It's been a rough few years... at home, healthy-wise, business wise, family-wise....
On the art front, I have tried for a few years to go the 'usual' route of exhibitions and galleries. Being asked to paint what others wanted me to as most people want that etc... it really feels so very wrong and if I'm totally honest - pathetic.
I see so many absolutely fantastic artists pushed to the side so that friends or flavour of the month can be hoisted into the public eye. Out there you don't have to be GOOD at art. You don't have to paint something lovely, great, fantastic or amazing. The easy way is to suck up. There are so many 'experts' out there giving good artists bad advice. There are many glaleries not trying to put the artists work forward too. I could rant on for quite a while about this but I won't.
My dance instructor job is doing well and it gives me much pleasure. I am amazed by the absolutely lovely people I meet and it is wonderful to see them achieving so much in what they do. Truly wonderful!
I stopped the art classes - I stopped the Somercotes Art Society meet ups.
Why?
Well I was getting fed up of paying for others to do this! Artists aren't starving nowadays, at least not here. There are benefits and more. I have struggled to pay the way for them.
The Art Society was £3 a session at first - 2 and a half hour sessions approximately every 2 weeks. If they all attended then the room was covered(there was no profit) but if not? The money coming in didn't pay for the room let alone other costs such as insurance, coffee, tea, milk, biscuits etc. It was impossible to carry on. Later it was discussed to put the price up a little to cover everything. It was agreed but then after one session it went back to the normal situations again - they cannot come next week, rest of the month etc but will make me right when they see me. Thing is the people wanting the rent for the room hire don't say oh don't worry about it make it right at the end of the month or when you see me! So every month I was paying extra on rent for them on top of the rest I was already putting out.
They didn't want to do the art society online for a while instead so that I wasn't paying, they wanted a place to go to for the sessions but some didn't want to pay or they would have. It couldn't be sustained. It was discussed to have exhibitons, but I wasn't putting the money up front for them after all of that. I stopped all the meetings at the venue. It shouldn't be me having to pay for some of the members to attend(or for their absences) I always put the whole of my subs straight in when due and on time).
Some members didn't pay me for their membership that month really as usual - I think I had a couple pay me £6 and nothing from the rest. A few offered later but I said it was done with now - I had drawn a line under it all and had paid the room hire until the end of the month for them. I said they could use it the final week but I didn't bother going.
Somercotes Art Society is still mine. I may sort out more online for it soon and offer membership to some who may like to join. At least if done online then we may be able to muster up funds for an exhibition from time to time.
We learn - or do we....
I decided I would start art classes. Every Friday, 2 hours tuition £10. I've seen many pay much more for this. I offered some materials to try included in the price but they had to bring paints and surface. Free refreshments, coffee, tea, or squash and biscuits included too. Bookings only to allow for the room space and hire.
The first week wasn't too bad but the 2nd changed due to deciding to go away - but save my place, I'll be there next week or in 2 weeks. I could see a pattern again. The future, like this, could not be sustained. I stopped the class. The 2nd week meant that I paid £15 of my own money towards the room cost and taught for free! I wasn't doing this type of thing again and so cancelled all future classes.
I'm not sure if it's artists all over or just in this area that some have this attitude or maybe I've just been unlucky. We all have bills and expenses. I pay mine. I don't commit to something and not pay or make someone wait for their money - you know the saying: they wouldn't do it in tescos. And of course saving places as they have other arrangements is still money - maybe I need to be tougher, but its not the way I want to be.
Since then I've removed my work from all local galleries - if a gallery shows AI generated work or if they are trying to sell illegal copyrighted work(think of batman, marvel, disney etc) created by local-ish artists then I don't want to be there - it's that simple. I lose respect for those places who would push that sort of thing. I've bent a little over the past year seeing that start to happen but that may be due to my own vulnerabilities health-wise recently - I am stronger now and wide awake again.
So now I'm at a wonderful feeling of being. It is so freeing and relaxing to realise that I can do exactly as I please again with my art and creativity and that is what I'm doing! It's taken me a good year to get back here and I'm back for good.... Fearneve x
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