Artrepreneur

Artrepreneur - I have decided that label describes me best.  I wish I could take credit for having coined that word; unfortunately, I believe I read it somewhere.  You may be asking yourself "What's an artrepreneur?"  Yet, you may possibly be ahead of me.  Whatever, I will tell you anyway.

As an Artrepreneur, of course first, I am an artist.  Duh!  As an artist, do I want to sell my work?  Duh, again!  What artist wouldn't want their work hanging in homes other than their own.  I'm assuming in a collector's home or a wannabe collector's home.  I love looking at my own work, but I have limited wall space.  Once the walls are covered, the storage space fills up quickly.  What's an artist to do?  Duh!  Sell!

Anyway as an artrepreneur, I am an administrator, bookkeeper, publicist, marketer, salesman, webmaster, blogger, photographer, purchaser, maintenance, carpenter, framer, creator, writer, painter, sketcher, student, reader, speaker.  You get the idea.  I'm not saying I'm good at all these responsibilities; however, I have to do them; otherwise, my work would be banished to the garage and I do like parking my car there.

Happy viewing at www.JerryHardestyFineArt.com.

Ciao,  Jerry

A Day in the Life of an Artist

A day in the life of an artist - that's ludicrous - there is no typical day.  With that said, I try, but I'm not always successful.  I'm up showered and had breakfast by 8 (have read the paper too, and finished the crossword).  By the way, I'm sure some artists who work in a home studio like I do probably don't get dressed - I do, I dress casually, jean shorts and a tee that I don't mind splattering with paint (my wife minds, she thinks she has to get it out - I can hear her now, "You're ruining all your clothes!").  It's been said that artists have two kinds of clothes, "those with paint" and "those that will have paint." 

 I then spend about an hour on the computer, updating different sites to which I belong and checking emails.  I start painting about 9:00 - this is when it becomes atypical.  How can it not be?  I work on several paintings at the same time - you see, I become easily bored.  Furthermore, I paint on one, wait for it to dry then on to another and so on.   I failed to mention even though I don't usually get up before 6:30, I'm very often awake at 4 with a number of creative ideas for the day.  When I paint I listen to jazz - I rarely hear anything else.  I get in the "zone."  My mind is jumping from idea to idea, from painting to painting, from sketching to painting and back again.  At times, I stop to photograph a finished piece, and also to have a mid-morning snack.  Then I paint until 12:30 or 1:00 when I stop for lunch after which I paint until about 3:00 or 3:30 when I am painted out.

Now it's wine time and back to the computer.  The evening is spent reading and watching crime shows or Jeopardy.

Is this typical?  For me, perhaps, but not always - there are other mundane chores that I hate.  Running to purchase art supplies.  Preparing canvases.  Accounting (ugh!), I hate that.  Marketing - now that's a big one!  But then if I didn't market myself, no one would know or care.

Remember, my favorite quote is by Cecile D. DeMille, "Creativity is a passion I cannot live without."

Ciao, Jerry 

Addiction, Obsession or Passion

Utah Artist's League met this morning at Melodie's cabin to plein air paint and have lunch.  One of the discussions focused on addictions (you know, caffiene, smoking, drinking ).  We did not, however, reveal our own addictions.  Assume for a moment though that addictions are bad, and they are.  What's the difference between an addiction and obsession (equally bad) or is there any difference?  I won't bore you with dictionary definitions, but to paraphrase an addiction is a dependency on something (you cannot live without it) and an obsession is a preoccupation with an idea or feeling.

And art or any aspiration for that matter?  I like to think of my art as my passion.  It is a driving force in my life - I have to do it or I am unhappy - unsatisfied.  A friend stated that I go at it.... "with my balls against the wall."  Hmmm.... like gangbusters.  Nothing gets in my way.  If I were unable to paint, I would be depressed.  Is this a normal approach to a passion or aspiration?  Or is this a part of my Type A personality?  To wrap it up, I would have to say, I have an obsessive addiction for my passion.  My wife would say I'm just addicted.

Blog Changes

I am certain that you can see I have changed my blog.  I've deleted previous posts (for some reason there are two former posts I cannot delete).  Instead of being a showcase for my artwork, the blog will now be informational - posts about how I am progressing artistically, and what I'm doing in my studio (home studio).   If you want to view my artwork, please go to my website, www.JerryHardestyFineArt.com.  The website is more user friendly for viewing a number of pieces in a short time.  

Unfortunately, I have also had to eliminate the monthly drawings - sorry!  I may, however, do something different in the future.  I'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, enjoy both the blog and the website.

There is a number of things I want to share with you; however, I don't want this post to be too long so I'll share them later.  In the meantime, thanks for your loyalty and friendship.