Monday, July 6, 2009

More quotes extracted from the darkest corners of the blog core.

Tonights post is decorated with the work of George Inness all images on this page from artrenewal.org.

Here are more of the historic quotes excavated from beneath the surface of the Stapleton Kearns blog . Unlike the previous posts, some of these run a paragraph or so, but as I was hunting through the old posts they jumped out at me as being either informative, amusing or just over the top. That was enough to get them lodged here. This is the last of them, tomorrow I will be onto a different subject.

about dealers;
OK, first, here's how I look at the relationship, it is a symbiotic partnership, I DON'T WORK FOR THEM! In fact if anybody works for anybody, THEY WORK FOR ME! They are a salesman, I am a manufacturer, I fill their pushcart or sample case for them and then turn them loose. They don't own the wares, I do. If they don't sell, I can fire them. Or they can quit. If they don't sell, I don't pay them, its a straight commission job. They are a manufacturers rep, they may represent a number of other manufacturers besides me, so they are employed by those guys also. An independent contractor, like a retail department store owns their merchandise, they are not a rep for the company that makes the merchandise. If I come into a gallery and reclaim the merchandise I own, I have fired them. They may continue to work for other artists but they no longer work for me. Now that puts a different spin on things doesn't it?

Showing in galleries is a process. Plan on being in a bunch of them. Hopefully, in escalating quality. The first one is a big deal and you will be nervous and fumble.
I think I will compare it to meeting girls when I was young. ( girls LOVED me when I was young, they imagined I was sensitive) That was before my hair got sick.

SIR, IF I COULD GET THE ART TO YOU CHEAPLY ENOUGH, WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO DISREGARD QUALITY ALTOGETHER?

If you only paint the day, all you will get is meteorology.


IT IS HOW IT IS A PICTURE OF, AND NOT WHAT IT IS A PICTURE OF, THAT IS IMPORTANT!


PAINTING SHOULD GET HARDER FOR YOU RATHER THAN EASIER. THE BETTER YOU GET AT IT, THE HARDER IT WILL BE.


LEARNING TO PAINT LANDSCAPES IN THE STUDIO,
IS LIKE LEARNING TO SWIM AT HOME ON THE SOFA!

Have you ever heard a six year old play an electric guitar? An electric guitar wants to shriek like the damned, and can easily be made to rattle the neighbor ladies dentures right there in the little glass by her bed. Hell, just turn up the amp and drop the thing. ( yes I know about Lennon and the first note of " I feel fine", do you?)
A fine musician can make the guitar whisper, sing lyrically, softly weep, or snarl like hellhounds on my trail. They have control of their instrument. Its nature is to shriek, skill makes it obey the artist who plays it.
Paint wants to shriek too, that is its' nature. If you walk through the studios of an art school, the paintings are all thrashing, seizing , and howling gibberish like flaming demons on bathtub amphetamines.
Much of contemporary painting is over colored and has a cheapshot kind of carnival tawdriness, a loudness and insistent grinding hype and clamor, like flyspecked yellow light bulbs flashing on and off on the dirty white plywood signs for a girlie show.

Look at me! Hey buddy, over here! Step right up, Git yer fine art! Got art here!

We're flowers the color of lifesavers and gumdrops, and we're the size of ottomans. We're hard candies the colors of radium and transmission fluid. We're 1940's tinplate toys airbrushed with candyflake enamel, as big as jetskis and we're covered with water droplets and highlights, backlit and outlined in black. You bet your ass we're going to get noticed above your sofa.

On light and shadow;
Those contrasts are of value, color, saturation, pigment, temperature, and sometimes opacity.

EVERYTHING IS EITHER IN THE LIGHT OR IN THE SHADOW! THERE IS NO OTHER PLACE.

UNITY OF EFFECT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITY A PICTURE CAN HAVE.


My daughter came home from school one day and told me this question had come up in class and she found herself the only one in her class defending the idea of quality in art.
I suggested she tell them she played guitar as well as Hendrix. No kid in her class is going to buy that for an instant. No way! Jimi was a better guitarist they all will insist. . ..Hendrix was the better guitarist, he just was! they exclaim in frustration at such an absurd claim. They have no problem with the idea of quality in music.

PUT BUTTER IN YOUR SHOES

Gee, I was going to be nice today, Tomorrow, I'll put in another picture of a baby animal maybe. Or a happy little clown or something. Maybe some wax fruit.

