Old Boats ... 28/08/2020

[Enyaw]

11 x 14 Oil On Panel Alla Prima .. Old Boats Grow Flowers, such a sad sign of the time.

 

[Artyczar]

Wayne, you really crank 'em out. I wish I could paint that fast. I am the slowest creator on the face of the earth. You crank out beauty after beauty. This one is no exception! I love the beautiful abandoned feel to this one.

 

[Enyaw]

Thank you .. I get most of it during the process. I get a starting point and have to trust that I can find the solutions to the problems I give myself by putting wrong colors and values in wrong places. The beauty of oil paint is you can paint over a bad passage if you have a light touch or you can simply scrape it out and start over. The hard part is trusting your judgement. The speed is acquired over time. To me it's all in the making of judgement calls. How quick you can change your plan of attack. I can tell you that my paintings are usually far from my starting point but better than. Sometimes they just fail miserably but it's no big deal. I'm an artist and I can make another one.

 

[Artyczar]

I used to work that way when I was in my 20s and 30s, and even my 40s. I painted much quicker and had a fast output. Very prolific, and people told me that all the time. I trusted my gut. It's not that I don't trust my gut anymore or don't make gut decisions, but my process slowed way, way down and I got into a meditative way of painting. It's just that when I look back over the last few years, I wish I had more pieces under my belt. A lot happened with my career since 2015, and maybe I got depressed or something. No more deadlines...I'm not sure. My ambitions changed. I no longer wanted to be "successful," or rather, I changed my definitions of what success meant to me. Now it means to be happy with what I'm doing in the moment and happy with the finished piece.

 

[Enyaw]

Funny thing. That is kind of what happened to me and I enjoy the process much more than the end result. I kept everything before and now I keep the odd one. I'm actually enjoying my painting much more now. It seems with not trying to be my best, I am better. I have my one or two hours of painting mostly every day and the journey is far more satisfying than the end result. I know an old old artist who can't do anything without a thought of recognition or payment. His art sucks bigtime. I saw me in him and it cured me. Cheers girl, you are not dead yet and if you enjoy your time at bat, don't worry about how many hits you get, just enjoy each swing.

 

[snoball]

Wayne, what a great philosophy, I love this painting, but I really do wish you would begin to save more of them and quit scraping them all off, these are really beautiful paintings.

 

[Enyaw]

Thank you Sno. I do keep the odd one.

 

[Artyczar]

I know a lot of artists like that here. I wouldn't say the suck per say (I don't know that word exactly!), but they keep doing the same thing over and over--no evolution. They are after the accolades only and are terrified of change if one thing is working for them and selling well. I worked in series, but they were all very different. However, they sold well.

But all that came crashing down on me in 2015 when I got dropped from a very prestigious gallery. A huge blow to my ego after sooo much hard work with lots of successes. There was no reason to be dropped and I fell into a horrible depression over it. Climbing out of that, I had to readjust my thinking completely, and so I did. I still sell, but I don't care if I do or don't.

 

[Bizzibee]

Lovely work, Wayne. You seem to be favouring the lilac tones, which contrast so well with the greens!

 

[Desforges]

I know a lot of artists like that here. I wouldn't say the suck per say (I don't know that word exactly!), but they keep doing the same thing over and over--no evolution. They are after the accolades only and are terrified of change if one thing is working for them and selling well. I worked in series, but they were all very different. However, they sold well.

But all that came crashing down on me in 2015 when I got dropped from a very prestigious gallery

I understand what you are saying. At one point I was selling quite a bit. Was in two galleries and selling subjects that were appealing I guess. Mostly women in their kitchen with wandering eyes or teapots and fruits. Nothing against that, just that I needed to express other things, touch other stuff.The galleries closed and I started painting different subjects which did not seem to please as much.
I suppose that I could go there again but that would not feel right. I have not sold anything in 5 years and never think of selling anymore. That is also weird.
I want to address that. I am not very sociable and find it hard to introduce my work. Working on it because it is starting to pile up.

 

[Artyczar]

Yeah, I know what you mean and I have a huge storage problem. I don't sell as much as I need to, but I've given up making that a priority. It's art after all and it's not like we are making shoes.

 

[Enyaw]

Thank you Bizzy

 

[Katie]

I know a lot of artists like that here. I wouldn't say the suck per say (I don't know that word exactly!), but they keep doing the same thing over and over--no evolution. They are after the accolades only and are terrified of change if one thing is working for them and selling well. I worked in series, but they were all very different. However, they sold well.

But all that came crashing down on me in 2015 when I got dropped from a very prestigious gallery. A huge blow to my ego after sooo much hard work with lots of successes. There was no reason to be dropped and I fell into a horrible depression over it. Climbing out of that, I had to readjust my thinking completely, and so I did. I still sell, but I don't care if I do or don't.

If my memory serves me well didn't you get picked up by another very well known gallery? I'm sure I read that.

 

[Artyczar]

Yes, another good gallery. Not as prestigious, but a good one nonetheless. The gallery I had before sold for me regularly and for a bit more money. They also invested into me as well. They had a full staff, did all the fairs, had more reach, etc. They treated me like I was somebody special, but it turned out it wasn't real.