It was a FABULOUS experience at this past weekend’s Eastside Culture Crawl. What a misnomer. It’s hardly a “crawl”. More like an explosion! So many energetic and diverse people interested in art attended. The buzz at my open studio was humming for three days.
It's very gratifying for artists to hear appreciative comments about and reactions to works they’ve created. How can one remain blasé when hearing (and overhearing) from strangers things like “it’s absolutely amazing”; “never seen anything like it”; “it’s so beautiful it makes me cry”, “gorgeous”. Of course, there are also the (happily, rare) comments like, "I wouldn't even put this in a garage sale."
For me, such feedback works as a validation, a reminder of how art really connects when it communicates. I work alone. My intention when painting, is to work on what and how I want to paint, regardless of how it will be received.. Afterward, it's thrilling to know a painting has hit the mark for someone viewing it. It's a great feeling to sell a painting. It's a very bad feeling to have one's art rejected for a show. You put yourself out there as an artist. You feel naked. BUT the challenge is always to pursue one's own vision. Be careful of minding too much about the seduction of positive or the hurt of negative comments. Accept criticism that is useful in your own terms.
Some of the visitors to this open show were painters, themselves. Their appreciation and comments (the ones they let me hear, anyway) were a tribute to their keenly interested eye and generous spirit. Their many technical questions were a pleasure to answer, knowing it fed our mutual curiosity about artistic process.
Many children came with their families, and I was delighted to see that a good number of them really looked for themselves. Some even led their parents over to works and pointed at things. I didn’t want to intrude on those sessions, but I wondered what they saw with their perceptively “uneducated” eyes. So, after talking with the parents a bit about a painting that interested them, I asked one 7-year-old girl what she liked, and she had no problem walking over to a very different painting and pointing to it. “So tell me about it; what is it that you like in this one?,” I asked. She couldn’t or wouldn’t tell me (an adult she didn't know), but whispered something in her mother’s ear. “She says ‘because it’s beautiful,'"reported her mom. What more could I ask!
I’m pleased, of course, that I sold a good number of works. But there’s more to it for me, and for most of us, at such events. Thank you for looking, for interacting with the art, for your many and diverse reactions and insights. Thank you for your keen interest and your appreciation
@ janetstrayer.com
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