----- Original Message -----
From: "Jan van Steenbergen" <ijzeren_jan@...>
> --- Sally Caves skrzypszy:
>
> > Art is useful when it soothes and pleases the artist. Consider art
therapy.
> > My mother is an artist, and a teacher who teaches art to senior citizens
and
> > to children. The artist is materially and socially rewarded (a
different
> > concept) when [HE/SHE] is lauded by institutions and venues that display
and
> > critique his art. Our "institution and venue" is our listserv. Many of
us
> > have felt rewarded by the admiration of the numbers of people on the
list
> > who have seen and liked our artlangs and said so. We are certainly
sharing
> > what we do here. It is a small venue, but a valid one. Let's get away
from
> > this pompous notion that art is only useful when it has prestige.
>
> My sentiments exactly.
> Let me add one thing: being a great artist and being a famous artist is
not
> necessarily the same. In order to establish one's name, one has to do
things
> that many great artists don't want to do, like investing time in
maintaining
> the right contacts, and making aesthetical compromises.
> I know some great musicians who are completely unknown for the simple
reason
> that they don't want to famous; they prefer to lead a quiet life, without
> travelling over the whole world and making recordings everywhere.
>
> Jan
My sentiments, too, Jan. I couldn't have put it better. Many "famous" and
rich artists sell out to consumer demand, like Tarke' [sp]--all those
lovely, expensive, colorful, impressionistic paintings of empty, rich young
women lounging in outdoor cafe's with floppy hats. Perfect for your 20,000
dollar living room. Van Gogh, truly great in the way that Tarke' is not,
didn't sell a single painting in his lifetime. But you know, we're
preaching to the choir, here.
Just a small plug: I've been asked by the Red Cross of Broughton County
Florida to "lend" my 'banjo-playing mermaid' painting for their
fund-raiser/party. I'll get recognition, but no money. Fundraiser is in
June, sometime. What a blast! I wonder what they're going to do with it,
though. Put it on napkins?
Sally Caves
scaves@frontiernet.net
Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo.
"My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."
> =====
> "Originality is the art of concealing your source." - Franklin P. Jones
>
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