Art and Society - Part Two

Greetings to all those who are reading this blog! Guess what? Here is another post about art, one of my favourite topics. If you haven't read my first art post, you can so here.

I had quite the adventure today. I walked downtown because I was supposed to go for an appointment at the employment agency. However, when I go there, they told me it had been rescheduled – and of course no one decided to inform me of that fact. I’ll admit, I was, I am, a little miffed about that.

But then I had a slight brainwave, to at least say I did something today other than walk to a place that I wasn’t supposed to be in anyway.

On Saturday I went to a shop that sells prints and artwork and had a conversation with the man in there. We were saying about how there isn’t many photos or drawings of my town. So I asked him if I did any, would he sell them. To my surprise he said he might. So since then I’ve been working on a set to do with my town.

I had my sketch book in my bag. I always take it with me when I’m at the employment agency because they often seem to run behind time, leaving me wait for – at one stage – up to an hour. So I went back to this shop and, thankfully, saw the same guy. I walked in there and, to my surprise, he remembered me.

That is actually quite the surprise, because…people don’t generally remember me. Or even talk to me. At least not strangers, anyway. But this dude, he was nice. We got to talking once again and before I knew it, we were on the topic of what we discussed on Saturday.

He remembered the conversation, and I asked him if he was serious, or if he was just kidding around. I can never be certain of stuff like that. And he told me he really was serious, he would if it was good, but I’d need to wait at least until after December because the store he was managing was only their clearance store and they would relocate in the new-year. That didn’t really bother me much, but I did want his opinion on my art. 

So I asked if he wanted to see it.

Before my brain had a chance to get all weird and anxious on me, he said he did, so I pulled the sketch book out and showed him the drawings I specifically did about this town I live in. My drawings are ink, it’s the way I like them and it’s the way I feel comfortable with doing.

And he liked them. They were local, interesting, well done and he would sell them if he could. In fact, he even told me to see if I could put them in an art gallery a town over because they like local stuff.

I walked out of there pretty damn happy.

I was almost going to go home…but then I got this idea. And I went to this gallery run by an artist. He sells his own work, and some others. And I got to talking to this guy and showed him the same drawings that the other guy liked.

And he disliked them, because they weren’t “special” enough. That they would never sell as they’re not pleasing to the eye, they were lesser than some, and these were his words, “mass produced crap from China.” And he said they would never make any money because of these things.

Did it hurt to hear him say that? I won’t like, it stung a little. But then I got to thinking as I started to walk home. There’s a flaw in his reasoning.

It’s true, what he says, there is competition out there. But I went in there asking if they were any good, not asking if I could sell them. What he told me basically boils down to one thing: money. All he wanted was to make a bit of money. That was it. Everything he said boiled down to that one word.

But here’s the thing: I don’t care about money! And I don’t think any artist worth his salt should. I don’t draw because I want to become famous, I don’t draw to become rich. I draw to relieve stress, to feel better, to relax. Maybe he doesn’t, maybe all he wanted to do was get rich.

Another thing he told me was that you need to go with what was popular. Once again, there is a flaw with his reasoning. According to him I should abandon my beliefs and what I enjoy to become an artist in the “popular” way.

But art is about impression, your impression. Okay, maybe there are certain things that are more popular than others. But that doesn’t mean you should jump on the bandwagon! They say, as a writer, you should do what you want to see, not what is in the stores at this particular time. Why is the same not true for art? Why is it when I bring in something that I liked, that means something to me, why is it that I’m the one in the wrong?

Writing and drawing, it’s pretty much the same thing, both disciplines of art. Besides, it’s my opinion that the popular stuff makes no sense! I was looking at what he sells, and honestly, I didn’t understand hardly any of it. Is that what people want? Something they can’t understand properly? It’s not what I want and I’m sure some others out there like the “boring bush scene with no significance” just as much as I do.

And besides, his business isn’t doing all too well; he doesn’t sell much – what does that tell you?

Art is about what you want to do. And do not let anyone tell you otherwise, not your art teacher, not your parents, not some dude who runs a shop and not even yourself.

There’s what I learned today. Not bad, considering it didn’t turn out the way I thought in the first place.