When There is Space

Have you ever experienced a lull in your work when you simply cannot produce art?

For the last few months I’ve been experiencing what one of my friends call, “ a gestation period” which translates into, I am creating a new baby and I'll just have to wait and see what comes out. “I seem to have lost my muse”, or, “I am experiencing a dry spell” is the most common terminology for this situation of non production. I sometimes think that when this happens to me I have lost my muse, my creative “mojo”, and won’t ever be able to create another work of art. Such mental constructs are for the most part just that, the ego trying to get the best of the creative experience by not allowing the creative energy to flow that is always present and exist in almost any situation.

                                                                                                                                               
Another way to look at this is, the times when I’m not painting or drawing may possibly be some of the most creative periods because this leads me to the next series of physical manifestations that usually surpass anything I’ve created before. I am generally quite driven to always be producing work, whether painting, drawing, writing, or playing music, and I start getting worried when I seem distracted, unable to focus and create. The sense of anxiousness is probably the biggest stumbling block for the creative process. I don’t really know why there are lulls in creativity, but I do know that I generally feel quite uncomfortable during these times, especially because I hear that little voice in the back of my head telling me that I must pick up my brushes now, this minute, or something such as, I’ll be excommunicated from the realm of creativity……….I know…..that’s nuts.

All this seems a bit crazy & neurotic to me, especially as I write this on paper, the notion that I must create or else I am not worthy, or doing what I’m supposed to be doing, or I won’t be able to do it anymore if I wait to long, or my creative juices are all dried up, or the million other insane notions that occupy this grey matter. The truth is that no matter how long or short the time span is between the creative work you make, there is no set formulas, nothing lost, and it may just be the best thing that happened to you, leading to possibly some of your best work. Often I will try to force myself to create, and I find this usually leads to disaster, though it can possibly be a start to engaging the creative process again. I don’t really have any immediate solutions for this period of time I’m experiencing, and we all have a different sort of experience when in the “Lull”. So getting out of it is for me, letting go of all my preconceptions about what should be, and allowing what is to place, and simply waiting.......easy to  say, another to actually do it.

Of course if you are on a deadline to create, having a dry spell is quite another issue from when you have plenty of time to work this out. What to do to get the motors of the muse moving? Relax! This is pretty hard to do under the duress of a deadline, but to relax, go do something completely different in a new environment, or meditate, or just pass by your paints and say hello to them and let it go. Yep, it all sounds easy until you are experiencing the valley of dry desert non-creative winds. But believe me, this to shall pass (kind of cliché here) and you will once again feel the sweet waters of your sub conscious muse as the flood gates of creativity flow once again.

www.rossotoart.com 

 http://chisholmgallery.com/william-rossoto

ART & WEBSITES

An unusual turn of events led to a joyous and new adventure in my art web sites. For years I had hired various website developers to create websites, keep them updated, and functioning. One the most exasperating experiences I had was through the use of Elance where you hire people you don't know and hope for the best. Well, okay, I was being a cheapskate and almost always took the lowest bid which ended up causing me to do an enormous amount of work because most of the low bidders are just starting out on their new venture and have little experience. Of course, there are proficient and talented website developers on Elance, but you have to pay considerably more than I did to get the results you want without spending hours emailing and Skype chatting, in which case you might as well hire a local professional.

Then, the unusual occurred. A friend of mine who has an incredible website, turned me onto his web developer. This may not not seem like a momentous occasion to celebrate, but what I'm about to relate to you is something I think most artist and possibly others would like to have for their website.

As artist we are constantly and continually updating our web pages because we create new works of art, update our biographies with each new show, and revise the media & collections regularly. Well, with a regular HTML or XHTML website this would always require time spent talking with the website guy or gal and require funds that I would rather spend on other things, like having a great evening out for dinner and a play, or going bungee jumping. I haven't actually gone bungee jumping yet, but with all the money I'm saving now I can add going sky diving to that as well.......if I summon the courage to do so.

