Do This!
A weekly motivational newsletter focusing on action steps for visual artists.

What's Going On: Announcements /Classes
>>>Do This:  Revisit Your Goals
Tip / Find of the Week:  Artist Pension Trust
Artists Respond: What They Have to Say

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WHAT'S GOING ON

: : ONLINE CLASSES : :



The Artist Statement & Beyond
begins next Monday: July 5
Been putting off writing your artist statement? Remember, an artist statement shows the current direction of your work. You don't write it and put it away. It grows and changes along with your work. More importantly, a well written, well thought statement can help you sell your art. $75 includes my help editing your statement. http://www.artbizcoach.com/classes/statement.shtml

My goal has been to have 4,000 subscribers by the end of the year. I lost a lot of people when I changed email distribution programs, so I have to work extra hard to get there. And I can't do it without you. You can help by using this newsletter or any past issues for your own newsletter, website or as handouts for artists. All you have to do is ask! I'm sure I can dig up a topic of interest to your readers or collectors.

See the menu in the upper left of this page to view popular topics from past issues. 

Lorri Acott Fowler, Little Prince. 2004, white crackle raku, 11.5 inches tall.  ©The Artist http://www.lafingspirit.com

It's a great time to revisit your annual goals. You might have made resolutions, but how are you doing on your creative and business goals?

If you wanted to make $20,000 from the sale of your artwork, have you made the first $10,000 already?

If one of your goals was to take two new workshops, have you already finished one of them?

You should set goals not to make yourself sweat profusely or to anticipate disappointment. Rather, the true reason for setting goals is to envision a better life--the life you dream of.

Here's the best part: You can set goals at any time of the year! Perhaps more importantly, you can revisit and revise them at any point. But no one else can do it for you. You must be self-motivated.

• Goals must be specific and measurable or else you won't know when you've reached them.
• Goals must have deadlines.
• Goals should be challenging--going beyond what you would normally do without them.
• Write down your goals. It makes them real.
• Share your goals with at least one other person. It's easier to back out of them if you keep them to yourself.

I love to help artists set and achieve their goals. Contact me at alyson@artbizcoach.com if you want to find out more about how it's done.

TIP / FIND OF THE WEEK: Artist Pension Trust  

In case you needed it, here's proof that some people truly believe in the investment value of art.

It's a fascinating concept! Artists donate artwork to a trust for twenty years, and then reap the financial benefit later. MutualArt, the for-profit company that oversees Artist Pension Trust, set up the first one in New York City to benefit a select group of 250 emerging artists in their 20s and 30s. They plan to start many more trusts.

Read about it here: http://www.artistpensiontrust.org/

ARTISTS RESPOND: What They Have to Say   

Several artists wrote last week to tell me they are going to make a three-dimensional model for upcoming gallery installations. If you do this, I'd love to get a photo of your model and share it with readers.

"Another idea that might work for gallery preparation, especially for those with little extra space would be to use one of those home design programs with 3D imaging. I don't know if you could import any of your own pictures or sculptures (as furniture?) into any of them but even without that a visualization of the space would be useful.

Clif Dawson, Into The Night. 2003, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches. ©The Artist

Not long ago my daughter, an artist in her own right, becoming known and respected in her chosen genre, said to me, 'Dad, I used to watch you doing all those different things, always something new and different. I couldn't understand it at the time but now I can.'

I hadn't thought of it much until she pointed that out but for me there are some things best said with paint, others with sculpture. Some freestanding, others flat on a wall or sticking out from it. Some 'realistic,' most of which I characterize as 'Figurative-abstract.' 

I've read that to be considered a real artist one must choose a particular medium and build a body of work that 'matures' as you work through your 'career' as an artist. I think Picasso put the lie to that. No, each of us has a message to put forth. The medium chosen is just the vehicle, it's not the message. Don't limit yourself. At the very least do the odd experiment in another medium and maybe it might ignite a spark. Associate yourself with other disciplines, music, theater, dance. The audience will see and appreciate the results."

You can see Clif's art here: http://www.myartclub.com/artist.cfm?XYZ=137

Note: See the menu in the upper left of this page to view popular topics from past issues. 

Copyright © 2004 Alyson B. Stanfield, Stanfield Art Associates. All rights reserved. 

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