Greetings,
Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where today, due to circumstances beyond my control, and even though it's a Tuesday, today is run-day. Get out there and go. A couple of miles down the bicycle trail and all of that.
A couple of months ago I wrote a post that started out with running. post It focused on getting the timing right, in light of school traffic. Well, school is currently on vacation, but the timing of the run is still pretty darn important, only now we have to blame it on the weather people, as they predict their heat&humidity lofty highs for Iowa July.
And what does all of that mean?? A change up. My running shoes met the trail about an hour earlier than the usual. Beat that heat and humidity. If it's too blazing hot to run in the sun, then change it up and run an hour earlier. Don't keep going with the same-old, same-old. Different conditions demand a different schedule.
And you know by reading this blog in the past, that I'm required :) to relate that to art/painting somehow, don't you? Change up.
How about change up and the art fair artist-exhibitor? It's not hard to find a cluster of artists at an art fair, before opening on the second day, lamenting the economy and how that makes it so hard to sell a painting. Aren't they ripe for a change-up? How many of them are looking for it, with both eyes open? And how many of them are just doing it the way they've always done it?
I know I've aired this belief before, but it's been brought to my attention, that it needs to be thrown out their again: there are too many art fairs that are the same-old, same-old. Nothing's been done to improve or grow (except for the price!) or enhance. And year after year, the same artists keep buying an exhibit space, hoping to sell a bunch of art. Even though they didn't last year. Or the year before. Where's the change-up?
It seems logical for art fair directors to keep going with a show as long as artists will buy that 10 x 10 chunk of week end real estate. And that puts the ball in our court as artists. Do we really need THAT art fair? Maybe when applications open for next time, we should just ignore it. Will we keep paying $595 for that 100 square feet? Hmm. Maybe it's time for a change-up.
Later, Cooper
