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Miss Dorothy Parker

See With Bigger Eyes

Half a Dozen Things Fine Artists & Crafters Can Do To Help Themselves Survive the Economic Slump

Because fine art and craft have long been considered a luxury for an audience with a disposable income, visual artists, like many self-employed creatives are susceptible to icky, economic downturns.  Right now everyone is hesitant to spend to drop cash on what seems to extravagance, even the very wealthy.  But collectors and dealers know this is the best time to buy and fine art and craft is one of the safest places to "park" their moola. But, they are looking to invest in  established artists with proven and verifiable sales and exhibition histories.

This is not good news for most emerging and mid-career artists. I've gotten e-mails from creative friends asking for ideas about how and where to sell work during a time when many galleries are struggling to make ends meet. Galleries are way more likely to exhibit the work of artists they feel confident they can sell right now. So, if you are thinking about approaching galleries any time soon here are five things to consider:

Know your stuff. Do your research and keep up the news- art, culture and business. Keep an eye on trends in your community. Watch which galleries are advertising and who they are showing. This will be a strong indication of which galleries will survive. Know which galleries accept outside proposals and when, keeping in mind most schedule exhibitions months or years in advance. Understand that, like the business world, the gallery world ebbs and flows and you need to move with it.

Become a little geeky. Aside from having an organized electronic (email) database of collectors, fans and people interested in your work, as well as an accurate inventory system, take a little time to research web sites (if you don't have one) and blogs. Determine whether you are better served with a blog that you can easily update or a static website that is updated quarterly or annually. Check out social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn to find out how networking online with other artists and people of a like mind can benefit you. It's easy to let these things slide and find reasons for not having enough time, energy or resources...but, there is never a better time than now to get this stuff done.

Find creative weirdoes. Face it: being a visual artist can be a not only a weird but solitary profession, so in surrounding yourself with other creative weirdoes you can help one another remain positive and upbeat. So find other artists and creative people you can talk to and/or meet on a regular basis. It's always important to keep creativity flowing but especially during economic downturns. Nothing does that better than talking to other artists about their work and discussing yours.

Get out of the box. Be willing to think out of the box and explore non-traditional venues to exhibit work and be willing to lower prices and/or barter for goods and services if you can. Look into local outdoor and weekend farmer's markets and other similar venues. Look into renting space in an antique mall. Many people looking to decorate their homes with antiques also collect fine art and craft.

Curate yourself. Create your own exhibition of your existing work and approach local non profit exhibition spaces, small museums and college and university galleries with your ideas. Since many are coping with budget cuts, they are often more open to an exhibition that is already prepackaged and ready to hang. Use the distance you are willing to drive as your geographical radius and send proposals to everyone within that area. 

Do stuff for yourself. Everyone is under a tremendous amount of stress in this uncertain economic climate. The world seems chaotic right now. Money, career and family responsibilities can feel overwhelming. For many visual artists and fine crafters, it is our art that centers us and in an intrinsic part of who we are. We will all get through this, so continue to make the best possible art you can make and you will continue to thrive.

Note: Originally written for Active Gray Matter Blog.

Muse-pleasing: Caring for Your Muse

The Greeks had nine guiding geniuses of creative inspiration, the Nine Muses. Ancient Grecians knew how to please and solicit their help. So should we, as Creative Spirits. Inspiration is often fickle, unpredictable and unaccountable. What can we do to make sure that our free spirited Muses feel welcome and at home with us?

Of course, there is no one answer but there is a common denominator: what your muse wants from you is your time.

Many of us are familiar with the terrific idea that hits you in the middle of a business meeting or as you grab your keys and head out the door. But usually, the idea is lost by the time we are home and in front of the keyboard, at the easel, or behind the pen.

Muse-pleasing works on the same principle as dreamwork. Your Muse likes to be invited, just like dreams. Natalie Goldberg suggests, "showing up for work"- even if you sit there blankly for an hour and nothing happens, fingers disturbingly still. Set aside regular time to wait, to pay attention, to listen, to be there. However, muses are allergic to imperatives and don't appear to place such a high price on producing as we do. They like us to give ourselves time to play and daydream, to think and ruminate, to muse and be amused.

What does your Muse look like? What kind of Muse do you have or do you want? What is her name? What does your Muse prefer? Does she prefer blues to classical; roses or daffodils? Does she have a favorite color or fragrance? Is she your sister, a mentor; a spirit or an intimate friend?

