather that those viewers are missing
out because of their impatience. People miss out on a lot of things for
that very reason.

So what`s the point of creating art if no one will ever see it, you ask.
Good question. I am not the kind of artist that would subscribe to such a
notion. So I suppose my personal answer would be none. There`s no
point. Not to me.

That`s not to say that there are those out there that create solely for
themselves, that the process of artistic creation itself is all one would
need to get out of being an artist. Or that the finished result is for the
artist`s eyes only. So for those reasons, there would be a point of
creating art if no one else ever saw it.

I create for myself and others. I quite revel in having an audience. Many
of my artist friends have called me a show-off, whereas I think they don`t
promote themselves enough. Why am I like that? Part confidence, part
drive to succeed, part ego, part honesty, etc. I tell people that I am an
artist and entrepreneur because I have the mind of both. I think it`s a
healthy way for an artist to be.

I disagree with when you say that artists have "throughout history been so
broke for the most part" because "what it comes down to" is that they
mostly do art for themselves. That could very well be a primary reason in
many cases but I think for the most part it is personality. So then I ask,
what about most artists` personalities causes them to not find success?

In my opinion, those are the personality traits that are shaped by culture,
environment and upbringing. Society (historical and contemporary)
doesn`t reward being an artist as a great achievement, not on the level
that it views a CEO, a politician or a surgeon. In fact, a visual artist (which
is what we`re discussing here) has a hard time comparing with other kinds
of artists like an actor, an film director, a rockstar or an author. Those
kinds of artists get media attention more than painters or illustrators.
These days, media is a big shaper of our culture. I fear I`m getting off
subject here and just blabbering about being an artist. What was my
point? Hmmm...

I`ll say this. I couldn`t tell you how often people joke with me about my
work finally being worth something after I`m dead. Yeah. ha ha, but I
don`t take it personally. I can`t afford to. But how many artists would
take that personally? If they`ve heard that all their life as I have, even as a
joke, how would that effect someone? It`s sure not telling someone that
they can reach success as an artist. And it`s a common mindset of the
public.

:-) Okay, so there`s no point to creating art if nobody views it. And yes, we`re both taking the same context on the sentence...it doesn`t need to be parsed.

An old musician, long ago, told me that playing music only for yourself is pretty much the same as masturbation. At first I thought I disagreed. I often played "with myself" LOL!...okay, didn`t think of that one until I wrote it....because I enjoyed the peace and solitude of playing the piano.

But as I got a little older I realized the "Oh Wow!" factor. Now, all these centuries later, I`ve come to understand the principles of validation v. approval, and the necessity of art for the proper function of the human mind.

Based on your thinking, if you`ve got Google Analytics running on your site, you should be pretty happy looking at the numbers of people clicking in and clicking out of your site. That`s sufficient. Right? :-)

Or am I wrong, and you`d really like lots of people to stop by, spend some time, and buy whole bunches of your art?

I don`t think you can have it both ways. But I do know that it`s one of the most difficult and powerful problems facing any artist: How to sustain artistic integrity while at the same time physically staying alive and well in the world.

Part of why I write, and what I`m writing, derives from years of pondering the question. I think I`m starting to see the answers, and maybe even to develop some solutions. Because I think in a particular way, all human beans are metaphorically artists.

The question revolves around the concept of "integrity," not art.

Craig... I`ve been back to your last post here a few times and I simply
don`t know how to respond. :) I`m not as philosophical as you and not
that I don`t have an opinion on your comments, but I don`t have an
interest in getting that deep.

I will say this, I think it is entirely possible for artists to maintain full
artistic integrity (however they would personally define it) and make a
great living from their art. I think it happens all the time. Do you think it
does not?

Yes, of course I agree. Plenty of artists have held their integrity and gone on to fame and fortune. Lots of others haven`t. That`s the essence of the artist`s dilemma.

To translate that to business people, how many startups go through the turmoil of pricing? It`s a brand new company, sales are very slow, so the owner has to decide: Do they lower the price until business flows in, or do they hold the price based on their view of the value?

Your site is yours. You can do whatever you want with it. I viewed the site, didn`t find it all that compelling, and tried to analyze why not. You have your arguments with my commentary, and that too is fine. It happens that my interpretation of your arguments, in my view, comes down to your own thoughts about integrity. So I posted on the subject. :-)

I`m using SuN to figure out where`s "the line" between what people generally understand without too much brain work, and something else. That "something" is the number of terms and concepts "everybody" uses that don`t make any sense at all. Witness the "model for failure" thread for the lunacy of modern American conversation.

Is it "too philosophic?" According to what standard of measure? :-) What`s "just the right amount of philosophical?"

All that matters to me is that if what I`m writing isn`t making sense, then I need to change HOW I write. That`s what I`m practicing. I don`t intend to change *what* I write...only the way I present.

Steve,

 

Great site, I especially like “Fly fishing”, there is a real sense of movement in the whole piece not just the water, very cool.

 

The one thing I would like to see is a little more differentiation between your site and the art itself, maybe even just softer shades on the site so that the art pops off the page a little more. Just a thought, nice work!

 

-Daniel

-------------------------

Inspired artisan chocolates-www.chokolajchocolate.com