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 �what is Man? a miserable little pile of secrets.� - andr� malraux "i desire to live in peace and to continue the life i have begun under the motto, to live well you must live unseen." - rene descartes note random entry image credit design by : ilazarn ikmal powered by : diaryland |
talking about art.
2012-11-14 @ 11:15 a.m.
i wonder sometimes about being an artist. some things in the community really bother me. and maybe i'm being a real dick here, and i know this will be super vague but i really have to get it out of my system. in what i do, in my craft, i guess, there are like stages of evolution. you start out with the raw product (a), then embellish it somehow (b), then you can either sell that as a supply or USE it yourself and make it into what it's typically made into, and sell the finished product (c). you can even go a step further and make something out of (c) and sell THAT for a mint (d). okay? at any stage of the game, the item is sellable, but it steadily increases in price as you approach (d), which makes sense since you've invested the maximum time and supplies and everything into it at that point. and if you're good, you can sell (c) for a lot of money, without having to go all the way to (d). i have, so i know this. the biggest saturation in the market is of (b) and (c), (b) particularly because it's the easiest to do from a skill and time standpoint. literally anyone can do (b), and a lot of people have figured this out, so naturally there's pretty stiff competition, but it is still a fairly narrow niche so it's not totally cutthroat (unlike jewelry-making - 12k items available in my niche, whereas jewelry has over 3.4 million). here's my problem. and of course, i'm coming at this as an artist, a person who makes things because i must make things. it's not just something i DO, it's a compulsion. it's my drive, it's what keeps me sane, it's my purpose on this earth. to create. now listen. i understand that artists can't live on hopes and dreams and inspiration. that does not pay the bills. i get all that. but what really burns my biscuits is artists in this craft who begin, come into the game selling absolutely beautiful art. beautiful beautiful stuff. there's this lady who does what i do, who is very much like myself. i used to look at her work and feel SO inspired. i couldn't even believe how she combined colors and materials to make (b) like i've never seen it before, and i've been doing this craft "professionally" since before etsy came out and everyone started doing it. she was truly unique, and her stuff was of exceptional quality. i know this because i purchased from her at fairs when she was coming up. i've blown serious serious cash on her (b), but it was all worth it because when i make it into (c), i can command top dollar. but like a couple of years passed, and she like some others i deeply admired got into buying pre-made (c), embellishing it, and reselling it. which is totally cool, because many people do (d) but none of the things before it. but this lady lost all of her soul somewhere. like steadily and steadily, (b) started disappearing from her shop, then the embellishments became more ... ordinary? i guess? and now we're at the point that she no longer sells (b) at all, only totally prefabricated (c) in completely boring, solid colors. her whole shop is now just (c) in red. green. blue. pink. she's basically become a reseller. i get that, and i can't fault anyone for wanting to make the most money possible in the easiest way. but i can't help but feel kind of sad and disappointed! it's like, davinci deciding that he's only going to sell coloring book pages (but he didn't draw the pictures), completed using ONLY an 8-count box of crayons. i know it's easier and very profitable, but didn't those masterpieces mean anything? or were they just a means to an end? i know this is really stupid and other people's business isn't mine to mind, but i'm sure everyone understands how depressing it is when your favorite artist (of any kind!), your idol and inspiration, turns out to have had no heart in it. i feel a little bit (alright, a lot) betrayed. all i can do is try to do my best, improve, and fill that void that has been left in the creative world. |