When we symbolize creative inspiration this way, we are more likely to set up the best atmosphere for keeping our Muses and our creative selves by extension, content and well fed. Inspiration needs nourishment and no one wants to starve his or her Muse. Museums, libraries, galleries, concerts, nature and bookstores keep your Muse interested and inspired-- and your creativity in almost constant bloom.

Like people, Muses enjoy friends. Maybe you have developed relationships that scoff at your attempts and ignore your achievements but no self-respecting Muse stands for this. If you keep your Muse in mind, she will help you to choose friendships that will support and nurture your creativity.

Muses hate to be bored and many aspects of our culture do this- television, mall music and the erroneous idea that we exist to shop and buy in our pervasive advertising. When my Muse starts to snooze, I take it as an indication that I need to choose more things that keep Her awake and alert.

It's difficult to engage your Muse when you are surrounded with noise and chaos. Vital to a muse is a private place. A converted garage, or attic or the corner of a room for your chosen form of art makes that private place for you and your Muse to form a deep and lasting kinship.

Lastly, some sort of regular, spiritual practice seems to please the Muse. Whether this includes meditation, a certain type of music, singing, drumming, prayer, burning candles, lighting incense or something completely different; it doesn't matter. What matters is that if you feel dried out or burned up, spending some focused time on what inspires you and fills your dreams can bring you to the well and allows you to drink the water of creativity. Muses get thirsty too.

Life A Few Years Later: 2nd Annual Blogging Against Disablism Day

Disablism is the British equivalent of the American term Ableism used to describe discrimination against people with disabilities. Ableism discriminates, devalues and denigrates in the same way racism and sexism do. Ableism treats those without disabilities as the standard of “normal’, against which everyone is measured.

With many thanks to Diary of a Goldfish for beginning this and coordinating it.

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Monday, March 19, 2001

To whom it may concern-

I am tired. I am tired of not being to clean my house. I am tired of not being able to wash a full load of dishes.I am tired of keeping a positive attitude. I am tired of trying not to be too much of a burden on my loved ones. I am tired of reminding myself there are others who have it much worse than me. I am tired of struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I am tired of having to use a motorized cart to do my grocery shopping. I am tired of pain. I am tired of having to sit down and rest every 10 minutes when we go to the mall. I am tired of being an albatross. I am tired of walking into a new store or restaurant and looking for the bathroom, "just in case". I am tired of being fat. I am tired of not being able to exercise enough to burn enough calories to not be fat anymore. I am tired of being awakened a half a dozen times at night because of leg and foot spasms, cramps, twitching and pain that WILL NOT GO AWAY.

I am tired of looking ahead. I am tired of needing to use a handicapped placard. I am tired of pretending not to notice people watching me to see if I really am disabled. I am tired of the looks in old friends' eyes when they remember how I used to be and compare it to what they see before them now. I am tired of strangers asking me if I am really disabled. I am tired of fighting with an insurance company and with my attorney just get treatment I desperately need. I am tired of pain. I am tired of having to take medication.I am tired of losing my balance. I am tired of watching the weather channel to see what kind of pain the weather will bring each day. I am tired of "rating my pain".

I am tired of needles and doctors and tests and procedures and hospitals and physical therapy. I am tired of medical double talk. I am tired of feeling new pains. I am tired of numbness. I am tired of being tired. I am tired of asking for help. I am tired of beating myself up for not being the person I used to be. I am tired of having special needs. I am tired of not feeling whole. I am tired of not being "normal". I  am tired of not being able to…(fill in the blank).


I am really tired and I just want my life back.

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I wrote this and included it in my first assemblage (below) about disabilities which was created in 2002, two years after my last spinal surgery. Since then I have learned I have something called and generally referred to as "accquired disabilities", meaning I wasn't born fucked up. These disabilities are also referred to as largely "hidden and invisible", meaning that I have no discerning or visible evidence or deformity that would suggest that I am anything but "healthy and normal", albeit a bit fat. This is especially true if I am minus a cane or my motorized scooter until you see me get up and walk. Because of this, I have had to learn how to be disabled. My cane became "The Legitimizer". The scooter, the difference between enjoying days out instead of getting through them. Life changes.