Mr. website, my life saving pal told me that he would create a website that I could update myself without having to be a super computer geek who knows all the programming languages like HTML and XML and QRSTUVWXYZ.......Wow!!!! Is this really possible I exclaimed or am I just dreaming? For many of you out there this may seem a bit ridiculous, but for me, the idea of being able to easily update my website with little computer savvy I can make claims too, is really worth a celebration, a big party with fireworks and 100 friends in the Bahamas.

Now, the easy part. He did all the difficult programing for me so that I can do whatever I want on the site. Believe it or not, the item I speak of is well used, but generally not used to create websites with, and as a matter of fact I have blogged on it for years and lots of people use it. It's called.....are you ready? WordPress! You can create a website that looks like a website, not a blog, and control your content, aesthetics, and easily update. As I'm sure you have guessed, there are some limitations since there are templates which regulate your creative juices, but I chose to use the limitations to my advantage and end up with a site I'm thrilled with.

There's probably a lot of people that are already aware of this WordPress web building thing, and yes I am not super computer savvy, so forgive me if I have bored you with the obvious. For those that haven't seen the web light yet I offer you my new experience in websites.

William Rossoto

www.rossotoart.com

Art Reps & Art

Amazing how much time has elapsed since my last post. A lot of transition, introspection, and new opportunities have taken place in recent months. Essentially reinventing my marketing approach, art work, and having a more flexible attitude about possible art venues has helped to create new prospects for expanding in the art world.

I have been in search of representation for my art work for quite some time, hoping to find a person who is genuinely interested in me as a person, who had a fondness for my art, not just the business side of art representation, and could produce results. I researched the online art reps, and gallery owners I had worked with thinking that this might be the most direct route to meeting my goal. The majority of online art reps left left me wondering what they actually do to market the art they have, and if I would even get noticed, as there was an unusually large number of artist being carried under their art roof. I'm sure that some artist do well with these online reps, but for me it seemed impersonal and a cookie cutter way to present my art. Most of the galleries I had worked with were great on putting together show openings, but follow up, advertising, and having the right audience for my work was yet to be found, so I chose not to look for my art rep through a gallery (at least for the time being).

Fortunately an unusual suspect arrived that is trustworthy, reliable, and has true admiration for me and my artwork. Over the last several years I have been approached by many people who were interested in representing me, but ended up fizzling out after a short period of time. Serious art representation requires fortitude, determination, and savvy. The art rep helped me to put together a full marketing package (pics, bio, cd's, cd covers, letterhead, cards, logo, website, etc.) and knows a lot of people that are the right sort of audience for my art work. Seeing the total presentation package put together and then following that up with meetings, send outs, phone calls, email campaigns, and social marketing has given me a sense of confidence about putting myself out in the world for all to see, not to mention the warm fuzzy feeling I get knowing my rep is working to promote and sell my art.

Audience!!!! I can almost laugh at myself now about never really paying attention to who my audience was and what sort of audience I wanted. I thought if I got a good turn out for my art openings that I must have something great going on, people like my stuff, and I'm attracting a following. Truth is, a lot of people go to art openings to socialize, drink free wine, and eat cheap hors d'oeurves, and occasionally buy some art. What I failed to see is that while having your friends and a ton people to your opening is a great thing, it has very little to do with selling art. I mean doing an art show isn't all about selling art, but I know I like to sell my art and not have it sitting in a storage unit where nobody gets to appreciate it. In order to get the work sold you have to have the right audience.

Currently I am doing a new series of equestrian work centered around Polo. There are only about 5000 Polo players in the U.S., so if I want to sell to Polo players I have to reach them by another means that just hanging art in the gallery. This is where a good art representative comes into play, and can market the art work world wide to a very specific audience. I have to say that I think it's pretty funny that I never focused on many of the fundamental aspects of selling my art. Of course all this talk about selling is not the reason I do art, however it is a way to sustain a life style I enjoy so that I can do more art, having the time to experiment and grow conceptually.

This is simply my abbreviated take on my life in art, and should be taken with a grain of salt as we all have our individual ways of creating art, marketing, and finding our own paths through the myriad of possibilities.