15 comments:

Ramon said...

does "I can't believe it's not butter" work with the whole shoes bit, or do we have to use the real stuff?

Gregory Becker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gregory Becker said...

I am putting that Hendrix argument in my argument tool box.
"Unity of Effect"
Can you expand on how to achieve that idea in a picture?
It's very strong in the Inness examples.

Unknown said...

Ha! These last posts are like the
Cliff Notes version of the Stapleton Kearns blog. Love it. I should just print out these last three days' worth and paste it on my studio wall in extra large print.

I especially love the screaming flashing sign analogy. Had a similar conversation with a dealer recently, lamenting over the "same old stuff" being massed produced by artists in the galleries around town, most of it mediocre at best, and what it made up for in quality, it delivered in loudness and quantity.

But my question is: So why does this stuff still sell? I attended an auction recently, very nice, upscale event, and some absolutely HORRIBLE pieces were grabbed up at fantastic prices.

And secondly, when you say, "Never pay to exhibit your art", do you include entry fees to most juried exhibits? How else is the aspiring artist to get exposure and that whole resume thing?

"cledan" kle DAN: a particular style of painting clowns exiting vintage cars.

mariandioguardi.com said...

Hi Deb, Hi Stapleton,
The question Deb asked "So why does this stuff sell?" I have stopped trying to even ask that question, never mind answer it. My works sells and it doesn't sell, just like more traditional realist painters work. No matter what your aesthetics, style or skill level, someone will always sell more than you. I have found it valuable to keep my eye on my own work. Make a painting to the best of my intentions using all the tools I can muster (like this fine blog). I try to carve out a niche for my work and keep my eye on the prize (getting to paint another day without getting a side job). Some awful work will make art history some very fine work will never be recognized. It's just the way it is, isn't it. Ultimately,and I do mean on the death bed, an artist has to be proud of the work they have produced and leave behind. Some people call my work beautiful. Others say "it hurts their eyes". But it is what I see as beautiful. And painting does get harder as you go along! Argh the pain.

Unknown said...

I love the rant about too much color.

By the way, is Iness' stuff yellow because of aging varnish, or did he paint that warm.

rubsora - a dinosaur rubbed into extinction.

Stapleton Kearns said...

ramon
Only real butter works.
....Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Gregory:
Let me think about that, maybe it needs its own post, however one way is to HERD SHEEP. See this post
http://stapletonkearns.blogspot.com/search?q=herding+sheep

Thats not the whole answer but it is a start.
.................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Deb;
Most of the art sold is bad. People receive no art appreciation in school and the mass media covers only the most sensational art. The museums on show modern living art.
Vinyl is covering our historic New England architecture. Most peoples furniture is badly proportioned and their cars need an oil change. Its a broken world.But its a big world with room for lots of things.

Frank Zappa said, and I will quote again;
"It's not getting any smarter out there, you've got to come to grips with stupidity and make it work for you".I miss Zappa,he was brilliant.

I wrote a post on paying to show your art, here
http://stapletonkearns.blogspot.com/2009/04/good-advice-no-charge.html

the answer to your question is reasonable entrance fees are OK but the whole idea is spelled out in that post. This blog is now so huge that I can send people back into it to answer particular questions. A book would have an index or at least a table of contents.
.................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Marian:
Very well said. I try to be as well adjusted as that. When I am making money, I am. When I am not,it is a whole lot harder to keep the 10 million dollar embalmed sharks in their tanks.
.....Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

cledan= having to do with or having the characteristics of cledes,or a resident of cledes.

Stapleton Kearns said...

rubsora,a decorative sore, formed by abrasion, usually found on morons.

Unknown said...

I think my tattoo will read:
http://stapletonkearns.blogspot.com


I did go back and read the post on paying to show art. Good info. I will add that to the growing list of do's and don'ts.


There's a really cool "verification" word, but I'm not going to share it.
So, sue me.

Unknown said...

Stape...you are easily the Hunter S. Thomspson of the art blobosphere...

tom martino said...

I'm new to you blog, but I remember our brief conversation at Blithewold (Bristol, RI) -- was that in the year 2001? I enjoyed watching you work and admire the quality of your paintings. I think your remarks about art, selling the stuff, and the general lack of educated taste in the buying public are right on target.
Keep the quotes coming!