I have learned that an incomplete spinal cord injury is not enough to make you disabled in the eyes of the Social Security Administration. However becoming chronically dysthymic (chronically depressed) and mildly agoraphobic because of the incomplete spinal cord injury does. I have learned more about pain that I ever thought existed. I hate pain.  I always have. Before becoming disabled at 11 years sober,  I drank and used drugs for 10 years in attempts to eradicate the emotional pain of an unhappy and troubled childhood and physical pain was something you took a pill for and it went away.  Now, I know about chronic pain and nerve pain and that you can still feel pain in the numb places. I've learned pain also buzzes, vibrates, and burns. I know about pain that never goes away. Syndromes and terms for the complications of multiple spine surgeries have appeared and changed and remained the same for the last several years: Cauda Equine Syndrome; chronic pain and depression; suspected mild fibromyalgia,; blah, blah, blah...

I've learned some of your oldest friends completely disappear because they can't cope with the "new you" and others find their way back to discover you aren't the same you they once knew. Sometimes, you're lucky and they take the time to get to know you again. Sometimes, you're not.

I have learned that within the "disabled community" there is discrimination. For example, I have been told I am not really disabled because I am not in a wheelchair or  paralyzed in someway. I have been told that because I appear to function fairly well most of the time and work hard not to let my disabilities interfere with my life, I must not hurt as bad or be as disabled as I tell people. These things have been said to me by other people with and without disabilities.  It's as though because I can walk, control my pain fairly well through drug therapy and sheer endurance, and manage to keep a smile on face and a sense of humor most of the time, I can't be as disabled as I say.

I have also learned there are people who want to stay disabled not only in body but in mind. They remain stuck for the rest of their lives in chronic pain support groups and chasing the illusion of the magic pill that will make it so they can "live life again". I've relearned the vast difference in powerlessness and helplessness. If I had spent the last several years waiting around "to live again" instead of just living again regardless of circumstances or pride, I would still be waiting.

I've also learned I can't abide the attitudes and excuses that exist for people with disabilities which prevent and in some cases enable them from having any expectations of what they can do or accomplish. Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a special place in my heart for people who live with cerebral palsy and autism. "Normal" people mistakenly think this is because I feel sorry or them or because I think their disabilities are "worse" than mine. I do not feel sorry for them nor do I believe they have it worse than me. I've learned the severity of a disability is largely relative to the person who is living with it. Plainly put, I am inspired by the sheer determination and hope of the people I know who live with these challenges and who do not allow other people's lack of expectations limit what they expect of themselves.

I have learned that art and writing are my strongest, best and most effective in my arsenal of pain management. (The collage to your left for instance got me a new anti-dressant when I hauled it in to show it to my headshrinker..heh.) Often I can work on a collage or assemblage or essay for several hours before I realize it's time for a pain pill or a rest. Art was and continues to be a huge part of my healing process. It helps me feel more centered and serene and continues to sustain me through challenges and changes. It has allowed me to take the small steps that were necessary for me to reconnect with the world after my injury. The more I create; I become more familiar with my art and the creative process. If I had not had my visual art to retreat to for solace and expression in the months when I was unable to sit and write, I can't imagine I would have been able to make the strides in healing and confidence I now have in my work and in my new life.

I learned that love really does play an important part of healing well.  Without Manthing 's quiet, steady support, I doubt my recovery from the spine surgeries  would have gone well. It wasn't easy but he stood beside me and supported me, often without my realizing it. Without his love and caring I doubt my recovery from the spine surgeries and all their complications, would have gone well as well as they did. It wasn't easy but he stood beside me and supported me and loved me when I felt unlovable. And still does. Everyday.

Maybe I have come to understand I will never climb a pyramid in Egypt or visit Antarctica. I may never be the woman I once dreamed I would become or even the kind, bohemian grandmother who lives down the street doling out irreverant wisdom to inquiring minds. I may never write the best selling book that will help millions. I will never be a saint. But I will always be a good listener, a faithful friend, one who speaks straight and often true, one whose word can be trusted, one who loves wholly and one who never truly loses faith or abandons hope entirely. I will always stand for the weak, speak for those who have no voice, work to protect the innocent. And I will always be a person filled conflicting and sometimes contradictory characteristics, a person prone to deep solitudes, tinged with sadness, a person whose life is filled with moments of  gorgeous brilliance, happy accidents and moments of impenetrable, inconsolable darkness. I am  more than I ever hoped to be but less than I have dreamed.

And there's a good chance none of it would have happened, none of it would have been realized,  if I hadn't become disabled.